Think India Foundation

Haryana govt to act tough on illegal sale of drugs

Chandigarh (PTI) : Fearing misuse of drugs particularly by the youth, the Haryana Government today said it will take stringent action against chemists found guilty of selling schedule H drugs without valid prescription. "The Government is concerned and serious to prevent the misuse. Schedule H drugs cannot be sold without prescription and we will take strict action against those found violating the norms," Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Randeep Singh Surjewala informed the State Assembly here.

He said that 30 raids had been conducted so far to check if such drugs were being sold without prescription. Surjewala was speaking during a calling attention notice moved by ruling Congress MLA Sampat Singh and some other legislators including INLD's Abhay Singh Chautala over the health issue. Chautala had raised the issue of alleged misuse of drugs, in particular some cough syrups, by the youths, citing their easy availability at the chemists' shops. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

Confusing DC rules bring just two proposals in two months

Mumbai : The implementation of the new Development Control (DC) rules has brought the real estate development in the city to a grinding halt. TheBrihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) received only two proposals in the last two months compared to 15 a day during peak time. The civic body has not cleared either of the proposals.

“Only two developers dared to submit their proposals in two months. The poor response will have a long cascading effect on the city’s development and real estate prices. The market moves on the calculation of demand and supply. If the supply dries up, prices will skyrocket once again,” an industry expert told DNA. Read more

Source : dnaindia.com

Girders put up as part of freeway project in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Engineers of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) installed ten 40-m long girders, each weighing 145 tonnes, at the site of the Trombay rail overbridge, a critical part of the Rs 847-crore Eastern Freeway Project.

"The idea is to finish the project and push forward work on the freeway, which is to be completed by the end of the year," said an MMRDA official. The Eastern Freeway Project will link P D'Mello Road to Ghatkopar. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Self-assessment of property on the cards in Mumbai

Mumbaikars may soon be able to evaluate their property tax liability and pay the same online, much in the way they file income tax returns. 

A proposal to introduce self-assessment is awaiting clearance from municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar. It can be implemented after the newly elected civic standing committee approves the BMC's pending proposal to impose a capital value-based system of computing property taxes. Replacing the annual rateable value system of calculation with the capital value method will be one of the first proposals to be taken up by the body when it meets in March. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

States to get half of Central scheme funds

Patna : States will now have greater flexibility with Centrally-sponsored schemes. The Union government has given its nod to a new plan that will facilitate transfer of 50 per cent of the scheme amount to the states.

Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh says the Centre plans to spend more than Rs 88,000 crore this financial year on rural development. “This ought to boost development, but the inflexibility of Central government sponsored schemes are a major hurdle. We want to remove this,” he told reporters here. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

'Pune municipality's river navigation project not feasible'

PUNE: Noted water expert Madhav Chitale on Friday said that river navigation project planned by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Mula-Mutha is not feasible. "The rivers are in a pathetic condition and do not have the required water level for such a project. Even in the next 20 years, the project will not be possible," he said.

Addressing a news conference on problems of rivers in the state, as part of the Vasundhara International Film Festival, Chitale said looking at the state of the rivers the PMC should take the responsibility of restoring the water bodies and see that sewage is not released on the rivers. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

New Traffic rule, JnNURM buses and present roads

It was with the motive of easing traffic congestion in Imphal city that the state government came up with a new traffic rule on February 13th, thereby prohibiting entry of all vehicles in Paona and Thangal Bazaar. The state government also allotted 17 authorised parking lots in different parts of the city. 

Semi-low floor bus for ferrying passengers within the market areas in Imphal on February 23 2012 - Pix :: David M Mayum

The new traffic regulation, though, was put on a trial basis, did not go well with the public. Shopkeepers of Thangal and Paona Bazaar even went to the extent of shutting down their shops for a couple of days protesting against the new traffic regulation, on the ground that customers are reluctant to visit their shops and as a result their sale proceed decline considerably. Read more

Source : e-pao.net

Tamil Nadu loses battle in green court

Chennai : The green court for south India was opened in Chennai on Friday. On the first day, this National Green Tribunal (NGT), Chennai circuit court, heard six major cases and disposed two of them including the three-year-old Pallikaranai case.

