West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused the Centre of interfering in the state’s jurisdiction by summoning IPS officers to serve under it. Banerjee also dared the Union government to impose President’s Rule in the state, lashing out at the BJP for trying to convert West Bengal into “riot-torn” Gujarat.
She reiterated that BJP national president J P Nadda’s convoy was not attacked and wondered why “convicted criminals” were accompanying him. “If the BJP and the central government think they can scare us by bringing in central forces and transferring state cadre officers, they are wrong. The Centre is summoning our officers… No one wanted to hurt him (Nadda) or his convoy,” Banerjee said at a rally here.
“Why were so many cars accompanying his convoy? Why were convicted criminals accompanying him? The goons who vandalised the bust of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar last year were also accompanying Nadda… People get infuriated when they see such goons roaming free… I dare the Centre to impose President’s Rule in Bengal,” she added.
Referring to a recent letter addressed to the prime minister by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy over changing the national anthem, the chief minister said the people of the state will give the party a befitting reply if it goes ahead with such a “misadventure”.
“They want to change the history of our country, and now the national anthem,” she said. Banerjee also said refugee colonies have been recognised in West Bengal, and no one needs to fear the National Register of Citizens, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Population Register.
“BJP has created a new religion of riots and hatred among communities,” she alleged.
They randomly troll all those people who differ with their voices or question government. They will not let you live peaceful if you utter WORD against Modi or BJP leaders. Somewhere Modi and BJP leaders hail democracy but their supporters are hugely manipulated to chock the voices. Recent farmer’s agitation has irked the government and that’s why their supporters are at unrest. They are randomly commenting having no slightest idea of farming. Farmers would like to sell their produce to whoever offers them a prompt and good price. They do not want to get stuck with MSP and selling rice and wheat only, because then they would be forced to overuse their land with only those crops and destroy it with repeated use of chemicals. Farmers have fed the nation for decades and they deserve respect. The aberrant attitude of the government and its supporters is inviting trouble for itself as well as for the general public. This pro-capitalist government imposed this anti-farmer law on farmers in a very dubious manner without discussing it with them. This clearly shows the law has been brought just for the exploitation of farmers by capitalists who are close to politicians. India is a country of huge population, there will always be agreements and disagreements. Not necessarily all are comfortable with the bills passed. Protesting is our legal right, but such hatred was never in the history of ever propagated against farmers. Some supporters are hell-bent on proving them Khalistani terrorists and not farmers.
India has now forgotten path of development, progress and prosperity by not working on its resources and now focussed on anti-Muslim activities targeting individual each one in particular and the whole community politically at large. A BJP Bhakt’s normal day begins at Brahma Muhurat to carry out their job; day-night they are here in hoards to target people. A true Bhakt never sleeps and is ready for counter attacks at any time. A BJP supporter really gets tickled by odd conversations. Thus, the life of a Bhakt is just fine with Modi firmly in control. The followers of political parties are active in social media and launch verbal missiles to one another on a daily basis. BJP supporters, more appropriately Modi supporters, are labelled as ‘Bhakts’ which means ‘devotees’, sometimes with prefix like ‘Andha’ which means ‘blind’, and in return, the Bhakts call their opponents as Sickular, AAPtard, anti-National etc. Interestingly nobody takes an offense when labelled like this. But another side of followers doesn’t possess the skills of demining as BJP supporters possess. These supporters’ prime duty is to support the present Modi government and spread awareness about the means and ways being taken to take the nation forward. Bhakts also have a duty to counter opposition and spread misinformation. BJP is having a lot of supporters and Bhakts due to this religious ideology of the Bhartiya Janata Party. BJP is a religious magnet and attracting blind supporter ruling the country.BJP gained its popularity since 2013. They have won the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Then, they started their l game. They started making new schemes like Make in India but the unemployment rate has increased a lot in the last 6 years. India didn’t have any such major religion-based violence. BJP came into existence to make India a pro-Hindu state which is against the constitution of India.
