All talk of FDI is plain deception, says Saamna on

5
TIMES CITY
THE TIMES OF INDIA, MUMBAI
SATURDAY, JULY 4, 2015
All talk of FDI is plain deception, House help who drugged,
says Saamna on Fadnavis’ US trip robbed Malad couple held
Nitasha.Natu@timesgroup.com
From P 1
T
he Saamna comment could embarrass the Fadnavis government at a time when the Centre
has sought a report on the June 29 delay of the Mumbai-Newark Air India
flight after Pardeshi “forgot” to bring
his passport with a valid US visa to
the airport, said analysts.
That the Sena is an ally in the BJP
government at the Centre and in the
state as well has made matters delicate for Fadnavis who has been feverishly tweeting on the visa row.
Fadnavis, in a series of tweets on
Wednesday, denied that the MumbaiNewark flight was delayed because of
him. The chief minister has threatened action against the media for carrying reports holding him responsible for the delay.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis addressing investors in New York earlier this week
It referred to media reports that
despite not possessing a visa, Pardeshi was given a boarding pass,
which compelled the airline to offload him when the scheduled time of
departure drew close. Saamna said,
“This shows that it is the VIPs who
pose the biggest threat to security.
The authorities should take due cognizance of this.”
“Could rules have been violated in
the case of a common citizen or a
physically challenged person?”
asked Saamna. “One needs to find out
the ‘muhurat’ on which Fadnavis
took his oath of office as chief minister,” said Saamna, adding, “Why
should all this happen to Fadnavis
within a year in office?” a reference to
the recent controversies involving
BJP ministers Vinod Tawde and Pankaja Munde in e-tender cases.
Going a step further, Saamna
poured ridicule on Fadnavis’ trip to
US to generate investment in Maharashtra. “All talk of foreign investment is plain deception...Many Maharashtra CMs inked MoUs during
their stint in office. Did a single pen-
Doctors call off strike after
govt promises stipend hike
PATIENTS GET THE SHORT SHRIFT
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai: Resident doctors’ stir across Maharashtra ended
on Friday after the state government raised their stipend and
assured better security arrangements. Patients, though, suffered in public hospitals as many
were referred to private hospitals and discharged abruptly;
surgeries were cancelled too.
TIMES VIEW : The strike
has ended but frequent strikes
by such a critical workforce
point to a long-term
mishandling of the situation by
successive governments. The
government needs to be
honest with doctors about the
demands that it can meet.
Doctors, too, will have to be
realistic about what the
government can give. Ensuring
patients don’t suffer is the
collective responsibility of both
the government and doctors.
The Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors
(MARD) called off the strike after education minister Vinod
Tawde assured that their stipend will be increased by Rs
5,000 from Rs 43,000 at present,
with effect from August.
The state has also promised
the post-graduate students that
In a first for
this year, 4 test
positive for
leptospirosis
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai: With the onset of
rains, dengue and malaria
cases have gone up marginally.
Doctors at private clinics said
that at least four of 10 patients
have been coming with dengue
symptoms.
Heavy rains followed by water stagnation have brought
back cases of leptospirosis in
the city. Four people have tested
positive for leptospirosis, an
infectious disease caused by
urine of infected animals.
“When
people
wade
through water-logged streets,
they have a chance of contracting the infection through cuts
in the skin,” said a municipal
official. There were two cases
of leptospirosis in June last
year and none since the begin-
JUNE AILMENTS
Diseases
Fever
2015
2014
4,411 4,642
609
566
Leptospirosis
04
02
Dengue
38
27
H1N1
19
01
Gastro
1,023
910
Cholera
00
01
Malaria
ning of this year.
The count of malaria cases
also went up by more than 200
since the rains. While hospitalizations in dengue increased to
38 in June from 30 cases in May,
city doctors said that cases
have started coming in.
For instance, at Zynova
Hospital in Ghatkopar, there
are four patients currently undergoing treatment for dengue.
“Among them, a 41-year-old
woman from Bhandup is critical. Her platelet count had
dipped
rapidly
following
which we had to transfuse a few
units,” said Dr Ashish Tiwari,
chief executive officer of the
hospital.
Dr Tiwari added that the
other three patients are all
teenagers from Kurla and
Bhandup areas.
