The Election Commission has issued a notice to Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal for violation of the model code of conduct. The notice comes after Kejriwal while campaigning in Amethi, had reportedly said that voting for the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party is akin to betraying the nation and god.
BJP’s Vivek Goyal had approached the EC against Kejriwal’s statement and filed a complaint against the AAP leader.
“If any person in Amethi votes for the Congress or BJP then you will commit treachery against God and country,” Kejriwal had said.
The poll body has also provided Kejriwal with a copy of the CD carrying his reported remarks. “The Commission is, prima facie, of the opinion that by making the statements you have violated the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct,” the notice said.
The Commission reminded him of the provisions of the poll code that there shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes and all political parties and candidates shall avoid scrupulously all activities which are corrupt practices and offences under the election law.
It also reminded the former Delhi Chief Minister about section 171 C of Indian Penal Code dealing with any direct or indirect interference or attempt to interfere by any person with the free exercise of any electoral right.
I humbly pay my tribute to all mothers on the occasion of mother’s day. Our lives would be incomplete without our mothers who nurture us laying her healing hands protecting us from all obstacles that come our way. Her love instills in us faith and helps us to be strong. She takes care of us just as a gardener nurtures the plants in the garden until it fully blooms to produce beautiful flowers and delicious fruits. In the same way, our mother toil hard to ensure that we have a healthy upbringing and make us fit to take on the world when we grow up.
Today youngsters want their parents to treat them as friends. When I look at the definition of friendship, I feel that mothers are our best friends. If you ask a child what he or she expects from a true friend, you will find that the traits they want in their best friend is present in their mother. For example, a mother walks in when the world works out, she walks with her child to the horizon and beyond, she is a friend in need, she likes you when you are not wearing a mask, she will never betray you etc. Yes, your mother is one person who does not mind you for being yourself. You don’t have to pretend to be someone you are not in her presence. For a kid, her mother instills in her a sense of security. For a youth, his or her mother is the only person who is not going to shun you because you are uncool or because your peers think that you are a freak. For a grown up adult, his or her aging mother would still be there for advice and guidance.
However, today youngsters are drifting away from their families. They no longer feel a close bond towards their parents. The very soul which brought them to life and stood by them through thick and thin are neglected by them now as they have no use. We should not disrespect our parents in this manner. Remember, they did not shun us when we had no knowledge about this world and could not eat or sleep on our own. Thus we owe this much gratitude to them and should take care of them when they grow old.
Over the years, International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has done a laudable job by promoting safety at sea and addressing environmental concerns. The spiritual development of the seafarer has not been given much prominence even when it is realized that the loneliness in a seafarer’s life needs spiritual balm. Prior to ISPS era, the priests visited the ship and gave us soothing talk and even helped us by taking us out to town and bringing back, saving our money and providing security in transit. Father used to come with the van at Vancouver and Portland and took us out and brought us back on board after some hours ashore.
At Durban, the van started to shuttle by taking people to club at 6 pm and dropping people back to ships at 9 pm. Richards Bay has a very big club and bus used to shuttle from ship to club and back. Recently, I had noticed that everybody must do a course for designated security duties. It’s a two day course and fees varies widely from college to college (at least in Mumbai) and I can’t say how people will become more proficient. Masters and Chief Officers on board could have easily provided such kind of training and it would have been more realistic. I still recollect, we were put through training session on Dangerous goods code ship by our Croatian chief mate. He amicably taught us about classification, segregation and precautions to be taken in regard to these, which I don’t think any one of us has forgotten.
A small test was conducted and we even got certificate signed by him and the master. The material was also put as CBT in Ship’s office computer so that you can make amendments whenever you like. On a car carrier, there was a similar computer based course on safety and good practices where you even get your scores and it was popular because everybody wanted to perform better ( something like karaoke). Do you think any amount of certification would have improved the behaviour of Costa Concordia Master?
Let us pitch for allowing priests a visit on board. In one of the Japanese ports (even post ISPS) an old husband- wife team used to come to mess room by carrying useful items. The husband was blind, and every crew member bought some thing from them and the cook even fed them. This depicted the kind nature of seamen. Seamen are generous persons and they love to interact. Let us provide such an opportunity to them. While crossing Magellan strait, two priests always visited us and interacted with us and provided reading material. On board visit of holy persons and on board training should now become the agenda of the IMO.
Daya Nayak reluctant to relocate to Nagpur and is waiting for the new government to revoke transfer order.
Encounter specialist Daya Nayak was transferred to Nagpur based on pending inquires against him but he is yet to resume office. According to sources, Daya Nayak is not in favour of joining the new location and instead prefers to continue his service in Mumbai. Many police officers are transferred to remote locations which are termed as punishment posting.
