Hitting out at the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused it of indulging in caste politics and said the party has touched a “new low” and forgotten all courtesies. Addressing an election rally in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, the prime minister accused Congress of using the threat of impeachment to “scare” judges. Accusing the Congress of dragging the judiciary into politics, he alleged that if a Supreme Court judge does not work as per their “politics” then Congress MPs start “scaring” them in the name of impeachment. “Congress has no faith in the judiciary. They are working to scare judiciary on the grounds of their numbers in the Rajya Sabha but I we will not let this ‘kala karnama’ happen in the temple of democracy,” he said. “One of their leaders asked the Supreme Court to delay the Ayodhya hearing because of 2019 polls. I would like to tell judges to not be afraid and keep going on the path of justice,” Modi said.
“In view of the rampant loot of consumers by the electric supply/distribution companies there is an urgent need to protect consumer interest by bringing all such companies under the ambit of RTI” said RTI Activist Anil Galgali at a function organized by Communist Party of India at it’s Andheri ITECH office.
On this moment Galgali making the consumers aware about the provisions of 2013 Indian Electricity Act whereby a written complaint can be filed by every consumer for excess billing and an appeal if required can also be filed as per the provisions of the 2013 Indian Electricity Act to get justice. The consumer should be aware that on receipt of excess bill, the Chief Engineer, Department of Energy and Public Works Department is the nodal officer for grievance redressal and should be approached by the consumer for corrective action. “BEST and Mahavitaran are both under the RTI ambit and similarly Adani, Tata, Torrent and other private companies should also be brought under RTI Act so that the consumer will be in a better position to seek clarifications from the private companies on the excess billings,” said Galgali.
Other Key person who delivered his view, Anil Gachke said that there is a shortage of experts in the Electric Regulatory Board and in general state governments do not seem to care more about the consumer compared to private companies. The price of electricity is within the purview of the state government which doesn’t seem to be working for the benefit of the common man. The private players do not always act in the interest of the consumer and use various arm twisting tactics to increase the price. Hence, the need of the hour is coming together of all consumers and unitedly fighting against this loot, said Gachke.
“Comrade Prakash Reddy, General Secretary of Mumbai unit of Communist Party of India emphasised the need to unitedly pressurise the government to act in consumer interest and if need be conduct mass agitation for the same. Charul Joshi, Dayanand Rane and other members of CPI from various regions were present during the occasion,” Galgali added.
The Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (SBCC) surveyed 43,629 households before submitting its report on the social and economic conditions of the Maratha community, which has been demanding reservation.
State Social Justice Minister Rajkumar Badole has told this to the Legislative Council in response to a question asked by Congress MLC Sharad Ranpise, Leader of Opposition Dhananjay Munde, NCP member Hemant Takle and others.
In their question, the opposition members claimed that when the pro-quota protests by the Maratha community members turned violent, police had fired gunshots and many even ended their own lives over the issue.
They also alleged that when a bandh was called on August 9 this year, police had registered false cases against innocent people. They added that leaders across the party lines had met the Superintendent of Police to demand withdrawal of such cases.
In his response, Badole said police had taken action in accordance with the law, at places where protests for Maratha reservation turned violent in July-August 2018.
Responding to another query, he said about 43,629 households were surveyed by the SBCC, before it submitted its report to the state government.
Badole said the government was in the process of providing assistance to the families of the protesters who have died.
He added that as per a Government Resolution (GR) issued on October 26, 2018, a committee has been formed under the Additional Director General of Police to take further action on withdrawal of cases against the protesters.
“An inquiry has been conducted into the complaints made by legislators about false cases being lodged (against the protesters). It was found that no false case was lodged against any innocent. All the arrests have been made based on the evidence found against them and no arrest have been made where there was no evidence,” Badole said.
The politically dominant Maratha community constitutes over 30 per cent of the state’s population. The community has been demanding quota for a long time and its agitation for the same in July and August this year had taken a violent turn.
After the commission submitted its report to the government last week, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had hinted that the demand for quota would be fulfilled.
According to government sources, the commission’s report has said that Marathas are a “socially and educationally backward class of citizens” with minuscule representation in government and semi-government services.
Ten years after the 26/11 terror attack, Mumbai is safe and police are competent to handle any terror threat, says Police Commissioner Subodh Kumar Jaiswal.
In one of the most horrific terrorist attacks in the country’s history, 166 people were killed and over 300 injured as 10 heavily-armed terrorists from Pakistan created mayhem in Mumbai on November 26, 2008.
“We have come a long way in the last 10 years,” Jaiswal told agencies in an interview on the eve of the terror attack’s 10th anniversary.
