14.73L compensation for victim’s kin

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May 25, 2014

A district tribunal has awarded compensation of `14.73 lakh to a farmer couple who lost their 23-year-old son in a road accident in 2010. Baban Bhiwa Bhoir and his wife Sangeeta had sought compensation of Rs.1 lakh following the death of their son Sanjay Bhoir in the mishap on March 2, 2010.

The Thane Motor Accident Claims Tribunal in its order last week said it was “just and proper” compensation to the couple.

Sanjay, who was riding pillion on a motorcycle, was killed when a container truck rammed into it from the opposite direction on the Ambadi-Wada road in the district.

The tribunal, presided over by a sessions court judge S.Y. Kulkarni, held the National Insurance Company and Venkatesh Logistics jointly responsible for the payment of compensation.

Mr Bhoir told the tribunal that Sanjay was employed with Monotana Tyres at Wada tehsil and earning a salary of Rs.9,000 per month, and prayed for “just and proper” compensation.

The tribunal passed an ex-parte order last week granting an interest at the rate of seven per cent to the claimants from the date of application for the claim.

An ex-parte decision is one decided by a judge without requiring all of the parties to the controversy to be present. The owner of the vehicle did not attend the hearings and hence the case was decided ex-parte against him, while the insurance company contested the claim.

The counsel for applicants, Natha Jadhav, submitted copies of the accident FIR, panchnama, chargesheet and medical papers before the court as evidence. He claimed that the insurance company did not examine the driver of the container truck or submit any evidence.

“In view of my above said discussion and findings and as I have already held that the accident occurred on the account of rash and negligent driving on part of driver of the trailer, it is difficult for me to hold that the claim is bad for non-joinder of necessary parties, as pleaded by the insurance company,” the judge said in the order.

Guv appeals fashion industry to exploit cultural diversity

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Afternoon Voice

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May 25, 2014

Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan called on the fashion industry and professionals to use e-commerce to take the Indian fashion to the world.

The Governor said this while delivering the convocation address at the National Institute of Fashion Technology.

Observing that every religious and ethnic group and every region in India had its unique style of clothing and headgear, the Governor called upon the fashion graduates to study the diversity in the country to contribute to the growth of the domestic fashion industry.

Over 490 cartridges found dumped near Thane

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Afternoon Voice

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May 25, 2014

Over 490 cartridges, most of them live, were found abandoned in a drain in the powerloom town of Bhiwandi in the district, police said.

The cartridges, 401 of them live and the others used, were recovered yesterday during cleaning of the drain by civic employees ahead of monsoon, Inspector Prakash Patil of Narpoli Police Station said. Police have registered an offence under relevant sections of the IPS and Arms Act and launched a probe.

Will Modi swiftly tackle both neighbouring terrors?

By

Vaidehi Taman

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May 25, 2014

Finally, Pakistan’s Prime Minister has given his consent and will attend the swearing in ceremony of the Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi. Pakistan and India have a history of uneasy relations and they have fought three wars over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir since their independence from Britain in 1947. Relations between Pakistan and India have witnessed ups and downs and are always in tension. Relations froze after 26/11 attack in Mumbai by the Pakistani militants in 2008 in which 166 people were killed. A mild thaw since has helped trade, though not much progress has been made in normalising bilateral ties. During the election campaign, Modi took a tough stand on Pakistan’s role in sponsoring terror attacks in India. However, after massive victory, Modi has softened his stand against neighbouring countries somewhat. He has said that he would like to engage India’s neighbours and have friendly relation with them. In a way, this Pakistan guest has settled the dust but inviting Sri Lankan President Mahindra Rajapaksa has upsets Tamilians of India. Despite a huge row over the invitation to SAARC leaders for his May 26 swearing-in, Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party, armed with a majority in the Lok Sabha, showed no signs of backing down from a move that heralds a foreign policy free from the pressures of domestic politics. Moreover, the new regime must have a glimpse of the counterparts. Modi is becoming the PM of India and he wants to utilise this opportunity as a rare gesture. He will have a chance to estimate or assess the feelings of his neighbours and he cannot be a mean politician with parochial intention of playing local dirty politics within the nation.