Setting aside the environment clearance given by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to the Chennai Corporation to set up an integrated waste management plant in Pallikaranai marshland, the court said, “The state of Tamil Nadu has no jurisdiction to grant environment clearance of this nature. Guindy national Park is located within 10 kms from the Pallikaranai project site.” Read more

Source : deccanchronicle.com

Reform villages, Kalam urges youth on Facebook

New Delhi : Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, India’s missile man, on Friday urged the nation’s youth to target reforming villages in the country as “vibrant engines of growth”. Dr Kalam interacted with an enthusiastic group of young men and women on the social networking website Facebook.

Organised by Penguin Books India to promote Dr Kalam’s latest book, Target 3 Billion, the Facebook chat attracted a large number of users hooking onto their screen in wait of his response to their questions. Read more

Source : asianage.com

Over 2,000 weather stations to come up in Maharashtra

The 100-cr project expected to benefit farmers

MUMBAI : With the Maharashtra Government planning to set up 2,025 automatic weather stations (AWSs) across the State, farmers could benefit from the information obtained to decide on the cropping pattern and take preventive steps to protect the standing crop in case of weather changes.

The Rs 100-crore project will get a viability-gap funding from the Centre. The farmers could realise the advantage of the AWS from the kharif season of 2013. AWSs would be located in every revenue circle, comprising a cluster of 20-30 villages. Read more

Source : thehindubusinessline.com

Karnataka CM to hand out Rs 500 cr worth grants in Mysore

Chennai/ Mysore : Karnataka Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda will visit Mysore on March 3 to handover Rs 500 crore worth entitlements to one lakh beneficiaries of the district. At a programme planned on the Maharaja’s College Grounds, the Chief Minister will inaugurate the day-long ‘fair’ on which the district officials are busy planning the details.

Besides distributing benefits under various schemes, the chief minister will also lay foundation stone for some projects. A big contingent of ministers and senior officials of the state are expected to take part in the fair, the arrangements for which were reviewed by district in-charge minister S A Ramadas at an official meeting on Tuesday. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

Wind to energise investments in Gadag

HUBLI: Money is blowing in the winds of Gadag. Read on to know how to catch it. The region - prone to natural calamities like drought and floods - is a suitable location for setting up wind mills.

In fact, according to the data available with Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL), roughly 19,347 mw power could be generated through renewable energy sources - and wind energy can contribute around 60 per cent of it. Read more

Source : articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Orissa betters national rate, poor becomes poorer

BHUBANESWAR: The claims of Odisha Government of a growth rate higher than the national average has not done any good to the poor of the State. The southern and northern regions of the State remain one of the poorest and are home to the highest concentration of those living below poverty line (BPL).

A whopping 85 per cent of the poor are in southern and northern regions, the State Economic Survey, 2011-12, has revealed. On the contrary, the coastal Odisha remains affluent with just 16 per cent living below poverty line. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

Odisha: NRO urges Centre to establish Central Agriculture University at Kalahandi

Bhubaneswar: Non-resident Odia Digambara Patra urges Union Minister of Agriculture Sharad Pawar to set up Central Agriculture University at Kalahandi in Odisha. In a letter to Pawar, Patra said that, "the steps you have taken for the growth of agriculture in the nation are highly appreciated. Recent declaration of central Government to give special importance to agricultural growth of eastern part of the nation including Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand etc is also adorable."

"Agriculture contributes substantial portion to our economy and human resources. It is the prime source to the rural economy and is backbone of the nation. As the agriculture land area is decreasing due to urbanization and industries, to meet the food demand at the national and international level the stress on agricultural out put per hectare of agricultural land will increase with population." Read more

Source : orissadiary.com

KCCI supports beautiful Kochi

KOCHI: The Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) authorities said that they are ready to take over the renovation and maintenance works of the E M S Memorial Town Hall. Announcing KCCI’s support for the city’s development, KCCI chairman K N Marsook said that a master plan catering to the needs of the coming years, is essential for the development.

