News Reporter

Agriculture minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil making a point during press conference while MLA Sunil Kedar looks on. Agriculture Minister maintains his tough stance and blasts NCP-controlled WRD for abysmally poor performance, rejects WRD’s figure on irrigation potential and reveals bitter differences between Congress and NCP By Dheeraj Fartode Agriculture Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil on Monday once again fired salvo at Water Resources Department (WRD) and reiteratred 0.1 per cent irrigation potential figure created during NCP regime. He contemptuously dismissed the irrigation potential figures cited by WRD and stated after spending thousands of crore in past one decade only 0.1 irrigation has been added. “I am firm on my stand that 18 per cent land came under irrigation in past 60 years. However, only 0.1 percent land was brought under irrigation in past 10 years,” said the Agriculture Minister. The firm statement made by Vikhe-Patil during a press conference at Ti...

Agriculture minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil directing officials of agriculture department during Kharip review meeting on Monday.  By Dheeraj Fartode Agriculture Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil on Monday pulled-up staffers of Agriculture Department for colluding with private seed and fertiliser companies rather than protecting the interest of farmers. The Minister said that farmers are major stockholders in development of nation and Agriculture Department is duty bound to work in their interest. He warned that the staffers who ignore farmers interest should be ready to face the music, in case allegations against them are proved, Addressing a Kharip review meeting of Nagpur and Amravati Divisions at Soil Conservation Department, the Minister asked officials to pull-up their socks. The officials stated at the meeting that use of pesticides has increased steadily after introduction of BT cotton to which Minister said then who no documentation has been done on use of pe...

Banners during Railway election Three-day polling to choose the representative union completed on Saturday By Dheeraj Fartode Nearly 86.54 percent voting in Central Railway (CR), Nagpur Division and 89.43 percent in South Eastern Central Railway (SECR), Nagpur Division have recorded at the end of three-day polling to choose the representative union. Polling began on Thursday amidst tight security of Railway Protection Force. According to the election officials voting has been conducted peacefully and no incident of violence has been reported till date. The fate of organisations will be decided on May 2. At Nagpur level, there are two division that lies in two Zone, Central and SECR. At Central Railway, the AIRF affiliated National Railway Mazdoor Union (NRMU) and NFIR affiliated Central Railway Mazdoor Sangh (CRMS) were in the prestigious battle. Both unions were challenged by three more players, one is Madhya Railway Kamgar Sangh (MRKS), Rail Kamgar Sena (RKS) and Ma...

Crime against women Growing graph of crime against women and shocking instances of molestation and sexual assault reveals how perverts are emboldened to indulge in such lecherous acts By Dheeraj Fartode  Behind serene atmosphere of the Orange city, now being looked on as a prospective growth centre, the crime statistics seem to reveal a sinister and dark side. The new year, 2013, may have began on ominous note because in first three months there is a whopping 87 per cent rise in crime against women in second capital of Maharashtra. The graph showing crime against women is heading Northwards which should be matter of concern for one and all who loves Nagpur, more famous for its quite and cosmopolitan culture. But police statistics, if taken at its face value, indicates that, cases of molestation and rape have zoomed upwards. This is more shocking when one peeps deep into crime figures and finds that in bygone year 2012 the crime against women appeared to be downslide. He...

Rape Victim By Dheeraj Fartode A 35-year-old man haling from Bihar sexually assaulted of a 40-year-old paralytic woman at her residence in Dhammanand Nagar under the jurisdiction of Yashodhara Nagar police station. The incident came to light on Saturday and created a storm in the locality. The accused police said belongs to Bihar and had taken a room on rent at the house of victim. He was residing since last one month. On Saturday afternoon, the women along with her 19-year-old girl were sitting in the home when accused Ramsingh Gopisingh Mehto came there and asked for ‘kharra’ from the women. As the women did not had the ‘kharra’, the man gave her daughter the money and told her to fetch it from nearby pan kiosk. When the girl moved out for the errand, the accused forced herself on the hapless woman. The girl in the meantime came back and was shocked to notice the encounter. She raised an alarm and called her elder sister. Both the girls then fought bravely and came to resc...

