New Delhi, July 5
Concession on student loans, higher spending on education and health, fuel price cut — students and young professionals have a list of expectations as union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee presents India’s national budget for this fiscal on Monday.

Rakhi Malhotra, a college student who voted for the first time in the elections, said she had a lot of hopes from the budget.

“I hope the total public spending on education is increased. We keep fretting about all kinds of issues but education, which can become our tool in slaying most of those issues like unemployment, is not given much attention. The spending must be increased to at least six per cent of the GDP,” said Malhotra, who works as volunteer with an NGO working for slum kids.

Salma Khan, another student, said provisions should be made for students, like educational loans at concessional rates.

“The budget is drawn keeping the common man in mind. But it should also benefit students. Therefore, a concession in student loans, which will enable a youngster to study further without any financial hurdle, will be good,” Khan said.

Students, besides professionals and home makers, are also hoping for fuel price cut.

Shravan Sharma, a young professional, said, “There should be concession on petrol prices as it affects the prices of basic commodities and thus the common man’s home budget.”

Kanchan Tripathi, a housewife, said, “I often come across news of price hike, in one or the other commodity. It has become a tough job to set my home budget. I suppose there should be standardisation of prices so that every section of the society can afford.”

Others like Rahul Jain, who works in an animation school, want personal and other taxes should be lowered.

“I understand the importance of paying taxes, but some of the taxes need to be reviewed. Costs of living in the city are going higher, and with all taxes, there is hardly any money left in my bank to last me comfortably through the month,” Jain said.

But for some like Radhika Misra, a student, the budget does not hold much meaning.

“Budgets come and go, but my life does not get any better. I think the government, besides thinking of a budget which will please all, should make sure that money reaches the beneficiaries. Otherwise it does not hold any good,” she said. — IANS

New Delhi, July 5
It was delay in monsoon earlier and now the fuel price rise. Thanks to these factors, the prices of fruit and vegetables have increased and are expected to rise further in the coming days.

Brahm Yadav, chairman of Delhi Agriculture Board, said the fuel price rise would affect general prices. “Transporters have not yet indicated as to how the transport cost is expected to rise, but it is definitely going to have an impact,” he said.

The prices of fruit and vegetables rose in the last two months due to dry climatic conditions which affected their supply.

“Price going up due to poor weather conditions is an annual affair, but this time fuel prices have also increased which means vegetables will be more costly in coming days,” he said.

Prices of most vegetables have been rising since May. Cauliflower, which was available for Rs 9 per kg in May, is now for Rs 30 per kg in the wholesale market. In retail, depending on which part of the city one resides in, the vegetable is available for a minimum of Rs 60 per kg. Capsicum, costing Rs 22 per kg in mandi, is available for Rs 50 per kg in the retail market, up from Rs 20 per kg last month.

“As of now we are getting the same price chart of the vegetables, but the increase in prices is definite as the transportation is getting costlier due to petrol and diesel price rise,” said a shopkeeper at Mother Dairy outlet in Safdarjung Enclave.

Potatoes, onions and tomatoes are dearer by Rs 5 to Rs 10 per kg since last month. Vegetables are also more expensive in south Delhi and NDMC areas as compared to the east. There is an average difference of Rs 5-15 per kg in prices of almost all vegetables.

Also due to intense heat in northwest India in the past few months, the tomato, lemon and brinjal crops have been affected. Vegetables coming in from Himachal Pradesh are also hit and their prices rise sharply.

New Delhi, July 5
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is all set to increase tax on commercial property in the Capital. The MCD Standing Committee chairman, Ramkishan Singhal said that the corporation would review the tax policy for commercial property and bring a new proposal wherein the tax would be increased.

He said that after the implementation of unit area method of levying tax in April 2004, the tax paid by the commercial property in Delhi, which includes shopping malls, shops, complexes, etc decreased substantially.

“Earlier they used to pay tax according to the nature of property. The tax levied on shops used to be almost the same but after the implementation of new unit area method, the tax on commercial property decreased, as then they paid as per their location. A shopping mall in Nangloi paid lesser tax than a shopping complex in Greater Kailash,” he said.

He said that the corporation would amend the policy so that the tax paid by all commercial property becomes equal. The MCD is laying special emphasis on increasing the property tax collection from the residents of Delhi, as it is the main source of income for the civic agency.

According to the MCD officials, the corporation is losing tax from almost two-thirds of property owners in the Capital.

The MCD has also decided to increase theatre tax. There are around 50 single screen cinema theatres in the national capital territory under the MCD’s jurisdiction. At present, the theatre show tax levied by the MCD amounts to Rs 7 to Rs 10 per person per show.

