No heavy vehicles on Mumbai-Goa highway during Ganapati festival
30/08/2019, AJEET MAHALE,MUMBAI

High demand: Eco-friendly clay idols from Mylapore in Chennai on display at Mumbai’s Matunga market on Thursday, ahead of Ganesh Chathurthi. Prashant Nakwe

No heavy vehicles carrying goods or freight will be allowed on the -Goa highway during the period of Ganapati festival to ease the congestion as a large number of people travel to their home towns.

The State government announced on Thursday that trucks or large trailers carrying bulky goods will not be permitted on the road. Only essential goods such as milk, petrol, fruits and vegetables, and liquid oxygen for medical use will be allowed.

The ban on heavy vehicles will be in force in three phases spanning 10-day-long festivities.

The first phase will start at 8 p.m. on Friday and go on till noon on September 2, which is the first day of the festival.

The ban will also be in force from September 7 to September 8 and from September 12 to September 13. On the other days — September 3 to September 6 and September 9 to September 11 — heavy vehicles will not be allowed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

“Given the number of people who go to their home towns during the festival, we have taken this decision to make their journey easy and safe. We will also run more State transport buses on the route to clear the extra rush,” State Transport Minister Diwakar Raote said.

Railways to pay ₹20,000 for serving contaminated food

30/08/2019, STAFF REPORTER,NEW DELHI

A district consumer disputes redressal forum here has directed the Northern Railway to compensate a complainant by paying ₹20,000 after an insect was spotted in the food provided to the complainant during his journey to Delhi.

The directions came when complainant Pankaj Bansal moved the consumer forum alleging deficiency in services on the part of the railways.

Noting that despite the man lodging a complaint, no action was taken, the consumer panel observed, “We find that [Northern Railway] was deficient in its services as despite having a grievance cell and maintaining a complaint book, no action on the complaint was taken. Therefore, having a grievance call and maintaining a complaint book seems to be farce and eye wash for the public at large.”

Free travel for women gets Cabinet nod

30/08/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

The Delhi Cabinet on Thursday accorded in-principle approval to free travel for women aboard Delhi Transport Corporation and cluster buses beginning October 29, the State government said in a statement.

Alliance Air, AI Express ban single use plastics

30/08/2019,NEW DELHI

Air India subsidiaries Alliance Air and Air India Express have stopped usage of single use plastics from Thursday, including the use of 200 ml water bottles. Plastic cutlery and tea cups served on-board will also be replaced with eco-friendly options.

Patna HC withdraws judicial work from judge
Bench suspends order issued by him
30/08/2019, , SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,PATNA

Justice Rakesh Kumar ANI

The High Court has withdrawn all judicial work from a sitting senior judge of the court, Rakesh Kumar, who had in the course of hearing a corruption case against a former IAS officer on Wednesday highlighted the state of corruption in the judicial system. A 11-judge bench also suspended Justice Kumar’s order and ruled that no action ordered by him would be taken.

‘No jurisdiction’

“All the matters pending before Hon’ble Mr. Justice Rakesh Kumar, sitting singly including tied up/part heard or otherwise stand withdrawn with immediate effect,” read a notice issued by the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court on August 28. “The registrar will implement the order forthwith subject to further orders with regard to the formation of the bench,” the bench said in the notice. The bench also observed that their fellow judge had no “jurisdiction to pass such an order on a case that had been closed.”

T.N. top priority for Central govt., says Union Minister
Gowda asks CIPET students, staff to adopt villages and make them plastic-free

30/08/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Union Minister Sadananda Gowda inaugurating the boys hostel on CIPET campus in Chennai on Thursday. G. Sribharath

Tamil Nadu is a top priority for the Central government and the demands from the State will be attended to promptly, said Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers D.V. Sadananda Gowda.

He inaugurated the nine-storey boys hostel at the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET) on Thursday.

The facility, built on 9,750 square metres, can accommodate 950 students in a total of 191 rooms. In addition, 25 more hostels will be constructed in CIPET centres across the country.

Addressing the gathering, the Minister requested people of Tamil Nadu to actively participate in making the country free from single use plastics.

He asked the students and staff of the CIPET to adopt a few villages near Chennai on October 2 and make them free of single use plastics.

The proposal to establish a technology centre at CIPET Chennai at a cost of ₹88.25 crore with advance machinery worth ₹4.35 crore was under consideration, he added.

Following the decision to make country free of single use plastics, his Ministry got many representations. Subsequently, an expert committee, comprising researchers and industrial members, was formed.

“They have done a detailed study on how to eradicate single use plastic and their alternatives among other factors. They have already submitted a draft and it is currently being examined along with the Union Ministry of Environment,” he said.

The Minister said plastic waste management centres will be set up in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Patna and Varnasi at a cost of ₹six crore each.

Packaged food

Saidapet MLA Ma. Subramanian said that when he was the Chennai Mayor he banned use of plastic in beaches and hill stations. “Many food industries use coated plastic for packaging. The Central government should direct such industries not to use coated plastic and promote biodegradable plastic,” he said.

Judge explains right usage of legal terms

30/08/2019, STAFF REPORTER, ,MADURAI

A session on the conduct of criminal cases was held on the District Court premises here on Tuesday. Principal District Judge A. Nazeema Banu addressed the panel advocates of the District Legal Services Authority.

Speaking at the event, she said that under Section 304 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, it was the bounden duty of the State to provide legal aid to those who could not afford legal representation. Similarly Article 39A of the Constitution ensured free legal aid to the needy.

Elaborating on various procedures under the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Penal Code on the conduct of criminal cases, she said that the usage of the terms ‘Private Complaint’ and ‘Charge Sheet’ were colloquial in nature.

For Private Complaint under Section 244 of the CrPC, the right term was warrant case initiated otherwise than on a police report.

The right usage for the term charge sheet under Section 173 of CrPC was Final Report, she said.

While framing a charge under Section 211 of the CrPC, the contents must include the time, place and date of the occurrence, which should be mentioned in the language of the court, she said.

The fine amount payable for petty cases could be made through post,the Judge added.