A close source working with Daya Nayak revealed to our newspaper that he had gone for a long holiday by citing a reasonable excuse to the police department. Mr Nayak is waiting for the formation of a new government so that his transfer order might be revoked.
According to sources, “Daya Nayak is unhappy with the transfer order and is not keen to resume service in Nagpur. He is hoping that new the new government might revoke the transfer order so that he can continue working in Mumbai itself.”
Daya Nayak, who had been reinstated with the Mumbai police in 2012 after his ignominious six-year suspension on charges of alleged corruption, has been transferred to Nagpur on the recommendation of his seniors.
There were complaints against him in a couple of cases, and inquiries revealed that there was substance in them. The recommendation for Nayak’s transfer was made by the police commissioner’s office itself, which also supplied reasons why the PSI needed to be moved out of the metropolis.
The state home department issued the transfer order, moving Nayak to the Nagpur Range, under whose jurisdiction fall the naxal-affected districts of Bhandara and Gondia. On receiving the orders the Mumbai police headquarters immediately set the transfer process going and Nayak was instantly relieved for dispatch to his new posting.
Nayak was posted in the West Region Police Control Room and was made part of the Additional Commissioner’s special squad.
Known for shooting dead over 80 members of the underworld in encounters, Daya Nayak joined the Mumbai crime branch early in his career after completing his training in 1995. He remained in the limelight for the crime branch’s activities until he was booked by the Anti- Corruption Bureau in a corruption case.
Daya Nayak talking to AV confirmed that he is yet to resume service in his new place of posting at Nagpur. When we inquired with him about the reason for why he is yet to join service at the new location he refused to comment about it.
Nayak has to his credit the elimination of around 80 gangsters of the Mumbai Underworld, such as Vinod Matkar, Rafik Dabba, Sadik Kalia and three Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives, as a member of the encounter specialist squad.
Three persons including a navy personnel received burn injuries after a fire broke out onboard INS Ganga, which was going through routine maintenance and refit at the Naval Dockyard here on Friday.
According to naval sources, the incident occurred around 11:50 am when welding work was going on onboard the naval ship.
“During the welding work, the (welding) gun took time to ignite and when it did, thick flames erupted from the gun, injuring three people including two civilians,” the sources said.
“It was a minor accident in which three people sustained burns. They have been taken to the naval dispensary for first said,” the sources added.
Soon after the incident, the three sailors were brought aboard the ship and rushed to the INHS Asvini hospital at Colaba for treatment.
Meanwhile, the Navy has begun a probe to find out what caused the explosion at the boiler of the warship.
This is the seventh incident in less than four and a half month in 2014 and 16th incident since 2000.
INS Ganga was deployed for patrolling the Gulf of Eden in 2012 to protect the marine jurisdiction from the Somali pirates.
This incident comes few weeks after the tragic death of at least seven sailors in a mishap involving the Russian-origin Kilo Class submarine INS Sindhuratna, 40 nautical miles off the coast of Mumbai.
In March this year, INS Kolkata was hit by an accident at the Mazgaon Dock in Mumbai claiming the life of a Commander and hospitalisation of two dockyard employees.
The Bombay High Court on Friday transferred to CBI the probe into the murder of anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar in Pune last year.
Earlier, Pune police was investigating the high-profile case but there was no headway following which a PIL was filed by former journalist Ketan Tirodkar seeking a CBI probe into the case.
“The PIL is allowed and the case is being transferred to CBI,” said Justice PV Hardas.
Dabholkar was shot dead by unknown assailants in Pune on August 20, 2013.
Yesterday, HC had reserved its order on the PIL after CBI lawyer contended that there was no need to transfer the probe to the investigating agency as no allegations had been levelled against the State or police for shoddy investigations.
Tirodkar had pleaded that even if no allegations were made against authorities, the probe in a criminal case could be transferred to CBI if it has national or international ramifications.
He had also cited judgement in the case of NCP leader Padamsinh Patil who is accused in a murder case, saying the probe was transferred to CBI by the court which did not comment about the role of police.
Pune police had earlier submitted case diaries and confidential reports to the court. After going through them, the judges yesterday sought to know the status of the probe, and asked CBI what was its stand.
The government had also informed that so far the main conspirators had not been arrested, and those, who were arrested, had got bail.
Dabholkar’s daughter Mukta, who has been allowed to intervene, had said the family wanted the HC to monitor the probe. She had earlier demanded formation of a Special Investigating Team (SIT) as police were not making any progress.
She had said that her family felt the need for precaution against political interference in the investigation.
Senior BJP leader Ram Naik on Friday demanded from Election Commission to compile de novo electoral rolls for Mumbai, Thane and Pune, to resolve the issues of “discrepancies” in existing rolls.
