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Maharashtra Assembly elections
Soon, order food of choice through SMS on board train
India, China may have sea protocol
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Bilawal a daydreamer in Pakistan, says IUML
Finalise joint missile project: France to India
Those under preventive detention can vote: EC
Fan out in rural areas: BJP to MPs in Haryana, Maharashtra
Replacement of plan panel still under consideration
Narrow escape for crew, passengers of AN-32
CBI quizzes PC’s wife in Saradha scam
Visa on arrival facility on cards for US tourists Mars probe set to begin orbiting Red
Planet 2G: Govt orders appointment of permanent ED
officer RJD MP calls doctors ‘executioners’
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Maharashtra Assembly elections Shiv Kumar Tribune News Service
Mumbai, September 21
On the other side of the fence, the BJP and the Shiv Sena who jointly swept the Lok Sabha polls are jockeying for the pole position in the alliance which promises a dominant position in the state for years to come. While the BJP is handicapped by the death of its senior leader Gopinath Munde earlier this year, Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena is still trying to fit into the shoes of his father and party founder Bal Thackeray. “We have come a long way in the past 25 years and we are no longer the junior partner of the Shiv Sena,” BJP leader Devendra Phadnavis told reporters recently. With the senior Thackeray gone and his son keeping indifferent health, the BJP senses an opportunity to edge its old ally out of the saffron spectrum. On the other hand, the reclusive Uddhav Thackeray has to show that he is no pushover to keep his party intact. Cousin Raj Thackeray’s revolt more than five years ago, though crippling, did not break up the Shiv Sena. The party’s organisation remains largely intact though the street-smart cadre of the Sena have been pressing their leader for action for quite some time. The rumble with the BJP is proving to be such an opportunity. “The Shiv Sena does not take any seats from anybody. We are the ones who will give seats to the BJP,” party spokesman Sanjay Raut said chiding a reporter, who questioned him about the national party “giving” seats to the regional party. To rub it in, Uddhav sent his son Aditya to negotiate with the BJP much to the discomfiture of its point-man Rajiv Pratap Rudy. The Shiv Sena has indicated that it would not settle for less than 150 of the 288 Assembly seats so that Uddhav could take a crack at the post of Chief Minister. The BJP wants parity with the Shiv Sena so that its own chances for the top job are not dimmed in case of the ruling coalition’s defeat. The battle between the two saffron allies has, however, eclipsed the tussle between the Congress and the NCP. Endless negotiations haven’t yet yielded a seat-sharing formula. While the NCP is insisting on 144 or half the total number of seats in the Assembly, the Congress is loath to give more than 124 seats to its ally. “The NCP contested 124 seats in the 2004 Assembly elections. The old formula will not apply any more since we performed better in the Lok Sabha elections,” NCP leader Praful Patel said on Saturday. For the record, the NCP won four seats as against two by the Congress from the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Sources in the Congress and the NCP admit that they are waiting and watching how the seat-sharing talks in the Shiv Sena-BJP camp pans out. Should the two saffron parties go it alone, it will also mean the end of the Congress-NCP tie-up at least till the elections. “It is time all four parties contest the elections alone so that everyone can assess their strength,” NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal said.
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Soon, order food of choice through SMS on board train
New Delhi, September 21 Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC), which is coordinating the e-catering service, is finalising a new designated number to be used for SMS service for ordering food on a train. Plagued with complaints, the Railways has stepped up efforts to improve catering services on trains. “Our aim is to provide multiple choices to passengers. While the existing service of getting food from pantry cars will continue, the SMS-based service is also being offered to passengers,” the official said. According to the plan, a passenger will get response from a dedicated team after sending the SMS mentioning his PNR
number.” The passenger will get call after the due online verification of the PNR status and berth position in the particular train seeking details of food order. Payments will be made after the delivery,” he said. While the SMS-based service is being launched, the Railways is also finalising a plan to start online order system where a passenger can also book his food online. Arrangements have been made with some reputed food chains and eating joints for providing food through SMS-based orders on trains, the official said, adding “the online order system will also be launched shortly”. Recently, the Railways had started providing ready-to-eat packaged food in certain trains on a trial basis offering variety of choices to passengers. The ready-to-eat food service got a good response and now we are planning to formulate a policy on it by roping in more players, the official said.
