An RTI activist Jeetendra Ghadge on Friday alleged that Ajit Pawar, who is being probed in connection with the irrigation scam, was given “special treatment” by the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) as the senior NCP leader is spared from personal appearances for investigations in the case.
City-based activist said, “The way ACB has been over-sympathetic to Ajit Pawar on the behest of his political ring masters, it proves that neither government nor agency has the intention to convict the accused in the scam,” further claiming that he was getting “special treatment” from the probe agency.
Ghadge said that he had filed a query with Mumbai Division of ACB on June 15 seeking details including whether Ajit Pawar had sought exemption from personal appearance. He also wanted to know who granted Pawar the liberty to file a written reply under which the relief was given.
The activist alleged that he received four intimations within a month informing that his queries were being transferred within three ACB divisions.
Ghadge received the first intimation on June 23 from Mumbai Division which stated that his queries pertained to Maharashtra division and hence it was being transferred, he said.
Again on June 26, Maharashtra division informed Ghadge that his query was being transferred to Thane division as the case was registered there, he added.
On July 2, Thane division returned the RTI query to Maharashtra division saying that the information did not relate to the division, and on July 9, the Maharashtra Division again returned the RTI query to Thane division stating that case was registered there.
Ghadge, who has exposed irregularities in the irrigation scams through his RTIs, said, “This kind of unprofessional behaviour from ACB is not surprising and I will continue to raise such queries unless ACB is made an autonomous agency.”
Director General of ACB, Pravin Dixit, said, “The charges against the accused were voluminous in nature, hence we compiled a set of questionnaire and gave it to him (Ajit).
“When we will get a reply, we will cross examine it, then call the accused (for interrogation) as and when the need be. There is no question of going soft on the accused. We work to satisfy the court of law,” he added.
After a 13-year-old Mumbai school student’s bone-chilling letter revealed her horrific ordeal about being raped by her father for six years, the police on Friday arrested the accused.
The minor girl in her letter also had written about how her mother kept mum over the years of sexual abuse.
The shocking incident came to light after the victim, a class VII student, gave a letter to her teacher which read, “My father raped me and my mother is not helping.”
The teacher, who initially had no idea what the letter read, was visibly shaken after going through its content. Having realised that it was a desperate appeal for help from the poor girl, the teacher then sought assistance from a local NGO in Vashi.
The NGO later got a rape case registered against the girl’s parents.
“My father raped me in front of my mother. After this, my mother would offer me some pills. He has been raping me since I was seven years old. Despite complaining to my mother, she refused to help me,” the teenage girl alleged in the letter.
The girl’s 45-year-old father is a fruit vendor who used to rape her since she was 7-year-old.
“Whenever my brothers weren’t at home, my father would take advantage of the opportunity and rape me inside my house, in front of my mother. I had complained to my mother several times, but she never helped me,” she had told the police.
The now 13-year-old girl told Vashi police that she had also informed her 17-year-old sister about the assault. The police, after primary investigation into the matter, said that the elder sister doesn’t stay with the family, and she too has been a victim of the father’s sexual assault.
Interestingly, the girl was able to muster courage after receiving a counselling session at school, a police officer from Vashi police station, said requesting anonymity.
Though the police questioned the girl’s mother, but she had categorically denied the charges made by the girl against her father. Shockingly, the woman claimed that she came to know about the sexual assaults only a fortnight ago, after which she scolded her husband and asked him to stay away from the teenager.
With the local police beginning its probe into the case, the girl is now put up at a children’s home owned by the NGO.
