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After working for over a year to prepare detailed map of Delhi using 3-D imaging, the Delhi State Spatial Data Infrastructure project is now ready for implementation.

Over 330 applications have been shortlisted by 35 state departments that will begin using the information provided through this project for their various needs from April 1.

The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) will be the first department to implement the project. It will use the project to have real-time online tours of monuments in the Capital... on the lines of the tour of the Louvre Museum in Paris.

The Rs 120-crore project, started in March 2008, entails a detailed 3-dimensional map of Delhi (ground-level and underground) through aerial photographs.

There will also be real-time monitoring of the ground situation in the city with the help of 64 wireless internet protocol cameras. There will two control rooms, one at Delhi Secretariat and other at Survey of India office, along with the 10 monitoring centres that will be located across the city.

Each of the nine administrative districts will have seven cameras, installed on top of the tallest building in the area. These cameras can give precision pictures of objects upto a distance of 5 km and cost Rs 5 lakh.

Earlier, Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta had asked the 35 departments to choose five applications each to utilise the available data. The departments have reverted to Survey of India and IT department with a list of 335 applications.

Source: The Indian Express Delhi’s 3-D map ready, govt depts to begin use from April 1

As per the new excise policy approved by the State Cabinet, licence fee on foreign liquor has been increased resulting in a hike of Rs 26 per litre, official sources said here on Saturday. The duty on cheap to premium category IMFL has not been increased but that on premium to scotch categories has been hiked by Rs 20 per litre.

Basic licence fee on country-made liquor has been hiked to Rs 21 per litre from existing Rs 20 per litre, whereas duty has been increased to Rs 130 per litre from existing Rs 108 per litre, they said.

The spokesman said allotments of shops would be done through renewal and public lottery. “The government has increased renewal fees of IMLF and beer shops to Rs 35,000, Rs 25,000, Rs 17,500 and Rs 8,000 per shop in Municipal Corporation, Nagar Palika, Nagar Panchayat and rural areas respectively.”

A few months after over 20 hoteliers pulled out of the Commonwealth Games, the Tourism Ministry has finally decided to act, amid rising speculation that the rest of the hotel projects will miss their deadlines.

In order to speed up the construction of hotels in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) before the 2010 Games, the Tourism ministry has now urged the Finance ministry to extend the benefits of the five-year tax holiday for hotels that will finish construction work by July 31 instead of the earlier deadline, March 31.

Sources in the Tourism ministry confirmed that considering the delay in completion of most hotel projects, Union Minister of Tourism Kumari Selja has urged the Finance ministry to extend the deadline.

Tax holiday scheme

• Introduced by Finance ministry in 2007
  
• Extended to two, three, four-star hotels and convention centres
  
• Under present terms, only hotels that become operational by March-end can benefit

Source: The Indian Express By Ayesha Arvind Extend tax holiday for hotels till July, Pranab urged

The National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT), which allows bank customers to transfer funds electronically, has been a highly successful service ever since it was launched in late 2005.

In a circular to the chiefs of all member-banks providing the NEFT service, the RBI has asked the banks to take necessary measures to "strengthen the NEFT system in terms of availability, convenience, efficiency and speed" from March 1

You’ve probably often cribbed to him about the exorbitant prices and he has in apparent sympathy told you, ‘‘kya karen memsahib (or sahib), peechhe se hi mahenga aa raha hai’’. Well, that sob story isn’t true in fact, going by the prevailing wholesale rates, it is a pack of lies.

The wholesale prices have, in most cases, dropped to a fraction of what they were at the beginning of December or January, but there has been only a marginal slide in retail prices. In fact, you’re paying up to five times the mandi price at your doorstep. Cabbage, for instance, is Rs 4 per kg at the mandi while parts of Delhi are paying Rs 20 per kg to get the leafy vegetable.

