Maharashtra to set up new counter-terrorism force

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February 12, 2014

Maharashtra plans to set up an Urban Counter-Terrorism Training Centre (UCTTC) for commandos who would act as a quick response team to any terror strike, the government said on Wednesday.

The UCTTC will come up in over 98 acres at the Aarey Milk Colony in Goregaon suburb of northwest Mumbai, according to a government notification.

In view of the rise in terrorist strikes, the government decided to set up the centre which would impart training, in-service training to commandos and also offer refresher courses.
“The move to set up the UCTTC is part of the government’s exercise to strengthen the police force and make it more advanced,” the notification said.

The move comes in the wake of increasing terror activities in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur and other major urban centres of the state.

The UCTTC will train commandos in the existing Force One and Quick Response Teams in Mumbai.

Force One, designed on the lines of the National Security Guards, was formed after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

The UCTTC would be headed by an officer of the rank of additional superintendent of police working under a special inspector general of police. The overall command would vest with the director general of police, who will make appointments and other working systems there.

The UCTTC will recruit officers having knowledge of advanced weapons and handling explosives while NSG commandos, Para commandos, army and state police officials would be taken on deputation.

International airport T2, Sahar elevated road open for public

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Afternoon Voice

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February 12, 2014

The much-awaited Terminal 2 of the Mumbai international airport and the Sahar elevated road corridor was opened for the public on Wednesday.

The 2.2 km Sahar elevated road that connects Western Express Highway (WEH) with the new Terminal 2 of the International Airport was inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.

“We recently inaugurated the Eastern Freeway, Terminal 2 of the international airport and now the Sahar elevated road. Through these projects we are trying to solve traffic problems of this city, which is the financial capital of our country,” Chavan said.

The Rs. 400 crore project which missed several deadlines earlier, offers seamless and signal-free connectivity from Western Express Highway, cutting the travel time by around 30 minutes.

The government and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) are working towards commencing some of the delayed transport projects that are aimed at solving traffic woes, Chavan said.

“The first phase of Metro Rail project- Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar- is likely to commence operations next month. Similarly, the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road will also be open for vehicles in the next 2-3 weeks. The work on the third metro-Colaba-SEEPZ, is also likely to start soon,” he said.

The state government has sought Rs. 12,500 crore from the 14th Finance Commission for development of infrastructure projects in Mumbai.

“We want to provide all the necessary amenities to the public to make Mumbai an international city,” Chavan added.

Suraj Pancholi appears before court

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Afternoon Voice

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February 12, 2014

A month after Mumbai police filed a chargesheet against him for abetting the suicide of Bollywood actress Jiah Khan, Suraj Pancholi appeared before the trial court.

“Suraj, son of actor couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, appeared before the court today and the court adjourned the case till next month,” said advocate Dinesh Tiwari who is appearing in the case on behalf of Jiah’s mother Rabiya.

The pre-trial formalities in the case are yet to be over.

Suburban Juhu police had on January 16 filed a 447-page charge sheet in metropolitan magistrate’s court in suburban Andheri, following which the magistrate transferred the case to the sessions court for trial.

Jiah, an American citizen, was found dead at her Juhu home on June 3 last year. The police arrested Suraj on June 10 on the basis of a six-page letter which was found in the house, purportedly written by Jiah.

Police booked him on the charge of abetement of suicide. According to the police, Jiah was in a relationship with Pancholi.

Suraj was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on July 1, 2013. In his bail plea, he said they were in a consensual relationship and the letter was being misused by Jiah’s mother Rabiya.

Rabiya moved the Bombay High Court in October 2013 alleging her daughter had been murdered and sought a CBI probe. Following this, the court asked the police to record her statement, collect material given by her, and probe the murder angle.

Last month, Rabiya had met the officials in the Consulate of United States of America in Mumbai where she was assured that they (consulate) had written to Indian authorities offering help in probing Jiah’s death.

Divided BJP strives to put up united show in Maharashtra

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Afternoon Voice

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February 12, 2014

Bharatiya Janata Party may be in a hurry to see Narendra Modi to take over as the next prime minister but it is a divided house in Maharashtra.

Party’s former president Nitin Gadkari and BJP deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde have taken quite contrary stand on a number of issues in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls.

BJP, which had won nine seats in 2009 general elections, hopes to improve its tally in the coming elections. However, the party insiders admit that widening gap between the two leaders in particular and their utterances pose serious challenge for state unit to put up a united show.

Gadkari, who resigned as the national party president last year in the wake of income tax searches on the Purti Group founded by him, argued that the NDA’s doors were “open” to NCP chief Sharad Pawar and couple of other party leaders like Mamata Banerjee, J Jayalalitha, Navin Patnaik and Chandrababu Naidu.

