Tag: Maharashtra

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Big story

After gutkha, doctors want ban on supari, zarda and paan masala

The Indian Dental Association recently wrote to the PM, asking for all smokeless tobacco substances to be banned from sale.
by Krishnaraj Rao

Doctors, more specifically dentists in the country, are increasingly up in arms against the sale of chewable tobacco in any form. Several state branches of the Indian Dental Association (IDA) have addressed a letter earlier this month to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pointing out the while banning gutkha was good, it was not good enough.

The letter said, “We the dentists who are responsible for oral health, are extremely worried about rising trends of mouth cancer especially amongst the youth. This epidemic is the result of rampant use of tobacco and areca nut in different forms. As per Global Adult tobacco Survey, 2010 released by Ministry of Health, 22 crore Indians are chewing this deadly concoction. We would like to thank the Government for banning gutkha in several states under the Food Safety Act.

“However, gutkha chewing accounted for only 10 per cent of all smokeless tobacco consumption. Regional consumption of smokeless tobacco product is diverse and smokeless tobacco product is been flavoured and packaged in different pouches and sachets. The major chewing is in the form of Jarda, Surti, Khaini, Mava, Kharra,Paan etc apart from Paan Masala (supari/betel nut) with or without tobacco. Supari (betel nut or areca nut) is a confirmed cancer-causing substances and leads to many other diseases. Despite plethora of knowledge against it, supari is being sold as a mouth freshener under brand name of Paan Masala or Supari Mix.

“The epidemic of mouth cancer cannot be curtailed without a comprehensive prohibition of selling these lethal products freely as packaged mouth fresheners. We sincerely hope that you will use your good offices to prevent premature deaths in our country by strict implementation of section 2.3.4 of Food safety and standards (prohibition and restrictions on sales) regulation 2011 to ban all flavored and packaged smokeless tobacco product across country. Please prohibit the packaged and misleading areca nut preparation in the form of pan Masala, Supari Mix etc,” the letter says.

“I request the PM to urge the remaining eight states to ban gutkha for effective implementation of the ban across the country to save millions of lives, especially, youth from this killer product,” said Dr Ashok Dhoble, General secretary, IDA Head Office.

While the tobacco bans passed by states earlier in 2012 were strictly restricted to gutkha and paan masala containing tobacco, some of the later ones have been tending towards taking on other forms of chewing tobacco also. For instance, see Mizoram’s ban order, which says, “complete ban on sale of gutkha/paan masala/zarda or other chewable products containing tobacco or nicotine with immediate effect and until further order.” This is also one step ahead of most other states, which have put a one-year tenure on their ban orders.

The death knell for the chewable tobacco industry first sounded on August 1, 2011, when a new rule was notified under Central Government’s Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSAI). It said: “Tobacco and nicotine shall not be used as ingredients in any food product.” Soon afterwards, 20 states banned gutkha, namely: Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Punjab, Uttarkhand, Mizoram, Delhi, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Nagaland Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and four Union Territories  – Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Dadra and Nagar-Haveli and Andaman-Nicobar.

(Picture courtesy wahid.fr. Image used for representational purpose only)

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Trends

Fishermen can go fish

Maharashtra CM adjusts diesel rates for fishermen; the latter had been striking work since they were identified as ‘bulk consumers’.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

If you’re a fish eater, you probably know by now that your local fish market was very low on supply of fresh fish because fishermen had literally hung up their nets, refusing to go out to the seas. The reason behind this striking of work was that the State had recently identified them as bulk consumers of diesel – this meant that they would have to purchase diesel at an increase of Rs 11 over the previous Rs 52.

But this year being the precursor to the General Elections in 2014, naturally, the State Government would not want to appear as anything but populist. After lengthy wrangling with the Union Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily, Maharashtra State Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today managed to get the State’s fishermen reclassified as ‘private consumers’.

With this, the striking fishermen are assured of being able to buy diesel for their fishing dinghies and motorised boats at the rates they have been paying as private consumers. Their strike, called since January 18 this year, has severely impacted their business, but they can now go back to work.

(Picture courtesy Akshathkumar Shetty)

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Big story

Theatre owners will not be charged more entertainment duty

State rolls back decision to charge theatres more duty if they priced tickets higher during weekends and for blockbuster releases.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Last week, the State Government of Maharashtra had proposed a policy wherein it would charge theatres more entertainment duty for film tickets that were priced higher during weekends and holidays. It meant that the higher the ticket price, the higher the duty paid to the Government.