“I can assure Mumbaikars that the city is safe and police are capable of protecting you from any eventuality,” he said.
“We have a strong and trained police force having latest equipment, weapons, strategy tactics and are always ready to deal with all the challenges,” he said.
Jaiswal, who served in the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), said Mumbai Police has an excellent coordination with all state and central agencies dealing with the city security.
The city has a network of around 5,000 CCTVs which help monitor any suspicious activity, he said.
Another top police official said presence of police personnel armed with modern weapons at sensitive locations, a standard operating procedure to respond to any distress and enhanced public awareness are key to Mumbai’s security.
“The role of police was redefined after the 26/11 attack and there was major overhaul of the city security system,” said Deven Bharti, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order).
“We have created Quick Response Teams, which will be the first to respond in any situation. There is a dedicated commando team ‘Force One’, with capabilities to handle any terror threat and also the coastal police to secure coastal area,” he said.
After the 26/11 attacks, the state government has made efforts to secure the city, Bharti said. “We have a strong CCTV network in the city and each CCTV is connected with the main police control room through an integrated system,” he said.
“In the last 10 years, we have upgraded in terms of infrastructure, logistics and trained manpower,” he said. Police have procured modern security equipment, gadgets, bullet-proof jackets and latest weapons,” he said.
Anti Terror Cells (ATC) have been set up in every police station to keep a tab on suspected terror movement, he said.
The Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra Police also keeps a tab on terror-related activities across the state, he said.
There have been cases where youth were radicalised by terror outfit recruiters through internet or social networking sites, he said. The ATS is working to bring back such “misguided” youth into the mainstream, he added. Since the last year, it has “deradicalised” 120 such men and women, he said.
After the success of a pilot project, the Maharashtra government plans to extend the chief minister’s agricultural solar feeder scheme in the rest of the state.
The pilot project of the scheme was introduced last year in two places in Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar and Kolambi in Yawatmal.
“The scheme is a total success and will be extended to the entire state. This is a game changer and solar units will be set up in the government land where there is evacuation facility,” Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company (Mahatransco) director Vishwas Pathak said.
Under this programme, the farmers are supplied power during the day with the help of solar generation.
When asked about the privatisation process of power distribution for Malegaon and Kalwa-Mumbra sections, he said the project is on fast track and the tendering process is underway now.
“The entire process is likely to be completed soon,” he added.
Pathak further said the privatisation of Bhiwandi is successful and hence we have decided to go in for privatisation of power supply in the two areas, where the bill collection is very low.
“Already a number of companies have participated in the tendering process, including Torrent Power, which manages the powerloom town of Bhiwandi and the best suited one would be picked up,” he added.
Pathak also said there has been a growth of power consumers from 2.15 crore to 2.45 crore and to meet this growth, the company is taking every effort.
“There was an acute shortage of meters recently due to the fact that 16 lakh meters supplied by two companies, one from Hyderabad and the other from UP, were found to be faulty and had to be replaced on priority. These two companies have been blacklisted, he said and added that the legal process was underway for “recovery of losses,” he said.
When asked about the transmission and distribution losses incurred by state discom Mahavitaran, he said the company could reduce it from the past 17.50 per cent to 14.50 per cent.
“We do not claim that we have achieved and met every target but to a large extent we have performed and brought the power scene to a good position as regards supply, distribution and reducing the problems which were faced earlier,” he said.
Ram temple is not a political issue, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Sunday and expressed hope that Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, who is in Ayodhya, would get the blessings of Lord Ram.
A senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader also said that the Sena, which is its ally at the Centre and in Maharashtra, will remain its partner for the Maharashtra and the Lok Sabha polls due next year.
Thackeray, who offered prayers at the Ram Lalla temple in Ayodhya on Sunday, said the BJP government at the Centre “may not last” if Ram temple is not constructed in the Uttar Pradesh city, and demanded that an ordinance be brought to pave for its way.
“The construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya is not a political issue. Shri Ram is the deity for entire India, Thackeray would get his blessings too,” Fadnavis told reporters at Karad in Maharashtra’s Satara district.
He was speaking after paying tributes at the memorial of late Y B Chavan, the state’s first chief minister.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar also paid floral tributes to Chavan in Karad along with senior leaders of the party from the region.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra BJP chief Raosaheb Danve said the Shiv Sena’s stand on the construction of Ram temple supports the BJP and asserted that both the parties will jointly contest the next year’s state and general polls.
“It is not like the Sena has backed the BJP recently, but we have been together for decades,” Danve told reporters in Jalna district.
The Sena has demanded that an ordinance be brought before 2019 for constructing the temple.
Dashing it aside, Danve said, “The dispute related to temple or mosque is in court. Hence, despite being in power there are limitations to what a government can do.”