12771 Secunderabad-Nagpur Express By Dheeraj Fartode Unidentified thieves looted a train passenger after offering him cake laced with sedative. The incident occurred in Train No. 12771 Secunderabad-Nagpur Express on Sunday. Police said that Mahendra Bhimrao Kadaskar (45), a resident of Akola, works in a private company and had gone to Hyderabad for attend a meeting. He was on Berth no. 64 of S-7 coach of train and had boarded the train on Saturday. Two youths sat behind Mahendra and befriended during the travel. The youths offered him pieces of cake. After eating the cake Mahendra fell unconscious. Grabbing the opportunity the youths fled with his gold bracelet, a chain, ring, and Rs 14,000 cash, the total cost of looted material was Rs 1.7 lakh. The train arrived at Nagpur station at 8.15 am. Accompanying passengers took out unconscious Mahendra at Nagpur station and abandoning him on the platform. Calls from family number to his mobile went unanswered and a search was underta...

Commissioner of Police K K Pathak By Dheeraj Fartode Rattled by increasing street violence and open defiance of police authorities by goons armed with revolvers and pistols, the top police officials held a crucial meeting on Friday morning to devise strategy to overcome menace of defiant criminals. The Commissioner of Police K K Pathak has ordered entire force not to spare these criminals and trheir gangs and instead take all steps under law to ruthlessly crush them.  Despite launching a massive man-hunt after small-time thugs opened firing at police personnel, the operation so far has failed to make any head-way forcing police leadesrhip to undertake brain-storming. Though the routine measures like nakabandi were enforced, but these goons dared to fire at police personnel many a times at different parts and till date are roaming freely. What has worried the cops, is the growing trend of youngsters in their twenties using fire-arms to settle personal scores without any ...

Narayan Rane By Dheeraj Fartode Hinting at sops for the industries in power tariff, Maharashtra Industries Minister Narayan Rane said Rs. 1 rebate is under consideration. The decision is aimed at providing a level playing field for industries and also enabling their competitiveness is not eroded by cheaper power available to industries in neighbouring states. Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) at present is charging Rs 6.05 to Rs 7.65 per unit for industries. In comparison, neighbouring states like Chattisgarh and Gujarat are offering power at more cheaper rates. The industries in Maharashtra have long been asking for rebate, saying they need to have a competitive rate to remain in competition. Talking to newspersons during his visit to city, Rane said that power tariff revision may be decided within this financial year. When asked about industrial gain for Vidarbha after ‘Advantage Vidarbha’, the Industries Minister expressed happiness that many indu...

Stop debate over PM, start planning for LS polls, else debacle awaits you: Dr Togadia’s prescription to faction-ridden BJP  By Dheeraj Fartode Reacting sharply on ongoing factional feud within Bharatiya Janata Party and debate over its proposed Prime Ministerial candidate, International Working President of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Dr Pravin Togadia on Monday advised the BJP first to get its act right, ensure victory over adequate number of seats, stop ongoing feud and also give more priority to organisation than individual, else it will lead to only debacle in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he cautioned .  Dr Togadia, once known as mascot of Hindutva politics, minced no words while projecting a waterloo for BJP, if the ongoing “mad rush to declare PM candidate is not stopped.” Instead the party must carefully plan its strategy to win maximum number of Lok Sabha seats instead of making inflated claims about individual leader, he stated without naming any leader....

CCTNS Project in Maharashtra Record of all crimes and criminals will be available on net from June 1 By Dheeraj Fartode THE launch of much-awaited Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) in maharashtra has been delayed by another month. Cops as well as citizens were looking forward to the implementation of this system as it would facilitate the process of filing complaints and the follow-up, which would be available at the click of a mouse. As per schedule, the project was to be implemented in the last week of April. Now, the project is likely to be launched on June 1, 2013. Chief of State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB), Special Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sanjay Verma confirmed this delay. “By June 1, 2013, the database of criminals should be in place and work is in progress on war footing. Site preparation and installation of software is in the last stage. Project implementation has been delayed as it is a huge project and on a very large scale,” said IGP Verm...

