New Delhi, May 14
More than 10,000 officials will be involved in the counting of 8.2 million votes in Delhi which will be done at seven centres where over 7,000 security personnel drawn from the Delhi Police and seven companies of a paramilitary force will be on duty on May 16, said a senior official of the Delhi Chief Electoral Office (CEO).

The counting will begin at 8 am. Of the 12.7 million voters, 8.2 million voted in Delhi.

The counting centres are located at Aryabhatt Polytechnic at Ashok Vihar, ITI at Nand Nagari, the Commonwealth Games Village in east Delhi, NP Bengali Girls Senior Secondary School at Gole Market, Delhi Technological University at Bawana, Integrated Institute of Technology at Dwarka and Jijabai Industrial Training Institute for Women at Gulmohar Park.

A total of 2,000 electronic voting machines (EVM) have been under guard since balloting took place on April 10. One hundred and fifty candidates, including 57 independents, contested the seven Lok Sabha seats.

According to official sources, the paramilitary staff will be deployed inside the counting centres while the Delhi Police will keep a watch outside. "No one would be allowed to enter the centre with telephone or any electronic gadget. A dedicated room has been prepared for the media at the counting centres," said the CEO official.

The CEO has advised parties to appoint mature persons as counting agents.

New Delhi, May 14
In a major initiative, the Delhi government has proposed that rent and lease deeds will be based on the circle rates of properties, a move aimed at mopping up more revenue and curbing tax evasion.

As per the proposal moved by the Revenue department, stamp duties on lease deeds and rent agreements will be calculated as per existing circle rates of an area and no under valuation of properties will be allowed.

Divisional Commissioner Dharampal said circle rate may be applicable on properties whose tenure of rent agreement is more than one year.

"Often the real rent amount is not shown to save on stamp duties. We are planning to impose taxes on rented properties based on circle rate of a particular area," he said.

Sources said 2 to 5 per cent circle rate may be imposed on rented properties which may raise the rents of commercial properties in areas like Khan Market, Connaught Place and Greater Kailash.

According to the proposal, the stamp duty on rent agreement will be linked to the market value of properties and officials said implementation of the proposal will enhance government's tax collection.

Circle rate is the minimum valuation at which properties have to be registered with the government. The circle rates were first introduced in Delhi in 2007, dividing the city into eight categories.

"The move will stop evasion of stamp duty as people often do not disclose the actual rent amount in the agreement," Dharampal explained.

The proposal has been sent to the finance department for approval. Then it will be sent to the Lt Governor for clearance.

The circle rates are minimum rate decided by the government authorities for valuation of land and properties in a particular area. The last circle rate revision was done in 2012 when the minimum rates for valuation of land and immovable properties were increased substantially.

The government is also in the process of revising the circle rates.

Circle rate on rented properties has already been implemented in neighbouring Noida where it is between 10 and 15 per cent. — PTI

New Delhi, May 14
Taking stock of the grievance resolution mechanism of the power distribution companies (discoms), the Delhi government has directed the discoms to strengthen their call centres so that consumers are able to register their complaints in multiple ways.

Principal Secretary (Power), Delhi government, Arun Goyal said that they instruct their officials in call centres that they will not insist on providing consumer number or meter number from the caller and will register the complaint based on the mobile number or house number or address.

"If the consumers are not satisfied with the resolution of their complaints by the discoms, they can approach Public Grievances Cell of the Power Department at their call centres at any time indicating the reference number of the complaint lodged with the discom," said an official of the Power Department.

The department helpline was started on May 4.

In addition to manual registration of complaints the consumers can also register their complaints through Interactive Voice Response System on the call centre numbers if his or her contact number is registered with the discoms. Consumers can also SMS their complaints to their dedicated numbers in the following manner.

The officials of discoms briefed about the arrangements made for resolution of the grievances of the consumers. They said that they have made sufficient power arrangements for the summer months and strengthened their call centres which are working 24x7 and have deployed more people at their complaint centres.

The aggrieved consumer can call on the call centre numbers of their respective discoms to register the complaints. The distribution companies have installed parallel connections on their following call centre numbers to avoid waiting time for any consumer to lodge complaint of outage to power supply.

New Delhi, May 14
Four persons were injured when a school van and an autorickshaw collided at a traffic light crossing in Sector 6, Dwarka, this morning.

According to the police, the accident took place about 6.30 am when a Maruti Eco van, which was transporting schoolchildren, collided with an autorickshaw at the traffic light crossing.

"The van was transporting about seven children when the accident took place. None of them were injured. It is being understood that the driver of the school van could not apply the brakes when he reached a steep curve, causing the van to lose its balance. The van was trying to overtake the auto, which was also moving at high speed and they both collided," said a police officer.

Some bystanders took the children out of the van and called the police.

The four injured persons, who were sitting in the autorickshaw, were rushed to a nearby hospital and discharged after the treatment.

New Delhi, May 14
A 40-year-old woman allegedly committed suicide by consuming acid after her husband was killed in an accident at a factory in southwest Delhi on Monday.

The couple's three sons have accused the factory owner, Arvinder Singh, of negligence in the death of their father and abetment to suicide of their mother. Arvinder was booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and negligent conduct with respect to machinery and was arrested on Tuesday. He has been released on bail.

Rohan Singh (46) had been working at the Prestige Light Factory in Delhi Cantonment for the past several years. At about 11 am on Monday, he was working on a spinning machine when a wooden wheel attached to the machine broke and fell on his head.

Arvinder and other factory employees took Rohan to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital in west Delhi, but he had succumbed to his injuries before being admitted there.

Rohan's eldest son, Sachin Kumar (20), was informed about the accident and he reached the hospital with his 40-year-old mother, Asha Devi, who works as a maid.

