The Maharashtra government is examining the odd-even car plan presently underway in Delhi and may emulate the formula in Mumbai if it proves to be a success. Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar was responding to NCP’s demand for a similar formula in Mumbai.

“We need to implement the even-odd car number formula on roads of Mumbai as is being done in Delhi to make Mumbai pollution free. If this plan is successfully implemented, plying of as many as 50 per cent vehicles per day on the roads will be reduced. This will also help in reducing the city’s carbon footprint as 26 per cent of green house gas emissions are caused by using petroleum products. In addition to that the city is also seeing an increase in number of tankers, trucks, buses each day,” NCP Mumbai Unit President Sachin Ahir said. In response, Mungantiwar said the results of Delhi’s experiment will take time to show and if successful, the state government will consider implementing it in Mumbai as well. “We will do whatever it can and take in all ideas to reduce traffic and pollution levels in Mumbai. Delhi has started with this experiment. The results will take time to show. It has just been 4 days now and we can’t judge the effects in four days. We will later know how beneficial the scheme was for Delhi,” Mungantiwar said. “If we feel the experiment is successful, it can be applied anywhere in the country. Accepting good things is the specialty of 21st century. We should be open to new ideas while remembering that we do not get overboard before knowing the results of new ideas,” he added. He further said that the government is open to accepting new ideas from other state governments if it can prove beneficial for Maharashtra. “We are examining the scheme, if it is successful, it can be applied to Mumbai as well so that traffic congestion and pollution reduces in the city. We will accept all that is necessary. We do not have to pay a royalty to Delhi government if we borrow their scheme. We can apply it whenever we want to,” Mungantiwar said.

Special Judge A L Pansare, on December 22, had issued a production warrant against the 54-year-old asking him to appear before it on January 7. When asked to spell out his name, Rajan told the judge, “My name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje.” Judge Pansare then explained the J Dey case to him and later took him into custody. The entire conversation between Rajan and the judge went on in Marathi. “The court told him that the next date of the case is January 19, when charges will be framed against him,” Special Public Prosecutor Dileep Shah said. Rajan also told the court that he doesn’t have any lawyer in Mumbai and is looking for one. The judge also reprimanded the Mumbai Police for not serving the copy of the chargesheet to Rajan. “Why not yet ? What are you waiting for….why are you waiting for an order for everything ? the judge said. Later, he passed an order directing the police to serve the copy of chargesheet. Rajan, a former key aide and lieutenant of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, was arrested at Bali airport in Indonesia on October 25 after he arrived from Australia, and was later deported to India. Of the 74 cases the Mumbai police has transferred to the CBI, the central agency registered its second case against Rajan — the J Dey murder case. The first case was about a fake passport the gangster was using during his stay in Australia. The CBI has demanded that one court should deal with all of Chhota Rajan’s cases in the city. Earlier it was reported that in spite of the special MCOCA court’s warrant to Tihar Jail to produce Chhota Rajan for the hearing, Mumbai Police and Crime Branch were yet to be notified whether Rajan aka Sadashiv Nikalje will be transferred from Delhi to Mumbai and what kind of protection should be provided.

