THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABADTHURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 20154 TIMES
CITY
Ahmedabad: A new controlroom to view CCTV footagefrom cameras
installed at im-portant points in the city be-came operational in
the com-pound at the Policecommissioner’s Office in Shahi-baugh.
“This control room is ad-dition to the monitoring systemalready
installed at the controlroom in Shahibaugh,” said a se-nior police
officer.
Sources in the police saidthat it will be possible to zoomand
pan CCTV cameras fromthe new control room itself.“The cameras
installed by thepolice under the Suraksha Setuinitiative will
transmit the foot-age to the newly set up controlroom,” said a
source.
The control room has beenmade operational mainly tokeep close
watch on mischief-makers and other anti-social ele-ments during the
two mega
events, Pravasi Bharatiya Divasand Vibrant Gujarat Summit.
Further, to enhance securityfor the two high-profile
events,special police have been de-ployed at the Kankaria Lake
andthe riverfront where differentprogrammes will be held during
the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.Meanwhile, on Wednesday,
the military police met seniorpolice officials. Sources said
thatat some places, apart from theNSG and the SPG, personnel ofthe
military police will also keepan eye on the goings-on.
It Has Become Operational On The Campus Of Police Commissioner’s
Office
The cameras installed by the police under the Suraksha Setu
initiativewill transmit the footage to the newly set up control
room
TOI
New control room monitors CCTV footage
Ahmedabad: The US secretary of stateJohn Kerry will be
high-lighting the critical rolethat American technologyplays in
supporting sus-tainable economic growthacross India during the
Vi-brant Gujarat Summit
(VGS).Kerry is scheduled to attend the inau-
gural session of VGS where he will besharing dais with Prime
Minister Naren-dra Modi and other head from differentcountries.
“The secretary will join leading USbusiness executives and
innovators at thesummit to highlight the critical role that
US technology plays in supporting sus-tainable economic growth
across Indiaand the Indo-Pacific region,” said a USgovernment
spokesperson during an offi-cial press briefing.
Kerry, who will reach Ahmedabad onJanuary 10, will also
highlight the role oftechnology in strengthening trade and
in-vestment between India and the US, headded.
The US secretary of state’s participa-tion in VGS assumes
significance as thisis for the first time that the US has becomea
partner country for the biennial event ofthe Gujarat government. It
has furthersignificance as US President Barak Oba-ma is scheduled
to be the chief guest forthe 66th Republic Day on January 26.
John Kerry to focus on roleof US tech in India’s growth
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Ahmedabad: She has been aninexorable force in sustainingthe
battle against litter. Fromgalvanizing the Walled Cityresidents to
give up plastic toturning Khanpur apartmentsinto a near zero-waste
zone,Phani Trivedi has been striv-ing to make the
societybetter.
Now, the city-based entre-preneur is inspiring guests ofPravasi
Bharatiya Divas (PBD)and Vibrant Gujarat Global In-vestors’ Summit
to take apledge to shun harmful plasticand to handle their
householdwaste in an environment-friendly way.
Trivedi was associated withTOI’s I Lead India campaignlast year
to promote cleanli-ness in the Walled City. She re-cently won
support from alarge number of trainees fromBelgium, Taiwan,
Indonesia,Russia and Iran. Alongside
Phani, they make representa-tions on waste managementpractices
followed in theircountries to school students inAhmedabad.
Now, she has taken the TOIcampaign to next level and setup a
stall at Mahatma Mandirwith the theme ‘Zero WasteChallenge’.
Capitalizing on thepopularity of the ALS ice buck-et challenge,
Phani has con-ceived of the ‘zero waste chal-
lenge’ to motivate people towork for cleaner and greenersociety.
“Unlike ice bucketchallenge where a participanthas to dump a bucket
of coldwater over his head, this chal-lenge asks people to
simplypledge to make world litterfree,” Phani said.
