After govt names new chief town planner, Rane names own person
Panaji:
In an unprecedented administrative showdown between ministries led by chief minister Pramod Sawant and town & country planning minister Vishwajit Rane , two different orders from the personnel ministry and TCP ministry appointed two different people to the same post of chief town planner.On Monday, the personnel department under CM Sawant issued an order appointing senior town planner R K Pandita to the post. However, the very next day, the Rane-led TCP ministry issued an order appointing Vertika Dagur as chief town planner.The post had had fallen vacant as on April 30, chief town planner Rajesh Naik, who was granted an extension in service, was suspended on the last day of his extension 'with immediate effect' in connection with the alleged underassessment of fees for land conversion under Section 17(2) of the TCP Act, causing a loss of crores to the exchequer.There are three chief town planners in the TCP department. A senior govt official said that Naik was chief town planner (planning), Ranjit Borkar is chief town planner (land use), and Dagur (administration).A senior govt official said that the personnel department issues orders to appoint heads of departments, civil service, and Goa police officers above the rank of superintendent of police.The personnel department order issued on Monday said, 'R K Pandita, senior town planner, town & country planning department, shall hold the charge of the post of chief town planner (planning), TCP department, with immediate effect in addition to his own duties and until further orders'. Durga Kinlekar, under-secretary, personnel, signed the order.The second order, issued on Tuesday by TCP department deputy director (admin) Nadia Ashraf Ali Shekoli, said, 'As directed, the undersigned hereby conveys the decision of govt to give additional charge of the chief town planner (Planning) to Vertika Dagur, in addition to her own duties, with immediate effect, until further orders'.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
21 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Today in Politics: Rahul Gandhi to launch MP Cong revival campaign; second phase of Ram Mandir consecration
Days after the All India Congress Committee (AICC) appointed district observers to oversee the party's organisational revamp in Madhya Pradesh, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is set to lead a series of meetings in Bhopal as part of the Congress's 'Sangathan Srajan Abhiyan (Organisation Rejuvenation Campaign)' on Tuesday. The campaign, which had been approved by the Congress Working Committee (CWC) at a meeting in Karnataka's Belagavi in December 2024, aims to prepare the party ahead of the 2028 Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh. The move is part of a larger national effort to restructure the party's state units. On Tuesday, Gandhi will launch the campaign in Madhya Pradesh, where the Congress has been diminished since its government collapsed in 2020. The Congress suffered an overwhelming defeat in the 2023 Assembly polls, winning just 66 of the state's 234 seats. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP swept all 29 of the state's Parliamentary seats. 'The abhiyan is being launched to strengthen the organisation at the grassroots level and instill enthusiasm among party workers. We have not been in power in Madhya Pradesh for a long time,' former state party chief Arun Yadav and ex-minister Sajjan Verma said on Monday. While in Bhopal, Gandhi will attend a meeting of the state Congress's Political Affairs Committee, followed by meetings with all party MPs and MLAs from the state, observers appointed both by the AICC and the state unit. He will also attend a party convention with members of the state committee, district and block presidents, and AICC members. Gandhi's visit comes just over a week after the state Congress launched a pilot project in the Vidisha district to restructure the party from the grassroots level. Meanwhile, the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government is set to hold a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday in Pachmarhi to honour the legacy of tribal king Raja Bhabhut Singh. According to officials, Pachmarhi holds historical significance due to the contributions of the Gond ruler, who utilised the hilly terrain for governance, security, and the protection of cultural heritage. The BJP has been making special efforts to commemorate regional icons recently. While the Madhya Pradesh government held a recent Cabinet meeting at the Rajwada Palace in Indore to mark the 300th birth anniversary year of famed queen Ahilyabai Holkar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 31 attended a 'Mahila Sashaktikaran Maha Sammelan' in Bhopal that also honoured Ahilyabai Holkar. Second phase of Ram Mandir consecration The second phase of the consecration ceremony at the Ram Mandir in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya will begin on Tuesday, officials said. As a precursor to the 'pran pratishtha', a grand sacred procession was flagged off from the banks of the Saryu River on Monday. According to an official statement, the upcoming rituals will include the consecration of idols in the Ram Darbar on the temple's first floor and in six other temples within the complex walls. The main ceremonies will culminate on June 5, coinciding with the auspicious occasion of Ganga Dussehra. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is scheduled to attend four key events, including the main consecration ceremony. No public invitations have been issued for June 3 to 5. A similar three-day celebration was held on January 11, marking the first anniversary of the original 'pran pratishtha' that was led by PM Modi in January last year. Speaker Om Birla in Brazil Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is in Brazil to participate in the 11th BRICS Parliamentary Forum, where he is scheduled to present his views on reform of multilateral peace and security architecture. Birla is leading the Indian parliamentary delegation for the three-day forum, which will be attended by presiding officers of parliaments of BRICS members and invited nations. The delegation comprises Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, Rajya Sabha member Surendra Singh Nagar, Lok Sabha members Vijay Baghel, Vivek Thakur and Shabari Byreddy. Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh and Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody are also part of the delegation. – With PTI inputs
Mint
32 minutes ago
- Mint
PM Modi to meet all-party global outreach delegations on Operation Sindoor next week
