Mumbai: Maharashtra government will construct 11 lakh houses in Mumbai and about seven lakh in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), state Housing Minister Prakash Mehta said on Tuesday.

Out of the total, 50 percent of the houses will be completed in next five years, he told the Legislative Assembly.

“The government could bring down the number of the cessed buildings in the city to 16,000 from 19,000 few years ago. We have decided to complete the redevelopment of all the cessed buildings in next five years. FSI for such buildings have already been raised to 3 from 2.5 and we would not hesitate to increase it to 3.5, if the need be,” Mehta said.

He was replying to a debate on the budgetary allocation to the housing department late last evening.

The minister also said that the redevelopment projects by Mhada (Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority) will be monitored to ensure the completion of the projects.

“We will not shrug off the responsibility of the completion of redevelopment projects by merely issuing no objection certificate. Mhada will monitor all the development projects till its completion so that they are not delayed,” he said.

Responding to the alleged corruption and delays in the implementation of the slum rehabilitation projects, Mehta said rehabilitation of the slums will be allotted to builders by the government.

“We will prepare the master plan of the slum rehabilitation by preparing a list of slum dwellers across the city. The projects will be allotted through e-tendering. This will help us in completing the projects on time,” he said.

BJP MLA Ashish Shelar, on the other hand demanded white paper on the slum rehabilitation projects and also alleged that government officials were “stalling the projects for obvious reasons.”

Mehta also announced that the builders would be allowed to go for redevelopment (of buildings), irrespective of the construction year, if the government authorities have announced them dilapidated.

Hence, even a building constructed in 2000, can go for the redevelopment, he said.

He said a plan has been chalked out for construction of about 50,000 tenements for police personnel in Mumbai with private participation.
PTI

Thane: A woman from Ulhasnagar area here was allegedly sold by a woman under the pretext of providing her job, police said on Sunday.

The victim, 35, a resident of Ulhasnagar camp no. 3, was allegedly sold for Rs 80,000 by a woman, aunt of one of victim’s friends, who took her to Rajasthan and Punjab, Ulhasnagar police station sub-inspector GJ Patil said.

According to the complaint filed by the victim with Kalyan Railway Police Force (RPF), she was taken by a woman, who she claimed to be her friend’s aunt on January 19 from dadar railway station to various places in Rajasthan and Punjab and was sold for Rs 80,000 for doing domestic works.

But, later in February she managed to come back to Mumbai and filed a complaint with Kalyan RPF, which later forwarded the case to Thane Police Commissionerate that transferred it to Ulhasnagar police station yesterday, he said.

The exact place where she was sold was not specified in the woman’s complaint.

No arrest has been made so far and police is also investigating if there was a flesh trade racket involved in it.
PTI

Pune: Social activist Anna Hazare has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him not to amend the provisions of the existing Land Acquisition Act.

Anna, who has been leading a campaign against the Land Bill introduced by the NDA government, asked PM Modi in the letter not to amend the existing Land Acquisition Act which was introduced in 2013 by the then Congress-led UPA government.

It may be noted that the Congress president had recently written to the social activist, expressing solidarity with his agitation against the current Land Bill.

Opposition has been up in arms against Modi government’s Land Acquisition Bill which they claim is pro-industry and anti-farmer. That Bill has already been passed in Lok Sabha and awaits Rajya Sabha’s nod, where Opposition is in majority.

The Modi government is already thinking of re-promulgating the Land Ordinance on which the amended Land Bill is based before its expiry, as it senses roadblocks in the Upper House.

Anna had recently asked for an “open debate” with Prime Minister Modi on the controversial clauses of the proposed law.

In response to a query about Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s willingness to debate the Bill with those opposed to it, Anna had said, “Gadkari’s homework is weak. We are ready to have an open debate with the Prime Minister on camera to discuss the issue threadbare. Let the people watch this debate and see the facts for themselves.”

Gandhinagar: After failing to get Presidential assent for its anti-terror bill thrice, the Gujarat Assembly on Tuesday passed by majority vote the controversial Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GCTOC) Bill in a new form.

The Bill allows police to intercept and record telephonic conversations, and submit them in court as evidence.

The GUJCOC Bill, which is on the lines of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was rejected in 2004 and 2008 by the then President AJP Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil respectively, who had suggested some amendments in the provisions related to telephone interception and confession made before police officer being considered as evidence in court.

After its passage for the third time in the State Assembly without any changes, the Bill is still pending for clearance from the President.

The Bill was today passed by a majority vote amid stiff resistance from Opposition Congress, which walked out of the House over its controversial provisions.

The state government re-introduced the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime (GUJCOC) Bill in the Assembly after renaming it. The bill, however, has retained the controversial provisions.

The contentious provisions of the Bill include admissibility of evidence collected through telephonic interception and confession made before police officer as evidence in court.

