An Assistant Police Inspector (API) of Mumbai Police sustained injuries as he fell from the roof-top of a shanty while chasing a history sheeter in Wadala TT area in Central Mumbai, police said today.
The incident took place late last night when API Sharad Vyandande, attached with Wadala TT police station along with few constables were searching Samad Salim Khan, against whom over two dozen cases have been filled, DCP (Detection) Dhananjay Kulkarni said.
According to police, acting on a tip-off that Khan will be sleeping on one the roof of a hut in the Azadnagar slums in Wadala, Vyandande went to nab him.
When the cops reached the spot, Khan got a whiff and started running. Subsequently, the API started chasing him when he slipped from the roof and fell down, police said.
Initially, the API was taken to a nearby hospital in Sion and later was admitted to a private hospital at Bhoiwada in Central Mumbai.
Meanwhile, Khan, is still on the run and efforts are on to nab him, said police.
A social activist has approached the Bombay High Court seeking a direction to the Maharashtra government not to consider paying compensation to a contractor for exempting vehicles from paying toll on Sion-Panvel highway.
A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice A K Menon posted the application for hearing on Tuesday along with a petition filed by Sion-Panvel Tollways Pvt Ltd challenging the government’s decision to exempt light vehicles from paying toll.
Activist Pravin Wategaonkar in an application filed today alleged that the government’s decision to award contract to Sion-Panvel Tollways Pvt Ltd was done without following proper procedure and was hence “unconstitutional and illegal.”
Wategaonkar told the court that the government is also considering paying the company compensation amount for exempting lighter vehicles from paying toll on the highway.
The activist claimed that the Public Works Department of the government denied tender forms to four contractors interested in bidding for the contract of collection of toll on the Sion-Panvel highway without assigning any reasons.
Reliance Infrastructure-led Mumbai Metro One said it will seek metro operational subsidy from the state government to keep the fares lower, even as the fare fixation committee has recommended its revision in the range of Rs. 10 to Rs. 110 for the over 11-km-long corridor.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Metro One (MMOPL), which is operating the network, has decided to continue the current fare range of Rs. 10 to Rs. 40 till October 31, after which it will review the fare structure and gradually increase the ticket costs depending on the government response.
“The recommendations by the fare fixation committee (FFC) has taken into consideration the cost to operate the metro line, business viability and the value propositions that metro brings in to its commuters.
“While at the business level we continue to make significant cash losses, considering the interest of commuters, it is decided to maintain the existing fare for the time being while we engage with the government and other authorities to progress on leads given by the FFC,” MMOPL chief executive Abhay Mishra said.
The Reliance Infrastructure in a statement also said that experts appointed by the FFC has also suggested that MMOPL should be granted metro operational subsidy by the government to keep the fare affordable and should fully monetise the potential of real estate available at metro properties, to ensure business viability.
The FFC on July 8 submitted its report recommending the revised fare after analysing all aspects, including the cost to operate the line and alternate modes of transport, sustainability and affordability.
It had recommended to retain the minimum fare at Rs. 10 and increase maximum fare to Rs. 110.
The committee, while fixing the fares had said, “MMOPL is not strictly comparable with other metros in the country, which have the distinguished advantage of concessional interest and lower power tariff, whereas Mumbai Metro is paying commercial rate of interest and a very high electricity cost.”
“It is a common practise across the globe to provide operational subsidy to transportation services which leads to business viability and fare affordability for a larger section of commuters,” Mishra added.
In a shocking incident, a 15-year-old has been injured after she was stabbed twice near her home.
She was attacked by a man who used to stalk her. She had earlier complained to the police, but no case was registered.
On Monday morning, the accused landed up outside the minor’s house with his friends and when she left for school, he stabbed her.
“The boy stopped me in the middle of the road and harassed me. I pushed him and went to the police station. But, the police refused to register my complaint. Four days later, he attacked me again,” the girl said.
A case has been registered in the matter, but the accused is absconding.
