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Maha village resolves to boycott polls over pending issues

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A village in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district, which has witnessed a string of farmer suicides over years, has resolved to boycott upcoming Lok Sabha and state assembly polls unless various demands of locals, including compensation to agriculturists for low crop yield, are met by the government.

A resolution to this effect was adopted during a Gram Sabha meeting by residents of Wagda Izara village in Mahagaon tehsil on Republic Day.

The resolution copy has already been sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, a local leader said on Sunday.

The main demands included direct credit of PM’s Crop Insurance Scheme amount into bank accounts of farmers, and setting up fodder store rooms for cattle in view of drought, said farmer leader Manish Jadhav.

The villagers also demanded formation of a separate Vidarbha state comprising various districts in the east Maharashtra region.

“The gram sabha also proposed that farmers who have recorded lesser soybean and cotton crop yields due to scanty rainfall, be paid a compensation of Rs 50,000 per hectare,” he said.

The meeting, held under village sarpanch Chhaya Khandare, also extended its support to the proposed stir of farmers to be launched from Punatamba village in western Maharashtra’s Ahmadnagar district.

“We have been facing an acute drinking water crisis every year. We want it resolved permanently through the Centrally-sponsored water supply schemes,” the Sarpanch said.

She also demanded a complete crop loan waiver and fresh credit for farmers.

The meeting was attended by a large number of villagers wherein it was resolved that the future polls will be boycotted if our demands are not met, Jadhav said.

The village, with population of around 1500, falls under Umarkhed (SC) assembly constituency, currently represented by the ruling BJP. It falls under Hingoli Lok Sabha constituency, represented by the Congress.

Govt sanctions Rs 58 cr to GPO in Mumbai

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gpoThe Preservation, Repair and Restoration work of the biggest post office building in Mumbai GPO has been held up in bureaucratic web. The proposal to repair the heritage structure of Mumbai GPO Heritage Building, Grade I has been pending for approval of Postal Directorate for the last 34 months. RTI activist Anil Galgali has uncovered the lethargic, insensitive and apathy of Indian Postal Service attitude towards this issue. After RTI query by Galgali, Mumbai GPO Preservation, Repair and Restoration gets a node and government sanctions Rs 58 crore.

Legal and buildings committee of Department of Post revealed in a RTI reply to Anil Galgali that a proposal for sanctioning Rs 47.58 crore for preservation, restoration and repair of the GPO building was put up on January 29, 2016. This plan was drafted by Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage (INTACH), an organisation empanelled by the postal department. Although 15-20 per cent escalation of project cost is expected per year. An amount of mere Rs 30 lakhs has been sanctioned by the directorate. Even in this case, proper administrative approval has not been forthcoming. Experts view and help of outside agency like renowned Architect Abha Narayan Lamba was also taken in the year 2008-2009 and recently, the help of ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) also availed for Preservation, Repair and Restoration work.

“General Post office building holds a place of pride among the 633 heritage structures of Mumbai. But sadly, it is also among the four most dilapidated heritage structures, needing urgent work of Preservation, Repair and Restoration. In fact, the plasters and parts of the ceiling have been falling at intervals and the 1000 odd employees working from this century-old building live in constant fear of collapse. A writ petition filed in 2012 on the issue has failed to awoke a response from the Postal authorities,” said Galgali.

GPO further informed Galgali that many incidents of falling plaster etc. have taken place in Mumbai GPO, but there were no causalities. However, one serious incident of failing ceiling portion has already happened at Mumbai GPO premises. And injured person has filed Civil Suit under No. 4735/2012 against the Department of Posts. Court case is sub-judice for fixing vicarious responsibilities against the Postal Department.

Galgali has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to expedite the restoration of Mumbai GPO. Apart from the employees, the lives of thousands of visitors to the building are also at stake. After RTI query by Anil Galgali and Written Complaint to Authority, Mumbai GPO Preservation, Repair and Restoration get node and Government sanction Rs 58 crore.

 

 

Villager abducted by Maoists found dead in Maharashtra

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dead body 1A 32-year-old villager, who was abducted by a group of Maoists over suspicion of being a police informer, was found dead on Sunday in Maharashtra, police said.

The victim, Sansay Tanu Beig, a resident of Jaravandi village under Erapalli tehsil of Naxal-affected Gadchiroli district, was abducted late Saturday night, a police official said.

