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My suggestions for the Finance Minister

June 17, 2019

At the outset, I welcome and congratulate the new Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who will be presenting her maiden Union Budget in a few days.

Hon’ble FM! You have yourself sought suggestions and views from the people and here are some worthy suggestions to you from my side. In fact, these have been time and again ignored by your predecessors due to whom there has been no relief to the common man, the salaried class, and mainly the senior citizens. I am not going into critical cases of taxation pertaining to corporate and industries, market and commodity transactions, and other such matters, as there are many associations to represent and make suitable suggestions to your good self.

Last year, Piyush Goel was kind enough to hike the tax exemption limit to Rs 5 lakh. This was only notional. This was not effective and the actual exemption limit. IT @5 per cent was still made applicable. I suggest that the first slab of Rs 5 lakh be fully exempted from tax. Besides that, the third slab of 30 per cent is hitting the salaried class very hard. Here, I feel that this rate should be lowered at least for the salaried class and employed.

Today, the plight of senior citizens is quite pathetic. The senior citizens today, are in fact a harassed lot, thanks to the ever decreasing rates and return on investments like fixed deposits on which they try their best to thrive. On the one hand, you are increasing the prices and imposing cess, surcharge, etc. However, on the other hand, you are reducing the interest rate on deposits, etc? The interest on PPF was also reduced. Do you know how senior citizens have been adversely affected due to the drastic reduction in the interest rates, from time to time? Their monthly income (through interest as a source of income alone) has come down heavily and they have been finding it difficult to lead a decent life. At the time of introducing exclusive schemes for Senior Citizens government, banks, LIC, etc., generously announce the interest rate of 9.30 per cent and even above. Later this is brought down systematically, for one reason or the other to say 8.30 per cent or just 8 per cent. Once the interest rate is fixed under the “senior citizens’ scheme”, this should never be brought down, especially when there is a lock-in period of 5 to 10 years, for investments made.

Above all, the limit for exemptions under Sec.80C should also be increased to a more reasonable level.

This is very important. Dear Madam, for your earnest and bold action: It’s high time that the agricultural income is brought into the income tax net. Many politicians and others under the guise of being “agriculturists/farmers” have been evading I-Tax for decades. No Finance Minister has ever dared to bring the AGRI-Income for Income tax. In fact, today, one can see many rich farmers leading a lavish style (most of the political leaders and so on…) and yet not paying the income tax as they say they earn “agricultural income!!” Will you please muster the courage to introduce “Tax on Agricultural Income, say, above 10 lakhs” – especially to tax the so-called super rich agriculturists/farmers who have been evading taxes worth crores, for generations?

Last but not the least, you need to book all those utter and core corrupt officials, bureaucrats, ministers, super wealthy political leaders of regional parties too and attach all their wealth and assets. I am not talking about the huge money stashed away in Swiss banks. We have been hearing very many cases of ministers and bureaucrats and officials being involved in large scale scams and corrupt deals. They have amassed wealth and properties to the tune of hundreds of crores. Some former ministers have been found to be having as many properties, farms, flats, lands, and so on. However, nothing has happened so far to them, except that raids by IT, ED, CBI, are being conducted with no end results or the ‘scamsters’ getting punished!! The legal cases and hearings go on and on and on with the ‘defaulters and the accused’ only getting bail as many times and seeking the SC permission to happily undertake foreign travels! These cases must be fast-tracked and closed for once for all. The core corrupt who has looted the nation must be put behind bars.

More importantly again, as per the disclosure made by the FM last year, that the number of bank loan defaulters has risen to an alarming extent, the government must take stern actions against this defaulters-come what may. It’s a known case that on the one hand some industrialists happily default loan repayments etc. and on the other hand lead a lavish style by owning luxury yachts, limousines and so on. These defaulters must not be spared at all. Come what may, crooks like Mallya, Nirav, Choksi and many others — that outside and those from inside the country too must be booked and jailed.

The government must grab and attach all the properties of such corrupt people and defaulters and recover all the monies due.

Dear FM Madam! Please recover all those unaccounted wealth, assets, and cash from the most corrupt people; you can certainly get huge revenue to wipe off the deficit in the budget. You need not even think of imposing and taxing the common man anymore. Maybe you can even do away with the Income tax on the salaried.

Once you tax “agricultural income”, the fiscal health of the nation and also the health of genuine and poor farmers, will drastically improve.

Will the Hon’ble PM and your good self take some bold measures — it’s now or never! Let’s have “SABKA VIKAS” in real terms — for the common man and the honest taxpayers to lead a decent and healthy life!

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

Gossiping isn’t fun!

Jubel D'Cruz

June 17, 2019

gossips — Image Courtesy: mycellcare.com

Gossip hasn’t always been considered a bad word. The word ‘gossip’ first meant godparents or a familiar acquaintance and was used to describe someone who told of a family’s news and developments. During the time of William Shakespeare, a gossip was also someone who sat with a woman through childbirth, perhaps to talk, offer comfort, or to help her pass the time.

We use a lot of different words to describe gossip. We chat. We yak. We get the scuttlebutt. We gab, we dish, and we chew the fat. We hear it through the grapevine, listen to the word of mouth — sometimes straight from the horse’s mouth. Tongues, they wag. There must be something important about all this idle chit-chat to demand such an extensive and colourful vocabulary! And we all do it. Very few people proudly admit to it, but we all gossip. Some of us even relish it.

While some religions and cultures frown upon the practice more than others, gossip in one form or the other happens all over the world among people of all ages.