“To resolve the issues of discrepancies in electoral rolls and thereafter to conduct assembly polls smoothly, the Election Commission must compile de novo electoral rolls of Mumbai, Thane and Pune by enumeration from house to house,” Naik, former Petroleum Minister, told reporters here.
“Mumbai residents voted on April 24. Later, while compiling data, I noticed that in 2009 there were 97,79,650 voters in the six Lok Sabha constituencies of Mumbai and 98,97,699 voters in 2014. This means there was an increase of only 1,18,049 voters in the last five years,” he said.
“Data from election officers of Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban districts revealed that total increase during these five years was of 18,93,686 voters and total deletions were of 16,23,612 voters. The difference between these two figures is of 2,70,074 voters ,” he said.
Before deleting names of voters on such a massive scale, the election officials should have taken great care and it is seen that normal precautions like giving notices, if voters were not traceable, were not taken, he said. This callousness has destroyed the sanctity of the electoral rolls, he added.
“The only solution is to compile de novo electoral rolls by going house to house. Along with Mumbai it should be done for Thane and Pune as such lacunae were experienced there too,” Naik said.
“We realised that duplicate voters were in big number after the parliamentary elections of 2004. In 2008, I met N Gopalswami, the then Chief Election Commissioner and requested to investigate the matter,” Naik said.
“I got the electoral rolls of three Assembly segments Malad, Kandivli and Borivli examined prior to delimitation and compared those with all the 34 assembly segments of Mumbai and 6 assembly segments of Thane.
“The result was shocking. Out of 18,02,877 voters of these three segments 3,57,520 — almost 20 percent — were duplicate voters. I presented the lists of these duplicate voters along with their names and serial nos to Debashish Chakraborty, the then Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra in April, 2008,” Naik said.
“In 2012, we requested SY Qureshi, the then Chief Election Commissioner, to re-compile electoral rolls. We also made presentation to the three-member’s full Election Commission. We got an assurance from the Commission that it would take necessary action,” he said.
“We spoke to Nitin Gadre, Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra in July last year when the preparations of electoral rolls for 2014 general elections started. We suggested that voters’ names should be checked by making house to house visits to ensure such voters and houses exist in reality,” he said.
“We also suggested that in order to avoid bogus voting electoral rolls must contain photographs of all voters and voters without photographs should be served notice to submit them by giving time frame. Thereafter those who fail to submit photographs should be deleted from voters lists after completing statutory formalities,” he said.
Had these suggestions implemented, last month’s fiasco could have been avoided, Naik said. He lauded the Election Commission for sending voters’ slips to their houses.
Global Vipassana Pagoda is now secured with the ’20-20 Imaging Touch Control’ services. In the aftermath of serial bomb blasts in and around Mahabodhi Temple complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site at Bodh Gaya in Bihar in July 2013, the authorities of Global Vipassana Pagoda felt the need to prevent any such untoward incident in their shrine.
“Our team visited the shrine and studied the intricacies and nuances of the site and came out with an unobtrusive security cover,” says Mr. Pramoud Rao, Founder Managing Director, Zicom Electronic Security Systems Ltd. “Since the whole complex is 16 acres, we identified strategic locations which need to be regularly monitored and effectively managed,” he adds.
Zicom deployed 65 high-definition IP cameras to constantly monitor every place in and around the Pagoda connected to Zicom Command and Control Centre built locally in the Pagoda for Local monitoring and Management. The operators are alerted only in an abnormal situation.
Global Vipassana Foundation Trust appreciated Zicom in a statement: “Zicom’s solution to Global Vipassana Pagoda is incredible in terms of the ease of use and deployment of technology. We first thought it would be intimidating and difficult to manage such high-tech security solution. But, thanks to Zicom’s solution, monitoring our premise is become effortless.”
All interactions with data are simplified and Touch based increasing the ease with which the system can be navigated through. Powerful Region of Interest workflow allows for visualization of all the alert and video data of a particular region in one simple touch.
Since the Pagoda was built to serve as a monument of peace and harmony, the objective of a safe and secure atmosphere prevailing in and around the Pagoda has been achieved.
Shri Gurudas Kamat, former Union Minister of State, MP and AICC General Secretary filed a civil suit for damages of Rs 50 Crores in the Mumbai High Court against the Newspaper Vruttmanas, it’s Editor and Associate Editor, for publishing malicious and defamatory articles and editorial on 19th, 20th and 21st of April, 2014 with an intention to damage his reputation.
He also has filed a criminal complaint against the paper on the same charges with the Metropolitan Magistrate 10th Court at Andheri. The Magistrate has fixed the next date of hearing for June, 7.
Mr Kamat stated that he held the media in high esteem and respected it’s freedom to the extent of covering news and publicizing factual information. He also added that in 43 years of his public life, no one had ever pointed a finger at his reputation, which he has very scrupulously maintained.