A newly-wed woman police constable attached to the Thane Police headquarters allegedly committed suicide at her residence nearby consuming acid, police said.
Sr PI K N Gete of Kolsewadi Police Station said that 23-year-old Shaila Dande, who ended her life on Sunday, was married to one Pandurang Kalu Dande (30), an advocate in the Bombay High Court, on June 7, 2015.
According to police, after marriage, the young woman from Ahmednagar had relocated and shifted to Kalyan.
The woman was allegedly being harassed by her husband and sister-in-law following which she took the extreme step.
The victim died at a private hospital, where she was taken after she consumed acid.
Police had initially registered a case of accidental death but the parents of the victim alleged harassment after which a FIR was registered and the duo was booked under sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 498 A (dowry harassment and domestic violence) 406 (criminal breach of trust), 323, 504 rw 34 of IPC.
However, no arrests have been made so far, police added.
The Maharashtra government on Monday informed the Bombay High Court that it had stopped the supply of ‘chikki’ food snack to school students on July 10 following complaints that it was “sub-standard”.
The court was hearing a PIL filed by Sandeep Ahire seeking an inquiry by a retired high court judge into the alleged Rs. 206 crore ‘chikki’ scam.
Justice VM Kanade, heading a division bench, observed that the government must have a sense of responsibility in matters involving children. The bench asked the state and other respondents to file a detailed affidavit by August 5.
State Women and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde has been accused of irregularities in procurement of items worth Rs 206 crore, including chikki, a sweet savoury. It has also been alleged that the chikki, meant to be distributed to tribal students, had traces of clay.
Munde had denied the allegations.
During the hearing today, the state said it had stopped the supply of ‘chikki’ to school students on July 10.
The state’s counsel, Srihari Aney, said that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had assured that he would personally look into the matter.
The state Food and Drugs Administration had seized the entire stock meant for supply to Anganwadi (ashram residential schools), he said.
The bench said the court had to address two issues — whether procedure was followed in the purchase of chikki item and if it was fit for consumption.
Petitioner’s counsel Atul Damle referred to Pune FDA’s report which said that the chikki stock seized was “inedible”.
Last week, the high court had issued notices to the state government, Munde and others in response to the PIL which had sought a ban on distribution of chikki procured by the Women and Child Development Department.
The petition also demands ban on manufacturing of chikki by three suppliers who had got the contract.
Besides Munde and the government, other respondents include the Chief Secretary, the Commissioner of Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and the three chikki manufacturers.
The PIL refers to media reports about Munde receiving a complaint from Ahmednagar Zilla Parishad about the chikki provided to tribal students under ICDS.
It also mentions the allegation that Munde’s department placed orders for chikki, mats, books, dishes, etc, worth in total Rs. 206 crore, on a single day without e-tendering.
The Bombay High Court on Monday granted two weeks time to CBI to file its affidavit in reply to a petition seeking to include former Maharashtra Chief Minister Shivajirao Patil-Nilangekar as an accused in the Adarsh Housing Society scam.
Activist Pravin Wategaonkar filed the petition alleging that Patil-Nilangekar, during his tenure as the Revenue Minister, granted certain approvals to Adarsh society illegally.
In return, his son-in-law Arun Dawle was allotted a flat in the plush high-rise in south Mumbai, Wategaonkar claimed.
The activist approached the high court after the sessions court rejected his application filed there.
Wategaonkar relied on an application of CBI in the lower court, seeking the custody of former MLA and Adarsh promoter Kanhaiyalal Gidwani when he was arrested.
“CBI in its remand application said Gidwani had opened an account in Kallappanna Awade Ichalkaranji Janata Sahakari Bank in Sangli under a proxy name, in which huge amounts of cash was deposited by him from time to time. Most of the amount deposited was then transferred to the accounts of his wife, sons and daughters-in-law and also to the account of M/s Jai Maharashtra in which his sons are directors,” the appplication said.