Not only that, the civic body has also announced amnesty scheme for tax defaulter in the Capital. According to the amnesty scheme, people paying their property tax before October 31 will not be fined even if he has not ever paid the property tax.

“We would not put penalty on people paying their taxes before October 31. But if anybody found evading tax payments after the last date, he would be charged 30 per cent interest on the whole amount and will have to pay extra fine,” said Subhash Arya, Leader of House in MCD. 

New Delhi, July 5
A 21-year-old Nepali woman, who had come to Delhi a few weeks ago was raped by three men in east Delhi, police said on Sunday. The woman from Nepal had come to Delhi on June 21. She was staying in north Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar area. She was promised a job in the Gulf by a person called Manoj, police said.

The assault on the woman occurred late Saturday when Manoj took her to the Delhi international airport and abandoned her there.

“The woman, after she found that her name was missing from the passengers’ list, took an auto to Mukherjee Nagar,” a police officer said.

“The auto driver, however, took her to Mandawali to his friends’ place where she was intoxicated and raped by the auto driver’s friend and two other men,” the police officer added.

The woman was discovered roaming the streets in a distraught condition by some passers-by who informed the police.

The woman was taken to a nearby hospital for where the medical examination confirmed rape. Two of the accused have been arrested so far, police said.—IANS 

Noida, July 5
A girl has lodged a complaint of sexual harrasment against her father at Jarcha police station, pleading to be saved from his advances. She said whenever her mother opposed her father on any issue, he would beat up both her and the mother. She said she was afraid that her father would kill her one day for not obeying his orders.

The man lives in Jaitpur village under Jarcha police station area. A compalint against him has already been lodged with the National Commission for Women, it is learnt.

Haseena of Jaitpur village was married about 20 years ago to Jamaluddin, a resident of Bejhode. The couple has four sons and one daughter. Jamaluddin has a steel business in Faridabad and so the family also shifted to Faridabad. The daughter was admitted to Class 10 at a government girls school at Meethepuri in Delhi.

According to Haseena, when Jamaluddin started harassing her daughter, they initially thought it was just parental love. But one day he came home drunk and tried to rape his daughter. When they opposed, he beat them up. After the incident, Haseena shifted to Bejhode along with her kids.

But Jamaluddin came there and forced his daughter to go to Faridabad with him. But the daughter refused to go. He then started sexually harassing the daughter. When they resisted, he again beat them up, said Haseena.

She said Jamaluddin had once again tried to rape his daughter, but on her raising the alarm, neighbours rushed to her rescue.

Haseena has now shifted to Jaitpur to her parents’ house with her kids. The daughter has lodged a complaint with the National Commission of Women .

New Delhi, July 5
“We are not criminals, never were,” a member of the Capital’s abused and suppressed transgender community said as the group erupted in joy after hearing of the Delhi High Court’s decision to decriminalise consensual sex between consenting adults.

“I am so happy! I have been celebrating the court’s judgement since Thursday. I participated in the gay parade at Connaught Place. Then I went to Nabi Karim (in central Delhi) where many eunuchs live and we danced all night!” said an overjoyed Mangala.

“The time has come for us to come out in the open and be who we are and we won’t be considered criminals,” Mangala added, a peer-outreach officer with NGO Sahara’s transgender project.

For long this community has been complaining of being falsely implicated in criminal cases and being harassed by the police.

“We joked that we can openly engage in sex and the police cannot catch us because if they do so we can always say that what we are doing is no crime and we have the court’s consent,” stated a eunuch from Seelampur, on condition of anonymity.

The Delhi High Court ruled on Thursday that sex among consenting adults of the same sex was no crime, triggering celebrations among gay activists and the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community.

The court repealed Section-377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), emphasising that the constitution guaranteed homosexuals equal rights as other citizens. The bench also said the judgement would hold till parliament amended the law.

The judgement did lead to some confusion, however, especially among those eunuchs who are semi-literate or illiterate.

“There are some vague notions in the community — many are uneducated and were pleased with what they saw in the headlines, not going into the details. They assumed it allowed ‘kinnar’ marriages and began celebrating. But that is not the case,” said Malti Mehra, head of the transgender community project for Sahara.

Prema, another eunuch from Seelampur, said the judgement had several members of the community in doubt. “I am overjoyed but you can expect anger from many. It is causing ruckus.”

According to Prema, many are sceptical about the judgement because “eunuchs living a life of secrecy may get encouraged to come out in the open, but it can strain the relationships between them and their parents, who could snap all ties. Losing your family is what is feared most.”

“Being a part of the kinnar community is looked down upon in Indian society. They live in shoddy conditions, abused and suppressed — so their movement for freedom has a long way to go,” Mehra explained.