She is providing guests awaste management blueprintto reuse,
recycle and recover or-ganic waste and devise a profit-able
business that can attractcommercial investment. Phaniis also
educating visitors howto produce quality fertilizefrom kitchen
waste using bio-culture, a multiple spore blendof bacteria that
controls odors,removes organic waste com-pounds and accelerates
degra-dation.
Phani Trivedi
TOI
Litter blaster to press forzero-waste zone in old city
[email protected] least 110 trusts have sent
proposals forsigning expression of interest (EOI) with thestate
government for setting up schools inGujarat. Officials said that
this is the first timesuch a large number of trusts have
comeforward to sign EOIs for schools. Sources,however, said the
enthusiasm of the trusts isbased on expectations that the
government mayhelp them acquire land at subsidized rates.
Of these 110 trusts, 30 are already runningschools. It is worth
recalling that only one trusthad signed an EOI with the state
government in2013 for starting a school in Gandhinagar. Thetrust
recently commenced operations in GIFTCity in Gandhinagar. A senior
governmentofficial said that of the 110 trusts which had
sentproposals for EOIs, one wants to start a chain ofschools while
another is keen to open schools in10 major towns and cities of the
state. Thegovernment has decided that as a large numberof trusts
are keen to sign EOIs for schools, thegovernment will come out with
a separate policyfor schools soon after the Vibrant GujaratSummit.
The policy will lay down parameters forgiving land at subsidized
rates and even offer thetrusts defunct government schools to run.
Theschools may be asked to have one class each forpoor students,
the official said.
The official further said that soon after thevibrant summit, the
officials will hold one-to-onediscussions with trust
representatives and givesingle window clearance for schools. All
the trustwill run schools with classes from Std I to XII andwill be
affiliated either with the state board orthe Central Board Of
Secondary Education.
Cheap land hopes: 110 trustspropose EOIs for schools
[email protected] Gujarat Pradesh Congress has issued
arural bandh call on Saturday, to registerprotest against
increasing incidents of lawand order failure and to protest against
theapathy towards the cotton farmers in thestate. State Congress
president ArjunModhwadia and leader of oppositionShankersinh
Vaghela, in a joint mediainteraction, said that cotton farmers
arecrying foul as they are getting a price of Rs830 per 20-kg bale,
while this was Rs 987 lastyear. The party threatened to stage a
dharnaat Gandhi Ashram on January 12 and 13. “Wehave demanded
permission, but if police failto give permission, we will not
hesitate to callfor a rasta roko programme,” the duo said.
The two claimed that the support pricesof not just cotton but
market price of otherproduce was also lower than in 2013-14.
TheCongress claimed the number of farmers,which according to the
2001 census was58.02 lakh, has fallen now to 54.49 lakhaccording to
the 2011 census. The Congresshas also decided to support the
January 11‘Kisan Kuch’ call given by several farmers’organizations.
Vaghela said that law andorder was deteriorating and in the last
13years there were 62,669 incidents of housebreak-ins and 2.28 lakh
incidents of theft. Inall, around 15.43 lakh criminal
complaintswere lodged under various heads in the 13years from 2001
to 2013. Congress leaderscalled the Vibrant Gujarat Investors
Summita“drama” and “a party to drink and enjoy”.They claimed the
government is spendingaround Rs 2,250 to Rs 7,500 per plate
fordinners of the guests at these events. TNN
Cong calls for bandhagainst rise in crime
Ahmedabad: Gujarat highcourt on Wednesday changedthe judge in
the 2008 serialblasts trial. It has replacedprincipal sessions
judge P BDesai with additional ses-sions judge P C Rawal for
thespeedy trial in the sensitiveterrorist attack case.
The HC replaced Desai af-ter he himself raised the is-sue before
acting chief jus-tice V M Sahai that theundertrial prisoners had
ob-jected to special prosecutor HM Dhruv’s appearance in thiscase.