“The said amounts were used for making payments towards the benami flats booked in Adarsh. Arun Dawle, son-in-law of Patil-Nilangekar, received at least Rs. 17.60 lakh from the Jai Maharashtra account. Nilangekar misused his official position and showed undue favours to the society. In return, Dawle was alloted flat in the society,” Wategaonkar alleged.
A division bench headed by Justice RV More asked CBI to file its affidavit within two weeks.
Recently, many security personnel made statements about the global model that would probably be followed in the next generation information warfare. Their research papers on global cyber diplomacy were quite eye opening. Western countries have set up research units, started academic research centre, and runs full-scale cyber attack rehearsals but India has no such provision. China is one of the best countries in this respect; they have channelised young techies and hackers towards cyber war. It is almost certain that at this very moment, our government’s compromised computers in multiple departments are quietly sending confidential data to anonymous servers in China. Our embassy correspondence, defense deployment plans, military personnel records, weapon blueprints, or perhaps even your passport or visa information are reaching them. Unfortunately, in our country ‘Hackers’ are yet to have social acceptance.
India has talent and hackers in abundance. One needs to channelise and use them for spreading the awareness message to their family and friends. Many young techies and hackers are conducting seminars in the various part of India. There are workshops, seminars, coaching classes but the basic instinct of working towards the cause is missing. Everything has become commercial. Hacking has become fatal attraction amongst youngsters and hard core hackers, who can be real asset to this country, are not respected and called by any Government bodies. Even police on local level invites hackers when email hack like crimes are registered. Government lacks mechanism. According to CERT-In, the national incident response centre, a government nodal agency, at least 42 million Indians were hit by cyber crimes and the recorded loss of the same was a staggering $8 billion loss in disaster in the past 12 months. India is the third-most affected nation in this regard. The United States and China filters, monitors and sniffs each development and possible threat, where as India lags behind these countries. We are yet to acknowledge the magnitude of hackers. Very recently, a few IT companies and security industries have employed hackers (with or without certification) and that is inadequate because according to latest assessment by CERT-In, India is in need of more than 4 lakh ethical hackers. CERT’s ethical hacker’s means hackers certified by them, but many are just randomly buying these papers and have no relation to cyber space. CERT-In is also biggest victim of education mafias. Earlier, ethical hacking was not measured as a good career option. But now, things have changed and our country has realised their importance. It’s high time that we need to follow offensive security options. There is nothing difficult being a hacker. Hackers have to know how to scratch apart latest technologies and unless he learns to barge in security protocols he won’t be even thinking of securing it. Indian hackers in today’s time are much more updated and upgraded in their skills with all latest technologies. Having in-house cyber crime investigation departments and to continuously update latest happenings in the forensic space needs lot of training and time. There is no single college or research centre which is dedicated to hackers and hacking techniques. Police departments and cyber cells in India are proven to be utter flop due to lack of upgradations. Human intervention is one of the weakest links in security systems. We cannot inherently separate it from technology. The Cyber Crime Cell has done a good job in setting up infrastructure and learning tools to track cyber criminals. However, it is equally important to increase awareness about such crimes to common people. Not last but the least, we lack good interpreters (advocates) of cyber law. We have stringent laws pertaining to cyber crime and to protect intellectual property or virtual assets. But when it comes to executing and implementing the expertise, we are lacking somewhere. There are several groups within the Government which works on cyber security but they don’t share information with each other in the greed of keeping credits to themselves.
We also need to foster hacking talent and get hackers into the system. There are many geniuses there. We need to find them. This is exactly what the US is doing. Irony is that these officers, present papers, give interviews, engage thousands in research but all that remain on paper. India has been methodically and frequently compromised by ongoing cyber-attacks. Many of these attacks are state-sponsored, and are in fact cyber surveillance against the highest levels of the Indian government, military and economy. India has seen many government and defense websites being hacked in the recent times. Our country has been traditionally defensive in terms of information security. Countries such as Israel, Russia have the top hackers in the world. Their offensive approaches helped the respective nations to build systems which are most difficult to hack.