Sri Lankan Tamils were not at all an issue in the recent election. If that was an issue then now serious Vaiko and his party have clean sweep all the seats like J Jayalalita . There is an unwritten rule in TN that if political parties doesn’t talk on Sri Lankan Tamilians then they will be stamped as ‘Anti-Tamil ’. There is a stiff competition among Tamil Nadu politicians to be first on raising issues whether it is worth or not. Majority of people in TN are concerned only on what affects them like price rise, power shortage etc and they do not think about Sri Lankan Tamilians. Here the question is that, can these Tamil Nadu’s political parties ever deliver terms to talk to Sri Lanka?

Tamil Nadu parties cannot do anything against Rajpaksa. However, NDA and UPA have been trying hard to bring Sri Lankans in our favour to tackle International communities. Forcing will never help, did the Tamils ever say boycott Pakistan or Bangladesh when hundreds were being targeted by Pakistan in North India? Bangladeshi HuJI is targeting Indians but Mamata is silent on HuJI. So, it is suggested that politicians should have a vision for whole of India and not just for their regional interest.

The biggest enemies of Tamils and Tamil language are the non-Tamil origin “Dravida” parties. Tamil language is not even a functional official language in Tamil Nadu, it is slowly being replaced by English and Hindi. Tamil is not used for banking purpose. Tamil has been replaced by Hindi as a compulsory subject in CBSE schools. Tamil communities have been replaced by Telugu, Hindi and Kannada castes in the OBC quota in the 69 per cent reservation policy. Of course, the biggest ongoing contributions of Dravidian parties to Tamil language continue to be “street renaming”, “erecting statues” “ill-treatment of Sri Lankan Tamils in Tamil Nadu”, “exclusion of forward community Tamil from reservation policy and replacement with other language castes”. With Tamil itself not being a functional official language in Tamil Nadu, some of these political parties now want to replace with Telugu. Tamilians are time and again proven to be the biggest fools groping in the dark.

Tamil Nadu is whirling under severe power shortage, due to which hundreds of small industries across the state are either closed or crippled. Thousands have lost their jobs in industrial towns like Tirupur, Erode and Salem. The mandate given to Jaya is only to be deceived. Jaya cannot dictate the central government as she did last time. How can one forget that she pulled the previous BJP government down for her whims and fancies? Tamils and its narrow minded politicians have to understand that Tamils in Sri Lanka are Sri Lankan nationals.

Anyways, President Rajapaksha has been held responsible by UN Human Rights Commission for mass murder during the war. Ceasing talk with the neighbour is not an option and will not give fruitful solution to Tamilians as well as Indian. We need Sri Lanka to address the concerns of the Tamilian minority there, and for that we need to keep them in the loop. Otherwise, Sri Lanka is not a democratic country; the citizens of Sri Lanka are prisoners under the dictatorship of Rajapaksa family. Sri Lankan armed forces are violating the Human Rights of Citizens, snatching Freedom of Press, Freedom of Speech and suppressed ruthlessly by the loyal zealots of Rajapaksa family. Sri Lanka is a very highly militarised state armed with sophisticated military hardware supplied by its staunch strategic allies that are potent threats to the security of India.

Let’s see, how Modi deals with these two neighbouring terrors and threats…

Senior Leader Blames ‘Rootless Wonders, Spineless Creepers’ for Congress Rout

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Afternoon Voice

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May 25, 2014

Lashing out at “rootless wonders and spineless creepers” for his party’s plight, senior Congress leader Kishore Chandra Deo said the Congress would not have come to such a pass if Rahul Gandhi had ensured the implementation of half the promises made after he became the vice president.

Mr. Deo, an outgoing Union minister who lost in the recent Lok Sabha polls after being elected to the House for five terms, urged party President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul to introspect on how to “emancipate the Grand Old Party from the clutches of rootless wonders and spineless creepers, who have held sway for more than two decades and have brought the party to such a pass”.

Mr. Deo recalled that Rahul had said much at Jaipur after becoming the party’s vice president on transformation of the organisation.