“KCCI has always taken initiatives for the development of infrastructure and beautification of the city. KCCI is committed to facilitate the development of Kochi into a modern urban agglomeration at par with any other major city in the world,” he said. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

Delhi govt to use DUSIB land for schools, hospitals

New Delhi : Construction of 9,780 low cost houses under JNNURM has also been approved: Dikshit

Grappling with the problem of paucity of land, Delhi government on Thursday decided to make use of land available with Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) for its various projects. Read more

Source : deccanherald.com

Share of N-power in India is set to rise

MANGALORE: The current share of nuclear power in India is about 3%. But it has received major fillip in recent years and is poised to grow steadily. The key to capacity building in nuclear power sector critically depends on development of reliable nuclear power stations and an integrated system encompassing the complete fuel cycle, waste management and fissile fuel breeding, according to Srikumar Banerjee, chairman of Atomic Energy Commission ( AEC).

Delivering the convocation address at the 30th convocation of Mangalore University here on Thursday, he said India has already developed adequate core competence in all aspects of nuclear energy, and its roadmap for three-stage nuclear programme provides a blueprint for achieving sustainable energy security. The first stage utilises natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as moderator in indigenously-developed pressurized heavy-water reactors.The second stage of the programme is based on fast breeder reactors (FBRs) which are fuelled by plutonium obtained by reprocessing of spent fuel of thermal reactors. The prototype FBR of 500MWe is currently under construction at Kalpakkam. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Plan for Biogas Plants at State Institutions in Chandigarh, India

Chandigarh is a city and union territory in India that serves as the capital of two states, Punjab and Haryana is to implement a Master Plan that will see the construction of a large number of food waste to biogas facilities.

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Rufous

According to a report in The Times of India, the plan calls for most of the city's hotels and a number of government buildings including college campuses, medical research centres and a hospital will generate their own energy through biogas plants. Read more

Source : waste-management-world.com

4 killer spots, 27 accident points identified in Panchkula

PANCHKULA: Police have identified 27 accident prone points and four killer spots where maximum number of fatalities have taken place in the past five years. The Chandimandir T-point, Majri Chowk, Ramgarh Chowk and Barwala point are the "black spots," according to a study conducted by the Panchkula police.

The police after studying the number of accidents in the past five years identified these four spots as the killer spots as according to the data, maximum number of fatalities took place here. Besides, the dividing road of sector 4 and 12, Panchkula has also been declared as a mishap-prone area. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Huda fines 50 for misusing water, collects Rs 10,000 fine

Gurgaon : Continuing with its practice to stop wastage of water, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) challaned offenders in various sectors on Thursday. People were also fined for causing damage to roads. The team of Huda officials issued challans to over 50 people in Sectors 4,7, 15, 40, 9, 10 and other places.  The department collected  Rs 10,000 as fine amount on Thursday. 

While the minimum amount charged from offenders is Rs 200, the fine can increase depending upon the amount of water misused by people and subsequent damage to roads etc. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

Faridabad Metro caught in permission tangle

Faridabad : The 13.8-km Metro corridor from Badarpur to YMCA Crossing here seems to have run into rough weather. The construction work on the line, which started a few days ago, has been stopped as the Delhi Metro has reportedly not sought requisite permission from the National Highway Authority of India(NHAI).

NHAI officials said the Delhi Metro had been advised to seek the former’s permission as it had been carrying out boring exercise between Sarai Khwaja and YMCA Crossing on NHAI land for the past few days. “But they ignored this, forcing us to stop work,” said Sanjay Gupta, patrolling officer of NHAI, adding that “there are clear-cut instructions from our bosses that DMRC needed NHAI’s nod before starting construction on the line.” Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

Cops wait for complaint to curb illegal parking at Galleria

Gurgaon : Facing criticism for not lodging an FIR against a contractor, who has been running a parking lot in Galleria Market illegally, the city police on Thursday put the ball in the court of developer under whose area the vacant land falls. Last week, the Sector 29 police station had refused to register a complaint filed by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) against the contractor, Sanjay Dagar. Apart from Huda, residents of DLF City also complained before the police commissioner KK Sindhu. 

