RTI applicant gets irrelevant info

PUNE: In what could be said to be a mockery of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Friday issued 224-pages of ‘irrelevant information’ to an applicant, including a copy of a court petition filed by the applicant himself!RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar, who was the recipient, has demanded that Municipal Commissioner Pravinsinh Pardeshi impart training to the municipal information officers about the procedure laid down for providing information to RTI applicants. The case goes like this. In 2001, Kumbhar had filed a petition in the Bombay high court challenging PMC’s decision to appoint Shivshakti Pratishthan, an organisation patronised by Congress corporator Aba Bagul, to manage the municipal sports complex in Sahakarnagar. In 2003, the HC upheld Kumbhar’s argument that the pratishthan was awarded the said job without calling tenders. The HC directed the PMC to quash its contract with the pratishthan and take possession of the said sports complex. On September 30, 2007, Kumbhar filed an application under the RTI Act, seeking to know the names of officers entrusted with the job of taking possession of the complex and a copy of the panchnama carried out during the possession. In September, the media had reported theft of computers and other equipment from the sports complex. Kumbhar wanted a list of the things stolen and sought to know what action was initiated by the PMC against the security staff and the date on which the police case was lodged. Kumbhar was expecting a one-page answer to his application and a copy of the panchnama . However, he was shocked on Saturday to get 224 pages from the Sahakarnagar ward information officer. What’s more, these 224 pages contained press cuttings about the HC’s ruling, two copies of the agreement between the PMC and the Shivshakti Pratishthan and correspondence between Bagul and the PMC. It also included a copy of the petition filed by Kumbhar in the high court and the supporting documents he had attached to it! “I had not even demanded this information. Why would I demand a copy of my own petition? They have tried to misguide me by not supplying the demanded information,” Kumbhar told the PMC’s appellate information commissioner Suraj Mandhre on Saturday. Though Mandhre has promised to provide the information and find out why irrelevant information was given by the Sahakarnagar officer, Kumbhar has issued a letter to Pardeshi stressing the need to impart training to municipal information officers.

RTI applicant gets irrelevent info

ET,PUNE: In what could be said to be a mockery of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Friday issued 224-pages of ‘irrelevant information’ to an applicant, including a copy of a court petition filed by the applicant himself!RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar, who was the recipient, has demanded that Municipal Commissioner Pravinsinh Pardeshi impart training to the municipal information officers about the procedure laid down for providing information to RTI applicants. The case goes like this. In 2001, Kumbhar had filed a petition in the Bombay high court challenging PMC’s decision to appoint Shivshakti Pratishthan, an organisation patronised by Congress corporator Aba Bagul, to manage the municipal sports complex in Sahakarnagar. In 2003, the HC upheld Kumbhar’s argument that the pratishthan was awarded the said job without calling tenders. The HC directed the PMC to quash its contract with the pratishthan and take possession of the said sports complex. On September 30, 2007, Kumbhar filed an application under the RTI Act, seeking to know the names of officers entrusted with the job of taking possession of the complex and a copy of the panchnama carried out during the possession. In September, the media had reported theft of computers and other equipment from the sports complex. Kumbhar wanted a list of the things stolen and sought to know what action was initiated by the PMC against the security staff and the date on which the police case was lodged. Kumbhar was expecting a one-page answer to his application and a copy of the panchnama . However, he was shocked on Saturday to get 224 pages from the Sahakarnagar ward information officer. What’s more, these 224 pages contained press cuttings about the HC’s ruling, two copies of the agreement between the PMC and the Shivshakti Pratishthan and correspondence between Bagul and the PMC. It also included a copy of the petition filed by Kumbhar in the high court and the supporting documents he had attached to it! “I had not even demanded this information. Why would I demand a copy of my own petition? They have tried to misguide me by not supplying the demanded information,” Kumbhar told the PMC’s appellate information commissioner Suraj Mandhre on Saturday. Though Mandhre has promised to provide the information and find out why irrelevant information was given by the Sahakarnagar officer, Kumbhar has issued a letter to Pardeshi stressing the need to impart training to municipal information officers.

