Kartik Lokhande's blog

Staff Reporter If you have obtained caste certificate/caste validity certificate through middlemen/agents, it will be treated as ‘false/bogus/forged’. Sounding an alert in this regard, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Research and Training Institute (BARTI) has cautioned the people that use of such certificate for ‘any reservation or any other benefit’ will attract action as per law. BARTI, an autonomous institute of State Department of Social Justice and Special Assistance, has issued an alert in this regard. Through the notice published in some newspapers, it has made it clear that obtaining certificates through middlemen/agents will be treated as ‘fraudulent act’. “Such fraudulent act is a cognisable offence and also a non-bailable one,” it added. Those committing such an act will be treated as ‘offenders’ and will be punished with rigorous imprisonment of two years and fine up to Rs 20,000. Further, the person who ‘abets such offence or encourages the commission of such offenc...

* With the commissioning of water treatment plant near Godhani, the city is likely to get 115 MLD additional water supply * Soon, State may release Rs 70 crore share of JnNURM works for the city By Kartik Lokhande  Pench-IV project to augment water supply to the Orange City, which has got delayed, will be commissioned on March 15 as per the new deadline. With the trial run and commissioning of the project on March 15, the city is likely to get 115 million litres per day (MLD) additional water supply. This was disclosed by Pravin Datke, Mayor, soon after a review meeting chaired by Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, at Ravi Bhavan here on Friday evening. Gadkari called the meeting to take stock of the progress of various developmental projects of the city. Shrawan Hardikar, Municipal Commissioner, and other officers of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) briefed the minister on the latest status of various projects including 24x7 water supply,...

By Kartik Lokhande Saturday, January 31, 2015, marked further worsening of the political situation in neighbouring nation of Bangladesh. After Begum Khaleda Zia, former Prime Minister and now Opposition leader, called a 72-hour nation-wide strike beginning Sunday, the authorities of Awami League ruled Bangladesh severed power supply to her home. The casualty in the turn of events was not political but educational -- Secondary School Certificate examinations were postponed affecting 1.5 million children. This has been the case in Bangladesh ever since the Awami League (AL) led by Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, came to power for third time in January 2014. The Opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP) led by Khaleda Zia, widow of former President General Ziaur Rahman, had boycotted the elections and launched political agitation against the ruling dispensation. However, this has not happened for the first time. Bangladesh has been a ...

* The recommendation, if implemented, will increase the cost of industry, mining, irrigation, and other projects tremendously By Kartik Lokhande  While the Centre and State Government both are talking of conducive atmosphere for industries and developmental projects, a High Level Committee appointed to look into the forest and environment related laws has made a recommendation that will increase projects costs tremendously. The High Level Committee on Forest and Environment Related Laws, which submitted its report to the Central Government recently has recommended that the Net Present Value (NPV) of forest land ‘should be increased at least five times’. While making this recommendation, the committee has observed that the NPV is currently ‘underestimated’. The committee was formed in August 2014 by Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change was headed by T S R Subramanian, former Union Cabinet Secretary. Vishwanath Anand, former Secretary to Government...

* All the slums in city to be handed over to NIT * NIT Chairman to co-ordinate with officers of various agencies to expedite different developmental projects in the district By Kartik Lokhande  The long-pending issues of 3,592 unauthorised layouts and 292 slums in the city may be resolved soon. Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Surface Transport, chaired a meeting of officers of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), and other agencies on Friday and asked them to complete the process for authorisation of the unauthorised layouts and regularisation of slums within three months. Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Guardian Minister of Nagpur district; Ranjit Patil, Minister of State for Urban Development; Pravin Datke, Mayor; Shyam Wardhane, NIT Chairman; Shravan Hardikar, Municipal Commissioner; Abhishek Krishna, District Collector were present prominently in the important meeting held at NIT on Friday afternoon. “The regularisation of unauthorised l...

