January 16-31, 2013 Vol. 8, Issue - 14

A-223,Vashi Plaza, Sector - 17, Vashi,Navi Mumbai 400 703. Tel: 67912189 / 27894570

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o doubt, Navi Mumbai Nhas grown and developed as the crowning glory of Mahara-shtra, (or is it the Singapore of India?) thanks to the development authority CIDCO which had the vision and a supportive govern-ment for long. The map of Navi Mumbai changed with the commi-ssioning of the road bridge across the Thane creek, followed by the rail corridor bridge and the Airoli link bridge which reduced the commuting time between the Island city and its counter magnet. Navi Mumbai was initially meant for and inhabited by industrial workers from the Thane - Belapur belt. Due to the increase in the transportation network and the revolutionary leap in communica-tion technology, even people from the island city found it convenient to shift their residence to Navi Mumbai. The population pressure inevitably resulted in exponential increase in real estate price making it unviable even for middle income groups to have a roof over their head in Navi Mumbai. As the population increased a power shift took place and the development authority CIDCO had to hand over the administration to the newly formed Municipal Corporation. It was a job half done. As was ex-pected the new civic administra-tion was managed by more politics and less administration. The result was that while the number of nodes expanded the administra-tion could not cope up with the basic needs of the residents. While our city is in an expansion mode,

thanks to the builders and develo-pers, the amenities are becoming retrogressive and wanting. While maladministration and ineffici-ency was manifest in every sphere whether it is, garbage collection or disposal, maintenance of roads or water supply. However the total failure of the municipal adminis-tration is in public health front. It is astonishing that the city planners have failed to take into account the need for large number of public hospitals on the lines of the Mumbai city. We still do not have sufficient number of hospitals with inpatient facilities and casuality wards. An emergency in Navi Mumbai is a sure case of passport to heaven (or Hell?). While the condition of the roads remain what they are, the municipal apathy is glaringly evident in the state of the winding storm water canals running alongside the roads and intersections at many points. The canals are the breeding ground for a variety of mosquitoes which include the mothers and fathers of not only malaria but also dengue and chicken guinea. The cosmetic exercises such as fogging and warning the public against stag-nant water etc are not only un-scientific but ineffective. There is no way to quantify the results of fogging and the breeding on account of household stagnant water. The fogging only succeeded in adding to the pollution load of the city which is already under the

cloud of phosphorous penta chloride and similar chemical pollution. It is said that it also helped in swelling the pockets of some. The single largest source of mosquito breeding in Navi Mumbai is the dry drains called storm water channels which remains without water even during rainy days. These so called storm water canals with full of filth, shit and garbage is a shame on the administration and a curse upon the people of Navi Mumbai. 60 years is too long a period to endure such health hazards and today we have multi storage buildings and towers dotting the banks of these canals. Imagine the predicament of a tax payer resident who has to endure this stink and stench 24x365. These gutter garlands have been inexistence, right from the inception of Navi Mumbai and was the only escape route for the gashing waters of the hills near by to reach the creek. Today these stinking gutters are the repository of all kinds of filth and debris, choked and scalded at many places enroute. The stink emanating from these long winding garbage streams is unbearable at many posh localities such as the coveted Palm Beach road. The existence of these drains is not only a threat to public health but a challenge to the municipal health administration

Pages : 4PRESS ACCREDITATION

THE DREAM CITY AND THE DREADED CANALS

Adv. Sivasankaran

(Continued on page 3 )

We have read a news item appeared in DNA about Meridian Housing Society, Nerul, Navi Mumbai. The news item was that the secretary of the society im-posed a fine of Rs. 1,000/- from children who damaged property of members while playing cricket. They have also put up a notice board stating children are pro-hibited from playing cricket and football in the society premises.

Not only meridian, many other societies have also taken similar decisions. It is not only a nuisance to members, but valuable pro-perties are damaged. Apart from that Sr. citizens and ground floor residents are most inconveni-enced.

It is also reported that some of the Parents protested. It is natural for the parents to protest. Why don't they take their children to the nearby garden for playing cricket or foot ball. They too can play. In case such facilities are not available in the garden take up the matter with NMMC to provide play ground instead of troubling and creating nuisance and damag-ing the property of members. The office bearers of the society deserve kudos, since the decision of the committee is absolutely correct. Besides being a lesson to children this will also create discipline among the juvenile.

'Reduce Imports of Gold or pay heavy Customs Duty',

cautions Union Finance MinisterWorried over mounting Current Account Deficit (CAD), Union

Finance Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram has hinted at raising the customs duty on gold to check its imports. This measure has been endorsed by the Reserve Bank of India and the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council. The Finance Minister stressed on the importance on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Foreign Institutional Investment (FII) and External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) to fund the Current Account Deficit which stood at US$ 38.7 billion or 4.6 per cent of the GDP at the end of first half of the current financial year.