RTI applicant gets irrelevent info

ET, PUNE: In what could be said to be a mockery of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Friday issued 224-pages of ‘irrelevant information’ to an applicant, including a copy of a court petition filed by the applicant himself!

RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar, who was the recipient, has demanded that Municipal Commissioner Pravinsinh Pardeshi impart training to the municipal information officers about the procedure laid down for providing information to RTI applicants.

The case goes like this. In 2001, Kumbhar had filed a petition in the Bombay high court challenging PMC’s decision to appoint Shivshakti Pratishthan, an organisation patronised by Congress corporator Aba Bagul, to manage the municipal sports complex in Sahakarnagar.

In 2003, the HC upheld Kumbhar’s argument that the pratishthan was awarded the said job without calling tenders. The HC directed the PMC to quash its contract with the pratishthan and take possession of the said sports complex.

On September 30, 2007, Kumbhar filed an application under the RTI Act, seeking to know the names of officers entrusted with the job of taking possession of the complex and a copy of the panchnama carried out during the possession.

In September, the media had reported theft of computers and other equipment from the sports complex. Kumbhar wanted a list of the things stolen and sought to know what action was initiated by the PMC against the security staff and the date on which the police case was lodged.

Kumbhar was expecting a one-page answer to his application and a copy of the panchnama . However, he was shocked on Saturday to get 224 pages from the Sahakarnagar ward information officer.

What’s more, these 224 pages contained press cuttings about the HC’s ruling, two copies of the agreement between the PMC and the Shivshakti Pratishthan and correspondence between Bagul and the PMC. It also included a copy of the petition filed by Kumbhar in the high court and the supporting documents he had attached to it!

“I had not even demanded this information. Why would I demand a copy of my own petition? They have tried to misguide me by not supplying the demanded information,” Kumbhar told the PMC’s appellate information commissioner Suraj Mandhre on Saturday.

Though Mandhre has promised to provide the information and find out why irrelevant information was given by the Sahakarnagar officer, Kumbhar has issued a letter to Pardeshi stressing the need to impart training to municipal information officers.

UV light offers hope for cancer cure

LONDON: Using ultraviolet light may one day offer a “double whammy” to kill cancer cells by better focusing antibody-based drugs and triggering the body’s own defenses to eliminate tumors, researchers said on Tuesday. In two studies with mice, a British team cloaked antibodies — the immune system proteins that tag germs and cancer cells for elimination — with an organic oil that blocked them from reacting until illuminated with ultraviolet light. The researchers used engineered immune system proteins called monoclonal antibodies. They are made to home in on proteins known to be overactive in tumor cells. When the light unblocked the organic coating, the antibodies switched on and attracted killer T-cells to attack the tumor, said Colin Self, a researcher at Newcastle University, who led the studies. The technique can help prevent damage to healthy tissue because the covered antibodies are dormant in the body unless lit up, Self said. “What happens in cancer is the body can’t mount a response to cure cancer,” he said. “This is a way of waking the system up. The antibodies will have their local effect but the hope in all of this is you are bringing in the whole immune system.” So far there are about 20 approved monoclonal antibody-based drugs used to fight cancer and other diseases. The technique could work with any of these treatments to fight a whole range of cancers, so long as doctors are able to find a way to shine a light on a tumor, Self said. “You are getting a double whammy,” he said. “A stronger effect and you can direct the antibody.” While the studies show promise, the technique is years away for human use and faces a long regulatory road and tough clinical trials before any approval, said David Glover, an independent pharmaceutical consultant. “There are a lot of hurdles ahead,” Glover told a news conference. “We do not want people to think there is a magic bullet right around the corner. The next step is initial clinical trials in skin cancer patients, which Self said he hoped to begin early in 2008 provided he could find funding for the research.

Tabu for the Oscars?

