Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Amul reaches doorsteps of Mumbaikars

, TNN | Oct 28, 2013, 11.00 PM IST
READ MORE KDCMPUL|Amul Dairy|Union agriculture minister|Sharad Pawar

VADODARA: The Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Limited ( KDCMPUL), popularly known as Amul Dairy, will inaugurate its fully automatic plant - Amul Virar Dairy - on Sardar Patel Jayanti on October 31. Amul is reaching the doorsteps of Mumbaikars with the dairy plant at Thane in Maharashtra that will act as a benchmark for all the future plants that will come up in the Indian dairy industry.

This green field dairy has been designed and built with a total investment of Rs 180 crore and is the first across the globe with fully automatic traffic management system for milk packing operations.

Among the many firsts in the country, the plant has capacity of 50,000 litres milk reception, processing, automatic online standardization and homogenization line and dedicated fermented milk products manufacturing facilities with the use of robots. Amul's Virar plant also houses India's largest ice-cream manufacturing facility - two lakh litres per day (LLPD) - enough to ensure that Mumbaikars never run out of ice creams even at the peak of summers.

"This greenfield dairy which will be our sixth dairy plant, is spread over 11 acres of lush green mountain surroundings and is strategically situated just two kilometers away from NH-8 and easy approach from Virar, just seven kilometers away," Amul Dairy's managing director Rahul Kumar told TOI. "With an installed capacity to process 10 LLPD, the plant's capacity is expandable to process 20 LLPD milk, buttermilk and curd apart from two LLPD ice-cream manufacturing," he said.

On environment front, the plant has a rainwater harvesting system to recharge ground water and help its conservation, also introduced for the first time by any dairy union. Amul has set a target of procuring milk up to two LLPD locally by setting up co-operative societies on Amul pattern in the region to improve the socio economic conditions of farmers.

So far, it has already involved 500 farmers of the region by starting four village level milk societies in the interior villages.Operations such as conveying of crates, packed pouches from high speed packing machines and filling of pouches in crates by robots are fully automated and controlled through centralized computer monitoring system. The high speed packing machines have been integrated with online check weighers, robotic operations in order to avoid human touch of products and CCTV cameras have been installed to monitor plant's activities from dairy's head office in milk city - Anand.

For real time monitoring, web-based automatic links Virar plant to Anand. The plant will be inaugurated by Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan.

Monday, October 28, 2013

To evade police, fugitive Indian Mujahideen member Afzal Usmani changed appearance, stayed on the move

, TNN | Oct 29, 2013, 03.16 AM IST
READ MORE Indian Mujahideen member Afzal Usmani|Azad Nagar slum|assistant sub-inspector Sanjay Deshmukh
MUMBAI: Suspected Indian Mujahideen member Afzal Usmani who gave his escorting officer, assistant sub-inspector Sanjay Deshmukh, the slip at a city court in September has been re-arrested in UP.

"Usmani took a cab from Kala Ghoda to Sewri, borrowed Rs 600 from an acquaintance, Shaikh Akmal, and hired another taxi to Azad Nagar slum in Dharavi. His nephew Javed resided in Dharavi with Usmani's sister and Javed's maternal aunt Safiya Khatoon. Usmani called Javed from a PCO and asked him to arrange Rs 5,000," ATS chief Rakesh Maria said.

Around 4pm, the two left for Sion-Dharavi Road together; Usmani got his moustache and beard trimmed by a roadside barber and changed his clothes. The two subsequently travelled to Santa Cruz, then to Borivli, and at 6.30pm left Mumbai for Surat on a luxury bus. Maria said the two kept moving every few days, journeying from Surat to Indore to Bhopal and then to Jabalpur before finally settling down in Tatera (the village of Javed's mother's).

Maria said Javed was always under suspicion. "Javed had stayed in touch with Usmani while the latter was in jail the last several years. He came to meet Usmani in court and at Taloja and Sabarmati jails. Also, he mysteriously disappeared the day Usmani fled. On the night of October 25, we received a tip-off that Javed was coming to Kurla LBS Marg, so we laid a trap and nabbed him," said the ATS head.

Javed's interrogation revealed that Usmani was living in Tatera and was preparing to leave for Nepal. Javed told the police that he had come to Mumbai to collect his school marksheets and some other documents so that he could join Usmani in Nepal in the first week of November. "We arrested Javed on charges of harbouring Usmani and aiding in his escape," Maria said.