Mr. Chidambaram was addressing a press conference in New Delhi on January 2, 2013. He stated that the gold import constituted a major share of the imports and was a huge drain on the current account. If the gold imports had been half of the actual level, India's foreign exchange reserves would have increased by US$ 10.5 billion, he said and added that cutting gold imports would strengthen weak external accounts. This has brought back memories of a 1991 currency crisis.

Meridian Society - A role model for other Housing SocietiesVKS Menon, Sub- Editor

MESD in danger zone - Meter cabin or Dustbin ?

Bill Collection Centre, Sector-11, Janata Market, Nerul.

Infrastructure Project likely to be commissioned in 2013The dust, road diversions,

barricades and traffic jams Mum-baikars have been enduring for the past many years are likely become a thing of the past in 2013 as several infrastructure projects near completion.

As New Year unfolds, mono-rail, Metro, a couple of elevated roads and another east-west connector will be gradually com-missioned, bringing a major relief to commuters.

Traffic pattern of the city is set to change as the projects will pro-vide more options to commuters in Andheri, Ghatkopar, Santacruz, Chembur, Wadala, south Mumbai and other areas, saving precious travel time. The look of the city is also in for a change.

Green, pink and blue monorail rakes and the steel-coloured Metro rakes will criss-cross above narrow roads and the white-purple and red-ochre suburban railway rakes.

The load of flyovers will be shared by an elevated freeway in the east and another elevated road taking flyers to a glitzy new airport terminal in the west. The first

double-decked bridge as part of Santacruz-Chembur link road will also open for traffic.

Besides, Metro will contribute another cable-stayed bridge, second after the one on Bandra-Worli sea link, and a boxed-steel one resembling Howrah Bridge, while the eastern freeway will boast of the first set of urban tunnels in the country. Let's peep into a promising future.

It is the first phase of the 20-km Chembur-Wadala-Jacob Circle monorail being built at a cost of Rs 2,700 crore. MMRDA expects to open the first monorail in the country to public in August. The 8.3-km corridor will connect Chembur and Wadala suburban railway stations with VN Purav Marg, RC Marg, Fertilizer Colony, Mysore Colony, Bhakti Park and other areas.

Residents of these areas will no more have to rely on buses and autos. Hop on to monorail and head straight to Chembur station to go to Navi Mumbai or Wadala station will become their way.

Chembur-Wadala Monorail:

Versova-Andheri-Ghat-kopar Metro:

Eastern Freeway:

The 11.4-km corridor, the city's first such, is likely to be completed by mid-2013.

MMRDA will commission the east-west connector after safety certifications.

Starting at Versova, the Metro being built at a cost of Rs 2,356 crore will run along JP Road, cross SV Road and Western railway tracks at Andheri station, travel along Andheri-Kurla Road and cross Western Express Highway on a cable-stayed bridge above a flyover to reach Sakinaka.

There on, it will run along Andheri-Ghatkopar link road to Asalfa, to LBS Marg and to Ghatkopar near the existing suburban railway station.

The Metro, construction of which began in February 2008, will cut the Andheri-Ghatkopar by-road travel time from one-and-a-half hours to 21 minutes.

The toll-free road will provide commuters in eastern suburbs direct access to P

(Continued on page 2 )

V. N. Gopalakrishnan

(continued on page )4

Sandalwood and VIP funeral eath be not proud – said Dthe poet John Donne

(1573-1631), But even now some are more equal in death than in life.

Sandalwood occupies a pre eminent position in the religious rites of Hindus of India and sandalwood oil has been in use as a perfume from time immemorial. Sandalwood paste is used to embalm and adorn deities and as well as in the manufacture of incense sticks. The wood is also used for carving idols and artifacts of various hue and cry. However the predominant use of this precious wood in India is for the funeral pyres, particularly of those of our great leaders who deserved a befitting funeral. Though there is no particular mention of sandal-wood and its use in the Vedic texts, Hindus of all description and denomination consider its sym-bolic and ritualistic to use sandal-wood in their last rites. It is well known that large quantity of san-dalwood inventory is officially maintained at the burning Ghats and future Samadhis around Delhi to ensure that the Hindu leaders are given a proper and befitting fun-eral by consigning their bodies to flames on a sandalwood pyre. The status of the leader and his / her standing in the political hierarchy determined the quality and quan-tity of the pyre and the wood. It

of Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border for a long time creating history. He poached and killed elephants and cut sandalwood trees merrily and with impunity making the forest officials a laughing stock. By his own version he did cut sandal-wood and killed tuskers for money, a large part of which went to those who protected him from legal action. He killed elephants not for its meat but for the ivory which decorated the homes and mansions of the rich and the powerful. Veerappan is now part of history of the Western Ghats but his sandalwood continues to sanctify the funeral pyres of our departed leaders for a long time to come and the ivory shall continue to earn foreign exchange and fancy prices.

