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Digvijay writes to PM, seeks probe against Nitin Gadkari
Mumbaikars use mobile phone apps to nail noise polluters
Yeddyurappa to quit BJP before Dec 10
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IMG to decide on 31 PSU coal blocks next week
The Inter-Ministerial Group will make recommendations with regard to 12 coal mines allotted to public sector firms on October 30 and 19 on October 31
Bengali writer Sunil Gangopadhyay dead
Bronze for Punjab in national project contest
Hasan Ali moves bail application
Centre eyes Orissa as Bengal says no to nuclear plant site
Mumbai studios under lens for dengue
Amarinder, Saini in verbal duel
Model found murdered in Mumbai
Solar plant to power Taj Mahal
Yash Chopra died of pneumonia Charges framed in Keenan-Reuben
case
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Digvijay writes to PM, seeks probe against Nitin Gadkari
New Delhi, October 23 The Congress leader said the latest revelations about Gadkari’s Nagpur-based company Purti Power and Sugar Ltd indicate there is a prima facie case for such an inquiry, stating that it is in the fitness of things that Gadkari’s case be investigated and he gets a fair opportunity to prove his innocence. Besides referring to media reports about Gadkari’s business dealings, Digvijay Singh attached additional documents to draw attention to the anomalies which, according to him, require serious attention. The AICC general secretary pointed out that the companies that bought equity in Gadkari’s Purti Power and Sugar Ltd (PPSL) appear to be defunct companies, adding that these companies got the capital to buy this equity most probably from another layer of shell companies. Media investigations have shown that most of these companies have given bogus addresses, the letter added. When asked about this case, Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily only said, “I have heard about the allegations. I shall look into the allegations to see whether the books are in order. I have asked the secretary and registrar of companies to look into it.” Digvijay Singh’s demand for a probe is in sharp contrast to the official position adopted by the party. Asked specifically about the party’s reaction to the allegations against Gadkari, Congress spokesperson Sandeep Dikshit said it was up to the government and its agencies to probe if there was any merit in these findings. Denying that the Congress was soft-pedalling the Gadkari case, Dikshit said, "There is no issue of compromise. Institutions will do their job. If they come out with certain facts, political parties will respond.” As for Digvijay's communication to the PM, he merely said that it was for the Prime Minister to take a decision on it.
Shady deals
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Mumbaikars use mobile phone apps to nail noise polluters
Over the past two days, the Mumbai police control room has received numerous complaints from citizens who called the authorities after doing some sleuthing on their own using a ‘Noise Meter’ downloadable on Android phones. “We have received complaints from many people about organisers who have violated noise pollution norms during the nine-night festival,” said sub-inspector Ganpati Haware of the Borivali police station. On Monday night, an unidentified person called the police control room after noise levels exceeded 95 decibels (dB) in the area. The organisers were subsequently asked to tone down the volume, Haware said. Environmentalist groups are now encouraging people to download applications called Noise Meters on Android phones. Activist Sumaira
Abdulali, who heads the Awaaz Foundation that fights noise pollution, has now begun a campaign to create awareness about such applications. "One can now measure noise levels with devices like an
iPad, iPhone or any Android phones," Abdulali said. According to her, the devices do not allow people to record noise levels. "However, it is enough for alert citizens to call the police control room," Abdulali added. The Mumbai police has promised to keep names of complainants
secret. Techies have warned that phone applications that measure noise are not very accurate. "Some phones have filters that restrict noise levels at lower levels," warns Samir Manchanda who blogs on technical issues. According to norms prescribed by the Supreme Court, noise levels should not exceed 55 dBs during daytime and 45 dBs after 10 pm. Decibel levels are even lower in neighbourhoods located near schools and hospitals. However, organisers of major cultural events flout these norms with the help of politicians.
Tabs on festive fervour
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Yeddyurappa to quit BJP before Dec 10
Bangalore, October 23 “I will not patch up with the BJP. I am Yeddyurappa, I do whatever I say and
I have been doing it over the years. I will tender my resignation from state assembly and primary membership of BJP anytime before December 10," he told reporters after performing Ayudh Puja at his office here. Yeddyurappa, who has been cut up with the BJP leadership over the party sidelining him since his resignation last year as Karnataka Chief Minister, said he would launch his party at a public rally in Haveri. “The process of starting a new party will begin from tomorrow," he said without elaborating. Yeddyurappa, however, said he would
not pull down the BJP government even after resigning from the Karnataka Assembly. Asked about BJP state general secretary Prahalad Joshi's remarks that party president Nitin Gadkari was making efforts to convince him not to desert the party, Yeddyurappa said no efforts were made in this regard. Yeddyurappa, who was forced to quit by the BJP central leadership in the wake of Lokayukta report on illegal mining indicting him, said his proposed party would fight on "secular ideology."