The bhakts of BJP increased just after the Pulwama attacks. I don’t know why they acknowledge Modi and became his supporter just because of a single reason. Unemployment rate and the inflation rate is on a record high. There are leaders who are against the constitution because they don’t treat India as a secular state. They don’t believe in voices and peace, they don’t believe in agitations but they forgot the fact that the agitation by Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev has given chance to BJP to rule. The anger created by them against Congress is one of the biggest reason that the BJP got votes and a huge mandate. BJP is aware of the repercussions of huge agitations. BJP lost to power in Maharashtra due to same reason. Although the next Assembly elections in Haryana are scheduled for 2024 and the BJP-JJP alliance believes it has ample time to offer a lot more in the interest of people of the State, it is yet to be seen whether the people of Haryana will forgive and forget. In October, farmers attempted to camp outside Dushyant’s residence in Sirsa, but police did not allow them. They camped at Bhuman Shah Chowk, around 200 metres away from his residence. Although Dushyant said he would welcome farmers if they come to his house, he did not do that. Instead, he came to Chandigarh. He subsequently announced that he had tested positive for Covid-19. Farmers kept protesting that Dushyant must quit his ministerial berth and support them in their struggle against the Centre’s laws. Instead, Dushyant kept praising the farm legislation and accused the Opposition of misleading farmers. Even till date, when farmers had begun blocking entry-exit to Delhi, Dushyant has not uttered a word since November 26. BJP and their supporters need to understand that sometimes unwanted gifts are not welcomed.
This year there won’t be DJ or dance and night parties for New Year and no mass gathering on the eve of Christmas. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has come up with strict guidelines for celebrating New Year and Christmas.
To make sure there won’t be much public gatherings the BMC has decided to enforce a night curfew in the city. Hotels, pubs, and public events will be imposed with rulebooks. Chowpaty, Marine Drive, Gateway of India would be kept closed for New Year celebrations on the night of December 31, this year. The Mumbai Municipal Corporation and police administration have decided to be very vigilant in this regard.
Police are conducting combing operations on some night clubs, private event managers to trace the drugs and illicit activities. The city administrators are geared up for security by deploying an additional police force. BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal has appealed to the Maharashtra government to impose a night curfew between 11 pm and 6 am in the city. Additional squads are formed monitoring and raiding different places as precautionary measures. This year’s New Year won’t be as glossy as it used to be.
Ramnik Sood the organiser of New Year events told Afternoon Voice, “This year we have no business in the entertainment sector, moreover news year is cancelled due to the threat of pandemic”. We are requesting people to remain at home and indulge in permitted family gatherings.”
The Cyber cell also monitors social media networks, as there are many groups they send virtual invites with secret locations for rave parties and campfires.
The high-end properties worth crores in elite areas are moving like hotcakes because buyers and sellers both are elite wealthy class but the commoners who own one bedroom hall kitchen, not finding buyers because the buyers and sellers both are from economy class. Prices will not come down further. The industry itself has already said that prices have come down by 15% in the past year. Obviously, for some developers, the cut could have been more, given the level of desperation there may exist. the construction costs haven’t come down. Yes, the steel and cement prices may have come down but labour costs have gone up, statutory dues have gone up and there is no significant reduction in land pricing happening. In the worst-affected pockets across India such Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and Chennai, where sales pace has dropped to a level that it will take 36 months and more for all existing stock to be cleared, developers need to struggle. But even in these real estate markets and others, credible developers with a delivery track record will continue to command a pricing premium. Many developers who have been lax and taken the buyer for granted have realized that fixing their business is the only way to win the buyer back. The focus has shifted from launching new projects to delivering existing ones.
Indian buyers usually pay for apartments before construction has been completed. Many buyers do not take-out mortgage loans. As a result, the ratio of housing loans to GDP is very low. In 2012, housing loans in India were only around 4.14% of GDP. The leading mortgage lender is the Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) followed by the State Bank of India (SBI). Total housing loans in India were around INR 4,033.78 billion (US$ 63.36 billion) in 2012, up by 12.3% from INR 3,590.67 billion (US$ 56.40 billion) a year earlier. In June 2014, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its key interest rate unchanged at 8%. The RBI is expected to keep the key rate on hold at the third consecutive meeting in August 2014, according to HSBC. The Indian rupee (INR) continues to slide, following six years of sharp depreciation. On July 31, 2014, the rupee depreciated to a three-month low of INR60.55 against the U.S. dollar, this year in 2020 the scenario is even worse: one dollar is equal to 74 rupees. After lockdown Rupee has gone done, people lost their jobs and businesses, farmers are on road, students are yet to reach school, trains and transportations are yet to be opened completely. Huge lay off, shrinking sizes of startups, and above all the burden of EMI’s, the common man is at the edge.
