Author: Nagpur Updates

Nagpur: Bheem Army (Chandrashekhar Aazad-Raavan) obtained permission from Hon High Court, Nagpur, to hold meetings of staff at Reshimbagh, adjacent to RSS Headquarters, with strict conditions & only for 3 hours, from 2 pm to 5 pm.

In his order, Hon Court stated that it will only be a meeting of staff. Political speeches are not to be made. No provocative words. This shall not be turned into an anti-CAA campaign or opposition rally. The organizers & speakers shall give an undertaking for the above purpose.

Nagpur: Opposition and governing companies were at loggerhead over anti-intrusion drives from the NMC. In raising the issue, Praful Gudadhe said there are no approved vegetable markets in the 10 zones, Laxmi Nagar, Nehru Nagar, and Lakadganj Zones.

The city has only eight weekly markets, and four daily designated markets, with a population of 30 lakh. Therefore, people have no choice but to buy vegetables on roads and footpaths from vendors doing business, he said. Therefore, he proposed that the NMC would name markets first before resorting to action against intruders.

He maintained that the NMC should not launch an anti-intrusion drive against illegal hawkers when a town vending committee is yet to be formed. Gudadhe faced stiff opposition from ruling party corporates including Dayashankar Tiwari, former mayor Pravin Datke, Nanda Jichkar, who said the administration would keep the roads clear of all encroachments.

Mayor Sandip Joshi directed the administration to recognize places reserved for markets in the city’s development plan, as well as to speed up the process of setting up a town sales committee.

Nagpur: At a program organized by Kaladalan to mark Valentine’s Day at the Scientific Society Hall on Wednesday, various forms of love have been captured in a musical’ Ek Duje Ke Liye.’ The program began with Sarang Joshi’s’ Ye toh sach hai ki bhagwan hai’ followed by Anushka Kale’s’ Ungli pakad ke tune.’ In presenting’ Phoolon ka taron ka sabka kehna hai’ Sagar Madhumatke won the hearts.

Neeta Kerhalkar nicely performed the next song,’ Sola baras ki baali umar ko salam,’ while Sanjeev Jagtap sang’ Fir wahi raat.’ Samaira Kale’s performance of’ Yeh ishq hai’ was well received by the audience. Duet ‘ Tere chehre se nazar nahi hatati’ was repeatedly sung by Neeta Kerhalkar and Sanjeev.

Songs such as’ Ruk jao dil deewane,” Nazar na laag jaye,” Hai Rama,” Vada karo nahi chhodoge,” Khullam khulla pyar karenge hum dono’ and’ Dekha ek khwaab,” Aye mere humsafar,” Hum bane tum bane,” Jab chhaye mera jadoo’ and’ Kya yahi pyar hai’ among others.

The singers included Anushka Kale, Samaira Kale, Neeta Kerhalkar, Sanika Thakur, Sarang Joshi, Chetan Elkunchwar and Sanjeev Jagtap.

The anchors were Vijay Jathe and Nasir Khan. Madhavi Pande conceptualized the curriculum while Madhumatke and Joshi trained the singers. The artists who were accompanying were Robin William, Pawan Manwatkar, Mangesh Patle, Ashok Tokalwar, Raju Gajbhiye, and Waduklar. The chief guest at the program was the additional police commissioner Nilesh Bharne.

Nagpur: Research is a soul of science for which the government should allocate more funds so that India can make rapid progress and be on a par with the developed countries, said Padma Vibhushan K Kasturirangan, former chief of the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) on Thursday.

After receiving Dr. Mohan Dharia Rashtranirman Puraskar 2020 from the Vanarai Foundation at a program held at the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (Neeri) auditorium, Kasturirangan referred to the congratulations.

His excellent contribution to national reconstruction and his pioneering work in space science are celebrated. On the dais were sitting former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, Neeri Rakesh Kumar manager, his predecessor Satish Wate, Dr. Vedprakash Mishra, social worker Girish Gandhi and former minister Rajendra Mulak.

Kasturirangan said countries such as China spend a lot of money on science. India too, he said, will focus on research in different fields and foster a scientific temper for prosperity.
“Isro and Neeri have been working together in science, study and taking action to reduce pollution which has proven fruitful,” he said.

Praising Chavan, the scientist said he was one of the MPs who wholeheartedly supported the scientific and technological advancements. In his speech, Chavan recalled his association with Kasturirangan and said when he was a minister in the Union cabinet he worked with him for several years. Whatever duties were delegated to him while he held important positions, he did justice, Chavan said.

The former CM said education quality should be improved, and more investment in science and research should be made. Mishra said intellectuals should play an active role in making society better. Honoring intellectuals is a sign of a healthy society and it’s a matter of pride that Kasturirangan gets the honor, he added. The proceedings were conducted by Rekha Dandige Ghiya, while Vanarai Foundation Secretary Nilesh Khandekar suggested a thank you vote.

Nagpur: Although it is opposed by corporates and public representatives, Nagpurians want the city free of encroachments. The people have been adamant about it at any given opportunity to interact with the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (MMC).

Mayor Sandip Joshi released the first NMC app — Hello Mahapaur — a week ago, asking people to file complaints about it. For Mayor and NMC, data are available at a glance on what attracts the highest complaint. There are eight heads to file complaints with ‘ other issues ‘ being the ninth.

