Hundreds rush to Mantralaya for ‘Rs. 54,000 flats’ in Powai

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February 5, 2014

Hundreds of people from Mumbai and adjoining areas have been thronging Mantralaya to submit forms for a low-cost housing scheme, which the Chief Minister’s Office said did not exist.

People filled the forms believing it would help them get a house in Powai for a meagre Rs. 54,000 under the so-called “low-cost housing scheme floated by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.”

After learning about those submitting the applications yesterday, the Chief Minister’s office issued a clarification that no such scheme had been sanctioned by the government and the so-called forms were bogus.

However, this hasn’t dampened the applicants’ spirits and the rush continued on the second day today.

A CMO official said an inquiry will be conducted to ascertain what exactly led to this bogus claim and the subsequent mad rush at Mantralaya, the state Secretariat.

One of the forms bore the Congress motto “Congress ka haath Aam Aadmi ke saath.” The form said, “I belong to the economically weaker section. Since the government is allocating houses to the economically weaker sections under its 1987 Powai Development Scheme, I wish to apply for the same 3,000 homes measuring 400 sq ft being developed by Hirandandani Builders under this scheme.”

Labour activist Milind Ranade said, “The poor need to know there are apartments in the Hiranandani complex which should have been rightfully theirs.”

In 1986, about 240 acres of surplus land was acquired by the state government under the Urban Land Ceiling Act (ULCA) and leased to the developer at a cost of 40 paise per acre. This was done under the ULC exemption clause as per which the developer had to construct modest sized homes of 400 sq ft and 800 sq ft. The ULCA, repealed in 2007, was meant to prevent concentration of land and housing in the hands of a few, he said.

Hiranandani amalgamated the flats to create sprawling 1,200 to 5,000 sq ft residences for high-end clients in over 70 residential and commercial towers, Ranade said.

“Fifteen% of the total apartments were to be handed back to the state government for the sake of public housing at the rate of Rs 135 per sq ft. The cost of each 400 sq ft apartment thus works out to Rs 54,000, which is what is printed on the forms,” he said.

Fraudster tampers ATM, withdraws Rs 26,000 from woman’s a/c

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Afternoon Voice

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February 5, 2014

A woman lost Rs 26,000 as she fell prey to a fraudster who allegedly tampered with an ATM and siphoned off money from her bank account after she unsuccessfully tried to withdraw cash from an ATM kiosk in south Mumbai, police said.

Rita Yadav, who works with a law firm, had on January 18 evening walked into an ATM centre of ICICI bank in Fort area of south Mumbai to withdraw cash, according to police.

The 30-year-old customer of the bank inserted the debit card in one of the three ATM kiosks when the system got stuck and she pressed cancel button, before moving on to another ATM machine. However, she faced a similar problem following which she moved to the third machine, police said.

“A man, who appeared to have been in the ATM centre for a long time, advised me to use the third machine saying that the other two were not working properly. After withdrawing Rs 1,000 from third machine, I received a text message on my mobile for the same from the bank. Within five minutes of my withdrawal, to my shock I received one more text message which stated that Rs 26,000 had been debited to my account,” Yadav said in her complaint.

Panicked, Yadav rushed to the unmanned ATM centre to find out the suspicious cash withdrawer, but in vain. She rang up the ICICI customer care representatives, who claimed that the needful would be done, police said quoting her complaint.

However, when there was no response from the bank representatives even after six days, she visited the bank in Fort and went through the CCTV footage, in which two men moving suspiciously near the ATM were spotted, she claimed.

The CCTV footage showed that the man, who had informed her on January 18 that the two ATM machines were not working, had used the same machine soon after she had left the place, the victim claimed.

On January 25, Yadav lodged FIR with MRA Marg police station, which is yet to get a breakthrough in the case.

Police suspect that the ATM machine might have been tampered, so that it gets hanged when transaction is underway. As the customer walks away thinking the machine has hanged, the fraudster withdraws cash from the victim’s account.

