News Analysis India

Tag: Nitin Raut

  • ‘Don’t be andhbhakts’: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray hails minister Nitin Raut’s book on Ambedkar

    By PTI

    NAGPUR Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said that people should spread the teachings of their gods in the right way rather than becoming “andhbhakts” (blind illogical followers). He was speaking after virtually releasing state minister Nitin Raut’s book ‘Ambedkar on Population Policy’.

    “Babasaheb Ambedkar’s thoughts guide us and show us the way forward. He not only framed the Constitution but also told us the obstacles that may come up and how to overcome them,” he said.

    Asking people to follow the legendary jurist and social reformer’s followings in the true spirit and to spread it to all, Thackeray said, unfortunately, there was a wave of “andhbhakts” at the moment. “The true follower will understand the teaching of his God and spread it to all. The blind follower will only praise superficially and then sometimes change his affection,” the CM added.

    Thackeray praised Raut for coming up with a well-researched book, while the latter said the MVA government in the state must implement suggestions given by Babasaheb Ambedkar and initiate welfare programmes based on them.

  • Ahmednagar hospital fire: Energy minister orders probe, warns of strict action against guilty

    By PTI

    NAGPUR: Maharashtra Energy Minister Nitin Raut on Saturday ordered a detailed inquiry into the Ahmednagar civil hospital fire, in which at least 11 coronavirus patients were killed, and warned of strict action against those found guilty.

    He said the electricity department’s inspection team has reached the hospital and it will start its probe after the police panchnama. Taking to Twitter, Raut said the Ahmednagar civil hospital fire incident was “very unfortunate”. “I have ordered a detailed inquiry into this incident. Meanwhile, electricity inspection department has reached the incident spot. The inspection team will start its inquiry after the police panchnama is completed,” he said.

    Strict action will be taken as per rules against those who are found guilty after the inquiry, he added. The fire broke out in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the civil hospital in Ahmednagar city around 11 am on Saturday, when around 20 coronavirus patients were undergoing treatment there.

    Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed the district collector to carry out an in-depth inquiry into the tragedy.

  • Congress to hold protest against Modi government over ‘atrocities’ against Dalits

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Scheduled Caste (SC) department of the Congress will hold a protest on Thursday over the alleged rise in “atrocities” against Dalits and non-implementation of measures to protect them by the BJP-led central government.

    In a statement, the Congress’ SC department chairman Nitin Raut alleged that the Modi government has been slashing allocations for the welfare of Dalits in the annual budgets, stopping and delaying scholarships.

    “Since the Bharatiya Janata Party government has come to power at the Centre, the total number of atrocities and cases of violence against Dalits and other marginalised communities have sharply increased,” the statement alleged.

    “We will raise these critical issues and demand answers directly from PM Narendra Modi and HM Amit Shah. ‘Halla Bol’ protest will be held on 12th August 2021 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the Jantar Mantar, Delhi,” Raut said.

  • No new thermal power project planned for Maharashtra: Minister Nitin Raut

    By PTI
    AURANGABAD: While the cost of thermal power generation has come down, there will not be any new thermal power project in Maharashtra, state energy minister Nitin Raut said on Friday.

    Speaking to reporters in Aurangabad, Raut said the state plans to generate power from solar energy and work for the same is underway.

    “The coal required for thermal power projects needs to be brought in far off places. Still the cost of thermal power generation has gone down by 25 to 30 paisa and all the projects in state are running with full capacity. But there will no new thermal power projects in the state,” the minister said.

    The state government has plans to generate 25,000-megawatt electricity from solar energy and work is underway on a project for 17,000 megawatts, he said, adding that due to the pandemic the work period may get extended.

    Raut further clarified that that there will be no waiver of electricity bills.

    “Power companies need raw material, and they take loans and need to repay them.

