News Analysis India

Tag: Indore

  • Chennai-bound IndiGo flight makes emergency landing in Indore after windshield crack

    By PTI
    INDORE: An IndiGo airlines flight from Indore on Tuesday had to make an emergency landing at Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport here after a crack was detected in the windshield of the aircraft, an official said.

    The Chennai-bound flight with 100 passengers departed from the airport at 3.41 pm, and within four minutes the air traffic control (ATC) received a message from the aircraft about a crack in the windshield, airport director Aryama Sanyal said.

    At the time, the aircraft was 25 nautical miles away from Indore, the official said.

    Arrangements were subsequently made for an emergency landing and the flight landed safely at 4.03 pm, she said.

    An alternate aircraft is being arranged by the airline for Chennai-bound passengers from Indore, she added.

  • IIM-Indore ties-up with civic body to develop solid waste management module for India

    By Express News Service
    BHOPAL: The civic body of cleanest city — the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM-I) to develop a module on Solid Waste Management strategy for replicating the Indore model of cleanliness in other cities.

    The MoU has been signed between IIM-I and IMC, around three weeks after the premier business school partnered with the Municipal Corporation of Ayodhya for replication of best practices of Indore model of cleanliness in Ayodhya to make the religious hotspot of UP as top eco friendly spiritual tourism destination in the world.

    According to IIM-Indore Director Prof Himanshu Rai, “the aim of the collaboration with the IMC is to further strengthen Indore’s cleanliness model and then replicate this model across different cities of India. We would work on extending the reach of Indore’s cleanliness model beyond the corporation limit.”

    The IIM-I and IMC partnership will also focus on sharing expertise, experiences and ideas in the areas of local governance and smart city development, besides working on various CSR activities and handholding of IMC in CSR fundraising.

    The pact will also zero in on organizing capacity building programs for IMC personnel and joint courses, workshops, forums, seminars in areas of local governance and smart city development.

    Detailing about the IIM-I and IMC tie-up, the Indore municipal commissioner Pratibha Pal told The New Indian Express that the tie-up will usher a cross learning platform under which while the best practices of other cities of the country will be shared with IMC, while Indore’s highly successful solid waste management model will be replicated in other cities of the country.”

    “Further the tie-up with IIM-I will help the IMC to upgrade its existing model as well as enhance capacity building of material and human resources of the Corporation,” Pal maintained.

    IMC working with Ethiopia for improving the cleanliness model

    The Indore municipal commissioner also informed that the IMC has been working since over a year with East African nation Ethiopia. The IMC is assisting in the segregation of the solid waste in Ethiopian city Bahir Dar as part of ‘Waste Wise Cities Campaign’ proposed under UN-Habitat program of the United Nations.

    Importantly, Indore, which is Madhya Pradesh’s most populated and largest city has been adjudged India’s cleanest city under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan for four consecutive years and is eyeing the coveted tag for the fifth straight year in 2021.  

  • Indore: Homeless eviction drive reunites woman with missing husband

    Express News Service
    BHOPAL: The inhuman incident of dumping elderly destitute by the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) team on the outskirts of the country’s cleanest city Indore on January 29 afternoon has come as a blessing in disguise for a middle-aged woman in city’s Chandan Nagar area.

    The shocking incident, whose visuals caused widespread outrage across the country, has reunited  48-year-old Pushpa Salvi with her mentally disturbed 55-year-old husband Anil Salvi, who was missing for a month.

    A month backAnil went missing, after which his wife Pushpa lodged a missing person complaint at city’s Chandan Nagar police station. On January 29, when the chilling videos went viral, a close relative of the Salvi family spotted Anilamong the destitute.

    “The next day after contacting the IMC officials, we went to various Rayan Baseras (winter shelters) and finally managed to find him (my husband) in the Nipaniya area of the city. Had the January 29 incident not happened, I wonder how long I would have waited to reunite with my husband,” Pushpa Salvi said.

    Another 65-year-old retired school teacher Kusum Pawar, who resides in Brahm Bag Colony of Indore too spotted her mentally disturbed and partially paralysed brother 63-year-old Pradip Pawar in the video, who had been missing for three months now. However, the retired school teacher hasn’t been lucky to find her missing brother.