A case has been registered against both the parents under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code, along with Section 5(L)(N) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
Asian countries were flourishing with ship breaking and related business in the last decade. The Asian dry-docks high on dismantle and salvage for scrap iron and other electronic scraps. Hundreds of companies operate in India. It had been the worst affected industry by the Global economic slowdown and declining demand for steel. This was a beneficial business till the beginning of 2008, when the prices were as high as $700 for a ton of salvaged metal from the ships. It has declined steadily from there to reach $200 now. This is a serious threat to shipping industry as the labour costs and overheads have increased while the prices are going downhill. The worst hit state is Gujarat wherein Bhavnagar; the main industry is ship breaking which is facing severe hurdles now. Ship owners are not willing to sell their ageing ships as the fall in the price of scrap steel has depreciated the value of ships. The liquidity crunch have also brought bad phase for the industry. Ship Breakers Association of India is doing its best but lack of manpower and recruiting the immediate resource is the biggest challenge. This is a major issue for the ship breaking companies. No one wants to break their aged ships for the 30 per cent of its value compared to the peak prices. So, these oldies are floating idle on the seashores.
Now the scenario has changed, the ship-breaking industry in India is likely to witness hectic activity in the next 10 years with the European Union’s proposed accelerated phase-out of single-hull tankers. According to a recent study, there are more than 2,250 single-hull tankers of 5,000 DWT, or a total of 129.5 million DWT (till January 2004), that will have to be scrapped. This is 25-30 per cent higher than the estimate of peak volume of 2015. These tankers will be withdrawn by 2010 and 2015 in accordance with the strict time-tables set by the European Commission (EC) and the IMO (International Maritime Organisation). The new regulations include a ban on carrying heavy grades of oil in single-hull tankers.
According to an EU-commissioned study, the ship-breaking industry’s present capacity, in Asia, and particularly India, may still be enough to meet the demand generated by the proposed accelerated phase-out. The European Commission’s Directorate General of Transport and Energy initiated the study in October 2003 following the environment catastrophe caused by sinking of Prestige, a single hull oil tanker, in November 2002. The ship sank off Spain resulting in massive oil pollution off that country’s coast. The EU Parliament and Council amended Regulation 417/2002 to phase out single-hull tankers, and the IMO followed suit. According to the study, in the past ten years decommissioning of ships has been concentrated in the Indian sub-continent. Ship-breaking in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and China accounted for more than 90 per cent of all vessels scrapped. Of all the vessels scrapped from 1994 to 2003, less than 2 per cent were broken in Europe, with Turkey accounting for more than 85 per cent of this.
For instance, 4,658 ships were scrapped between 1994 and 2003. Of this 2,638 were scrapped in India, followed by Bangladesh (603), China (523) and Turkey (125). In other words, India accounted for around 60 per cent of the global ship-scrapping, and whole of Asia 75 per cent. On an average, oil tankers accounted for 40 per cent of the volumes scrapped during 1993-2004, the report said. Some 250 Indian companies are involved in ship-scrapping, mostly along the Gujarat coast.
According to the study, the reasons for limited ship-scrapping activity in the EU countries are not just the higher labour cost and the environment considerations, but also the fact that the demand for recycled steel and other reusable items from ships is lower in the EU compared to, say, the sub-continent or China.
So what happens next? Government needs to look into issue seriously because the manpower challenge will certainly break down the ships. It is better to sink them and pollute the ocean. The governments should take action and put a restriction on mining iron ore. This may help to increase the usage of scrap steel to be recycled. I would suggest that the Government provide more tax benefits to companies which use recycled steel and to those who produce them. This will certainly give a fresh air to the business which may possibly go into a blackout. The global volume of scrapping is a function of the overall size of the world fleet. With the world fleet expanding steadily, there has been a general increase in ship scrapping too. According to the report, demolition of European vessels moved from the Continent, notably Spain and Italy, and Japan during the 1960s and the 1970s to Taiwan and Korea in the 1980s. Then, scrapping took place along piers in connection with ship-building activities. During the 1980s, beaching became the common method for demolitions since such expensive infrastructure as piers, sufficient depth of the harbour, and cranes could be replaced by a mud flat, portable equipment and a huge labour force. As the economy grew in Korea and Taiwan, labour costs rose, making ship-scrapping less attractive in these countries, and prompting a shift to such low-cost destinations as India, the report said. During the last two years, scrap prices have tripled, from $125/LDT (light displacement tonnes or lightweight — ships without cargo, fuel, lubricating oil, ballast water, fresh water and feed waters, but including liquids in piping), to $400/LDT at the beginning of 2004. The key factors for these are the increased need for steel for the construction industry in China, and the limited supply of vessels for decommissioning.