In a cabinet meeting today, this decision was rolled back.

It was widely discussed earlier that the proposal would help the Government earn substantial sums to encash on the ‘100-crore club’ that most major releases of such stars as the Khans, for example, normally come under. However, the increased duty would be charged only on tickets charged over Rs 250 per ticket.

The proposal had originally come from the Revenue Department, which had prepared a note that mentioned that reports of brisk business of new films, to the tune of Rs 30 crore on a single day (for a film such as Ek Tha Tiger, for example) could not be possible without tickets being priced higher than their normal rates. If the new policy had been implemented, theatre owners would have to work out a system wherein booking of tickets would be fully computerised so that the ticket sales could be recorded.

Some newspaper reports mentioned that the State earned upwards of Rs 87 crore from multiplexes and Rs 108.16 crore from single screen theatres in the last financial year.

100 per cent hike in service tax for single screens

In the cabinet meeting today, the State decided that single screen theatres’ development in the rural areas be given a boost by not imposing any entertainment tax on them for a period of seven years. Also, the State will now allow service tax per ticket to be increased from Rs 6.50 per ticket to Rs 14 for single screen theatres, provided they computerise their booking system and provide central air-conditioning for the patrons. This decision applies to all single screen theatres across the State; it simply means that tickets will now cost higher in single screen theatres.

(Picture courtesy ibnlive.com)

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Big story

Want registered house documents for free?

If you’ve purchased or rented a house, you can get the registered documents online, free of cost for a week.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The State Government made a new Internet facility operational since yesterday – using the site igrmaharashtra.gov.in, you can now download registered property documents without having to depend on your real estate broker to deliver the same to you, or stand in line at the local registration office. However, you can download these documents free of cost for just a week – thereafter, you will be charged a lumpsum amount for the entire document.

The website is part of the Government’s e-initiative to shift the process of property registration in Maharashtra, online. At present, the website is operational on a pilot basis in 14 of Mumbai’s 23 registration offices. The Government plans to extend the service to all centres in Maharashtra soon. Documents for transactions made between the years 2002 and 2011 are available for download.

To access the site and get your registered agreement, you must know such details as the CTS Number, village name, the document number, etc. Downloading of the document takes about 30 minutes. However, the site is not very user-friendly: for instance, a first-time user would not know that he/she needs to look for the ‘eSearch’ field on the left of the home page to begin looking for the registered document, in the first place. Besides, not many users would be stumped by the transaction not progressing beyond the ‘Property details’ page, since users have to enter only the first three letters of the ‘village’ that the registered property falls under.

In the near future, Maharashtra State could also be the first in the country to roll out a process where registrations of rental properties could take place online, followed shortly by other property deals. The State is also mulling a model where registration personnel could be called home for the process.

(Picture courtesy hindubusinessline.com)

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Big story

Say hello to Magnetic Maharashtra

State Government launches a counter-tagline to ‘Vibrant Gujarat’. New industrial policy to focus on making Maharashtra a premier investment destination.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It’s a bit strange-sounding, but we can make do with it if it brings results: like ‘Vibrant Gujarat’, the catchphrase that signifies all things Gujarat, from investment to tourism, we will soon have our own catchphrase. It is ‘Magnetic Maharashtra’.

The State Government unveiled its new industrial policy yesterday. Aimed at maximising the State’s investment potential by attracting investors and promoting overall growth, the policy provides for incentive packages that will attract major industrial investments, and also accounts for provision of fiscal and land incentives to medium, small and micro industries. Further, there are incentives for those wishing to invest in less-developed and Naxal-infested areas in the State.

All of this will collectively be ‘sold’ under the catchphrase ‘Magnetic Maharashtra, Attractions Unlimited’.

The last industrial policy for the State was announced in 2006, and it mainly focussed on investment from major industrial houses. The new policy aims at an investment of Rs. 5 lakh crores and an employment generation potential for 20 lakh people. 60,000 acres of land will be set aside for setting up industries. Additionally, the Government will offer special rebates, waivers in electricity and stamp duty, and relaxation in VAT for units planning to set up shops in under-developed areas of Marathwada, Vidarbha and tribal districts.

The State plans to boost these plans further with increased intracity and interstate connectivity. The policy mentions the  development of the Mumbai-Pune-Solapur, Mumbai-Nashik- Aurangabad-Amravati-Nagpur, and Mumbai-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg corridors, in addition to the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial corridor.