— PTI Service to be launched on Sept 25
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India, China may have sea protocol
New Delhi, September 21 The two nations are in direct competition to tap global petroleum reserves or to tackle piracy. Their warships are almost always on the move increasing the danger of escalation of tension at sea. With both Asian giants aspiring to have a “blue-water” navy – one that allows deployment for longer duration and longer sea sailing abilities — to project themselves as dominant players at sea, the two countries will work out protocols soon. The navies of both countries have wide array of warships, submarines, ship-deck based fighter jets and new age spy planes. A joint statement issued on September 19 to mark the end of the summit meet between Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi and Chinese President Xi Jingping said: “The two sides have decided to hold first round of maritime cooperation dialogue within this year”. The dialogue aims to “exchange views on maritime affairs and security, including anti-piracy, freedom of navigation and cooperation between maritime agencies of both countries”. The two countries will look at common interests of providing security at sea for merchant shipping.
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Bilawal a daydreamer in Pakistan, says IUML
New Delhi, September 21 “The utterances of Pakistan’s Opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto is nothing but to show he is also one of the daydreamers in Pakistan when he spoke that he will take every inch of Kashmir,” E Ahamed, the Member of Parliament and the IUML chief, said in a statement. Asserting that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral and inalienable part of India, Ahamed said: “entire India especially 170 million Muslims will defend the integrity of the country for which last drop of blood will also be shed.” He suggested Bilawal and others in Pakistan to do something for their own nation instead of living in daydreams. “Muslims of India will never allow anybody to reduce the numerical strength of Muslim Population in India, and every inch of Indian Union will be protected to the last minute defending integrity, sovereignty and independence of our mother land,” the former minister added. Bilawal, who has announced plans to contest next General Elections in 2018, heads the secular Pakistan People’s Party which officially wants good ties with India. Bilawal, considered the ‘Gen-Next’ politician of Pakistan, had told his party workers in Multan in Pakistan’s Punjab on Friday that the PPP would get Kashmir back from India.
— PTI
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Finalise joint missile project: France to India
New Delhi, September 21 The French side has proposed that the project “would enable India to get in a few years in areas of strategic missile, the maximum autonomy you have called for”. The SR-SAM system is proposed to be a joint venture between India and France and they have nominated the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) and a French multinational firm for the programme. The deal has been under negotiations for over five years and has been awaiting final clearance after French President Francois Hollande and then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2013 announced that talks have been concluded between both the sides on the missile development project. The IAF had raised certain objections over the programme but the defence ministry has to take a final call on the programme after holding discussions with all stakeholders. The French Defence Ministry said it wants to actively participate in new Indian government’s plans to achieve autonomy in field of military hardware production. It has said that the missile programme would help in meeting India’s domestic market and can also be supplied to future export markets.
— PTI
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Those under preventive detention can vote: EC
New Delhi, September 21 Against the backdrop of allegations that political activists and leaders are being detained by police ahead of elections, the EC has written to the Chief Secretaries of Maharashtra and Haryana, reminding them of Section 62 (5) of the Representation of the People Act and the Conduct of Election Rules that specify that those in preventive detention are entitled to cast their votes by post. The letter referred to the provisions in the Conduct of Election Rules under which the administration has to intimate the returning officer of each constituency the names of electors under preventive detention, along with their addresses, electoral roll numbers so that postal ballots can be sent to them to facilitate them exercise their franchise in the elections. “... instructions may kindly be issued to the concerned authorities to ensure that provisions...are strictly complied with at the general elections and there is no ground for any grievance on account of non-compliance of the provision of the said (Conduct of Election) rule,” the EC has said. In another letter, the EC has asked all state police chiefs to ensure that junior level police officials are not allowed to misuse power to deter a political activist to campaign for his/her leader in poll.
— PTI
Poll panel’s directive
The Election Commission has written to the Chief Secretaries of Maharashtra and Haryana, reminding them of Section 62 (5) of the Representation of the People Act and the Conduct of Election Rules that specify that those in preventive detention are entitled to cast their votes by post.
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Fan out in rural areas: BJP to MPs in Haryana, Maharashtra
New Delhi, September 21 Sources say the decision to give specific targets to the seven sitting MPs of Haryana was taken at the Central Election Committee meeting held yesterday to finalise the second list of 47 candidates for the October 15 Assembly poll in the state. Each Lok Sabha seat in Haryana accounts for around nine Assembly constituencies. A similar directive will also be issued to the party’s 23 MPs in Maharashtra to ensure maximum gains from existing strongholds in the 288-member state Assembly. According to the sources, one of the key findings to have emerged from initial analysis of the recent bypoll debacle was that in many cases the outgoing MP had asked for a close relative to be adjusted on the Assembly seat he had vacated. Referring to the by-poll results, the viewpoint that such a policy could prove to be counter-productive was also aired in the Haryana meeting. “In the by-polls many sitting
MLAs, who had become MPs, had demanded that the ticket be given to a family member which was denied keeping in mind the party’s policy not to promote dynastic policy. “The shocking result
(BJP losing the seats it was holding) shows that the policy (to not give ticket to relatives of sitting MPs) did not go down well. However, the leadership decided to stick to the stand in order to send a clear message to the people that the BJP does not promote dynastic politics like parties like the Congress, the INLD and the
HJC,” they say.