Arun Jaitley said the government will continue to step up public investment to boost growth in the wake of continuing challenges in global economy. He said the government is making room for further private sector participation in the infrastructure space and the railways will soon invite bids for modernisation of 400 stations. “The railways has now come on to directionally the right track. We are inviting the private sector including foreign investment into the infrastructure.very shortly the railways is going to come with its proposed bids for development of 400 railway stations in the country. ”
Having raised some funds from tax-free bonds, the railways intend to mobilise international investment, he said. “The LIC has made available long term capital to them (railways). And that’s an area which directionally I think is on the right track.
The movement needs to be a little expedited,” he added.
The government is also considering participation of private sector in mid and small airports to improve their managerial efficiency, he added.
“They probably need managerial efficiency and therefore, management participation of the private sector in the management of some of these airports is a proposal which they have been considering. I think the government is very clear with regard to the direction in which it wants to move,” he said.
Jaitley said enhanced public investment in infrastructure sector last year had now started showing results. Last year a lot of resources were put in the direction of national highways, rural roads and railways, he said.
“The result of this is visible now that the stalled projects among the highways have got moving. As a result of enhanced public investment, even private sector players who had got bogged down in their disputes have re-entered the field,” he said.
The years and months to come will be those where we will be seriously investing in infrastructure. We should be able to show much more positive result as far as Indian economy is concerned making it a stable force which we have become even in the midst of even in a crisis like situation across the world, the minister said.
Commenting on the recently set up National Infrastructure Investment Fund, the minister said the government is in touch with many global sovereign and pension funds to become partners.
He emphasised that global economy was passing through a phase of volatility but lower crude oil, commodity and mineral prices were an opportunity for India.
“World is passing through a phase of great volatility. There is no easy day. And therefore the trends that global economy pass going to throw up will be challenging,” he said, adding that the opportunity provided by the low oil prices has enabled the government to channelise a large part of our savings in central areas of infrastructure.

At least 40 protesting students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) were detained by the police on Thursday morning after they allegedly clashed with members of the Staff Association of FTII who were celebrating the newly appointed Chairman Gajendra Chauhan’s arrival by beating drums outside the gate.
The students have been reportedly moved to Deccan and Shivajinagar police stations after the arrest. Meanwhile, the meeting between Chauhan and the members of the FTII society is going on as per schedule.
Earlier in the day, over 100 policemen from Deccan and Shivajinagar Police Station as well as State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) were called, tightening security around the institute, ahead of Chauhan’s visit.
The students were also given permission to peacefully protest. However, after the Staff members brought their celebration rally at the gate, the students confronted the members, leading to chaos outside the institute.
Many students were lathicharged by the police and as many as 40 were detained. Staff members were also asked to stop their celebrations after the incident. Even after the arrest of their batch mates, over 60 students with the protest outside the main theatre.
FTII society members including Satish Shah and Raj Kumar Hirani started arriving at 9.30 am amid tight security.
With the arrival of Chauhan, the meeting began at 11.30 am. Meanwhile, the graffiti which was whitewashed for the meeting reappeared on Thursday morning as the student stuck to their demands. There is no word on the release of the arrested students.
On Wednesday evening, the Deccan Police had issued notices to 17 students who were earlier booked for forcibly confining FTII director Prashant Pathrabe on August 16, warning them of strict action if they disturbed peace at the campus by any means, said Deputy Commissioner of Police.

In a Twitter Poll carried out yesterday, online pollster MyVote.Today @myvote_today asked: ‘In your opinion, how should the Government of India / PM Narendra Modi respond to Pakistan supported terrorism in India?’
Four options were given to voters participating in the Poll, (1) Destroy Terror Camps; (2) Fight to Reclaim Pakistan-occupied Kashmir; (3) Help Baloch (separatist) Movement; (4) Cut Diplomatic Ties.
As many as 3,310 people voted on the Poll in 24 hours. The results were quite surprising. Only 10% preferred the ‘soft option’ of cutting diplomatic ties.
14% voted for the option to fight for reclaiming PoK, while 19% voted to support the Balochistan separatist movement. An overwhelming majority of 57% voted that the Government of India / PM Narendra Modi should destroy terror camps.
On the previous day, the MyVote.Today @myvote_today Daily Poll had asked people who they thought was the mastermind behind regular cross-border terror attacks reportedly emanating from Pakistan.
2,271 people had cast their votes, of which only 6% opined that it was the Government of Pakistan, 11% said it was terrorist groups such as LeT, JeM, JuD, UJC, as many as 41% voted for the Pakistan Army & ISI, and 42% chose the option of all three in conjunction.
As a follow up to the 57% result of yesterday, MyVote.Today @myvote_today is now running an online poll (on Twitter) which asks how should the Indian PM destroy terror camps in Pakistan. About 1,800 people had voted at the time of going to press.
MyVote.Today is a digital technology company that runs online polls, currently only on Twitter. It usually runs one Daily Poll, and sometimes it also runs sporadic Special Polls. MyVote.Today is in the process of launching a Voting App on the Android and iPhone platforms later this month.
Started in early December 2015, the MyVote.Today @myvote_today Daily Poll has become very popular in just five weeks, with an average of 2000-2500 people voting daily.
Their highest Daily Poll on 23rd December got 5320 votes, in which 81% said they want current PM Narendra Modi as the next prime minister of India. The other three choices were Arvind Kejriwal (12%), Rahul Gandhi (4%) and Nitish Kumar (3%).