As our communication technologies have sped up, so has the spreading of our gossip. Whip-quick messages zip around us all day long about this person or that person, this celebrity or that politician. Where word once travelled, via word of mouth that may have taken hours or even days to reach its listeners, it now travels in seconds via Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, blogs, emails, cell phones, etc. People love to hear and talk about cruel things about other human beings.

It’s been said that knowledge is power. Unfortunately, many people like to spread damaging information or intimate details about others, whether it’s true or not. This is what is called gossip. If you know something juicy someone did over the weekend, it’s easy to feel like you have to tell it to others. We especially like it when we hear something that makes someone look bad.

The most dangerous part about gossip is that it steals another person’s reputation. A reputation is very fragile. When you gossip, you are helping to destroy something extremely valuable.

If you think it’s time for you to decide you don’t want to have any part of gossip, here are some tips on how to do it.

Make a commitment that you’re not going to gossip: Even though the temptation to gossip is powerful, you will always win when you choose not to use it. And really, with all the gossip, there’s no way of knowing for sure what is true or not.
Don’t listen to others when they gossip: Gossip grows an audience. You simply being there listening to it adds to its appeal. If someone starts to tell you something gossipy, say, I’m sorry, but I don’t feel comfortable talking about this person when they’re not here to defend themselves. Not only will you break the gossip chain, but you will also gain the trust of other people, as someone who won’t spread rumours.
Don’t judge people based on gossip: If you should hear gossip about someone you don’t know, you have two choices: Allow the gossip to determine what you believe, or let your own personal experience determine what you think. The first time you have an experience with someone that is contrary to the gossip you’ve heard, you’ll be a lot more careful about spreading or believing gossip the next time you hear it.
Think twice before you speak: Before you repeat something you’ve heard about another person, think: Does this really do any good for me to spread this information? Or am I just trying to be in the know? Is the information even true? Could I be hurting someone by telling this, even if it’s true? If the person you are talking to is not part of the problem or part of the solution, there’s no need to tell them anything.
Stay away from people who gossip for they will gossip about you too: Don’t associate with people who find such great joy in belittling others. Be very careful about what you choose to tell these people. If it’s a close friend, you might consider saying how you want to stop spreading gossip, and that you’d really like her help.

There’s an old saying that goes like this: “Stick and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. That’s not true. Being gossiped about can be extremely painful. If you don’t want it done to you, don’t do it to others. In the end, it never pays to gossip.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Letters to the Editor: 17 June, 2019

Web Team

June 17, 2019

Proving cases of sexual harassment a mammoth task

Proving a sexual harassment case in our country is a mammoth task and more so if it is against a powerful popular personality. Tanushree Dutta’s sexual harassment case against Nana Patekar was in any case going to fall as it was filed after a decades since the alleged event happened. Without going into the merits of the case, women should file cases at the time of the alleged crime and not wait for an ‘agitation like MeToo to report their crime.

Rapes, molestations and other sexual crime against women in our country is on the rise. Many serious cases don’t even get registered at police stations due to social stigma involved. Fair sex should be encouraged to file cases of sexual harassment and society should be humble towards them. Sexual harassment cases should be tried in special courts for speedier judgement.

S.N. Kabra

Imposing tax on cash-withdrawal a right step

It refers to media-reports that central government is considering tax on cash-withdrawal above rupees 10 lakh from banks by an individual to encourage digital-payments to curb cash-transactions at a time when currency-circulation has bounced 19-percent above than it was at time of demonetisation of old currency done on November 8, 2016 thus killing the very objective of bold step of note ban. Any such step will be a step in right direction to effectively check parallel economy of black money and generation of unaccounted money.

It would be a right step to restore monthly cash-withdrawal limit of rupees 96000 by an individual from banks which was done at time of demonetisation to tackle currency-crunch at that time, which may be gradually reduced to rupees 48000 per month. Any cash-withdrawal limit from banks should be fixed on monthly basis rather than annually. Logic of allowing cash-withdrawal of tune of rupees ten lakhs though once a year is beyond understanding.

The central government should go ahead with massive and consolidated package to curb currency-circulation and generation of black money rather than in parts. Curbing cash-withdrawal should be coupled with introduction of permanent Voluntary Disclosure Scheme in form of proposed Elephant Bonds and compulsory deposit of all rupees-2000 notes in banks apart from imposing a limit for agricultural income and abolishing often-misused tax-exemptions on charity and contribution made and received by political parties.

Madhu Agrawal

By-elections criminal waste of money

It refers to unnecessary and costly by-elections caused because of 49 sitting MLAs and four Rajya Sabha members having been elected for the new Lok Sabha. By-elections also become necessary in case a candidate wins from two constituencies of both for Lok Sabha and state-assembly. Such by-elections are criminal waste of public-money because of faulty poll-laws not refined even after seven decades.

At least basic poll-reforms should be immediately done whereby any sitting MP or MLA must resign from earlier seat within say three days of election-notification so that by-election for the vacated seat may be simultaneously held with general elections. Since a person cannot represent two constituencies at a time or can be member of both Parliament and state-legislature simultaneously, a person must not be allowed to contest from more than one constituency or for both Lok Sabha and state-assembly. Also a sitting MP on being appointed minister in state-assembly (and vice-versa) must automatically lose membership of the earlier House.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal

Rain returns

Mumbai monsoon is giving jitters to the people from the beginning this year. As the rain arrives, the woes continue to take toll and two boys from Kandivali got electrocuted. More so disaster struck as panels collapse at Churchgate station and Bandra skywalk causing one death and five persons were injured in the separate mishaps. Tree fall, electrocution are major problem this monsoon season. The BMC failed to understand the crux of the problem and initial rains caused so many accidents. People risked their own life to come on the streets. It is time for BMC to have more stringent measures and work round the clock with an emergency team during the monsoon rains.