It is on record that many fun-erals and last rites of the eminent departed leaders were delayed or postponed for want of sufficient quantity of sandalwood supply and at times it had to be air lifted to Delhi to avoid delay. Thus the importance of sandalwood in the protocol of funeral is maintained. The politics of sandalwood is detrimental to the forest wealth and therefore an impartial audit by a “sandalwood authority of India” on the lines of CAG would be most appropriate which would be revealing.

Long live the dead- Satyameva Jayathe.

congested Milan subway.As the area is low-lying, Milan

subway is almost always flooded during monsoon.

The structure, which includes a 61-metre steel bridge over suburban railway tracks, is expected to be

opened to traffic in January.The project has missed several

deadlines due to land acquisition problems and delay in getting clearances from railways. Its cost too has escalated from Rs 49 crore to Rs 84 crore.

appears that the amount of sandalwood logs in the funeral pyre determined the status of the departed dignitary apart from the number of gun salute. At this rate, our country shall be left with no sandalwood, since there is no artificial method of cloning sandal- agro and this specie of trees grow only in the thick forest slopes of hills of certain regions of India particularly the Western Ghats. The entire standing trees of sandalwood shall fall short if every Indian insists that the departed body of his near and dear should be consigned to flames only with a kilo of sandalwood atleast. There-fore here lies an opportunity to clone sandalwood and create a genetically engineered highbrid variety of sandalwood.

When we talk of sandalwood, tribute has to be paid to the late Shri. Veerappan who ruled the hills

(The writer is a Post Graduate from IndianInstitute of Human Rights, New Delhi.)

January 16-31, 2013

If reports are to be believed, the Kerala State Beverage Corpora-tion sold liquor worth Rs. 13,001.06 crores during the period from May 20-2011 to November 20-2012 and earned an amount of Rs. 10394.76 crores towards treasury. It appears that the main business of the Government of Kerala today is the sale of IMFL (Indian made foreign liquor) .It is satisfying to note that the beverage corporation employs 502675 people in the trade with a proposal to increase their number by another 13,000. It appears that the progressive Government has solved the problem of unemploy-ment as well as the insatiable thirst of Keralites for alcohol. Being a consumer state it is not surprising that the liquor manufacturers in other states have found a ready market for their byproduct manufactured from molasses and rotten wheat and rain soaked grains.

With the proposal for the decrease in the strength of alcohol from the present 42.06%, it should be possible for the Keralite to gulp the bottle straight, converting their liver into a kind of “Hindustan Liver”. The malnourished Kera-lites are sooner than latter going to succumb to the habit creating a herculean task for the “alcoholics anonymous”.

With the increase in the wages and average lifespan the Keralite is tempted to enjoy both his wages

and the extended l i fe by consuming more alcohol. Those who are blessed with a lottery bumper, however could opt for Johnny Walker or Chivas Regal. With the liver cirrhosis spreading amongst young and the old, women and men , the average health of the people of the Gods own country is sure to decline. The socialist Government with their coffers full from liquor sales should immediately setup a comprehensive medical insurance scheme exclusively for the victims of the liquor consumption or for the welfare of the alcohol patrons. It shall be a step in the right direction to have a few hospitals in every district to take care of the liquor related diseases depending upon the consumption on a time scale .It will also be a noble idea to increase the wages further to empower the employees and wage earners to consume more alcohol there by contributing more to the treasury.

Many in the Kerala country may not be aware of the fact that a tender coconut today sells at Rs.30 in the by lanes of Mumbai .It is humbly suggested that if only tender coconuts from Kerala are made available and sold in the streets of Mumbai the economy of Kerala would have flourished without resorting to the deadly act of poison selling under the pet name of IMFL by the Beverage Corporation.

The Need for Human Rights Education he field of Human Rights TLitigation and in parti-

cular Social Action Litigation is a “judisprudence which demands judicial activism and a highly creative ability”. For human rights to flourish and social Action Litigation to grow, Judges must be prepared to innovate to meet the needs of social justice. It was felt that human rights education had a major role to play in changing the negative attitude of both the judiciary and the bar, in relation to human rights litigation.