  • Will seek CBI probe into Mumbai power outage: BJP after Nitin Raut’s ‘cyber attack’ remark 

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar on Wednesday said he will write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking a CBI probe into the alleged “cyber attack from China” that caused massive power outage in Mumbai last year, as claimed by Maharashtra minister Nitin Raut.

    Mungantiwar made the remarks in the state Legislative Assembly.

    Energy Minister Raut had on Monday said that power outage in the city on October 12 last year was a “cyber-attack and a sabotage”.

    He, however, had not mentioned the name of China or any other country that day.

    “I am going to write a letter to the prime minister. Nitin Raut saheb has said that there was Chinese (cyber) attack (that led to power outage in Mumbai). Hence, the entire matter should be handed over to the CBI,” Mungantiwar said.

    Meanwhile, citing the Maharashtra Cyber Cell’s probe report into the episode, Raut said in the lower house of the state legislature on Wednesday that an attempt was made to disrupt the power supply in Mumbai by attacking the computer system of the state electricity company.

    He said the cyber cell report concluded that, “It was observed that 14 trojan horses entered the computer system of the (state’s) electricity company and an attempt was made to disrupt power supply.”

    “Some of these trojan horses had carried out big cyber-attacks in the world earlier. It was observed that the trojan horses easily entered the firewall of the IT and OT server required for supplying electricity,” he added.

    It was observed that some “suspicious dangerous” codes and software programmes “which could hurt the cyber security ecosystem” easily entered the firewall of the server at the Kalwa State Load Dispatch Centre,” the minister said, citing the cyber cell report.

    “It was observed that repeated attempts were made from foreign suspicious and blacklisted internet protocol addresses to log into the SLDC’s cyber server and to hack the system,” he said.

    The minister also said that the reportmentions that it was noted that attempts were made to transfer 8GB data from “suspicious internet protocol addresses” to the SLDC’s cyber server.

    “The cyber cell has given all this information. Our department is studying it. I assure to take steps to ensure there is no recurrence of the incident and that Mumbai will get quality and 24X7 supply,” he added.

  • COVID-19 testing tripled in Nagpur amid rise in cases: Maharashtra minister Nitin Raut

    By PTI
    NAGPUR: Maharashtra minister Nitin Raut on Friday said coronavirus testing in Nagpur has tripled to over 10,000 tests per day, amid rise in infections. Addressing the media after a review meeting with district officials, Raut said that there are 1,769 oxygen beds, 684 ICU and 263 ventilator beds available for COVID-19 patients in the district.

    The district’s guardian minister said that although the cases of coronavirus are increasing in Maharashtra, the administration has been able to control the situation in Nagpur. “Coronavirus testing has tripled, as more than 10,000 swab samples are tested in the district in a day,” he said.

    He said that apart from this, stamping of people placed under home quarantine and recording data of patients visiting government hospitals are also underway. Nagpur had on Thursday recorded 1,116 fresh cases of coronavirus and 13 more casualties. The district’s COVID-19 tally now stands at 1,46,831, of which 4,314 patients have died of the infection.

  • MNS files complaint against Maharashtra Minister Nitin Raut, two others over electricity bills

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Thursday filed a police complaint in Mumbai against the state Energy Minister Nitin Raut and two officials for not fulfilling promises regarding concessions in electricity bills, the police said on Thursday.

    The complaint was filed at Shivaji Park Police Station on Tuesday over the electricity bills.

    Under the leadership of MNS Mahim Assembly Division President Yashwant Killedar, MNS workers visited Shivaji Park police station and submitted a memorandum to the senior police inspector of and lodged a complaint.

    The complaint also named the Energy Secretary and General Manager of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST).

    “The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) did not send a representative for electricity meter readings during the lockdown and later the consumer received increased electricity bills,” the MNS said.

    The MNS had earlier staged a postcard agitation against the rising power bill, but now it has taken up the issue again.

    Earlier in this regard, MNS president Raj Thackeray had met Governor Koshyari and discussed about the electricity bill.