— PTI
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IMG to decide on 31 PSU coal blocks next week
New Delhi, October 23 The IMG, headed by Additional Secretary Zohra Chatterjee, is likely to meet on October 30 and 31 and mines allocated to firms like Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corp, Nalco, MMTC and Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corp will be up for review. While the IMG will make recommendations with regard to 31 coal mines allotted to public sector firms - 12 on October 30, 19 on October 31, the panel is expected to take up the cases for another 20 mines. The IMG has concluded the scrutiny of 31 coal blocks allotted to 51 private firms. It took up the presentations from the PSUs for the 31 coal blocks earlier in the month and will now decide whether or not some of these should be de-allocated. Earlier, Coal Secretary SK Srivastava had conveyed to the Public Accounts Committee that the IMG would finalise the recommendations with regard to 31 mines allocated to public sector firms by October 20. The government had earlier accepted the recommendations of the IMG which had suggested de-allocation of 13 mines and deduction of bank guarantees of 14 coal blocks allotted to the private sector. A total of 58 mines were issued show-cause notices for their failure to develop blocks within the stipulated timeline. The government had formed the IMG in July to review the progress of coal blocks allocated to companies for captive use.
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Bengali writer Sunil Gangopadhyay dead
Kolkata, October 23 Sunil’s body has been kept at the mortuary at Peace Haven and his last rites will be performed after the arrival of his son from Boston tomorrow. A former chairperson of the Sahitya Academy, Sunil had written over 200 Bengali novels and 2,000 poems, many of which were translated into different languages, including English, French, German and Russian. He also wrote several novels for children. Many of his novels were screened by Satyajit Ray and other celebrated film directors and producers in Kolkata and Mumbai. He won several prestigious awards in the country
and abroad. Sunil was a former sheriff of Kolkata during the Left regime and belonged to the intellectual group close to the CPM, particularly Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. He was a journalist by profession. President Pranab Mukherjee expressed grief at Sunil’s demise. In his condolence message, the President acknowledged Sunil as a great writer and a social activist whose death was a great loss to Bengali literature.
Eminent litterateur
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Bronze for Punjab in national project contest
New Delhi, October 23 Alok Kumar Sharma, a class-X student from Bihar, won the gold medal and a cash prize of Rs 20,000 for a project on preservation of soil moisture to facilitate agriculture in hilly areas. Alok’s concept involved covering wet soil with a thick layer of fodder to preserve the moisture in soil, which would turn into high quality manure by next year with a balanced pH level. Viraj Dinesh Gapchop of Maharashtra received the silver medal with a cash prize of Rs 10,000, while Sahil Divedi from Punjab and Arun TA from Kerala won the bronze medal and a cash prize of Rs 5,000 each. Sahil from Amritsar said: “I have come up with a mobile-operated wireless switch. You can connect any appliance, big or small, to the shoe of the switch and turn it off or on with just a missed call. This way, one can jumpstart a water motor in the fields of Punjab while sitting in Delhi using a mobile phone.” In all, 13 entries were received from Punjab, 22 from Haryana, five from Chandigarh, 20 from Himachal Pradesh and 16 from Jammu and Kashmir. The 1,138 INSPIRE finalists displayed some of the finest ideas like safety measures for a nuclear reactor to avoid nuclear explosions like the one in Fukushima, Japan, a concept of extracting biofuel from algae and residential architecture that would implement zero energy concept. The participants took home a cash prize of Rs 2,500 this time. Last year, 788 entries had made it to the finals. A total of 3.1 lakh entries at district level were received by INSPIRE. Organised by the Ministry of Science and Technology, INSPIRE is a national programme that aims at attracting students with talent in science and research. Union Minister for Science and Technology Vayalar Ravi said: “The government plans to introduce a New Science and Technology Policy by 2013 which will focus on building the required critical human resource pool for strengthening and expanding science and technology, and research and development base in the country.”
The winners
Punjab’s entry
Sahil from Amritsar came up with a mobile-operated wireless switch, using which
an appliance can be switched on or off with a missed call
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Hasan Ali moves bail application
Mumbai, October 23 The Patna police had registered a case against him for making a passport using forged documents. In his application, Khan said that he apprehended his arrest in this case as a local court in Patna has issued a production warrant against him. The application is likely to come for hearing during this week. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged that Khan and his 'advisor' Kolkata-based businessman and co-accused Kashinath Tapuria had laundered billions of dollars in foreign banks, of which a large chunk was obtained by Khan through the sale of weapons to international arms dealer, Adnan Khashoggi. Allegedly, Tapuriah had also helped Khan get contracts for supplying scrap to some top steel companies.