The economy is not growing at a greater rate. Foreign rating agencies and Investment firms predict our growth rate to be a bit+1 or -1% less than the government announced rate. Indian companies are in huge debt so they cannot raise money unless they clear the balance sheet. PSU banks are in huge debt; they are not in a position to fund new ventures. A real estate inventory is at an all-time high. People are on a wait and watch mode, Stamp duties across states range from 6 to 10% (very high). Only desperate buyers for a first home or buying a new property. The second and third home buyers as investment options are going slow. Landowners who desperately need money are selling land at a discount based on their needs. Developers who can withstand pressure are not selling.
The major reason for the lowering property rates in India is demonetization then GST and now lockdown. According to surveys, residential property prices are now falling in majority of Indian cities and the nominal house prices have risen in some cities of its premium areas. If we talk about real estate trends in Delhi/NCR, there is a lot of panic and shock among the builders because transactions will be closer to the circle rates and the rates have come down by 25% to 30%. The builders with greater exposure to large-ticket premium properties projects are likely to be most afflicted. This has impacted on projects launched, where the major transaction is done by cash. Cities that are affected adversely by COVId19 lockdown are Delhi/NCR, Kolkata, Bangalore & Mumbai. Inflation is moving to the international standard, below five percent, which means gone are the days when year on year inflation is used to support real estate. If inflation is so low then interest rates will also fall for sure – Home loan will be 6% but it will not help real estate. Because it is value for money which is going on the wrong track. Now understand when FD is giving 7.5% and investors get negative returns on real estate then only the needy one gets the home and there is a huge gap between affordability and current real estate price. Every sector has high and low. Real estate is going toward low. The falling trend can be extremely fast – I will not be surprised if it falls 20–30% due to excess supply for the government. But it all depends on the government.
Mumbai developers have been showering offers such as lower booking amount and a full refund on cancellation, to woo homebuyers and register higher monthly sales. This follows a lowering of stamp duty for property registration in Maharashtra from 5% to 2% till December and to 3% for the January-March 2021 period. Fueled by stamp duty cuts offered by the Maharashtra government and other advantages available to buyers, such as festive offers and discounts, many developers, including top-tier ones, have launched new projects in the past 3-4 months spanning suburbs and peripheral areas of Mumbai.
Some direct discounts are offered. There are also several indirect reductions in prices or benefits offered to buyers. Developers in top cities are also offering incentive schemes including delayed payments, free amenities, festival discounts, rent guarantee’s and absorption of state tax. Taken together, these typically knock between 5 per cent and 15 per cent off the effective price. Developers are keen to reduce home inventory levels, which are at historically high levels, to increase cash flows during the pandemic, according to brokers and real estate consultants.
Prices have risen very high over the years in MMR. There are projects that were launched 1-2 years ago that still haven’t been sold. A premium 3-bedroom home in an under-construction project in Lower Parel cost over ₹9 crores a few years ago; now it’s dropped to ₹7.25 crore levels. In another premium apartment next to ITC Grand Central, the price has fallen from ₹47,000 per sq. ft two years ago to ₹38-40,000 now. Home sales in the city, India’s commercial capital, jumped to an eight-year high in October, according to data from Knight Frank. It’s an abrupt turnaround for a market that’s spent three years in the doldrums after a prolonged shadow banking crisis strangled access to credit. At the end of June, prices in Mumbai were 0.45 per cent lower than the same quarter in 2018, according to data from the central bank.
India isn’t alone in seeing a resurgence in property despite the grim economic backdrop – the likes of New Zealand and the U.K. have also seen prices jump. Rather than worrying about the prospects of a bubble though, in India authorities are grateful for the rebound.
With millions out of work, a resurgence in house sales and a corresponding increase in the building could boost output everywhere from banks to builders to consumer goods factories. Construction creates the most jobs in India each year. Already financiers are getting in on the act.
Post-pandemic, mortgages are back in vogue among executives who see property loans as a relatively safe asset in a country where owning a house is a symbol of security and defaulting on loan repayments is a social taboo. Bad loans overall at the nation’s banks are estimated to swell to a two-decade high of 12.5 percent of credit by March.