On Thursday, the police commissioner said the department cannot take action against the contractor until the land owner files a complaint. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

Civic woes: Huda to set up 300 mobile toilets

Gurgaon : The Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) has struck a deal with a private agency to set up around 300 mobile toilets at various locations across the city. The Huda will provide water supply and maintenance for these toilets. The waste will be disposed off in the master drain. At Iffco Chowk, four such toilets have been set up on trial basis. 

“I was satisfied with the operation of the mobile toilets and the most important that the people in good number were seen using these toilets. So I think the 300 mobile toilets would help the city in eradicating this nuisance,” said the administrator, adding that he may allow the firm to install minimum 1000 such public toilets. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

Metro Rail helps property prices shoot up in Hyderabad

The Hyderabad Metro Rail project has become the buzzword for the city’s realty sector, which has pinned all its hopes on this Rs 14,132-crore project to revive a stagnant market. Buyers are finding the project attractive owing to easy accessibility and the development that is expected to take place once the project commences operations within five years. Real estate developers have been prominently highlighting Metro Rail connectivity in their brochures and publicity material to attract buyers. They are luring customers by predicting that property prices will escalate in the areas surrounding Metro Rail stations in the next five years.

The real estate sector has seen poor demand since 2007 due to the global recession and later, from 2009, due to political turmoil in the wake of the statehood agitations. The commencement of the Metro Rail work along three corridors spread over 71 km has thus revived hopes of a real estate boom. Agents say the Metro has become a determining factor in the escalation of property prices in the city. Read more

Source : deccanchronicle.com

Weaker sections to benefit as housing policy tightened in Rajasthan

JAIPUR: Now, people from the low income group (LIG) and the economically weaker section ( EWS) in the state can dream big to stay in posh group housing schemes and townships as the UDH department has decided to strictly implement its housing policy.

According to urban housing and development ( UDH) officials, private builders have to reserve a portion of group housing projects for the economically weaker segments (EWS) and the low income group (LIG) segment as per the housing policy. So far, the builders and the developers used to produce affidavit that they will reserve area in this regard. However, till date it was never done. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Rajasthan Amongst World's Best Locations for Solar Energy

"The conditions in Rajasthan are so favourable, that it will be amongst the most logical places in the world to implement photovoltaic solar power," says Edwin Koot, CEO of Solarplaza.

With India's highest solar radiation in western Rajasthan, half of India's solar power capacity in 2022 could come from this state, says Satya Kumar, managing director of Shri Shakti Alternative Energy Ltd. Read more

Source : evwind.es

Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio calls for development of Kohima suburbs

KOHIMA: Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio on Wednesday stressed on the need to expand the state capital Kohima and establish satellite townships and sub-urban areas on the outskirts of the city. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the 11-km road from Viirie to Kohima constructed under MGNREGS, Rio urged the state's real estate owners to have a positive mindset and handover their lands to government for developmental works as it would ensure better and proper planning in the expansion of the state capital.

The CM also greeted the people on the occasion of Sekrenyi festival and congratulated the Kohima Village Council and Village Development Board (VDB), Kohima, for successfully completing the road, which was constructed at a cost of around Rs 1.5 crore. Lauding the land owners of Kohima Village for donating the land for developmental works, Rio hoped that the establishment of the road will ease the flow of vehicular traffic in Kohima and improve transport and communication in the area. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

JnNURM buses make debut in Imphal city

Imphal : After the blanket ban imposed on entry of all sort of motor-vehicles in Paona and Thangal Bazar areas of Khwairamband market purportedly to ease traffic congestion, transportation service of two semi-low floor buses provided under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission (JnNURM) through the restricted market areas has begun from today on a trial basis for one month.

