NCP leader opposes Raj Thackeray’s idea to divert Shivaji memorial funds

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February 14, 2014

A NCP leader on Friday criticised MNS chief Raj Thackeray for his reported suggestion to the Maharashtra government to divert the Rs. 100 crore meant for the Chhatrapati Shivaji memorial in the Arabian Sea, and use it to provide relief to commuters who pay toll.

Expressing shock over Thackeray’s suggestion to chief minister Prithviraj Chavan during his meeting with him, Vinayak Mete said, “Raj, who garlands Shivaji’s image on stage at every public meeting of his, has shown his real views on the great Maratha king.”

“The MNS leader should realise that Shivaji’s countless followers have been working for years to make the Shivaji memorial a reality. Who has given the right to Raj to insult Shivaji, who is akin to god for people of the state,” Mete said.

“The suggestion by Raj shows how much respect he has for Shivaji Maharaj,” Mete said.

“On the party rally stage, Raj garlands Shivaji’s statue and also bows before it. However, when it comes to the funds for memorial, he adopts selfish attitude,” Mete, who heads the “Shivsangram” organisation, said.

Mete, who is the founder president of the outfit which has been fighting for reservation for Marathi people, said, “Maharashtra won’t tolerate this and Shivsangram activists will launch a stir against the MNS leader.”

MPCC spokesperson Sachin Sawant also condemned Raj Thackeray’s suggestion, saying, “It is unfortunate that the suggestion comes from people who have all along practised politics in the name of Shivaji.”

Last week, the Maharashtra cabinet approved a proposal to allocate Rs 100 crore for installation of a statue of the warrior king off the Mumbai coast, which is expected to be the tallest in the world.

HC asks CIDCO to act against debris dumping in lakes

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Afternoon Voice

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February 14, 2014

Observing that the state already has very less number of open spaces left, the Bombay High Court directed CIDCO to inspect and take action against those who are dumping debris on lakes and ponds off Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai.

A division bench of Justices S J Vazifdar and B P Colabawala was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by an NGO ‘Navi Mumbai Environment Preservation Society’ alleging that debris and other wastes are being dumped on mangroves and lakes on Palm Beach Road, despite an earlier high court order prohibiting such activities.

The petitioner pointed out to the court that several endangered birds visit the lakes and it becomes a tourist spot. But now with debris being dumped, the lake will be filled up.

“There are already so less (number of) such beautiful spots left in our state. Why is the authority not taking action? They are bound by law to stop such illegal activities. We direct the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) to inspect the sites and take action in accordance with law,” the court said.

The court also issued notice to the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) and directed it, Cidco and Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) to file their affidavits within two weeks.

HC to hear on Feb 21 PIL on appointment of top cop for Mumbai

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Afternoon Voice

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February 14, 2014

The Bombay High Court decided to hear on February 21 a public interest litigation seeking immediate appointment of the new Police Commissioner for Mumbai, following the exit of IPS officer Satyapal Singh.

Petitioner Ketan Tirodkar, a former journalist, mentioned the petition before the division bench headed by Justice S J Vajifdar.

The petition contends that morale of the police force was down as the Commissioner’s post was lying vacant since February 1 after Singh, who wanted to join the politics, took voluntary retirement.

Tirodkar has referred to media reports suggesting that that the appointment has got entangled in the feud between the ruling coalition partners Congress and NCP, both of which are trying to push their own candidates. “If such appointments are made for political considerations, then the people will have to pay a heavy price,” the PIL says.

It also seeks an explanation from the state government for dropping a post of Director General of Police in 2012-13 and allowing Satyapal Singh to continue as Mumbai Police Commissioner while denying him promotion as a DGP.

It also seeks a direction to the government to submit minutes of meetings held since January 31 to pick the new city police chief and furnish list of ‘eligible candidates’.

Arvind Kejriwal resigns as Chief Minister over Jan Lokpal Bill

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Afternoon Voice

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February 14, 2014

“This seems like our last session,” Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said in the Delhi assembly after his plans to introduce the anti-graft Jan Lokpal Bill in the Delhi legislature failed. He resigned soon after. In a major embarrassment for him, other parties had voted that the Jan Lokpal bill had not been tabled, minutes after he asserted it had.

Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP and the Congress of blocking his bill in retaliation after he ordered an FIR, or police complaint, against Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani over gas prices.

“The Constitution does not require us to take permission for the Jan Lokpal Bill. We will fight on the streets. We are not here to save our government, but save the nation from corruption,” Mr. Kejriwal told the house.