"Arvinder called my mother aside after she saw the body. He spoke to her for about 20 minutes. She said nothing after that and went home while I stayed back at the hospital," alleged Sachin.

He claimed to be unaware of the conversation between his mother and Arvinder, but alleged that her expressions showed that she was threatened by him.

While speaking to reporters, Arvinder denied speaking to Asha at the hospital. He termed Rohan's death "an accident that could happen to anyone", while admitting that the wood used in the wheel was old.

A fellow worker, Surender, who was an eyewitness to the incident, has said in his statement to the police that the rotted wood used in the wheel had not been changed for a long time.

Narrating the further sequence of events, Sachin's youngest brother Chandramohan Singh said that their mother entered the bathroom after arriving home in Dwarka's Kakrola locality at about 2 pm.

"She emerged later with smoke coming out of her mouth," the 14-year-old boy said.

Asha's neighbour, Lalti Devi, claimed to be an eyewitness to the incident. "When she emerged from the bathroom, I heard her calling me by name and telling me that she was leaving and that I should look after her children. I turned around and saw her falling to the floor. She didn't speak after that," said Lalti.

Asha was rushed to the same hospital, where her husband was taken. She died at about 11:30 pm on Monday.

New Delhi, May 14
Another woman has been arrested in connection with the kidnapping of a four-year-old boy from the Lady Hardinge Medical College in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The woman apprehended by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police today has been identified as Anita (38), who is a resident of Nabi Karim, central Delhi. The Special Cell had apprehended one Sunita (35) near a temple in central Delhi's Jhandewalan area with the boy named Anshul on Tuesday evening. She was allegedly waiting for Anita there to hand over the child to her. However, Anita did not show up.

The police have given Anshul to his father, Vinod Kumar. Kumar, an ice-cream vendor outside the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, had reported to the police on Tuesday that his wife, Jyoti, with their son, Anshul, had gone to the Lady Hardinge Medical College to see her sister, who has been admitted there. At about 8 am, Jyoti could not find her son at the hospital. Kumar told the police that he suspected a woman, who was present at the hospital's gallery, of having kidnapped his son.

The Special Cell was informed that Sunita would be coming to a temple at Jhandewalan at about 6 pm, allegedly with a child whom she had kidnapped.

"At about 6 pm, we spotted a woman with a child opposite the Jhandewalan temple. She was waiting for someone. The informer identified her as Sunita and we apprehended her as she was about to leave with the child," said Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell).

According to Yadav, Sunita allegedly confessed to kidnapping the boy from the Lady Hardinge Medical College at about 8 am on Tuesday. Based on her disclosure, Anita was apprehended from Paharganj at about 7.30 am today.

"Sunita said that her neighbour Anita had asked her to kidnap a boy. The boy was to be given to one Baba, who is aged about 70 years and they would be paid Rs 1 lakh for this deal. Sunita was in dire need of money and she succumbed to the offer and kidnapped the boy. She was to hand over the boy to Anita, who did not turn up," explained Yadav.

Anita and Sunita are also involved in an earlier case of kidnapping.

"Anita said that she had kidnapped a baby boy from the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and given him to Sunita about two years ago. The boy has been rescued from Sunita's residence and his identity is being verified," said Yadav.

Anita is also allegedly involved in a case of mobile theft from the Lady Hardinge Medical College in January this year.

New Delhi, May 14
A couple who rode on a motorcycle, targeted vulnerable people and snatched their belongings, have been apprehended near the Paschim Vihar Metro station this morning.

The two have been identified as Satinder Singh (22) and Santosh (26). They have been staying together at Mangolpuri for the past couple of months.

Satinder is allegedly involved in previous cases of snatchings while Santosh joined him after leaving her husband. With their arrests, the police said they have solved at least six cases of robberies or snatchings.

The police claimed that Satinder and Santosh were inspired by a Bollywood film, Bunty aur Babli. A police officer said, "We had received several complaints of snatchings in and around west Delhi.

Eyewitnesses would describe them as a couple who travelled on a Black Pulsar motorcycle and rob people in broad daylight. Based on these inputs, we gathered information on snatchers in west Delhi and zeroed in on Satinder." About 11 am today, the police were tipped off that Satinder would be meeting a woman near the Paschim Vihar Metro station.

The police apprehended both of them. 

New Delhi, May 14
A 20-year-old Delhi University student allegedly committed suicide at her residence in east Delhi's Krishna Nagar area on Tuesday night. The deceased has been identified as Sabina, who was a final year BCom student of Delhi University.

At about 11.45 pm on Tuesday, her friend, Mukesh, who works for a Hindi newspaper, saw her hanging from a ceiling fan of her bedroom on the first floor of her residence. Mukesh raised the alarm and informed her parents who happened to be sitting on the ground floor with his family.

On Tuesday evening, Mukesh's mother and sister went to Sabina's residence. She had been in a relationship with Mukesh for the past few years. She informed her parents about her boyfriend and they agreed to their marriage. Mukesh's family were invited for discussing the marriage at Sabina's residence on Tuesday.

A suicide note has been reportedly found. The note which has been purportedly written by her, mentions that when the two families were talking to each other, she was hiding behind a curtain to hear the conversation. In the note, she wrote that Mukesh's mother allegedly demanded a car as dowry. When Sabina's family refused to give in to their demand, Mukesh's family refused the marriage proposal.

She then went upstairs and locked her room. In the suicide note, she claimed that she had recorded the conversations in her mobile phone.

A few minutes later, Mukesh went to her room to inform her about his decision against marrying her, but he saw Sabina hanging from a ceiling fan.

Sabina was rushed to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital where she was pronounced dead.