Despite the reported 'public euphoria' over the new bus service, posers have been raised over the suitability of the newly launched 650 mm size semi-low floor buses on the present road condition of Imphal. Read more

Source : e-pao.net

JNNURM team in Ahmedabad city; Cong jumps onto inspection bus

AHMEDABAD: A four-member inspection team headed by the director and chairperson of JNNURM B P Sridevi is camping in the city to inspect high net-worth projects like the BRTS, roads and underground duct lines. The committee will also inspect the Bhadra fort for which an initial grant of Rs 32 crore was sanctioned recently.

The JNNURM committee initially had been intimated of complaints pertaining to poor quality works in the phase one and two of the BRTS project, which covers a stretch of 32 km. Senior Congress leaders had cried foul over road resurfacing projects being doled out to contractors instead of fresh roads for the BRTS. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

1.5L illegal structures to go legit in Gujarat

GANDHINAGAR: Gujarat government has cleared a major proposal to regularize an estimated 1.5 lakh illegal structures in urban areas constructed on so-called new tenure lands, which the government distributed free of cost to the poorer sections of people, especially landless, during the land reforms days.

According to sources, people bought such lands in large numbers in Eastern Ahmedabad and urban areas of Vadodara and Bharuch districts, mainly in the former Gaekwad ruled areas to build structures without bothering to pay up premium to regularize their titles. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

85 fortified police stations to come up in Maoist-hit areas of Bihar

PATNA: The Union home ministry has okayed construction of 85 anti-Naxalite police stations in Bihar. This is the largest number of such police stations okayed by the Centre for any state.

Giving this information to TOI on Thursday, DG Ashok Kumar Gupta -- who is also CMD of Bihar Police Building Construction Corporation(BPBCC) - said the Union home ministry had okayed construction of 400 anti-Naxalite police stations (fortified police stations) in nine Maoist-affected states. "We had sought 100 such police stations. The Centre has given approval for 85. With this, Bihar has got approval for the largest number of such police stations," Gupta said. Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra are among the other states which would have the anti-Naxalite police stations. Funds for setting up these police stations have also been allotted by the Centre, Gupta added. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Telecom bodies want 'essential services' status for industry

NEW DELHI: Industry bodies representing mobile service providers and tower companies want an 'essential services' status to be given to telecom infrastructure companies. The associations have demanded that the telecom sector be treated at par with other infrastructure providers such as energy and power and be given tax benefits for a 20-year period. 

The Cellular Operators Association of India representing incumbent telecom companies, Tower and Infrastructure Providers' Association representing tower providers and Reliance Communications have written to the telecom department and have unanimously asked the government to not bring tower companies under the uniform licensing regime. Read more

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com

Budget 2012: Education sector expects another big push

India has one of the world's largest education systems, including 1.3 million schools, 30,000 colleges and 542 universities. According to the Education Division at Technopak Advisors, the size of the public education sector is $40 billion and the private sector amounted to $60 billion in 2011. In last year's budget (2011-2012), Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee allocated Rs 52,057 crore for the sector. 

This year, members of the sector again expect a big push in expenditure especially related to the effective implementation of The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE Act). "It (RTE Act) is a big challenge for the government. Many issues like setting up of neighbourhood schools and infrastructure require money," says Dhiraj Mathur, Leader of Education at PwC India. Read more

Source : businesstoday.intoday.in

Only mass rapid transit solutions can provide India's urban commuters with efficient mobility

Billions of man-hours are lost with people 'stuck in traffic'. This fact is also echoed in government's national urban transport policy. The reasons are well known: exponential growth of motor vehicles with negligible increase in road space. To make things worse, unprecedented rate of urban population growth has been reported in the last census. So, travel within major urban networks such Mumbai and Delhi has become unpredictable.