➤ Zaheer Khan allegedly waited for
two hours at Sion Hospital’s casualty
ward on Friday with 3-year-old son
Zayed who was bleeding profusely
➤ Pushpa Khade (80) vomited blood
three times in the morning. Khade
was rushed to Sion Hospital where
she were allegedly denied treatment
➤ Sanjay Kapse
brought his daughter
who had fractured
an arm from Thane
to KEM Hospital,
Parel, but waited
for hours to get a
dressing done
NUMBER OF DOCTORS
KEM
NAIR
SION
TOTAL
Resident doctor posts
786
162
624
537
127
410
649
93
556
1,972
382
1,590
Present on duty on Friday
Absent on Friday
a concrete proposal regarding
installation of CCTV cameras
in strategic locations such as
casualty and ICUs will be
moved shortly. The Directorate
of Medical Education and Research (DMER) also issued a
circular saying the proposal for
an annual fee hike in medical
colleges to Rs 66,000 from Rs
40,000 will be cancelled and a
fresh plan to revert to the old
structure will be prepared.
The DMER has also issued
a circular saying a doctor will
be accompanied by a Class I officer when going to a police station to lodge a complaint against assault by any patient or
relative. MARD will have a say
in where the CCTV cameras
will be installed on campuses.
The BMC on Friday claimed that senior doctors managed
to treat nearly 5,000 patients in
KEM, Sion and Nair hospitals.
Soliha Kalam (11), though, was
turned away despite her complaints of discomfort in an eye.
She had narrowly escaped with
a gash under her eye when the
ceiling fan hit her face last Sunday. Her eye has been watering
incessantly. “Doctors asked us
to come back after the strike is
over,” said her mother Farida.
Meanwhile, a PIL was filed
against the doctors’ strike before Bombay high court, which
will hear the matter on July 6.
ny come to Maharashtra? Not a single
project based on foreign investment
has ever materialized in the state,”
said Saamna.
“These days every CM rushes
abroad to bring in investment for his
or her state. There should be a national debate on the actual investment
that has accrued from such foreign
trips,” remarked Saamna.
Urging the state government to go
in for 'swadeshi' investment, Saamna
said 'desi' industrialists should first
invest in Maharashtra.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's latest 'Digital India'
campaign, the saffron daily said,
“Many Mumbai-based corporate giants, including Mukesh Ambani, are
all set to invest under the PM’s plan.
However, how much will be Maharashtra’s share in this investment?”
Woman on way to temple
killed in road accident
Pradeep Gupta
Kalyan: A 38-year-old woman
died here on Friday morning
after a dumper hit the motorcycle on which she was travelling with her brother. The
brother did not suffer any injuries.
The police said incident
took place when the two was
on their way towards Durgadi
fort to visit the Durga Mata
temple.
The Bazarpeth police said
the victim, Aparna Patil, who
resides in Guhagar, had come
to Kalyan for her daughter’s
admission. Around 10.15am,
as she and her brother Devanand were on their way to the
fort, a speeding dumper hit
the bike from behind. Aparna
fell down and was crushed by
the dumper’s rear wheels. After the incident, the accused
dumper driver fled the spot.
The
local
Bazarpeth
police have registered a case
of rash driving and negligence against the unidentified driver.
Mumbai: More than a month
after a couple from Malad was
drugged and robbed by a newly hired domestic help, the
help and his accomplice were
nabbed from east India. The
duo, Sanatan Mahalik (44) and
Santosh Mahalik (26), have
been involved in burglaries at
other places, said the police.
On May 30, Vinay Chandak
(47) and his wife Sneha (44)
were found semi-conscious in
their 13th floor flat at Vini
Tower in Malad. Sanatan, who
had been hired days earlier,
was missing. The Chandaks
did not have any of his personal details.
“Sanatan and Santosh targetted couples looking for
Vini Tower in Malad where the
Chandak couple lives
temporary domestic helpers.
Once hired, one of them used
to steal valuables and then
both used to vanish,” said a police officer, adding that Santosh has an earlier offence reg-
istered at Malabar Hill police
station while Sanatan was
booked in Kolkata.
Days before the theft, the
Chandaks had asked Sanatan
to quit as they were not happy
with his work. He stayed on by
pleading for some more time.
“Fearing he would lose the
chance to loot their flat, Sanatan struck soon. After dinner
on May 30, he offered the couple a soft drink laced with sedatives. After they passed out,
he made off with Rs 1 lakh in
cash besides jewellery.
A police team first nabbed
Santosh from Orissa. He led
the police to Kolkata where
Sanatan was hiding at a
relative’s place. “We are yet to
recover the booty,” said an
official.