Although there is no official data about the number of eunuchs in India, it is estimated to be 1.2 million. Their traditional role in society has been of dancers, prostitutes and beggars.

Eunuchs want policies that acknowledge their existence, like giving them an official gender status of the third sex and health checks in hospitals where they are often denied entry. They also want same job opportunities as everyone else.

Asked whether the judgement would help the AIDS awareness programmes of Sahara, Mehra said, “It is too early to comment. Let’s see what the government decides.”

A group of eunuchs had moved the Supreme Court on January 20, seeking their rights to education, social and political rehabilitation. The petition filed by Sonam Singh, a eunuch from Ajmer, sought direction to the union government to constitute a National Kinnar Ayog or commission on the lines of those for dalits and tribals.

In February, the apex court dismissed the plea and directed Singh to approach the home ministry, where the matter is ‘under consideration’. — IANS

New Delhi, July 5
The Delhi Metro has repaired a damaged storm water drain at an under construction Metro site in a south Delhi area. The road was opened to commuters today.

Though the drainage plans were not available with civic agencies, the Metro engineers managed to repair the drain in time and diverted the rain water, a Metro official said. The PWD and the Capital's civic agencies are responsible for repair and maintenance of storm water drains.

The 60-year-old-drain beneath Aurobindo Marg had ruptured due to backflow of rainwater and the water had further leaked onto the main road, blocking vehicular movement.

"The DMRC repaired the storm water barrel beneath Aurobindo Marg and restored the road in just a month," Metro spokesperson Anuj Dayal said, calling the repair an "engineering feat".

The stretch was earlier closed to commuters on June 2 following leakages and depressions on the road. "This corridor has been opened for the traffic from today," he said. — IANS

New Delhi, July 5
After having fought to free the country from the British rule, he had no idea that another battle was in store. Ninety-year-old Satish Chandra Mishra had to run from pillar to post for his pension since 1981, which he is finally getting thanks to the Delhi High Court that pulled up the government for its apathy towards those who fought for the nation’s freedom.

Justice Kailash Gambhir in his order said, “Today, as we freely move around in our country without anyone questioning or imposing any kind of restriction on us, we feel satisfied and contented. But this satisfaction is due to the efforts of our freedom fighters who freed the country from the British rule. It is because of them that we are enjoying in our country.”

Mishra participated in the Quit India Movement in 1942. His application for claiming Swatantrata Sainik Pension (SSP) was declined by the government on the grounds that he could not produce sufficient records to establish that he was a freedom fighter.

Pulling the government up for its attitude towards freedom fighters, the court said, “Free India is a gift to each one of us from these freedom fighters. As a mark of respect and to pay our gratitude to them the government started the SSP scheme. But cases like the present one show the apathy of our government that how they arbitrarily deny basic things to such freedom fighters who are eligible for it.”

“The government should not deal with such matters in an arbitrary manner. These freedom fighters are aged should not be made to run from pillar to post for pension . The government should be more considerate while dealing with such cases,” the bench said while asking the government to pay Mishra his pension amount from 1981 onwards.

Counsel for the petitioner said before the court, “The freedom fighter scheme was introduced by the government in 1972 in which the normal eligibility fixed for grant of pension was six months’ imprisonment while participating in the freedom movement and the SSP scheme also provided for those freedom fighters who had absconded due to registration of a criminal case.”

He added, “My client did not mention the criminal case number as at the time of filing the application he could not recollect it but later upon his remembering, which was also confirmed by his friend Hira Singh, a certified copy of the same was applied for but no records were available and the government rejected his plea.” — IANS

Greater Noida, July 5
A team of civil supply department under SDM Sadar seized 73,000 litre of furnace oil and 53,000 litre of diesel from a lead-making company on Akbarpur Road in Dadri.

The value of the seized oil is stated to be Rs 32 lakh. The general manager of the company has been arrested for having stored such huge quantities of oils without a licence. An FIR has been registered against four persons in this connection by the Dadri police.

According to sources, district supply officer Santosh Niranjan got the information that the company had stored huge quantity of furnace oil and diesel. A team under SDM Sadar Vishal Singh had raided the premises. The company staff were aghast at seeing the raiding team of administration and police officals.

The SDM said 73000 litre furnace oil and 53000 litre diesel had been seized from the company and its GM arrested.

According to rules, no company can maintain a stock of over 20,000 litre of furnace oil. In case the monthly consumption of furnace oil is over 50,000 litre, the company is bound to obtain a solvent licence for the purpose. This company has violated both these rules, the SDM said.

An FIR under essential commodities act has been registered in Dadri Kotwali by district supply officer against four persons, including company general manager, Ranjit Singh Yadav, company proprietor Raman Gupta, Anil Aggarwal and Gyan Prakash, the SDM added.