“We sought the ICICI bank to share the CCTV footage of the ATM, but they are yet to respond. We are working on the case,” senior inspector Ashok Jagdale said.

Maharashtra nod for 5th Pay scale for junior college teachers

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Afternoon Voice

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February 5, 2014

With teachers announcing boycott of the HSC board practical exams starting from Thursday, the state Cabinet approved their demand of implementing the three-tier pay scale as per the Fifth Pay Commission, from January 1996.

Members of the Maharashtra Federation of Junior College Teachers’ Organisation had decided to stage a ‘jail bharo’ protest at Azad Maidan in South Mumbai if the cabinet meeting failed to bring about a positive result.

Their demands include implementation of three-tier pay scale from January 1996 and restoration of 42 days’ leave from 1999.

The cabinet decision is expected to benefit around 20,000 teachers in the state, an official said, after the cabinet meeting.

“We have been demanding for our rights for several years and this year too, we informed the state about our boycott months in advance. They had to wait till the very last day to take any decision,” said Anil Deshmukh, general secretary of the organisation.

Members of the Maharashtra State Secondary and Higher Secondary School Principals’ Association met state education minister Rajendra Darda on Tuesday to discuss their demands.

The cabinet also approved the draft of the third state women’s policy which aims at ensuring measures for women’s development.

In another decision, aimed at providing relief to anganwadi workers who took out morchas and staged protest at Azad Maidan here for their demands, the state cabinet approved payment of Rs one lakh to kin of each deceased anganwadi worker. This measure will benefit around 2.06 lakh anganwadi workers in the state, the official said.

Roller coaster ride turns fatal for mother and daughter

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Prakash Jha

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February 5, 2014

Mother and daughter sustained injuries after a roller coaster derailed at 1 pm inside Imagica Theme Park, Khopoli. Purnima Rathi (32) and sustained injuries on her head and her 16-year-old daughter lower jaw was hurt. The duo was rushed to Jakhotia hospital.

An official from the Imagica Theme park said, “Although the ride is currently closed for safety precautions, the park is completely operational.”

Vincent Pijnenburg, Chief Operating Officer Adlabs Imagica said “We have always complied with the maintenance and operational procedures recommended by the manufacturers of every ride. The safety of our guests and employees is our company’s utmost priority.”

Ashutosh Kale, Assistant Vice President, Adlabs Imagica Safety and Security said, “In accordance with our daily safety procedures every ride is checked for safety and technical issues before being run for our guests. We had conducted three test runs on the ride prior to opening it for the guests. We are coordinating with the ride manufacturer to ensure that no untoward incident occurs in the future.”
The news of ride derailment spread like fire on social networking sites like Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter etc.

Superintendent of Police (Raigad), Ankush Shinde said, “We are investigating this matter. If anybody is found responsible for this incident then strict action will be taken against them.”

Congress insulted Pranab Mukherjee by denying him PM post: Narendra Modi

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Afternoon Voice

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February 5, 2014

Bharatiya Janata Party Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the party’s call for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections to West Bengal on Wednesday, attacking Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Third Front and the Congress. Modi hit out at the Congress saying President Pranab Mukherjee should have been made the Prime Minister after Indira Gandhi’s death in 1984.
“Pranab should have become the PM after Indira Gandhi’s death. In 2004, Pranab was the senior most. He should have been made the PM, not Manmohan,” Modi said addressing a rally in Kolkata.
Reacting to this, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari said, “It’s unfortunate that the CM of Gujarat is dragging in the august office of the President of India into controversy.”
Modi launched an all-out war against the Mamata Banerjee government and the Left parties in West Bengal. The Gujarat strongman exhorted the people to vote for the BJP if they wanted progress and development.
“India will only become a world leader if Bengal becomes the national leader,” Modi said to loud cheers.
“I promise you if you welcome BJP in Bengal, I will undo what has been done to Bengal in last 60 years,” he said.
Like Uttar Pradesh, for West Bengal also, he said, “If Gujarat can provide 24 hour power, why can’t West Bengal?”
Modi also took a dig at the Third Front saying the country will become third grade if a Third Front comes to power. He also added that the people of the country have already decided the outcome of the 2014 polls.