The Bill was introduced in the House by Minister of State for Home Rajnikant Patel, after which a long debate took place on it, in which Opposition Congress demanded removal of controversial sections like telephonic interceptions, confessions made before some police officer as evidence and time limit of 180 days for filing of chargesheet.

At the end of the discussion, Congress leader Shankarsinh Vaghela and Shaktisinh Gohil insisted that the controversial provisions should be dropped as per the suggestions of past Presidents when they rejected the Bill.

However, Patel said that the provisions of this Bill are in favour of the nation, the people of this country and it allows us to take action against traitors and refused to drop those sections.

Subsequently, Congress walked out of the House.

Later, the Bill was passed by majority vote in the State Assembly.

Section 14 of the Bill says, “Notwithstanding anything contained in the code or in any other law which is in force, the evidence collected through the interception of wire, electronic or oral communication under the provisions of any other law shall be admissible as evidence against the accused in the court during the trial of the case.”

According to Section 16 of the Bill, accused’s statement before a police officer, not below the rank of Superintendent of police, will be treated as an evidence.

While, Section 20 (2) (b) says stipulated time to complete probe and file the chargesheet can be exceeded to 180 days (six months) from the current stipulated time of 90 days.

Another controversial provision under the bill is section 20 (4), which reads “no accused person in this act shall be released on bail or on his own bond unless the public prosecutor has been given an opportunity to oppose the application, the special court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that accused is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.”

The cases under the act can be tried only in a special courts set up for this purpose.

Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil objected to the provisions of the Bill and said that some of them are even unconstitutional.

He told the House that the provision of confession before a police officer is contradictory with Indian Evidence Act as according to Section 164 of CrPC and Indian Evidence Act, a statement before the magistrate can only be considered as an evidence.

On the provision of not releasing an accused on bail, Gohil said the provision is unconstitutional which deprives the right of an accused to get released on bail on his own bond.

However, the government justified the provisions in the Bill by saying that existing legal frame work like the penal and procedural laws and adjudicatory system have been found to be rather inadequate to curb or control the menace of organised crime.

“It is therefore considered necessary to enact a special law with stringent and deterrent provisions,” the state government said in the objectives of the Bill.

About the provision of telephonic interceptions, the ‘Statement of Objects and Reasons’ in the Bill states that this is necessary in these times where organised criminal syndicates make extensive use of wire and oral communication.

It says that the interception of such communication to obtain evidence is inevitable and an indispensable aid for the law enforcement.

Former president APJ Abdul Kalam had in 2004 raised objections over Section 14 (telephonic interception as evidence) and returned the bill to the government led by the then chief minister Narendra Modi, asking it to remove the clause.

Later in 2008, the Bill was passed after deleting the clause related to interception of communication, as per the suggestion of Kalam.

However, then President Pratibha Patil rejected it and suggested some more amendments. One of them was to eliminate the provision which allows admissibility of confession made before a police officer in the court as evidence.

However, ignoring the suggestion, the state government had once again passed the bill in 2009 for the third time and sent it for President’s approval.

The old Bill is still pending with the President.

But the ruling BJP hopes that as the NDA government is in power at the Centre, the new Bill is sure to pass the test there.

(With PTI inputs)

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Heatadaua- A small town at the foothills of Kathmandu has witnessned the most bizarre situation of all times. A huge rhinoceros is walking freely on the roads and caused the death of a of a woman and one injured. The Rhino has caused terror in the small while rampanging anything between on the way.
The Rihno has strayed away from a local wildlife sanctuary.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has defended his Minister Girish Mahajan who is being criticised for attending a children’s event with a revolver tucked in his waist.

The CM said Mahajan has not broken any law.

Mahajan also later clarified that he carries the weapon for self-defence and that he has not been involved in any kind of violence.

The issue of Water Resources Minister Mahajan carrying a revolver, which was very much visible, at an event on Saturday for deaf and mute children in Jalgaon city was raised in both the Houses of state Legislature here on Monday.

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In the Assembly, the Opposition Congress and NCP demanded sacking of the minister for attending a function of differently-abled children with a revolver tucked in his waist as it sent a wrong message in the society. The Opposition members boycotted the Question Hour in protest.

Fadnavis said the Opposition was trying to create an unnecessary controversy. “Mahajan has a licence to carry weapon for last two decades. Licence holder is expected to carry the weapon and not keep it at home,” he said.

However, he agreed that the weapon was visible while the minister attended a function and necessary directives would be given to him in this regard.

When the matter was raised in the Council, Fadnavis said, “Girish Mahajan has a licence for keeping a weapon. He is carrying it with him from the last 25 years. A licence is given only when a person needs to keep a revolver for his safety. He has not broken any law by carrying a revolver.”

The chief minister was replying to Sunil Tatkare (NCP), who took a jibe at Mahajan and questioned the need to carry a revolver at the children’s event.

“His revolver was tucked in his waist and a controversy was created out of it by news channels when a portion of the pistol became visible inadvertently,” Fadnavis said.