New Delhi, Jan 6: You must have heard about earthquakes in Nepal (May 2015), Manipur (Jan 2016), Sikkim (2011). Now, a bigger, massive earthquake is expected to hit North India and other parts of Himalayan region.
According to National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), a massive earthquake may rattled Himalayan Region.
Media reports quoted MHA sources as saying that earthquakes with a magnitude of 8.
0 or more on the Richter scale are likely to hit the Himalayan region.
They also have issued warning saying that greater risk around the ‘ring of fire garlanding the entire north India especially the mountains’ has been assessed.
According to Santosh Kumar, the director of NIDM, the interconnected plates across Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and India could trigger a massive quake. The catastrophic quake may rattle the lives of people living in hill states and parts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
Meanwhile, an expert was quoted as saying, ‘the current conditions might trigger at least four earthquakes greater than 8.0 in magnitude. And if they delay, the strain accumulated during the centuries provokes more catastrophic mega earthquakes.’
Tectonic plates underneath the Himalayan region had developed cracks during previous tremors in Nepal (7.3 magnitude on Richter Scale), Manipur (6.7 magnitude on Richter Scale), Sikkim (6.9 magnitude on Richter Scale).

MUMBAI: In order to reduce malpractices and establishment costs, the Maharashtra Transport department will soon launch an ‘e-challan system,’ where traditional methods of paying cash will be shunned and traffic offenders will be asked to swipe their credit or debit cards for the purpose.

According to Maharashtra Transport minister Diwakar Raote, the scheme will be launched in Mumbai from January itself and will be fully operational in the mega-polis in another six month’s time.

“We have had meetings with police officials for the purpose and swipe machines are being procured. We will slowly reduce the handling of cash by traffic constables. Generally, it is seen that to reduce paying the full penalty, people pay a lesser amount of cash, do not take vouchers and get away,” Mr Raote said

“Also, when a traffic violator pays the fine and takes the voucher, handling the money has its own costs. The money has to be submitted to the cashier who then has to count it before depositing it in banks. All these operations are lengthy and require money and manpower. With the e-challan system’ this can be reduced,” the minister added.

Mr Raote said that the money saved by the department will be utilised for other development purposes.

“The scheme will be launched this month itself and in about six months, we hope that the scheme will be fully operational in Mumbai,” Mr Raote said.

According to an official from the transport department, around 1,000 e-challan machines will be handed over to the traffic constables in the first phase of the scheme.

“This will not only reduce corruption in the department, but will also help the police identify repeat traffic offenders,” he added.

He further said that those who are not carrying credit or debit cards when caught breaking a traffic rule, will be given a 15-day window to pay the fines through National Electronic Funds Transfer.

“Afghan officials have confirmed that the operation has ended,” said a Indian government source.

An intense 25-hour gun-battle between security forces and terrorists outside the Indian Consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif came to end tonight with the killing of all the attackers who attempted to storm the Mission building. While three of the attackers were killed in the gunfight overnight, the remaining were neutralised by the night. “Afghan officials have confirmed that the operation has ended,” said a Indian government source.

“The clearance operation is over and all the terrorists have all been killed,” said provincial police chief Sayed Kamal Sadat, according to AFP. Some reports said one of the attackers was captured alive but there was no confirmation about it.