    READ| Sonu Sood extends help to build home for destitutes dumped outside Indore

    “When the visuals of the January 29 incident became viral in the media, I spotted my missing brother Pradip Pawar, who has been missing since Navratri last year and despite police complaint at Sadar Bazar police station, we haven’t been able to trace him. Before he went missing in October, he was undergoing mental treatment. He has partially paralysed also and cannot move or speak easily. Since January 29, I’ve met officials at the IMC and the Sadar Bazar police station, who had promised to trace him back by Wednesday, but he is yet to be traced,” Kusum Pawar told The New Indian Express.

    According to the retired teacher, she went to the shelter, where the homeless elderlies seen in the visuals have been housed after being brought back on January 29.

    “At the shelter, I met a physically challenged man Ramu, who was among those elderlies who were first dumped by the IMC team, but later brought back on the opposition by the local residents of Kshipra on the city’s outskirts. Ramu confirmed to me that my missing brother Pradip was among those who were first dumped on the highway but later brought back to Indore city following opposition by Kshipra village residents. Ramu has told me that while on way back in the IMC truck, my brother Pradip was forcefully dumped again from the truck at one of the road crossings of Indore. When Ramu protested the dumping of my brother at one of the road crossings of the city, both he and my brother were hit by the on-duty IMC staff with sticks,” Kusum Pawar said.  

    Helping Kusum in searching her lost brother is Congress MLA from Indore-I seat Sanjay Shukla. “We’ve met the Indore DIG Harinarayanchari Mishra and also top officials of the IMC and asked them to search the missing brother of the retired school teacher. If the missing man isn’t found, we’ll protest in the city,” Shukla said on Wednesday.

    The Congress MLA also claimed that there were 15 homeless elderlies on the IMC truck on January 29, out of which only three persons have been brought back and left at the winter shelter, while 12 others are still missing as they were dumped by the IMC staff in various parts of the city on the way back.

    When contacted in the matter by TNIE, the Indore additional municipal commissioner Abhay Rajgaonkar said a probe is underway in the entire incident.

    The IMC staff had taken elderly homeless men and women from various parts of Indore city and dumped them on the highway in Kshipra village (on Indore’s outskirts). The IMC staff, however, was forced by the villagers to bring back the dumped elderlies back to Indore just a short while later.

    Later acting in the matter, the MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan had ordered the suspension of Indore’s deputy municipal commissioner Pratap Solanki and the termination of services of two contractual staff of the civic body.  

  • Sonu Sood extends help to build home for destitutes dumped outside Indore

    Express News Service
    BHOPAL: Actor Sonu Sood is in action once again — this time for elderly destitute of India’s cleanest city Indore.

    The actor who proactively helped migrant workers stuck in Mumbai to return to their villages across India during the COVID-19 lockdown, now wants to render a roof of their own to elderly destitute in Indore.

    Recently, 8-10 elderly destitute were lugged by Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) staff in a truck and then dumped on city’s outskirts, before local residents forced the IMC staff to take the aged homeless back.

    READ| Caught on camera: Eyeing cleanest city tag, Indore Corporation abandons elderly homeless on outskirts

    In the video, Sood appealed to the people of Indore to work with him in providing a roof of their own for the elderly destitute, including those who have been abandoned by their children. “I want to render the elderlies a roof of their own in Indore. Appeal to all the Indore residents to work with me to set an example in the country, by rendering a home along with food and other necessary facilities to the elderlies, including those abandoned by their children,” Sood was seen appealing in the video on Saturday.

    The benevolent actor’s appeal soon struck a chord within hours with Indore-based real estate businessman Sanjay Lunawat, who promptly connected with Sood over a video call. “I’m eager to work under your leadership to build a grand home of your own for elderly destitute in Indore. The land will never be a problem for me, as I’m in the field of real estate and logistics for 20 years in Indore. Entire Indore shouldn’t get a bad name due to the one fault of few persons (IMC staff). I’ll have a complete team and draft a concrete roadmap for the dream home for the elderlies abandoned by their children in Indore. I’ll ensure that the home dreamt by you for elderlies comes on land, which is close to major medical facilities,” Lunawat told Sood.

