Kartik Lokhande's blog

Regularise pre-Jan 2013 unauthorised constructions in rural areas: Govt panel * Also recommends scrapping the ‘concept of obtaining NA permission’ on the line of step taken by Madhya Pradesh Government * Panel favours making it mandatory for contractor/builder to register with respective municipal corporation/municipal council/District Collector * FIR to be lodged against Sarpanch, deputy, member of Gram Panchayat who grants protection/permission to unauthorised construction in respective areas * Several legal and administrative changes also have been recommended by the panel By Kartik Lokhande Finally, the cat is out of the bag. What was expected all these years, has come out in black-and-white in the report of the High-level Committee appointed by Maharashtra Government to curb unauthorised/illegal constructions in rural areas in the vicinity of major cities including Nagpur. The committee has recommended regularisation of all such unauthorised constructions that came...

Revisiting old books ‘Fountainhead’ of cognition: Good, bad, and indifferent By Sonali Maokar-Kelapure I must agree that in her all sincere endeavour, Ayn Rand is really successful in proving, “At the dawn of their lives, men seek a noble vision of man’s nature and of life’s potential, and, if sufficiently held on, the fire takes one to higher realms.” Reading ‘The Fountainhead’ was like a total brainwash. It takes us out of our sluggish, stagnated knowledge of philosophy of life. It brings us down to earth where life is for living and not for thinking. The illusion of so-called knowledge, in her words -- second-hand knowledge -- gets washed off. If the story is set apart (because characters and story can be twisted from any possible perspective), the thought presented by the author is truly original. It takes courage to jot down the thoughts in their nakedness. I liked the lines in introduction, “It is not in the nature of man -- nor of any living entity -- to star...

Staff Reporter The excessive rainfall in Nagpur Division has inflicted heavy damage to roads and bridges in six districts. As per the estimates of Public Works Department (PWD), the damage is worth a whopping Rs 596 crore! Besides, loss to Government properties has been assessed to be worth Rs 5.60 crore. According to PWD officials, the rains this year have been ‘extra-ordinary’. The rainfall paralysed life in urban and rural areas in six districts of Nagpur Division namely Nagpur, Wardha, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Bhandara, and Gondia. In the division, PWD maintains road length of 12,590 kms. This year, excessive rainfall was received on June 26, July 19, and July 27 apart from other spells of excessive rainfall in various parts of the division. Published in The Hitavada CityLine on August 7, 2013 PWD assessed the damage caused to roads, bridges, and Government properties till July 27. The rains damaged road length of 3,309 kms and 122 bridges. According to PWD ...

Rs 186.88 cr for new schemes under Human Devpt Mission * 1,375 anganwadi buildings, 375 health sub-centres, and 3,125 study rooms are to be constructed under three new schemes in 125 tehsils across the State * These tehsils include 60 from Vidarbha region Staff Reporter Here is a news that holds promise of giving a boost to rural development in backward areas of Vidarbha region. Planning Department has cleared three new schemes under Human Development Mission (HDM), which is being implemented in 125 tehsils across the State including 60 from Vidarbha region. HDM was launched in 25 tehsils of 12 districts. From the financial year 2011-12, it is being implemented in 125 tehsils of 22 districts. These include Buldhana, Akola, Washim, Amravati, Yavatmal, Nagpur, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur, and Gadchiroli from Vidarbha region. For the purpose of implementation of the programme, Class ‘C’ municipal councils and rural areas of selected tehsils. Already, various schemes und...

First Person Account Of cloud-burst and undesirable romance with the rain By Kartik Lokhande NAGPUR, July 31, 2013: Traffic trickled in absolute slow-motion as strong currents of water, which came with heaviest spell of rainfall this season, sapped roads in almost all the parts of the city. Drivers literally navigated their vehicles through knee-deep waters, and pedestrians were left with no choice but to get soaked to the bone. These scenes were very common across the Orange City on Wednesday evening. It all started, after a short span of golden sunshine, with the pleasant rainfall in the morning returning in furious mood after a short break in the afternoon. The rainfall started when I was on way to Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to cover a press conference, as is the part of every journalist’s duty. it was roughly around 3.45 pm when rainfall started. I was near Maharajbagh and rushed to NMC, where I heaved a sigh of relief with a hot cup of tea that also took som...