By Dheeraj Fartode Dakshin Purva Madhya Railway Mens Union (DPMRMU) has got a shot in its arm for the forthcoming Secret Ballot as it has been extended support from Rail Kamgar Sena (RKS). This was informed at a media conference by Salil Lawrence, General Secretary, DPMRMU, and Manoj Samarth, Working President, RKS, Bilaspur Zone, the other day. During last Secret Ballot, DPMRMU had gained 55 per cent vote share while RKS had managed just five per cent vote. For the forthcoming election to determine railway employees representative, the two Union have entered into an alliance. Lawrence said he is hopeful their alliance would emerge victorious and listed the problems that were resolved by his Union during last five years. We are working to solve problems of workers and now with RKS with us the voice of employees would be more powerful. Samarth in a reply to a question stated that as both Unions have same agenda we agreed on a common minimum programme.” Nagpur, Bilaspur and R...

By Dheeraj Fartode Having recorded an impressive performances in digitisation drive in second capital of Maharashtra, the four Multi Service Operators (MSO) are now facing music from government authorities. On Friday, the four MSOs in city got surprise visitors, the officials of Tax Department, who wanted to probe their dealings in set top boxes (STBs). The sources said today’s exercise was to ascertain whether the MSOs have evaded taxes in selling or as they claim leasing out of STBs. Separate teams visited the offices of MSOs and started examining their accounts and other books. The search operations were on till midnight and each team consisted of 10 to 12 officials. According to information, MSOs have installed around 4.3 lakh STBs. The MSOs are claiming that they have leased out STBs on lease basis. However they have also collected about Rs. 1300 as installation/activation charge which officials says implies service.   Hence MSOs are liable to pay service tax. Chartere...

Khapri Railway Over Bridge By Dheeraj Fartode  Strange as it may sound, but the file pertaining to widening of Khapri railway overbridge (RoB) has gone ‘missing’ from the headquarters of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) at New Delhi. As ‘The Hitavada’ went about following-up the matter, the replies from the officials left one baffled. Officials, right from local office up to those in headquarters, were passing the buck to one another. The PID office of NHAI sent the documents to Member (Finance), seeking approval to the extension project. However, Member (Finance) Satish Chandra, told ‘The Hitavada’ that they had sent the file to its General Manager (Maharashtra) of NHAI Anil Sharma. But, the latter denied having received any documents pertaining to the project. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Dr C P Joshi, during foundation stone laying ceremony of four-laning of road up to river Wainganga on Nagpur-Bhandara portion of National Highway-6, at Mau...

I do not know about future of Third Front, says Pawar By Dheeraj Fartode Rubbishing the talk about instability of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government in the Centre and mid-term polls, Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said that the Government was stable. Commenting on the air over emergence of Third Front in the forthcoming general election, Pawar said, “I do not know about future of Third Front, and I do not believe in it. As far as my party is concerned, we have decided to be with UPA.” He was talking to reporters at Sawangi in Wardha district, on Sunday. He was in Sawangi to grace bhoomipujan ceremony of seven-storey Super Speciality Hospital and convocation of Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Science University-Deemed University (DMIMS-DU). Sharad Pawar interacting with media at Sawangi. The stalwart politician rejected any possibility of mid-term elections. Asked about Samajwadi Party ch...

In a submission to Sales Tax Department, one of the MSOs made it clear Some days back, MSOs themselves had submitted a ‘price list’ for various models of STB to district administration  By Dheeraj Fartode  If you have got Set Top Box (STB) installed at your home/establishment, and are assuming that you own the device, you are wrong! According to Multi Service Operators (MSO), they are actually ‘leasing out’ the device to cable television subscribers and ownership of Set Top Box shall remain vested in MSO only! In a statement submitted to Sales Tax Department, one of the four MSOs in Nagpur city stated that STBs were being installed ‘on lease’ and ownership would remain with MSOs concerned. As per the statement, charges collected from subscribers are merely ‘activation and installation charges’ and not the price for STB. One may obviously ask, why are MSOs doing this? As per the norms, MSOs shall have to pay 12.5 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) if they show that STBs have...

