Five persons were killed when a private bus rammed into a truck in Ahmednagar district of western Maharashtra early on Monday morning, police said.
Sixteen others were injured and four of them were serious, a police official said.
A bus of Bhavana Travels, going to Pune from Aurangabad, hit a truck loaded with steel bars from behind near Ralegan Siddhi, 41 km around 5.30 am, said inspector Hanumant Gade of Parner police station.
While two of the deceased were identified as Amjad Shaikh (35) and Pramod Uttam More (30), both from Aurangabad, the names of other victims were not known yet, he said.
The injured were shifted to government hospitals in Pune and Shirur, he said.
The Bombay High Court on Monday refused to direct a lower court to examine social activist Anna Hazare as a prosecution witness in the 2006 murder case of Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar, saying it has not found anything to show that Hazare’s evidence would be useful to the case.
Justice Mridula Bhatkar dismissed an application filed by Nimbalkar’s widow Anandidevi challenging an April 12 order passed by the sessions court exempting Hazare from being examined as a prosecution witness in the case.
The application claimed that Hazare was an important witness as he was aware of the conspiracy hatched by the prime accused and former state minister Padamsinh Patil to kill Nimbalkar. The application alleged that Patil had also conspired to kill Hazare.
Justice Bhatkar on Monday said Hazare’s evidence was only hearsay and that it was not direct evidence of the alleged conspiracy.
“There is nothing on record to show that Hazare had direct knowledge of the conspiracy. There is no direct evidence. This court does not find anything to show that Hazare’s evidence would be useful to this case,” Justice Bhatkar said.
“He (Hazare) does not seem like a necessary witness,” Justice Bhatkar said, adding she does not find any reason to order that Hazare be examined as a prosecution witness in the case.
The court said the claim that a conspiracy was hatched to murder Hazare does not form part of the charges framed by the trial court against Patil and the other accused.
“Regarding Hazare being threatened in 2002 allegedly by Patil and other accused is a separate offence. There is no relation to this case,” Justice Bhatkar said.
In the trial court, the CBI had filed an application seeking permission to include Hazare as a prosecution witness and for his evidence to be recorded.
The CBI claimed that Hazare, who was also threatened by Patil, was a prime witness who could prove the motive behind the crime.
Patil has been accused of hatching a conspiracy to murder Nimbalkar due to political rivalry. Patil allegedly hired killers for Rs 30 lakh to eliminate Nimbalkar, who, along with his driver, was shot dead on June 3, 2006 at Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai. Patil was arrested and later released on bail.
Other accused in the case include Latur-based businessman Satish Mandade, corporator Mohan Shukla, Parasmal Jain, former state excise inspector Shashikant Kulkarni, Bahujan Samaj Party worker Kailash Yadav as well as alleged shooters Dinesh Tiwari, Pintu Singh and Chote Pandey.
Amruta Fadnavis, the wife of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, said on Monday that she was ready to apologise after a video, showing her clicking a selfie sitting on the edge of a cruise ship, went viral.
She, however, maintained that the spot where she was sitting was safe.
After the video circulated, Amruta Fadnavis had faced trolling on Twitter for allegedly taking selfie in a risky way.
She was attending the inauguration of domestic cruise liner Angriya on October 20.
“The spot where I clicked selfie was not dangerous because there were two more steps below,” she told a Marathi newschannel.
If anyone thinks I have made some mistake, then I apologise for it,” she said.
“I want to tell the youth that they should not take excessive risk to take a selfie,” she added.
Shiv Sena, on Monday, compared the last week’s Amritsar train mishap with Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919.
“An incident that reminds of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place in Punjab recently. Jallianwala Bagh incident took place during the British rule. However, the Amritsar tragedy has taken place in independent India. Even after getting freedom long ago, it has become people’s destiny to die like insects,” read an article in Saamna, the mouthpiece of Shiv Sena.
On October 19, a speeding train mowed down Dussehra revellers on a railway track at the Jhoda Phatak area of Amritsar, the same city in which the British Indian Army fired on an unarmed crowd, killing hundreds on 13 April 1919 in Jallianwala Bagh.