    Sonu Sood in action again. In the wake of dumping of homeless elderlies on Indore’s outskirts, Sood appeals Indoreans to render roof of own to elderlies. Real estate bizman Sanjay Lunawat talks to Sood for actualising actor’s dream in Indore. @NewIndianXpress @TheMornStandard pic.twitter.com/ZXjLtX3heU
    — Anuraag Singh (@anuraag_niebpl) January 31, 2021

    Confirming the tie-up with Sood to build a dream home for elderly destitute, the real estate businessman Lunawat told The New Indian Express on Sunday, that a dedicated team will work on it under Sonu Sood’s leadership and will be ready in a fortnight.

    Two days back on Friday afternoon, an IMC team had lugged 8-10 elderly destitute in a truck and dumped them under the open sky on the highway on Indore’s outskirts in Kshipra area. However, a local resident Rajesh Joshi not only filmed the entire inhuman act by the IMC, but also along with other locals forced the IMC team to take the abandoned elderlies back.

    The shocking episode by IMC staffers had drawn widespread condemnation from all quarters, including Congress national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who criticized the incident, terming it a “blot on humanity”.

    Just a few hours after the videos of the shocking incident went viral all over the social media on Friday, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan swung into action, ordering the suspension of Indore’s deputy municipal commissioner Pratap Solanki and dismissal of two of IMC’s muster roll workers who were seen in the videos.

    The eight to ten homeless elderlies were shifted to a proper Rayan Basera (winter shelter).

  • Caught on camera: Eyeing cleanest city tag, Indore Corporation abandons elderly homeless on outskirts

    By Express News Service
    BHOPAL: Indore Municipal Corporation is now in the eye of the storm following a series of viral videos showing an official team abandoning eight to ten aged destitute on city’s outskirts, but later lugging them back on the same truck following opposition by local residents. The incident comes in the backdrop of Indore’s attempt to win the country’s cleanest city tag for a fifth consecutive year.

    Taking cognizance of the entire shocking episode, MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan ordered the suspension of IMC deputy commissioner Pratap Solanki. Two contractual staffers who were involved in the chilling episode have also been terminated from service.

    Three videos went viral over social media on Friday, two of which showed the IMC team abandoning aged destitute near the highway despite biting cold. The video which was shot by a local resident Rajesh Joshi in the Kshipra area on Indore’s outskirts showed the IMC team throwing the belongings of the elderlies on the roadside, after alighting them from the truck.

    इंदौर नगर निगम के अधिकारी स्वच्छता के नाम पर भारी ठंड में बुजुर्गों को शिप्रा छोड़ने पहुँचे -अब अधिकारी बेचारे क्या करे वो तो भाजपा की विचारधारा के अनुरूप ही तो काम कर रहे है ?भाजपा ने भी तो आडवाणी जी , जोशी जी , यशवंत सिन्हा जैसे कई बुजुर्ग नेताओ को कब से छोड़ दिया है ? pic.twitter.com/aYc8JFmXrQ
    — Narendra Saluja (@NarendraSaluja) January 29, 2021

    In one of the videos, the voice of local resident Rajesh Joshi can be clearly heard narrating how the IMC team has brought the homeless elderlies in a truck and then abandoned them on the highway before throwing their belongings on the same road.

    A subsequent video shows the team lugging the elderlies back on the same yellow truck, following opposition and questioning by local residents in Kshipra area against abandoning the aged destitute on the highway amid the biting cold.

    “The incident happened between 2 and 2.30 pm. An IMC truck carrying around 8-10 elderlies came here, after which the staff on the truck forcibly alighted the aged people, including two to three women, on the roadside. When I asked the IMC staff why they were doing so with the homeless, the staff responded that they’ve been directed by the authorities to leave them here as they are creating trouble and filth in Indore city. Subsequently, the truck was leaving the place after abandoning the elderlies, but we forced it to return and take back the elderlies,” said Rajesh Joshi, the Kshipra resident who shot the videos.

    The opposition Congress state spokesperson Narendra Saluja was quick to tweet the videos of the spine-chilling episode which happened on Indore’s outskirts on Friday. “In the name of keeping the city clean, the IMC staff went to Kshipra (on Indore’s outskirts) to abandon the elderlies despite biting cold. What can the IMC staff do, they are acting in line with the ruling BJP’s new ideology of abandoning its veteran politicians LK Advani, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and Yashwant Sinha.”