 The department had conducted raid at godown of betel nut businessman  By Dheeraj Fartode Raids conducted by a joint team of Maharashtra Sales Tax department and Uttar Pradesh Sales Tax department has unearthed tax evasion worth crores of rupees, involving five betel nut traders and transporters. “The searches were carried following raids by UP Sales Tax department in Kanpur in past week and FIRs would be filed in the case,” a senior officer of Maharashtra Sales Tax department confirmed. Revealing the modus-operandi, the officials stated that transporters and traders apparently prepared bogus invoices posing as the ‘seller’, created many paper companies and claimed set-off in return. Team of Sales Tax department, Kanpur arrived in Nagpur on Monday after the department had conducted raid at godown of betel nut businessman D K Jain in Kanpur last week. The department found thousands of sacks full of betel nuts, without proper documentation. The businessm...

Set top boxes and their official price ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UCN UCN-0146 HD with recording                                   Rs 3,000 UCN-0145 Standard Definition with recording Rs 1,350 3410 UCN1-K9 Cisco Standard Definition Rs  1,100   PDS1000-UCN-K9 DTA Cisco Standard Definitio    Rs 650 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GTPL Cisco PDS-1000 Rs 350 Cisco 3410 Rs 750 New Land NL-C5197G Rs 750 Cisco HD 4398 DVB ...

Narrow Railway Over Bridge and huge traffic movement. Traffic cops managing congested traffic on Wardha raod near Chinchabhuvan.  By Dheeraj Fartode Square peg in round holes, fits the thinking pattern of Indian planners. Projects get executed without giving thought about the safety and usability from point of view of the people who are going to use it. An example of Khapri railway overbridge (RoB) would suffice to describe the situation that confronts its users. Constructed just 15-years back, the RoB is now listed as great risk for its users. During the night time chances of meeting with an accident are quite high. The reason, approach road on either side of the RoB opens onto wide space while RoB itself is wide enough for two lanes. Therefore vehicles zoom in at high speed coming from four laned highway from Wardha side and also from Sonegaon end but the speeding vehicles gets stagnated as the RoB width is of two lanes only. Therefore while planning for th...

The intruders gained entry by breaking open the lock By Dheeraj Fartode Unidentified thieves stole gold ornaments and cash of Rs 1.75 lakh collectively worth Rs 3.4 lakh from a residence of State Bank of India’s (SBI) clerk under the jurisdiction of Panchpaoli police station. Police said that the theft took place between 12.30 pm of Saturday and 7.30 am of Sunday when Pradip Deepak Parsekar (32), a resident of plot no A/3, near Sagar Bar, had gone to Chandrapur along with family. The intruders gained entry by breaking open the lock. The thieves seemed to had done their home work as they target only the five almirah and did not touch any other thing in the house. “Only lockers were searched where the valuables and cash were kept,” said a police officer who attend the spot. Around 11 am of Sunday, Parsekar family returned to find their house burgled. A senior police officer added that there was a party at neighbour house for whole night but surprisingly no one claimed ...

Scorpio was in great speed and the driver failed to control the vehicle By Dheeraj Fartode Tension prevailed on Wardha road after a rashly driven Scorpio knocked dead a teenager near Chinchbhuvan under the jurisdiction of Sonegaon police station on Sunday night. Following the mishap, people gathered on the spot, vandalised the four wheeler and torched tyres and blocked the road in protest. Traffic on stretch of national highway no. 7 on Wardha road was brought to halt for an hour. Police said that Vinay Satish Kale (16), a resident of Chinchbhuvan, was crossing the road on his bicycle when the tragedy stuck. A rashly driven Scorpio car (MH-31/C-5246) came from Nagpur and hit Vinay. Police added that the Scorpio was in great speed and the driver failed to control the vehicle. Vinay sustained grievous head injuries in the mishap as he was dragged for nearly 50 feets and died on the spot. Eye-witnesses informed that despite hitting the minor the accused driver couldn’t cont...