C.K. Ramanath

Ban on mannequins must be strictly implemented

It is quite laudable of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to take a decision of imposing ban on display of mannequins outside shops or on roads by dressing them in underclothes. This decision should be promptly and strictly implemented. There is huge increase in such display of mannequins outside shops since last few years. One lady municipal councilor had raised objection to it in the year 2013 when manufacturers and sellers of underclothes had tried to suppress her voice; saying that there was nothing objectionable in the same; however, MMC has decided, though late, to impose such ban; giving relief to all women. Parents find it quite awkward to keep their small children away from such mannequins kept outside shops when they go for shopping. Women feel embarrassed while some men, with lewd tastes, look at such mannequins with different angle. Till few years back, sale of underclothes was taking place in shops, though such mannequins were hardly seen even inside shops. Was there need for such hideous display? Municipalities of other cities in the country should also follow the example of BMC and take similar decision!

Jagan Ghanekar

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Prisoners need Psychological Counselling

Suraj Chandran

June 16, 2019

The tragic suicide incident of Vikas Pawar, who ended his life by jumping from the sixth floor of the Dindoshi sessions court on Saturday, raises questions about the problems faced by the prisoners in jail. Due to unhygienic conditions of prisons, inmates often fall ill and there is a risk of communicating diseases to the other prisoners. Even though several committees have been formed to study and submit a report about prison reforms but the guidelines made by the committees are not implemented.

Social activist Abhijeet Rane said, “A lot of illegal activities are happening in jail. The jail authorities should take necessary precautions while dealing with the criminals. They should organise positive lectures, counselling to prisoners. They should try to educate them. A lot of NGOs working in the interest of criminals are not up to the mark. They should take the initiative to change the system.”

Health protection in prisons is a serious public health issue which states ignore at their peril. Prisoners also need to get four hours of sunlight a day but they are denied. The food offered to the inmates is inedible. Instead of tea, brown water is offered to them and black water laced with stones for rice are offered to them. Chapattis and vegetables served to them lack nutritional value. Many of them are not allowed to call their relatives. As a result of these, many of them tend to get depressed and some of them try to commit suicide. Prison populations have a disproportionately high rate of people suffering from mental health or behavioural problems. The judicial system needs to incorporate psychological counselling sessions for all accused but counselling is not provided to them.

Veteran criminal lawyer Majeed Memon said, “There is a need to provide proper hygienic food and maintain cleanliness around the cell. Prison staff should behave well with prisoners. Counselling should be provided to prisoners wherever needed. All these necessities are the basic rule for keeping human in the custody.”

“Unfortunately the conditions in jail are horrible where even animals are finding it difficult to survive. Young boys and girls are kept in pathetic conditions and they get out of the prison as worst citizens. The death of Vikas Pawar in police custody is a warning bell to the prison superintendent to ensure that such incidents don’t occur hereafter,” he added.

Most of the prisons in the country are overcrowded. Owing to crowded conditions, prisoners pass on their infections to other prisoners, staff, and their own friends and families who visit them. They contract communicable diseases themselves and slip through shoddy screening and substandard treatment programs. The alarming prevalence of communicable diseases like hepatitis C, TB, and HIV/AIDS among prisoners pose a serious public health problem.

Charuvalli Khanna former member National Commission for Women said, “In the jail manual minimum guidelines are mentioned which should be followed by prison authorities. Young boys indulging in sexual offences should be provided counselling.”

After the Supreme Court was informed that 1,300 prisons across the country are overcrowded the apex court had stated that prisoners cannot be kept in jail like animals. Some of the prisons in the country are overcrowded to the extent of 600 per cent.

Social activist Godfrey Pimenta said, “Jail manual is available where everything concerned with jail and facilities for prisoners are given in detail. The prison authorities also have to follow the guidelines stated in the jail manual. If they fail to follow these guidelines then proper redressal mechanism is available.”

“What’s the point in talking about prison reforms when we cannot keep them in jail? We should release them if you cannot keep them properly,” the apex court had said. The Supreme Court reprimanded the states and union territories for complete lack of commitment to fix this extremely unfortunate situation. The apex court had through orders of May 6, 2016, and October 3, 2016, directed the preparation of a plan of action by states and union territories to address the issue of overcrowding in prisons and the proposal was directed to be submitted by March 31, 2017, but not even one of them submitted the plan.

Pradip Bhalekar, a former inmate of Arthur Road jail, has been fighting for prisoners’ rights through his NGO, Manav Adhikar Forum. According to data he accessed through a Right to Information (RTI) query, 92 inmates died between 2015 and May 2017 in four Maharashtra prisons — Arthur Road, Thane Central, Byculla women’s jail, and Kolhapur Central. All these deaths were recorded as either suicide or from natural cause.

The accused Vikas Pawar was arrested by the Powai Police in 2015 under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for abusing a six-year-old boy. On Saturday police escorts brought Pawar from Arthur Road prison to Dindoshi sessions court for the hearing. After the conclusion of the hearing, he pushed the guard escorting him and jumped from the sixth floor of the court building. He was later rushed to Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali but was declared brought dead.

#MenToo: Punish girls who mock the law to shame innocents

Vaidehi Taman

June 16, 2019

The story of Karan Oberoi starts from a dating app and lands him in the #MenToo movement. In the entire saga, the sufferer was only a man who was attacked with selective motives. The Bombay High Court granted a Rs 50,000 bail to Karan month after he was arrested on the charges of raping and blackmailing a woman.