Wholesale rates are now among the lowest in the past few months, having seen a continuous downward trend since December 2009 and there is reportedly no shortage of any vegetable. The government is aware of the situation, but says it is helpless.

When contacted, chief minister Sheila Dikshit told TOI: ‘‘It is very difficult since the retailers number in thousands. I have asked the weights and measures department to get active and crack the whip, but simultaneously we have to educate the consumer. Each week we try and get the wholesale rates published so that consumers are aware of the market situation. At least, we have clamped down on the rising trend for the time being.’’

That’s small consolation when steep declines bring little comfort to you. Here are more examples of profiteering. Beans, for example, were available for Rs 33 per kg in the mandi on December 1 but can now be bought for just Rs 9. Still, you’re paying Rs 35-40 per kg.

Source: Times Of India By Neha Lalchandani Retail loot: Mandi prices a fraction of what you pay

The new clause, introduced for the first time, states that sub-contractors, engaged by a concessionaire, must have the experience of completing at least a single highway project of 20 per cent value of the estimated project cost in the preceding five years from the date of execution of the current work.

So, a concessionaire can award projects worth Rs 1,000 crore to a sub contractor, if only the sub-contractor has done a project worth Rs 200 crore in the last five years. Most of the work in laying roads is done by thousands odd sub-contractors under the supervision of a concessionaire.

“We have done this to maintain the quality of roads being built,” said a senior NHAI official on condition of anonymity. The new clause, the official said, would be helpful to concessionaires as they will have to spend less on the maintenance of roads.

Source: Business Standard By Mihir Mishra NHAI ups eligibility norms for road sub-contractors

पिछली सुनवाई के दौरान हाई कोर्ट ने इस इलाके में हुए अवैध निर्माण संबंधी मामले में केंद्र सरकार से अपना स्टैंड साफ करने के लिए कहा था। सोमवार को सुनवाई के दौरान सरकार ने कहा कि उन्हें इस मामले में फैसला लेने के लिए कुछ और वक्त चाहिए। हाई कोर्ट ने केंद्रीय शहरी विकास मंत्रालय के सेक्रेटरी से कहा था कि वह हलफनामा दायर कर बताए कि सरकार इस कॉलोनी को रेग्युलराइज्ड करने के बारे में क्या फैसला ले रही है। अगली तारीख तक यह भी बताएं कि फैसला लेने में कितना समय लगेगा।

हाई कोर्ट ने याचिका का निपटारा कर दिया। इसमें कहा गया था कि इस इलाके के लोग हाई कोर्ट के आदेश का उल्लंघन कर रहे हैं। संबंधित अथॉरिटी इन लोगों के खिलाफ कोई एक्शन नहीं ले रही। उनका तर्क है कि कॉलोनी रेग्युलराइज्ड नहीं है ऐसे में उनका कोई ज्यूरिडिक्शन नहीं है। सुनवाई के दौरान यह भी कहा गया है कि केंद्र जानबूझकर मामले को लटका रही है।

Taking a step towards faster and transparent redressal of public grievances, the Uttar Pradesh Housing and Development Board (UPHDB) has decided to get a software developed that would enable complaints to be registered through telephone and would also help keep complainants updated on the status of redressal.

The UPHDB generally receives complaints pertaining to allotment, land acquisition, interest on dues, construction and encroachment on property.

Once the software is prepared, a Jan Suvidha Kendra (control room) would be set up in Lucknow where complaints could be received round-theclock on a toll-free number. The complainant would be given a Unique Complaint Number and the official concerned would receive the complaint number and phone number of the complainant through an SMS.

As soon as the official reads the text message, the complainant would be intimated, through phone or e-mail, that his complaint has been received and registered.The official will then contact the complainant for any further details, if needed.

After the problem is addressed, the official will inform the complainant and the control room, which would later crosscheck the report with the complainant.

Every call would be recorded at the control room using a voice recorder so that action could be taken against the complainant, if he makes a false complaint or provides a wrong address.

