Rift occurred in Ex-servicemen due to OROP?

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November 10, 2015

Finally, the differences have cropped up in the United Front of Ex-Servicemen. Many ex-servicemen wants Major General (retired) Satbir Singh, Chairman of Indian Ex-servicemen Movement, to be reasonable and consider others also. Most of the ex-servicemen leaders are accepting the government proposal of revising pension every five years as their worry is 7th pay commission.

War veteran Major General (retired) Singh, who has been leading the protest in Jantar Mantar for the last 80 days, said they were getting positive signals from the government from the last few days but stopped short of saying there was a breakthrough. Earlier in the day, in the three-day coordination meeting between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) OROP was an important issue. RSS has asked the BJP to resolve the OROP issue. Manohar Parrikar briefed the representatives of the RSS on the issue, and that’s how it might be announced ahead of Bihar elections.

Meanwhile, the protestors are willing to accept two years relaxation as normalisation period but they will not accept revision in 5 years. This will defeat the purpose of OROP. They will continue with agitation if it’s 5 years. He said the issue was non-negotiable and both the elements of the OROP concept cannot be interfered. An agreement can be reached once we know what is on the platter (offer by the government), he said, adding effective date of revision must be from April 1, 2014. Independent MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who has been mediating on the issue, said it was time veterans must return home with honour and grace by reaching an early settlement. He urged them to accept the revision of pension every three years.

Not in the best of health yet undeterred, Colonel (retired) Pushpendra Singh resumed his fast-unto-death demanding prompt implementation of One Rank, One Pension scheme at Jantar Mantar hours after he was discharged from an Army hospital. Singh, one of the ex-servicemen fasting in demand of the immediate implementation of the OROP scheme, was hospitalised last week- the ninth day of his fast after his medical report showed increased ketone levels.

Singh was admitted to the ICU of Army Hospital Research and Referral, from where he was discharged on Thursday. Hours later, he returned to the protest site to join his fellow ex-servicemen, whose agitation entered the 81st day.

Rs. 8300 crore is very much affordable amount and 30 per cent increase in every 10 years again can be borne by the government. It is the babus who have planted stories. India afforded OROP as per 1973 when we were poor; India is growing 8 per cent for next 30 years. Another thing, when babus granted themselves OROP, no one commented that India will become bankrupt. Babus have virtually forced public debate on veterans OROP.

In the eighth installment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radio talk, he had assured ex-servicemen that his government would soon resolve the OROP issue. The agitation by ex-Army personnel comes two weeks after PM Narendra Modi repeats his assurance to execute the OROP in the eighth episode of his radio programme “Mann Ki Baat”. However, the delay in the implementation of the One Rank, One Pension (OROP) policy, ex-servicemen held protests across the country, demanding its immediate introduction. The pension issue for ex-service men is very crucial and government needs to understand that just by speaking on radio or television the issue of their lives will not be resolved. All ex-servicemen always worked hard for the country at least they should not be forgotten. One year is too long time to implement such a simple thing particularly when the Defence Minister said that he had worked out all the details and are ready but needs a Finance Ministry nod. However, the civil servants applied the veto exposing the political leadership as weak and untrustworthy.

It is extremely painful to see that politics is being played out on such an important issue and Prime Minister Modi as usual promising things but hardly implementing anything. Can’t we look after our veterans, who put their life for the safety of our nation? We are not doing any favour to them by giving adequate pension. It is an opportunity to do something for their selfless service to the nation. Present government must take this issue with utmost seriousness and sincerity. It is actually shameful for us that the policy is being delayed because of the issue of funding. In country where lakhs and crores of rupees scams happened, this urgent policy, which require around eight thousand crore, had to be delayed for decades, citing the lack of funds. Now the new government has to understand the need of the hour and take necessary and quick actions.

Mounting pressure on the government ahead, four former service chiefs in an “open letter” sought intervention of the President for early implementation of the One Rank One Pension (OROP) to avoid the situation “getting out of hand”.

One Rank, One Pension is an old demand of Indian military personnel. The term means armed forces personnel holding the same rank and same length of service will get the same pension, regardless of the last drawn pay. The Indian government accepted the demand in 2014. In its July 2014 Budget, Government of India allocated Rs. 1000 crore for this scheme. Due to some technical calculations and interpretations to be concluded by the related ministry, there was a delay in the implementation of the scheme in 2014. Recent meetings have been on the positive note indicating that the scheme will be implemented before the approval of budget of India 2015-16. Due to a fear that civilian retired employees of central government may also demand OROP, the Defence Minister decided to rename the Defence pensions as military pension which could not possibly be claimed by civilians. OROP has been a long-standing demand of over two million ex-servicemen of India. It seeks to ensure that a uniform pension for the Defence personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement. The ex-servicemen maintained that they were not against any government but were protesting to get their long-pending dues. May be the mounting pressure from all sides and Bihar elections, somewhere BJP is forced to announce OROP and deliver it in given time.