A police team took a flight to Lucknow early on October 26. But by the time it reached Tatera, Usmani had left. "The team received another tip-off and rushed to Rupaidiha railway station near the Indo-Nepal border. It found Usmani at the station at 3.30am on Sunday. He looked completely different. Our team could identify him only because its members had arrested Usmani in the past and knew him," said a police officer.

The police said they recovered Nepalese rupees from Usmani. "We also seized a driving licence application submitted by Usmani to the Bahraich RTO on October 24 in the name of Waseem Sattar Khan. He had assumed this fake identity," the officer said. Usmani had allegedly indoctrinated Javed and asked him to join Indian Mujahideen's operations in Nepal.

Usmani was produced before a court on Monday and remanded in police custody until November 6. Officers said the barber who trimmed Usmani's beard will be summoned for the terror suspect's identification parade and will be made a star witness.

To evade police, fugitive Indian Mujahideen member Afzal Usmani changed appearance, stayed on the move

, TNN | Oct 29, 2013, 03.16 AM IST
READ MORE Indian Mujahideen member Afzal Usmani|Azad Nagar slum|assistant sub-inspector Sanjay Deshmukh
MUMBAI: Suspected Indian Mujahideen member Afzal Usmani who gave his escorting officer, assistant sub-inspector Sanjay Deshmukh, the slip at a city court in September has been re-arrested in UP.

"Usmani took a cab from Kala Ghoda to Sewri, borrowed Rs 600 from an acquaintance, Shaikh Akmal, and hired another taxi to Azad Nagar slum in Dharavi. His nephew Javed resided in Dharavi with Usmani's sister and Javed's maternal aunt Safiya Khatoon. Usmani called Javed from a PCO and asked him to arrange Rs 5,000," ATS chief Rakesh Maria said.

Around 4pm, the two left for Sion-Dharavi Road together; Usmani got his moustache and beard trimmed by a roadside barber and changed his clothes. The two subsequently travelled to Santa Cruz, then to Borivli, and at 6.30pm left Mumbai for Surat on a luxury bus. Maria said the two kept moving every few days, journeying from Surat to Indore to Bhopal and then to Jabalpur before finally settling down in Tatera (the village of Javed's mother's).

Maria said Javed was always under suspicion. "Javed had stayed in touch with Usmani while the latter was in jail the last several years. He came to meet Usmani in court and at Taloja and Sabarmati jails. Also, he mysteriously disappeared the day Usmani fled. On the night of October 25, we received a tip-off that Javed was coming to Kurla LBS Marg, so we laid a trap and nabbed him," said the ATS head.

Javed's interrogation revealed that Usmani was living in Tatera and was preparing to leave for Nepal. Javed told the police that he had come to Mumbai to collect his school marksheets and some other documents so that he could join Usmani in Nepal in the first week of November. "We arrested Javed on charges of harbouring Usmani and aiding in his escape," Maria said.

A police team took a flight to Lucknow early on October 26. But by the time it reached Tatera, Usmani had left. "The team received another tip-off and rushed to Rupaidiha railway station near the Indo-Nepal border. It found Usmani at the station at 3.30am on Sunday. He looked completely different. Our team could identify him only because its members had arrested Usmani in the past and knew him," said a police officer.

The police said they recovered Nepalese rupees from Usmani. "We also seized a driving licence application submitted by Usmani to the Bahraich RTO on October 24 in the name of Waseem Sattar Khan. He had assumed this fake identity," the officer said. Usmani had allegedly indoctrinated Javed and asked him to join Indian Mujahideen's operations in Nepal.

Usmani was produced before a court on Monday and remanded in police custody until November 6. Officers said the barber who trimmed Usmani's beard will be summoned for the terror suspect's identification parade and will be made a star witness.

Opposed to the state ignoring suggestions from the Centre and local bodies, Deora said


Maharashtra must follow central, BMC cell guidelines on mobile towers: Milind Deora

, TNN | Oct 29, 2013, 04.16 AM IST
READ MORE Union Minister of State for Communications|Mobile towers|Milind Deora|centre|BMC
MUMBAI: Union minister of state for communications Milind Deora has written to the state, asking it to ensure that the new policy on mobile towers doesn't "completely bypass" the guidelines of the Centre and the BMC.

"I urge you to incorporate the department of telecommunications' (DoT) guidelines and the final draft policy of the BMC in the gazette notification of the urban development department," Deora has written to chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. On October 3, the urban development department issued a notification proposing a new mobile tower policy but unlike the BMC, it did not ask for exclusion of cell towers at schools, colleges and hospitals. It also did not mandate a written consent of 70% occupants of the building before a tower is installed there.