Well, in an FIR lodged on May 4, the 34-year-old fake victim had alleged that Karan Oberoi had raped her in 2017 on the pretext of marriage, filmed the act, and then extorted money from her under the threat of making the video go viral. On May 6, Karan was arrested and sent to the police custody. Later, he was remanded to the judicial custody as his bail plea was pending with the session’s court.

The FIR was false because Karan never promised to marry the woman (who is a Tantrik by profession) whom he met on the dating app; however, she lodged another FIR by staging an attack to ensure his bail gets denied. The attack was planned by her lawyer. However, the police turned the complaint on its head as it is found that the woman has orchestrated the attack herself but had tried to show that she was attacked because of the case.

Meanwhile, Karan Oberoi’s close friends like Pooja Bedi, Sachin Shroff, Danny Fernandes, Anveshi Jain, Chaitanya Bhosle, Varkey Patani, Sherrin Varghese, and Sudhanshu Pandey had spoken up in support of him on the social media. They started a movement called #MenToo and they did a great job being vocal to the media and retaliating the charges against Karan.

Pooja Bedi tirelessly campaigned against the injustice and she got support from various counterparts. The judge too added that the perusal of the messages exchanged between the complainant and the accused shows that the woman had voluntarily purchased gifts for karan and that there was no demand from his side. Justice Dere also reprimanded the police for not conducting the probe properly. The court further observed that the complainant wanted to get married to Karan but he had refused her and was avoiding her since then.

A month after actor Karan Oberoi was sent to the jail for alleged rape and extortion, the Bombay High Court, while hearing his bail plea, pointedly and repeatedly asked the police whether they had seized the 34-year-old rape accuser’s phones.

Well, police actually failed to act swiftly. There is no compensation to the time that Karan has spent in jail and the trauma that his family has gone through. One month is not a short period; however, Karan has people’s support. Think about those who are not celebrities and not even financially strong. Why should they languish in jail for no fault at all?

Karan got bail but there are many questions which are yet to be answered by the judiciary and police. On what basis was the FIR Lodged under such heinous crimes — Rape, Drugging, Filming, Extortion — or was it just based on her saying? What all evidence was produced? Why were the Date and Place not mentioned in her FIR?

Ok, let’s assume that police had to take her case and file an FIR. On what basis did they arrest Karan? Especially when he had SHOWN them the messages of her chasing him and also provided them with the fact he had filed a harassment case against her in October 2018! Why were her (so-called accused) cell phones not seized for investigation even when the judge herself raised this concern?

When the staged attack took place and the attackers named her lawyer as the one who paid them, why didn’t the police call her for questioning? When her lawyer said that it was HER master plan, why didn’t the police still call her for questioning? Why didn’t they arrest the accused after her attempt to tamper with the case? Why didn’t the police, even at this point, seize her phones?

When the high court admonished the Investigating Officer in the court for NOT Seizing her phone and Questioning her and asked WHY THE WOMAN WASN’T ARRESTED, what steps were supposed to be taken by the Investigating Officer? Why did it take the Police three days to seize her phone even after the observations of the high court (giving her over one month to destroy valuable data)?

Why have the police STILL NOT ARRESTED HER? Why and on what grounds she should be spared when it is proven that the case is false. Moreover, all these while, the lady, who falsely accused Karan, has remained anonymous. Her name has not got published anywhere; in spite of all the conspiracy hatched by her, she could manage to maintain her reputation by all means. Why shouldn’t she be named and shamed? Why shouldn’t she be punished for filing a false rape case and wasting the time of the judiciary and tarnishing the life of an innocent?

Something strange is going on in India. Women are becoming more educated and confident. Pre-marital sex is on the rise – there are many hotels that offer rooms for an hour or two to the couples seeking somewhere to have sex. However, at the same time, so are the numbers of women alleging rape on the false promise of marriage. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, a total of 38,947 rape cases were reported in India in 2016. In 10,068 cases – about a quarter – women claimed that it was rape on the false promise of marriage.

In Andhra Pradesh state, 45 per cent of all rape cases filed in the past two years fell into the false marriage category. When a relationship ends, women, who have had consensual sex, make false accusations of rape under the promise of marriage out of vengefulness, just to hurt the men or to extort money and promising to withdraw the charge if he gives them what they want.

The only solace for men like Karan, who have been falsely accused, is that many of these cases are thrown out of the court. However, this is not enough unless the so-called victim, when gets exposed, should get punished. Only then we can expect some deterrence in those women.

While there is a façade of the growing number of false rape cases in the media, it is actually an amalgamation of a lot of factors that lead to, in many cases, even real rape cases enter into the fake rape case category. Moreover, it is not to deny that there could be a small percentage where women have lied and extorted money out of men in cases of rape, but there is no clear statistic available on that.

While there are several voices in this narrative of false rape cases that speak about the intensity of it, there is also a major patriarchal agenda as the basis of these false rape cases. Many times, the legal system gets into the convoluted discourse of what is rape! Is it sex by force or sex without mutual consent? We are still trying to figure out what unequivocal consent means.

After the 2013 amendment in the rape laws, a woman now has the authority to decline to go through a medical test in rape cases. There are also several cases where the women file complaints after years of the actual rape happening and since the number kept increasing, it was only recently that the Supreme Court and High Court stopped giving the order in such cases. Going further, the court should take a bold step by arresting these fake girls who are making fun of the law and playing with the lives of innocent men. Even the society needs to be sensitive towards men.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

Water levels in Maharashtra’s dams down to 6.8% of total capacity

Web Team

June 16, 2019

The water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country for the week ending on May 30, 2019, was 31.65 billion cubic metres, which is 20 per cent of total storage capacity of these reservoirs. This percentage was at 21 per cent for the week ending on May 23, 2019. This is revealed by the Central Water Commission (CWC). But situation in drought hit Maharashtra is very severe. The state has 355 talukas. 182 talukas have been declared drought-prone. According to data available for June13-14, Maharashtra has only 6.8 per cent water of total storage capacity in its dams. The situation is particularly grim in the Marathwada region where water level in reservoirs has dipped to an all-time low.