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Replacement of plan panel still under consideration In reply to an RTI query, the Planning Commission said the final decision, as and when it is taken, on its replacement will be put in public domain. The Planning Commission was asked to provide detail of its meetings with officials of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in this regard, copy of minutes of such meetings, and name, structure, address and mandate of the proposed body. “The proposal (to replace Planning Commission with a new body) is still under consideration with the government... As and when the final decision is taken by the Government of India, the same will be placed in the public domain,” the plan panel said in its reply to the RTI application. The Prime Minister is the Chairman of the Planning Commission, which works under the overall guidance of the National Development Council, according to its present mandate. The Deputy Chairman and the full-time members of the Commission, as a composite body, provide advice and guidance for the formulation of Five Year Plans, annual plans, state plans and monitoring plan programmes among others. In his Independence Day speech, Modi had announced that a new institution with a new soul will replace the Planning Commission. The new body will lead the country based on creative thinking, public-private partnership, optimum utilisation of resources and youth power of the nation, to promote the aspirations of state governments seeking development, to empower the state governments and to empower the federal structure, he had said. “Shortly, we are about to move in a direction when this institute would be functioning in place of Planning Commission,” Modi had said.The Congress had opposed the government’s move. — PTI Panel’s reply to RTI plea
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Narrow escape for crew, passengers of AN-32
Chandigarh, September 21 “The aircraft was still at a certain height above the runway when it got caught in the wind shear. After hitting the runway at a high speed, it veered off. In the process, its right wing hit the ground and tore off,” a source said. As the wing broke, fuel from its tanks spilled out and ignited,” he said. IAF sources said the use of seat belts by those on board prevented possible fatalities. “Had the passengers not worn seat belts, they would have been tossed around the fuselage and the situation could have worse,” an officer said. Though a court of inquiry (COI) has been ordered to probe the accident, sources say it seems that it was a weather-related accident as technical failure does not appear to be its cause. Terming it to be a category-1 accident, where the aircraft is beyond economical repair, an IAF officer said an officer of the rank of Air Commodore would be the COI’s presiding officer. The aircraft with 11 crew members and passengers was returning from Bathinda. It had approached Chandigarh on Runway 11. The aircraft caught fire just as those on board came out of it.
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Soon, you can order meals of your taste through an SMS while travelling on a train as the Railways is launching a mobile phone-based service in a move to offer multiple catering options to passengers.
The SMS-based service, part of the e-catering service, will be launched on September 25 in a few selected trains on a pilot basis, said a senior Railway Ministry official.
The crew and passengers of the AN-32 aircraft yesterday miraculously escaped serious injuries after the plane crashlanded and caught fire at the Chandigarh air force station.
The aircraft has been damaged beyond repair. Terming it as a freak accident, IAF sources said a strong wind shear virtually slammed the aircraft on to the runway.
“The aircraft was still at a certain height above the runway when it got caught in the wind shear. After hitting the runway at a high speed, it veered off. In the process, its right wing hit the ground and tore off,” a source said. As the wing broke, fuel from its tanks spilled out and ignited,” he said.
Nalini Chidambaram, wife of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, has been examined by the CBI in connection with the alleged multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam. The CBI examined Nalini, a Supreme Court lawyer, yesterday evening in Chennai in connection with the legal fee paid to her by the Saradha group, official sources said here.
The sources said Saradha Chairman Sudipta Sen, at present in jail, had mentioned about hiring Nalini as a lawyer at the request of Manoranjana Sinh, estranged wife of Congress leader Mantang
Sinh. Sen, who had written a letter to the CBI last year, had claimed that Rs 1 crore had been paid to the lawyer as her legal fee by the Saradha Group. Nalini represented Manoranjana and, therefore, was asked to offer her professional advice in her negotiations with Sen in connection with plans by the group to acquire a TV channel in the northeast. — PTI
While the Congress is clearly facing an existential crisis after bagging just two seats in the last Lok Sabha elections, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) allied with it is experiencing a generational shift as Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar seeks to don the mantle of his uncle and party supremo Sharad Pawar.
New Delhi, September 21