By Kartik Lokhande  Three girl students of Government Ashram School at Laheri village in Maoist-affected Bhamragad tehsil of Gadchiroli district, who are missing for about 25 days now, are suspected to have been ‘taken away’ by the Left Wing Extremists. A fact-finding team from Nagpur has come to this conclusion after visiting the school and villages. As was published by ‘The Hitavada’ earlier, these three girl students of Government Ashram School at Laheri village had gone missing since January 3. The girls are aged 16, 15, and 14 years and hail from Malampaddur, Hindewada, and Keyar villages respectively. One of the parents had lodged a missing person’s complaint with Laheri Sub Police Station after which offence under Sections 364, 365, and 366 of the Indian Penal Code was registered against unidentified ‘kidnappers’. Police teams were dispatched to trace these girls. The members of the fact-finding team from Nagpur comprising Prof Arvind Sovani, Prof Rashmi Para...

By Kartik Lokhande  Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Guardian Minister of Nagpur district, asked the investors in Multimodal International Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to start work on respective units within three months. Else, he warned, the Government will cancel their land allotment in MIHAN-SEZ area. Adopting a tough stand and taking a major step towards realisation of the dream of MIHAN-SEZ, Bawankule sent across this message to representatives of various investors in a meeting held in Mumbai on Wednesday. “There are investors including some big names who have got land in MIHAN-SEZ but have not started work on their units here. Such idle investment will not take the ambitious project any further, and also not yield any positive results for development of the region. Hence, I asked them to commence the work on their units within three months and also submit a quarterly report of progress,” Bawankule told ‘The Hitavada’ over telepho...

* Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis hard-sells Vidarbha region’s strengths to industrial giants at World Economic Forum * Government also projects Amravati, Nagpur as possible investment destinations for Toray International, Diageo By Kartik Lokhande  With the shifting of power-balance in its favour, things are changing for the better for Vidarbha region. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who hails from the region, projected Nagpur and Amravati as investment destinations for international giants during World Economic Forum meet at Davos. In fact, Maharashtra Government has offered land near Nagpur to Safran Aerospace. Safran is a French multinational aircraft and rocket-engine, aerospace-component manufacturer. The Government has offered it land in Nagpur given the existing ecosystem in the region for this sector. “Already, Nagpur area has got investment environment in aviation sector with Boeing coming up with its Maintenance-Repair-Overhaul unit. Given the scale and e...

  Press Information Bureau Government Of India Nagpur                                                                                                                                       Date: 27 th Jan. 2015 English Rendering of Transcript of the special episode of Mann ki Baat:  PM Shri Narendra Modi and US President Shr...

* Government also mulling over introducing Rotavirus, Pentavalent, Measles and Rubella vaccines in immunisation drive By Kartik Lokhande  After using Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) in immunisation drive for years together, the Government of India will soon introduce Injectable Polio Vaccine (IPV) in the drive anytime after April this year, said Dr Mohammad Sajid, Surveillance Medical Officer, World Health Organisation (WHO). Not only this, but the Government is also mulling over introducing various other vaccines in immunisation drive. These include Rotavirus, Pentavalennt, Measles and Rubella vaccines. Already, Pentavalent vaccine is being administered in 11 states of India. It protects children from five infections namely Diphtheria, Pertussis, Hepatitis B, Tetanus and Hemophilias Influenza B. Pentavalent vaccine will be launched in Gadchiroli from April and preparations are under way. “The vaccine on Measles and Rubella will be introduced as the Government wants to achi...

* Report brings to fore discrepancies involving transactions amounting to a whopping Rs 1,408.12 crore By Kartik Lokhande Several discrepancies, unrecovered amounts, incorrect depiction of Government grant, negative balance, absence of records. These are just a few of the observations recorded in the official report of Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA). But, there is more to it. The report, tabled during winter session of State Legislature last month, has observed on record that the ‘risk of misappropriation/fraud etc cannot be ruled out’. Comptroller and Auditor General of India prepared a Separate Audit Report (SAR) on the Accounts of MHADA for the financial year 2012-13. After the audit of balance sheets made available by MHADA, Principal Accountant General (Audit) submitted the report to MHADA on June 12, 2014. The audit observations were incorporated in MHADA’s Annual Account and Statement of Account for the year 2012-13. This report came up...