This was because thejudge and the prosecutorwere relatives.
Dhurv, who appeared onbehalf of former ministerMaya Kodnani in
the NarodaGam masscare case beforejudge Desai, sought to retirefrom
this case. But despitethe objection from the ac-cused persons,
Dhruv did notmove out of the serial blaststrial against 75 alleged
Indi-an Mujahideen members forcarrying out 18 blasts in thecity,
killing 56 persons, on Ju-ly 26, 2008. They are also be-ing tried
for planning 30bomb blasts in Surat a day later.
The controversy began assoon as judge Desai was des-ignated as
special judge tolook after this case on Octo-ber 14 last year. One
of the ac-cused, Salim Sipahi, had al-ready requested the highcourt
that a judge other thanthe principal judge be ap-pointed as
presiding officerof this trial for speedy pro-ceedings, because the
princi-pal judge is occupied with ad-ministrative work.
The HC, however, turneddown Sipahi’s application af-ter
assessing the work under-taken by Desai’s predecessorK K Bhatt.
Later, principaljudge Desai himself request-ed the acting chief
justice toreplace him.
There are nearly 2,600 wit-nesses in this case and duringover
two years of trial, only349 witnesses could be exam-ined by the
special court.
Trial court judge in2008 serial blasts
case changed
File photo of blast in LG Hospital
TOI
Ahmedabad:A complaint forassault and using abusive lan-guage was
lodged againstcouncillor of Danilimda wardShezadkhan Pathan, his
un-cle Sharifkhan NawabkhanPathan who is a builder, andanother
accused Lalakhan ofShah-e-Alam, at Danilimdapolice station on
Tuesdaynight.
Danilimda police sourcessaid Nasimbanu Shaikh andher husband had
gone to afunction of M S School in Da-nilimda. “Sharifkhan and
theothers are trustees of M SSchool and entry to the func-tion was
allowed on passes,”said inspector of Danilimda
police station, Moin Shaikh.Nasimbanu and the others
accompanying her and no pas-ses and were stopped at thegate.
“Later Nasimbanulodged a complaint that the ac-cused used abusive
languageand beat them up,” addedShaikh.
Later, a cross complaint bythe school authorities waslodged,
alleging that Nasim-banu Shaikh, her husbandAbidhussain Shaikh and
an-other person used abusive lan-guage and got into a fight
withthem.
“We are investigating bothcomplaints and will only actafter
verifying the facts ofboth complaints,” said inspec-tor Shaikh.
Councillor, 2 othersaccused of assault
Ahmedabad: Be ‘Kaan-sen’ notTansen. That was Pandit Shiv-kumar
Sharma’s advice to lis-teners, issued while speaking toTOI. One of
the greatest gifts tomusic seekers from PanditSharma — the santoor
maestroamong the supreme beings ofthe Hindustani tradition — ishis
reassurance that they neednot feel inadequate when facedwith the
purity of classical mu-sic. Kaan means ear. So Panditjiis telling
us to put experienceabove analysis. Often, adminis-trators of
creativity pretend thatunintelligibility is the mark ofartistic
sophistication.
Howard Jacobson, a Britishnovelist, shows in his book‘Whatever
It Is, I Don’t Like It’,that such notions stick like birdfaeces,
especially on the highbrow. Jacobson writes of Nicho-las Serota,
who is supervisingthe shortlist for the Turnerprize, a British art
award thatproduces masterpieces of intel-lectual fuss. “I don’t
feel anypressure to make it easier for or-dinary people to
understand,”Jacobson quotes Serota as say-
ing. Then Jacobson goes on tosay: “Had any one of us inno-cently
enquired what extraor-dinary powers were needed tounderstand a blob
of Blu-tack,we would only have demonstrat-ed our ignorance.”
Blu-tack is anadhesive which an artist hadstuck to the wall as his
expres-sion of imagination.