Ballet is the most classic format of all the western dance forms. It originated in Russia and is today used for many theater shows all over the world. It has become so popular that now people have even come up with their own Ballet versions. Be it Jazz Ballet, Contemporary Ballet and even Bollywood Ballet which Abhishek Bachchan and Sonu Sood along with Shah Rukh Khan attempted in Farah Khan’s hit film Happy New year, Ballet has its own new ways very similar to salsa and its many versions.
If you are one of those ballet freaks who has watched Hollywood blockbuster ‘The Swan Lake’ more times than you can count, and listen to Tchaikovsky on your off days from work and rehearsals, then I can surely tell you that Ballet can be a performance oriented exercise.
Have you ever wondered what kept Audrey Hepburn graceful and lithe through all those stressed filled years of her life? She maintains that it’s her training at a ballet conservatory that taught her elegance and helped keep her figure picture perfect.
Ballet, as a form of dance is beauty personified, but is now a popular form of exercise and workout too. Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t all pretty pink tutus and pointe shoes. It requires the strength and agility of a professional football player. It isn’t hard then, to imagine the amount of training the body gets when you perform ballet.
Ballet requires the movement of most muscles in your body, giving you a full blown workout. Most people practicing ballet shed fat and possess well-toned muscles. This is because of the tough yet graceful movements one must aspire to do. It’s an excellent way to maintain the flexibility and tone the back and the abdominal muscles. This reduces the risk of back pain in the later years. It’s based on the premise of strength and grace, the focus it requires acts as a perfect distressing tactic.
At a ballet class, one is taught a series of simple exercises on a handrail called a ‘Barre’, which encourages better, straighter posture and strengthens the back muscles. Once that is taught, one must master the pirouettes and plies that, with practice, can create a well-defined waistline. Mat exercises include excruciating stomach crunches and push-ups. These definitely do not increase your heart rate, which will definitely beat like a hammer inside you.
Ballet is set to beautiful background music, and requires a well spaced out studio with a lot of natural sunlight and reflecting mirrors. Practicing in such an atmosphere does wonders to the mind, leaving you calm and composed.
Most of the old school western dance forms have taken inspiration and followed techniques from Ballet. Contemporary is one such dance form that is completely inspired by ballet, this dance hit the Indian television scene when dance maestro Terrence Lewis introduced it on Dance India Dance. Since then it has become a rage but, many do not realize that for a good contemporary number a strong ballet background is very important.
My dear friend Ava Barucha who is well known in India for her skills and techniques in ballet says ‘Ballet is one form that gives a dancers body a complete workshop, it’s a way to achieve all that you ever dreamt off, ballet makes a dancer mentally, physically and even emotionally strong.’ Ava adds ‘the key to attain advantage from ballet and its different exercises is to do them regularly and most importantly do them sincerely. Because this sincerity is the one that affects the body the most.’
So if we dancers follow the advice given by Ava then I am sure by the end of it, we all will have a supermodel’s body and would have learnt some fancy footwork too.
This morning is a new day for me not because I have returned from a battle acquiring a kingdom but because I saw a new change in the eyes of people. This species is rare butI am still happy to feel their presence. At least they don’t believe in selfie. It’s quite difficult to understand that selfie is productive and will contribute something towards the country’s economy. If it works then this would be first adopted by the West. Selfie is not going to change the mindset of these sick people. From 1.25 billion population we are so unlucky that we got only one face to express opinion in favour of the country. And actress Shruti Seth was right in describing selfie as an aspect which will not bring any kind of change. If netizens really respect the campaign called #selfie with daughter then they should not abuse Shruti. More than daughter she is a mother to a daughter and wife too.