Legislators from other parties shouted angrily as he said he was tabling the proposal to set up an ombudsman agency to investigate corrupt government officers.

The BJP and the Congress said Delhi’s constitutional head, the Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, has vetoed the bill and it should not be taken up for consideration because it does not have his assent.
The union government’s lawyers say that’s obligatory partly because the ombudsman agency Mr Kejriwal is proposing will be funded at least in part by funds from the centre.

The protests in the assembly forced the Speaker to call for a vote. The majority rejected the tabling of the proposal.

“I reject the Centre’s illegal directives,” a combative Mr. Kejriwal declared, rejecting the opinion that the bill must be sanctioned by the Lieutenant Governor or the Centre before it is reviewed by the state legislature.

Supporters gathered at the AAP office cheered as they watched the live telecast of the Chief Minister’s address.

After the assembly adjourned, Mr. Kejriwal drove to his office in his Wagon R. He had said he would resign if he is prevented by other parties from introducing the bill.

Mr. Kejriwal has said that the Jan Lokpal bill is the heart of his party’s agenda and is essential to cleanse the polity of deep-rooted graft.

Reddy meets Rajnath Singh; bandh cripples normal life in AP

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Afternoon Voice

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February 14, 2014

Normal life remained paralysed for the second consecutive day on Friday in the 13 districts of the coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of the state following the bandh called to protest against the tabling of the Telangana Bill in Parliament on Thursday.

The shutdown being called by the YSR Congress party and another group fighting for united Andhra Pradesh was marked by protest rallies and demonstration.

Meanwhile, YSR Congress president YS Jaganmohan Reddy, who was on Thursday suspended along 15 other MPs by the Lok Sabha speaker for his involvement in the unruly, noisy incidents, met BJP chief Rajnath Singh today and sought his support against the move to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.

Although BJP is in favour of the plan to create a separate Telangana state, Reddy said after his meeting with Singh that he hoped opposition parties would oppose the proposal to split AP.

“We (Singh and himself) had a very detailed discussion on the topic. He assured us that he would be discussing the matter with his party colleagues and a decision (on the Telangana Bill issue) would be taken very soon,” Reddy said.

“I am hopeful that wisdom would dawn upon all opposition parties and all of them would stand up against this injustice,” he added.

Buses of state-owned Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) remained off the roads while shops, business establishments and educational institutions were closed. The bandh hit the operations of APSRTC buses at Visakhapatnam, Krishna, East Godavari, Guntur, Kadapa, Kurnool, Anantapur and Chittoor districts. Also affected were cities like Tirupati and Vijayawada although, according to police, the situation has remained peaceful so far.

Activists of the YSR Congress and Andhra Pradesh Non-Gazetted Officers (APNGOs) Association took to streets since early Friday to protest the central government’s action of tabling the bill in Parliament despite a strong opposition from MPs belonging to Seemandhra.

The protesters, raising slogans against the UPA government and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, staged road blockades at several places.

‘Samaikyandhra parirakshana vedika’ or ‘Save United Andhra’ front also has called for shutdown in Seemandhra to condemn what it alleged was an attack on state MPs by the MPs from other states.

The strike by government employees in Seemandhra continued for the ninth day on Friday to protest the proposed bifurcation of the state.

Meanwhile, central minister JD Seelam had to face the ire of the protestors in Krishna district. The minister, who was going to West Godavari district, was stopped by the protestors near Hanuman Junction. A protestor threw broom on the minister’s car. Police used mild force to disperse the mob to provide safe passage to the convoy.

The bandh’s impact on its second day today has been more widespread than on Day 1 with TDP and YSRCP supporters staging sit-ins at many places, sources said.

Northeast students protest in Delhi, laticharged by cops

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Afternoon Voice

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February 14, 2014

Northeast students protesting at Raisina Hill here against the attacks on people from the northeartern states and demanding justice for the Nido Taniam, a student from Arunachal Pradesh who died in the national capital after allegedly beaten up, were laticharged by the Delhi Police on Friday.

According to reports, at least 50 protesting students have been detained by the police from the protest venue. The students who were protesting at the Jantar Mantar broke through the security cordon and reached Raisina Hill shouting slogans.

Supreme Court issued guidelines to the Centre and state governments for providing protection to people from northeast in various parts of the country.

Bhullar’s death penalty should be commuted: Delhi government to SC

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Afternoon Voice

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February 14, 2014

The Delhi government on Friday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, saying that 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict Devender Pal Singh Bhullar’s death penalty should be commuted.