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will likely meet the members of all the all-party delegations once they return after India's global outreach on Operation Sindoor starting today. The meeting with the Prime Minister could be held on 9 or 10 June, according to reports. The all-party delegations that toured the world to explain Operation Sindoor are on way home. The first delegation led by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Baijayant 'Jay' Panda returns to India today, June 3. Panda's delegation, which left Delhi on 24 May, visited Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Algeria. Before the PM meets all seven delegations, they are scheduled to debrief external affairs minister S Jaishankar beginning June 3. Panda-led delegation's meeting with Jaishankar is scheduled at 2.30 pm today. The second delegation to return to India will be the one headed by Janata Dal - United's Sanjay Jha that will reach Delhi at 9.30 pm today whule the one led by Shiv Sena's Shrikant Shinde will reach India on 4 June. Seven delegations visited several countries to address audiences, policymakers, and elected representatives onIndia's position on Pakistan's decades-long promotion of terrorism and New Delhi's new normal in tackling cross-border terror after Operation Sindoor. The multi-party delegations—comprising 59 lawmakers, in addition to former diplomats — travelled to 33 countries, including the European Union. The delegation included MPs from multiple parties, divided into seven groups consisting of 8-9 members. A leader was assigned for each group, who led the delegation on a global level. The delegations were headed by senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad and Panda, Janata Dal (United) leader Sanjay Jha, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Supriya Sule, and Shiv Sena leader Shrikant Shinde. As many as 26 people were killed and several others injured in the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on 22 April. Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Key Takeaways The all-party delegations visited 33 countries to explain India's position on terrorism. Operation Sindoor was launched in response to a terrorist attack that claimed 26 lives. The delegations included members from multiple political parties, emphasizing a unified national approach.
Hindustan Times
40 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Aiming a blow at narcos, Colombia pays farmers to uproot coca
With cocaine production at an all-time high, Colombia's government is testing a pacific approach to its narcotics problem: paying farmers to uproot crops of coca, the drug's main ingredient. Among the beneficiaries are Alirio Caicedo and his son Nicolas, who a decade ago planted an expanse of coca as they staked their future on the continued patronage of criminal gangs. Today, they are uprooting the crops and hoping for the best. The Caicedos and some 4,000 other Colombian families have entered into a pact with the government to replace their coca with alternative crops such as cocoa and coffee. It is part of a $14.4 million project to reduce supply of a product blamed for untold misery in a country where armed groups force rural communities to grow coca and raze forests for its cultivation. The project seeks to eradicate coca production on 45,000 hectares in three of Colombia's most conflict-riddled regions, including the southwestern Micay Canyon where the Caicedos ply their trade in the Argelia municipality. For farmers it is a risk. They cannot be sure that their new plantations coffee in the Caicedos' case will succeed, or that guerrillas and other groups whose income depend on cocaine sales will leave them in peace. "When one is planting a coca plant, there is hope that in time... there will be a harvest and there will be some income," Nicolas Caicedo, 44, told AFP while he and his dad, 77, shoveled and tugged at the remaining coca shrubs on their property. "Uprooting the plants means that... there will be no more harvests in other words, no more money," from coca at least. With coca, the Caicedos said they were guaranteed an income of about $800 per month. They have received an initial payment of about $300 under the project to grow coffee, with more to come. But another farmer, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said he doubted the project could work in areas such as Argelia where illegal groups outnumber the state in terms of fighters and guns. "No armed group that lives off is going to want a farmer to stop growing coca and switch to coffee," he said. Gustavo Petro, Colombia's first-ever leftist president, took office in 2022 with the goal of extricating his country from the US-led "war on drugs" blamed for double-victimization of rural Colombians already living under the yoke of violent criminal groups. On his watch, cocaine production in Colombia the world's biggest exporter of the drug reached record levels as demand continues to grow in Europe and the United States the principal consumer. Several previous attempts to get Colombian coca producers to change crops have failed as armed groups caused havoc and government payments and other assistance eventually dried up. For Gloria Miranda, head of Colombia's illegal crop substitution program, told AFP would be naive to think this new program will end drug trafficking "as long as there is a market of 20 million consumers and it remains illegal." In his stated quest for "total peace," Petro has sought to negotiate with a variety of armed groups, meaning fewer military operations and the abandonment of forced coca eradication. But talks have mostly broken down, and the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House in January has ramped up pressure on Bogota. The Trump administration is reviewing Colombia's certification as an ally in the fight against drugs a move that could restrict millions of dollars in military aid. With high stakes for its crop replacement gamble, observers fear the government may be taken advantage of. Some farmers may "try to deceive" by taking the money while continuing to grow coca, Argelia government secretary Pablo Daza told AFP. Without adequate monitoring, "the chances are quite high that we are wasting money," added Emilio Archila, who oversaw a similar, failed, project under former President Ivan Duque. Miranda assures there will be "meticulous" satellite monitoring, and anyone found not to be complying will be expelled from the program. Used not only for cocaine, the coca leaf is also chewed as a stimulant in Andean countries or brewed into a tea thought to combat altitude sickness. Colombia's appeals for the leaf to be removed from a UN list of harmful narcotics so it can be commercialized in alternative products such as fertilizers or beverages, have so far fallen on deaf ears. das/als/mr/mlr/dw
