The Delhi government on Wednesday approved a proposal seeking a hike in the salaries of members of legislative assembly and ministers by up to 300 percent, citing inflation and increased cost of living in the capital, three months after the Centre rejected a similar request. A meeting of the Delhi Cabinet presided by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit cleared the proposal, which will now be sent to the home ministry for approval.
Contrary to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's claim that money was not diverted from SC welfare schemes, Delhi government has used funds from these programmes on various Commonwealth Games projects, arguing that these facilities will also be used by members of scheduled caste.
As Delhi gets ready to welcome thousands of tourists and participants from 71 countries this October, rediff.com takes a look at some of the measures that the administration has taken to make them feel at home.
After several missed deadlines, the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main venue for the Commonwealth Games, was finally inaugurated by Sports Minister M S Gill and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Saturday admitted that it would have been better if the Delhi police had not arrested social activist Anna Hazare.
The Commonwealth Games delegation that visited the sporting facilities in New Delhi to take stock of the work for the 2010 Games has "gone back happy", Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit said on Friday. The delegation members had their "doubts cleared" with the organising committee of the Commonwealth Games and also the Delhi Government, Dikshit said.
Expressing concern over a spurt in the number of rape cases in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has asked the city police to be more 'vigilant and prompt' in ensuring safety for women and "end the atmosphere of panic."
An application filed under the Right to Information Act has revealed that Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had overridden the suggestion by state home secretary for a 15-day parole to Jessica Lall murder convict Manu Sharma and instead extended it to one month.
Dikshit is said to have issued a letter to all ministers and Congress MLAs asking them to follow the decision of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and party president Sonia Gandhi in practicing austerity.
Gross state domestic product of the city went up by 10.53 per cent.
Delhi may become the first state to move to direct cash pay-outs of subsidies on kerosene sold through the public distribution system (PDS). The petroleum ministry said it has "welcomed" a proposal to this effect from the Planning Commission, which acted on a plan suggested by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
Autos in the national capital, best known for fleecing commuters, may soon be taken off the roads with city government mulling a proposal to replace them with eco-friendly battery operated vehicles.
No major glitches in electronic voting machines were reported and the voting passed off peacefully with high security observed at the 3,360 critical booths in 493 locations where more than 25,000 police personnel, nearly 13,000 home guards and 100 companies of paramilitary forces were deployed, officials said.
Dikshit said. According to highly placed sources, the government rejected Sreedharan's resignation as it viewed that his continuation was necessary for successful completion of projects related to Delhi Metro ahead of the Commonwealth Games next year.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday appealed to people in the city not to panic in the wake of reports that a drug resistant bacteria had been found in Delhi's public water supply. The Delhi Jal Board had rejected the findings of international scientific journal Lancet, she said. "The Delhi Jal Board has very categorically said that this is not the case. I am in touch with the CEO and he said that it is not so. So please don't spread panic," she said.
With all the reports of "filth" in the Games Village really hitting the country's image hard, the prime minister took Sports Minister M S Gill and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to task at a meeting on Thursday night. According to sources, Lt Governor of New Delhi Tejinder Khanna was "shivering" while responding to him
As the month-long countdown for the Commonwealth Games begins, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi, in the line of fire for tardy preparations, voiced confidence that 'hitches' will be overcome and the event will be a great success.
Forest land in the state could be used for plantation of biofuel crops like Jatropha, chief minister Sheila Dikshit said.
The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Sheila Dikshit.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who is under attack for recommending parole to Manu Sharma, who is serving life imprisonment in the Jessica Lall murder case, on Monday said the move was within the 'legal purview'."Whatever has been done is within the legal purview. It (recommending parole) has been done after taking suggestions from everybody (concerned agencies)," Dikshit said when asked on what basis Sharma was granted parole.
With questions being raised over the delay in clearing the mercy petition file of death row convict Afzal Guru, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday said it took longer time to take a decision on the issue because of its sensitive nature.