    With the prime opposition party making the development a big political issue, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan ordered the suspension of IMC deputy municipal commissioner Pratap Solanki, under whose supervision the work of shifting the destitute elderlies to rayan baseras (shelters) was taking place. The suspended official has been attached to the Urban Development Directorate in Bhopal.

    According to Indore district collector Manish Singh, “the CM is angry over the entire episode of the elderly being abandoned instead of getting shifted to the Rayan Baseras (winter shelters). Services of a supervisor and his subordinate have been terminated, while the deputy municipal commissioner Pratap Solanki has been suspended. The victums have been shifted safely to a nearby Rayan Basera (winter shelter).”    

    Importantly, MP’s commercial capital Indore, also the largest and most populated city in the state, has been adjudged India’s cleanest city for four consecutive years under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and the city’s eyeing the coveted tag fifth time now. 

  • Indore girl to be booked for filing false gang rape case

    By ANI
    INDORE: The Indore police have decided to book a girl for allegedly filing a false case of gang rape, kidnapping and attempted murder after an investigation revealed that the charges were false.

    Harinarayan Chari Mishra, IGP, Indore, said “A case will be filed under section 182/211 against the girl after man investigation by the police revealed that these claims were false.”

    “The footage of more than 150 CCTV was checked and scientific evidence along the railway tracks from Pardeshipura to Banganga was collected during the probe. The police found that the claims made by the girl were baseless and inconsistent,” he told the media.

    On Tuesday night, the girl had told the police she was kidnapped by two men and gang-raped by them and three others. Then, they stabbed her, put her in a jute bag, and threw her on a railway track.

    Pardeshipura police had registered cases of kidnapping, gang-rape, and attempt to murder in this connection following the complaint.

  • UK-returned Indore man first to test positive for new Covid-19 strain in MP

    Express News Service
    BHOPAL: A young man in Indore has become the first Madhya Pradesh resident to have tested positive for the new coronavirus strain, first reported in the UK. 

    Confirming the development, highly-placed sources at the state health department in Bhopal said on Friday that out of the two samples sent from Indore to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Delhi, one sample has been found positive for the new strain of COVID-19.

    The intimation about the positive report was made by NCDC Delhi to the MP Health Department on Thursday evening, following which the Indore district administration has been alerted to act as per existing safety guidelines and SOP pertaining to the new strain. 

    According to informed official sources in Indore, the young man had returned home from the UK in the first week of last December. 

    Much to the surprise of the health department, he had tested COVID-19 positive around a fortnight after his return from the UK. His family members, however, had tested negative.

    “Being asymptomatic, he was put under home isolation for 14 days after testing positive and one of his sample reports tested negative after completion of home isolation period on Thursday” a health department source in Indore said.

    As the SOP pertaining to the new COVID-19 strain requires two consecutive negative test results within 24 hours to release a patient, the health department is awaiting his second test report of samples taken in the last 24 hours. “His first test report has come negative on Thursday, we’re now awaiting his second test report as per the SOPs, ” a health department official said. 

    So far, 332 UK returnees in MP have been traced and tested for the virus. Out of them, five, including two from Indore, have tested positive. Indore, which is the most populated city of MP, has so far reported maximum of 56,254 COVID-19 positive cases and 902 deaths. Around 53,000 patients have so far recovered.

  • Indore model: Ayodhya partners with IIM to turn Ram’s birthplace into eco-friendly spiritual tourism destination

    By Express News Service
    BHOPAL: India’s cleanest city and Madhya Pradesh’s economic capital Indore will inspire the transformation of Uttar Pradesh’s religious city Ayodhya into a top eco-friendly international spiritual tourism destination.

    In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Indian Institute of Indore (IIM-I) has partnered with the Ayodhya Municipal Corporation (AMC) to draw an action plan for transforming Ayodhya – the birthplace of Lord Ram – into the world’s top eco-friendly spiritual tourism destination in line with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath.

    A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has recently been inked between the IIM-Indore Director Prof Himanshu Rai and Ayodhya’s Municipal Commissioner Vishal Singh as the starting point for the partnership.

