MONTH THAT WAS

Bihar food poisoning kills one

At least nine labourers died after consuming poisonous ‘sattu’ a variety of gram flour, in Bihar’s Jehanabad district, police said.

Angry over the death of nine labourers, residents blocked roads and demanded the arrest of the shopkeeper who sold the contaminated ‘sattu’ to them, reports media.

“A police team raided the shop from where the labourers purchased ‘sattu’, but the shopkeeper ran away and is missing,” a police official said. Four laboureres were in hospital in a critical condition. .The labourers purchased ‘sattu’ from a shop in a village and ate it that afternoon, he said.

The district administration has ordered an inquiry into the incident. The compensation of Rs 1 lakh each for the kin of the victims was announced by the state government.

Bio-toilets to be fitted in Mumbai-Varanasi Exp

Mumbai: A long distance train between Mumbai and Varanasi will soon be equipped with bio-toilets based on DRDO technology.

The Mumbai-Varanasi Mahanagari Express along with four other trains on other railway zones will be equipped with such toilets soon.

Unlike traditional toilets in trains wherein the waste is discharged on tracks, the new system will treat the same inside a tank with the help of a bacteria, which will convert it into harmless gas and water. This will not only help improving the environment but will also prevent corrosion on tracks.

Trial for the same will start on CR now. The railways had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for development of bio-toilets for rail coaches. Rail tracks get corroded because of the discharge from toilets and the new design green toilets would prevent the damage to the tracks.

Some coaches with bio-toilets will be brought to Mumbai for trial. Trials will be held in Mahalaxmi after which these will be fitted in the Mumbai-Varanasi Mahanagari Express.

The anaerobic bacteria inside the toilets consume waste materials and convert it into water and gas in the bio-toilet system. The water passing through chlorine tank is discharged as clean water and the gas generated evaporates into the atmosphere.

Crack down on sonography centres

Jaipur: The Rajasthan government cancelled license of six sonography centres here and issued notices to 24 others for their suspected involvement in female foetcide and for violating laws, officials said.

The action seems another impact of Bollywood actor Aamir Khan’s debut TV show “Satyamev Jayate”, as the action came a day after the superstar met state Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

“Chief Minister had met state officials to know more about the extent of the problem immediately after the show was aired. As per the instructions issued directly from him, we have started cracking down on faulty sonography centres where illegal sex determination tests were conducted,” a senior medical and health department officer told media, preferring anonymity.

Additional tax to private hospitals who refuse to treat poor patients

Thane: The state government may authorize the civic bodies to slap additional tax on private and charitable hospitals that refuse to treat poor patients. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said that, once the tax is imposed, these hospitals would no longer be required to treat poor patients at concessional rates. Pawar hinted at the possibility while addressing the meeting of elected representatives. “Several hospitals reap the benefits extended by the government and the corporation, but refuse to treat poor patients. We have repeatedly received complaints so I have come to the conclusion that these hospitals should be asked to pay additional tax to the civic body. This money will be used in civic hospitals to give better medical facilities to the poor”. “In Mumbai, we told hospitals to pay the tax. The state is now using this money for government hospitals,” said Pawar.

Cannot buy car without parking space

Beijing: To tackle the rising menace of parking, the authorities in China’s Shanghai city are going to ban residents from buying cars in future if they failed to secure a parking space in advance. According to the Shanghai police, the new policy will require people to prove to the government that "they already acquired a car space" to purchase a vehicle. "Shanghai Daily" reported. It means that potential car buyers would have to rent or buy a car park space first, as a pre-condition to buy a vehicle. Details and the timetable for the new rule are still being discussed. The government hopes to use the new strategy to control the city’s deteriorating parking lot shortage. According to traffic police, in some cities abroad between 5 to 10 percent of urban parking capacity comes from dedicated garbage buildings, which offer big parking capacity. But in Shanghai, the percentage is only one percent.

In 15 days e-ticket refund

CR has implemented Advance Coaching Refund System (ACRS) recently to reduce the time taken for e-ticket refunds.

In this system, all e-tickets data are uploaded directly from IRCTC server to ACRS directly and dealt by refund section in the Chief Commercial Manager’s office, CR.

“In cases wherein amount is sanctioned, the refund is transferred to IRCTC through pay order for payment to the party and pay orders are made manually. This has reduced the transaction time from 30 to 15 days.

All e-ticket refund cases will be disposed off within a period of 15 days,” said CR spokesperson.

“Out of total refund cases, 60% are of e-tickets at present, which constitutes about 2,500 cases per month. CR is one of the few railways where advance Coaching Refund System is implemented,” spokesperson added.

NRHM Scam – Former principal secretary held

Lucknow: Senior IAS officer Pradeep Shukla, a former principal secretary in the Uttar Pradesh health department, was detained by officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from the Lucknow airport as shukla was about to leave for New Delhi.

Shukla’s name had been figuring prominently in the ongoing investigations in the multi-crore National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam but the agency had for some reason not arrested him so far. Shukla’s luck ran out as the CBI apparently got the go-ahead from its top brass to nab Shukla after it was pulled up by Allahabad High Court for not touching big names in the FIR lodged in connection with the scam. He was later brought to Delhi and would be produced before a designated court in Ghaziabad.

Ever since the scam came to light the name of Pradeep Shukla had been making rounds as being one of the key figures in the huge swindle of government funds. Shukla’s name figured in three FIRs filed by the CBI in this connection and he had been summoned for interrogation several times.

His arrest was on the cards after arrest of Dr A K Shukla, the chief medical officer of Lucknow. The arrested CMO was understood to have revealed crucial information suggesting the deep involvement of the senior IAS officer. CBI sources said Shukla was responsible for clearing payments to number of fictitious firms that were created to supply various goods required under the NRHM programme. Specifically, Shukla faces the charge of alleged bungling in upgradation of 89 district hospitals under National Rural Health Mission programme causing a loss of nearly Rs 22.5 crore to the exchequer.

He is the 15th accused to be arrested by the CBI so far. The 14 other accused arrested are contractors or junior level officers. The only big fish nabbed is former family welfare minister Babu Singh Kushwaha but no chargesheet has been filed against him by the CBI.

Mumbai: Now you can get your Central Railway (CR) train-e-ticket cancellation refunds in 15 days instead of the 30 days earlier.