The BJP on Sunday decided to join hands with the United Peoples’ Party Liberal (UPPL) and the Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) to jointly form the next Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) after the just concluded polls resulted in a hung House, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said. The 40-member new Council will be headed by UPPL Chief Promode Bodo, Sonowal told reporters after a meeting with the representatives of all the three parties.
The decision was taken following deliberations since last night among North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor and minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, state BJP President Ranjit Dass, BJP National General Secretary and Mangaldoi MP Dilip Saikia, UPPL Chief Promode Bodo and GSP Chief and Kokrajhar MP Naba Kumar Sarania. The BJP’S alliance partner in the state government-the Bodo Peoples’ Front (BPF)- has emerged as the single largest party with 17 seats, the UPPL has won 12, the saffron party nine while the GSP and Congress have bagged one seat each.
BPF Chief Hagrama Mohilary had earlier in the day appealed to the BJP to extend its support to form the Council as both parties were still in alliance in the state and at the centre. The BPF had headed the Council for the last three terms with Mohilary as its Chief Executive Member (CEM).
The election to the Council was held after a fresh Bodo Accord was signed in New Delhi on January 27 by the leaders of all four factions of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)- then All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) Chief Pramod Boro, then BTC Chief Hagrama Mohilary and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. The election to the BTC cover the four districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri which falls under the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR).
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to include civic-run schools and gymkhanas as Covid-19 vaccination points to provide faster and better accessibility to immunization for citizens. In the meantime, six volunteers who were participating in the clinical trial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for Covid-19, Covishield, at the King Edward Memorial (KEM) hospital in Parel, Mumbai, have dropped out. However, at the BYL Nair Hospital, which is another center, all volunteers have participated in the trial. At KEM Hospital, a total of 101 people had participated in the trial which began on September 26 in Mumbai. The hospitals started administering the dosage in the latter half of October. But when called for the second dose that was to be administered 28 days later, only 95 returned. It is a voluntary process; no one can force them if they don’t want to participate.
An expert committee convened by the US Food and Drug Administration voted heavily in favor of recommending the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use approval. The final voting tally was 17 in favor, four against, and one abstention. The committee was tasked with answering whether, “based on the totality of scientific evidence available, do the benefits of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine outweigh its risk for use in individuals 16 years of age and older?” The vote by the independent experts and researchers, including infectious disease specialists, biostatisticians, and other scientists, isn’t binding but the FDA is expected to follow the recommendation within the coming days. Britain, Canada, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia have already approved the vaccine, the first in the world to complete a large-scale, phase 3 clinical trial. Russian and Chinese vaccines are already being administered on a large scale, but without having completed comparable clinical trials. The full results of the trial, which included nearly 44,000 people, were published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, another major milestone.
At Nair hospital, 148 volunteers have participated in the clinical trial of the same vaccine and all volunteers have completed both the dosages. Both the hospitals have completed administering the two doses last week, and are now monitoring the immune responses and health of the participants. So far, no one has reported any adverse effects. The trial duration is 180 days. Recently, a 40-year-old man from Chennai who had participated in the trial complained of developing cognitive issues after taking the vaccine. However, the hospital had no information on why these six volunteers dropped out.
Expecting the roll-out of the vaccine next year, BMC plans to immunize one crore of the city’s population in the first phase of the immunization drive. Around 400 schools and gymkhanas under the civic body will be roped in along with medical colleges, peripheral hospitals, and dispensaries for the purpose. They are planning to start vaccination centers at tertiary and secondary care centers. They also planned to keep schools and gymkhanas under BMC ready if we need more centers. Based on the directives of the Union health ministry, the civic body has started preparing the blueprint for the vaccine distribution. BMC has been holding regular meetings with senior health officers, including deans of medical colleges over the vaccination drive.