Tabu for the Oscars?
31 Oct, 2007 08:52 am IST l Urvashi Ashar/INDIATIMES MOVIES

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There was a lot of brouhaha when Eklavya was chosen as India’s official entry to the Oscars. And while the Chopra camp got enough and more flak from the Dharm team, Vidhu is busy lobbying on foreign shores. But guess who might have the last laugh? It’s none other than Mira Nair, who is making a point with The Namesake .

Producer Ronnie Screwvala and Mira Nair have quietly been doing their rounds of screenings of their film, The Namesake for the Oscar jury members and have been aggressively promoting the film. If the buzz and talk in international papers are to be believed then it looks like Tabu stands a very good chance to get nominated as best actor (female) in the main stream awards for her outstanding performance in the film.

The Namesake had also done very good business in the USA and had managed to impress both, the mainstream and NRI audience. Let’s wait and watch how far and wide this film actually manages to travel.

In the meantime, we are wondering about the Oscar news on Eklavya ? Vidhu?

SIM renting by cell cos raises terror alarm

NEW DELHI: While investigating suspected use of illegally-procured SIM cards by international terror networks, security agencies have stumbled upon a startling finding – many cellular service providers in the country have rented out thousands of SIMs to users whose identities they are not aware of.This is not only a clear violation of the law, which does not allow renting of SIMs, but also potentially raises the risk of terror groups misusing these cards. Most users of these rented SIMs are members of diplomatic missions and foreign tourists.

The licence agreement signed by telecom service providers clearly stipulates that SIMs must be sold and not rented out.

The agreement also lays down that repeated violations of the terms would invite penalties up to Rs 50 crore or withdrawal of the licence itself. Despite being bound by this agreement, Vodafone is learnt to have rented out approximately 4,000 domestic SIMs, Airtel 3,200 and Idea 3,400.

That these operators have rented out the SIMs in bulk through their agents and are not aware of the identities of all individuals who possess these cards, leaves ample scope for their misuse.

Reliance Retail plans to increase workforce to one million

NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding the unabated protests against its stores in some parts of the country, Reliance Retail is planning to increase its workforce to one million within the next four years. “We will be having a million people working for us within the next four years. What took Wal-Mart to achieve in 30 years, Mukesh Ambani plans to do that in four years,” Susan Bloch, chief culture officer of Reliance Retail Ltd., said at the Fortune Global Forum here.

Reliance Retail, which has earmarked an investment of $5 to 6 billion, launched its first fruit and vegetable stores called Reliance Fresh in November last year. Since then, the company has opened 300 stores in 30 cities. In August it opened its first hypermart — a mega store spread over 165,000 sq ft — in Ahmedabad. It has plans to open hypermarts in Jaipur, Jamnagar, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai before the end of this year and have 500 such stores in the country by 2010. The Fortune Global Forum, which brings the world’s top industry leaders together, is being held in India for the first time

Rajan gangster shot dead in mumbai

MUMBAI: On January 16, 1997, when veteran union leader Datta Samant was stepping out of his residence at Powai, Vijay Choudhary alias Pethe and his associate Vikram Sapte, both sharp shooters of the Guru Satam gang, pumped 18 bullets from point blank range killing the leader instantly. Ten years later, on Tuesday at 3.30 pm, Choudhary was shot dead in a joint operation by the Kolhapur police and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar, 400 km away in Kolhapur. Though Salaskar is credited for killing around 80criminals, mostly from the Arun Gawli gang, Tuesday’s encounter was the third such encounter where Salaskar had gone out of his jurisdiction and eliminated the target. Earlier, he had shot dead Jaggu Shetty and his two associates in Bangalore in 2001 and Namdeo Patil alias Namya in Pune in 1999.