Is this a civilized society which respects a woman by hate messages targeting her family members and a ‘Muslim’ husband? If this is the definition of civilization then being uncivilized is a better option. At least we will be together for food and survival. This shows their mentality towards the female gender. Every individual is busy in changing their lifestyle with time which is visible but no change is observed in their mindset.People’s mindset needs to be changed first.
On one hand, they are talking about respecting women and on the other side they are suddenly going off track. By this it’s almost clear that they even don’t have capability to understand their own campaign. Then how it will be possible for them to understand the need of people at the bottom of the pyramidwho don’t have front camera for clicking selfie?Another possibility is that they don’t want to show their real face which is slightly visible from the mask. This is not the first case but they always try to divert people’s mind from the real issue. If insulting a woman with hate messages is their power then shame on them. And shame on those people too who are getting good amount for performing this work. Most importantly these types of activities display our mentality on the international platform.
In this democratic country, where on one hand freedom of speech is respected and on the other hand we are suppressed to express our opinion.One should not be afraid of these cyber goons. This campaign won’t remove the misogyny. But Shruti, nation is proud of the courage displayed by you which will give a new hope to the senseless generation. You have compelled them to show their real face through a small message. At least this male dominated society will be ashamed.
In a shocking statement that has put the Bharatiya Janata Party, already on back foot due to Lalitgate and Vyapam scam, in a spot, Union Minister of Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh on Friday said that it was love affairs or impotency that caused the death of more than 1,400 farmers in India this year.
In a written reply in Rajya Sabha to a question on what has caused the death of so many farmers in India, Singh said, “According to the National Crime Records Bureau, causes of (farmer) suicides include family problems, illness, drugs… dowry, love affairs and impotency.”
The minister, however, did not rule out debt as one of the reasons.
The remarks have drawn sharp reactions from the Opposition with Janata Dal (United) leader KC Tyagi saying that his party will file a notice against the Agriculture Minister. “The reference to what appears to be a list of general causes for suicide has been slammed by the Opposition as insensitive. The Samajwadi Party’s Naresh Agrawal demanded an apology from the minister saying his remarks were “irresponsible.” KC Tyagi called it an insult to farmers.
The Left’s Sitaram Yechury said the reply was “ridiculous” and alleged it was designed to “divert attention” from a sharp rise in farmer suicides due to agrarian distress.
Congress spokesperson and veteran actor Raj Babbar said: “I don’t think any other party like BJP has so disgusting and insensitive mentality towards the plight of farmers.”
Radha Mohan Singh’s statement has given fresh ammo to the Opposition, which is already hitting out at the government on the controversial land bill by dubbing it as anti-farmer and anti-poor.
In what may sound like a mythical tale, a woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun area whom her kin had thought to be dead came back to life during her funeral procession, a report claimed on Friday.
According to a News 18 report, 65-year-old Gomti had passed away on Wednesday. As the news of her death spread far and wide, her relatives and known people assembled to bid her farewell.
However, while her funeral procession was being carried out, the mourners heard her shouting “I’m Alive…I’m Alive”. When they unwrapped the body covers, they found Gomti breathing.
After coming back to life, Gomti drank some water and met her family members.
The family was in for a surprise to see Gomti alive. But, their happiness was short-lived as she died again after one hour.
While the family members were expecting her to open her eyes once again, she laid motionless this time.
A day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bihar visit, the intelligence agencies have warned of a possible “human bomb attack” on the lines of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, a top police officer said.
Modi is scheduled to visit Patna on Saturday and address a rally in Muzaffarpur.
“The Intelligence Bureau (IB) has alerted Bihar government and the Special Protection Group officials camping in the state to be on high alert for a possible human bomb attack against Modi during his visit to Patna and Muzaffarpur on Saturday,” a top police official said.
Stating that the attack could be similar to Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination by the LTTE in 1991, the IB alert has specified that well trained women Maoists may be used as a human bomb to target the prime minister during the visit, the official added.