“If 50 per cent of it was decided by the party, this situation would not have arisen,” he said.

Alleging that there was a “stranglehold” of one to two dozen people on the party and its leadership, Mr. Deo made a strong pitch for Rahul, as also Priyanka Gandhi, to work to “free the Congress from these chains and shackles.”

The outgoing Tribal Affairs Minister said that there was a “crisis of credibility” as regards the Congress-led coalition in the wake of the price rise of essential commodities and corruption and scams.

The party and the government failed to effectively counter the propaganda on the issues through their words and deeds, he said.

Making a serious accusation on the state of party affairs in Seemandhra, he alleged that the “Congress was politically mortgaged and sold out to Jagan, YSR Congress and its fifth column.”

Alleging total mismanagement on the part of the party, Mr. Deo said while the understanding of the political situation was “poor”, the All India Congress Committee in-charge for the state also gave a “wrong briefing” to the Congress President.

He said that even notes sent by him on various issues to the party chief had “no effect at all”.
Mr. Deo said the general feeling was also negative.

“The general impression was that the Congress has conceded the plank of the party to the YSR Congress in the belief that Jagan Mohan Reddy could be managed or manipulated later. These things do not work out,” he said.

He said in Seemandhra, the Congress had accepted defeat even before it fought the poll battle.

This, he said, led to the fielding of several weak candidates in many assembly segments and the funding from AICC was also “miserable”.

As against this, there was no dearth of resources for the other two parties – Telugu Desam Party and the YSR Congress — which also had well-oiled party machineries, he said, adding, “The writing was there on the wall.”

The Congress could not secure a single seat in the Lok Sabha polls in Seemandhra and it fared poorly in the Assembly polls.

Modi rewrote campaigning rules, Congress couldn’t match, confesses Jairam Ramesh

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Afternoon Voice

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May 25, 2014

As the blame game continues after a drubbing for the Congress in the recently concluded General Elections, party strategist Jairam Ramesh admitted that Narendra Modi’s aggressive campaigning delivered a knockout blow to the grand old party, saying that the Congress couldn’t match it and was unprepared for such poll campaigning.

The outgoing Rural Development minister confessed that Modi has brought about a change in the nature of electoral campaigning in the country and “it cannot be denied”.

Modi in his election campaigning held over 440 rallies targeting Congress on numerous issues ranging from policy paralysis to terrorism. Ramesh said that the Congress was “out-campaigned and out-funded”, however, came to Rahul Gandhi’s defences for the poll debacle saying that one individual cannot be blamed for Congress’ massive defeat.

The Congress leader said that the Congress party will have to introspect and take lesson from the defeat it faced by being proactive in communication and gauge the public mood better. He, however, said that Modi’s thumping victory won’t bury his communal baggage.

The BJP crossed the half-way mark of 272 on its own bagging 282 Lok Sabha seats and along with its allies it won 335 seats. The Congress on the other hand was decimated ending up with just 44 seats.

Jashodaben likely to get same security cover as Modi

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Afternoon Voice

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May 25, 2014

They may not have shared the same roof over their heads for decades now, but even as Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi prepares to move to Delhi from Gujarat, his wife Jashodaben could find herself under the same security cover as her husband.

According to SPG rules, the 62-year-old Jashodaben is 100 per cent entitled to elite Special Protection Group (SPG) cover and the force will have to provide security to her as Modi is set to take over as the Prime Minister, said a former senior IPS officer.

Former Secretary (Security) and ex-Director General of Police of Madhya Pradesh, Subhash Chandra Tripathi, told PTI that the SPG Act clearly states it will have to provide security to the immediate family members of the Prime Minister.

The rule thus applies to Jashodaben as well, irrespective of the status of the ties between herself and her husband, he pointed out.

Tripathi had served as the Secretary of Security during the tenure of former Prime Minister IK Gujral.

Jashodaben lives with her two brothers in a small village called Ishwarwada in Mehasana district of north Gujarat.

The SPG Act, which was enacted in 1988 and amended in 1991, 1994 and 1999, provides for ‘Proximate Security’ to the Prime Minister and the members of his immediate family.