The Activities of social groups stimulate and Inspire the change in the Attitudes of the Judiciary:

Sri Lanka, like most countries in the Third World who were freed from the yoke of Colonialism inherited a legal system of western origin and Sri Lanka has Continu-ed to retain this system irrespec-tive of its incompatibility with the Social, economic and cultural as-pirations of its people.

In India, the experience in Social Action Litigation is a bold attempt to break out from the shackles of Colonialism and its new manifestation as neo-

colonialism as a more relevant legal order.

Even though the impact of this new activism has influenced the legal and Political outlook of the entire South Asian region, the Judiciary in Sri Lanka has largely not fallen in line with this trend, and still follows the positivists and pro-establishment attitudes.

The so called structural Adjust-ment Programme imposed on poor Third World Countries which includes liberalization of the economy, privatization of state ventures, and devaluation of the

Currency have led to increased poverty, a break down in basic facilities like health, educa-tion and have deprived the poor countries including Sri Lanka of their national Sovereignty.

The United Nation Children's Fund has in its reports clearly shown how some World Bank programmes have contributed to rising infant mortality, Spectacles of closed hospitals or hospitals without drug, empty School, growing malnutrition and the spread of preventable diseases.

Indian Courts, by its new judi-cial activism formulated through Social Action Litigation, have probed such areas of social-economic policies and have clos-ely Scrutinised governmental actions and non-actions. Social Action litigation also gave an impetus to the activities of social action groups and non-govern-mental organizations (NGOS) who began to campaign against this “new developmental model” which brought great misery and poverty to the millions of poor people in India.

Alcohol fuels Economy in Kerala

Adv. Sivasankaran

The news published by various authors this publication are their sole opinion and Editor is in no way accountable and responsible.

in

DISCLAIMER

D'Mello Road in south Mumbai without having to take the arterial Eastern Express Highway and Ambedkar Road.

The freeway being built at a cost of Rs 1,135 crore also pro-mises to considerably ease conges-tion on these roads.

The project has been divided in three parts - a 9.3-km elevated road from P D'Mello Road to the beginning of Anik-Panjarpol Link Road, a 5-km corridor from Anik to the beginning of Panjarpol-Ghatkopar Link Road and the 2.5-km Panjarpol-Ghatkopar corridor.

The freeway, construction of which started in 2008, is a combi-nation of an elevated road, a tunnel and an at-grade road.

The freeway will be partially opened to traffic by January-end or in February. It will be fully commissioned by May 2013.

Motorists will be able to drive from eastern suburbs to south Mumbai within 15-20 minutes as against the hour-long journey they currently endure.

Santacruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR): One of the most delayed projects, SCLR is finally in its final stages of completion and is expected to be opened to traffic by mid-2013. The road will establish a vital east-west link other than the congested Jogesh-wari-Vikhroli and Andheri-Ghat-kopar link roads. SCLR will provide more options to residents of western suburbs to travel to eastern sub-urbs and from there to Navi Mumbai or south Mumbai via Eastern Freeway.

Construction of this road, be-ing built under World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transport Project,

began in 2003 and was originally scheduled to be com-pleted by 2008. The cost has, meanwhile, risen three-fold from Rs 115 crore to Rs 435 crore.

Sahar Elevated Road: The 2-km-long road will make the drive from Western Express Highway to the international airport a breeze.

The road work started in 2008 and it was originally to be com-pleted in 2010, but land acquisition and issues related to rehabilitation of the project-affected delayed construction. The cost, initially estimated at Rs. 287 crore, is ex-pected to escalate to Rs. 325 crore and the project likely to be completed by August 2013. The road, however, would become functional only after the new airport terminal starts operation.

New airport terminal: The building called T2 will accommo-date 40 million passengers every year. The GVK-controlled Mum-bai International Airport Limited (MIAL) expects T2, a stone's throw away from the existing terminal, to start international operations by year end. The terminal, spread over 4.39 lakh square metres, will have 188 check-in counters, 60 departure immigration counters, 76 arrival immigration counters, 21,000 square metres of retail space and multi-level parking to accommo-date 5,000 cars.

New Air Traffic Control tower: By March, cons-truction of the tall tower passen-gers have been seeing coming up bit by bit will be complete. MIAL will hand over the structure to Airports Authority of India, which will take about six months before the 82-metre-tall

(Infrastructure project .... continued from page 1)

facility is commissioned. The location of the new tower is considered safer for flights than that of the old 60-metre-high tower at the other end of the airport.

Milan subway rail over-bridge: The 700-metre over-bridge between Vile Parle and Santacruz will bring immense relief to motorists who have to cross the

Looking back on the year that has passed, one sees only a dismal picture. Like the previous year, 2012 too was a year of scams. It was also a year of lack-lustre and sometimes unruly behavior of our parliamentarians, horrible sexual assaults on women and children, wide spread protests against corrup-tion and galloping prices of essential commodities.