Poking holes in the railway infrastructure and functioning, the Sena criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central and the Congress-party led Punjab government. It also took a pot shot at the bullet train project.
“Hundreds of people die in train accidents. Every time such incidents happen, a Railways Minister quits and is replaced by another. It has become a tradition. Earlier, Suresh Prabhu went and Piyush Goyal was chosen as his replacement… Railways always had a separate budget, but the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government removed that too,” Shiv Sena stated.
The Central government on Monday expressed its hope that exports would touch an all-time high in 2018-19.
Commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan underlined the commitment of the government to address concerns of labour- intensive leather and textiles sectors.
“Our exports will reach a record figure both in rupee and US dollar terms,” he told reporters here after an interactive session with exporters, but did not quantify the figure.
He said the government would address the concerns such as easier availability of credit from banks and boosting schemes like the merchandise exports from India scheme, in the wake of the challenges in a global environment.
The commerce secretary said the export scenario in the region, especially in Tamil Nadu, was healthy, and lauded exporters for their performance despite protectionism and unilateralism.
“Despite the challenges, the exporters have been doing well over the last two-and-a-half years and we’ve since been having a steady growth,” he said.
On the country signing a free trade agreement with the European Union, he said, “It is on the table and we will do our best to expedite it (pact).
Finnish Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen registered his first victory in last five years by finishing at the top of the podium in the United States (US) Grand Prix on Sunday.
It is the longest victory gap in the history of Formula One, breaking the earlier record which was held by Riccardo Patrese of Italy.
Expressing his content over the win, the 39-year-old admitted that it has been a long wait for him.
“It’s been a long wait, but here we are,” CNN quoted Raikkonen, as saying.
The victory of the Ferrari driver extended Briton driver Lewis Hamilton’s wait for his fifth F1 title as the latter finished the race at the number three spot.
Raikkonen, who recently announced that he would be leaving Ferrari by the end of 2018 season, made a World Championship winning debut for Ferrari in 2007. He left the team at the end of 2009, spending 2010 and 2011 with National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) competing in the World Rally Championship.
He then returned to Formula 1 with Lotus in 2012, where he spent two seasons. He rejoined Ferrari in 2014 and was associated with the team since then.
India has offered to assist Sri Lanka with its inquiry into match-fixing in cricket and drafting laws to combat cheating in the game, a Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister said on Monday.
Sri Lanka’s Petroleum Minister Arjuna Ranatunga said India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) could provide technical expertise in probing widespread allegations of corruption in cricket.
“We don’t have the expertise or the laws to deal with this problem in a proper manner. India promised to help us in drafting legislation too,” Ranatunga said after returning from New Delhi.
The CBI named Ranatunga and his deputy Aravinda de Silva in a match-fixing investigation in 2000 but the pair were cleared of any wrongdoing.
Sri Lanka promised to establish a special police unit to investigate match-fixing after a documentary aired in May alleged massive global corruption in cricket.
Galle groundsman Tharanga Indika and professional cricketer Tharindu Mendis allegedly speculated about fixing the pitch to ensure a result in under four days in the Test against England.
Both men have been suspended by Sri Lanka Cricket pending an ICC investigation. A third man, provincial coach Jeevantha Kulatunga, was also suspended.
Sanath Jayasuriya, a member of the 1996 World Cup winning squad, is under investigation by the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit, along with several others.
Jayasuriya has been charged for not cooperating with a match-fixing probe and concealing information.
Former world number one Saina Nehwal, who settled for a silver medal in the recently-concluded Denmark Open, has thanked her entire team for supporting her throughout the tournament.
The 28-year-old shuttler posted a picture of her team on Twitter, expressing happiness over the results.
“I would like to thank the team for the amazing week I had in Denmark open ???? … Happy with the result here and ready to fight again next week at the French Open . @ArvindDNigam4 @parupallik #siyaduth… also would like to thank Gopi sir and Kiran sir (physio) for their efforts,” she wrote.
Nehwal had slumped to a 13-21, 21-13, 6-21 defeat at the hands of Tai Tzu-Ying of Taiwan in the final of the Denmark Open.
She will next appear in the 2018 French Open starting October 23.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) striker Marquinhos sarcastically wished good luck to Barcelona and Real Madrid in their attempt to take away his teammate Neymar.