Opposed to the state ignoring suggestions from the Centre and local bodies, Deora said in the letter, "The DoT issued revised guidelines on August 1.... These guidelines were issued to all states based on detailed discussions with stakeholders, including citizens' groups of Mumbai. Based on the same guidelines, the BMC, in consultation with citizens' groups and corporators, issued the final draft policy on September 11. The BMC draft guidelines... covered the finer nuances for an urban city like Mumbai having high population density and high rise buildings."

He further pointed out: "Now I am made to understand that the state seems to be ignoring revised guidelines from the Centre and the civic body. This could send out wrong signals to Mumbaikars and citizens of Maharashtra." Deora also offered any technical advice from DoT if the state required. "There should also be an effective redressal mechanism in the revised guidelines," he said.

But allaying fears of negative effects of mobile radiation, a Cellular Operators Association of India said, "If towers are not allowed on schools, colleges, hospitals and other such buildings, it will adversely affect connectivity. It will lead to call drops and you will not be able to make calls properly." Maintaining that it was "safe" to have cell towers on such buildings, he said, "In some foreign countries, cell towers have been installed on schools and hospitals and there has been no health risk."

Anti-radiation activist Prakash Munshi and actress Juhi Chawla had recently met state officials, who apparently assured them that the suggestions from citizens' groups would be incorporated in the new state policy. "We were promised that the central and civic draft policies will not be overruled. Let us wait and watch," Munshi said.

Lax state fails to notify Act, may delay Metro-I

, TNN | Oct 28, 2013, 06.50 AM IST
READ MORE Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar metro|Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd|MMRDA|Metro Railways
MUMBAI: The state government's failure to notify the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro under the Metro Railways (Operations & Maintenance) Act 2002, may delay the commissioning of the project.

The state has promised that the entire 11.4-km route will be commissioned by Decemberend . But the Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) is constantly maintaining that it will commission the project this fiscal ; it is not committing to the December deadline.

In 2004, the urban development department had issued a government resolution for implementation of a tramway/ mass rapid transport system in the VAG Metro project through public-private participation and appointed MMRDA as the implementing agency. In 2007, the state had authorized the construction and maintenance of the project under the Tramways Act, 1886. But in 2009, the Centre, through a gazette notification , extended the Metro Act to all other metropolitan cities, including the MMR.

MMOPL sources said since March 2010, they have been writing to the MMRDA for clarity as to which Act is now applicable to the project. "Without this, no approvals can be obtained. Without an Act, the functioning of the concessionaire is illegal, and if this issue is not clarified soon it will delay the project," said a source.

Sources said that owing to the lack of clarity, MMOPL can't invite the Research and Design Standard Operations (RDSO) to inspect the Metro for safety features. "Unless the RDSO passes its remarks, the commissioner of metro railway safety inspect and certify it for operation," said a source.

In August, MMOPL had written to the MMRDA saying that it would not be responsible for any delay in "achieving the commercial operations date due to non-resolution of the issue by the MMRDA" . It also said the MMRDA will have to pay compensation for the "time and cost implication arising from the issue" . Sources said MMOPL has been pushing for the shift as it wants the state to change the fare structure and pay for the cost escalation.

But MMRDA chief U P S Madan said, "The Metro will become operational by December-end . The RDSO has given approval to a number of safety features ." The delay in notifying the project under the Metro Act was because the state has been studying the legal implications of the shift on the concession agreement, he said, adding that one of the key issues were changes in the fare structure. "The fare structure has now been notified, but there are other issues. We don't want the agreement to be superseded by the Metro Act. These should soon be resolved and we shall notify the project under the Act." On cost escalation, Madan said it would be sorted out after the Metro was commissioned.

Fine print issues

In 2006, PM Manmohan Singh had inaugurated the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro. In 2007, the project was passed under the Tramways Act, 1886, as then there was no Act to deal with Metros. In 2009, the Centre by a gazette notification extended the Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance Act) 2002, to all metropolitan cities, including MMR.

The 11.4-km VAG Metro has missed several deadlines since December 2010 till last month. Both the MMRDA and the state insist that it will be commissioned in December 2013, but MMOPL is not committing itself to this date; it said that the VAG will be completed this fiscal MMOPL said that as the project has not been notified under the Metro Acts, it cannot invite the Research Design and Standards Organisation to carry out inspections. Unless the inspection is done the commissioner for metro railway safety cannot issue a certificate, without which the Metro cannot be commissioned MMRDA says that the delay in shifting from the Tramways Act to the Metro Act is because the state government has been closely studying the legal implications on the concession agreement, especially the fare structure.