Even with rising alertness and counter-measures slowly being put in place, lax security remains the standard. Our country is not the only exception in facing these tribulations. Almost each nation is under attack with the similar issues. There are competent people in India who is doing their best to resolve these issues, in spite of facing various challenges like lack of monetary support from government, technical illiteracy amongst decision makers, and corruption. One can say it’s the will of particular officer that they are working on such tasks without expecting much from the system. Many times, Indian cyber space was attacked by neighbouring countries. Almost, all government sites are rooted by one or the other hackers. On top of it, social media has proven to be nonsense and a hurdle. General public broadly believe “hackers” are criminals and they are here to destroy. Actually, hacker is someone who explores the limits of software and loves to delve in the world of code. Probably, he is the person to challenge the companies and their self claimed securities. Common citizen is rarely attacked or targeted by any hacker. However, cracker is someone with a malicious intention, mostly driven by profit motives and does this work on the sly. Probably the third and most insidious of them all are the subversive elements who want to disrupt the social/ moral/ ethical fabric – like the ones we have seen recently.
The stage appears set for fireworks in Parliament when it convenes for the Monsoon Session as both the government and the opposition have hardened their positions on issues like resignations of ministers, Land Bill, among others.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu, Monday, said, “We are ready to discuss issues that the opposition wants to raise. The question of resignation does not arise, no Union minister has done anything illegal or immoral.”
“Parliament is sovereign, there is no question of accepting any ultimatum,” he stressed.
His comments came even as Opposition parties led by Congress appear to be in no mood to let the Modi government off the hook. The Opposition is attempting to forge unity on the floor of the House to corner the government on key issues including the Vyapam scam, Lalit Modi controversy and the Socio Economic and Caste Census.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chaired an all-party meet where he issued an appeal to utilise Parliament time for discussing all issues and said running both the Houses is a shared responsibility of all.
The Prime Minister asked them to collectively move forward on issues discussed in the last session while keeping the country’s interest in mind.
The BJP has given clear indications that it will brazen it out in Parliament. The party has decided against being defensive over the controversies related to Sushma Swaraj, Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Yesterday, BJP chief Amit Shah held strategy meetings with various party colleagues, including union ministers Arun Jaitley, Swaraj, Smriti Irani, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Piyush Goyal as well as party spokespersons during which Raje, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, was also present.
Besides pressing for removal of Swaraj, Opposition has indicated that it will also target HRD Minister Smriti Irani, who is facing charges related to an educational certificate.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh may also be targeted in connection with a rice scam.
The ruling BJP, on its part, is likely to train its guns on Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh of Congress, who is embroiled in a disproportionate assets case.
While the BJP-led NDA commands an absolute majority in Lok Sabha, it lacks numbers in the Upper House where Congress is the largest party and holds key to the passage of the crucial legislations, including GST and land bill.
Senior NDA ministers had, last week, held a meeting to chalk out the strategy for pushing the government’s legislative business in view of the Opposition parties closing ranks on various issues.
An RTI query by Congress leader Venkata Ramanna Reddy revealed on Monday that Telangana Commercial Taxes Minister Talasani Yadav has violated the anti-defection law.
Yadav, who defected to TRS (Telangana Rashtriya Samithi) from the TDP (Telegu Desam Party), was appointed as a cabinet minister in the Telangana government without officially resigning from the TDP. This means that under the anti-defection law, he was appointed as a Cabinet minister unconstitutionally.
The Congress has demanded Yadav’s disqualification.
Opposition parties have been demanding implementation of the anti-defection law and stern probes against all MLA who shifted parties after the state elections in 2014.
The High Court has also sought to know the time required by the Assembly Speaker to dispose pending disqualification pleas of MLAs and MLCs who defected.
The stage appears set for fireworks in Parliament when it convenes for the Monsoon Session as both the government and the opposition have hardened their positions on issues like resignations of ministers, Land Bill, among others.