The 2G spectrum scam which was estimated by the CAG to be around 1.76 lakh crores conti-nued to rock the parliament. Several allotments were cancell-ed and fresh tenders were called, but, the biddings fell short of the stipulated amounts. This gave the government a chance to claim that the amount of loss men-tioned by the CAG was wrong. However, none was able to establish the correct figure.

One more scam erupted add-ing grist to the opposition mill. This one was double the size of 2G and came to be known as coalgate. It was alleged that due to the UPA government's policy of random allotment of coal, power and the Delhi airport dev-elopment project, the govern-ment incurred a loss of 3.78 lakh crore. The report pointed a finger at the Prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh also.

Corruption in the government rocked the parliament as the major issue in 2012, as was the case in the previous year. The Hazare movement which had stirred the conscience of the peo-ple across the country in 2011, slowly fizzled out in 2012. Anna Hazare's single point demand was the enactment of the Jan Lokpal bill which his group had drafted. He believed that it was the right solution for the rampant corruption that pervaded all levels of the administration. The government had agreed to introduce a Lokpal bill, taking into consideration the points rais-ed by Anna Hazare, However, no such bill was introduced in 2012 It is not known when it would see the light of day.

In the meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal, a key member of the Anna Team, parted company with the leader to float a new political party. Kejriwal believed that winn-ing the elections and forming a government was the right way to eliminate corruption instead of forcing the government

by fasts and to protests to mend their ways. His brain child, the Aam Aadmi party (the common man's party) was launched in the latter part of 2012. Now, the question remains whether a new political party can work wonders, when there is already a plethora of parties of different hues and styles, each one trying to edge out the other.

Arvind Kejriwal has shown that he was not against the congress or any other party and all parties were same to him as far as corruption was concerned. He came out with a startling disclosure about malprac-tices in the companies owned by the BJP president Nitin Gadkari. Obviou-sly, the allegations dented the image of Gadkari, who was tipped for a second term as party presi-dent.

General (Rtd.) V.K. Singh joined Anna Hazare in his crusade against corruption. He is the first ever person from the armed forces to file a suit against the govern-ment in a court of law. It was a controversy about his date of birth that prompted him to approach the court. However, in the end, he withdrew the suit, agreeing to abide by the government decision.

On August 29, Mayaben Kodnani, former minister in the Narendra Modi government was among the thirty two persons who were convicted by a special court in Ahmedabad in the Naroda-Patya massacre of 2002 in which 97 Muslims were killed.

The monsoon session of the parliament which ended on Sept 7, was virtually rendered non-func-tional by the main opposition party. On several occasions, the House witnessed unruly scenes. Here is one example. Pandemonium broke out when a member of the opposition snatched away the original bill from the hands of the minister of state for home, Nara-yanaswamy, while he was reading it out in the House. The papers were torn to shreds and thrown away.

The Trinamool congress led by Mamata Banerjee, whose mercu-rial temperament is well known, withdrew support to the ruling UPA government. TMC with 19 mem-bers in the parlia-ment was a major ally of the UPA. With this develop-ment, the position of the UPA became shaky. The imme-diate trigger was the government's inten-tion to pass a bill sanction-ing FDI (foreign direct invest-ment) in retail business which the TMC had opp-osed. However, the Congress party was able to mobilize necessary support for the bill and got it passed in both the Houses. It was a great challenge and the UPA success-fully tackled it. Had the bill not been passed, the government would have

fallen paving the way for early general elections. Many politi-cians thought of early elections and contemplated strategies.

The term of Pratibha Patil as president came to an end and Pranab Kumar Mukherjee, who had been a cabinet minister at the centre for nearly three decades was elected the new president. Former Lok Sabha speaker and NCP leader P.A Sangma was his opponent.

Hamid Ansari was sworn in as the vice president for a second term on August 11.

In March 2012, elections were held to the state assemblies of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttara khand, Manipur and Goa. In Uttar Pradesh, the B.S.P led by the inimitable Kumari Mayawti was routed and the Samajwadi Party came to power. The party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's son Akhilesh Yadav was sworn in as the chief minister of the state. Elections to the Manipur assem-bly were marred by militant violence that claimed five lives. In Manipur, the congress bagged 42 seats in the 60 member House. Okram Ibobi Singh became the chief minister of the state for the third consecutive term. In Utta-rakhand, the congress form-ed the government. Vijay Bahuguna was sworn in as the chief minister at a simple ceremony in Dehra Dun. Prakash Singh Badal was sworn in as Punjab's chief minis-ter for a record fifth time. In Goa, the BJP ousted the congress from power. Manohar Parrikar took over as the chief minister for the state.