‘Cunningness’ does not always work in politics: Shiv Sena to BJP

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Afternoon Voice

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November 10, 2015

As BJP tries to recover from its Bihar poll debacle, ally Shiv Sena on Tuesday dealt another blow to the party, saying that “cunningness” does not always work in politics and that the common man will respond appropriately if promises made are not fulfilled.

“Many times a wave comes and then goes. Once it goes, there remains no trace of that wave. It is true that BJP had a big win in the Lok Sabha election, but the credit for that victory goes to the weak and ineffective leadership of Gandhi.

“There was no strong ‘pehelwan’ in the arena and it (BJP) thus emerged as the ‘bahubali’,” the Sena organ said while also ridiculing the BJP leaders for giving advice to others on shedding ego.

Taking a dig at BJP, Sena further said that their leaders are “great” and “cannot make any mistake” and whatever they say should be considered true. However, the editorial added that “in politics, cunningness does not always work”.

Several non-NDA parties have hailed the handsome mandate for the JD(U)-RJD-Congress alliance in Bihar polls as a “victory of principles” and defeat of the “arrogance” of BJP.

“(BJP leader) Sushil Kumar Modi has advised (RJD chief) Lalu Prasad to shed his ego after winning the Bihar elections. It is comical to see BJP leaders giving advice on ego to others, but in politics and specially during election times, such comical things keep happening,” it said.

Sena, a partner in the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra, said nobody had a formula for consistently winning elections.

The party further remarked that after the Lok Sabha polls, BJP could not win the majority in the Maharashtra Assembly elections despite using what the editorial claimed was its “tremendous money power”.

Sena also criticised BJP over the sky-rocketing prices of essential commodities.

“A common man has small dreams. Control over inflation, good education for his children, a roof over his head and security. But what have people got until now?” it asked.

“Inflation is not being brought under control and traders are indulging in illegal hoarding, thus creating a shortage of foodstuffs,” the editorial charged.

Ambedkar’s London house event: Oppn irked at not being invited

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Afternoon Voice

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November 10, 2015

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is set to embark on a three-day visit to London with the prime minister to formally open a memorial to Dr. BR Ambedkar there even as opposition parties targeted the government over not being invited for the event.

Fadnavis said the event is being organised by the British Consulate and will be a “small” one and, thus, the number of invitees are limited.

“The programme has been organised by the British Consulate with limited invitees. There will be no loudspeakers or firecrackers since it is a residential area. This will be a small event,” the chief minister, whose tour begins on Thursday said.

The house will be developed into an international memorial to the architect of the Indian Constitution, he said.

“(Ambedkar) was a scholar and a multi-faceted personality; he wrote some research papers during the period he stayed there (at the London house). Along with these research papers, artifacts will also be kept on the first and second floors of the Ambedkar house,” Fadnavis said.

He added that two students, selected through a scholarship every year, will also get a chance to reside on the third floor.

Meanwhile, the proposed event prompted an attack from the opposition Congress and NCP who said that the government should refrain from politicising such issues.

“What do you expect from these RSS-minded politicians when they did not invite us for ‘Bhoomipujan’ for the Dr. Ambedkar memorial at Indu Mills, where there were no restrictions,” charged Congress leader Sachin Sawant.

“They should at least stop politicising issues related to national leaders. They should first understand Ambedkar before they hold programmes,” he added.

Joining the attack, NCP leader Sachin Ahir said Ambedkar’s followers were smart enough to see through the BJP’s tactics of trying to gain “political brownie points”.

“This is not an issue which can be milked to gain political brownie points. Since they are doing it, Ambedkar’s followers will see through it,” Ahir said.

“At least as a mark of respect to senior people, be it from any political party, who had worked towards realising Ambedkar’s dream of India, they should have been invited,” he said.

Maharashtra government had in January this year decided to buy the House at 10, Kings Henry Road in London where Ambedkar lived during 1921-22. It finally took possession in September of the 2,050-sq.Ft three-storey house, Ambedkar’s lodgings when he was pursuing doctoral studies at the ondon School of Economics.

The government had made a provision of Rs 40 crore for buying the house. It was finally purchased at a cost of Rs 31 crore. The initial 10 per cent token had been paid in April but the deal had got stuck in the interim after deliberations failed between the owner and the state government.