Sushma Swaraj insults North East community with ‘flat nose’ slur

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Afternoon Voice

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February 5, 2014

Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sushma Swaraj inadvertently insulted people from India’s North East when she spiritedly defended them in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday with an inexcusable racial slur.

Swaraj who rose to speak about the death of Nido Taniam, a youth from Arunachal Pradesh, who was beaten to death in Delhi in a suspected racial attack, said ‘people with flat noses are as much Indians as those with sharp ones.’

The Nido Taniam incident is the latest opportunity for political leaders to join the blame game. Most have made a mad dash to get on the political bandwagon after the death generated anger, hurt and disillusionment in the streets and in the media after Nido’s tragic death.

As if being referred to by derogatory names and made fun of in their adopted cities wasn’t enough, Swaraj just casually established the very stereotyping the people from India’s northeast are trying to break. The ‘flat nose’ reference was not only unnecessary, but also in very poor taste, considering that Swaraj and her party wanted to be seen sympathizing with people from the North East. It’s as unforgivable as calling someone dark skinned even to defend them.

Even when she raised the issue in the Lok Sabha, Swaraj’s aggression was mainly aimed at political rivals than at those who lead racist mobs against innocent people or the policemen who refuse to take action against the perpetrators.

“Congress Vice President, Delhi CM are sitting on a dharna instead of ensuring people’s safety,” Swaraj said. “Arunachal Pradesh is also a part of India and children of the Northeast are as Indian as anyone else,” she said going on to suggest setting up of hostels where North East students could stay with people from other parts of India.

Ninong Ering Ninong Ering, the Union Minister for Minority Affairs and an MP from Arunachal Pradesh, asked leaders not to politicise the death of Nido Taniam. It doesn’t look like that is going to happen.
With Lok Sabha polls looming over the horizon like a large blimp, leaders will inevitably try to gain as much mileage as possible from incidents such as these. Don’t let them fool you into thinking that the concern stems out of a personal investment in important issues that affect the common man.

Rapes and attacks on people from the North East happened in the past. A 30-year old BPO employee from Manipur was gang raped by five drunken men in a moving vehicle in 2010. In 2009, A young woman pursuing Masters in Jamia Milia Islamia was waylaid and molested by a group of school boys while she was returning home after college. The international Business Times lists some more such incidents here.
But it took an election year for Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejrwal, who is also Delhi’s Chief Minister, to visit the venue of protests and promise action. Will the politicians ever get the fact that there is an urgent need to sensitize the common man, including the police forces that often choose to ignore complaints of racial abuse?

Swaraj owes an apology to the community for adding insult to their long festering injury.

My buffaloes more famous than Queen Victoria: Azam Khan

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Afternoon Voice

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February 5, 2014

Taking a dig at the much-hyped brouhaha over his buffaloes, Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan on Wednesday said that his cattle had become more famous than Queen Victoria and that everyone including him must have a fortune like his buffaloes.

Apparently peeved over the extent of hoopla over his stolen buffaloes in media, Azam Khan said that whenever he switched on the TV, he got to see his buffaloes and people carrying their dung over their heads.

He continued his sarcasm saying that he would pray to Allah that everyone should have a fortune like his buffaloes.

Azam Khan’s seven buffaloes were stolen from his farmhouse on Friday night.

The furore over the matter came to light when a high-level search team was roped in to hunt the missing cattle.

It was a first of its kind search operation, with UP cops and sniffer dogs on their toes to search the missing buffaloes.

A massive search operation was launched by senior police officials, who also scoured through slaughter houses and neighbouring areas.

The missing cattle were finally traced after a day of strenuous hunt.

Three police officials also had to bear the brunt of the buffalo theft as they were later transferred over dereliction of duty.