The other two states that went to polls in 2012 were Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. After winn-ing the assembly elections, BJP stalwart Narendra Modi became the chief minister of Gujarat for the third time in a row. In Hima-chal Pradesh, Virbhadra Singh of the congress was sworn in as the chief minister. Narendra Modi's victory was a foregone conclu-sion, but, the margin was a sur-prise. According to reports, he has now positioned himself as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate.

On June 21, five persons were killed in a fire that engulfed the Mantralaya, the Maharashtra secretariat. Many offices includ-ing that of the chief minister and the deputy chief minister were gutted.

On July, 30, some compart-ments of the Chennai bound Tamil Nadu Express caught fire when it reached Nellore. Thirty two pass-engers were burned to death. Earlier, on May 22, twenty five persons were killed when the

Looking back on 2012 NAVI MUMBAI - NEWS

January 16-31, 2013

select localities or posh localities by using speciality perfumery chemicals as deodorants requires a cautious welcome. Clearly the priorities are wrong. The question arises whether it is sensible and effective to dump large quantity of chemicals in the gutters in the name of sanitizing. Such invest-ment of large funds are likely to end up in pockets rather than end-ing up in the gutters and serving the purpose. In any case camoufla-ging or masking the foul smell is not only undesirable but also unscientific. The proposal invol-ves pouring of 10,000 liters of deodorants down the drain to make the residents of some select localities look at the stars and an amount of Rs. 7 lakhs should not be a high price in relation to the status of the Malabar hill. The authorities are indulging in a

dangerous game since all sweet smelling chemicals are not that environment friendly and some of them are even toxic and carcino-genic. The gimmick is only to eye wash the lapses, in efficiency and to hoodwink the public. It is futile to expect from our beaurocracy a risk benefit or a cost benefit analysis before contemplating such ideas which have a long term impact not only on the public health but also on the purse of the tax payer. We have a tendency to imitate and emulate and it will not be too far before our own municipality decides to spray perfumes in our dirty gutters as well as under take arial spray to prevent the noxious odor so that the felonious industries and toxic manufacturers in Thane – Belapur industrial belt are saved and protected.

One dead, two injured in tyre burst mishap on ExpresswayThe New Year was off to a bad

start as the mid-week saw three accidents on Palm Beach road in Navi Mumbai and one on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

One man lost his life in the Expressway accident and no casualties were reported in the Palm Beach Road accidents. According to the Talegaon police, an Etios, driven by one V T Gopal, a Ghodbandar resident, collided with another car coming from the opposite direction around 7.25 am on the Expressway.

Gopal was driving towards Pune in his car when one of the front tyres burst resulting in the car veering on to the divider, toppling over, and colliding with a Santro that was headed towards Mumbai.

“As per primary information, both the cars were at high speed,” said the Talegaon police. “The collision left Gopal and the passengers of the Santro, identified as Naresh Kohli and Dipti Kohli, seriously injured. We rushed the trio to the Nigdi hospital where Gopal was declared brought dead. The others are still critical,” they added.

Meanwhile, in Navi Mumbai, three accidents occurred on the Palm Beach road. However, no one was grievously injured. Around 10.20 am yesterday, an Innova turned turtle when its driver tried to avoid a collision with a vehicle which took a sudden right turn.

The driver of the Innova, identified as Ashok Gaud, was going to Belapur from Vashi. He applied sudden brakes after he saw a speeding vehicle taking a sudden right turn near Agri-Koli bhavan.

“Although the vehicle turned turtle, Gaud sustained minor injuries and the car did not sustain much damage. We let him go after registering a case of accident,” said a police sub inspector from the Nerul police station.

In another incident, two cars, travelling in the same direction on Palm Beach road towards Vashi, grazed each other. According to Nerul police, two vehicles — Swift Dezire and a Scorpio — were on adjacent lanes when both vehicles collided. However, no injury was reported and the drivers of both vehicles were allowed to go after a case of minor accident was registered.

Another minor accident occurred on the same road when a Honda City was struck by an Indigo from behind around 2.30 pm yesterday. The driver of the Indigo fled the scene after the accident, said the Nerul police.