“IB has alerted of possible attack on Modi during his visit to Bihar. The suicide bomber may target Modi disguised as a mediaperson, police official, electrician, an organiser, caterer or labourer,” officials said.
Modi is scheduled to arrive here to launch Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayay Rashtriya Gramin Joyti Yojna and inaugurate the new campus of IIT-Patna.
He would also attend two other functions in Patna before leaving for Muzaffarpur, around 70 km from Patna, to address a public meeting.
He is likely to launch the Bharatiya Janata Party’s campaign for the forthcoming state assembly polls from Muzaffarpur.
A government official said the authorities would ensure unprecedented security.
“The Bihar government will go for unprecedented security cover during Modi’s rally in Muzaffarpur,” a state home department official said.
Though Modi’s security is looked after by the Special Protection Group, the Bihar government has directed senior officials to make special security arrangements for his rally, the official said.
Modi’s rally at Gandhi Maidan was rocked by serial bomb blasts on October 27, 2013, leaving five people dead and nearly 100 injured.
A national level fencing player, Hoshiyar Singh, has died after being allegedly pushed off a moving train by Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel near Mathura.
The altercation between Singh and GRP personnel broke out when the former entered the ladies’ coach of the train to meet his ailing wife.
His father has alleged that the railway police told Singh to get off the ladies’ compartment or pay some money. Soon, the argument broke out and police personnel allegedly pushed Singh out of the moving train.
A short while later, Hoshiyar Singh reportedly came to the women’s coach to check on his wife, who was unwell and had called him.
The athlete’s family alleges that the railway police demanded a fine of Rs.200 from him for allowing him to enter the women’s coach. When he refused to pay, the policemen allegedly assaulted him and threw him off the train.
“They pushed my husband for money. He was in the ladies coach and not talking to me. Police came and asked him what he was doing in the ladies coach. I begged them to let him talk to me. They pushed him and he got stuck. I hope they are punished,” said his wife, holding their young child.
Hoshiyar Singh’s family has demanded a case of murder against the policemen.
An FIR or police complaint has been filed against a constable, but the police claim the athlete slipped and fell.
“He was on his way to Mathura. He had got off to drink water and while trying to catch up with the moving train he slipped and got stuck,” said a police officer.
Union Railways minister Suresh Prabhu tweeted, “Asking UP govt to take strictest possible action against the police. We Cant tolerate crime by uniformed police, supposed to be Protector (sic). Ordered immediate action on police for this heinous crime. Condolence to bereaved family. Such acts can’t be tolerated.”
In 2011, another national-level athlete, volleyball player Arunima Singh, was thrown off a moving train. She lost her right leg in the incident.
The Supreme Court of India on Friday refused to entertain a plea of Islamic organisations which contended that Muslim girl students be allowed to wear headscarf during CBSE’s All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT) exam.
The apex court bench headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu while rejecting the plea by Students Islamic Organisation of India, said: “If you appear in an examination without a scarf, your faith will not disappear.”
Describing the plea as “nothing but an ego”, the court said that candidates can wear the headscarf after the exam is over.
The court also observed that faith is something different from wearing a particular type of cloth.
The SC observation came three days after the Kerala High Court granted conditional permission to two Muslim girls to appear for the July 25 AIPMT wearing hijab, a customary religious dress.
Passing orders on their petition, Justice K Vinod Chandran had said the students shall appear before women invigilators half-an-hour before the examination.
The court had refused to interfere with the dress code prescribed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for students appearing for AIPMT to prevent malpractices and said the petitioners would be subjected to any mode of personal search on any suspicion expressed by the invigilator.
If required, the headscarfs and full sleeve garments will be removed and examined, for which the petitioners shall cooperate, the court had said.
In a shocking statement that has put the Bharatiya Janata Party, already on back foot due to Lalitgate and Vyapam scam, in a spot, Union Minister of Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh on Friday said that it was love affairs or impotency that caused the death of more than 1,400 farmers in India this year.