Source: The Indian Express By Lalmani Verma Housing body firms up hi-tech plan

The Bench headed by Chief Justice A P Shah and comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and S Muralidhar also took exception to the by-law authorising the police, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and other agencies to impound rickshaws. It directed the agencies to do away with any authorisation that was against the law.

But the court refrained from quashing zonal restrictions or the ban on use of rickshaws on arterial roads. The Bench held that the civic bodies have the right to take such decisions in greater public interest.

Expressing concern over the manner in which civic authorities and the police treat cycle-rickshaw pullers, the court said, "It would be important for public authorities, particularly law enforcement agencies, to display sensitivity when exercising coercive powers."

The Bench also differed from an earlier High Court verdict which held that plying rickshaws hurt or offended human dignity, and that the state should eventually eliminate the trade.
The Bench said, "The right of an individual to ply cycle-rickshaw or other forms of transport falls within the legitimate exercise of his freedom guaranteed under Article 19(1) (g)."

The court found no objective criteria that the MCD relied on to fix the limit of rickshaw licences at 99,000. It noted that no such policy was framed to limit the number of motorised vehicles.

Source: The Indian Express By Utkarsh Anand No curb on number of rickshaws: HC

Construction at the memorial sites had come to a halt after the apex court in September 2009 took suo motu cognisance of news reports that the work was going on in violation of an earlier Supreme Court stay order. The ban was re-imposed and a contempt notice was issued to the then Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh.

A Division Bench of Justices H S Bedi and A K Patnaik on Tuesday permitted the government to recommence the maintenance of the work, including removal of unused construction material and debris, planting and watering of grass and trees and mending of leaking water pipes at three sites Kanshiram Smarak Sthal, Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan and Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Sthal.

“We have perused the list of the works that need to be done at different project sites,” said the Bench, adding that “it, however, is not inclined to permit the state government to carry out all the works mentioned in the list”.

“Till now, imported liquor could be sold in any outlet with an area of more than 500 square feet. But we feel that sales will go up if we allow them to be sold in shopping malls as buyers of imported liquor do not go to local vendors,” a senior excise department official said.

The official said for the licence, departmental store owners will have to shell out a fee of Rs 1 lakh per annum. ‘‘The department will also generate more revenue by issuing licenses to stores in malls as there are about 20 shopping centres in the city,” the official said. The government had allowed sale of liquor in stores in shopping malls in 2007.

“In order to promote liquor with low alcoholic content, a new licence in the form of L-10B will be given to departmental stores having an annual turnover of more than Rs 50 lakh per annum on an yearly fee of Rs 25,000 for retail sale of wines on an experimental basis,” read the notification.

According to the new excise policy, licence for selling foreign liquor will be issued to only stores which have bought the foreign liquor vend, unlike the previous policy which allowed any one to buy the licence by paying a fee of Rs 25 lakh. The fee has also been increased to Rs 35 lakh.

Announcing the excise policy 2010-2011 recently, the state government said vends of both country liquor and Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) will be renewed at a “reasonable” rate increase of 5% to 10%.

The vends in NCR districts of Haryana including Gurgaon and Faridabad would be renewed at a rate increase of 8%. The government expects the policy to bring in stability in retail trade.

Whenever the Noida police acquired a new technology to enhance policing in the area, it met with loud cheers. However, what most people doesn't know is that the police force lack the know how to implement and use the technologies it has sought to protect the people. The problem is huge when it comes to handling the IT-related services.

Many of the initiatives like the centralized registration of the FIR and surveillance through CCTV cameras across the city have not been implemented in full force due to lack of enough trained staff. But, the Noida police have come up with an innovative plan to resolve the problem

The police have asked the students from engineering colleges to help run the gadgets and train the cops.
On Sunday, 40 students from three technical institutes gathered at the Kasna police station in Greater Noida and had a training-cum-interactive session.