However, on Tuesday — Day6 of Saptak — Pandit Sharmaencouraged
the audience tomake enquiries, to interrogatethemselves about the
feelingsthat music provokes. “Indianmusic goes beyond
entertain-ment,” Panditji had told TOI ear-lier. And rasikas felt
the full po-
tency of that maxim as Panditjirendered Malkauns. It is a
ragathat stands at the farthest end ofhuman accomplishment.
Theraga’s notations do not form aclear map — they suggest
onlypremonitions, moods, and shad-owy incantations on truth.
Pan-ditji interpreted the clues easily,and showed the audience
aglimpse of their lives from theMalkauns summit. TakahiroAri, a
Japanese disciple of Pan-ditji, gave the back-story of theascent.
“Guruji asked me what Iwanted to hear,” Takahiro said.“I said
Malkauns because I havenever heard him play that.” AndGuruji was
generous to all.
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma at Saptak festival
TOI
Masterclass on inner voice
Ahmedabad: Gujarat highcourt dropped criminal pro-ceedings
against a generalmanager of Bank of Baroda’sSouth Gujarat Zone,
initiatedby a Vadodara magisterialcourt for cheating and notobeying
the mandate of hisduty.
This bank official, Vijay-kumar Bhatia, was sued byone Vasudev
Thakker after hefailed to draw Rs 30,000 froman ATM in one go on
July 16,2013. After he tried to with-draw the amount three timesby
entering an amount of Rs10,000, he them got one cur-rency Rs 100
instead of Rs 500.
The loss of Rs 400 ledThakker to raise the issue be-fore Bhatia,
who expressedhelplessness in this regard.Thakker moved a
magisterialcourt in Vadodara and filed acriminal complaint
againstBhatia under Sections 188, 406and 420 of the IPC. The
courteven started proceedingsagainst him. TNN
HC dropscheating caseagainst bank
manager
The Income Tax departmentwill hold public meetings
everyWednesday to resolve tax-payers’ grievances and tax is-sues as
part of the ‘Good Gov-ernance’ initiative mooted byPrime Minister
Narendra Modi.The Central Board of DirectTaxes, the apex policy
makingbody of the I-T department, hasissued latest instructions
inthis regard under which seniorofficials of the departmentacross
the country have beenasked to meet taxpayers be-tween 10 AM-1 PM on
one dayin a week, without prior ap-pointment.
Ceptians in Vibrant StartUp Challenge: Four Cept Uni-versity
students AbhishekDoshi, Chiranjay Shah, JaydipBiniwale and Shaival
Gajjar willtake part in Vibrant Start UpChallenge. The winners will
getto present their idea at VibrantGujarat Global CEO Conclavewhich
will be attended by the
likes of Mark Zuckerberg, BillClinton, Bill Gates and
PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.
HC official transferred:Gujarat high court on Wednes-day
transferred judicial officerP C Rawal to the city civilcourt. He
was discharging hisduty as additional registrar inthe high court.
He has beenposted as additional sessionsjudge now.
Book Launch: The Extraor-dinary Story of Prince Go-paldas Desai
(1887-1951)’ writ-ten by Prof Rajmohan Gandhi:The incredible
journey of Dar-bar (prince) Gopaldas Desai,from the royal court to
thefreedom movement was revi-sited at the launch of a bookcalled
‘Prince of Gujarat: TheExtraordinary Story of PrinceGopaldas Desai
(1887-1951)’ atthe IIT-Gn on Wednesday. Dis-tinguished
Scholar-in-Resi-dence at IIT-Gn Prof RajmohanGandhi, who authored
thebook, was joined by writer andjournalist Aakar Patel for
aconversation on the book.
CITY DIGEST
I-T Dept to holdweekly meeting
Phani Trivedi isinspiring guests ofPravasi BharatiyaDivas (PBD)
andVibrant Gujarat GlobalInvestors’ Summit totake a pledge to
shunharmful plastic
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