Chopper crash: Recovered body identified

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Afternoon Voice

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November 10, 2015

The body of one of the pilots that was recovered from the wreckage of the Pawan Hans helicopter that fell into Arabian Sea last week has been identified as that of Capt. TK Guha even as the search is on for the other missing pilot, a Coast Guard official said.

“Capt. Guha’s body was brought to the shore this morning at around 8.30 AM and sent for a post-mortem,” the Coast Guard spokesman said.

Coast Guard had yesterday recovered the body after locating the wreckage, including the cockpit, of the 14-seater VTPWF Dauphin aircraft, six days after the Pawan Hans helicopter crashed into Arabian Sea off Mumbai coast on November 4.

At the time of the incident, Captains E Samuel and Guha were on board the chopper.

While salvage efforts were being led by the companies concerned, Coast Guard ship ‘Subhadra Kumari Chauhan’ was still in the deep sea to recover more wreckage (of the helicopter) and also to find the other missing pilot, the spokesman said.

The 2001-make Pawan Hans helicopter crashed during night- landing practice, 160-km away from the seashore, after it had taken off from the ONGC installation.

The door of the aircraft was sighted by the Navy and Coast Guard soon after it had crashed into the sea.

The helicopter wreckage was located on the seabed at a depth of 75m. Underwater locater and sonar inputs were thoroughly analysed while divers searched the area for four days.

Vessels of the ONGC were also roped for the westerly side of the sea and Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) was coordinating the search (and rescue) operation, the spokesperson added.

HC stops demolition of illegal buildings on government land

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Afternoon Voice

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November 10, 2015

The Bombay High Court has restrained the civic body in neighbouring Virar from demolishing Kargil Nagar Cooperative Housing Society buildings, which stand illegally on a state government land, till December 31.

The division bench of Justices V L Achilya and Abhay Oka passed the order in view of undertakings given by each resident that they would vacate the premises if the state government does not allot land to the society by December 31.

The residents also gave an undertaking that they would not transfer, alienate or create any third party rights or interests in the respective premises in their possession.

The society informed the HC that it had submitted an application to the government on October 16 seeking allotment of land so as to legalise the construction.

The HC asked the state government to decide the application as expeditiously as possible and in any event before December 19.

The bench also said that a representative of the society shall appear before the principal secretary, revenue department, with authenticated copy of the HC order and a copy of the application dated October 16, to enable the government to take necessary action.

The next hearing would be on January 7.

The court however made it clear that possession shall be handed over to the civic body even if the society’s application is not decided before December 31, or if it is rejected.

Gauri Raghuwanshi, society’s lawyer, pointed out that a court receiver of Bombay High Court had already been appointed as the receiver for the buildings.

The court said if the occupants failed to deliver the possession by December 31, the court receiver shall take forcible possession with the help of police.

Mumbai police launches traffic helpline for citizens

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Afternoon Voice

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November 10, 2015

In a first, the Mumbai Police have launched a dedicated helpline for citizens wherein they can obtain information about real-time movement of vehicular traffic and can also lodge a complaint, police commissioner Ahmed Javed said.

“To modernise the function of the traffic police in Mumbai and giving better services to the citizens a helpline has been started,” Javed said, adding that the initiative is first of its kind in history of city police commissionerate.

He said citizens can obtain information about traffic and also lodge complaint through the helpline.

“The complaints can be lodged through voice call, WhatsApp, SMS, email and through a traffic app,” the police commissioner told reporters at the traffic police headquarters at suburban Worli after launching the helpline.

Javed said that a specific complaint number will be generated which will help the citizens concerned to keep its track and action taken.

“There will be one main number and several hunting numbers (it refers to the process or algorithm used to select which line will receive the call) on the traffic helpline.

Points like lodging complaints, notification of incidents, towing of vehicles, verification of officers and public information will be there in the helpline.

“In public information section, the helpline will inform about various things like pay and park, about (schedule and movement of) BEST (buses), railways, metro, taxis, auto rickshaws, besides other matters including working of traffic control branch and formats for obtaining permits,” Javed added.

Besides, information about working of roads under construction, diversion routes, distances, additional time required for travel due to processions, events and rallies will also be available on the helpline.

Maharashtra RJD wants to replicate grand alliance in state

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Afternoon Voice

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November 10, 2015

After the thumping victory in Bihar elections, Maharashtra unit of Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Tuesday said it wanted to replicate the grand alliance in the state to combat “communal forces”.

