Kartik Lokhande's blog

By Kartik Lokhande  At the inaugural ceremony of the country’s biggest-ever agricultural exposition ‘Krishi Vasant’, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar predicted a record production of foodgrains this year. “The country is likely to achieve a record 263.3 million tonnes of foodgrain production. India is surely marching towards becoming a major foodgrain exporter,” he said. Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar (left) interacting with President of India Pranab Mukherjee (right) as Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan looks on, at inaugural session of 'Krishi Vasant' expo at Nagpur. Pawar, whose ministry is co-organiser of the five-day mega expo, said that foodgrain production in the country was 258 million tonnes the last year. Thanks to the efforts of farmers and scientists, he said, the production is likely to register an increase by 5.3 million tonnes. His prediction about record production of foodgrains holds significance, especially against t

Industry, agriculture must join hands: President * President of India Pranab Mukherjee inaugurates the country’s biggest-ever agriculture fair-cum-exposition ‘Krishi Vasant’ * The five-day exposition will continue till February 13 By Kartik Lokhande NAGPUR, Feb 9: President of India Pranab Mukherjee, on Sunday, called for industry and agriculture working hand-in-hand to achieve the desired growth rate of economy. He also advocated investment in research, food processing, and other sectors related to agriculture to provide a boost to economy. Mukherjee was addressing a gathering of farmers from various parts of the country, after inaugurating ‘Krishi Vasant’ agriculture fair-cum-exhibition at CICR campus here on Sunday. Union Ministry of Agriculture and Government of Maharashtra have organised the five-day exposition, in strategic partnership with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Referring to Food Security Act, Mukherjee said that sceptics were questioning how was it possib

* Frustrated by these and other ‘unlike party’ trends, some senior leaders and cadres in CPI (Maoist) have been breaking away from the organisation By Kartik Lokhande UNDATED, Feb 2: Power struggle and differences have intensified within CPI (Maoist) organisation over several issues. Frustrated with the differences and ‘suppression’ by Telugu leaders and cadres, many Maoists are breaking away or leaving or surrendering before police in the recent past. Though not many are coming out openly on issues that led to their decision, a senior cadre Sabyasachi Panda had spelled out those in his detailed letter to Maoist top brass in late 2012. Initially, the Maoist leadership reacted to the letter and specific observations made in it as an attempt to malign the party. However, in its latest meeting, Central Committee of CPI (Maoist) has admitted to ‘damage’ caused by ‘renegade’ Panda’s letter. What did ‘that’ letter contain? There were a lot many shocking observations made by

* With the advancing age of General Secretary of the banned ultra-Left outfit Ganapathy, discussions on line of succession are intense and allegations of ‘Telugu domination’ are growing By Kartik Lokhande UNDATED, Jan 20: Power is poison. It vitiates organisation, it is said. The banned ultra-Left outfit Communist Party of India (Maoist) is experiencing this nowadays. With the advancing age of its supreme commander Muppalla Laxmana Rao alias Ganapathy, a struggle for his position has intensified within the Maoist organisation. The power struggle that began some time ago has intensified and serious rifts are emerging in the top leadership of the Maoist organisation. CPI (Maoist) came into being in September 2004 after merger of two biggest ultra-Left groups namely People’s War (PW) active in southern and Central India, and Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI) active in northern parts of the country. Though the merger had taken place on ‘theoretical’ lines, some differences remained

* Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan projects Nagpur and discusses investment possibilities with multi-nationals including SABMiller Plc, IKEA, and Japan External Trade Organisation Staff Reporter Vidarbha region in general and Nagpur in particular have been attracting attention of major investors from across the world. This time, Maharashtra Government made it a point to promote Nagpur at the high-profile World Economic Forum meet held at Davos (Switzerland). Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan held discussions with several multi-national companies (MNCs) regarding investment possibilities in the region. Maharashtra Government delegation led by Chavan comprised Managing Director of CIDCO Sanjay Bhatia, Principal Secretary (Industries) Apurva Chandra, Chief Executive Officer of MIDC Bhushan Gagrani and others. The delegation held discussions with Zurich Airport; Cargill, largest privately held corporation in the US; SABMiller Plc, UK_based multi-national brewing and beverag

* However, only 606 proposals for aid have got the approval of State Government so far Staff Reporter In Gadchiroli district, despite a reign of terror unleashed by the Left Wing Extremists, more and more number of villages have said ‘no’ to Naxalites/Maoists. As many as 710 villages have adopted a resolution saying ‘no’ to entry of Naxalites/Maoists. However, the State Government could approve promised financial assistance in only 606 cases. In the year 2003, State Government launched a novel scheme ‘Gaonbandi Yojana’. Under the scheme, villages passing a resolution saying ‘no’ to entry of the outlaws were eligible to get financial assistance from State Government. The idea was to reward the Gram Panchayats/villages for showing trust in Government and refusing to support Naxalites/Maoists. In the very first year, 112 villages participated in the scheme. The next year, the number increase and more 115 villages said ‘no’ to outlaws. However, the very next year, the number

* Expresses strong displeasure over some State Governments not following the cut-off date scrupulously Staff Reporter The administrative activities ahead of Lok Sabha election are gaining momentum. Election Commission of India (ECI) has asked the State Government to transfer the officers who have completed their three-year tenure in a district or those serving in home district, by February 15. K Ajaya Kumar, Principal Secretary, ECI, has sent a letter in this regard to Chief Secretaries as well as Chief Electoral Officers of all the States and Union Territories. Ahead of general election to Lok Sabha, the ECI follows a policy wherein officers connected with the conduct of elections in States do not serve in their home districts or places where they have served for long. No officer connected with elections, directly or indirectly, should be allowed to continue in the present district of posting if it is his/her home district or if he/she has completed three years in a dis

  * Estate Managers entrusted with the task of completing the procedure of return of land * Estate Managers also asked to construct compound walls around WRD properties to protect them from encroachment Staff Reporter Almost one-and-a-half year after it decided to appoint Estate Managers to protect its immovable assets, Water Resources Department (WRD) has issued detailed guidelines etching out their duties. Among other duties, Estate Managers have been entrusted with the task of completing procedure for return of ‘unneeded’ land to administrative departments concerned. This comes as a major development. As per the guidelines issued on Wednesday, WRD has asked its subordinate offices to appoint Junior Engineers as Estate Managers at circle and division level. At the offices of Chief Engineer, Executive Director of irrigation development corporation, Director General etc, Deputy Engineers will be appointed as Estate Managers. These officers will be given no other tasks

Mumbai International Film Festival competition films’ screening in city * This is being done for the first time and the films in national and international competition sections will be screened at Central Railway’s Gunjan Hall Staff Reporter For the first time, the connoiseurs of films screened in national and international sections of Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) will be able to watch those in Nagpur. Films Division, the organiser of MIFF-2014, has decided to hold parallel screenings of competition section films in the city between February 4 and 9. “This is being done to give further impetus to the documentary film movement in the country. Films Division is taking the unique endeavour ‘MIFF Zone’ under which this is being done,” Anil Kumar Co-ordinator of MIFF-2014, told ‘The Hitavada’. According to Anil Kumar, MIFF has become a Mumbai-centric festival and many people -- despite being genuinely keen on watching competition section movies -- were not a