Kartik Lokhande's blog

* Govt takes cognisance of complaint filed by Nagpur-based NGO ‘Jan Manch’ and orders probe   By Kartik Lokhande  The BJP-led Maharashtra Government, on Tuesday, ordered probe into various irregularities in execution of Gosikhurd national project, Jigaon, and Lower Painganga irrigation projects in Vidarbha region. Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) started open enquiry into the irregularities in these projects. Girish Mahajan, Water Resources Minister, disclosed this to media after the Legislative Assembly was adjourned for the day in the afternoon hours. While announcing that ACB will conduct the probe, Mahajan said that the probe into Gosikhurd national project across river Wainganga was being ordered taking cognisance of a complaint lodged by Nagpur-based organisation Jan Manch. Earlier, on February 18, Maharashtra Government had ordered the ACB to conduct open enquiry into irregularities alleged in two different petitions regarding irrigation projects under VID...

By Kartik Lokhande Kiran Bedi, Shazia Ilmi, Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, Ajit Jha, Anand Kumar, Medha Patkar... The sequence of names indicates something. All of these persons have something in common. All of them have either resigned or were removed from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). They have another thing in common -- all of them talked of ‘disappointment’ and ‘dictatorial’ attitude of AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. Whatever may be the reason behind the recent episode of sacking, expulsion, criticism and allegations and counter-allegations from opponents and supporters of Kejriwal, one thing is clear that AAP may not ride high on its popularity as it did after Lok Sabha elections last year. For, the recent episode and happenings in various states brings to fore that something is very wrong with AAP. Some say it is ‘hunger for power’, some blame it on to ‘dictatorial’ attitude of Arvind Kejriwal, some say transparency has become a casualty in the party that owes its bir...

Staff Reporter Taking a serious cognisance of the ‘copy, deceive, paste’ job done by consultancy firm CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory while preparing draft City Development Plan (CDP), Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) administration has decided to look into the matter. “I shall look into the matter and examine the details,” said Shravan Hardikar, Municipal Commissioner, on Friday. He also sought the relevant documents from ‘The Hitavada’ to go into the details. Pravin Datke, Mayor, said that he would ask the Municipal Commissioner to conduct an enquiry into the matter and see that due credit of original researchers was given to them. Through a report published on CityLine front page on March 22, ‘The Hitavada’ had exposed the intellectual property fraud committed by CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory while preparing the draft CDP. The consultancy firm ‘copied’ and ‘pasted’ the findings from original research conducted by Yashwant Bhasker Katpatal, Professor, Department of...

* Chinese delegation led by Consul General (Mumbai) Zheng Xiyuan hold talks with NMC officials led by Mayor * The delegation to visit MIHAN on Saturday By Kartik Lokhande  Nagpur appears to be gaining deserving prominence on investment horizon, with the keen interest taken by BJP-led Maharashtra Government under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Close on the heels of French delegation’s visit to the city, a Chinese trade delegation led by Zheng Xiyuan, Consul General of China in Mumbai, also arrived on two-day visit to the city on Friday. The 14-member delegation proceeded to a Radisson Blu hotel, where it had an ‘informal’ discussion with Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) officials. Tanaji Satre, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of MADC; Sumit Mullick, Chief Protocol Officer; S J Moghe, Additional Secretary were present prominently. The delegation will pay a formal visit to Multimodal International Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) on Saturday morning...

By Kartik Lokhande During my visit to Mumbai 17 years ago, I got an opportunity to interact with an elderly British couple near Gateway of India in Mumbai. Though it took a little while to convince the couple to talk to the group of students, which I was a part of, the subsequent interaction was an eye opener for us. I still remember the contents of that interaction, whenever I read about developments in Education ‘sector’. The man, decorated with prestigious Order of the British Empire (OBE), was accompanying his affable wife studying music in India. When I asked him innocently whether every educated youth got a job in Britain, he laughed and replied, “Young man, you should ask whether every educated person in any country deserves a job. For, one may get educated, but may not be prepared for success in life.” Reading question on my face , he explained, “In our country, some places have a policy not to fail students. The youth coming out of schools at such places, do no...

  By Kartik Lokhande  Often, the work of explorers lives on but they get buried in the history. This is exactly what has happened in case of Lt Col William Lambton. The man credited with initiating one of the greatest scientific activities in the world -- The Great Trigonometrical Survey of India -- lays buried at a place now known as ‘Kala Gota’ amid a crowded locality behind Bus Stand in the town of Hinganghat in Wardha district. Sadly, the memorial of this great surveyor, whose work led to measuring the highest point on Earth 50 years later, has become a victim of neglect. And, surprisingly, not many know about it and the great significance of Hinganghat in the landmark survey.  Lambton Memorial, known locally as 'Kala Gota' in Hinganghat. (Pic: Kartik Lokhande) Lt Col William Lambton The benchmark stone of Great Trigonometrical Survey, in the courtyard of a house behind Bus Stand in Hinganghat. (Pic by Kartik Lokhande) Lt Col Will...

* Guardian Ministers to head committees for respective districts and monitor functioning of power companies, MLAs to head tehsil-level committees By Kartik Lokhande  Maharashtra Government will be conducting special and independent audit of State-run power utilities namely Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL), Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited (Mahagenco), and Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited (Mahatransco). Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Energy Minister, made this announcement in Legislative Assembly on Friday. Further, he announced, work orders to the tune of Rs 600 crore issued during the tenure of erstwhile Democratic Front (DF) Government would be scrapped. “The work orders have been scrapped as it has come to the notice of the Government that these were issued to the contractors at higher rates than the tender amount,” he said.  Chandrashekhar Bawankule Talking to ‘The Hitavada’ over...

* CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory ‘incorporates’ research findings of a VNIT professor on Urban Heat Island effect, but deprives him of due credit * The instance raises questions about genuineness of analysis purportedly done by the consultancy firm * It also highlights how genuine researchers with data useful for urban planning have been omitted from the process of revising the CDP for Nagpur By Kartik Lokhande  Good artists copy, great artists steal. This quote of legendary Pablo Picasso describes aptly how the draft of revised City Development Plan (CDP) for Nagpur appears to have been prepared. A shocking instance has come to fore that the consultancy firm CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory has ‘appropriated’ the research findings of a city-based professor in the draft report, and has ‘incorporated’ as its own the findings as ‘observations’ on Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect analysis. The original research was conducted by Yashwant Bhasker Katpatal, Professor, Departmen...

By Kartik Lokhande  Despite repeated directives since 2011, the State Government had not made available to the Governor’s office the region-wise figures of non-plan developmental expenditure. It had submitted only the figures of non-plan expenditure. He has asked the Government to comply with the directives by July this year. Taking serious cognisance of this non-compliance of his directives, the Governor has now directed that the figures for region-wise Plan expenditure and non-Plan developmental expenditure shall be published annually within three months of the end of respective financial year. To ensure transparency in budgets, the Governor has directed, these figures shall be put online and updated in real time by using ‘appropriate interventions’. The Governor has directed Planning Department to publish the figures of region-wise plan expenditure since 2010-11 and indicate the extent of ‘shortfalls or diversions’ between regions. Similarly, he has sought the fi...

* The latest directives of Governor released on Wednesday ask the State Government to consider framing a policy for direct purchase of land for irrigation projects * Governor asks Planning Department to publish figures of region-wise plan expenditure since 2010-11 and indicate the extent of ‘shortfalls or diversions’ between regions * Rs 700 cr set aside for Gosikhurd national project By Kartik Lokhande  If the Government of Maharashtra wants to complete all 452 ongoing irrigation projects in the State, it may need a whopping amount of Rs 70,750 crore, almost 10 times the allocation made for irrigation sector in the State Budget for 2015-16. Though the number of ongoing projects in Vidarbha region is the highest, the maximum balance cost of projects in Rest of Maharashtra (RoM) is higher. As per the latest directives of the Governor of Maharashtra Ch Vidyasagar Rao, released on Wednesday, the proposed allocation for five inter-state projects is Rs 100 crore and for G...

* Nagpur Divn inches closer to becoming ‘lakhpati’ with per capita net district domestic product By Kartik Lokhande  ‘Good Days’ appear to be here for Nagpur district and Nagpur Division. The latest Economic Survey released by Government of Maharashtra on Tuesday reveals that Nagpur is district in particular and Nagpur Division in general are moving at a fast pace as far as Net District Domestic Product (NDDP) is concerned. Nagpur district, which was sixth in per capita NDDP/district income in 2012-13, has moved a place up in 2013-14. The per capita NDDP/district income of Nagpur district improved from Rs 1,12,047 in 2012-13 to Rs 1,23,610 in 2013-14. It has pushed down Kolhapur district to sixth place. More interestingly, compared to per capita national income of Rs 80,388, Nagpur’s NDDP is higher by a whopping Rs 43,222! It is higher than even the State’s average NDDP of Rs 1,17,091. The observations in the Economic Survey in this regard are significant as they hin...

By Kartik Lokhande A news item that an official of a high-profile consultancy group PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is under the scanner of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the latest corporate espionage case, may appear to be a small piece of information. However, if put in perspective, it hints at a phenomenon that has been there in too brightly lit corridors of business, and hence, not visible to naked eyes of many. This is not the first time that corporate espionage or economic espionage involving the topmost corporate houses of the country having complex partnerships/links with foreign entities, has come to fore. There had been several cases. One major case that had rocked the nation, is now popularly known as ‘Radia Tapes’. It involved mainly telecommunications industry bosses, celebrated names in media operating from the corridors of power in Mumbai and New Delhi. The latest case that has come to fore after leaks of confidential papers from Oil Ministry, con...

Ministry of Commerce & Industry 11-March, 2015 14:22 IST Bilateral Trade with U.S. Vis-a-Vis China Details of bilateral trade between India and US and India and China during the last 3 years and current year (up to January, 2015) are as under: (in US $ million) Year India and  US India and China Exports Imports Total Trade Exports Imports Total Trade 2011-12 34,745.52 23,380.86 58,126.38 18,118.18 54,688.19 72,806.36 2012-13 36,160.84 25,204.73 61,365.57 13,579.51 52,248.33 65,827.84 2013-14 39,158.02 22,505.08 61,663.10 14,867.10 51,034.62 65,901.72 April- Jan. 2014-15(P) 35,759.88 18,237.68 53,997.55 10,118.39 50,883.12 61,001.51 ...

* Air Marshal Jagjeet Singh, AOC-in-C of Maintenance Command, IAF, feels that the strongest point of the IAF is that it has the well-trained manpower with the highest amount of flying in the world By Kartik Lokhande  As one enters the office of Air Marshal Jagjeet Singh, the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of Maintenance Command of the Indian Air Force (IAF), one is greeted not by a man sitting in his cosy chair, but a fine officer in uniform coming towards you with open heart and hand extended for a warm shake-hand. And, this represents what the officer has ingrained in himself of the IAF culture – reaching out and winning over.  Air Marshal Jagjeet Singh Does one has that quality as a human being or does one acquire it purposely? “I feel the organisation makes one a wholesome officer, a complete man,” says humbly the proud IAF officer, who is into 39 th year of his service. And, what does the organisation do exactly? “It inculcates in ...