On other hand, the Delhi Government is in no hurry to take up the issue of regularisation of three posh colonies - Sainik Farm, Anant Ram Dairy and Mahendru Enclave. "The people of affluent colonies can wait for regularisation," Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit told a news agency on Tuesday.

At a meeting of unauthorised colonies, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has ordered to expedite the regularisation process and provide better civic facilities to these colonies.

"Around 40 lakhs people are living in poor condition in the unauthorised colonies and regularisation would improve basic infrastructure and hence their living standard," Dikshit reportedly said.

The Cabinet note calls for the transfer of salary through the electronic clearing system (ECS) to the workers and staff, while the private firm needs to submit the record of the payment to the government before clearing their bills.

Kamat, who met Congress President Sonia Gandhi today, said the people of the State are opposed to SEZs. "We do not want anything against the wishes of the people," he added.

All India Congress Committee General Secretary B K Hari Prasad, who is also the party in-charge of Goa, added, "The Congress is with the people of the State on the issue."

The chief minister did not specify if he discussed the SEZ issue and the accompanying political problems in the State with Sonia.
Kamat said the SEZs can come up only on land where one crop is grown. "In Goa, two crops are grown. Moreover, land is a scarce commodity in the State," he said.

The chief minister said not much work has been done on the SEZs, approved by the previous National Democratic Alliance government so far. "We will apprise the courts of our position when the matter comes
up for hearing later this month," he added.

"There is no reason for any opposition for SEZs if promoters want to do it in a healthy way," Parsvnath SEZ Ltd, Director S N Sharma said.

Parsvnath is India's one of the leading SEZ promoters with 17 zones under their belt, of which four are notified in Nanded, Dehra Dun, Gurgaon and Indore.

He said the major issue is of land acquisition and promoters should discourage taking over the agricultural land.

"There is already legislation banning taking over of agricultural land for SEZs. That is being followed very strictly," Sharma said.

The SEZ promoters, IT companies and representatives of Kerala government today had brainstorming sessions on the IT SEZs here in South Goa.

Announcing the decision, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the move would help a large number of cinemagoers. A notification is being issued under the Delhi Entertainment and Betting Tax Act, 1996, to formalise the reduction in tax.

`Benefit public'

This means that the EMI for new customers will be Rs 1,033 for every Rs 1 lakh on a 20-year loan. For existing floating rate customers, the EMI will increase by Rs 34 for every Rs 1 lakh loan with an outstanding tenure of 20 years.

Under the revised rate structure, the floating rate for new borrowers is 11%, while the fixed rate is 14% a level last seen in the mid-90s. The rate hike will be effective from July 1.

Minutes after HDFC’s announcement, the country’s second-largest bank, ICICI also announced a 75 basis points hike in the fixed as well as floating home loan interest. The fixed loan interest for ICICI home loans will now be 14.75% possibly the costliest in the sector.

State Bank of India (SBI) has also decided to raise interest rates on home loans and auto financing by 50 bps on all credit linked to prime lending rates (PLR).

Even as the government is planning over 100 new parking lots and 25 multi-level parkings too to tide over the shortage of space, the survey found that the existing parking lots are bursting at their seams. At almost all the surveyed lots, including in areas like Connaught Place where the parking rates are very high, the vehicular demand is far exceeding the available space.

The most congested are parkings located at Old Delhi Railway Station where over 11 vehicles fight for each available slot, followed by Vishvavidyalaya Metro station with about the same demand, Karol Bagh, Janakpuri district centre and Kanhaiya Nagar Metro station. Office areas like Nehru Place and Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, and markets like South Extention and Vikas Marg too need immediate solutions.

Through a letter written on the behalf of Rajya Sabha Secretariat, Joint secretary Agnes Momin George has requested the Civic body to provide some office space to the secretariat on a priority basis as it has been facing shortage of office space.

The letter has mentioned that with the increase in staff strength and the number of senior cadres, there is hardly any sitting space in the offices of the chairman, Rajya Sabha or the officer's section of this secretariat to accommodate the increased staff strength.

The letter has also mentioned that the secretariat came to know of the MCD's plans to lease out half of the building to various Government departments through newspaper reports and that it has already leased out some office space to the Income Tax Department. The letter has requested the MCD to accord top priority while considering its proposal and inform the terms and conditions in this respect to the secretariat at the earliest.

The crematorium will come up at Karawal Nagar in north-east Delhi on a oneacre plot, which will also house a dog hospital. "We have received permission for the construction of the crematorium for which the area has already been identified," said MCD Director (Veterinary Services) R.B.S. Tyagi. The assessment would be soon done and tenders floated for the same, he added.

Stressing that it would be more economical and hygienic, Tyagi said a CNGbased incinerator would be used at the funeral parlour, which would reduce the body into ashes within 30 minutes. Stray dogs would be cremated for free.

The animals are currently disposed off at sanitary landfill sites. A few electrical crematoriums for animals in the capital are not functioning properly .

Investors, apart from getting the tariff as determined by the respective state regulatory commission, will get an incentive of Rs 0.50 per unit of electricity for a period of 10 years provided they do not claim the benefit of accelerated depreciation.

Minister of new and renewable energy Vilas Muttemwar said it was the ambitious target of 10,500 MW planned for 11th Plan period that prompted his ministry to find ways to attract new and large independent power producers in wind energy sector through an alternate generation-based scheme.

He said the scheme intends providing a level playing field to those investors who were unable to absorb the benefit of accelerated depreciation in the sector. “We hope independent power producers will expose wind power industry to market forces and competitive pressures, which can result in reduction in cost of equipment,” he added.

After fighting a long battle for 40 years with the New Delhi Municipal Council, shopkeepers of 15 markets in areas under its jurisdiction are still awaiting ownership of shops transferred to them by the civic body. In fact, the NDMC had passed a resolution in 2000 and 2002 resolving to transfer the same.