Misappropriation smelt in Mangaluru Indira Canteen
Members allege irregularities
Mayor promises of taking action
Mangaluru, December 26: As corporators alleged misappropriation in the Indira canteens in the city limits, mayor Bhaskar K promised of taking action if the allegation is proved.
The corporators raised the issue in the city corporation general body meeting chaired by Mayor Bhaskar K here on Wednesday.
In the meeting, member Vijay Kumar said that except Lady Goshan, misappropriation was smelt in all Indira Canteens. In some canteens, though 100 members have breakfast and lunch, they produce the bills of 500 customers. The city corporation has already provided Rs 70 lakh to maintain the canteens. A good scheme is suspected to be misused in the city, he said.
Responding to the allegation, the mayor said that he would ask the authorities to visit the canteens and check the CCTV footage to identify the misappropriation and take action.
Street lights to be converted into LED
When the corporators raised the issue of mismanagement of street lights, Corporation Commissioner Muhammad Nazeer said that all street lights in the city would be converted into LED lights, for which a tender would be called in a couple of days.
Members angry over UGD problem
Corporator Madhukiran alleged that UGD water is flowing in the open drainage in the city causing health problems. Another member Abdur Ravoof also said though Septic Treatment Plants (STPs) have commissioned in Bazal, Padeel, Faizal areas, they were not functioning properly.
Reacting to it, the Commissioner said that the UGD works under KUDSEMP works, second stage ADB project, Smart City Project and Amruth Project were taken up in the city at a cost of Rs 507 crore.
On Pachchanadi dumping yard problem, the Commissioner said that spot inspection was done. There was a complaint that the garbage was being dumped from other places during night. In order to keep a vigil on it, authorities were directed to install CCTV cameras and close compound gate, he said.
Deputy mayor Muhammad K, standing committee presidents Praveen Chandra Alva, Naveen D’Souza, Radhakrishna, Latha Salian were present.
Bill payment issue rocks corporation meeting
When member Dayananda Shetty raised the issue that the bills of contractors of various development works in the city corporation limits were not cleared for the last 11 months, Opposition Leader Premananda Shetty said that the corporation has to clear more than Rs 50 crore dues. As a result, the development works were suspended. How the quality works could be expected from the contractors, he asked.
Demanding the financial status of the corporation, Premananda Shetty said that lot of programmes were sanctioned under general funds. But he has doubt about the funds to be provided to such works. If the election is announced, the works would be hampered, he said.
Commissioner Nazeer said that bill payment on general funds was being made in three sections. Bills related to maintenance were cleared up to November, while bills of water supply and UGD were cleared up to July. But the bills of other works were pending for the last one year. Property tax from February to April would be collected. At this time, the bills of the contractors would be cleared and this is the regular process, he said.
But the Opposition members were not happy about the answer. Chief Whip Shashidhar Hegde said that such development works which were not taken up in the history of the corporation, have been completed in the last five years, for which ruling party members applauded.
When Hegde continued his speech, opposition member Poornima objected to it and went before the mayor chair and alleged that no action was taken to supply 24*7 water and all his claims are false.
Due to war of words between ruling and opposition parties, commotion created in the house. When the opposition members demanded resolution on bill clearance, mayor Bhaskar opposed it saying that the corporation would take action. He has sought special funds from the Chief Minister and it would come within a week, he said.
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After 17 years in exile, BNP leader Tarique Rahman returns to Dhaka to rousing welcome
Dhaka (PTI): Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) acting chairman Tarique Rahman returned home to a rousing welcome on Thursday after over 17 years in self-exile, a move that is expected to energise his party workers ahead of the February 12 parliamentary elections.
Rahman, the 60-year-old son of ailing former prime minister Khaleda Zia, has emerged as a leading contender for prime ministership in the polls even as the country's Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami has been trying to expand its support base.
The homecoming of the BNP heir apparent comes amid a fresh wave of unrest and political instability gripping Bangladesh following the killing of prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi, who was a prominent face in last year's mass protests that forced the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina government.
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Rahman, accompanied by wife Zubaida and daughter Zaima, was received at the Hazrat Shahjalal International airport in Dhaka by BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and other senior party leaders amid tight security.
BNP emerged as the forerunner to capture power in the February polls as former prime minister Hasina's Awami League party has been barred from contesting the election.
Jamaat-e-Islami, the BNP's coalition partner during its 2001-2006 tenure in power, has emerged as its main rival in the upcoming polls after the interim government blocked Awami League's participation under the country's tough Anti-Terrorism Act.
After BNP announced Rahman's plan to return from London, he had said, "like any child, he longs to be near his critically ill mother at her moment of crisis."
Rahman's return to Dhaka also comes at a time Bangladesh-India relations are on a sharp downturn.
The BNP leader left the airport in a bulletproof bus. He is set to attend a mass reception with tens of thousands of his supporters waiting to greet him.
Rahman is also expected to go to see his octogenarian ailing mother and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, at the nearby Evercare hospital.
Before leaving the airport Rahman held a phone conversation with interim government chief Muhammad Yunus, BNP’s media cell said.
It is not immediately known what transpired in the phone conversation.
Zia, a three-time prime minister, has been undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit (ICU) at the hospital.
Around 4,000 army personnel, paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and police in riot gear and plainclothes were deployed in Dhaka to ensure Rahman's security.
"We have enforced an overt and covert security vigil," a senior police official earlier said as supporters queued in long lines on both sides of the street from the airport to the reception site.
Civil aviation authorities disallowed any use of drones near the airport and the Evercare hospital and restricted photography at the reception site.
Bangladesh witnessed violent protests after the death of Hadi. His killing has also triggered some fresh strain in India-Bangladesh ties.
India on Tuesday sought a thorough probe into Hadi's death. India's call for a detailed probe into the case came as unsubstantiated allegations about an Indian hand in Hadi's death triggered anti-India sentiment in Bangladesh.
The relations between India and Bangladesh came under strain after the interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus came to power following the collapse of the Hasina government.
India has been expressing concerns over attacks on minorities, especially Hindus, in that country.