Other initiatives include providing for a single window clearance portal to build an investor-friendly climate. The policy’s mission is to “place the State amongst the most preferred investment destinations in Asia for global investors,” says Chief Minister Ashok Chavan.

If you want to read up on the new industrial policy:

The Times of India…CII welcomes Maharashtra’s new industrial policy

The Business Standard…Maharashtra’s new industrial policy to be announced today

MSN.com…Maharashtra’s new industrial policy on Thursday

 (Picture courtesy hindubusinessline.com)

Categories
Diaries

Politician of the year

Prithviraj Chavan learnt the ropes very quickly in Maharashtra. He was a key player in the State’s politics this year.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Part 5 of the Yearender Diaries

Prithviraj Chavan took over as Maharashtra’s Chief Minister at a really tumultuous time in the State’s political scene. The other Chavan – Ashok, of the Adarsh Housing Scam – had just been removed as CM, several names in the Government were tumbling out of the closet for their complicity in the Scam, and the Congress urgently needed to appoint a new, squeaky clean CM.

The question was: who was non-controversial enough to take over the CM’s post?

Reportedly, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was upset over the idea of sending his trusted lieutenant, Prithviraj Chavan, to head Maharashtra. Chavan had been Singh’s main troubleshooter for the longest time in Delhi, but the decision was finally made and Chavan left for Maharashtra.

Says a Government official who worked with Chavan when he first assumed the CM’s office, “He actually wasn’t well-versed with Maharashtra and its ways. He didn’t know most of the State’s politicians, apart from the very prominent ones. It took him a while to match the faces to the names.”

Satish Lalit, the CM’s chief PRO says, “He came from a very structured working background in Delhi, where everybody met him only after prior appointment. Over here, people just barge into ministers’ offices, and any appointments happen by sending a visiting card to the CM five minutes earlier. He (Chavan) found this really strange.” Adds another official, “He still does not like to meet people all the time, but he has made his peace with it.”

Those in the know will testify that Chavan works very late nights – Satish says his staff works till 10.30 pm daily – and that he watches the news on TV till the wee hours of the morning, before sleeping awhile and waking up for a game of badminton before starting work. “I have not seen too many politicians in his position keep abreast of the latest happenings the way he does,” Satish says. “He is always reading and researching; I think this comes from his BITS Pilani background, but there is no denying that he is uncommonly astute and a very quick learner.”

There is no doubt that Chavan has not only learnt the ropes of a gigantic State quickly enough, but he has also become a dependable face in Maharashtra politics at a very testing time – the Congress in the State is increasingly at loggerheads with its ally, the NCP (despite Chavan’s good ties with NCP chief Sharad Pawar), the irrigation scam is still an unresolved issue that Chavan will have to answer for sooner than later, and he is said to have several enemies within his own party. There are also rumblings, on and off, about him being recalled to Delhi.

Overall, this year belonged to Chavan, with a number of important decisions and incidents to his credit. He took a couple of tough decisions that impacted the builder lobby in Mumbai, but overall, showed remarkable keenness to drive foreign investment to the State. Another development that can be credited to him was the long-pending Indu Mill land transfer early this month. But his biggest achievement this year was the total secrecy he and his office maintained over the hanging of 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab till it actually happened; this made Chavan an instant celebrity all over the country, with the media marvelling at the two-week silence over the operation. His Government was also credited for its efficiency during the mammoth funeral for Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray in November.

Observers say that Chavan has mastered the trick of being highly visible while at work, without appearing to do so, and that he knows how to capitalise on an issue and muzzle his detractors.

Besides all of this, there’s something about the man that inspires confidence. He is tremendously fit at age 65, he is a sharp dresser, he is extremely articulate (he switches easily between Marathi, Hindi and English, unlike most State politicians) and he is not known to pass flippant comments or be anything but politically correct. “You have to read between the lines when you’re speaking to him,” says an official. “He is not given to verbosity at all. And if something false or derogatory is written about him in the papers or shown on the channels, he doesn’t get rattled by it.”

One thing people do fault him for, however, is that he almost always reaches late for any event. “He is always late,” chuckles a journalist. “But it seems that he is constantly working, always travelling, sometimes covering two or three places in a day.”

‘Diaries’ is a series of stories on one theme. The Yearender Diaries seek to capture the most telling moments, happenings and people in the city this year. Watch out for Issue of the Year tomorrow.

(Picture courtesy jaimaharashtranews.com)

 

 

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