Khap panchayats are retrograde, can’t be part of culture: Chidambaram

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Afternoon Voice

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February 5, 2014

In a veiled attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his defence of khap panchayats, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday described them as retrograde organisations which cannot be part of India’s culture.

“What is a khap panchayat? A khap panchayat is a retrograde organisation. It is not part of India’s culture and I am appalled to see somebody say it’s part of India’s culture. How can it be part of India’s culture?” he said while addressing students of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) here.

His comments come against the backdrop of Kejriwal, who had in a recent interview, said he does not see the need for banning khap panchayats or unelected all-male village councils because they serve a “cultural purpose.”

Attacking Kejriwal’s Aam Admi Party (AAP) for defending khap panchayats, Chidambaram said, “(it’s) rubbish. Must have the courage to stand up and say these retrograde practices are not part of India’s culture…These are simply (organisations of) self serving individuals who propagate this poisonous culture”.

“How can you tell a boy or a girl what you should wear and what you should not wear, who you should marry, who you should not marry.

“Each one knows what the rules of normal behaviour are and each one will adopt those rules of normal behaviour. I can’t go and argue a case in a court wearing a swim suit. I know if I have to go to a court, I have to dress like a lawyer. But I can’t go to a swimming pool wearing my lawyer’s robe…

“I think people know what they are expected to do…Who is this khap panchayat to tell do this or do that,” the Finance Minister said.

He further said likewise, there are many forces in the country which spread ‘poison’ sow seeds of distrust and differences and call this part of India’s culture.

Girl bites man’s tongue when he tries to kiss her

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Afternoon Voice

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February 5, 2014

An 18-year-old girl bit off the tongue of a man, who forcibly tried to kiss her, police said.

In her complaint to police, the girl alleged that the man, identified as Kamlesh (30), had been stalking her for the last ten days and he forcibly tried to kiss her in public near Income Tax colony in Kotra Sultanabad area of the city, they said. The girl, in a fit of rage, then bit off his tongue.

Later, the accused, who hails from Morena district in Madhya Pradesh, and the girl reached the Kamla Nagar police station where the man claimed that he knew the girl for the last four years and that she owed him money.

Following the incident, Kamlesh was arrested and booked under section 354 (assault or use of force to outrage a woman’s modesty) of the IPC, police said.

A move to block Arvind Kejriwal from cancelling power firms’ licenses

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Afternoon Voice

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February 5, 2014

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has asked the region’s power regulator to revoke the licences of two electricity distributors if they fail to supply power, drawing criticism from the companies. But today, a tribunal which decides cases relating to electricity issues in Delhi said the firms’ licenses cannot be revoked without its permission.

The distributors targeted by Mr Kejriwal are BSES Yamuna Power Ltd and BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd, run by billionaire Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infrastructure Ltd.

“Anil Ambani playing politics wid delhi’s electricity? Whose politics is he doing?,” Mr Kejriwal tweeted last evening.

Reliance responded with a statement that said the group is “extremely disappointed with the Delhi Chief Minister’s tweet attacking our Group Chairman.”

The Reliance-backed companies have been warned by the Delhi government that they must clear their bills with power providers and cannot threaten the city with large blackouts on account of a cash crunch. Reliance Infrastructure runs the distribution companies, with the Delhi government holding a 49% stake.

In the event of the licences being revoked, “suitable officers” would be appointed to administer the distribution companies and keep power switched on, the government has said.

State-run power producer NTPC has said that BSES Yamuna Power, which sells electricity in the central and eastern parts, must pay its bills or be cut off from February 11.

BSES Yamuna Power has already expressed its inability to pay state-run power generation companies citing lower tariffs and a shortfall in revenues.

The row could result in outages of up to 10 hours a day, it had warned, provoking Mr Kejriwal to allege “blackmail.”

The distributors contend that the regulator has failed to increase power tariffs in line with the rising cost of power, leading to a revenue loss of more than Rs. 15000 crore.