Nobody will disagree that the best thing that happened to Delhi in recent years is the metro rail. Metro has altered the character of the city in many locales. In Mumbai, the electric train service is touted to be the lifeline catering to almost 80% of citizen trips. Read more

Source : articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Can’t single out DSC for e-way woes: Commuters

GURGAON: The National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI's) intention to terminate its agreement with the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway concessionaire, DSC Ltd, is likely to add a fillip to those who have been campaigning to remove the toll plazas altogether.

A good number of commuters, frustrated with the way lanes are managed despite repeated protests, are hopeful that the Delhi high court hearing of the NHAI-concessionaire case, scheduled for March 1, will be sympathetic to their problems. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

MMRDA lottery to sell low-cost homes

Mumbai : The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is the latest entrant to the mass-housing scene in the extended suburbs of Mumbai.  It will now sell houses under its rental-housing scheme through a lottery similar to Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority(Mhada). 

Mhada and City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd (Cidco) are the only two government agencies presently operating in the housing sector in the extended suburbs. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

By May, 6 new lanes at Suman Nagar junction in Mumbai

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC)'s ambitious project to add six new lanes to the existing roadway at the Suman Nagar junction has entered a crucial phase. If all goes as planned, snarls will become a thing of past as early as May at this crucial six-lane junction, which is used by motorists for travelling from and towards Navi Mumbai as well as Thane.

The Suman Nagar junction is one of the busiest intersections on the Eastern Express Highway (EEH). Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Kharghar cops work from rented residential flat

Mumbai : Even as the crime rate rises in the hub of Navi Mumbai, policemen are jostling for space in an apartment that has no lock-up or room to store records, as the construction of their permanent office building lies in limbo

Space jam: Cops sit in a corner of the building's staircase and register complaints. They grumble that it is difficult for them to carry out their work in the space provided

The satellite city of Navi Mumbai has been growing at an exponential rate, and crime rates have gone up in proportion to the burgeoning population that comes hand in hand with development, especially in Kharghar. Read more

Source : mid-day.com

29 Mhada lottery applicants have been winning repeatedly: Report

Mumbai : A major housing scam of the Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority’s (Mhada) 2011 lottery has brought other scams tumbling out of the closet. The enquiry committee, which probed into the 425 winners of 2011 lottery, has found out that 29 applicants have won the lottery more than once since 2006.

Nearly 425 winners of the Mhada housing lottery draw in May 2011 had submitted fake addresses, bank account numbers, and even cellphone numbers. Mhada officials had then instituted an enquiry and sent letters to the winners to appear for a hearing and make their submission. However, only 100 winners made their submission. Most admitted to having filled the forms through brokers. Names of 17 brokers have come before the committee. Read more

Source : dnaindia.com

Regularise bagair hukum land, government urged

BANGALORE : Demanding regularisation of land around the city used for bagair hukum cultivation, hundreds of farmers staged a protest in front of the Deputy Commissioner's Office here on Wednesday.

Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda's car passing in front of Towan Hall where Members of Karnataka Pranta Raitha Sangha ( KPRS) staging a protest demanding Cultivation of Rights to Bagarhukum farmers within 18 kilometers radius of Bangalore in Bangalore on 22nd February 2012. Photo : K . Bhagya Prakash .

“Around 20,000 farmers in Bangalore Urban and Rural districts have been cultivating land for more than 30 years, and yet the Government refuses to regularise their land,” said N. Venkatachalaiah, Bangalore District Unit president of Karnataka Pranta Raita Sangha (KPRS), which organised the protest. Read more

Source : thehindu.com

Mono rail project for Indore gets going

INDORE: Engineering Projects India Limited (EPIL) made a presentation before the Indore Municipal Corporation on Wednesday for a mono rail project in the city. The proposed mono rail may cost around Rs 140 crores per kilometer.

General manager of EPIL, S K Jain made an elaborate presentation before the senior officials of civic body. Following the presentation the Mayor Krishnamurari Moghe asked the company officials to carry out a survey of the city and present a report for further deliberation. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

96L children given polio drops in Maharashtra

PUNE: Total 96.42 lakh children below the age of five have been immunised in the state during the polio immunisation drive that started on Sunday.

