News Reporter

Posts

Biased action ? Only 61 motorcycles penalized for overspeeding against 7,968 cars in Nagpur

In the first three months of this year, there have been 8,123 cases of overspeeding on the roads of Nagpur, with a staggering 7,968 cases registered against car drivers and just 61 cases against motorcycles, according to statistics from the City traffic police. The population of two-wheelers is around 15 lakh while the population of four-wheelers is around two lakhs. The disproportionate number of overspeeding cases against cars has led to concerns of bias in the enforcement of traffic laws. Experts have suggested that the traffic police may be focusing disproportionately on cars while neglecting to enforce laws against motorcyclists who are also speeding. Ravindra Kaskhedikar, Secretary of Janakrosh and member of National Road Safety Council, said that it is visible on the city streets that two-wheeler riders are indulged in overspeeding. “If they are not penalized by the police, the overspeeding on the streets would not stop,” he said. It is important for law enforcement agencies to ...

DRDO develops Payload UAV that can drop bomb at enemy site

With an aim to carry out logistic operations in the Himalayan frontier, an Untethered Multi-copter payload, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), was developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The UAV is capable of flying in the Himalayan environment with 5 kg of payload and even dropping bombs in the enemy areas. The multi-copter was displayed by DRDO at the 108th Indian Science Congress. Mahesh Shahu, an official of DRDO, informed ‘The Hitavada’ that successful trials of the multi-copter were conducted at Sikkim at 14,000 altitude. The product would be ready for induction in the forces after two remaining successful trials, he said. The DRDO has developed the multi-copter with payload capacity from 5 kg to 25 kg and working on to increase the capacity upto 30 kg, he stated. The multi-copter has an onboard Li-ion battery bank. Advantage of the multi-copter is that it has high payload capacity and endurance of 30 minutes. It can carry out autonomous missions with wa...

Rat with mounted camera to help armed forces in intelligence gathering from enemy territory

A rat with a mounted camera on his head would help Indian armed forces in Intelligence Surveillance and Recovery (ISR) operation by entering the enemy territory soon. Scientists of DRDO’s Young Scientist Laboratory (DYSL-AT) created intelligence-augmented rat cyborgs controlled via a wireless micro-stimulator. The Rat cyborgs are undergoing Phase-I trials at DRDOs’ laboratory, informed P Shiva Prasad, Director of DYSL-AT on Thursday. P Shiva Prasad told mediapersons after the plenary session that the rat would be maneuried with electronic commands through semi-invasive brain electrodes. “This is the first time India has engaged in developing such technology,” he said, adding that some foreign countries already have the technology. In Phase-I, the operator always gives commands for all the turns and the rite will go accordingly. In Phase-II, the scientist can actually feed an image to the camera. When the rat finds the image in the camera it will stay there. He gave an example of the 26...

Uproar in council over demand of resignation of Minister Abdul Sattar over land issue

The proceedings at Legislative Council were stalled by Opposition benches demanding Agriculture Minister Abdul Sattar’s resignation over an illegal land regularisation order passed by him when he was a minister in the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. Deputy Chairperson Neelam Gorhe adjourned the house for the day due to the uproar. The High Court stayed Sattar’s order of regularising 37 acres of gairan land (grazing land) in Washim district for private use. Taking cue from the High Court’s order, Leader of Opposition (LoP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Ambadas Danve raised the issue under Rule 289 of Council. He said, “Sattar illegally alloted the land when he was the Minister of State for Revenue in the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government.” The allotment took place on June 17, 2022 overruling orders of District Court and District Collector, stated Danve. Sattar illegally allotted plots, sand contracts, Agricultural Produce Market Committee at Ratnagiri, Aurangaba...

Stipend of ITI student will be increased to Rs 500 from Rs 40 : Min Lodha

The Maharashtra government has made a big announcement for thousands of Industrial Training Institute (ITI) students in the State. There will be a gradual increase in the monthly stipend received by the students of government ITI institutes. For the past several years, the students were given a stipend of Rs 40. Now, the stipend will be increased to Rs 500. Skill Development Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha informed the Legislative Council during question hour on Monday. The issue was raised by legislators Vikram Kale, Dr. Sudhir Tambe, Satish Chavan, Balaram Patil during question hour. For the last several years, the students of the Government ITIs in the State were being paid stipend Rs 40 per month. The MLCs underlined their demand and stated that the existing stipend of Rs 40 is minimal in the time of rising inflation. Responding to the query, Minister Lodha said that the process to table the proposal before the cabinet is underway. It is proposed to increase the tuition fee for ...

Declare ‘Karnataka-occupied Maharashtra’ as Union Territory : Uddhav Thackeray

While speaking on the raging boundary dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka, Former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday demanded in the state Legislative Council that the Union government should declare ‘Karnataka-occupied Maharashtra’ areas as a Union Territory and the resolution in this regard should be passed in the house. He also fired a salvo at the Shinde-Fadnavis government for failing to corner the Karnataka government on the issue. This was the first time Thackeray attended proceedings of State legislators after resigning as the Chief Minister in July. Thackeray said, “Marathi language and culture rooted in the Belgaum (Belgavi) area since 1800. It is not just a case of language and border, but of ‘humanity’.” These Marathi-speaking people are facing atrocities from the Karnataka government, he said and demanded that the ‘Karnataka-occupied Maharashtra’ areas should be declared as Union Territory by the Central Government till the issue is pending before t...

Meritorious Mallakhamb players eligible for sports quota : Mahajan

Meritorious players of Mallakhamb will get the benefit of five per cent reservation quota in government jobs. Minister for Sports and youth welfare Girish Mahajan informed the Legislative Council on Monday. He was answering a question raised by MLCs Bhai Girkar, Pravin Darkar, Adv Niranjan Dawkhare, Nagorao Ganar, Ramesh Patil, Ramesh Karad. Mahajan said that All Indian Sports Association in its letter dated September 11, 2020 directed all states to give benefits of sports quota to meritorious Mallakhamb players for recruitment of Class ‘C’ posts. The Maharashtra government had already issued a Government Resolution on November 15, 2017. According to the resolution, the Mallakhamb players are eligible to get benefits of five per cent sports quota, he said. A committee was constituted under the chairmanship of Additional Chief Secretary (Service). But direct recruitment of Mallakhamb players was not taken into consideration of the committee, he said. Some recommendations of the committe...