Withdraw serious cases in Kalamboli Maratha stir: Pawar to CM

By

-

January 2, 2019

NCP chief Sharad Pawar has written a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking withdrawal of serious charges slapped on some people during a Maratha quota protest last year in Kalamboli-Kamothe area of neighbouring Navi Mumbai after conducting a proper enquiry.

Police had fired in air after protesters indulged in arson and pelted stones during the quota stir last July in the area along the Sion-Panvel highway in Raigad district.

The letter dated December 29 was written after Pawar visited the area in Panvel taluka. He tweeted about the letter on Wednesday (January 2).

Pawar stated that he was given a memorandum during his visit to Kalamboli-Kamothe stating that innocent and well-educated people were booked by police under section 307 (Attempt to murder) of the IPC and other serious charges.

“It is highly unlikely that doctors, lawyers and women would indulge in violence,” he stated.

Pawar also attached a list of people who he said were falsely implicated by police under serious charges.

The former Union minister demanded an enquiry into the charges to ensure that innocent people are not harassed.

“I expect that you will withdraw cases against innocent persons,” Pawar said addressing the Chief Minister.

Chhetri says India will be difficult to beat in Asian Cup

By

Web Team

-

January 2, 2019

India will be a difficult team to beat in the Asian Cup football tournament starting on Saturday, especially after their recent draws against more fancied China and Oman, said talismanic captain Sunil Chhetri.

The Asian Cup, the continent’s showpiece event, will be played in four cities of the United Arab Emirates from January 5 to February 1.

India have been clubbed in Group A alongside Thailand, Bahrain and hosts UAE. They will play their first match on Sunday against Thailand, followed by games against UAE (Abu Dhabi) and Bahrain (Sharjah) on January 10 and 14 respectively.

Ranked 15th in Asia, India played against three quality sides — China, Oman and Jordan — in their build-up to the Asian Cup. The Stephen Constantine-coached side drew goal-less against China and Oman and lost to Jordan 1-2.

China (76th) and Oman (82nd) are ranked higher than India (97th) while Jordan are below a few rungs down at 109th.

“I can assure you that it won’t be an easy job for other teams to face us. We are a team who hate to lose, and we have proven it in recent times. We are working as per the plan,” Chhetri was quoted as saying by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) website.

“All of us are super excited and thrilled right now. Apart from me and Gurpreet (Singh Sandhu), it’s a first-time experience for all else. Everyone is ready to grab this opportunity (of playing in the Asian Cup),” said the skipper, who is set to become the only Indian to feature in two Asian Cup tournaments.

The 34-year-old Chhetri was part of the Indian team that featured in the 2011 edition in Doha where the country lost all their group matches — against Australia, South Korea and Bahrain. Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was in the 2011 squad but did not play any match.

Chhetri, the highest Indian scorer in international football with 65 goals, said that his team was focussing solely on the match against Thailand and not looking beyond that.

Don’t forget you formed government on Ram Temple issue: Raut to BJP

By

Web Team

-

January 2, 2019

Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) must not forget that it formed the government on the issue of Ram Temple.

Raut’s comments come a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that any decision on an ordinance for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya can be considered only after the judicial process gets over.

“We don’t need Prime Minister to tell us that matter is in court. If that’s what we wanted, what was the need for the movement? Thousands of Kar Sevaks were martyred. In Mumbai, there were bomb blasts, riots. It was genocide on Ram temple’s name, who is responsible? You (BJP) formed the government on this issue. Don’t forget that,” Raut told agencies.

In an interview to agencies, Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday had also suggested that the judicial process was being slowed down because Congress lawyers were creating “obstacles” in the Supreme Court.

“We have said in our BJP manifesto that a solution would be found to this issue under the ambit of the Constitution,” the Prime Minister said about the Ram temple matter when asked whether the Ram Mandir issue had been relegated as merely an emotive issue for the BJP.

Asked whether the Central government could consider issuing an Ordinance on Ram temple, the Prime Minister pointed out that the matter is before the Supreme Court and possibly in the final stages.