By Dheeraj Fartode Nandanvan police have booked two parties involved in a land deal, after they came at loggerheads on Saturday over the issue of outstanding money. In the first case, Shahzad Ahmed Shekji (33), a resident of Chandani Square, Hasanbag, entered into an agreement with Kalim Khan alias Tasleem Khan (50), Hasanbag, for selling his land in year 2006. The deal was struck for Rs. 1.21 crore and Khan demanded Rs. five lakh as brokerage. As Shekji was illiterate he signed on few stamp papers over which later a dispute arose. On Saturday, Khan and his relatives stormed Shekji's residence and attacked him as the land sale got embroiled in controversy. The incident created quite a tension in the area. Police investigation later revealed that Khan only paid Rs. 70 lakh and for balance money the dispute got created. Based on Shekji's complaint Nandanvan police booked Khan, Alim Khan Tasleem Kahn (42), Jamil Khan Tasleem Khan, Aman Ullha Khan (32), Sayyed Abra Sayyed...

By Dheeraj Fartode Nine cows and a youth died after a small tempo carrying them collided with truck on Bhandara road  under the jurisdiction of Mouda police station in wee hours of Saturday. Police said that the mishap occurred at 4.30 am when the Tempo (MH-40/363) carrying the cows was heading towards Nagpur. Driver of the tempo failed to control the vehicle and rammed into the truck (MH-06/AC-4357). Nine cows were seriously injured in the mishap and died on the spot. Driver, Mohd Basir Jagir Ansari, a resident of Yashodhara Nagar and cleaner Durgesh Prakash Mohibe (26), a resident of Amgao had also sustained grievous injuries in the mishap. Driver Mohd Basir succumbed to his injuries on the spot. Mouda police have registered the case under sections 279, 337, 304 (A), 429 of IPC read with 184 of MVA. Further investigations are on. 

By Dheeraj Fartode Anything of excess is always harmful. For two youths into tricking people, trying the same for second time however got them ‘tricked’. In their first outing the accused duo were successful having swindled the victim of Rs. 5,000. However when they tried to grab more under duress, the victim turned the tables and got them arrested. The incident is of Saturday and victim is Umesh Ghanshyam Gwalbanshi (27), a resident of Shani Nagar. He was sitting with his girl friend near Utkarsha Apartment, Mangalwari Bazar. A youth Mohd. Nizamuddin Khan and Mohd. Nawazuddin Khan (24), resident of Mangalwari, wearing a police uniform threatened to arrest for violating public peace by sitting with his girl friend. While the girl was let off from the spot, Gwalbanshi however had to pay off to get himself off hook. The victim paid Rs 5,000 to the ‘cop’ and also provided him the mobile number. On Sunday, the ‘cop’ contacted Umesh on mobile phone and demanded Rs 20,000 again...

By Dheeraj Fartode A housewife was allegedly torched by her hubby after she refused to cook eggs. The incident occurred on Friday night and the injured women succumbed to injuries at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). The incident was reported from Shikshak Colony under jurisdiction of Butibori police station around 7.30 pm. The accused is identified as Kailash Pandurang Yedamewar (34). A habitual drunkard, Yedamewar arrived home in inebriated condition. He directed wife, Shubhangi too cook eggs to which latter objected, as she was strict vegetarian. A quarrel ensued between the duo and soon took the turn for worse when the hubby threatened to kill her. Frustrated with this daily trouble, Shubhangi sprinkled kerosene over herself and challenged her husband to kill her. In the heat of the moment Yedamewar lit a matchstick and set his wife alight. Hell broke loose and hearing wild cries of Shubhangi, Yedamewar got frightened and took to his heels. Neighbours rus...