According to private weather forecaster Skymet this year, rainfall in Vidarbha, Marathwada, west Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat will be poorer than normal while southern India is expected to receive below normal rainfall. Monsoon is still passing through northern parts of Kerala. It is expected that cover many parts of coastal Karnataka and adjoining Maharashtra soon.

Total capacity of Maharashtra’s dams is 40,604,000 million litres and at present water level is at 6.8% of its total capacity ie 2,802,000 million litres, compared to 17% at the same time last year. Region wise and dam wise water level is as follows

Pune Region has 987,000 million litres water which is 6.4% of its total capacity of 15,199,000 million litres, compared to 20% at the same time last year.

Bhama Askhed Dam, 18,000 million litres. At 8% of its live capacity of 217,000 million litres, compared to 32% at the same time last year.

Bhatghar Dam, 29,000 million litres. At 4% of its live capacity of 666,000 million litres, compared to 6% at the same time last year.

Chaskaman Dam, 6,000 million litre. At 3% of its live capacity of 215,000 million litres, compared to 6% at the same time last year.

Dimbhe Dam, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 382,000 million litres, compared to 15% at the same time last year.

Ghod (Chinchani) Dam, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 155,000 million litres, compared to 0% at the same time last year.

Gunjawani Dam, 6,000 million litres. At 6% of its live capacity of 104,000 million litres, compared to 20% at the same time last year.

Khadakwasla Dam, 17,000 million litres. At 31% of its live capacity of 56,000 million litres, compared to 23% at the same time last year. The reservoir is 1 of 4 that provides drinking water to Pune city. The dam reached full capacity on 16 Jul with water having to be released into the Mutha river. The discharge was stopped on 4th Sep due to subdued rainfall in catchment areas.

Manikdoh Dam, 2,000 million litres. At 0.9% of its live capacity of 288,000 million litres, compared to 5% at the same time last year.

Nira Deoghar Dam, 4,000 million litres. At 1.7% of its live capacity of 332,000 million litres, compared to 5% at the same time last year.

Panshet Dam, 43,000 million litres. At 14% of its live capacity of 302,000 million litres, compared to 30% at the same time last year. The reservoir is 1 of 4 that provides drinking water to Pune city.

Pawana Dam, 40,000 million litres. At 14% of its live capacity of 277,000 million litres, compared to 18% at the same time last year.

Pimpalgaon Joge Dam, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 111,000 million litres, compared to 22% at the same time last year.

Temghar Dam, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 105,000 million litres, compared to 1% at the same time last year. The reservoir is 1 of 4 that provides drinking water to Pune city.

Wadaj Dam, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 33,000 million litres, compared to 14% at the same time last year.

Warasgaon (aka Varasgaon) Dam, 21,000 million litres. At 6% of its live capacity of 363,000 million litres, compared to 0% at the same time last year. The reservoir is 1 of 4 that provides drinking water to Pune city.

Yedgaon Dam, 1,000 million litres. At 1.5% of its live capacity of 79,000 million litres, compared to 60% at the same time last year.

Nashik Region, 311,000 million litres. At 5% of its live capacity of 5,823,000 million litres, compared to 15% at the same time last year.

Nagpur Region, 268,000 million litres. At 5.8% of its live capacity of 4,604,000 million litres, compared to 11.4% at the same time last year.

Bawanthadi Dam – Bhandara, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 217,000 million litres, compared to 11% at the same time last year.

Gosikhurd Dam – Bhandara, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 740,000 million litres, compared to 0.58% at the same time last year.

Asolamendha Dam, 16,000 million litres – Chandrapur. At 30% of its live capacity of 52,000 million litres, compared to 11% at the same time last year.

Dina Dam – Gadchiroli, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 68,000 million litres, compared to 0% at the same time last year.

Itiadoh Dam – Gondia, 53,000 million litres. At 17% of its live capacity of 318,000 million litres, compared to 22% at the same time last year.

Kalisarar Dam – Gondia, 12,000 million litres. At 46% of its live capacity of 26,000 million litres, compared to 17% at the same time last year.

Pujaritola P.U.Weir Dam, 000 million litres – Gondia. At 0% of its live capacity of 44,000 million litres, compared to 25% at the same time last year.

Sirpur Dam – Gondia, 30,000 million litres. At 19% of its live capacity of 1,60,000 million litres, compared to 1% at the same time last year.

Kamthi Khairy Dam (aka Pench Dam) – Nagpur, 34,000 million litres. At 24% of its live capacity of 142,000 million litres, compared to 33% at the same time last year.

Khindsi Dam – Nagpur, 8,000 million litres. At 8% of its live capacity of 103,000 million litres, compared to 12% at the same time last year.

Nand Dam – Nagpur, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 53,000 million litres, compared to 11% at the same time last year.

Totladoh Dam – Nagpur, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 1,017,000 million litres, compared to 9% at the same time last year.The reservoir provides drinking water to Nagpur city, irrigates around 1 lakh hectares of farm land and the Khaperkheda Thermal Power Station. 196,360 million litres is reserved for Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). Dam needs to fill up to 450,000 million litres in order to provide water to satisfy all 3 needs.