CO City Salendra Lal says that, "Such interactions will not only help the cops update their tech skills but also help the department to strike a friendly rapport with the students,"

Students from GL Bajaj Institute of Technology, IEC Engineering College and Sharda University participated in the session along with senior Noida police officials.

The initiative has also been targeted at achieving optimum operational ability for the unique MMS/SMS traffic rules violations update launched by the Noida Police.

With e-courts, the entire volume of files in the fast-track courts will be digitised. A touchscreen will be installed on the dais of the presiding judge. LCD screens will be installed in the e-court, on which any document can be viewed with the help of a document visualiser.Just like searching the Net, a document can be hunted down by choosing to look up any case by date, name or section.

Legal experts expect e-courts to revolutionise the recording of evidence, as it will not be necessary for witnesses to be physically present to testify. "It will enable the e-court to record evidence of the witnesses who are incapable of being present in the court due to health reasons, old age or being out of country," an official in Karkardooma court said.

The district e-court is already connected to all of the city's jails and courts. Officials said efforts are underway to link e-courts with the forensic lab in Rohini, government hospitals in the districts under the jurisdiction of the Karkardooma court and all police stations in the city through video-conferencing.

Considerable time will thus be saved, as forensic lab officials, police officials and government doctors can testify through video-conferencing studios from their respective workplaces.

Source: The Indian Express By Vaibhav Vats Country's first district e-court to be launched at Karkardooma

‘‘The DRM, Western Railways, Bhavnagar (Gujarat), is directed to consider recovery of the expenditure incurred on the officials for attending hearing on January 15, 2010 from the salary of the appellant, who is held responsible for misusing the provisions of the RTI Act by filing frivolous petitions before the Commission even though there are no refusal of information to him,” CIC M M Ansari said.

There are no provisions in the RTI Act for punishing or slapping penal provisions on an information-seeker and this is the first time that an applicant has been asked to shell out costs incurred by the government for what the CIC has ruled as ‘‘frivolous’’.

Eva Molnar, director of transport division of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), said, “India was a contracting part to the 1948 UN convention on road traffic, but it is yet to sign the 1968 agreement on it.” This means that other countries are not legally bound to accept the international driving licences issued by Indian authorities. “Once India signs the agreement, it has to follow certain standards,’’ she told TOI.

Molnar, however, added that they are not aware of how many people obtaining these licences are actually using them to drive in foreign countries. ‘‘Other countries might be accepting these licences only as a practice, but they can term them invalid in their land,’’ she said.

This came to light when a query was asked by corporator Kamlesh Singh under RTI Act. Kamlesh's question was: How many villages are going to be affected by the Ganga Expressway Project and what is the population of these villages and the number of families which are going to be affected?

The answer has been provided by Prabhu Shankar, under secretary in Industrial Development Section of the state government through letter number 4261(1)/77-3-09, dated January 11.

However, the authorities are silent on other questions pertaining to the Ganga Expressway project under the pretext of the matter being subjudice.

To a question that how many hectares of agricultural land would be acquired and the quantity of crops produced there, the answer was: According to the directives of Allahabad High Court issued on May 29, 2009, the government was told to obtain clearance on environment. The department said that it would be able to give information regarding agricultural land only after obtaining clearance. Pointedly, 14,705 hectares of land would be acquired.

Source: Times Of India Ganga Expressway project to affect 1,024 villages

The Haryana government has finally formulated and notified a scheme for mining construction material in Faridabad by laying the guidelines.

Mining lease would be given to private players for seven to 10 years.

The scheme also has a provision for the formation of an empowered committee headed by Chief Secretary to the Government of Haryana to monitor the compliance of the guidelines.

The notification issued on January 14 also makes it abundantly clear that the scheme may also be extended to Gurgaon (including Mewat) in due course of time, as and when the Supreme Court permits mining.

Source: Hindustan Times Haryana Okays Partial Mining In Aravali