Fate of Governors hangs in balance

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Afternoon Voice

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May 25, 2014

Fate of more than ten Governors, including Karnataka’s H R Bhardwaj and Punjab’s Shivraj V Patil, appointed by the outgoing UPA government hangs in balance with indications that the new dispensation may politely ask them to vacate the Raj Bhavans.

Officials said the Narendra Modi government, which will take charge, is unlikely to go for wholesale sacking of the Governors but there is every possibility that some of them may be politely asked to put in papers to pave way for new appointments.

“It is quite normal for a new government to ask some of the occupants of Raj Bhavans to resign as their scheme of things may not suit those holding the high constitutional posts,” an official said.

Among the Governors, Bhardwaj (Karnataka), Jagannath Pahadiya (Haryana), Devanand Konwar (Tripura) and Margaret Alva (Rajasthan) will complete their full five-year term in next three-four months.

While Bhardwaj had a strained relationship with the previous BJP government in Karnataka, Alva reportedly shares cordial relations with Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

Those who will complete their tenure in six to eight months are – Kamla Beniwal (Gujarat), M K Narayanan (West Bengal), J B Patnaik (Assam), Patil (Punjab) and Urmila Singh (Himachal Pradesh).

Beniwal’s spat with the Modi government in Gujarat over appointment of Lokayukta in the state is well known.

Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was appointed

as Kerala Governor in March this year, Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra was given a second term in April 2013 and former Home Secretary V K Duggal was appointed as Governor of Manipur in December 2013.

Other Governors who may come under review of the new NDA government are B L Joshi (serving his second term in Uttar Pradesh), B V Wanchoo (Goa), K Sankaranarayanan (who is serving his second term in Maharashtra), K Rosaiah (Tamil Nadu), Ram Naresh Yadav (Madhya Pradesh), D Y Patil (Bihar), Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil (Sikkim), Aziz Quereshi (Uttarakhand), Vakkom Purushothaman (Mizoram) and Syed Ahmed (Jharkhand).

Hemraj’s widow condemns invite to Nawaz Sharif in swear in ceremony

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Afternoon Voice

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May 25, 2014

The invitation extended to Nawaz Sharif for Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony has not gone down well with the widow of martyred Indian soldier Hemraj, who on Sunday demanded that the Pakistan premier either bring back her husband’s head or condemn the barbarous killing.

“Sharif should should either bring the head of my husband or should publicly condemn the barbarous act of Pakistani soldiers who had beheaded my husband,” Dharmvati, the widow of Hemraj, told PTI on phone.

Lance Naik Hemraj was killed and beheaded by Pakistani soldiers on January 8 last year in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
“In fact Modi should not have invited Sharif. I had voted for BJP since Modi in his election speech in Mathura, not only condemned the inaction of Manmohan government in the matter but had even challenged Pakistan then,” she said, adding the BJP government’s invite to Sharif is an “insult” to the sacrifice of a soldier.

Asking why India has not taken revenge for the act so far, she claimed, “Gen V K Singh had then even promised to take revenge”.

Dharmavati is planning to go on fast from tomorrow to protest Sharif’s presence in the country.

“I would go on fast from May 26 and continue till Sharif will be in India. If he does not regret the act of his soldiers, it would be deemed that he has not changed,” she said.

Woman killed after being pushed in front of oncoming train

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Afternoon Voice

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May 25, 2014

A 22-year-old woman was killed after she was allegedly pushed in front of an oncoming train by her lover in Medak district, police said.

The victim, identified as Tasneem, was last night allegedly pushed on to the path of Ajanta Express at Masaipet railway station by her lover Narendra,24 following a talk between them on marriage, Chegunta police said.

According to police, Tasneem, a divorcee with a son, started living in Masaipet and took up work at a factory in Medchal village in the neighbouring Rangareddy district.

She met Narendra at the factory and the two entered into a relationship, police said, adding that she was pursuing the youth to marry her and had met him yesterday to discuss the same.

After the incident, passengers at the railway station handed Narendra over to police. Railway police have registered a case and an inquiry is on in the matter, it was learnt.