New Delhi, April 3
A 62-year-old self-styled godman was arrested for allegedly raping a 24-year-old married woman on Tuesday night. The woman had been feeling low and stressed out for some days and the godman had promised her and her family that he would provide relief to her.

The accused named Hira Lal was nabbed by the police from outside the Safdarjung Hospital in south Delhi.

A police officer said, “The woman’s husband claimed that his wife had been feeling stressed out for several days. Someone had informed him that the godman could relieve her stress within a few hours by performing some rituals.”

Last night, Lal arrived at the victim’s house in south Delhi. He asked her husband and family to leave her with him, while he performed the tantric rituals.

The family left accordingly. The godman then gave the woman something to eat after which she became unconscious. After a while, the family returned and tried to check on Lal. What they saw was horrifying. He was allegedly raping her. They shouted at him and tried to catch him, but he escaped.

The victim’s family informed the police at 1 am. Her medical examination confirmed that she had been raped.

A rape case has been registered at the South Campus police station.

The police started looking for Lal and caught him alone outside the Safdarjung Hospital. They are verifying if he had committed such a crime earlier also.

New Delhi, April 3
A day after the CAG in its annual report 2011-2012 slammed the Delhi government for deficiencies in almost all its departments, starting from health, urban housing, transport, power, etc, AAP workers said the government watchdog has exposed the tall claims of the Sheila Dikshit-led government on development.

Questioning the timing of the CAG report, they said it was presented on the last day of the session just to avoid furore by the opposition.

They said that the CAG report has validated that there is large-scale corruption in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and electricity departments.

The report clearly states that Delhi Transco has given undue favours to private discoms and even water is a scarce commodity in the Capital with almost one fourth of Delhi depending on tankers for supply of water and so this calls for a civil disobedience movement in Delhi, the workers said.

Though the CAG has unearthed one scam after the other, the question remains as to who would investigate these charges, pointed out Manish Sisodia while reiterating the demand for an inquiry by an independent agency.

After taking on the Congress, the next target of the AAP would be the BJP and its face of development in Gujarat where Chief Minister Narendra Modi has also extended undue advantage to big corporate houses—Reliance Industries, Essar Ltd and Adani Power Ltd, resulting in losses worth several crores as pointed out by the CAG, said AAP leaders.

According to them, by highlighting the inefficiency and corruption in managing all the essential services, including health, water, housing and security, the report indicates the insensitivity of the government towards its citizens.

New Delhi, April 3
Fasting for the second time against corrupt practices, activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal looks all set for a long innings this time, creating a lot of difficulties for the Sheila Dikshit-led Congress government in Delhi ahead of the assembly elections.

Apart from the thumping support of people, fasting wouldn’t be possible without his willpower, meditation and “kunjal kriya” (vomiting).

Even as 12 days are over against last time’s nine days when he shared the platform with his former master Anna Hazare in the national Capital, he remained firm on continuing his fast until the Delhi government relents and ensures that a CAG audit is carried into the accounts of three private discoms.

Neither Anna’s request nor the concerns of supporters and Aam Aadmi Party workers have made him end his fast even as today he refrained from speaking on the stage, as advised by his team of four doctors of allopathy and naturopathy.

According to yoga expert Vinod Sharma, who is monitoring Kejriwal’s health since the beginning, it is the five elements—fire, water, air, sky and sunlight which keep supplying energy that keeps life moving even without food for days together.

“Hermits living in the Himalayas say people thrive on this energy for months and one just needs to be strong-willed. Traditionally it is said that with a day fast, our age increases by one year,” he said.

In Kejriwal’s case, he said, “His energy level is terrific. He is taking 8-10 litres of boiled water a day and good sleep. He is practising “Asthanga yog” and if he feels bitterness or anxiety, he is made to perform the “kunjal kriya” to remove the toxics that get accumulated in his mouth. He is taking no medicines.”

Basically, doctors have advised him to rest and most of the times he is either sleeping or lying down. He has also been instructed to avoid speaking much and meeting people and even shaking hands.

The allopathic doctor reasons it with spread of infection while the traditional practitioner links it to negative vibes emanating from people. “Different people have different vibrations and so to save him from bad elements, he should avoid shaking hands. Moreover, it is a western practice and we greet people by folding hands,” said Sharma, who has been organising camps on meditation.

Until evening, Kejriwal’s health parameters were within the normal range. His BP was 107/69mmHg, pulse 72 bpm, sugar 126 mg/dl, ketone 3+ and weight 57.5 kg. Due to weakness, he refrained from addressing people, said an AAP spokesperson.

On power companies’ claim that there was no dip in collections for the month of March, he said the discoms should put their entire income-expenditure figure in the public domain.

New Delhi, April 3
As the death of the student-activist in Kolkata sparked countrywide protests today, students of Jawaharlal Nehru University also held a demonstration here to express solidarity for him.

The protesters gathered at Banga Bhawan on Hailey Road in central Delhi and shouted slogans against the death of Sudipto Gupta of the Students Federation of India. Some of the students also tried to scale the perimeter wall of the building.

Holding placards and banners, the students raised slogans against the West Bengal government while demanding action against all those involved in the incident.

“Action should be taken against all those who are responsible for his death,” JNU Student’s Union president Lenin said.

Gupta, an activist of the Communist Party of India-Marxist’s student wing, died after a head injury in Kolkata Police custody on Tuesday.

New Delhi, April 3
One year after the formation of three civic bodes, the south and east corporations claimed to have succeeded in achieving the target of collecting property tax, whereas the north corporation is still behind the estimated tax collection for the year 2012-13.

The Property Tax Department of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has collected Rs 604 crore against the fixed target of Rs 581 crore in the year 2012-13. In addition to this, the Remunerative Project (RP) cell also achieved the target, said Subhash Arya, the Leader of the House.

East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) has also collected a total of Rs 140 crore against the target of Rs 133 crore. Around 2.10 lakh people paid property tax in East Delhi in 2012-13 which is an increase of 6,720 from the previous year as 2.04 lakh people deposited tax in 2011-12.

However, North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) recorded a collection of Rs 326.35 crore which is less from the target of Rs 368.02 crore set for the year 2012-13. However, it bought 48,301 new house owners under the ambit of property tax as the total number of people who paid tax in 2012-13 is 3,77,144 against 3,28,843 tax payers in 2011-12. It had collected Rs 182.23 crore the previous year.

“The corporation didn’t get any Municipal Reform Fund in the year 2011-12 from the Delhi government. It had agreed to release the fund provided we achieve the revenue target. But even as we achieved the target, the government has not released the full amount,” he said.