Meanwhile, Mahajan later said that his revolver is merely for self-defence and that he has not been involved in any kind of violence before.

“I admit that the revolver was visible. But never have I pointed a revolver, or gotten involved in violence of any kind in my life. The revolver is merely for self-defence,” the minister told reporters here.

Earlier, the issue was raised by NCP group leader Jayant Patil in the Legislative Assembly soon after the House assembled for the day.

He wondered if the state’s law and order situation was so bad that a minister needed to carry a revolver to a school.

NCP leader Ajit Pawar demanded sacking of Mahajan.

“Why was the minister trying to scare the citizens by displaying his weapon?” Pawar asked.

Leader of Opposition in Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and NCP member Chhagan Bhujbal also criticised Mahajan for possessing a revolver while addressing children in school.

They demanded a statement from the government and discussion on the matter.

Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagde said the minister’s conduct was inappropriate and that he would issue necessary directives to the government in this regard.

Education Minister Vinod Tawde said Mahajan was expected to return to Mumbai in the evening.

“It is only then we can know his side of the story,” Tawde added.

Shiv Sena leader and state Environment Minister Ramdas Kadam said that if the minister was carrying a licensed weapon, there should be no problem.

The early morning terrorist attack in Kathua district rocked the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly today with Opposition members seeking an explanation from the government on the incident.

The issue was raised by National Conference MLA Devender Singh Rana who wanted to know about the steps being taken by the government to thwart the attack.

he House wants to know how the militant attack took place, how the militants were able to launch this attack,” Rana said.

Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh informed the House that two or three heavily armed militants managed to enter the Rajpora Police station in Kathua and were holed up in the police station.

“Police and CRPF has cordoned off the area and heavy firing is going on. A man has died and we are not sure if he is a civilian or a CRPF personnel. Ten people have been injured which include two policemen, seven CRPF men while one civilian and a policeman have been seriously injured,” he said.

Opposition National Conference and Congress termed the answer “unsatisfactory”.

“What are you saying that you don’t know that the man who has died can be either a civilian or a CRPF personnel. The government should have the information,” said Rana.

Ali Mohammed Sagar of the National Conference said, “People are dying and you have no information.”

While condemning the attack CPI (M) MLA M Y Tarigami said that the House needs to show a united face in condemning such tragedies and expressed sympathy with the family of those killed in the attack.

“It’s a tragedy and it should be debated here. The House needs to know what steps the government will take and has taken. Let’s not get divided on the tragedy. Such tragedies are unfortunate and we should speak in one voice and condemn it,” Tarigami said.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday spoke to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and conveyed to him that relief materials are being air dashed to the flood-affected valley in the shortest possible time.

During the telephonic talk, the Chief Minister briefed the Home Minister about the prevailing flood situation in Kashmir valley and the steps being taken for rescue and providing relief to the affected people. Singh assured full central assistance to tackle the flood situation and conveyed to Mufti that relief materials are being airlifted to the valley in shortest possible time to help the state government in rescue and relief operations, official sources said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always rushed Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to Kashmir for an on-the-spot assessment of the damage and assured the state of all assistance.

Seven months after the devastating floods, Kashmir valley is facing yet another flood following incessant rains with river Jhelum in spate at several places while 16 people were feared trapped after two houses collapsed in Budgam district.

Nigeria’s election chief said he was investigating irregularities as protests erupted amid calls for a rerun in one state following a knife-edge vote over the weekend.

Reports of underage voting, electoral officials being “substituted” and the technical glitches that led to voting being extended to Sunday were all being looked into, Attahiru Jega said.

The electoral headquarters were burnt down in Rivers, an oil-producing state which has become a key battleground for the two main parties.

Attacks on the oil industry pushed global crude prices to record highs in 2004 and former rebels threatened to take up arms again if Goodluck Jonathan – who brokered a lucrative peace deal in 2009 – is not re-elected.

“It is true our INEC office in Rivers state was torched. We have informed police authorities,” Jega said, speaking from Abuja, the Nigerian capital. “We have asked for additional security so this does not occur again.”

Police confirmed two people were killed during voting on Saturday, while the opposition put the figure at “scores” and alleged the vote there had been rigged. By Sunday, thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets of the state capital, Port Harcourt, calling for the vote to be rescheduled. The Situation Room, a civil society group monitoring the election, said it was “deeply concerned” about reports of “interference” in Rivers and neighbouring Imo state.

Rotimi Amaechi, the powerful governor of Rivers state, defected to the opposition after a series of internal squabbles with the ruling party spilled over into the public limelight.

Jega also addressed the failure of some card readers which the electoral body said meant voting spilled over to Sunday in 300 polling stations. Some 400 card readers out of more than 150,000 used had not worked, he said, but insisted this would have no impact on the final result.

“The number of failures of card readers to operate surprised us. One possible explanation is that the people operating them had not been trained.”

Results are likely to be announced by Tuesday, he said.