Wadgaon Dam – Nagpur, 16,000 million litres. At 12% of its live capacity of 135,000 million litres, compared to 20% at the same time last year. Provides water to the Mihan-SEZ.

Bor Dam – Wardha, 13,000 million litres. At 10% of its live capacity of 127,000 million litres, compared to 25% at the same time last year.

Lower Wardha Dam – Wardha, 6,000 million litres. At 3% of its live capacity of 217,000 million litres, compared to 14% at the same time last year.

Marathwada Region, 39,000 million litres. At 0.54% of its live capacity of 7,259,000 million litres, compared to 15.66% at the same time last year. Click/Touch for dam wise details.

Jayakwadi Dam – Paithan, Aurangabad, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 2,170,000 million litres, compared to 28% at the same time last year.

Majalgaon Dam – Beed, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 311,000 million litres, compared to 10% at the same time last year. Primary purpose is to irrigate 93,885 hectares of land in Beed, Parbhani and Nanded districts.

Manjara Dam – Beed, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 177,000 million litres, compared to 16% at the same time last year.

Siddeshwar Dam – Hingol, 000 million litresi. At 2.66% of its live capacity of 81,000 million litres, compared to 0% at the same time last year.

Yeldari Dam – Hingoli, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 810,000 million litres, compared to 0% at the same time last year.

Lower Manar Dam – Nanded, 13,000 million litres. At 9% of its live capacity of 1,38,000 million litres, compared to 2% at the same time last year.

Lower Terna Dam – Osmanabad, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 91,000 million litres, compared to 650% at the same time last year.

Sina Kolegaon Dam – Osmanabad, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 76,000 million litres, compared to 5% at the same time last year.

Lower Dudhana Dam – Parbhani, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 103,000 million litres, compared to 18% at the same time last year.

Konkan Region, 911,000 million litres. At 26% of its live capacity of 3,511,000 million litres, compared to 34% at the same time last year.

Dhamni Dam – Palghar, 55,000 million litres. At 20% of its live capacity of 276,000 million litres, compared to 36% at the same time last year. Also known as Surya Dam, the reservoir is expected to irrigate around 19,000 hectares of farmland in Palghar district and provide water to the nearby 6 MW Surya Hydroelectric Project.

Kawdas P. U. Weir – Palghar, 8,720 million litres. At 87% of its live capacity of 10,000 million litres, compared to 94% at the same time last year.

Tillari – Sindhudurg, 101,000 million litres. At 22% of its live capacity of 447,000 million litres, compared to 26% at the same time last year.

Bhatsa Dam – Thane, 249,000 million litres. At 26% of its live capacity of 942,000 million litres, compared to 32% at the same time last year.

Amravati Region, 283,000 million litres. At 6.7% of its live capacity of 4,131,000 million litres, compared to 11.4% at the same time last year.

Katepurna Dam (aka Mahan Dam) – Akola, 10,000 million litres. At 12% of its live capacity of 86,000 million litres, compared to 3% at the same time last year. The reservoir provides water to over 8 lakh citizens of Akola and 64 nearby villages. In 2016, when capacity was down to 5,000 million litres, the municipal corporation had to limit supply to once every six days.

Hanuman Sagar Reservoir / Wan Dam – Akola, 24,000 million litres. At 30% of its live capacity of 82,000 million litres, compared to 62% at the same time last year.

Upper Wardha Dam – Amravati, 75,000 million litres. At 13% of its live capacity of 564,000 million litres, compared to 34% at the same time last year.

Khadakpurna Dam – Buldhana, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 93,000 million litres, compared to 0% at the same time last year.

Nalganga Dam – Buldhana, 5,800 million litres. At 8% of its live capacity of 69,000 million litres, compared to 14% at the same time last year.

Pentakli Dam – Buldhana, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 60,000 million litres, compared to 12% at the same time last year.

Arunavati Dam – Yavatmal, 13,000 million litres. At 8% of its live capacity of 170,000 million litres, compared to 8% at the same time last year.

Bembla Dam – Yavatmal, 53,000 million litres. At 17% of its live capacity of 303,000 million litres, compared to 12% at the same time last year.

Isapur Dam – Yavatmal, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 964,000 million litres, compared to 5% at the same time last year.

Pus Dam – Yavatmal, 000 million litres. At 0% of its live capacity of 91,000 million litres, compared to 0% at the same time last year.

Dear Father, I love you so much, today and always

Web Team

June 16, 2019

gurukul school of arts,fathers day — Image Courtesy : Gurukul School Of Arts

Be it the first outing, be it being the cycle coach, or being always smiling with all our wishes, guiding and encouraging us through all the tough times and odds, a father is one of the most important figure in a child’s life. They are heroes.

gurukul school of arts paintings,gurukul school,fathers day — Image Courtesy : Gurukul School Of Arts

It’s Father’s Day today and the students of the Gurukul School of Arts celebrated the day by making the portraits of their fathers.

Bihar Encephalitis death toll now above 80; doctors lay blame on ‘Malnutrition and Poor Hygiene’

Web Team

June 16, 2019

Bihar,Bihar Encephalitis death, Acute Encephalitis Syndrome,AES in Bihar — Image Courtesy: DD News

Experts say that malnutrition, heat, humidity, and poor hygiene are key reasons for the outbreak of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES). All these factors are present in Muzaffarpur and surrounding areas of Bihar. Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan arrived in the state capital on Sunday to review public health measures for containment and management of the AES. According to fresh reports, three more children succumbed to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in Muzaffarpur. The death toll number rose above 80 on Sunday in the district. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to families of the children who died due to AES in Muzaffarpur.

Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey said that a team that was formed to ascertain the cause of this disease concluded that sleeping empty stomach at night, dehydration due to humidity and eating lychee on empty stomach were some of the causes of Encephalitis. He said, “Our government has tried to spread awareness which will be beneficial as well. Advertisement in newspapers, radio jingles, pamphlets and mike announcements are going to spread awareness regarding the disease. Health ministry is also working on it.” Doctors claim that the deaths are being caused due to excessive heat and humidity.

What is Acute Encephalitis Syndrome?

Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) including Japanese Encephalitis (JE) is a group of clinically similar neurologic manifestation caused by several different viruses, bacteria, fungus, parasites, spirochetes, chemical/ toxins, etc. The outbreak of JE usually coincides with the monsoon and post-monsoon period when the density of mosquitoes increases while encephalitis due to other viruses specially entero-viruses occurs throughout the year as it is a water-borne disease. AES affects the central nervous system, mostly in children and young adults. It starts with high fever, then hampers neurological functions causing mental disorientation, seizure, confusion, delirium, coma.

Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus is the most common cause of AES in India, with union health ministry estimate attributing 5-35 per cent cases due to JE. But the syndrome is also caused by scrub typhus, dengue, mumps, measles, even Nipah or Zika virus. In several cases, the cause of AES remains clinically unidentified.

Who is affected?

It predominantly affects the population below 15 years. There is seasonal and geographical variation in the causative organism. JEV has its endemic zones running along the Gangetic plane including states of UP (East), Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam, and parts of Tamil Nadu. In India, AES outbreaks in the north and eastern India have been linked to children eating unripe litchi fruit on empty stomachs. Unripe fruit contains the toxins hypoglycin A and methylenecyclopropylglycine (MCPG), which cause vomiting if ingested in large quantities. Hypoglycin A is a naturally occurring amino acid found in the unripened litchi that causes severe vomiting (Jamaican vomiting sickness), while MCPG is a poisonous compound found in litchi seeds that causes a sudden drop in blood sugar, vomiting, altered mental states leading to lethargy, unconsciousness, coma, and death. These toxins cause sudden high fever and seizures serious enough to require hospitalisation in young, severely malnourished children.

Signs and Symptoms of the disease

Acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) is characterized by an acute onset of fever and clinical neurological manifestation that includes mental confusion, disorientation, delirium, or coma. Apart from viral encephalitis, a severe form of leptospirosis and toxoplasmosis can cause AES. Keeping in mind the wide range of causal agents and the rapid rate of neurological impairment due to pathogenesis, clinicians face the challenge of a small window period between diagnosis and treatment. Several government initiatives have been undertaken to educate and improve the hygiene of people living in the JE endemic zones. Government and non-government organizations have been instrumental in providing proper nutrition to the AES-affected population as most of the affected people belong to the lower economic strata of society.

The relation between hypoglycaemia, children, and AES

Bihar government officials claim AES is a syndrome not a disease, and cause of death in children was found to be prolonged hypoglycaemia that witnessed the delayed treatment. In 2014 research paper titled ‘Epidemiology of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in India: Changing Paradigm and Implication for Control’, co-authored by six researchers, a parallel was drawn between Muzaffarpur and Vietnam’s Bac Giang province where undernourished children were suffering from AES and hypoglycaemia that coincided with litchi orchards in the neighbourhood. “The possible association with some toxin in litchi or in the environment needs to be documented. Methylene cyclopropyl glycine (MCPG) which has been known to be a content of litchi fruit has been shown to cause hypoglycaemia in experimental animals,” the study stated. Several children in Muzaffarpur who suffer from AES before 2014 have a history of the visit to litchi orchards, the study found. The impact is worse on undernourished children who remain hungry for several hours.

Affected states and areas in India

According to the National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme (NVBDCP), 10,485 AES cases were diagnosed in 2018 with 632 deaths across 17 states. India records fatality rate at 6 per cent in AES, but the fatality rises to 25 per cent amongst children. Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Tripura are the worst affected.

No doctors on call during the night

Meanwhile, on Sunday attendants of patients admitted to the SKMCH alleged that there were no doctors on call during the night. Mohammad Aftab told ANI, “My daughter is in the ICU room of SKMCH. The death toll is increasing day by day. There were no doctors after 12 in the night and only nurses are here. There are four bodies inside ICU.” Another attendant, Sunil Ram said, “My four-year-old daughter was admitted to hospital on Saturday. She was declared dead today. There is no facility in SKMCH.”

Black flags displayed

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan arrived in the state capital today to review public health measures for containment and management of the AES. Vardhan had previously said that the Centre was constantly monitoring the situation and supporting state health authorities to manage the encephalitis cases. The minister was greeted here with black flags displayed by workers of the Jan Adhikar Party Loktantrik (LJP) who shouted slogans against him.

Without Kashmir solution, India will continue to get eggs on its face

Hem Raj Jain

June 16, 2019

Kashmir issue — Image Courtesy: Rediff.com

On February 14, 2019, the Pulwama attack took place (which India alleged Pakistan sponsored militants carried out) in which 40 security personnel were killed. In response to it, India carried out an aerial strike at Balakot on February 26 even on Pakistani soil (and not merely on the soil of PoJK). Pakistan responded to it by February 27 aerial strike at military installations of India in which an Indian fighter plane was destroyed and Indian pilot was captured by Pakistan and was released soon after.

