Kartik Lokhande's blog

*The National Award winning Marathi movie features city-based ‘Left Ambedkarite’ activist Vira Sathidar in lead role  By Kartik Lokhande  It was around 3.30 pm on Wednesday. Vira Sathidar was in the office of Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) near Zero Mile in the city, when his mobile phone started ringing. It was a call from his wife Pushpa. He was surprised when Pushpa asked him, “What has happened? I have been getting too many calls...”   “It was then that I came to know that our movie ‘Court’ had been nominated as India’s official entry to the Oscars,” Vira told ‘The Hitavada’. Wednesday was an important day in the stupendous success story of the movie and Vira, a Nagpurian, who has made every other Nagpurian proud. Getting to know the news, Vira’s joy knew no bounds. “I am very happy to see that the movie that portrays struggle of a common man has now gone global as India’s official entry to the coveted awards,” he said.  Sharing his joy...

  By Kartik Lokhande  At the start of the month of September -- ahead of Paryushan Parva of Jains, Ganeshotsav of Hindus, and Bakr-Id of Muslims -- there erupted a controvery over so-called meat ban in Maharashtra.  Soon, the ‘impartial’ media went furious with the tales of states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and even the court in Jammu and Kashmir ‘dictating’ the eating habits of people. Sadly, the ‘secular’ media highlighted the issue placing religious identity politics at the core of the debate. This same media forgot what it championed at other times -- the cause of animal rights.   Animal rights always takes a backseat in media debate whenever the media finds more attractive packaging opportunity in the form of attaching political and religious significance to any development in the country. Another element is making an informed choice about one’s food habits, instead of laying emphasis on superstitious beliefs...

* Re-survey of some villages to be conducted to assess the condition and formulate appropriate response  Staff Reporter   Since the BJP-led Government under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has taken over in Maharashtra, Gosikhurd mega irrigation project has received a major boost. Following the directives of the Chief Minister, the administrative machinery has started expediting the task of rehabilitation of project-affected persons (PAPs) to clear way for increasing water storage in the project.   “We are planning to complete rehabilitation of all the PAPs in Nagpur and Bhandara districts by March 2016. However, even if some issues crop up, it is my word that rehabilitation will be completed by December 2016,” said Anoop Kumar, Divisional Commissioner, Nagpur. Anoop Kumar was addressing a press conference on Saturday evening, after a review meeting at his office here. He informed the reporters that various issues had been identified and being sorted out. As p...

By Kartik Lokhande  When one talks of 1965 war and the role played by Indian Air Force (IAF), the critical technical support of Maintenance Command headquartered in Nagpur finds just a mention. However, very few know about the significance of the support of the Maintenance Command and its various units as well as 44 Squadron.  Indian Air Force came into being in 1932 and is today regarded as one of the most formidable fourth largest Air Forces in the world. But this kind of air supremacy could not have been achieved without a strong maintenance support provided by Maintenance Command. Of course, different wars and conflicts contributed to evolution of the Maintenance Command also. And, one of these events was 1965 war with Pakistan.  Maintenance Command was set up at Kanpur on January 26, 1955, with Air Vice Marshal Harjinder Singh MBE (Most Excellent Order of British Empire), PVSM (Param Vishishth Seva Medal) as its first Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AO...

Staff Reporter  The proposal regarding installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in Nagpur city has been submitted to Information Technology Department of State Government. This was informed by officials in a meeting on law and order in Nagpur district, held at Mantralaya on Wednesday.  Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Guardian Minister of Nagpur district, had called the meeting in which various other issues pertaining to modernisation of police force in Nagpur city and district, and filling up of vacancies, new police stations etc were discussed. The officials present in the meeting informed the minister that Home Department had granted approval to make available ‘bag scanner’ at Nagpur, for better vigilance. A proposal regarding installation of General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) system, a widely-used mobile data service, on vehicles with City Police was discussed.  Bawankule directed Nagpur (Rural) Police to prepare a proposal on setting up new p...

  Staff Reporter  Government of Maharashtra has restored the powers of irrigation development corporations (IDCs) to grant revised administrative approvals at their levels. The step has been taken to achieve decentralisation of powers, as far as IDCs of Vidarbha, Godavari-Marathwada, Krishna Valley, and Tapi (Jalgaon) areas.  In the year 2003, Water Resources Department (WRD) had empowered the IDCs to decide on revised administrative approvals for various irrigation projects under their jurisdictions. However, after review, the powers were revoked. Currently, the IDCs did not have powers to grant administrative approvals or revised administrative approvals. WRD has powers to grant administrative approvals up to Rs 5 crore in cases of minor irrigation projects. The approvals to proposals that involve cost above Rs 5 crore are to be cleared by Finance Department and Planning Department, and if required, committee on expenditure priorities.  The powers of ...

* Officials asked not to start the work in non-forest areas also if a project requires forest land and has not received final environmental clearance  Staff Reporter  Whether to accord priorities to completion of irrigation projects keeping in mind only finance component, or considering the larger objective of balanced development of various regions? This was the question before the State Government. After giving a deeper thought to various aspects involved, the State Government has now decided to accord priority to completion of irrigation projects in backlog regions, tribal-dominated, and Naxal-affected areas.  As many as 403 irrigation projects are ‘under-construction’ across the State. Special Inquiry Team (SIT) headed by eminent water expert Dr Madhavrao Chitaley had submitted its report to the State Government on multi-crore irrigation scam. In the report, the SIT had made certain recommendations including prioritisation of irrigation projects for comple...

By Kartik Lokhande  Just 36 months into this world, and Aylan Kurdi became a victim of cruelty of the savages calling themselves humans. The promise with which he must have come into this world, was never realised. The hopes he held in his innocent eyes, drowned in the vast expanse of a conflict and a sea of crisis. The photograph of the body of this little boy washed up on a beach near Turkish resort of Bodrum, shook the human among humans.  Sadly, Aylan is not -- and will not be -- the first victim of a conflict. He became a victim of the crisis in Syria that is a result of the rise of the brutal regime of Islamic State. But, he is not the only child who fell to the conflict imposed by some barbarians in a part of the world. Aylan did not die alone. He died along with his 5-year-old brother Galip, mother, and nine others while trying to cross to Kos, a Greek island, in two small boats that capsized. They were among more than 2,500 died in an attempt to cross to ...

  * Sets deadline of March 31, 2016 for scanning of Revenue records and also to make available e-mutation facility in all villages  Staff Reporter  As part of the administrative reforms taken up at the initiative of Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, the Revenue Department has rolled out a plan for time-bound delivery of results. Under the ‘Key Result Areas’ (KRA) document, the department has set its eyes on tasks to be performed by the end of the financial year 2015-16.  One of the most important objectives set under KRA is preparing a Vision-2020 document outlining certain changes pertaining to various agencies. This aims at achieving ‘Horizontal Integration’ with Inspectorate General of Registration (IGR) and Settlement Commissioner for more efficient and transparent administration. To achieve horizontal integration of Revenue Department with these two agencies, a consultant will be appointed soon, said sources. Further, under the Vision-2020 docu...