One has to coin some slogans while undertaking an activity like visiting Ayodhya, “which does not mean we have severe differences with each other”, said the Lok Sabha member from Jalna constituency.
“To avoid division of votes, the Sena is going to be our partner for the general and assembly elections,” he said.
The Sena had said earlier that it will fight all the upcoming elections solo.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly is not surprised at the women’s cricket team’s decision to drop senior most player Mithali Raj for its World T20 semifinal against England, saying he faced the same fate when he was at the peak of his career.
Mithali, the ODI captain, had two back-to-back fifties against Pakistan and Ireland but was rested for the final league game against Australia due to a knee issue and also didn’t feature in India’s eight-wicket semifinal loss to England.
“No! I also have also sat in the dug out after captaining India. When I saw Mithali Raj being dropped, I said ‘Welcome to the group’,” Ganguly said at the Tollygunge Club.
“Captains are asked to sit, so just do it. I have done it in Faisalabad. I didn’t play an ODI game for 15 months when I was probably the best performer in one-day cricket. It happens in life. The best in the world are at times shown the door,” the 46-year-old said recalling the 2006 second Test against Pakistan.
Ganguly, however, said it’s not the end of the road for Mithali.
“You should always remember you’re best because you did something and there’s an opportunity again. So I am not too disappointed seeing Mithali Raj being asked to sit out. I have not been disappointed to see the reactions on the ground,” he said.
“But I am disappointed because India lost the semifinals because I thought they had the team to go the distance. It happens as they say there’s no guarantee in life.”
India defeated Australia by six wickets in the final T20 International to share the spoils in the three-match series on Sunday.
D’Arcy Short (33) was the top-scorer for Australia, while Krunal Pandya picked up four wickets for India.
Chasing the target, skipper Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on 61 while Shikhar Dhawan made 41.
Australia won the first T20 International by four runs via D/L method before the second match was abandoned due to rain.
Krunal Pandya took a career-best four-wicket haul, helping India restrict Australia to 164 for six against India in the third and final T20 International on Sunday.
Ahead of their wedding, Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas arrived at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in the early hours of Sunday.
The couple, who was surrounded by a tight security looked all happy and elated as they were seen greeting fans and media with a big smile. The much-in-love couple walked holding hands and waved at the paparazzi.
Recently, Priyanka and Nick celebrated Thanksgiving with their family. Fans of the duo have been in awe of them owing to their cute PDA and lovely pictures on social media.
According to various reports, the two will be tying the knot on December 1 at Jodhpur’s Umaid Bhawan Palace.
The wedding invitations have already been sent out, and interestingly, the ‘Mary Kom’ actor has replaced ‘shaadi ke ladoos’ with macaroons. The 36-year-old star shared snaps of the invitations on her official Instagram account a few days back.
Earlier, the duo stopped by the Beverly Hills courthouse last week to fill out the necessary paperwork to obtain a marriage license in the United States.
Priyanka and her beau confirmed their engagement in August during a trip to Mumbai, where their families gathered for festivities, including a Roka ceremony and a big engagement bash.
Filmmaker Karan Johar, who will presenting the upcoming “2.0” for the Hindi speaking audience, said the crossover in Indian cinema should happen internally.
During a press conference Karan said he is happy to have collaborated on “2.0” and “Baahubali”, which he had also presented, but he cannot claim the credit for vision, creativity and execution of these two movies.
When asked if the success of “Baahubali” and “2.0” will pave way for more pan-India films, the filmmaker said, “Crossover in cinema should happen internally in India. We keep talking about crossover and that our films going out of the country but the true crossover is like ‘Baahubali’. It’s a film made in Telugu which worked very well in North, West and East, everywhere.”
“2.0′ has that vision of working within the country. We have to encourage those crossover movements. Films in all languages, whether it’s Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu or Malayalam, has to work all across (the country). That is the true vision. This is quintessential crossover movement phenomenon that needs to be encouraged and leveraged,” he added.
The Ae Dil Hai Mushkil filmmaker does agree that south cinema is ahead of Bollywood in terms of budget and technology.
Karan credits filmmakers in south for encouraging the crossover movement and believes it should happen in Hindi cinema as well.
“South industry has been a pioneer of this movement of meeting narrative and technology for like decades. They get their stories, emotions, scale and technology bang on. Some of us get stuck in a rut and we don’t get out of that rut. We believe that we are in a safe spot, we are not. They have taught us, and in many ways made us feel inferior in a good way. I say that with positivity as it encourages us to do much better,” he said.
“We have had very few big eventful films, mainly by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who have given us beautiful cinema spectacles. Now you will see a plethora of them, thanks to South industry.