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who have been showing total unconcern. In its present state the gutters are not only an eyesore but a breeding ground for mosquitoes and virus of any description. They are surely gambling in public health of the citizens. The municipality is therefore culpable by its inaction and omission and their health officers and even cooperators of the respective wards are guilty of negligence and indifference on public health. Coupled with the fact that the ambient air in Navi Mumbai is contaminated with uncontrolled gaseous emissions from near by industries along with auto emi-

ssions and particulate matters. The apathy of the regulatory authori-ties is deplorable. This explains the reason for the flourishing practice of general medical practitioners and the mushrooming number of single room hospitals in Navi Mumbai. The amount of antibio-tics sold in Navi Mumbai as scheduled or unscheduled drug across or outside the counter should be a matter of serious investigation which could reveal mind boggling truths of the drugs sales.

We have forgotten the plague which once threatened the town, Surat in Gujarat. Surat today is a

much much better place, thanks to the timely action by the public health authorities there. An out break of a similar kind could result in a war like panic in Navi Mumbai and with traffic bottle necks, there could be stampedes and confu-sions all around. Hospitals in its present state will not be able to cope up and the entire disaster management plan shall remain unworthy of the paper on which it is printed. The people have no options but to hope against hope that their wild cry shall one day evoke a positive response and action from all concerned.

The recent proposal by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation to sanitize stinking gutters of some

(THE DREAM CITY .... continued from page 1)

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Maruti Suzuki, country's largest car maker, has inked pact with Maharashtra Highway Police to promote road safety in the state. As per the plan, a co-branded vehicle will cover nine cities in the state - Pune, Nashik, Baramati, Thane, Kalyan, Panvel, Nerul, Vashi and Khargar, to educate people regarding safe driving practices across schools, colleges and communities.

Automaker has reported 3.2% increase in total sales for December at 95,145 units as against 92,161 units in the same month last year. The domestic sales of the company during the month stood at 82,073 units, up by 5.9% compared to 77,475 units in December last year. However, the company's export registered a drop of 11% during the month which stood at 13,072 units as compared to 14,686 units in December last year.

Maruti Suzuki inks pact with Maharashtra Highway Police for road safety education

January 16-31, 2013

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Ready Possession

Navi Mumbai will have metro rail by December 2014 and the much-awaited Navi Mumbai International Airport project will take off in six months, said Tanaji Satre, managing director of the City and Industrial Development Cor-poration Ltd (CIDCO), the nodal agency for the city's development, during his address at the Hindustan Times for Navi Mumbai Conclave 2012 held at Vashi on Thursday.

Municipal commissioner Bha-skar Wankhede, one of the pane-lists, reiterated that round-the-clock water supply, which is already available in 80% of the city, will be extended to all by March 2014. He also promised more hospitals and better connectivity.

The chief guest, state minister and Thane guardian minister Ganesh Naik, was presented with a Navi Mumbai charter enlisting the demands of its residents by HT reader Natraj Krishnan and HT's Mumbai editor Soumya Bhatta-charya.

Naik announced that he would ensure that the city gets world-class infrastructure in the next seven years through his 'one-time plan', which has been approved by the

Navi Mumbai civic body. The conclave, held at Fortune

Select Exotica hotel, was attended by the who's who of Navi Mumbai, while the panel included additio-nal commissioner of police Fatteh-singh Patil, and Ravi Ahuja, exe-cutive director, Cushman & Wake-field, a global real estate firm. The discussion was moderated by HT Mumbai's deputy editor Pravin Nair. Patil spoke on the law and order situation in the city, and assured citizens that the police force is ready to face anything from modern-day cybercrimes to terro-rism. He also addressed the need for traffic discipline.

Ahuja spoke on the need for a one-window clearance system for infra projects and development of tourism spots. The address by the panelists was followed by an interaction with the audience. In an interesting twist, deputy commi-ssioner of police Purshottam Karad, who was in the audience, questioned attendees about traffic indiscipline.

Naik was then given the HT charter. The conclave ended with a vote of thanks by HT's business head Nitin Chaudhry.

4

(Reduce imports of Gold .... continued from page 1)

Bangalore bound Hampi Express train rammed into a stationary goods train near the Penukonda station in Ananthapur district of Andhra Pradesh.

On January 25, eight persons were killed and more than 30 persons injured in a freak road accident, as Santosh Mane, the bus driver went on a rampage in Pune.

Sunil Verma, a key accused in the multi crore National Rural Health Mission scam in Uttar Pra-desh was found dead at his resi-dence in Lucknow on 23rd January.

On March 30, Punjab Minister Bibi Jagir Kaur was sentenced to a five year prison term for forcibly causing her daughter's miscarriage 12 years ago. She resigned from the cabinet. Later she was granted bail. On April 28, Bangaru Laxman, former president of BJP, was sentenced to four year's RI on corruption charges by a special CBI court in New Delhi.