Former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Nedurumilli Janardhan Reddy passed away in the early hours on Friday after brief illness. There are many senior leaders from the south who has contributed for Congress Party, such and YS Rajashekhara Reddy and PV Narasimharao. Andhra has also played a vital role in elevation of Congress during their crises period such as emergency. In the series, the party has lost one more leader. He was 80 and is survived by wife and four sons. Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy was a member of the 12th, 13th and 14th Lok Sabha of India. He represents the Visakhapatnam constituency of Andhra Pradesh and is a member of the Indian National Congress. He was also a Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from 1990 to 1992. His wife, Nedurumalli Rajyalakshmi, has been a minister in the Andhra Pradesh government since 2004.
In September 2007, Reddy escaped an assassination attempt near Nellore by naxal groups. Janardhana Reddy and his wife both escaped the event unhurt. A flash gun that was probably used to trigger the blast was found in the direction of Gudali village. This is the second bid on Mr. Reddy’s life. The earlier one was in Dachepalle in Guntur district in 2003. In Hyderabad, Minister for Information A. Ramnarayan Reddy said a youth was picked up at the site for interrogation. Claiming to be an engineering student, he visited the Nedurumallis house in Vakadu. He had sought help in securing admission for a post doctoral course and enquired whether Mr. Reddy was going to Tirupati. Minutes after the blast, he was seen at the spot.
Finally, the end came around 5.50 am in the Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) hospital in Hyderabad, where he was admitted for treatment of his ailments. His body was shifted to his residence in Somajiguda area and the last rites will be performed at his native village in Wakadu of Nellore district on Saturday.
He has served many portfolios since he was elected in 1972 Elected to Rajya Sabha 1978-79 Secretary. Before that, he was a minister in the Cabinets of Jalagam Vengal Rao, T. Anjaiah, B. Venkatram, K. Vijayabhaskara Reddy and Marri Channa Reddy. Entered politics in 1972, he went on to become close to the family members of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi after he was made a Rajya Sabha member.
He was elected to the AP Legislative Council during1978-84 and was a minister under different Chief Ministers during 1978-83. He went on to become the Chief Minister in 1990 after Marri Channa Reddy had quit following the large-scale communal clashes in Hyderabad.
Late Janardhan Reddy was the Chief Minister for about two years but he was also forced by circumstances arising out of alleged irregularities in sanction of new engineering colleges in the private sector to quit the office. He was elected to Lok Sabha from Bapatla, Narasaraopeta and Visakhapatnam three times in 1998, 1999 and 2004. He was elected to Rajya Sabha in 2009 and continues to be a member of the Upper House till death.
Born on Feb 20, 1935 at Wakadu, Janardhan Reddy was a school teacher before taking a plunge into politics. He was made the AP Congress Committee president in 1988 and was replaced by Marri Channa Reddy in 1989, who led the Congress party to regain power in AP after N.T. Rama Rao’s Telugu Desam Party held sway from 1983 to 89.
He holds the distinctive record of representing the Upper and Lower Houses in AP and at the Centre as he was also elected to the State Assembly from Venkatagiri in 1989. His wife N. Rajyalakshmi also worked as a minister in the Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy cabinet from 2004 to 2009.
The Indian National Congress won all the state elections from the emergence of the state in 1953 till 1983. Projects like Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam Dams were constructed during this time. There were ten different chief ministers from the formation of the state in 1956 till 1983. Marri Chenna Reddy formed the Telangana Praja Samiti party to lead the Telangana movement. In November 1969, there was a major split in the party which eventually led to the downfall of the movement. In September 1971, Kasu Brahmananda Reddy, the then Chief Minister, resigned his position to make room for a leader from Telangana to become the Chief Minister. On 30 September 1971, P. V. Narasimha Rao became the Chief Minister. The Telangana Praja Samiti was dissolved and its members rejoined the Congress. In the Andhra Pradesh general election, 2009, the Indian National Congress under the leadership of YSR won a simple majority by winning 156 of 294 assembly seats. Telugu Desam Party gained a few more assembly seats than the previous election. Praja Rajyam Party founded by Chiranjeevi won 16 per cent of the votes. The TRS and the Left parties in combination won less than 7 per cent of the votes. Lok Satta Party won its first Assembly seat and captured more than 1 per cent vote share. As Rajasekhara Reddy died on September 2, 2009 in a helicopter crash, K. Rosaiah of the Indian National Congress took charges as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. However Rosaiah resigned as Chief Minister on health grounds. The next day, on November 25, 2010, Chief Minister Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy of Indian National Congress took charges as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has gone through lots of tragedies during his life time, by natural and unnatural calamities.
The Bombay High Court on Friday transferred to CBI the probe into the murder of anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar in Pune last year.