In Mumbai, around 1.25 lakh public and private medical staffers will be provided the first dosage of the vaccine. BMC has already registered their phone and email IDs. Once it receives the vials, each beneficiary will be informed on SMS about the nearby location and time of the vaccination. Once removed from the cold storage, a vial can sustain for around 10 hours. Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has cautioned against the hype about vaccines which are undergoing clinical trials. The safety of the vaccine has to be tested widely with a large number of volunteers across the globe in different categories such as age groups, gender, race, continents, and climate conditions. Any vaccine which is not tested fully with such third-stage clinical trials is not safe. Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine (and Moderna’s) uses bits of genetic code to cause an immune response and is called an mRNA vaccine. It does not alter human cells but merely presents the body with instructions to build immunity to Covid. The Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine uses a harmless virus altered to look a lot more like the pandemic virus. Vaccines sometimes contain other ingredients, like aluminum, that make the vaccine stable or more effective. There is overwhelming scientific evidence that vaccination is the best defence against serious infections. Covid vaccines appear to stop people from getting very sick and could save lives. It is not yet clear how much protection vaccines might give in terms of stopping people from spreading Covid. If they can do this well, vaccinating enough people would stamp out the disease.
Interpol has warned of a potential increase in cybercrime scams exploiting the fact that some Covid-19 vaccines have been approved for use. The agency has highlighted that organized crime networks could target the vaccine supply chains, and also create various shady websites selling illegal and/ or fake products. Covid-19 vaccinations have entered into the market with promising results. Several countries around the world have approved their use as well. As these vaccines come closer to widespread acceptance and global distribution, ensuring the safety of the supply chain and identifying illicit websites selling fake products is going to be essential. Counterfeit vaccines or fake coronavirus tests have the potential to become a growing concern as international travel gradually resumes throughout the world. The dangers posed by consuming such fake medical supplies are not well researched and could lead to dangerous health issues. In other instances, criminal groups have taken advantage of the pandemic by hoarding medical supplies and essential goods.
Cyber Security Concerns: There has already been an uptick in global cybercrime as various lockdowns were issued by governments. Interpol’s cybercrime unit has identified more than 3000 websites suspected of selling illicit medical equipment, and over half of those harbored phishing and spamming software. Some of the other incidents of cybersecurity during the ongoing pandemic have been:
• Ransomware attacks on various targets including pharmaceutical manufacturers.
• Spurious websites hosting illicit and fake covid19 supplies.
• Websites and social media spreading fake news and misinformation.
• Sharp increase in phishing incidents. Considering these incidents, it becomes necessary for everyone to follow cybersecurity guidelines to protect their sensitive data and not fall prey to cybercrimes or any online scams.
General Cybersecurity guidelines:
● Do not click on any links that make dubious claims like selling Covid19 vaccines, free medical supplies, or offering unscientific and unverified treatments for the coronavirus.
● Ensure all software, applications, and systems are always up to date.
● Do not open untrusted email attachments.
● Protect all sensitive information with encryption.
● Use reputable antivirus software and a firewall.
● Companies must carry out a cybersecurity audit of their networks and remediate any weaknesses discovered.
● If you become a victim of ransomware attacks, never pay the ransom. Report the incident to the local law enforcement agency. Always report any cybercrime to your nearest police station or alternatively report it on www.cybercrime.gov.in.
BJP president JP Nadda’s convoy was attacked with bricks and stones near Kolkata and many cars were damaged. BJP accused Mamata Banerjee government that their leaders were also injured in the attack. Home Minister Amit Shah has asked for a report on what he called “sponsored violence” and said Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress would have to answer to the people of the state. No one knows its election gimmick or Bengal really hates these BJP leaders? The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched the campaign for the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections asserting that BJP will come to power with two-thirds majority in the state. Nadda and Shah’s confidence must have its base in the slogans raised ahead of the rally he addressed in Kolkata where his partymen imported the infamous, criminal war cry of Delhi: goli maro saalon ko (shoot those traitors). It’s not long ago that the nation witnessed the impact of the inflammable slogan, introduced by the party’s leader in the national capital, Kapil Mishra, directed against the people assembled at Shaheen Bagh on a peaceful protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Many BJP leaders supported his voice, and thereafter he was provided with Y security. This shows that the BJP is always looking for inciting communal riots. Anurag Thakur and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath also made use of the same language with impunity. They were equally venomous in Hyderabad too; somehow they gained seats but could not register their win. After seeing Delhi riots where more than 40 people have lost their lives and hundreds injured in the riots that lasted three days. Thousands have been rendered homeless. After seeing so much provocation and hate, people of other states are hardly in a mood to buy a communal split. It’s quite depressing that the ruling party at the Centre, which got a decisive mandate in the Lok Sabha elections held hardly a year ago, has chosen to rely on the slogan that brought the national capital into chaos to another state. It has steadily refused to act against such leaders who went on giving provocative speeches; it has chosen to repeat the strategy in a crucial border state to romp home at the hosting instead. Narendra Modi never misses an opportunity to preach to the nation his pet theme: Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas. He insists on taking everyone along. Even Shah had publicly admitted provocative and divisive slogans may have hurt the party’s chances to win the Delhi election. But they did not fail to apply the same logic at Hyderabad, and something in the line they are on it in Bengal. While the sermons go one way, the party and its karyakartas have no qualms in taking an extremely divisive path for a possible go at power in the state which is yet to toe the saffron line.