The Pakistanis were dancing and even General Musharraf (former Pak Army Chief and former President of Pakistan) was boasting and gloating that Pakistan is one-up (its videos and report available on YouTube and media) because India did not reply to February 27 aerial strike on India by Pakistan. However, PM Modi, BJP/Hindutva forces carried out a full-blown false propaganda during the 2019 Parliamentary election campaign that India is one-up and India will always go into Pakistan and will hit the terrorists if any terrorist attack happens in India in future by the Pak proxies (by saying that ‘Ghar Me Ghus Kar Marenge’).

This macho posture against the Muslim majority Pakistan by the Hindu majority India brought handsome political dividends to BJP in the 2019 Parliamentary election because communal nationalism got boost due to it and it electorally mobilised Hindus in great numbers who have been pushed by BJP towards theocratic State the ‘Hindu Rashtra’ as is evident from the statements of many office bearers and even Member of Parliament of BJP including MP Sadhvi Pragya Thakur during her election campaign at Bhopal (and will be more evident from next week when Hindutva forces will press for Ram Mandir at disputed site of Babri Masjid notwithstanding its title suit pending in Supreme Court).

Here one may be puzzled as to why Congress party and other opposition parties allowed BJP to get away with it (the fake macho posture against Pakistan) when Pakistan was one up as was known to them all and it was even mentioned in an editorial in prominent newspaper ‘The Times of India’ by defense commentator Manoj Joshi. However, this is not a puzzle at all because Congress and all other parties in India are under the debilitating influence of ‘Brahmanism’ (mainly priestly and preaching class) and do not want ‘Kshatriyas’ (warrior class) to gain importance in Indian politics. That is the reason Britishers sent Gokhale to bring Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa so that the Indians (about 2 million of them returned battle-hardened from World War I) could not raise guns for independence even after Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Punjab (from where a huge number of people joined World War I). India did not use superior air-force against China in 1962 and preferred to suffer a humiliating defeat, so on and on.

Now the bluff of the Modi government has again been called off. On the eve of the SCO summit as per the Government of India, the Pak sponsored militants have killed 5 CRPF Jawans and injured equal numbers in an attack at Anantnag in J&K. Now India is not going in Pakistan territory to attack these Pak sponsored terrorists. ‘Ghar Me Ghus Kar Marenge’ boast has now become an embarrassment for India.

Here, it is pertinent to mention that Indians have some funny ideas about State matters. The independence struggle was merely for partial independence because India sought independence only from the civilian element of the then government of the Britishers and not from its martial element as Indians did not raise guns for independence. Had the blood of both Hindus and Muslims flown together on Indian soil (as happened in 1857) after World War II (when again about 2 million battle-hardened Indians returned from War) no communal force (from Muslims or Hindus) would have dared to even ask for partition of India.

India paid the price for it when about one million Indians were killed and about 15 million Indians were displaced in horribly gory situation during India’s partition in 1947 (born out of so-called non-violent freedom movement led by Mahatma Gandhi and his politically naïve followers like Nehru, Patel, etc.) and Indians are still paying price for it. Whether debilitated ‘Kshatriyas’ of Hindu order under ‘Brahmanism’ like it or not, the last word on India’s partition is yet to be written and Kashmir problem will see to it.

After Balakot, the Congress and other opposition parties did not ask BJP/PM Modi as to why the government did not reply to February 27 aerial strike by Pakistan on India, because that would have escalated war and which have ended in retrieve of PoJK and that would have improved the clout of warrior class in Indian Politics.

Now the bluff of the Modi government has again been called off. On the eve of the SCO summit as per the Government of India, the Pakistani sponsored militants have killed 5 CRPF Jawans and injured equal numbers in an attack at Anantnag in J&K. Now India (contrary to what PM Modi promised rather boasted during the election campaign) is not going in Pakistan territory to attack these Pak sponsored terrorists. Which means ‘Ghar Me Ghus Kar Marenge’ boast has now become an embarrassment for India.

All “these eggs on India’s face” is the result of unresolved Kashmir problem which cannot be solved unless India retrieves PoJK. However, only a secular and socialist (welfare-State) India can do it as people of PoJK will prefer to join such India only and it can be achieved only when:-

India restores secularism by minimum of two writ petitions
India establish welfare – State by deploying huge State-capital of Rs 1,000 lakh crore in the interest of the people, to be recovered from about one million tax evaders

India in its apathy towards the suffering of Muslim Kashmiris has gone to such a length that it is openly flaunting its absurd and ludicrous Pakistan policy that India will not talk to Pakistan unless it stops terrorism. India is making itself laughing stocks by saying so without understanding that India should talk to Pakistan precisely because it is inflicting terrorism on India (after-all if a neighbour is throwing stone on some one’s house then he cannot say that he will not talk unless neighbour stops throwing stone). India talks such nonsense for the simple reason that ultimately in any talk Kashmir will be discussed and India knows that present-day communal India will never get Kashmir in any fair settlement of Kashmir problem and Indians cannot tolerate another partition of their motherland.

Therefore, India should stop playing over-smart and should understand that the powerful Western Christian world led by the USA will not be able to protect India on Kashmir issue forever. Any grave untoward incidence in Kashmir (especially in present increased alienation of Kashmiris after Burhan Wani incidence of July 2016) having a potential of converting Indo-Pak conflict into Indo-Islam conflict (in view of Pak former Army Chief General Raheel Sharif commanding ‘Sunni-NATO’ and Pakistani soldiers reportedly providing security to Palaces and Holy sites of Mecca, Medina in Saudi Arabia) will be extremely difficult for India to handle.

It is hoped that India will show the wisdom of solving Kashmir problem through plebiscite after restoring secularism and after establishing welfare State in India as mentioned above so that it does not face embarrassing situation of getting eggs on its face as is happening presently after un-responded Anantnag strike of June 12 by Pak sponsored militants.

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