    As per the MoU, the detailed action plan will include replication of best practices of the Indore model of cleanliness in the AMC, Ayodhya with special enhancements for maintaining cleanliness standards as an international spiritual tourism destination.

    It will also entail drafting a plan for implementation of information, education and communication (IEC) as per the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) program. Also, organizing training/capacity building program for AMC employees as well as organizing training programs in Project Management and best practices for public officials of AMC.

    The three years IIM-I and AMC partnership will also define new areas of collaboration that have not been foreseen, but can be beneficial to the institutions.

    Confirming the development to The New Indian Express on Thursday, Ayodhya’s municipal commissioner Vishal Singh said, “With IIM-I being one of the best management institutions to the country with a diverse team of best management brains, we approached them for the partnership. We expect that this tie-up will render the transfer of best practices of Indore to Ayodhya, as Indore has been a pioneer in the country in making cleanliness and sanitation a signal achievement with the help of proactive public participation.”

    “Also, since the Ayodhya Municipal Corporation (AMC) is the governing body of the city of Ayodhya and former Faizabad, the partnership with IIM-Indore will help in the professionalized capacity building of the Corporation. The prime and ultimate motive of the tie-up is to develop as the world’s top eco-friendly spiritual destination,” Singh added.

    According to IIM-Indore Director Prof Himanshu Rai, “Work has already begun for making a detailed action plan to develop birthplace of Lord Ram Ayodhya as the most wondrous and clean spiritual tourism destination in the world. Ingraining the focal points of Indore’s success as India’s cleanest city will form an important part of entire exercise.  We’ll first start working on information, education and communication facets of the SBM.”

    Importantly, it will be Prof Himanshu Rai only, who would head the five-member team on the project. The other management experts in the team, include Prof Ganesh N (Economics), Prof Prashant Salwan (Strategy and International Business), Dr Shruti Tewari (Associate Professor and trained social psychologist) and Prof Aditya Deshbandhu (specialist in new media studies and emerging field of game studies).

  • Comedian Munawar Faruqui, 4 others held in Indore over ‘derisive’ comments on Hindu deities

    By Express News Service
    BHOPAL: Five men including Mumbai-based stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui have been arrested in Indore for featuring in a New Year programme where derisive comments were allegedly made about Hindu gods and goddesses.

    The five men arrested on Friday evening have been identified as stand-up comedians Munawar Faruqui (Mumbai), Prakhar Vyas, Priyam Vyas, Nalin Yadav (Indore) and event coordinator Edwin Anthony.

    “The arrested men have been booked under IPC sections 188, 269, 34 and 295A for organising the event sans permission, flouting COVID-19 safety norms and hurting religious sentiments,” Inspector in-charge of Indore’s Tukoganj police station Kamlesh Sharma told The New Indian Express on Saturday.

    While the arrested men will be produced in court on Saturday, the Tukoganj police station is also set to book in the same case Muktesh Jain, who owns the popular cafe where the paid event was being organized sans any official permission on Friday evening.

    Munawar FaruquiThe matter came to light when members of a local saffron outfit Hind Rakshak Sagathan including Eklavya Gaur (son of ex Indore mayor and present BJP MLA Malini Gaur), who were among those present at the event, objected to the derisive reference by a local stand-up comedian and got the event stopped.

    “The stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui is a serial offender, who in the past has often denigrated Hindu gods and goddesses at his shows. When we came to know about the event being scheduled for New Year Day at the cafe on the third floor of a building located on the famous 56 Dukan food street, we too bought tickets and were seated among the audience,” Eklvaya Gaur said.

    “On expected lines, objectionable references were not only made about our gods and goddesses, but those performing there even made derisive references about Union home minister Amit Shah and dragged his name into the Godhra carnage. We got the event stopped immediately, brought the audience out and then took the performers and event organisers to the local police station,” Gaur added.

    In the past too, the Gujarat-born and Mumbai-based stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui has landed in trouble for making derisive comments about Hindu gods and goddesses in various parts of the country.

    In April 2020, he was booked by police in Prayagraj district of UP for a YouTube video in which he was seen mocking PM Narendra Modi.