"As against the targeted immunisation of 1.19 crore children, we have given doses to 96.42 lakh children in Maharashtra. Health staff of 2.9 lakh personnel was deployed to achieve the target," said V M Kulkarni, assistant director of state health services and in-charge of the immunisation programme. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

WHAT GOES UP

It is almost like a new era in West Bengal. Almost. The chief minister has said that no government employee who is absent from work on February 28, the day of the all-India industrial strike, will be granted leave. There is not only firmness in this but partial consistency too, for the statement falls in line with the general anti-bandh approach that Mamata Banerjee has been championing as chief of government. Actually, this attitude is slightly older. Towards the end of her stint as Opposition leader, Ms Banerjee had displayed her sense of responsibility by refusing to call bandhs or support them even if they were called by allies. But that came after years of disruptive rallies and bandhs by the Trinamul Congress. The sudden anti-disruption stance had a very persuasive political cause: Ms Banerjee was out to win all segments of the urban vote and show by her actions that Bengal would turn around if she came to power. Now she is undoubtedly doing her best, but is it enough for people to forget that the anti-strike passion is of rather recent vintage?

To be fair, is there any leader in Bengal who has a principled stand regarding strikes, be it for or against? Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has just demonstrated that bandhs are neither good nor bad, only position makes them so. Read more

Source : telegraphindia.com

Proposed power tariff hike faces stiff opposition

INDORE: The 25% hike in power tariff sought by the MP Western Region Distribution Company was strongly opposed by the people at a hearing organised by the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (MPERC) on Wednesday.

People from different walks of life argued in unison that hike in power tariff would lead to power thefts. Projected loss by the company, for which tariff hike is proposed, can be mitigated by reducing the distribution losses, recovery of outstanding dues and controlling the establishment costs of the distribution company, they point out. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Is it the end of 'India Shinning'?

Is the India story over? This, apparently, is a common question that foreign investors ask government officials representing India at international conferences.

Obviously, that's a tough question to answer since it inevitably raises questions about the government's lack of progress on policy reform. Read more

 

 

Source : rediff.com

Anna meets CEC, calls for electoral reforms

New Delhi: Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Thursday met Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) SY Quraishi and pressed the poll panel to consider implementing the measures suggested by the civil society in the proposed electoral reform process. 

Anna Hazare was accompanied by his close associates Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi. Read more

Source : zeenews.india.com

Bangalore’s growth: Planning still in progress

Bangalore : Sprawling malls and multi-storey complexes continue to sprout at a frenetic pace in India’s technology capital.

However, increasing concern that Bangalore’s development is unplanned has prompted experts in various fields to gather in the city on Thursday to find ways to ensure the growth is solid and not fluid. Read more

Source : dnaindia.com

Govt mulls use of light rail system in Capital

New Delhi : Taking a step forward to strengthen the public transport in the Capital, the government is once again considering its earlier plan of building a light rail transit (LRT) system.

Building LRT corridors will bring Delhi at par with several world-class cities such as London, New York,Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur that have an integrated multi-modal transit system. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

On fast track: Rapid Metro project work enters last lap

Gurgaon : Come July and the trial run of India’s first 100% privately funded and operated light rail transit service, Rapid MetroRail Gurgaon (RMG), would begin, easing commuting woes of lakhs of residents. 

The work of laying steel tracks, which have already arrived at a stockyard in Gurgaon,would begin in the next few days.

The consignment of equipment, including the insulated third rail, has also arrived from Austria. The third rail is a method of providing electric power to a train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the railway track. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

Trains on the Delhi Metro will run at 110kmph - that's 5kmph faster than the Airport Express

The Delhi Metro says trains on this line will run at 110 kmph, 5 kmph faster than the Airport Express carriages. 

The Delhi Metro has announced plans to connect Dwarka and Gurgaon on the new line

But it is to be seen if Metro lives up to its word, considering that trains on the Airport Express line have yet to hit their planned top speed of 120 kmph. Read more

Source : dailymail.co.uk