“Let the judicial process be over. After the judicial process is over, whatever will be our responsibility as the government, we are ready to make all efforts,” the Prime Minister added.

The matter is slated to be heard by the Supreme Court on January 4. The petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court for day-to-day hearing in the case.

Celebrated cricket coach Ranmakant Achrekar no more

By

Web Team

-

January 2, 2019

Dronacharya awardee cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar, who is credited with shaping the early career of Sachin Tendulkar, died on Wednesday.

He was 87 and a family member told agencies that he passed away owing to old-age related ailments.

“He (Archrekar Sir) is no more with us. He passed away this evening,” his kin Rashmi Dalvi told agencies over phone.

Best known for being the childhood coach of Tendulkar, who has always acknowledged him as his mentor, Achrekar was also a Padmashri awardee.

Besides Tendulkar, he also coached some prominent players in Vinod Kambli, Pravin Amre, Sameer Dighe and Balwinder Singh Sandhu.

Cabinet clears merger of Dena Bank, Vijaya Bank with BoB

By

Web Team

-

January 2, 2019

The government on Wednesday approved the merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda (BoB) to make it a globally competitive lender.

With the merger, BoB will become the third largest bank after State Bank of India and ICICI Bank.

“There will be no impact on the service conditions of the employees and there will be no retrenchment following the merger,” Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters about decisions taken by the Union Cabinet.

The merger has been designed to make BoB as merged entity, a globally competitive lender, Prasad added.

ICMR to launch programme for speeding up efforts to eradicate malaria from India by 2030

By

Web Team

-

January 2, 2019

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), along with a number of national and international stakeholders, will launch a programme to accelerate efforts for eradicating malaria from India by 2030.

The Malaria Elimination Research Alliance India (MERA India) programme will bring various stakeholders on a common platform for developing research strategies in speeding up malaria elimination efforts, said Dr Rajni Kant, Head of Department (HOD), Research Management, Policy, Planning and Coordination at ICMR.

He said special focus would be on finding better drugs, diagnostics and better vector control tools for curbing the disease.

It will help in capitalising on the strengths of these partners and will reinforce trans-institutional research that will have an impact on policies, Dr Anup Anvikar, a scientist at ICMR-National Institute of Malaria Research, said.

“The idea is also to avoid duplication of research and use the findings in developing policies that will have a tangible impact,” he said, adding it would also try to address various gaps in the existing strategies to eradicate malaria from the country.

The programme is likely to be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the next two to three weeks, a source said.

Central and state health ministries along with the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) will be among the major stakeholders. Several multinational companies will also be roped in to the alliance.

According to WHO, India accounted for four per cent of global malaria cases in 2017 and has made significant progress in bringing down its malaria burden since then.

A government data said the total number of malaria cases in 2018 was 3.4 lakh, while it was 8.4 lakh and 11 lakh in 2017 and 2016 respectively.

The number of deaths in the country due to malaria too decreased from 331 in 2016 to 194 in 2017 and 41 last year, it stated.

India in touch with US for extradition of persons wanted in 26/11 case

By

Web Team

-

January 2, 2019

The government on Wednesday said that it was in touch with Washington for extradition of the US-based individuals wanted in India in connection with the Mumbai terror attack

Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh said that the government was engaged with the relevant US authorities to bring back the individuals under the provisions of Indo-US extradition treaty of 1997.

“Most recently, a team from the National Investigation Agency visited the US on December 13-15, 2018 for discussion with the US authorities,” said Singh.

Pakistani-American David Headley was allegedly involved in plotting the dastardly attack on November 26, 2008, in which over 166 people including 28 foreigners from 10 nations were killed.

Headley, who has been made an approver in the case, is currently serving a 35-year prison term in the US for his role in the attack.

Singh said that the US has expressed its commitment towards working with its international partners to identify and bring to justice those responsible for the Mumbai attack.

“During the India-US 2+2 ministerial dialogue on September 6, 2018, both sides called on Pakistan to bring to justice expeditiously the perpetrators of the Mumbai, Pathankot, Uri and other cross border terrorist attacks,” said Singh.