Around 40 Maoists entered the village and barged into Beig’s house from where they pulled him out after brandishing weapons, he said.

Villagers came to Beig’s defence and requested the Maoists to leave him as he was innocent, the official said.

However, the rebels did not listen to them and took the villager with them, he said.

Beig’s blood soaked body was found in early hours of Sunday in the main square of the village, he said.

Maoists suspected Beig had informed the police about their meeting held in the village, the official said.

The ultras assaulted Beig with sticks, leading to his death and dumped his body near the village, he said.

The Jaravandi police later reached the spot and shifted the body to a state-run hospital for post-mortem, the official said.

A probe is underway and the police were in the process of registering an offence, he said.

This is the fourth incident of killing of a villager over suspicion of being a police informer in the district in the last one week, he said.

#AyodhyaHearing: SC cancels Jan 29 proceedings on land dispute case

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ram mandie

The Supreme Court on Sunday cancelled the January 29 hearing in the politically sensitive Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid land title dispute case due to non-availability of one of the five judges of a Constitution bench.

Justice S A Bobde will not be available on January 29 due to which sitting of the Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi stands cancelled, as per a notice issued by the Supreme Court registry.

The five-judge bench was re-constituted on January 25, as Justice UU Lalit, who was a member of the original bench, had recused himself from hearing the matter.

When the new bench was constituted, Justice N V Ramana was also excluded from the re-constitution bench.

No reason was cited for the exclusion of Justice Ramana in the new Constitution bench.

Besides the CJI, the new bench comprises justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer.

Thane man with link to ‘ISIS-inspired’ group held by Maha ATS

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0c3fa314 472b 11e8 b98f 44ca1ff8ed36The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has arrested a man in connection with an alleged ISIS-inspired group that wanted to carry out mass attacks at big events using poisonous chemicals, police said on Sunday.

The arrest was made Saturday from Mumbra in neighbouring Thane district and a laptop, tablet computer, hard disk, pen drives, router, mobile phones and diaries were seized from his residence, an ATS official said.

The ATS had earlier arrested eight people, and detained a minor, from Aurangabad and Thane after several teams carried out searches through January 21-22, an official said.

They were charged under Indian Penal Code section 120B (criminal conspiracy) and relevant provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Bombay Police Act.

This group, during interrogation, had named the accused who was arrested on Saturday, he added.

He will be produced in a court on Sunday, the official informed.

 

Martyred Army major honoured with bravery award in Thane

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army majorMajor Kaustubh Rane, who was martyred in an encounter on the Line of Control (LOC) in August last year, was posthumously honoured with a gallantry award by an organisation here in Maharashtra on January 26.

The “Maharana Pratap Shourya Puraskar” consists of Rs 11,000 in cash and a citation, and has been instituted by the Hindi Bhashi Ekta Parishad.

Major Rane (29) was martyred in north Kashmir’s Gurez sector of Bandipora district along with three Army soldiers while fighting terrorists. He was a resident of Mira Road in Thane district.

The function, organised by the Hindi Bhashi Ekta Parishad and the Rajastani Seva Samiti, was held in the Ram Ganesh Gadkari Rangayatan near Masunda Lake here.

The audience, several of them teary-eyed, stood and cheered when the martyred Army major’s parents went up on stage to collect the award.

Justices Kamal Kishore Tated and Makarand Karnik of the Bombay High Court presented them with a bouquet.

 

30 years on, Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit relive fond memories of ‘Ram Lakhan’

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anil madhuri

Three decades after Subhash Ghai’s iconic ‘Ram Lakhan’ captivated millions of moviegoers, Bollywood stars Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit on Sunday shared with fans memories of working together in the classic.

Madhuri tweeted a video where she along with Anil Kapoor danced energetically to some of the songs from the 90s blockbuster.

“Today marks #30YearsOfRamLakhan and dancing on this song brings back so many beautiful memories. It was fabulous working with the team of #RamLakhan @AnilKapoor @SubhashGhai1 @bindasbhidu @SirPareshRawal @AnupamPKher,” she wrote alongside the tweet.

 

Retweeting Madhuri’s comment Anil commented, “It’s serendipitous that we should be working together on the anniversary of #RamLakhan! Can’t think of a better way or a better person to celebrate this milestone with! #30YearsOfRamLakhan.”