This comes after both the clubs, reportedly, showed interest in signing the Brazilian footballer. Neymar, however, had dismissed the reports on social media terming them as “fake news.”
“I wish Real Madrid and Barcelona the best of luck in their attempt to bring Neymar away from here,” goal.com quoted Marquinhos, as saying.
“He has even denied it on social media so I can’t speak for him, you should ask him,” he added.
Meanwhile, PSG head coach Thomas Tuchel also rubbished the claims, saying, “Pfft, I don’t know about that. It is October!”
After handing over a crushing 5-0 defeat to Amiens in the ongoing Ligue 1, PSG will next take on Napoli on October 25 to advance further in the tournament.
Consumer Protection Act of 1986 defines a consumer as one who avails or buys one or more items from a vendor/seller or avails of any service from a service provider at a cost. In the Amendment to the Act, in the year 2000, the ambit has been expanded to include business people who avail of a service from any service provider. This, however, excludes business-to-business models. The Act also provides for the inclusion of an individual who provides a service for a fee but does it to earn his livelihood; an apt example is that of a Trucker who owns his own truck and drives it himself to earn a living for his family. As he hires out his truck, which he himself drives without an employee working for him, his services remain within the purview of the act. However, if he invests in a second truck, employs a driver and pays him a salary, he is no longer a consumer under the Act, but is a businessman, and all his transactions will be covered under B2B. Simply speaking, when he bought spares for his truck as an individual operator, he was a consumer, when he buys spares for multiple trucks he owns, he is a businessman.
The Consumer Protection Act of 1986 gives a consumer a right to file a complaint in the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum with respect to service provided, under “deficiency in service provided” and “Unfair trade practice”. There are three levels of Redressal. The jurisdiction at the District Level is restricted to Complaints where the value of the goods and services and compensation is worth up to Rs 20 lakhs. Complaints, where the values of the goods and services and compensation is above Rs 20 lakhs and up to Rs 1 crore, the State Level Disputes Redressal Forum prevails. It is to be noted that jurisdiction at the National level prevails for all transactions over and above Rs 1 crore. The applicable fee for filing a complaint has been fixed at a minimum of Rs 200 and a maximum of Rs 5,000 according to the value of the goods and the value of services availed. Filing a complaint involves a set of procedures and protocols. A unique feature is that the Complainant can download the format of the Complaint, fill it out, file it in the designated Dispute Redressal Forum, and also be his/her own counsel in the litigation process.
There are a number of consumer organisations in India, such as Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, Consumer Voice in Delhi, and Cuts International in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The Consumer Guidance Society of India operates a Helpline in Mumbai.
In Mumbai, Consumer Guidance Society of India gets consumer complaints through walk-ins directly, emails on helpline and telephone calls to the toll-free helpline number. Most of the complaints are about Telecom service providers, for example in the month of June 2018, calls received were 11 numbers and 88 emails. In the same month, Insurance complaints had a total of 89 emails and 6 calls, in banking complaints were 62 of which 53 were emails received. Similarly, in the same month E-commerce accounted for 90 complaints out of which 71 were emails. Complaints about White goods, mainly domestic appliances accounted for 100 numbers, 33 being telephonic calls alone. Major long drawn complaints are received about Real Estate, about delayed possession, agreements not signed and registered by builders/developers or payment taken but project not having approvals in place, hence delayed start in building construction. Most of the complaints are resolved with CGSI’s intervention.
Nashik being a district, the picture is dissimilar, more of agricultural produce, fertiliser, agricultural Insurance issues are complained about. Builder/Developers are a common scenario both in urban areas and tier two cities. Ponzi schemes, MSEB related, Cooperative Housing Societies issues, Insurance fraud and Banking are the sectors were majority complaints have been received during Consumer camps organised by CGSI.
In order to arrange such workshops in your areas, you could contact CGSI on:
Call Toll Free Helpline No. 1800 222262
Send an e-mail to helpline@gmail.com
Send an SMS to Cell No. 9773336400
Anindita Lahiri Kovoor
[The author of the article is the Committee Member of Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI).]
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in 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.)
