Kartik Lokhande's blog

Published in The Hitavada CityLine on June 28, 2013 Nagpur Flying Club gets registered as Govt co * Also gets Income Tax exemption Staff Reporter Nagpur Flying Club Private Limited is now Nagpur Flying Club. The change, which appears to be minor, is actually a major step forward for the Club towards becoming a professionally run Government company. The change has been effected following its registration under Section 25 of the Company Law. Now, Nagpur Flying Club is fully-owned Government company. Recently, it also got Income Tax exemption. B V Gopala Reddy, Divisional Commissioner and Chairman of Nagpur Flying Club, received this intimation on June 25. How do these changes affect the training provided at the Club? “These developments are major. Registration as a Government company and Income Tax exemption will provide relief to students and their parents as they will not have to bear the burden of paying service tax at the time of securing admissions,” said M A H Khan, Managi...

The Hitavada CityLine; June 27, 2013 Nagpurian providing ‘Rahat’ to pilgrims in Uttarakhand By Kartik Lokhande Relief is not about getting something. It is more about giving, extending a helping hand to those in trouble. This is exactly what a Nagpurian is doing in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand. Braving all odds including the inclement weather and inadequate support systems, Wing Commander Ravi C Pathak is heading a detachment of the Indian Air Force (IAF) engaged in ‘Operation Rahat’ to rescue people trapped and stranded at various places in the devastated region. Wg Cdr Ravi Pathak, who is Commanding Officer of Sarang helicopter display team based in Coimbatore, was in Hyderabad for a display on June 17. The same night, he got a call to move to Uttarakhand to execute ‘Operation Rahat’ launched to rescue and provide relief to people trapped in slush-covered areas near Kedarnath and other areas. Responding swiftly to call of duty, he and his team reached the designated spot by the...

The Hitavada CityLine; June 14, 2013 Scam-stung WRD decides  to focus on ‘Vision-2020’ * Constitutes eight groups to study various issues ranging from timely completion of irrigation projects to institutional restructuring and reforms Staff Reporter After a series of controversies, White Paper on irrigation, constitution of special inquiry team (SIT) and getting caught in political storm; Water Resources Department (WRD) is now concentrating on reforms. It has decided to prepare ‘Vision-2020’ document and has constituted eight study groups for the purpose. The decision to constitute groups with different study areas was taken in two meetings of senior officers of the department. The meetings were held on May 31 and June 1. Principal Secretaries of WRD and Command Area Development were present in the meetings. The areas identified for different groups are -- improving water use efficiency, timely completion of irrigation projects, institutional restructuring and...

Despite digitisation of cable TV, State raises revenue target by Rs 30 cr only * Some feel that the target is too low considering tremendous rise in number of cable TV connections reported, while others feel target revision is ‘realistic’ * While Mumbai’s target has been raised by Rs 1 crore only, that of Nagpur has been increased by Rs 1.75 crore By Kartik Lokhande Prior to digitisation of cable television, there was an occasion when target for revision of entertainment duty collection for Nagpur Division alone was revised by Rs 13 crore in a year. In the first year after digitisation of cable TV, however, Nagpur Division’s target has been revised by Rs 1.75 crore only. Same is the case with other major cities in Maharashtra that saw digitisation of cable TV. The Hitavada CityLine, June 14, 2013 Prior to digitisation of cable TV or installation of set top boxes (STBs), number of cable TV connections in Nagpur district were 88,000 only. The target for collection of enterta...

Published in The Hitavada CityLine on June 12, 2013 TRAI warns cable TV subscribers of deactivation of services if... * They fail to submit duly filled in consumer application form to cable TV MSO  Staff Reporter Did your cable television operator give you consumer application form to fill up? If yes, did you fill it up with all requisite details? If no, did you ask the operator to provide you the form? If you are a cable television subscriber, you need to have answers for these questions ready. For, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a warning to all subscribers to submit duly filled in consumer application form (CAF) by June 25. Else, subscribers will face deactivation of the cable TV services. As per the latest directive of TRAI, it has been mandatory for all cable TV subscribers to submit CAF to respective to cable operator/multi-system operator (MSO). CAF must carry all required details including choice of channels/services. If a subscriber doe...

Monsoon arrives on time in Vidarbha * Likely to reach Nagpur on Monday * This is fastest advance of Monsoon in past 10 years Staff Reporter Monsoon is infamous for skipping dates. But, this time, it appears to have decided to earn reputation for being on time from Day One of its arrival in coastal areas down south of the country. Monsoon has arrived in southern parts of Vidarbha, on expected dates. It is likely to reach Nagpur on Monday. According to Met Office here, the South-West Monsoon has further advanced into parts of Central Arabian Sea, Konkan, Marathwada, and Telangana; some parts of North Arabian Sea, southern parts of Saurashtra and Gujarat region; most parts of central Maharashtra; some parts of Vidarbha and some more parts of South Chhattisgarh. Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has predicted thunder squall at isolated places over Vidarbha till Monday.   A S Khan, Duty Officer at Nagpur Met Office, told ‘The Hitavada’ that Monsoon had arrived i...

Published in The Hitavada CityLine on June 7, 2013 Govt to assess impact of chain weirs Staff Reporter Maharashtra Government has decided to assess the impact of chain cement-concrete weirs constructed to store water of nullahs across the State. The weirs are being constructed on a large scale to achieve the desired impact of water refilling. However, no deadline has been set for evaluation. The scheme of construction of chain weirs was launched in the year 2012-13 to ensure increase in groundwater level, protected irrigation for agriculture, tackling drinking water problem for humans as well as animals, and to increase employment and self-employment opportunities. For the purpose, funds are being utilised through various existing schemes and heads. However, now the Government wants to evaluate changes effected by the weirs. Water Conservation Department of the Government has fixed parameters on which performance of these chain weirs will be evaluated. These parameters includ...

(Published in The Hitavada CityLine on June 5, 2013) 511 villages in Nagpur Division are flood-prone * Around half of these villages are in Nagpur district alone * 30 tehsils in the division report more deaths in lightning strikes Staff Reporter With the pre-monsoon showers dropping enough hint of monsoon coming soon, the administration has stepped up its initiatives for better disaster preparedness. In a recently held review of situation in Nagpur Division, it came to fore that as many as 511 villages in six districts of the division are flood-prone. The review also revealed that 30 tehsils in the division saw more number of deaths due to lightning strikes. Of these 521 villages, maximum 228 are in Nagpur district alone. The district has seven main rivers namely Wardha, Wainganga, Kanhan, Vena, Pench, Nand, and Jami. A senior officer in the administration said that rise in population had created a tricky situation for all. The new poor families prefer to construct huts o...

World Environment Day Special Maharashtra lost more forest land for agriculture than developmental projects * Forest land diverted for developmental projects was 6,625 hectares as against 93,467 hectares diverted for agricultural purposes under distribution of forest rights Staff Reporter If one goes by hue and cry over utilisation of forest land, one gets an impression that more and more forest land is being lost for developmental projects. However, official data received by an NGO reveals a different picture. As per the data, Maharashtra has lost 14 times more forest land for agriculture (under distribution of forest rights) than developmental projects in six years between 2006-07 and 2011-12. Forest Department statistics available to Satpuda Foundation has brought to fore this shocking fact. The entire forest land diverted under Forest Conservation Act for all developmental (infrastructure) projects in Maharashtra during 2005-2011 was 6,625 hectares. This much of forest lan...