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Indian Express
a minute ago
- Indian Express
Mohali MC plans mechanical cleaning of C-roads; Rs 25 crore development works on agenda
The Mohali Municipal Corporation is set to take a major step in city sanitation by introducing mechanical sweeping for C-roads (inner lanes). The proposal will be tabled in the MC meeting scheduled for August 22. Officials said the MC area, including villages, has a road length of 303.44 km, of which 101 km are C-roads. These will now be cleaned weekly by machines. The plan also includes lifting of dry leaves, with an estimated cost of Rs 4 crore over three years. The meeting will also consider development projects worth Rs 25 crore, including laying premix on main roads, installing iron grills, building new libraries, and upgrading community centres. Officials said these projects aim to strengthen Mohali's infrastructure and move the city towards a 'smart city' model. The agenda includes some table items regarding the boundary wall of the dumping collection centre near Sector 74, which has already faced protests from residents. Another proposal seeks to break the monopoly of private garbage collectors by hiring a professional company for door-to-door collection and segregation of waste. This, officials said, is the 'need of the hour'. However, the move has drawn sharp criticism from elected members. Deputy Mayor Kuljit Singh Bedi, former deputy mayor Manjit Singh Sethi, councillor Jasbir Singh Manku and Anuradha Anand, both Finance & Contract Committee members, announced their opposition. They said, 'The MC's experiment of mechanical sweeping on B-roads has already failed. When machines cannot clean B-roads, how can they work on narrow C-roads?' They added that in many villages falling under MC Mohali, C-roads are so congested that 'even a bicycle cannot pass'. The councillors also questioned the fate of existing MC employees who currently clean these 'C' roads. The August 22 meeting is expected to be crucial, with decisions impacting both sanitation and development across Mohali.
Indian Express
a minute ago
- Indian Express
Balganga dam project: HC upholds Tribunal order asking state authorities to pay Rs 303 cr to firm
In a setback to Maharashtra government and its authorities, the Bombay High Court earlier this month upheld the majority award passed by the arbitral tribunal in April 2019 that directed the authorities to pay Rs 303 crore to FA Enterprises, a private firm, towards unpaid bills for construction of Balganga dam. The HC through August 12 verdict restored the arbitral tribunal award related to the project of water supply to expanding areas of Navi Mumbai and for drinking and Industrial purposes. The copy of the order was made available on Wednesday. The HC observed 'findings of the Arbitral Tribunal are based on the materials on record and on a proper appreciation of evidence.' The two-judge bench noted that the majority award had held termination invalid as the firm had taken substantial steps to get forest land clearance. Therefore, there was 'no legal basis for the single-judge bench to have upset this finding.' Justice Karnik for the division bench recorded, 'We are satisfied that the view taken by the Arbitral Tribunal on the basis of the evidence on record is a plausible view. In such circumstances there was no scope for the Single Judge to have interfered with the award of the Arbitral Tribunal in the exercise of its jurisdiction under Section 34 of the of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.' In a meeting held in January, 2009 under the chairmanship of the then state Water Resources Development (WRD) Minister, it was decided to construct a dam on Balganga river, near Niphad village in Pen taluka of Raigad district to meet the drinking water needs of Navi Mumbai's growing population and industries. The CIDCO was to bear the capital cost for Dam development and would get ownership right over the water and construction was to be executed by the WRD through KIDC. In May, 2009, the KIDC issued a work order to FA enterprises for nearly Rs. 495 crore and in June, 2011, project cost was revised to Rs. 1, 220 crore, which was disputed by CIDCO, compelling it to form expert committees to ascertain the same. 'Due to continuous pressure from banking institutions,' the FA Enterprises in 2013 approached the HC, after which an arbitral panel comprising representatives of the authorities and the firm was formed. The HC appointed its presiding member. Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in August, 2015 filed a chargesheet against the firm and others for corruption and other irregularities. The next month, the private firm claimed an amount of Rs 536.56 crore, which the authorities opposed. In 2016, the KIDC terminated the contract of the private firm. Three out of five members of the tribunal in April, 2019 passed a majority award directing KIDC to pay to the private firm a sum of Rs 303 crore, prompting the authorities to challenge it before the High Court. The single-judge bench of the HC in May, 2020 set aside the majority award. Thereafter the aggrieved private firm moved the two-judge bench of HC with appeals against the May, 2020 judgement. Accepting submissions by senior advocate Aspi Chinoy for the firm, the HC on August 12 held that there was no 'patent illegality' in the award and the Tribunal's decision was a 'plausible view,' therefore the same required to be restored.
The Hindu
a minute ago
- The Hindu
Telangana's next-gen Life Sciences policy to help attract large scale investments
Industries and IT Minister Babu on Wednesday said the next-gen Life Sciences policy that the Telangana government plans to soon unveil will be instrumental in attracting large scale investments. It will be a cutting-edge framework designed to attract large scale investments,' he said, adding that the State is pursuing an ambitious target to scale up its life sciences economy to $250 billion by 2030 and make Telangana the life sciences capital of Asia. The State's life sciences ecosystem is valued at $80 billion and it is the only region in the world to host more than 250 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA)-approved sites. Telangana is home to over 2,000 companies operating in the Life Sciences domain, Babu said, chairing the 6th board meeting of Telangana Life Sciences Foundation here. ₹54,000 cr. investment The life sciences sector in Telangana has witnessed remarkable growth under the leadership of Chief Minister Reddy. Since December 2023, the State has attracted investments worth ₹54,000 crore in the sector, in the process positioning Hyderabad as a global leader in life sciences. The investments have been across pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, cell and gene therapy, medical devices, vaccines and digital health. Hyderabad now ranks among the world's top seven life sciences clusters and it is the only Indian city to achieve this distinction. Global giants such as Eli Lilly, Amgen, MSD, Zoetis, Evernorth and Olympus have chosen Hyderabad as their preferred hub, he said. The progress made in the last year reflects our strategic commitment to creating a future-ready, knowledge-driven ecosystem. Two lakh jobs Robust policy support, industry-friendly infrastructure and strategic partnerships are factors behind attracting the investments that will result in potential employment generation of more than 2 lakh jobs by companies in areas such as sterile injectables, biosimilars, biologics, AI/ML and advanced healthcare services. The Minister also proposed preparing a feasibility report for establishing the Telangana School of Life Sciences. Board members of the foundation, including Dr. Reddy's Laboratories chairman Satish Reddy, Laurus Labs CEO Satyanarayana Chava, Special Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar, Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation vice-chairman and managing director and Telangana Lifesciences CEO Shakthi M. Nagappan participated in the meeting, the Minister's office said in a release.