However, Munde, who is party’s in charge in Maharashtra for Lok Sabha polls, revealed that it was he who opposed Pawar’s entry into the NDA after the latter had desired to do so. Incidentally, Pawar has strongly denied his plans to join NDA.

Gadkari and Munde did not stop here but took quite opposite stand on the politically sensitive issue of toll collection in Maharashtra. Munde announced that BJP with its electoral allies Shiv Sena, Republican Party of India and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana have already announced that Maharashtra will be made toll free after dislodging the Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra. Munde blamed NCP in particular for the rampant corruption in the entire toll collection system and the contracts awarded for the same.

However, Gadkari, who takes credit for the construction of Mumbai Pune Express way and 55 flyovers in Mumbai during his tenure as Maharashtra minister for public works during 1995-99, has categorcially ruled out possibility of toll free Maharashtra.

He said the toll was inevitable and if the government wants to do away with it the government will have to bear burden of over Rs. 1,00,000 crore towards compensation to various contractors. He indicated that it was not viable for any government of the day.
State BJP spokesman Madhav Bhandari told Business Standard ”It is a wishful thinking. There may be differences but it will not rake our boat.”

Meanwhile, the party is also divided over stake its claim on the south Mumbai Lok Sabha seat which is currently in the BJP’s electoral ally Shiv Sena’s quota. The south Mumbai is represented by Congress leader and the union minister of state for ports Milind Deora.

A section of party is of the view that BJP should nominate party legislator from the Malabar Hill constituency and a leading builder Mangal Prabhat Lodha or his son from the south Mumbai against Deora to exploit anti incumbency.

Party leaders suggest that BJP can allot the North West Lok Sabha seat from its quota to Shiv Sena as it was finding it difficult to select candidates who can defeat the present LS member Priya Dutt who is actor Sanjay Dutt’s sister.

IPL games were on Indian Mujahideen’s target: sources

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Afternoon Voice

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February 12, 2014

Yasin Bhatkal, believed to be a co-founder of the Indian Mujahideen, has reportedly told interrogators that the terror group planned to target several stadiums hosting Indian Premier League or IPL matches, but could not carry out the attacks because of the tight security at the venues.

Sources have told that on April 20, 2011, Yasin’s alleged aide Wakas Ibrahim Sad recced Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium during a match between IPL teams Mumbai Indians and the Pune Warriors.

Wakas, they alleged, bought a ticket and watched the match as he checked out security deployment inside the stadium. Two days later, Wakas and a man named Asadullah Akhtar reportedly recced the outside of the stadium to see if they could plant a bomb there. But the plan was scrapped because the security was too tight to breach.

Asadullah and Wakas also allegedly surveyed Mumbai’s Juhu Beach and beaches in Goa as possible targets. Yasin Malik too visited Goa.

Yasin and Asadullah were arrested last year and the two men are currently being interrogated by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) for their alleged role in the 2012 serial blasts in Mumbai. Three powerful blasts had ripped through crowded areas in Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and Kabutarkhana in Dadar on the evening of July 13, 2011, killing at least 27 people and injuring around 150.

According to sources, after allegedly placing a bomb at Dadar, Yasin and a man named Tehseen took a cab to Kurla station and went to Kasara by train. While on the train to Kasara they came to know that the bombs had gone off as planned. From Kasara the duo went to Nashik by train and then from Nashik they took a train to Bihar, sources added.

Asadullah has reportedly revealed that he was trained in terror activities in Pakistan in 2009; interrogators alleged Yasin was trained in Pakistan in 2005-2006. Asadullah allegedly told interrogators, that after the Batla House Encounter in Delhi in 2008, he had fled to Bangladesh and then to Dubai.

From Dubai he went to Karachi and then crossed over with Wakas to India in 2010, interrogators said.

Government employees put off stir scheduled to begin on Thursday

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Afternoon Voice

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February 12, 2014

The indefinite strike by Maharashtra government employees scheduled to begin from Thursday has been put off, following a meeting with Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan in Mumbai on Wednesday.

“We have decided to put off the strike, after detailed discussions with the chief minister on our demands,” G D Kulthe, chief advisor of Maharashtra State Gazetted Officer Federation said.

The Federation had on February 4 announced the decision to go on an indefinite strike from February 13 after their meeting with the chief minister on their demands of five day week and grant of facilities on par with central government staff failed to yield desired result. “We have been demanding a five-day week for quite sometime,” he said.

“Also, we have been demanding various facilities which are there for the central government employees. We also want the retirement age of the state government employees to be increased from current 58 to 60,” Kulthe said.

The federation had submitted the proposal for a five-day week work schedule and other facilities for the around 15 lakh government staff to Chavan.