By Kartik Lokhande The terror attack on French satirical newspaper ‘Charlie Hebdo’ has once again pushed to the centre-stage the debate over freedom of press vis-a-vis intolerance. The incident has evoked a wide range of expressions from extreme liberals, selective liberals, liberal-yet-cautious, angered, radicals and mere observers. Interestingly, the tone of almost every one of these sections, except for radicals that are more inclined towards terrorists, is that no art should ever be ‘countered’ with killings. And, here, the purpose of perpetrators of the attack on ‘Charlie Hebdo’ stands defeated. In fact, the killings have evoked such sharp reactions from across the world that those wielding the gun to silence the media are under an unprecedented torrent of criticism and condemnation. Even the cartoonists from countries like Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine have condemned Islamic terrorists (belonging to Yemeni arm of Al Qaeda, according to reports of Al Jazeera) ...

* Out of the cockpit, I am a Government servant, says Air Marshal S B Deo, a Nagpurian, who is now Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Air Command, Indian Air Force By Kartik Lokhande  He is one man who every Nagpurian should be proud of. Blessed with unassuming personality, charming smile, contemplative face, brilliant mind, and kind-hearted, he is one of the top leaders of the Indian Air Force (IAF). Meet Air Marshal Shirish Baban Deo AVSM VM VSM, a Nagpurian, who has taken over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of Eastern Air Command of the IAF on the very first day of this year. Air Marshal S B Deo (Pic by Umesh Varma/Moonlight) A highly decorated officer, who has served as Director General (Operations) at Air Headquarters, Air Marshal S B Deo is a man with vision, mission, and deep attachment to his uniform. “For me, my uniform means Mission, Excellence, and Integrity. It instills in us a sense that we have got a job to do (Mission), that...

* NMC to create special cell to monitor solid waste management Staff Reporter “There are no plans to shift Bhandewadi dumping yard elsewhere for now at least till the year 2017. We are searching for a place to shift the dumping yard,” said Ramesh Singare, Chairman of Health Committee of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). Singare, however, refused to disclose the areas outside the city limits where land was identified for shifting of dumping yard from Bhandewadi. “We cannot disclose it at this stage, as there is likelihood of protests from people in those areas,” he added while addressing a press conference in Mayor’s chamber on Friday evening. Replying to a question, Singare and senior corporator Sunil Agrawal said that 973 tonnes of garbage was being lifted daily. Of this, 850 tonnes was garbage and remaining was silt and stones. In all, 208 vehicles had been deployed to collect garbage. Asked about action taken against the contractor firm that had attracted stricture...

  * Total 495 claims of individual forest rights and 125 claims of community forest rights approved by district-level committee By Kartik Lokhande Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Energy Minister and Guardian Minister of district, took stock of various developmental works in the district and requirement of zudpi jungle land ffor the same. He assured to strive for getting zudpi jungle land. Bawankule chaired a meeting of District-level Forest Rights Committee at Abasaheb Khedkar Hall in Zilla Parishad (ZP) premises here on Friday. In the meeting, it was informed that Nagpur district had total forest area of 2,39,799 hectares including 68,566 hectares of reserved forest, 63,273 hectares of protected forest, 14,131 hectares of zudpi jungle land with Forest Department, 62,573 hectares of wildlife sanctuary, and 31,147 hectares with Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra. So far, a total of 495 claims of individual forest rights and 125 claims of community forest rights ...

* Industrial and municipal water requirements including those of Nagpur city by the year 2050 are proposed to be served utilising 253 Mm3 * At the price-level of 2007-08, the cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 8,294.26 crore * Chief Minister urges Union Minister Uma Bharti to declare Lower Painganga as national project By Kartik Lokhande Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Thursday, met Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti and urged her to expedite various irrigation projects in Maharashtra. Fadnavis also requested Uma Bharti to expedite the Wainganga-Nalganga river linking project in Vidarbha, and taking up Lower Painganga in the region as national project. Already, National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has taken up Wainganga-Nalganga river linking project for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR). Wainganga (Gosikhurd)-Nalganga (Purna Tapi) Intra State Link Project is proposed by Maharashtra Government, and it envisages diversion of 2,721 Mm3 of wa...