Expressing his happiness at the film competing 30 years he wrote, “#30yearsofRamLakhan & it’s been one of my greatest joys to watch Lakhan continue to bring a smile to people’s faces, & and a dance in their steps…I’m not one to look back & ponder, but as I move forward to new avenues, I’m grateful for the choices that got me here…#LakhanFTW!”

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The film also starred Jackie Shroff and Dimple Kapadia and was one of the most loved films of the nineties.

Released on January 27, 1989, the film went on to be one of the biggest hits of the year.

 

Ali Abbas Zafar shares glimpse of Salman Khan from ‘Bharat’

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bharat

Bollywood film director Ali Abbas Zafar, who is quite active on social media, on Sunday shared another picture of Salman Khan from his upcoming directorial ‘Bharat’ and thanked his fans for all the love they showered on the recently released teaser of the film.

Zafar tweeted, “Thank you for all the love,” and posted a picture of Salman Khan.

The photograph shows the 53-year in an Indian Navy officer’s uniform.

The upcoming film also starring Katrina Kaif, Jackie Shroff and Sonali Kulkarni is a remake of the 2014 South Korean blockbuster ‘Ode to My Father’.

The makers of ‘Bharat’ recently unveiled the first teaser of the film. The one-minute and twenty-six-second teaser showed the ‘Dabangg’ actor in different avatars, narrating the story of his character’s life.

According to reports, the ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ actor will be seen sporting five different looks in the film spanning 60 years, including a crucial part which will showcase the actor in his late 20s, looking much leaner and younger.

It is slated to hit the big screens on June 5, 2019.

 

Padma Awards 2019: Shabbir Sayyad conferred with Padma Shri for protecting cattles in Beed

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shabbir sayyedThe family of Shabbir Sayyad, awarded with Padma Shri for his contribution to the welfare of cows, is overjoyed ever since they received news of the national honour.

55-year-old Sayyad who hails from a village in Beed, the epicentre of drought in Marathawada, has been taking care of his 102-strong cattle herd for decades despite belonging to the traditional butchers’ community.

“My father dreamt about saving cattle. As a child, I also started taking care of cows. Due to a dearth of drinking water and feed for the animals, we face difficulty in looking after them. There are some people in the village who donate money for the welfare of the animals,” Sayyad told agencies.

Apart from Sayyad, Ramesh Babaji Maharaj from Uttar Pradesh has also been awarded the Padma Shri for his efforts towards the welfare of animals.

Similarly, Saalumarada Thimmakka from Karnataka and Jamuna Tudu of Jharkhand have been awarded the Padma Shri for their laudable work in the field of environmental preservation.

Need wider representation of women in Bollywood, says Kirti Kulhari

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need wider representation of women in bollywood kirti kulhari 2019 01 27

Actor Kirti Kulhari says while there’s no derth of smart female characters in Bollywood, the industry needs to have wider representation of women on screen, showcasing different facets of them.

The actor says Bollywood shouldn’t “play safe” when it comes to chronicling stories about women.

“I won’t say there arent ‘smart’ roles for women but the variety is limited. I feel the real representation is not widely available in Bollywood. While there are good roles being written for women and people are taking those up, but there’s still so much more to explore,” Kirti told an agency.

“We should go in and get our hands dirty and lets not shy away from really showing and representing the sexual life (of women) or taboo subjects. We are still playing it safe,” she added.

Kirti feels the digital platform is a great space to explore different women stories as it is uncensored and “there are people who are trying to get their hands dirty, be on the receiving side and say- I still want to do this.”

She is currently seen on Amazon Prime Video’s “Four More Shots Please!” which chronicles the story of four female friends who deal with romance, work-life conflicts, ambitions and anxieties.

Kirti, who was recently seen in “Uri: The Surgical Strike”, said the show liberated her.

“In this, I saw a lot of scope for personal growth, an opportunity to liberate myself as Kirti and to actually feel free in ways I thought I hadn’t been for whatever reason. I don’t care what people feel or say about the show.

“From being worried what others are saying about me to being someone who is going to have sex clips taken out of from the show just to look at (without context)- I don’t care.”

“Four More Shots Please!” also features Sayani Gupta, Maanvi Gagroo and Bani J.

 

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