A dramatic video shared online shows a car, said to be part of the BJP chief’s convoy, being attacked with bricks and the windscreen and windows shattering. The Trinamool, however, accused the BJP of “intentional provocation” and attempting to stir trouble and malign the state government in the run-up to polls next year. The BJP leaders were travelling to Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganas near Kolkata when the attack took place around 12 noon. Diamond Harbour is the parliamentary constituency of Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Some BJP workers on motorcycles were attacked with sticks. Several media vehicles were also hit with stones. Reports suggest the attack was the result of the BJP convoy passing an area at the same time as a Trinamool rally. Responding to the allegations, Bengal Minister Subrata Mukherjee said the incident was “created” and the BJP was trying to disrupt peace as part of its political agenda. Which is quite possible, you must recollect the attacks on Arvind Kejriwal. Nadda is doing provocative things. If someone has done something wrong, if they are TMC cadres, they should be punished.
The majority of Bengalis have a secular and liberal mentality. This has happened in a course of around 100 years. Bengal BJP cannot turn Bengal into a conservative state overnight. To increase its numbers, BJP cannot rely on only conservatives. But they have to rely on leaders who are not making profits under the TMC regime. So BJP cannot stick to its traditional strategy in Bengal. BJP needs patience and something lucrative to offer Bengal that communal violence. The choice between secular Mamata and majoritarian communal BJP yields no vanquisher. Mamata’s party, after coming to power, got involved with the architects of Sarada and Rose Valley chit fund scam.
BJP leaders also involved themselves in chit funds scam in other States. The main TMC beneficiary of Sarada scam Mukul Roy joined BJP in Bengal. BJP Government is enforcing media blackout on the 45,000 crore telecom scam and stonewalling CBI inquiry on Rafale deal. Amit Shah’s son’s fortune increased dramatically in a year and in response they slapped a defamation case for reporting. When Modi was in power in Gujarat his ministers got involved in Gujarat Cooperative Bank scam. The Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh among others comes to mind also. As far as scams are concerned, TMC and BJP are no different. Mamata’s party has MPs and MLA’s who are accused of criminal activities and have criminal cases against them. BJP has the highest number of MP’s with criminal charges. The biggest question at this hour is, how does BJP provide a clean alternative to TMC?
My Karjat house is my weekend getaway and peaceful writer’s corner. On 26th November at 12.18 pm in the afternoon, I received a message with some pictures by Uttam Thakur, a contractor at Star India Project, in which I have my flat, stating that someone has damaged the outer gates by siding the netting of my residence. When I received his message, I was very upset and sent two audio messages to him expressing my anger and disappointment towards the ungrateful conduct that the villagers have shown towards me in spite of my support on various fronts and social contributions. I have created this house with immense effort and hard work and am a resident of Karjat. When we reached our premises on 6th December, we discovered that the house had been vandalised inside and many things were stolen. The interior was a complete mess with all emptied drawers, various items were strewn on the ground, gutkha tainting every room’s floor, and empty water bottles were thrown all around the house. Uttam happened to drop in exactly in no time and I vented out my anger at him as believed him to be the perpetrator. When we arrived there the scenario was different from the actual pictures he sent us and the house more damaged than before. That itself is a big reason to suspect his motives. A once neat and tidy house nest was in a disgusting mess and absolute disarray where the intention to cause damage was quite obvious. Within an hour of our arrival, Uttam Thakur arrived to check in with a timely visit.
