Vinod Kumar, a 1989-batch IAS officer and one of the key accused in the multicrore rural housing scam following the 1999 Super Cyclone in Odisha, has been dismissed from service following his conviction in two corruption cases. The Centre recently gave its nod to a proposal from the Odisha government to sack Kumar. Official sources said as many as 27 vigilance cases were registered against Kumar. During his posting as managing director (MD) of Odisha Rural Housing and Development Corporation (ORHDC), Kumar allegedly showed undue favours to some firms and individuals in disbursement of funds worth £3.33 million.
Airline ordered to pay compensation to doctor
A consumer court in Ahmedabad has ordered Etihad Airways to pay Rs 65,000 compensation to a doctor for denying him a boarding pass though he had a confirmed ticket. The flight had been overbooked. The damages have been computed for the loss of two days of his medical practice because he got late as he had to take a connecting flight. The case involved Krutesh Shah, who runs a hospital in Vadodara. He was on a US visit in January 2017 and had return tickets booked from San Francisco to Abu Dhabi and from Abu Dhabi to Ahmedabad with Etihad Airways. Accordingly, he landed at Abu Dhabi airport on January13, 2017, and was to board an Ahmedabad-bound flight after obtaining a boarding pass. But the airlines denied him the boarding pass saying that the flight to Ahmedabad was already overbooked.
Assam govt decision on madrassas upheld
The Gauhati High Court upheld The Assam Repealing Act, 2020, under which all government-funded madrassas are to be converted into schools in the state. A division bench said the changes brought about by the legislative and executive action of the state are for the provincialised madrassas alone, which are government schools, and not for private or community ones. It also dismissed a writ petition challenging the validity of the Act. The madrassas, which are maintained by the state cannot impart religious instructions in terms of the mandate of Article 28(1) of the Constitution of India, the court said. Meanwhile, around 900 private madrassas can continue to remain functional.
Surat to be the first station to be ready for Bullet Train
The Minister of State for Railways Darshana Jardosh, said Surat city in Gujarat will become the first station to be ready between Ahmedabad – Mumbai Bullet Train route for India’s first High Speed Rail project. The MAHSR corridor will cover 12 stations in total- Surat, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad, Sabarmati, Bilimora, Bharuch, Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi stations. Once the project is ready, the journey time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will be 2.07 hours (limited stops), 2.58 hours (halting at stations) vis a vis existing train journey duration of seven-eight hours. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train will run on Japanese Shinkansen Technology, which is known for its safety as well as reliability and is proven for more than 50 years. The maximum design speed- of the train would be 350 km per hour and the maximum operating speed would be 320 km per hour. For the project, Gujarat has acquired almost 100 per cent of the private land required. However, in the state of Maharashtra, 24 per cent of land is yet to be acquired for the project. Commissioner of land reforms P Swaroop was quoted as saying that more than 99.4 per cent of land required for the rail project in Gujarat has been acquired. The land acquisition process is being monitored on a daily basis, he stated.
