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GHMC area has 56.4 lakh voters

Tuesday, 03 November 2009 04:34 administrator
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The Hindu 03.11.2009

GHMC area has 56.4 lakh voters

 

 

 

An increase of 2.4 lakh voters since Assembly polls in May this year

 

Ensure all fresh voters get photo ID cards, officials told

Division wise, polling station wise rolls being readied

HYDERABAD: There has been an increase of 2.4 lakh voters in GHMC area after the Assembly elections held in May this year. This takes the total electorate to 56.4 lakh now that enrolment of voters has been frozen after last week’s election notification.

Special Commissioner M.T. Krishna Babu instructed his staff on Monday to ensure all fresh voters get elector photo identity cards within a week. Election officials are also frantically trying to prepare division wise and polling station wise electoral rolls from the master list. Only then can they come out with compact discs to be distributed to interested parties.

Otherwise, they are facing a gargantuan problem of supplying hard copies of the master voter list running into several pages to political parties and others. Preparation of postal ballots is also underway for officials on poll duty and those likely to be under preventive detention to cast their votes. Respective police stations have been requested to prepare a list of such persons and convey the same to election officials concerned to mark them on the master voter list. For officials on poll duty, forms will be given during the training workshops for submission to the ROs concerned for issuing the postal ballot within seven days before date of polling.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 03 November 2009 04:36
 

LED there be light

Monday, 02 November 2009 11:03 administrator
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The New Indian Express 02.11.2009

LED there be light

Tasneem Zavery



BANGALORE: This is probably the first time for Karnataka.

Recently, LED (light emitting diode) street lamps lit up a street in the city. Ashok Gowda, CEO, Onleo Global Solutions, LED lights as the Gen Next light, driven by green technology, at the formal inauguration of 10th Main, Sadashivnagar LED street lamps on Saturday. It is an initiative taken up by the residents of 10th main, in ‘developing group consciousness’.

LED street lights have a 100W power capacity and can last up to 8-10 years and it is equivalent to a 250W conventional street light of mercury/sodium that lasts for a maximum of six months.

Although LED lights are comparatively priced higher than the regular street lamps, it is low in maintenance and is cost effective. The lights installed at 10th Main are at the height of 12 and a half feet from ground level and placed at distance of 10 m from each other, “so that you have light on the street and not on the trees,” said Gowda.

“This gives a sense of belonging for the people who stay here,” said Srinivas Raju, 10th Main resident and a believer in green technology. LED lights do not contain led or any chemicals, these lights are bio-degradable and can be easily disposed, added Raju.

According to resident Sreekala Kadidal, the LED street lamps will help in good tree management, as the lights will be at a distance from the trees.

Although a huge investment for the BBMP, as each of these LED lights would cost Rs 15,000 approximately, it is good because it will not only resolve global warming but make better and more responsible citizens, said Ashok Narayan, MLA, Sadashivnagar. An investment of Rs 3 lakh was made for these particular lights on 10th Main.

The LED street lights have been proposed by the BBMP in different areas of the city, said Narayan. “We need to work in unison and not isolation,” he added.

Last Updated on Monday, 02 November 2009 11:11
 

Malpe development panel draws flak at CMC meeting

Thursday, 01 October 2009 01:38 administrator
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The Hindu 01.10.2009

Malpe development panel draws flak at CMC meeting

Staff Correspondent

‘It has been in existence for six years, but has not done much’

Udupi: The alleged lackadaisical attitude exhibited by the Malpe Development Committee (MDC) came in for criticism at the general body meeting of the Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) here on Wednesday.

Raising the issue, councillor Kiran Kumar said that the committee, which had been in existence for the last six years, had done little for the development of Malpe.

He said that as the council was not privy to the matters of the committee, the CMC should not cooperate with it. He added that even the local MLA had not been made a member of the MDC working committee.

Though the CMC president Dinakar Shetty was a member of the MDC, he had not been given a copy of the MDC meeting agenda in advance, Mr. Kumar said. His stand was supported by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party councillors. Terming the role of the CMC in the committee as “ceremonial”, Mr. Kumar said that CMC members should step down from committee.

CMC Commissioner Gokuldas Nayak said that since he was the member-secretary of the MDC, he could make the minutes of the meeting available to the council. He said that besides the CMC president, two councillors were members of the MDC and there was a demand to include two more councillors from Malpe in the MDC.

In reply to a question, Mr. Nayak said that the Government had sanctioned Rs. 76 lakh to the Department of Tourism for the development of Malpe. Of this, Rs. 22 lakh had been released for Malpe beach, while Rs. 5 lakh had been released for St. Mary’s Island.

The role of MDC was only advisory in nature and actual implementation had to be done by the Tourism Department, he said.

Councillor Amrita Krishnamurthy said that the new streetlights installed by the side of the new four-lane Kinnimulky-Taluk Office road were not bright enough and had resulted in five accidents already.

Councillor Mahesh Thakur said that the installation of the streetlights had actually cost only Rs. 15 lakh, although the contractor had given a bill for Rs. 60 lakh. But the CMC had still awarded him a 15-year contract on build operate and transfer (BOT) basis, he said.

‘Transparent’

Mr. Shetty defended the move and said that the entire process of awarding the contract had been transparent. The issue had been put forth before the CMC and implemented only after its approval, he said.

Last Updated on Thursday, 01 October 2009 01:41
 
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