The background story:
I took the initiative to build a small Ganesha temple for our society premises more than a year ago. There is a neighbouring Shiva temple on the banks of the river Ulhas which needed an overhead shed for various prayers and pujas done by the community. I gladly supported both these constructions to enrich the community’s spiritual well being and holy practices. During their built up various employment opportunities arose and I was glad to see that it contributed to the livelihood of all the people involved. But sadly, the Ganesha temple was vandalised badly overnight due to which I had to move the idol to a safer space where it can be worshipped with due reverence and respect. The Ganesha Puja was a great point for us to carry out some event or the other and it generated various means for the villagers to earn money. But since we moved it due to the temple’s vandalisation, the earnings of various people have been stopped and come to a standstill.
What has each one to gain?
Due to this robbery, it is important to understand the various perspectives and how it pushes everyone’s advantage. Here each one is trying to reap their benefits and seeking to capitalise their future earnings in this agenda. The builder does not get along with the local villagers, so the moment villagers and I clash and me being a localite, I will have to deal with them and thus there is one more candidate along with the builder to oppose the villagers.
Villagers are trying to plan & push the blame on the builder’s news appointed contractor Vipul Shah and his staff so that once they can be held responsible for the act, they will be unable to continue working here in the future. Meanwhile, we cannot ignore the fact that the staff of Vipul Shah are not known to us and they might be eyeing the property and observed that no one visits here frequently. It is the responsibility of Shah to make sure his staff is trustworthy, in this the entire game builder never introduced Vipul Shah to residents officially granting him permission to complete the project. Above all, Vipul Shah is not the first such entry in these premises who has taken responsibility on behalf of builders towards the said property. So many flat owners’ hard-earned money has been stuck in this project and they all will eventually force the builder to fix their homes. Thus the builder is compelled to hire them for completion and maintenance. These contracts open up new avenues of earning for them in the current already recessive time. But the fact of the matter is that nothing in those premises can happen without the permission and knowledge of both parties; one being Uttam Thakur the villager, landowner, and contractor, second being the builder Pradeep Sajjan, Sandeep Sajjan & their staff. In the daytime a residence’s double door locks were broken with a noisy grinder, household items stolen and the premises vandalised. A grinder’s high octave screech can reach great distances alerting people during night hours; therefore this robbery has surely been done in the daytime to disguise the sounds as routine construction work. It is very difficult to believe that a group of people could breaking inside a premise, take their own sweet time to select what they wanted to steal, vandalise and then enjoy their alcoholic drinks in the house and neither the builder’s people in the premises or the villagers have no clue or just have not heard anything about it.
Police in action:
Police soon came to investigate the matter and support us. PSI Arun Bhor had come with his team AP Alhat and other officers and assured us that they will look into this theft case seriously and ensure justice. There were glass fingerprints, gutkha marks, and footprints all over the house. This can be crucial evidence to nail the culprit and should have been retained to further help in the verification. I’m sure they will do it in the future but hopefully, it should not be too late. As Police were carrying out their investigation, they received a call from Sureshbhau Lad who is the former MCP MLA and Karjat Assembly Constituency representative. Sureshbhau happens to know Uttam’s father and the villagers as they are his vote bank, therefore he called the police officer and told them to be easy on the investigation as the villagers matter to him and how Uttam has suffered a throat paralysis attack. Kindly note, I have all the compassion towards any ailing human and would surely wish them recovery and good health. But one thing I would like to highlight here that a culprit must be brought to justice. This is the perfect case of how someone can take advantage of his health status to hamper justice. Meanwhile, people are forgetting that when the crime was done, perhaps he was perfectly fine and that guise cannot be the excuse for avoiding seeking the investigation facts. Uttam’s throat paralysis attack impacted the voice box and throat muscles and not his whole body. Presently he is already in recovery mode and is very much able to drive alone, walk and move around in the city. He is physically fine and no movements of his are restricted in any way.
