New Delhi, October 7
Delhi traders running their business from rented accommodations today staged a protest at Jantar Mantar against the allegedly eviction from shops and rented properties by landlords in wake of court orders citing ground of bona fide possession and requirements.

The traders alleged that the rented property belongs to them as they have paid the actual cost of property in form of 'pugree' to the landlords and the nominal rent they use to pay on regular basis was only to evade any possibility of legal case of trespass against them.

Traders alleged that more than 200 businessmen have been evicted from their rented accommodation as landlords have resorted to the court orders to sell the property or take possession of it showing the bona fide requirement to do so, which is unfair and unjustified move, they said.

The tenants said such a move would bring them to the verge of extinction and starvation by rendering them jobless and will also affect the livelihoods of employees and all those related directly or indirectly with the trade.

"We protest against any such eviction, the rented shops and properties belong to the tenant traders as we have paid more than the whole cost of property in the form of 'Pugree' to the landlords," said Ramesh Khanna, one such trader.

"The landlords now cleverly resorted to legal procedure and court orders to evict us from our property and get their shops vacated. I urge government to find an amicable solution to this problem with immediate effect and I also demand amending or repealing the atrocious Delhi Rent Act," he added.

The traders shouted slogans in favour of their demands and against landlords holding banners and placards displayed their demands. 

New Delhi, October 7
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) organised a human chain in front of Arts Faculty, Delhi University, today to express concern over the rising atrocities against women and to raise awareness for women safety, respect and security, especially in the university and college campuses.

ABVP's DU wing pressed for the activation of the women development cells in all the colleges by the administration. "The DU administration should make women cells functional in all the colleges and take proactive steps to ensure a safe and secure campus for girl students," said ABVP activists.

This was a part of a nationwide event wherein human chains were formed at more than 4,000 places by the ABVP activists on the same issue, said the ABVP.

Noting that right from their birth, girls are unsafe and face discrimination and violence at various phases of their life and female infanticide, rapes, sexual harassment, discrimination at workplace, eve-teasing, trafficking and domestic violence are all burning issues that have to be dealt with, they said while strict laws, policing and swift court proceedings are important, only a change in the mentality of men and women can bring a real change in the society.

New Delhi, October 7
With the AAP declaring that it is going to keep a vigil on the garbage cleaning across the national Capital, the coming days are expected to be busy for the BJP-ruled Municipal Corporations of Delhi.

Today, AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Ashutosh, along with other party leaders, met the Mayors of the East, North and South Municipal Corporations of Delhi at the MCD headquarters and submitted around 2,500 photographs of garbage lying in the city.

The AAP said let there be a policy of zero tolerance against unclean Delhi, in keeping with the Prime Minister's call.

New Delhi, October 7
The Delhi Trade and Tax Department has collected tax of Rs 8,469.90 crore which is an increase of Rs 420.73 crore as compared to previous year till the date, said a senior government official.

Commissioner (Trade and Taxes) Sanjiv Khirwar said this was made possible as the department has taken stringent action against a number of bogus dealers and tax evaders in Delhi.

The Enforcement Branch of the department has conducted a number of raids in the city by constituting various inspection teams of the officers.

The department detained 21 moving goods vehicles containing motor vehicle spare parts, readymade garments, electronic goods, mobile, mobile accessories, etc. Nineteen detained vehicles were released in which revenue of Rs 18.99 lakh was collected.

Khirwar further said 38 bogus and high risk dealers with fake declared turnover of Rs 836.11 in 2013-14 were detained and registration certificate of these dealers cancelled. Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Rs 9.23 crore was also disallowed during this week. The Commissioner has directed to detect the chain of sale of such 
dealers and issued instruction to take strict action as per the provision of the Delhi Value Added Tax Act, 2004.

Khirwar said the practice of evading VAT by creation of bogus dealers has picked up for the past many years. "Under VAT system, the bogus dealers (dealers who take registration on wrong credentials and then disappear) issue fake tax invoices on the strength of which genuine dealers claim Input Tax Credit and thereby reduce their liability to pay VAT. Now, the VAT department has tightened the noose on bogus dealers," said the Commissioner.

He said the department is committed to ensure recovery of tax and to take stringent action against the fraudulent dealers and tax evaders.

New Delhi, October 7
The Ministry of Urban Development (UD) has decided to place in public domain the Draft Unified Delhi Building Bye-laws prepared by the Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC).

The decision comes in the wake of the direction of UD Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu seeking early notification of simplified and user friendly building bye-laws in place of the current bye-laws which are in force since 1983 and are not considered user friendly.

Further to the direction of Naidu, UD Secretary Shankar Aggarwal today discussed the issue with vice-chairman of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), DUAC Secretary and senior officials of the ministry and urban local bodies.

"It was decided in the meeting that the Draft Unified Building Bye-laws prepared by the DUAC as in January 2013 would be posted on the websites of the UD Ministry, DDA and DUAC inviting comments and suggestions from every one over the next two weeks," said a senior government official.

New Delhi, October 7
The President, Pranab Mukherjee, today laid the foundation stone of Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum, Phase-II in the presence of Minister of Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu.

The museum will showcase past, current and future presidencies as well as life in Rashtrapati Bhavan, its ceremonies and rich flora and fauna. It is being built conserving a heritage structure which previously housed "Garages" of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. It is expected that the new museum will be completed by October 2016.

The President said history comes alive through emotional involvement of visitors with the objects, personalities and events of importance. The President expressed the hope that the museum, once opened, will become an important landmark and destination for historians, researchers, students and the public.

The objectives of the museum are to preserve historic objects, paintings, photographs and documents relating to the socio-economic-political events originating from the Rashtrapati Bhavan.