“Seeing the overwhelming response from the people of Bihar (where RJD-JD(U) combine trumped BJP and its allies), we would try our best to repeat the same pattern in forthcoming elections in Maharashtra. This is how we can beat the communal forces,” said Mohammad Khan Pathan, chief of Maharashtra RJD.

He had held discussions with the state Congress chief Ashok Chavan and was planning to approach state units of other parties which are part of ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in Bihar such as NCP and JD(U), Pathan said.

“Our party’s registered office is in Nanded which is also Ashok Chavan’s hometown. I have a good rapport with him…He looked very convinced and I hope our top leaders would take appropriate decision at appropriate time,” added Pathan.

“I am going to attend swearing-in ceremony of Nitish Kumar on November 20 and I would put forward the proposal to form grand alliance to fight local bodies election, especially in BMC (Mumbai civic body), before Lalu-ji,” he said.

However, when contacted, Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam said Bihar model may not suit Maharashtra. “We must develop a new model to make secular forces stronger, but it would not be advisable at all to copy the Bihar model in Maharashtra, because each state has different political dynamics,” he said.

Fingerprints from early ‘80s nailed Chhota Rajan

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Afternoon Voice

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November 10, 2015

Fingerprints o0f Chhota Rajan the Mumbai police collected in 1980 and 1983 provided the clinching proof that led to the deportation of the underworld don from Indonesia.

Establishing Chhota Rajan’s identity was the most difficult of the four conditions Indonesian authorities wanted to be met if he was to be sent to India, official sources here said.

The only way out was to match his fingerprints. Unfortunately, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the nodal agency for Interpol in India, didn’t have them.

That’s when the Mumbai police came to the rescue.

Rajan was arrested in Mumbai in 1980 for a murder and in 1983 for an attempted murder. His fingerprints were taken on record then, an official told IANS.

“We got those fingerprints and matched them with some of the fingerprints taken six months ago in Australia where Rajan had lived since September 22, 2003,” the official said.

Eleven of the 18 features of the fingerprints matched perfectly.

“We at once provided the fingerprint details to Indonesian Police and got the okay for his deportation,” the official said.

The CBI had to satisfy three other points too before it could get hold of the long absconding don, who was once a close aide to Dawood Ibrahim, now India’s most wanted fugitive.

Manipuri woman found dead in Navi Mumbai

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Afternoon Voice

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November 10, 2015

A 34-year-old woman from Manipur fell to death from the balcony of a third floor flat in Kharghar in adjoining Navi Mumbai, under mysterious circumstances.

The incident occurred at Siddhivinayak Darshan CHS in Sector-34, police said.

Niang Ngaih Vung, who lived with her Nigerian partner in Sector 2 in Koparkhairane, had gone with him to Kharghar for the birthday party of his Nigerian friend.

Police said she used to work in Ahmedabad at a health spa before shifting to Koparkhairane, about eight months ago.

“She was currently jobless. We have registered an accidental death report. We are inquiring with those present at the flat,” a police official said.

“We have also summoned two Manipuri women working at a 5-star hotel in Bandra Kurla Complex, with whom she communicated on WhatsApp on Thursday till 11.30 pm, to check if there is some foul play,” he said.

BJP lost most seats where PM Modi addressed rallies in Bihar

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Afternoon Voice

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November 10, 2015

BJP candidates were defeated in most of the assembly seats in Bihar where Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed election rallies.

But the Congress won all the four seats where its president Sonia Gandhi addressed rallies. It also won a majority of the seats where its vice president Rahul Gandhi spoke at election meetings.

Modi was the star campaigner of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly elections which it lost badly to the Grand Alliance.

Modi addressed 26 rallies in as many constituencies between October 2 (Banka) and November 2 (Darbhanga).

It was the first time any prime minister had spoken at so many election rallies in an assembly election.

Modi also addressed four rallies in the state in July and August even before the announcement of the assembly polls.

Of the 26 constituencies where Modi spoke, the BJP won in only 10 seats. It was defeated in the other 16 seats, a BJP leader said.

The 16 places where the BJP lost included Nawada, Aurangabad, Jehanabad, Begusarai, Munger, Samastipur, Naubatpur, Buxar, Bettiah, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Madhepura and Farbisganj.

“Modi’s rallies were attended by a large number of people but it was not converted into votes,” the BJP leader said.

BJP president Amit Shah also addressed 63 election rallies and camped for over a month in Bihar.

Sonia Gandhi addressed rallies at Kahalgaon, Vajirganj, Buxar and Manjhi.

Rahul Gandhi addressed 12 rallies — it won from eight of these places including Bachwada, Barbigha, Riga, Benipatti, Kishanganj, Amaur, Araria and Kodha.