Maharashtra
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut terms ED an ‘extortionist’ and BJP’s ‘ATM’
Making a sensational allegation, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is running extortion rackets in Maharashtra and West Bengal and has become the ‘ATM’ of the BJP, with activist Kirit Somaiya acting as their ‘collection agent’.
“The maximum operations of the ED and Income Tax Department are in Maharashtra and West Bengal. Today, a series of ITD raids are being carried out in Maharashtra,” said Shiv Sena Chief Spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut.
The ED-ITD have carried out 14 operations in Maharashtra and 7 in West Bengal with the sole design of instilling fear and toppling the two states’ governments, he told a media conference.
Flanked by Mumbai South Sena MP Arvind Sawant, Raut said in the past few years, the ED has zeroed in on around 100 top builders and corporate houses to ‘extort’ hundreds of crores of rupees from them, with Somaiya acting as their conduit.
He claimed that one Jitendra Chandralal Navlani, who is a director in 7 companies is acting as the keeper of the ill-gotten wealth and ‘benami properties’ of ED officials and BJP leaders.
“The ED started ‘investigating’ these builders and corporate houses, but soon afterwards large sums of monies were transferred from various targeted persons to Navlani’s seven companies. Who is he and what are his connections with the BJP leaders? Will the ED-ITD take action against him, as they keep doing against us?” demanded Raut.
He listed the names of the chemicals giant United Phosphorus Ltd, the mega-engineering company Larsen & Toubro, K. Raheja Pvt Ltd, DHFL, builder Avinash Bhosale, IndiaBulls, HDIL, Omkar Realty, Wadhwa Realty, Inorbit Malls, DB Realty, Panorama Studios, Pallazio Hotels, Gaylord Co Ltd, Monsher Fire Protection Systems Pvt Ltd, Nerka Chemicals, and others who allegedly coughed out monies to Navlani’s various companies.
He said after these ‘bribe’ monies were transferred, the ED went slow, did not arrest, weaken case or exonerated the accused, but where the public pressure was huge or backlash from courts was expected, they made some arrests, but took care that their families were protected and all their assets were not seized to broker a deal later, with persons like Somaiya.
Dismissing outright the allegations against him, Somaiya told mediapersons that he has no connections with Navlani or any of the other persons mentioned by Raut and denied that he is an ‘agent’ for the ED, but vowed to continue his crusade against the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Raut reiterated that on February 28, he had submitted a detailed 13-page complaint to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, and is awaiting action.
The Sena MP said he has also given around 50 names to the ED-ITD with thousands of documentary evidence, but till date no action has been taken on it, and said that those tasked with prevention of money-laundering have themselves become money-launderers.
He charged the ED with doing the government’s bidding to threaten, intimidate, fix political opponents and dissenters and in turn, the ED officers run their massive extortion rackets of crores of rupees which are laundered or held through fronts and mules like Navlani, Farid Sama and many others.
“There are many names and many particulars which will shock the conscience,” Raut wrote to the PM.
“Today, our Sena leader Arvind Bhosale has submitted a detailed complaint on these matters to the Mumbai Police which will soon start its probe. Somaiya, his son Neil Somaiya will definitely go to jail, besides other officials,” Raut declared.
Maharashtra
We will take initiative on the problems of Mumbai University – Ambadas Danve
Mumbai: Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Ambadas Danve said that the government will take initiative regarding the vacant posts of teachers in Mumbai University, enrollment of colleges, and pending development works by MMRDA. Today he visited the Kalina campus and took stock of the problems and current situation of the students.
Delay in development works of the university
An agreement was signed between Mumbai University and MMRDA for the beautification of the Kalina campus and construction of buildings for educational purposes. But this work has not been done till now and concerns were raised about the completion of these works.
Issue of safety of students
Every day five to six thousand students visit the Kalina campus, but incidents of attacks on female students are increasing due to outside elements. Also, the Bit Chowki near the main entrance was demolished in the name of widening the road, which increased the threat to the safety of girl students, this issue was raised by Senate member Sheetal Devrukhkar-Sheth.
Issue of cancellation of teacher recruitment
Instead of improving the quality of education, the decision to cancel the teacher recruitment is proving to be harmful for the students, Senate member Milind Satam reported.
Challenge to the international recognition of the university
Despite getting international recognition, the students are facing problems due to the problems of Mumbai University, which is unfortunate, said Ambadas Danve. Students from all over the country and abroad come here to study, so it is important to solve these problems, he said.
Vice Chancellor Dr. Ravindra Kulkarni, Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr. Ajay Bhamare, local MLA Vilas Potnis, Senate members Sheetal Devrukhkar-Sheth, Milind Satam, Kisan Sawant, Param Yadav and other dignitaries were present in this meeting.
Danve resolved to raise voice with the government on the problems of the university and play an active role in the interest of the students.
Maharashtra
‘Water Grid’ project for Marathwada: Gulabrao Patil
Mumbai: The ‘Marathwada Water Grid’ scheme is being implemented to permanently solve the water shortage in Marathwada and ensure robust water supply. Under this project, 11 major dams of Marathwada will be connected through pipelines and drinking water will be provided to cities and villages across the region. Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Gulabrao Patil gave information about the project and said that this project will provide sustainable water supply to Marathwada.
The cooperation of global level banks will be taken to implement this scheme, Patil said. A review meeting was held with representatives of global banks in the ministry regarding this project. Many important officials including Principal Secretary of Water Supply and Sanitation Department Sanjay Khandare, Member Secretary of Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran Abhishek Krishna, Chief Executive Officer of ‘Mitra’ Praveensinh Pardeshi, Director of Jal Jeevan Mission Abhiyan E Ravindran, and Secretary of Water Resources Department Sanjay Belsare were present in this meeting.
Long-term water supply to Marathwada will be ensured through this project. Along with this, as per the advice of the central government, the project will be set up and implemented by taking loans from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and New Development Bank. The implementation of the project will be coordinated by the ‘Mitra’ institution, as told by Minister Gulabrao Patil.
The ‘Mitra’ institution has taken the initiative to discuss the project further and coordinate with the concerned banks. Patil expressed confidence that the project will significantly help in solving the water problem of Marathwada.
Maharashtra
The state government is preparing to bring private kindergartens under its control
Mumbai: The lack of educational facilities, midday meals for children, and proper implementation of government schemes in private schools running in the streets of the state has increased the concern of parents. As a measure against this, the School Education Department has started preparing a new manual to bring private schools under government control.
According to the new National Education Policy, pre-primary education for children between 3 and 6 years of age has been considered important, and it is proposed to include private schools in this policy as well. Currently, many schools running in the streets are running without any manual and are out of the control of the local administration. It has been assured that a suitable educational environment will be created for the children under this new rule of the Education Department.
Under the new regulations, educational curriculum for children will be implemented in the balwadis, along with midday meals and appropriate schemes for the physical and mental development of children. This is expected to provide quality education to the children.
It has not yet been decided which department will control these balwadis – the School Education Department, the Women and Child Welfare Department, and the Integrated Child Development Services Department. However, it is believed that this decision will reduce the anxiety of parents and improve the educational quality of children.
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