— PTI
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Centre eyes Orissa as Bengal says no to nuclear plant site
New Delhi, October 23 “We have been in consultations with the Russians. Some technical issues have come to the fore. We are working with them to find an alternate site,” MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told reporters today when asked if the proposal to set up the plant at Haripur had been abandoned. The state government had announced recently that it would not allow any nuclear power plant to be set up in any part of the state, leaving the Centre red-faced. In view of the controversy surrounding the project, Moscow has officially sought another site to set up the plant. The Centre is believed to be considering allotting a suitable site in Orissa to the Russians to set up the project. The coastal region of Haripur had been allotted to the Russian company Rosatom for developing a nuclear park. Russia has also officially communicated to New Delhi that it would desire to shift the proposed plant out of West Bengal. Local farmers and fishermen, supported by a number of NGOs, had launched an agitation against the project at Haripur, fearing eviction and loss of livelihood. Although the Union Environment Ministry had cleared the project, some environmentalists and scientists had expressed concern that it would be hazardous for the environment. The new site for the plant might be announced when Russian President Vladimir Putin visits India on December 24 for the annual Summit with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. There are sharp differences between India and Russia over bilateral civil nuclear cooperation. However, the two sides are confident that they will be able to reach a common understanding on nuclear cooperation by the time Putin comes calling on New Delhi.
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Mumbai studios under lens for dengue
Mumbai, October 23 Senior officials of the civic body have asked local ward level health officers to check out film studios located in different parts of the city to carry out fumigation to combat dengue. "Film studios do not allow our workers to carry out fumigation on the grounds that it would disturb their shooting schedule. But we are talking to them to find a solution to the problem," says Assistant Municipal Commissioner (Health) Manisha
Mhaiskar. She further said that the civic body would rope in managers of studios and private companies which are contracted by the studios to provide housekeeping services. There are more than 25 studios in different parts of
Mumbai. Civic officials say that they have found favourable conditions for the growth of the aedes aegypti mosquito at several studios. Even the
late Yash Chopra's studio has been targeted for fumigation by civic workers who checked up on the premises after the director was admitted to hospital, say sources. Health officials say the municipal corporation has given them a target of completing fumigation of all film studios in Mumbai by the end of this week. Four persons, including Chopra, have died of dengue. Another 157 patients are currently undergoing treatment for the disease at government hospitals, say health officials.
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Amarinder, Saini in verbal duel
Chandigarh, October 23 The PCC chief lashed out at the DGP for claiming at a press conference yesterday that the Congress had distorted facts in the Shruti case and maligned the minor girl’s name. Amarinder in a statement today advised Saini to respect his uniform and “stop behaving like an Akali politician”. The PCC chief maintained that the way the abductors fired gunshots into the air only proved the fact that the criminals either did not have any fear of law or they were being protected by the law. “Leave politics to politicians and get serious about your job lest Punjab turns into a lawless anarchy”, Amarinder said. The police chief in a statement on the issue said: “It is definitely my business if facts are deliberately distorted and the issue of a minor girl is used to further personal interests… I would strongly advise Capt Amarinder Singh to leave policing and investigation to the police and devote his time to his own business, if he can.”
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Model found murdered in Mumbai
Mumbai, October 23
Bidushi Dash Barde, who hailed from Odisha but was brought up in Chennai, was found brutally killed in her apartment in suburban Andheri last night. Her software engineer-husband Kedar found the body which bore injury marks, inflicted by a sharp-edged weapon, on her neck and chin, the police said.
Robbery has been ruled out as the motive since no valuable was missing from the house, the police said, adding there were no signs of a forced entry, indicating the assailant was known to the victim.
— PTI
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Solar plant to power Taj Mahal
Agra, October 23
A proposal to this effect has been approved by the district authorities and Rs 17 lakh will be drawn from the Taj Heritage Fund to cover the cost of the installation of the plant, officials said. The proposal was mulled by the Department of Tourism in view of frequent interruption in power supply to the Taj.
— PTI
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New Delhi, October 23
Bangalore, October 23
The fate of 31 coal mines allocated to public sector firms which have been found wanting in developing the mines will be decided at the two-day meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Group to be held next week.
The IMG, headed by Additional Secretary Zohra Chatterjee, is likely to meet on October 30 and 31 and mines allocated to firms like Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corp, Nalco, MMTC and Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corp will be up for review.
Kolkata, October 23
Mumbai, October 23
