MONTH THAT WAS

J.J Hospital dean served Senior Politician accused of Money Laundering

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court issued notice to Dr. Tatyarao Lahane, Dean of government-run JJ Hospital. This comes in accordance to the reference made by a special court seeking HC’s suggestion over prosecuting Lahane for criminal contempt of court. The special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court had held him guilty of criminal contempt for facilitating Chhagan Bhujbal’s over stay in private hospital.

The notice was issued by a division bench presided over by Justice Ranjit More and JusticeAnuja Prabhudesai while hearing the reference made by the special PMLA court.

He became Dean of Grant Medical College and Sir Jamshedjee Jeejeebhoy Group of Hospitals in Mumbai in 2010.

The special court had in November last year allowed Bhujbal to undergo only ‘Thallium scan’ at a private hospital and this was after being informed that the test was unavailable at government hospitals. Accordingly, Bhujbal was admitted to Bombay hospital and remained there from November 2 till December 7.

Damania had claimed that the Thallium scan required hardly a day or two but Lahane, along with Arthur Road jail authorities had misused his powers and willfully breached the orders of the special court. In her complaint, she had also alleged that Lahane has helped several prisoners to get away from custody, by misusing his powers, however, the controversial doctor had trashed all the allegations.

The HC has now posted the matter for further hearing after four weeks.

First bio-gas bus:Re 1 fare

Kolkata: A Kolkata-based company has claimed to have launched the first bio-gas fuelled bus in Kolkata keeping a flat fare of just Re 1. "We are the first one to launch bio-gas bus in the entire South East Asia. Now old buses which have run for 15 or 20 years, can also be given a fresh lease of life with this clean and cheap fuel, and we are in the process of seeking government approval for the same," Phoenix India Research chairman and managing director Jyoti Prakash Das said.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE IN THE MAKING!

Mumbai: He is not yet Slumdog Millionaire, but 16-year-old Jayant Parab has all it takes to make it big. He is a school dropout and lives in a slum in the Ghatkopar area, but has crafted a mini computer using scrap collected from offices. Cost: a mere Rs 2,500.

Jayant’s father was a scrap dealer, so he knew how to recycle waste. This was his passion, but his father was upset when he chose to drop out from the school. Little did he know then that his son would turn into a computer expert.

When Jayant was in Class 9, he was asked to present an exhibit at an exhibition called ‘Science and Best Out of Waste’. The following years Jayant spent tinkering with computers and e-waste.

“I realised that many of these children had limited exposure to computers and came from families that could not afford to buy their own machines. Hence I made cheap computers  everyone could buy,” Jayant told, adding, “These computers cost me just Rs 2,500, but I would like to sell them for Rs 5,500 because I want to generate employment for those who have degrees but no jobs.”

“Earlier I was disappointed with his work but now I see he is capable of making computers,” said Ravindra Parab, Jayant’s father. Apart from chasing his dream, Jayant is pursuing his studies from St Teresa High School at Andheri through correspondence and has appeared for his Secondary School Certificate board exam.

Cycle is the best mode of transport: Union Minister

Mumbai: Ruling out any move to ban cycling on roads, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has said the Government rather wants to promote the activity to curb pollution.

“There is nothing like this. I can tell you as the transport minister that we want to promote cycling,” Gadkari told reporters here last evening, responding to recent media reports that a Parliamentary panel is mulling a ban on non-motorised transport on major roads for causing “nuisance”.

Stating that cycling is “the best” form of transport which helps curbing the “growing menace” of pollution, Gadkari specified special infrastructure building efforts. These include having a dedicated cycle lane on the upcoming Delhi-Meerut expressway and also special cycle tracks across many cities including Nagpur (which is his Lok Sabha constituency), he said. “I appeal to countrymen to use bicycle as much as possible. We have not said anything like this in the Act,” Gadkari said.

In a report tabled in Parliament recently, a Parliamentary Standing Committee studying the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2016 has recommended that pedestrians and non-motorised vehicles be restricted from using main roads and highways in metro cities.

Imram Sheikh as Lord Krishna

Jalpaiguri: A young Muslim dancer has mesmerised the audience by his performance as Lord Krishna at a programme celebrating 150th birth anniversary of Sister Nivedita, organised by the Ramakrishna Mission. Imram Sheikh, who came from Assam as a member of the Rangapara Dance Academy to take part in the 4-day programme, danced on the themes of ‘Dashavatar’ and ‘Krishna Leela’.