“We (employees) are ready to work for an additional 40 minutes every day, in order to compensate for the loss of working hours,” he said, adding their other demands of education allowance, transport allowance and child care leave for women should also be met.

Hit-and-run-case: Court says submit list of documents, witnesses by February 25

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Afternoon Voice

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February 12, 2014

A sessions court on Wednesday asked the prosecution in the 2002 hit-and-run case involving actor Salman Khan to submit a final list of documents and witnesses by February 25 so that it could fix a programme of trial.

Salman’s lawyer Srikant Shivade said he would file a say on the admissibility of the documents on February 25. After hearing both the sides on the documents to be admitted, the court would on February 25 frame a programme of the trial, sessions judge D W Deshpande said.

Salman is facing the charge of running over his Toyota Land Cruiser on a group of persons sleeping on a footpath outside a bakery in suburban Bandra in September 2002, killing one and injuring four others. The prosecution had earlier informed the court that it proposed to examine 64 witnesses.
On December 5 last year, the court had ordered a fresh trial on the ground that the witnesses had not been examined in the context of aggravated charge of culpable homicide, which was invoked against the actor midway through the proceedings. The charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder attracts a 10-year sentence.

The actor had earlier been tried by a magistrate for a lesser offence of causing death by negligence, which entailed an imprisonment of two years. The case, dragging on for over a decade, had taken a twist earlier this year when the magistrate, after examining 17 witnesses, held that the charge of culpable homicide was made out against Salman and referred the matter to a sessions court, as cases under this offence are triable by a higher court.

Chai Pe Charcha with Modi

By

Vaidehi Taman

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February 12, 2014

The new CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella said in an interview ‘Our industry does not respect traditions, it only respects innovation’. Its true and same aspect applies everywhere, whether it is Corporates, Production Houses, Service Sectors or even Political Parties too. I hope these new innovative models of reaching to public will be successful for BJP. I hopeful that we shall see an ordinary chaiwala occupying the most powerful position of this democratic country. Is it Déjà Vu, another Abraham Lincoln in the making?

There was one statement by Rahul Gandhi that “every tea-seller, every labourer should be respected, but he who makes a fool of people should not be respected.” This was in reaction to the promotion of Modi as a tea seller. Even senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar went ahead and said, Narendra Modi cannot become the prime minister but can sell tea. We all know Mani Shankar Aiyar is delegate of patrician and dynastic powers who have ruled India for more than sixty years. They never dreamt that calling Modi a tea seller can cost them huge. To get respect from others is to give respect to others.

Mani Shankar Aiyar is a distinguished public personality who enjoyed his childhood life in good comforts unlike Modi a ‘common man’ but not an aristocrat. As an ordinary man, Modi has struggled hard to become a public leader. On the other hand, Aiyar was fortunate enough to get all the coveted care and comforts including political power and position. Aiyar, being a sharp scholar retains the right to criticize Modi but in a decent manner. Modi may not be a good public leader, but certainly better than many others. To become a learned scholar is good, but to become too learned some time backfires.
Narendra Modi, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, launched his ‘chai pe charcha’ or ‘discussion over tea’ from tea stalls in Ahmedabad. Modi used “a unique combination of satellite, DTH, internet and mobile,” for his ‘chai pe charcha,’ a mega election drive which is part of his campaign for general elections due by May. The programme relayed at 1,000 tea stalls in 300 cities across the country. Of the 1,000 locations, he will directly interact with people at 300 locations; here people can share their views, ask questions and make suggestions on the BJP’s election campaign through video-conference. The organisers have opened their website indiancag.org/chaipecharcha for questions that people want to ask the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate at tea on Wednesday. The subject for ‘chai pe charcha’ was about good governance. Sixty one locations have been chosen all over Gujarat, 36 in Bihar, 32 in Kerala and 46 in Delhi among other states. Even Mumbai’s pila house and Kamathi pura has “Chai Pe Charcha”. This area is big vote bank and most of them are illegal migrants and confused population, they all possess voter’s cards but not dedicated to one particular party. They vote to those ministers who assures them safety and shelter. Some worth living conditions are their demands. By choosing such areas for discussion, BJP can win its battle for 2014. Selling tea is not a shame. We believe in the dignity of labour. However, NaMo is not just a Chaiwala. NaMo is marketing TEA laced with passion to get BJP in power.

A taunt by Congress “Chai Wala” was gracefully accepted by Modi himself with pride, and the term Chaiwala became big time election gimmick too, that’s brain of a good campaigner. He is one of the best administrative talents and no one can be compared with him. His idea will develop and improve our nation. There is no pride or disgrace about being chaiwala. Moreover, chaiwala is also not about poor or rich back ground. There are big business house like Starbucks, Barista, Cafe Coffee Day and so on which sells coffee and making millions through its business. Is it offensive to call them “coffeewala” in Hindi? Is there any offense in calling Tiffin provider as Tiffinwala when the whole India is proud about the way Tiffinwala do their business? Making Chai, Coffee or distributing Tiffins are just businesses. Those who do it with the business sense and the strength to expand make millions and those who are contended with doing it small are just making in thousands. I don’t see any offense or pride in it. Congress failed to understand this and BJP twisted game in its party favour.