Accoding to sources, Salaskar—who heads the Anti-Extortion Cell—had been on Choudhary’s trail for some time now. On Monday night, he received information that Choudhary would be visiting Kolhapur to meet his associates. Salaskar and his team—consisting of assistant inspectors Nitin Alaknure, Sudhir Daliv, Satish Mayekar, sub-inspector P Dhumal and others—then immediately rushed to Kolhapur and, with the help of deputy superintendent of police S Sukvinder, laid a trap on the Mumbai-Kolhapur highway. “After sub-inspector P Dhumal identified Choudhary he was asked to surender. But Choudhary fired at the officers and tried to escape. In retaliation, the police fired at him and injured him. He was rushed to the Kolhapur Civil hospital where he was declared dead,” said deputy commissioner of police Deven Bharti. The police have recovered a country-made revolver and a diary containing several contact numbers from his pocket. “Besides the Samant murder case, Choudhary was also wanted by the police in 10 other cases including the murder of builder Asmat Patel from Mira Road, Feroz Murad from Bandra, Shiv Sena activist Vikas Chavan from Saki Naka,” Bharti said. According to Salaskar, Choudhary was initially attached to the Chhota Rajan gang. But after the gang split, he switched his loyalty to Satam. Most of the extortions by the Satam gang were carried out by Choudhary who used to constantly shift his base from Mumbai to Dehra Dun, Uttarnchal and Kolhapur. Choudhary, who was arrested in Dehra Dun in 2003, was handed over to the Mumbai police which chargesheeted him in the Samant murder case but the Silvassa police took his custody as he was wanted in a few kidnapping cases there. In 2005, he managed to slip from their custody and remained absconding till date. The police investigations had stated that Samant’s murder was a fallout of inter-union rivalry at Premier Automobile Limited (PAL) where the leader had called a strike

World Cup winning team felicitated by PM

NEW DELHI, October 30: India‘s euphoric triumph in the recent Twenty20 cricket World Cup on Monday reached a high point with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh felicitating the winning team at his residence.It was a moment to cherish for captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men as they interacted with the Prime Minister and his wife Gursharan Kaur for close to 15 minutes.

The Prime Minister personally congratulated each member of the team and presented them with mementoes for their remarkable achievement.

Singh exchanged pleasantries with Dhoni and some other senior players like Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh.

After the interaction, the players posed with the Prime Minister for a group photograph as hordes of photographers captured the moment.

Minister of State PMO, Prithviraj Chauhan, Culture and Tourism Minister Ambika Soni and BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla were among those present at the brief function

Jab We Met : review

27 Oct 2007, 0115 hrs IST , Nikhat Kazmi , TNN

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doweshowbellyad=0; Jab We Met (romance) Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Direction: Imtiaz Ali Critic rating: downshowrating=1 FORGET Chup Chup Ke and 36 China Town . And forget all those stories about splitting and breaking. Because Jab We Met is Jab They Clicked. It finally has Shahid and Kareena crackling their chemistry in cracker form. The film’s a sparkler, from the word go. From the onset of the adventurous train journey that leaves Mumbai for Bhatinda with its quirky passenger duo of a phataka Kareena and an angry young boy-man Shahid, through the winding mossy ways of the heartland (literally, so), till its final filmy destination, the film’s a warm and stylish voyage that gently carries you along. Thematically, you might call it a shaken and stirred mix of Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge . Kareena and Shahid are two strangers who meet on a train and end up missing the train, as Bhatinda kudi Kareena tries to get the poor little, and lost, rich boy, Shahid back on the train as he wanders aimlessly on the platform, in search of a rhyme and reason. But that’s just the beginning of a strange new journey where two mismatched souls find a connection, despite their differences and alternate love stories. Director Imtiaz Ali displays the elegance in narration which was amply visible in his debut venture Socha Na Tha . But here, he evolves further and incorporates masala in just the perfect measure. Essentially, the film belongs to Shahid and Kareena who pitch in memorable performances and lend a whole new meaning to the boy-meets-girl story. Add to this Pritam’s riveting music score with sizzling numbers like Mauja hi Mauja , juxtaposed against Mohit Chauhan’s soothing romantic ballad and you have a spunky new love story to moon over. Watch out for Shahid’s winning histrionics. Quite, quite mesmerising. Read Indiatimes review