Open shitters beware: Bouncers on prowl

Mira Bhayandar: You must have seen professional body guards “Bouncers” for security of VIPs and high-profile parties to control the havoc of miscreants. But the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has now sought their services to prevent people from easing themselves in the open.

After failing to control open defecation in the city, the MBMC has come up with this novel idea to post private bouncers in identified open defecation spots of the twin-city.

Any type of stringent action including monetary penalties for public littering remains a distant dream for officials of the MBMC as the draft proposal approved in this context by the civic body is still awaiting a final nod from the state government authorities.

Virtually toothless against litterbugs, the MBMC had recently opted “Gandhigiri” ways to check the menace.

After failing to wipe out open defecation at ten identified locations-mostly near the clusters, the MBMC has now roped in uniformed bouncers who will move around between 5 am to 10 am and 5 pm to 11 pm every day.

“We are coming up with the new concepts and ideas to raise awareness among people about the ill-effects of open defecation and ensure eradication of this social problem,” an official said.

Apart from 492 seats at 26 community toilet blocks, the MBMC has approved 1,139 beneficiaries for individual household latrines (IHL) under the Swachh Bhaarat Mission.

According to official statistical records sourced out from the MBMC, the Public Works Department has so far constructed 104  seats at eight community toilet locations across the twin-city even as 948 beneficiaries have built individual toilets in their households on the virtue of government funds amounting Rs. 22,000 each.

Dhol Bajao for defaulters

Nashik: The Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) has come up with a novel drive to recover property tax from stubborn defaulters. The drive, named “Dhol Bajao’, involves using a brass band to announce their presence at the defaulter’s doorstep.

Bystanders hearing the band too gather at the place to see what is going on. This embarrasses the defaulter. Deputy commissioner Rohidas Dorkulkar said that they collected `70 lakhs property tax from various defaulters.

“The drive is successful and we hope to recover all the pending tax soon,” he said. The collection on a weekday was less than `60,000, however, seeing the raucous method, the embarrassed defaulters come forward and paid `70 lakh. The NMC recovery staff also went to Currency Note Press (CNP) which prints currency notes and comes under the Finance Ministry. The CNP default stands at `5.5 crore.

Singapore repatriates Imam

Singapore: An Indian imam is set to be repatriated from Singapore after he made offensive remarks against Jews and Christians during a sermon. Imam Nalla Mohamed Abdul Jameel, 46 was handed a nearly $ 3,000 fine after he pleaded guilty to a charge of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion or race. The Imam had apologised in front of Christian, Sikh, Taoist, Buddhist and Hindu representatives as well as members of the Federation of Indian Muslims, saying that he was “filled with great remorse” for the inconvenience, tension and trauma caused by his remarks. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement on April 3 that the imam will be repatriated.

Artificial eggs in Kolkata

Kolkata: The enforcement branch (EB) of the Kolkata police arrested an egg trader for selling artificial eggs made of plastic from Park Circus area. The EB official raided a shop in Park Circus market in the morning and arrested the shopkeeper Shamin Ansari. The arrest was made on the basis of a complaint lodged by one Anita Kumar, a local resident of Park Circus. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation mayor has ordered an investigation into the alleged sale of artificial eggs made of plastic in the city.

40,000 Rohingyas in India being trained as terrorists: BJD MP

New Delhi: A BJD member in the Lok Sabha claimed that 40,000 Rohingya Muslims had illegally entered India from Myanmar and they are being trained as terrorists, creating an “alarming” situation. Raising the issue, BJD member B Mahtab said, “There is emergence of a new insurgent group called Harakah alYaqin consisting of Rohingya muslims with its presence in Myanmar, Bangladesh and India.”

“Since then it is believed that around 40,000 Rohingya Muslims have entered into our country illegally through Bangladesh, through Bay of Bengal and through Myanmar border,” he said. This was reported by a Brussels-based international crisis group in the recent past, he added.

The alarming thing is that many of the Rohingya Muslims who are now in Jammu have already got the Aadhaar card, Mahtab said, adding that the government should act immediately.

Urging the government to take action as early as possible, he said, “it is high time the Home Ministry identifies them and removes them,” Mahtab said, He also wanted to know what the EAM (External Affairs Ministry) has done on the matter.