In its affidavit submitted to the apex court, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government has said that Bhullar is suffering form mental illness and his death sentence should be commuted.

The Delhi government’s reaction comes after the SC last month stayed the execution of the death sentence of Bhullar and issued notice to the Centre and Delhi government on his petition seeking commuting of his death sentence to life imprisonment.

The apex court bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam, Justice RM Lodha, Justice HL Dattu and Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya is hearing the case.

The court asked Delhi-based Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences to examine Bhullar and submit a report on his state of mental health within a week.

Earlier, the bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam, Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Shiva Kirti Singh Jan 21, had ruled that delay in deciding the mercy petition by the president and mental illness of death row convict are grounds for commuting death sentence to life imprisonment.

The three-judge bench had also said that while commuting the death sentence to life imprisonment on grounds of inordinate delay in deciding the mercy petition by the president, the court’s decision would not be coloured by the consideration whether the person on death row was convicted under the provision of Indian Penal Code or the terror law TADA.

Bhullar was given capital punishment for the 1993 blast at the Youth Congress office, a stone’s throw from Parliament House in Delhi, which left nine people dead.

TV serial motivates students to kill schoolmate, demand ransom

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Afternoon Voice

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February 14, 2014

Five students allegedly kidnapped a junior schoolmate in Malda district, murdered him and then demanded ransom from the victim’s father — all after watching a TV serial, the police said on Friday.

The five studying in classes XI and XII kidnapped a student of class VII of their own school at Bamangola on Tuesday, took him to an abandoned house where they murdered him and then called up his wealthy father to demand a ransom of Rs. 10 lakh.

They asked the victim’s father to bring the ransom money to a spot at Kendpukur in Bamangola the next day. The father, after informing the police, went to the directed place.

The police arrested two of the boys from there and found the victim’s body. After questioning the two, three more students were arrested, the sources said.

The arrested students revealed during interrogation that they had planned it after watching a television serial, the sources said.

When produced before a local court during the day, the five were remanded to 10 days police custody.

MLA’s sons booked for withdrawing government funds via fake invoice

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Afternoon Voice

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February 14, 2014

Three persons, including two sons of a Congress MLA, have been booked for allegedly withdrawing government funds through fake invoices in Korba district of Chhattisgarh, police said on Friday.

The case was registered on Wednesday against Rohit Agrawal and Rishu Agrawal – sons of Korba MLA Jaisingh Agrawal – and Naresh Verma (the trio are partners in BB Verma Construction company) for withdrawing Rs. 20-25 lakh from the government exchequer through fake bills, Katghora SHO Arun Joshi said.

However, no arrests have been made so far.

According to the officer, the accused have been charged with committing forgery during construction of Katghora-Ambikapur road, the contract of which their firm had won.

They allegedly received payments through counterfeit bills while work was on, he said.

Following court’s directives, an FIR was lodged against the trio under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 477 and other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the SHO said.

An investigation is on and appropriate action would be taken in this connection, he said.

Notably, these three were earlier also booked in another such case of cheating for allegedly borrowing government funds through fake bills for coal tar purchase during construction of a road in the region.

Narendra Modi woos India Inc, says IT industry can transform country

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Afternoon Voice

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February 14, 2014

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, in a bid to woo the India Inc, stressed that social media can be effectively used in involving people for policy and decision making.

Addressing the corporates at NASSCOM through video conference on Friday, Modi sought support of India Inc in digitising the country and talked about how he is inspired by the social media.

“I am inspired by the social media, it is a source of inspiration for me. I am able to connect with so many people through social media,” Modi said in his address.

In his 30-minute speech, Modi called himself a great advocate of technology. He said that Information Technology (IT) can transform the country and our lives. Saying that technology is an inevitable force in modern world, Modi pointed that sooner it is deployed and mastered, the better it is.

Urging NASSCOM for its active engagement, he spoke about the need to bring an IT revolution in the country and said that it can empower and also bring the isolated parts of India closer, adding that IT can bridge the gap between demand and supply. E-governance is easy and effective, Modi said and added that it brings empowerment, equity and efficiency of the economy.

In his address, Modi also emphasised on the need to empower the youth with necessary skills and the vast potential of the IT industry to convert the challenges into opportunities.

Modi also stated that IT in today’s time is significant in the domain of the e-governance. The BJP PM candidate said that IT can the growth engine of India and that when we celebrate 75 years of celebration, we must become a different nation.