Cabinet approves the buses under Clusters 6, 7, 8 and 9

The Delhi Cabinet on Monday paved the way for increasing the number of buses plying under the cluster scheme in Delhi to 3,000 by permitting the implementation of four new clusters. Following the Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said her Government has been trying hard to augment the fleet of public transport buses in Delhi.

INDIA’S BIGGEST lies hide behind its per capita figures. Our average income is $1,219 (approximately 68,300) and we are ranked 142nd in the world.

The recent hike in power tariffs announced by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission has hit the average consumer the hardest.

To understand the impact that the tariff hike will have on the aam aadmi , here is an illustration.A consumer who uses a modest 250 units of power, which means a cooler for six hours, apart from a few light bulbs, fans, electric iron, television, motor pump and a refrigerator every day will see a whopping 53 per cent jump in the monthly power bill from July 1.

When BJP councillor Mahendra Ahuja stood up in front of the Standing Committee on Thursday with a two litre bottle of what looked like an aerated drink, it may have seemed like he was planning to t

A new survey of water bodies in just one district of the Capital has thrown up alarming results -- encroachment, neglect and even disappearance. This, when the Delhi High Court has instructed the Government to step up efforts for water body preservation and restoration. Also, government agencies that are mandated to preserve these water bodies are actually responsible for encroachment in several areas.

The study that was conducted by Diwan Singh of the non-government organisation Natural Heritage First in South West Delhi between December 2011 and May 2012 assessed the present condition of water bodies in the city.

The R-Infra-controlled discoms, which meet about 70% of Delhi?s power needs, expect 35% jump in turnover

Tuesday’s increase in Delhi’s retail power rates would allow BSES, the Reliance Infrastructure-owned electricity distributor here, to garner an additional Rs 2,500 crore as turnover this financial year (2012-13). Also, the company said, Delhi residents can expect no load-shedding for the rest of this summer, as the raise would save BSES from an acute financial mess.

The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission delivered one more electric shock to the Capital’s citizens on Tuesday, announcing an increase of about 26% in the monthly power bills beginning July 1.

Announcing the revised electricity tariff for 2012-13, the regulator gave the power distribution companies an overall raise of 20.87% across various categories. In addition, all consumers will have to pay a surcharge of 8% on the total bill.

Power situation in the city is likely to improve soon with Reliance Industries Ltd. agreeing to supply gas to the Bawana power plant, built at a cost of Rs.4,500 crore, to facilitate generation of 750 MW of power.

“Reliance Industries Ltd. has agreed to supply the gas to the plant. The nitty-gritties of the final gas purchase agreement is being finalised,” a top official of the Delhi Government said.

Delhi has been named the most competitive city in India for its demonstrated ability to attract capital, business, talent and tourists by a new Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) research report.

The study, commissioned by the Citigroup, ranked Delhi at number 68 in the list of 120 of the world’s major cities. The national capital has edged out financial hub of Mumbai, which ranked 70th in the index, followed by Bangalore, India’s Silicon Valley, at 79th rank, Pune at 97, Chennai at 105 and Kolkata at 106.

All private car owners in the capital may soon have to go for a mandatory annual fitness test of their vehicles with the Delhi government all set to implement a two-year-old proposal aimed at reducing environment pollution.

As per the current norms, only commercial vehicles need to go for an annual fitness check while private vehicles which are more than 15 years also require to prove their road worthiness.