The trial of a number of Pakistani terrorists allegedly involved in the attack is going on in Pakistan. India has been seeking quick delivery of justice in the case.

Thane ZP planning to give gift hampers to rural midwives

By

Web Team

-

January 2, 2019

Thane Zilla Parishad in Maharashtra is considering to give gift hampers to ‘daais’ or midwives to motivate them to refer home delivery cases to health centres and hospitals, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Thane ZP Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vivek Bhimanwar said complications often develop during childbirth cases at rural households, and that their number can be reduced by engaging effectively with midwives.

Presently, daais are paid in cash or kind by villagers for conducting deliveries at homes.

“We are planning to give incentives in the form of gift hampers to daais for referring such cases to government facilities,” Bhimanwar said, adding that Thane might become first such district in Maharashtra if the plan materialises.

Citing a case, the CEO underlined the need to discourage the practice of home deliveries.

He claimed a considerable reduction in the number of deaths caused by water-borne and vector-borne diseases in the rural region of the district.

“The number of Malaria positive cases has dropped to 75 in 2018 compared to 1129 in 2014,” he said, adding that the number of Dengue cases also fell to 36 during the period.

“No malaria or dengue deaths are reported in the district in 2018,” he said, adding that there was also not a single outbreak of Cholera, Jaundice, Gastro, Diarrhoea, or dysentery in the rural areas of the district.

BJP ally Shiv Sena backs Oppn demand for JPC probe into Rafale

By

Web Team

-

January 2, 2019

BJP ally Shiv Sena on Wednesday supported the Opposition demand in Lok Sabha for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the Rafale issue and drew a parallel with the alleged Bofors scam, claiming that people say Rafale aircraft is good but the deal is bad.

Speaking in a discussion on the Rafale issue, Arvind Sawant (SS) said that the government speaks of transparency, then why it is rejecting the demand for a JPC probe.

“We are transparent. Why we should be scared. Our government is good, it is not corrupt, then why should we be scared? Let there be a JPC probe and the truth come out,” he said.

Shiv Sena, a feuding partner of the saffron party, has been attacking the Narendra Modi government over a host of issues, including the Rafale controversy.

Making a reference to the Bofors deal, which had happened during the period of Rajiv Gandhi government and was marred by allegations of corruption, Sawant said that Bofors was a good gun but the deal was bad.

Same kinds of allegations are being levelled now, he added.

“People say Rafale is good (aircraft) but deal is bad,” Sawant said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has spoken on the matter but confusion remains, he said, adding that the Supreme Court in its judgement never said that there should not be a JPC probe.

In an apparent reference to Anil Ambani’s defence firm, the Sena member also asked why the offset deal was given to a company that “existed only on paper”.

Man gets one-month imprisonment for stalking minor girl

By

Web Team

-

January 2, 2019

A 25-year-old man was sentenced to one-month imprisonment by a court for stalking a minor girl.

District Judge V Y Jadhav, in his order passed on Tuesday, also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on the accused, Shivkumar Mourya, after pronouncing him guilty under the Indian Penal Code’s Section 354D (stalking) and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The accused had earlier served one-month in jail following his arrest in the case.

According to the prosecution, the accused and the victim were residents of the same locality.

The accused used to frequently stalk the Class X girl in 2015 when she would go to school.

Once while she was travelling in a bus, he sat next to her and tried to touch her inappropriately, the prosecution told the court.

The girl later reported the matter to her mother.

Based on the mother’s complaint, police lodged an FIR against the accused and subsequently arrested him. The accused was in custody for a month before getting bail in the case.

The prosecution told the court that though the accused had never threatened the girl, he continuously followed her, causing mental trauma.

In view of this, the prosecution demanded maximum punishment (three years) to him under the relevant sections.

However, the defence counsel submitted that considering the age of the accused and absence of any criminal antecedents, he may be awarded a minimum punishment or a sentence for the period which he had already been in custody.

After hearing both the sides, the judge said that considering the age of the accused and lack of any criminal antecedents, “in my view, directing him to suffer imprisonment of lesser period like one month along with the fine would suffice the purpose”.