The project cost has shot up from Rs 2,356 crore to Rs 4,291 crore over the years.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Touts fleece citizens of Rs 1K for 30 licence

, TNN | Oct 24, 2013, 04.28 AM IST
READ MORE Regional Transport Office|learner’s licences
MUMBAI: Most residents do not seem to know that the regional transport office in Andheri has started issuing learner’s licences within 15 minutes of taking a test and, that too, for not more than Rs 30. Taking advantage of this lack of awareness, touts apparently have been fleecing applicants, demanding as much as Rs 1,000 for a " speedy deliverance” of the documents.

“It seems several citizens are not aware of our new system which is transparent, corruption-free and fast. The touts just guide people to the normal queue, which anyway leads them through a speedy process to get a learner’s licence. The agents are simply fooling applicants,” deputy RTO Bharat Kalaskar told TOI, urging citizens not to use an agent but to come directly to the office for a learner’s licence. He admitted that they had not been able to catch any of the culprits—most of them operate outside the RTO building—and disappear after collecting the fee. According to an official, the agents hang around the RTO building with application forms and usually accost their targets near the main gate close to Four Bungalows. “First, the touts will paint a false picture that getting a learner’s licence was a tedious process, involving multiple visits to the RTO. Winning the applicants’ confidence, they then assure them that the learner’s licences will be delivered the same day without any hassle,” the official said. “Falling in the trap, the victims agree to pay Rs 1,000 as service fee and get guided to the official counter where the token is issued.

On receiving the token, the touts escort the applicants to the door the licence section door and then vanish from the spot.

The fraud came to light after some of the victims enquired with others and found out that they had paid only the government-approved fee of Rs 30. The victims then lodged a complaint with Kalaskar. “According to the rules, one has to take a token, enter the learner’s licence section, show the documents (proofs), pay a fee of Rs 30, get data entered in computer, biometrics done and appear for an online RTO test,” deputy RTO Pradeep Shinde said. “The licence is then issued within 15 minutes. It is a simple process and there is absolutely no need for an agent to ‘help’.”

Maharashtra

 gets Rs 513cr to tackle cyclone

TNN | Oct 24, 2013, 04.33 AM IST
READ MORE World Bank|Disaster management
MUMBAI: The state government has received a Rs 513-crore grant from the World Bank which will enable it to put in place a mechanism to tackle cyclone-related disasters. I Z Kundan, secretary, disaster management said that the grant would be of great help in the construction of shelter homes along the 720-km coastal belt of the state.

“These homes can withstand the cyclone fury and thus help people take shelter during emergencies. Also the fund will help build embankments on water bodies such as creeks and rivers, which would prevent water from gushing into cyclone-prone areas,” Kundan said. Although Maharashtra has not seen any cyclone in the recent past, the state is considered to be at risk.

The government’s plan to create a state-of-the-art disaster control room at the Mantralaya seems to have no takers yet.

The bidding process for setting up the control room that would map, monitor and suggest measures to tackle disasters, will start at the end of this month.

comment:- next news:- money for cyclone management skimmed away in scams

 
 
Times View

This is why crime continues unabated in Mumbai

Oct 23, 2013, 05.38 AM IST
This incident — a person in uniform throwing the rulebook and jurisdiction issues at a victim of crime — explains why crime continues unabated in Mumbai. It shows how the worst of babu culture has seeped down to even ground-level law enforcers

Related Story: RPF de-rosters home guard for not aiding woman

Tuesday, October 22, 2013


traffic police officer found using forged chalan books

, TNN | Oct 22, 2013, 07.31 AM IST
READ MORE Sanjay Kumar
AURANGABAD: Activists on Monday brought on serious allegations against a sub-inspector of the traffic police attached to the Cidco division, stating that there were "discrepancies" found in the fine collected by the traffic officials and the ones deposited in the government treasury. They alleged that the traffic personnel used forged receipt books and demanded a high-level inquiry in the matter.

Former corporator Sanjay Jagtap on Monday told TOI that woman traffic PSI Suwarna Deglurkar used a bogus challan book for slapping fines on vehicle owners flouting traffic norms in August and September 2013 and used the original receipt book and deposited a lesser amount in the government treasury. To support the claims, Jagtap has also produced copies of the original fine receipts submitted to the government treasury under the Right To Information Act.