President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday paid homage to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 17th death anniversary. Amid a continuous drizzle, the departed leader's widow and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, along with her son Rahul and daughter Priyanka Vadra, reached his memorial 'Vir Bhumi' to pay their tributes. A prayer meeting was organised in the premises of the memorial.
Racing against time to complete all the projects linked to next year's Commonwealth Games, the Delhi government has sought additional funds from the Centre to expedite work related to the mega sporting event.
Prince Edward has given a thumbs-up to the infrastructure coming up for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the capital, the organisers claimed in New Delhi, on Sunday. The Prince showed interest in understanding the infrastructure development in Delhi and the level of the preparedness of the Organising Committee.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said on Friday that the Union home ministry would decide on the file pertaining to Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's mercy petition.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday said she was not aware of any letter sent by the Union home ministry seeking her government's comments on the mercy petition filed by Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has received a threat to her life, top official sources in the state government said on Saturday. They said a call was made to a police wireless set threatening that Dikshit's life was in danger. A senior police official said they are investigating the matter.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said on Thursday that her government is inquiring into how a radioactive material reached a scrap dealer from Delhi University. The origin of the radioactive Cobalt-60 found in west Delhi's Mayapuri, which led to the death of one person, was traced to Delhi University's Chemistry Department where it was lying unused since the last 25 years.
The austerity bug seems to have bitten the Delhi Government also with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit asking her ministers and Congress MLAs to voluntarily take 20 per cent less salary, on Tuesday.
India is somewhat nervous over the build-up for next year's Commonwealth Games, New Delhi chief minister said on Monday after new concerns over staging the Games. 'See, we are satisfied, but we are also nervous,' chief minister Sheila Dikshit told reporters, a day after tardy progress of various games-related work was again thrust into the spotlight.
Five girls were today killed and 27 other students injured, five of them critically, in a stampede triggered by rumours of a short circuit in a government school flooded with rain water in North East Delhi.
Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat has termed his Gujarat counterpart and firebrand Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi as his 'best friend'. During a press briefing, Kamat said Modi was his 'best friend' and added that he will visit Gujarat if the state government invites him. "When I am in Delhi for any conference, I have Sheila Dikshit on one side and Narendra Modi on the other. He is my best friend," Kamat, who was earlier in the BJP, told media persons.
About 410 petrol pumps in the national capital were to shut shop on Friday to protest against the hike in the VAT rate on diesel, which was driving vehicles to neighbouring Gurgaon for refueling.
Sheila Dikshit answers the question everyone is asking: 'What after the Commonwealth Games'?
While Sheila Dikshit, chief minister of Delhi registered an unprecedented third victory in the assembly elections, Vijay Kumar Malhotra the Bharatiya Janata Party's chief ministerial candidate is still trying to come to grips with the hard realities of life.
"Thank God, we don't have a Bal Thackeray here," declared Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Saturday, while calling Delhi a unique city where people from across the country can live comfortably. In an apparent reference to the attacks against north Indians in Mumbai by members of the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Dikshit said, "Everyone knows what is happening in Mumbai. It certainly does not happen here. Thank God, we don't have a Bal Thackeray here."
Poonam, the wife of cricketer-turned-politician Kirti Azad, was lobbying for Patparganj constituency in east Delhi. She came to the BJP central headquarters and submitted her resignation after the seat was alloted to Nakul Bharadwaj, a former student's leader
The Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan on Monday withdrew his resignation from the post, a day after he put in his papers owning moral responsibility for an accident at a construction site in which six people were killed.
Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan on Monday inspected the site where an under-construction bridge collapsed on Sunday night, killing six people. Sreedharan, who on Sunday resigned from the post owning moral responsibility for the mishap, visited the accident site to take stock of the situation. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has rejected his resignation. Rains had hampered clearing operations at the site on Sunday night, where huge cranes are being used to clear the debris.
The Delhi government has begun the process of "plugging the loopholes" in price control mechanism of essential commodities in the city and plans to bring in a new law, if necessary, to strengthen the system.
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