BJP managers say it is an out-of-the-box initiative, which bucks traditional campaigning methods by facilitating discussion simultaneously in multiple locations. The BJP will hold between 12 and 15 such sessions, with other top leaders also engaging with the public over tea. The programme, which highlights that Modi sold tea on trains as a young boy, is positioned as a gigantic snub to political rivals. The power of Indian democracy will be proved when a former tea vendor defeats a dynasty’s envoy. Let see this battle of 2014.

Raj Thackeray’s poll stunt

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Afternoon Voice

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February 12, 2014

What exactly is happening with the toll booths located in the state? Since yesterday, I have been hearing about people discussing the vandalisation of tool booths and how MNS activists have been causing huge hardships to the common man. First of all, my maid never bothered to wake me up in the morning as she wanted me to skip my office. On the other hand, my roommate was trying her best to bunk the office on account of the toll protests even though transportation facility is available for her. My pets kept licking my face. What else they could do as I noticed that they were tension free and living happily.

As I woke up, I had no other option but to shout at my maid as I had already become late and had no time for bath. While I began dressing my maid started delivering lecture about taking safety precautions. She asked me to take leave as MNS activists might resort to violence. Maid also said that they might harm me and damage my vehicle. My roommate had left for work with a sad gloomy face. I too couldn’t think of staying back as my salary would have been deducted for one day. I left for office by taking all precautions as I reached safely.

I had no topics for writing diary today as my colleagues suggested me to write about tool booth protest. I could have written an analysis report and statistics about tolls and expiry of toll collection tenure. I could also have mentioned about the objective behind Raj Thackeray’s publicity stunt.

Aren’t all of us aware that MNS are indulging in these stints to gain political mileage before the Lok Sabha election? Raj is interested in grabbing power at any cost as he and his party have lost their credibility. And they think by indulging in violent activities they could regain the confidence of voters.

AAP party’s emergence has given sleepless nights to many parties and MNS is one of them. Both MNS and Shiv Sena don’t fear about losing their foothold in Maharashtra but they more worried about the party’s prestige. Besides their perfect oratory skill and excellent vocabulary they don’t have any agenda for the welfare of the common man. And people like us think that we get fooled by listening to their speeches.

They claim themselves to be brave like Shivaji Maharaj but these idiots hid inside closed restaurants and other places to escape from the police. The MNS activists from Kalyan lacked courage to surrender themselves before the police and bravely say that they belong to MNS and they were involved in protesting and vandalizing vehicles for welfare of people. Several toll plazas exist in various parts of Maharashtra. AS per law clearly there should be a distance of 80 kilometres between two tool booths. On the other hand, a toll plaza exists in Maharashtra every 30 kilometers. Thus the commuters have to suffer by paying exorbitant toll charges as roads too are not maintained properly.

FIR filed after Kejriwal’s allegations; names on Mukesh Ambani, Moily not mentioned

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Afternoon Voice

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February 12, 2014

An FIR on the gas pricing issue was filed by the Delhi government’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Wednesday, a day after Delhi Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that the complaint will be filed against Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and others over allegations on issues of gas pricing.

Interestingly, no names have been mentioned in the FIR, as per news reports.

The Delhi government on Tuesday had ordered an FIR against RIL chairperson Mukesh Ambani, Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily, former minister Murli Deora and ex director-general hydrocarbons VK Sibal under the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to manipulate gas prices.

However, the company later issued a statement and refuted the charges, terming them as shocking.

While addressing a press conference, the Delhi CM had said that the directions to register FIR were given after four people complained against them.

The price of natural gas was raised to USD 4/unit and Reliance followed it up by producing less gas due to which India had to import gas, leading to inflation, Kejriwal said.

The Aam Admi Party (AAP) leader also demanded that the gas fields allocated to Reliance Industries in the Krishna-Godavari basin off the Andhra Pradesh coast be taken back and handed over to the state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp.

He said he would also raise the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and call for a further hike in gas prices from April 1 to be kept in abeyance — after the company was allowed to charge a higher rate of around $4 per unit a couple of years ago.

Congress general secretary Ajay Maken later said that the party was not against an inquiry.

“The only two things should be clearly looked at – first whether it is political vendetta and, secondly, is it within constitutional jurisdiction. We hope Delhi government would have taken care of these two parameters,” he said.