Reason for Suspicion:
Uttam Thakur, Ganesh Bhase or Manohar Bhase, Ankush Thackeray, and Rupesh Thakackeray are the people who work in various capacities as painter, plumber, welder, etc, where Uttam being contractor assigns various building maintenance jobs inside that residential building. Even my house interior was done by the same group and they very well know the entry-exit and every aspect of that flat. Sandip Sajjan, the Builder of Star India Project had initially assigned Uttam as their contractor for buildings development and maintenance work for many years. Even when the contract was given to a third party called Vipul Shah to renovate the premises, Uttam was sidelined by the builder. The reason I doubt him is that in those premises there are various illegal activities ranging from unauthorised parking to illicit activities and the truth is that he is taking complete advantage of that space and using it to his benefit. The fact is that he has complete control on the premises and even today, no one can enter those premises without his knowledge. Therefore to execute such a theft which involves the use of high-decibel grinding machinery, planned time, strong control on the environment, and people around during the theft is only possible for those who have complete control on the premises. Presently the throat paralysis stroke he suffered last month is taken to his advantage to dilute the reality under this pretext.
Diversion tactics:
Builder alleges that Uttam Thakur has stolen the building’s raw material and tiles from the site and fixed them in his own house. Similarly, the new Contractor Vipul Shah also claims that the worth lakhs of rupees raw material and tiles that he ordered were stolen from the premises. The matter reached such a point that Uttam completely stalled the site work and the builder had to practically beg and request Uttam’s father to resume work on his site. Many contractors came and left, the project is still in shabby condition. Now Vipul Shah is a new contractor and claims that his goods too have been stolen and is suffering a loss of 5 to 6 lakhs. When police were enquiring around with the onsite people, Uttam, and his team was keener on crying about the builder’s non-payment of their bills and nobody was sensitive to the robbery and helped out on that front. They were trying to settle their score with the builder and tried these diversion tactics to take the matter away from the actual investigation of the robbery point and blame it all on the builder.
Score settling:
Initially, when we took possession of our residence, the builder was very active in the development of the building project. Flat owners were clamouring to get their possession on the earliest and chasing the builder to hand over their flats. I invested my hard-earned money for my house and have my Rahivasi Dakhla there (resident claim). I dared to claim what was lawfully mine against all odds by the builder and his people. The villagers faced so many challenges from the builder, but at every step, I stood by with the villagers and was voicing opinions for them and fighting for their justice all the way. I always supported them with various household tasks where they constantly earned some money regularly. Then all of a sudden the equation changes and they rob my house to deter me and convey I cannot survive there without giving them that extortion money to be safe. Paying them regularly to keep my space safe seems to be a compulsion now?
Hope:
Today the presence of such local groups has blocked so many families from receiving their rightful home and shelter. Some residents have invested their life savings to buy a house here to retire peacefully while many are still paying their loans hoping to get possession of their homes someday. Such a vicious nexus completely compromises the well-being, happiness, and future of so many families and it surely needs to be addressed strongly. Local politicians and authority members must ensure the safety of all residents and not encourage unlawful and illegal practices that thwart development and compromise property for their own selfish gains.
We are a nation that is still building its foundation for the well being, progress, and safety of their daughters. What I have lost, I am not expecting it to come back to me. I will bless the person who is using our stolen goods. Today I am a self-made person and therefore it is extremely important that I know the motive of this act as it is a breach of my safety and trust. In this independent India where a girl is daring to fight for her house and stay in these desolate premises with the hope that people will soon move in and come to stay there, safety and peace will be ensured for her. This is all I hope.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused the Centre of interfering in the state’s jurisdiction by summoning IPS officers to serve under it. Banerjee also dared the Union government to impose President’s Rule in the state, lashing out at the BJP for trying to convert West Bengal into “riot-torn” Gujarat.
Interpol has warned of a potential increase in cybercrime scams exploiting the fact that some Covid-19 vaccines have been approved for use. The agency has highlighted that organized crime networks could target the vaccine supply chains, and also create various shady websites selling illegal and/ or fake products. Covid-19 vaccinations have entered into the market with promising results. Several countries around the world have approved their use as well. As these vaccines come closer to widespread acceptance and global distribution, ensuring the safety of the supply chain and identifying illicit websites selling fake products is going to be essential. Counterfeit vaccines or fake coronavirus tests have the potential to become a growing concern as international travel gradually resumes throughout the world. The dangers posed by consuming such fake medical supplies are not well researched and could lead to dangerous health issues. In other instances, criminal groups have taken advantage of the pandemic by hoarding medical supplies and essential goods.