Senior police officials said that the woman officer has been sent on a forced leave for a month and a high- level inquiry will soon be initiated in this case.

"After receiving complaints about the woman officer, I had filed an RTI application on October 19, 2013 and asked for a copy of the traffic police's chalan book, containing receipt numbers from 2904201 to 2904400, which she used for depositing in the government treasury," Jagtap said. "We had already collected six receipts issued by the woman sub-inspector to different auto-rickshaw drivers. On cross-checking the receipts issued by the officer and the ones submitted as government record, we were shocked to learn that different amounts, ranging from Rs 600 to Rs 200, were collected from the auto-rickshaw drivers and other vehicle drivers. In each case, Rs 100 was submitted to the government treasury, using original fine receipts," Jagtap said.

Aurangabad assistant commissioner of police (traffic) Ajeet Borhade said, "We are not denying that such a thing has a happened and this is unfortunate. The complaint against PSI Suwarna Deglurkar has reached the commissioner of police, Sanjay Kumar, and a probe will soon be initiated."

The activists demanded that a high-level probe be initiated against the woman officer and all the fine receipts issued in her tenure be audited.

The copies in possession of TOI show that one receipt issued by PSI Degluarkar to an Ape auto-rickshaw driver, Mahadev Ramchandra Dhakne, with the vehicle registration number MH-20-AA-1902, shows Rs 600 collected as fine under four different sections of the Motor Vehicle Act on August 19, 2013. Contrary to this amount collected as fine, the amount mentioned on receipt number GEN-2904222, submitted to the government treasury, which carries the same details, is only is Rs 100 and mentions only one section of the Motor Vehicle Act.

Police sources said that senior officials had received many complaints against PSI Suwarna Deglurkar of arrogant behaviour in public and abusing vehicle owners, especially auto-rickshaw drivers. After this matter was brought to the notice of the senior officials, Deglurkar was asked to go on forced leave.

refuge area FSI from the current 70% of the total construction to just 4%.

No HC relief for Palais Royale builders

, TNN | Oct 22, 2013, 02.02 AM IST
READ MORE Palais Royale|Supreme Court|Shree Ram Urban Infrastructure Limited|Gautam Patel
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has refused to grant any interim relief to developers of the city's tallest building Palais Royale in Worli. A division bench of Justice S C Dharmadhikari and Justice Gautam Patel admitted a petition filed by Shree Ram Urban Infrastructure Limited, challenging the order of the municipal commissioner to reduce the building's refuge area as well as restrict the size of the public parking lot.

"Whether the commissioner's order is in consonance with the view of the division bench of this court, which itself is under challenge before the Supreme Court of India, is a matter which would require consideration and interim relief granted without considering the issues raised would amount to allowing the writ petition itself. That is impermissible in law. Hence, interim relief is refused," said the judges, scheduling the matter for final hearing on November 25.

Earlier this year, the HC had refused to order demolition of the building, but asked the commissioner to consider the refuge area granted to the building, which it termed as excessive. The commissioner had directed the developer to reduce the building's refuge area FSI from the current 70% of the total construction to just 4%. This would have meant demolition of the upper floors of the building.

Mhada Act (Chapter 8A) has no provision for such an acquired property to be de-acquired-chawl is believed to be over Rs 1,200 crore


Govt to hand over 100-yr-old residential colony to private developer

, TNN | Oct 22, 2013, 06.46 PM IST
READ MORE Residential colony|mhada act|Dattatray chawl
MUMBAI: The 100-year-old residential Dattatray chawl in south Mumbai suddenly finds itself in the limelight after the state government decided to hand over the property to a private developer.

What is intriguing is that the under two-acre land which houses over 1,500 residents was acquired by the state housing authority two decades ago.

However, two months ago, a state housing department official wrote a letter to the housing authority, Mhada, to exempt the property from land acquisition and allow it to be redeveloped by a builder.

This sent alarm bells ringing because the Mhada Act (Chapter 8A) has no provision for such an acquired property to be de-acquired. Naturally, a section of the residents are upset that the government took a unilateral decision without consulting them or giving them a hearing.

Some residents recently served a legal notice on the government, stating that the decision to surrender this property to a developer was illegal and against the law. Stakes are high because the property is located in a prime area (Grant Road) of south Mumbai where property prices in new buildings are as high as Rs 40,000 a sq ft.

The redevelopment potential of the chawl is believed to be over Rs 1,200 crore and this would be a bonanza for any developer. The government should rescind its order and allow the housing authority to redevelop the property on its own and earn a windfall.
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