NEW DELHI: Garnering finances for putting up a world-class infrastructure for the 2010 Commonwealth Games is no longer going to be a big worry for the Delhi Government. The windfall in revenue collections since the introduction of the much talked about Value Added Tax (VAT) in the Capital on April 1 last year, overshooting targets by hundreds of crores, has put Delhi on the growth powerhouse helping it emerge as the top State for performance under the VAT regime.
The most remarkable part of this success story has been the turnaround from a depressing scenario three years ago to buoyant collections with government coffers overflowing. The man credited with much of this success is the State Trade and Taxation Commissioner Rajni Kant Verma who has toiled hard along with his team of officials for the past three financial years to pull Delhi out from a meagre 5 per cent growth during 2002-03 to a record-breaking growth of 32 per cent.
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New Delhi : The Delhi government today slashed petrol and diesel prices by 67 paise and 22 paise per litre respectively.
The Centre last week raised petrol prices by Rs four per litre, and diesel by Rs two per litre. The government has decided to waive Value Added Tax on the hiked portion of the petrol and diesel price, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said after a cabinet meeting. The VAT rate is 20% for petrol and 12.5 % for diesel in Delhi.
Petrol will now cost Rs 46.83 per litre and diesel Rs 32.25 per litre. The government would have
It is business as usual at the Delhi and Mumbai airports which passed into private hands earlier this week with airline officials and passengers still to feel any change in their travel experiences.
Some cosmetic changes have come about in Delhi but there has been no perceptible improvement. The change in management has not resulted in any change in the officials who were managing the airports under the old regime and passengers are still going through the same inconveniences that they were experiencing earlier, a senior official of a low cost airline said.
The management of the two metro airports
New Delhi : No matter which state one is from, the capital is one of the choicest destinations for higher studies. But students in far-off Assam battle lack of information, while a frugal marking system in the state poses a hindrance to the pursuit of an academic career.
Says Rajib Singha Borah, president of the Luitporia Youth Forum, a group that helps students from Assam at Delhi University: Information about admissions, cut-off marks and courses here are hardly known to students and guardians in the state.
August 29 is a significant day for Indian sportspeople. It is the birth anniversary of hockey legend Dhyanchand and that is why the countrys top sporting honours are given out on this day by the President.
This year Pankaj Advani got the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna at the Darbar Hall in Rashtrapati Bhawan. The 21-year-old is one of the youngest recipients of Indias top sporting honour.
Its important for a sportsman to keep performing. This is of course a huge honour, to get the countrys highest prize, but I must keep winning. My next target will be the Doha Asian Games,
Delhi has sought the opinion of states, especially neighbouring Haryana and Punjab, before announcing any cut in petrol and diesel prices.
A day before the crucial Delhi Cabinet meeting on petrol and diesel prices, the government asked Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu about the quantum of cut in the prices.
Delhi finance minister A K Walia spoke to finance ministers of other states to ask how they have reached a specific decision on the issue.
According to sources, Delhi government is keen to see what the neighbouring Congress-ruled states do in the present scenario.
At present, Delhi