376 people lodged complaints in the first week, out of which the maximum 63 were for sewage choking and related issues. Sewage and potholes have been plaguing people for several decades now. Encroachments of 55 were in No. 2. Complaints have come about for roadside encroachments, footpaths, in front of residential gates and areas, and market places.

Upon Joshi’s prod, as of January 1, the NMC launched a campaign against invasions. It began with gusto, then fizzled out. Municipal commissioner Tukaram Mundhe ordered that action be taken against illegal weekly markets immediately after assuming charge. After two days, the drive was abandoned too.

Mundhe’s campaign saw almost all parties raising complaints from corporates and public representatives. They said that without hawkers, and weekly vegetable markets, residents could not do it.

Complaints relating to the threat of stray dogs are at No. 3 with 53. Most parts in town face severe problems. Senior citizens say walking or running in residential areas during morning and evening hours as well as main roads when dogs chase them has become very difficult.

Joshi had recently announced the hiring of 6 NGOs to sterilize 80,000 stray dogs (instead of one). The fee to be charged to NGOs has also been hiked from Rs800 to Rs1,000 per dog. Video recording was to be taken of the entire sterilization process. The proposal has yet to be taken off.

On the app’s usefulness, Joshi said, “Redressing complaints have begun in an effective way. Seven Special Duty Officers (SDOs) were assigned to manage the complaint. The complainant only gets a reply on mobile or e-mail after an action is taken.”

The app has six icons including one for complaint and one for direct messaging to Mayor. The remaining four are NMC, Swachh Nagpur and news section highlighting projects and success stories.

When one clicks on the Swachh Nagpur button, it is possible to get zone-wise toll-free numbers for garbage complaints. Google maps are available for all public toilets, too.
Mayor’s app received more feedback compared to recommendation boxes that were placed at 100 sites. In 100 suggestion boxes over four days 276 suggestions/complaints were issued.

Vodafone Idea paid Rs 1,000 crore to the Telecommunications Department (DoT) in lieu of statutory dues, news agency Press Trust of India reported citing a senior official.

This followed a payment by the beleaguered telecom service provider of Rs 2,500 crore on Monday, which represented only a portion of the total amount of Rs 53,000 crore that it owes the government in taxes, interest, and penalties.

The government ordered mobile carriers like Vodafone Idea to pay thousands of crores of rupees in dues immediately last week after the Supreme Court charged the companies and officials with contempt proceedings for failing to implement an earlier decision.

Analysts following the country’s telecoms industry believe Vodafone Idea is the most vulnerable of its three major wireless carriers and if it shuts down shop, the business will shape up as a duopoly of Bharti Airtel’s rivals and Jio’s Reliance Industries.

Bharti Airtel said on Monday it had paid Rs 10,000 crore for the dues.

According to the Press Trust of India, the DoT source said notices will also be sent to Tata Teleservices for the recovery of full dues in a day or two. The Tata Group company paid Rs 2,197 crore to the government on Monday and the telecommunications department pegged its outstanding amount to more than Rs 14,000 crore.

Vodafone Idea has previously stated its ability to continue as a corporation was dependent on the Supreme Court allowing it to change issues such as deadlines for payment with the government.

Vodafone Idea shares jumped as much as 18.85% in the first half of the session to reach Rs 4.98 apiece on the BSE.

Vodafone Idea shares traded on the stock exchange at 1:56 p.m. 4.30% higher at Rs 4.37, underperforming the Sensex benchmark index, which dropped 0.06 percent in the midst of lackluster trading.

The S&P BSE Telecom index— including 13 stocks like Bharti Airtel — was up 1.20% at the time, cutting some of the gains after growing to 1.56% during the session.

On a weak note, domestic stock markets began the last session of the week, a day after benchmark indices jumped more than 1% after four straight days of losses. In the first few minutes of trading, the S&P BSE Sensex index dropped by as much as 102.19 points to 41.220.81, and the wider NSE Nifty benchmark plummeted to as low as 12.092.80, down 33.1 points from the previous close. Gains in IT and pharmaceutical stocks offset declines in financial services and metal inventories.

At 9:41 am, the Sensex was 6.99 points-or 0.02%-lower at 41.316.01, while the Nifty was down 2.80 points-or 0.02%-to 12.123.10 points.

At the time twenty-eight stocks were heading higher on the 50-scrip benchmark index. Cipla, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC, Hindalco and JSWL Steel were the top percent losers, ranging between 0.80% and 1.09% lower.

On the other hand, the top Nifty gainers were IndusInd Bank, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Zee Entertainment, Bharti Infratel and ONGC-up from 1.23% to 3.40%.

The top drags on Sensex were the HDFC, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

On Thursday, equities in other Asian markets edged up, helped by a decline in cases of coronavirus and hopes of more Chinese stimulus to offset the epidemic’s economic impact.

MSCI’s largest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan was 0.1% higher. Nikkei from Japan rallied 1.5%.

On Thursday, the epicenter of the outbreak in China’s Hubei recorded just 349 new cases, the lowest since January 25, though followed by a change in the rules of diagnosis.

More than 2,100 people have died in China from the coronavirus, spreading to over two dozen countries, and governments around the world are trying to prevent it from becoming a global pandemic.

The S&P BSE Sensex index and the wider NSE Nifty 50 benchmark on Wednesday had risen by 428.62 points-or 1.05%-to end at 41.323.00 and 133.40 points-or 1.11% respectively-to settle at 12.125.90, backed by gains across most sectors.

The capital markets for Mahashivratri will remain closed Friday.