Ratan Naval Tata stepped down as chairman of the Tata group, handing over the reins to Cyrus P Mistry.

2012 was a favourable year for Indian sports. At the 2012 London Olympics, shooter Gagan Narang won the Bronze medal in Men's 10m air rifle shooting. Vijay Kumar won a silver in the 25m

rapid fire pistol event. In bad-minton, Saina Nehwal bagged a Bronze medal after China's Wang Xin retired with an injury. The other two winners were M. C. Mary Kom who won the Bronze in the 51 kg flyweight category and Yogeshwar Dutt who clinched India's fifth medal with a Bronze in Men's 60 kg free style wrestling.

The prices of all commodities went up during the year. The hike in the price of cooking gas was too sharp. On top of that was enforced the limit of six cylinders in a year. Some state governments , on their own, raised the limit to nine, bear-ing the additional cost themselves.

On November 17, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, 86, died at his residence Matoshri in Mumbai. He was cremated with state honours at Mumbai's Shivaji Park. The city observed a day's hartal as a mark of respect to the departed leader. On November 30, Inder Kumar Gujral (92), former prime minister died at a Gurgaon hospital of multiple organ failure.

The former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, quit the BJP and resigned as MLA. On November 30, he formally joined the Karnataka Janata Paksha. It should be said to his credit that the BJP came to power in a south Indian

state for the first time under his leadership.

The year ended on a sad note. On the 16th of December, a 23 year old medico was brutally gang-raped and cruelly assaulted in a moving bus in the capital. She was in the company of her boy friend who too was badly assaulted. They were then thrown out on the national highway-8 They lay there profu-sely bleeding and naked until a police van came to pick them up. They were taken to the AIIMS and from there to Safdarjung hospital. The boy was discharged after treatment. Nirbhaya's (not the real name) injuries were very serious. She underwent a series of surgeries, but her condition remained critical and she was airlifted to a Singapore hospital where she breathed her last.

This barbaric crime against a young woman stirred the conscie-nce of an entire nation. Protest marches were held across the na-tion. The government appeared to have finally woken up to its primary duty of ensuring the safety and security of women and children. All the perpetrators of the heinous crime were arrested within a few days and a fast track court was set up to try the case.

Let us hope the current year has something better in store for the citizens of India.

(Looking back on 2012 .... continued from page 3)

The Finance Minister warned that the government may be left with no option but to make gold costlier, unless consumption of gold declined. He said that he expected gold imports to touch $40 billion in the current fiscal year to end March, down 31 per-cent from the last year's bill of $58 billion. In January last year, the government had sharply hiked import duty on gold, which curbed demand temporarily.

Traditionally, India has been the world's largest consumer and importer of gold. India's gold imports rose 9 percent to 223.1 tonnes in the September quarter, after a 56 percent fall in the June quarter to 131 tonnes. Meanwhile, gold maintained its renewed buying momentum for the third straight session in the domestic bullion market because of strong demand and bullish overseas sentiments.

In the April-November period, India's total exports contracted by nearly 6 percent from a year earlier, leaving a trade deficit of nearly $130 billion. Worried by the ballooning deficit, the government in March doubled the import duty on gold to 4 percent. Gold is the

biggest contributor to the import bill after crude oil and is easier to tame than energy supplies. The government could increase the import duty on gold by 1-2 percentage points, though no decision had been taken, accord-ing to a Finance Ministry source.

Data on January 1, 2013 showed the deficit widened to 5.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the September quarter, driven by falling exports. The gap, the widest in absolute terms since 1949, has weakened the rupee currency and exposed the econo-my to costlier imports.

Finance Minister' caution on gold came on a day when the Reserve Bank of India came out with its draft report of a Working Group which also called for a need to moderate gold import demand considering its impact on the Current Account Deficit. The

‘Metro in Navi Mumbai by end of 2014'report recommended revisiting fiscal measures to reduce gold imports and the need to design innovative financial instruments that can provide real returns to investors.

The report stated the need to convert both rural and urban demand for gold into investment and gold-backed financial instru-ments through de-materialisation. The report further stated that the introduction of tax incentives that can impound idle gold may be considered.

Mr. C Rangarajan, Chairman, Prime Minister's Economic Ad-visory Council stated that one fa-ctor that can contribute to reduc-tion of gold import will be the ability to control inflation. He said to some extent increasing import gold may curb imports but had a word of caution saying it should not result in loss of revenue as well as gold being smuggled in.

(Contine on Next Issue)

PRAVASI BHARATIYA DIVAS KICKS OFF

ARTISTES perform on the first day of the ‘Pravasi Bharatiya Divas’ that began in Kochi on Monday.

VKS Menon, Sub- Editor