A group of terrorists had attacked the Consulate at around 9.15 pm yesterday with an aim of storming the building but their plan was thwarted by the security forces.

Earlier, official sources said special combat units of the Afghan National Police had recovered three bodies from outside the Indian consulate. Subsequently, some more terrorists were holed up in a five-storey building about 100 metres across the road from the Indian Consulate and security forces had launched a daunting onslaught to neutralise them.

In 2007, Gemma Sheridan and two friends went out on a voyage that was to take them from their hometown of Liverpool, across the Atlantic to the Panama Canal and then onward to the Island of Hawaii. The first stage of the voyage went without incident. However, after passing through the Panama Canal into the Pacific, things took a turn for the worse.

There was a huge storm that took out the boats electronics and washed her two friends over board and seriously damaged her boat. Without any electronics and with a damaged boat, Gemma drifted for 17 days until she came across another storm. During the storm, Gemma was knocked unconscious. Gemma woke up on a beach, surrounded by the wreckage of her boat.

The terrorist dubbed “new Jihadi John” and appeared in the latest Islamic State (ISIS) video threatening attacks on the UK is believed to be Indian-origin British Muslim convert, media reports said on Tuesday.
Siddhartha Dhar, also known as Abu Rumaysah, had skipped bail and fled Britain in 2014 with his wife and their four children to join ISIS in Syria.
Born a Hindu, the 32-year-old ran a business renting out bouncy castles in London before converting to Islam and joining the radical Islamist group Al Muhajiroun.
An official source told the BBC that Dhar is the focus of investigations into the video, which purports to show the killing of five men ISIS says were spying for the UK.
Dhar’s mother and sister have also watched the video, released by ISIS on Sunday, and noticed similarities between the voice of the masked terrorist, being referred to as the “new Jihadi John” by the British media.
“I heard the voice, yes, but I don’t know, I’m not sure of the voice. These are the most difficult questions to answer. I just cannot say. I’m not sure within myself whether it is the truth or not,” his mother Sobita Dhar told ‘The Daily Telegraph’.
His sister, Konika Dhar, from north London, said: “I believed the audio to resemble, from what I remember, the voice of my brother but having viewed the short clip in detail, I wasn’t entirely convinced which put me at ease.
“I can’t believe it. This is just so shocking for me. I don’t know what the authorities are doing to confirm the identity, but I need to know if it is.” She said her brother had converted to Islam more than 10 years ago and her memories of him are from when they were children and teenagers.
“He was a very pleasant boy, and I know it may be hard to believe but he still is, and I still believe that he still can be that person,” she added.
One of Dhar’s former business associates told the BBC he had “no doubt” the voice on the video was that of Dhar, who had been arrested on suspicion of encouraging terrorism by the British police but was later able to travel to Syria after being bailed.
His former neighbours from Walthamstow in east London claimed Dhar’s wife was more devout than him and suggest she may have put him on the path to extremism.
In the months leading up to his arrest, Dhar was accused of calling for the imposition of Sharia law in Britain.
In one interview around that time he said: “We believe that whenever the sharia is established, the pure Islamic state maybe in Iraq or Syria, one day the leader will wage jihad and annexe Britain into the Islamic state.
“We are not going to forget Europe, we are not going to forget Britain, the armies will be sent here to conquer these lands.”
In the latest ISIS video, he is now believed to be the masked man speaking in a British accent and holding a gun.
He says: “We will continue to wage jihad, break borders and one day invade your land where we will rule by the Sharia.”
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday said the video was “desperate stuff” from a group that was “losing territory”.
The 11-minute video also features a little boy speaking in a British accent.
‘Channel 4 News’ has reported that a south London man named Sunday Dare recognised the boy in the video as his grandson, Isa Dare, who was taken to Syria by his daughter Grace Dare aka Khadija.
In the video, five men, wearing jumpsuits and kneeling in a desert location, appear to be shot in the back of the head, after making what is claimed to be their confessions.