Chidambaram inaugurates tallest building of Delhi

New Delhi, Apr 22 (UNI) Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today inaugurated the new headquarters of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the tallest building in the capital.

The Rs 650-crore building, situated at the Minto Road-Jawaharlal Nehru Marg intersection, boasts of a completely moderninfrastructure, including two helipads, a 1000-seater auditorium, art gallery and restaurant.

Praising the newly-constructed Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Civic Centre for its world class standard, Mr Chidambaram said, ''This civic centre has been long overdue and we are truly proud of this magnificent building that will be a landmark for many years to come.''

The work of the civic centre does not stop with the inauguration and every road, school, hospital, electricity connection, parks in Delhi should be touched by quality, he added.

''Residents of a country take pride in world class things so there should be no compromise in quality,'' Mr Chidambaram opined.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani was the chiefguest on the occasion, while Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Delhi UrbanDevelopment and Finance Minister A K Walia and Leader of Oppostion in Assembly V K Malhotra graced the dias.

Mr Advani expressed happiness that the Civic Centre had beennamed after an able leader and patriot Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. The new 28-storey building will bring all the policy makers and offices of the corporation under one roof. The civic body looks after around 1400 sq km (96 per cent) of the Capital's area.

Many leaders in MCD hoped it would bring a change in the work culture of the corporation.

Sawhney emerges as a strong BJP candidate for mayor post

New Delhi, Apr 26 (UNI) Banking on the BJPs majority in the house, Pritivi Raj Sawhney who filed his nomination today, has emerged as a strong party candidate for the mayor post.

Amid air of discontent in the party, Mr Sawhney and Mr Rajesh Gehlot today filed nomination for the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively as thenomination process came to an end this evening.

From the Congress, Tulsi Ram Sablania, councilor from Karol Bagh, and Saranjit Sharma, from Pandav Nagar, filed their nomination for Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has made the contest triangular by fielding its candidates. Hari Chand Kardam and Sanjay Gupta presented their papers for the two posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively from the party.

Though it seems to be a one sided contest with the BJP occupying 172 out of the 272 seats in the House, the Congress is hoping against hope and calculating its chances on the reported discontent in the BJP.

''We are in continuous contact with several BJP councilors who are not happy with the decision of theirleadership. There will surely be cross voting during election. If our calculations go right, Mr Sablania will be the new Mayor,'' Leader of Oppostion in the MCD Jai Kishan Sharma said.

Three candidates also filed nomination for the posts of member of standing committee, lying vacant. Mr YogendraChandolia and Ms Sarita Choudhary of the BJP and Mr Jai Kishan Sharma of the Congress filed their papers.

These candidates have virtually won the contest as there are only three nominations for the three posts. Though two of its councilors are not eligible for voting, the BJP controls 175 votes including five MLAs in the MCD house. The Congress has 73 councilors plus eight MLAs and MPs each in the House while BSP has only 16 votes.

Delhi budget rocked MCD standing committee meeting

New Delhi, Mar 25 (UNI) In an apparent role reversal, the BJP today stalled the proceedings of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) standing committee meeting bringing a condemn motion against the Delhi government for its ''anti-people'' budget.

Councillors of both the parties were shouting slogans against each other.

While, the Congress was demanding roll back of hikes in community centre booking charges, tax on generator sets, house tax, parking and others, the BJP was critical of the budget presented by the Shiela government particularly increase in VAT rates and diesel prices.

Standing Committee chairman Ram Kishan Singhal said, ''Nothing has been spared out of tax ambit not even scrap. VAT was increased by one per cent few months ago now again it has been increased by 7.5 per cent, which is astronomical for the common people reeling under high inflation rate.''

Standing Committee member Vijender Gupta stated that due to high inflation rate cost of living in Delhi has gone up, however, the facilities available of the residents of the Capital have not seen much upgradation.

On the other hand, Leader of the Opposition in MCD Jai Kishan Sharma counter attacked the BJP and stated that they have no moral right to criticise the Delhi government as they themselves have increased the tax rates of many things.

''They have their government in nine states and the tax rates in all those states are higher than Delhi,'' Mr Sharma claimed.

Between this hullabaloo, meeting ended just after 20 minutes without any business.

One window clearance for tower operators on April 15, 16

New Delhi, Mar 25 (UNI) Providing relief to all the cellular tower operators, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) today decided to stop its sealing drive till April 16 and give one window service to regularise the towers.

''Tower operators were coming to us requesting to give some more time as they were finding it difficult to get their towers regularise. So, we have decided to stop the sealing drive till April

16,'' Chairman of the MCD Standing Committee Ram Kishan Singhal told UNI.

There are around 1543 towers in the Capital which do not have requisite certificates from the appropriate authorities. In its drive, the Civic Agency sealed around 266 such towers in different zones.

The Civic Agency has also decided to provide one window service to all the tower operators on April 15 and 16 to get clearance.

''We have also decided to open one window service for the operators on April 15 and 16 at MCD Commissioner's office. It is an opportunity for all the operators to get the requisite clearance

from the corporation,'' Mr Singhal said.

Except dispensaries and schools all other buildings are permissible for installing towers provided they fulfil all the norms, he added.

Malls to come under MCD Trade and Storage licencing policy

New Delhi, Jan 8 (UNI) Municipal Corporation of Delhi(MCD) has planned to bring new trades like shopping malls and gyms under the purview of its licencing policy and making the system of issuing and renewing of licence more easy, Delhi Mayor Kanwar Sain said today.

Asserting that since the enactment of the DMC Act in 1957 trade profile of Delhi has undergone vast transformation and several new trades and goods have come into existence, Dr Sain proposed to bring in new trades and goods under Trade and Storage policy.

These include trade and storage activities pertaining to computers and computers peripherals, branded shops in malls, branded eateries, home appliances, furnishings, mobiles, saloons and spa services, financial service offices and branded gyms.

''These new trades enjoy all the benefits and services which all other licence holders get and are also running a profit making business, so we have decided to bring them under the licence policy,'' the Mayor said.

Observing that the traders find the procedure for obtaining a licence cumbersome and time-consuming resulting in to hesitance to obtain one, he asserted that the new system will be ''simple, convenient, time saving and trader-friendly''.

''The licence will be readied and issued to the person concerned within 30 days of submission of the documents. Any anomaly, if found, in the documents, will be communicated to the applicant within 15 days of receipt of the application,'' Dr Sain said.

He said the applicant would also be issued a provisional certificate at the time of submission of applications which will allow him to carry on the business.

It has also planned to simplify the procedure of licence renewal by making it automatic. ''The licence will be automatically renewed unless there is violation of licencing terms and conditions,'' the Mayor said.

The MCD has also decided not to levy penalty on the arrears, which are to be calculated from the date of establishment of the premises.

There are around eight lakh traders out of which only 55 thousand are registered with the MCD causing a loss of revenue to the civic body to the tune of Rs 100 crore.
''With the introduction of the new system, the MCD is likely to generate additional revenue of up to Rs 100 crore per annum,'' Dr Sain informed.

The civic agency has also planned to grant a unique Customer Relationship Number (CRN) to all the registered traders and all future records will be kept against the same number.

New licences would be in the format of a Biocryptic Bar Coded Certificate and all the licencing units would have to mandatorily display the Certificate, he said.

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