300 tonnes of RECL explosives go missing

At least 300 tonnes of explosives, manufactured at a state-run factory in Rajasthan, have gone missing while being transported to a private company in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar District. The Deputy General Manager of state-run Rajasthan Explosives and Chemical Limited (RECL), Y C Upadhayah, said the explosives were on 61 trucks and have not reached their destination in Madhya Pradesh.
The shipments were meant for Ganesh Magazine, a trading company, and were sent between the months of April and July. "Only the dealer can tell where they transfer the consignment and to whom they give it. They give it to a license holder but only they can tell if the consignment has been misused," said Upadhayah. The consignment included detonators and gelatin sticks, which are usually used in mining. The dealer was to supply these explosives to mining operators. Rajasthan Police has shown a willingness to cooperate with their Madhya Pradesh counterparts if they asked for help. The missing explosives are valued at around Rs 13 million. A case under the Explosives Act has been registered.

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Rajasthan High Court stays student union elections

The Rajasthan High Court today granted interim stay on the student union elections in the Rajasthan University. A single bench of Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma issued the interim order on the petition of a student leader Sumit Bhagasara. Bhagasara, president of National Student Union of India (NSUI) local university unit, in his plea has challenged the University Student Union Election Rules. The court had already issued notices to the University Registrar and others and the same are returnable by August 17.

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JMC Reclaims 40 Crore land in Janata colony

JMC on Saturday reclaimed land worth Rs 40 crore near Janata colony. The anti-encroachment squad started dismantling encroachments on at least 10,000 square yards that was under the control of land mafias for years. According to Moti Doongri zone commissioner Bhanwar Singh Choudhury, the land was enclosed with a boundary which was razed to the ground despite massive protest by the mafia.
The land was allotted to a temple's chief priest by the government a few years ago. However, after his death his disciples illegally sold the public land to a fake society. "After receiving complaints, the district administration had annulled the allotment to the priest and declared it as government land. Thus, it became JMC land," said Choudhury.

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Bank of Rajasthan becomes part of ICICI Bank

Country's oldest private sector bank, Bank of Rajasthan Ltd, has become part of ICICI bank Ltd. Accordingly, all Bank of Rajasthan branches have started functioning as ICICI Bank branches. This follows the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) sanctioning the scheme of amalgamation of Bank of Rajasthan Ltd with ICICI Bank Ltd. The scheme has come into force from the close of business on 12 August 2010. On 23 May the boards of both ICICI Bank and Bank of Rajasthan had approved the merger at a share swap ratio of 25 shares of ICICI Bank for 118 shares of Bank of Rajasthan. This translated into one ICICI Bank share for every 4.72 Bank of Rajasthan shares.
This is ICICI Bank's third acquisition after Bank of Madura in 2000-01 and Sangli Bank in 2006-07. The acquisition of Bank of Rajasthan will help ICICI strengthen its network in northern as well as western India. Bank of Rajasthan has a network of 463 branches, with about 60 per cent of them operating in Rajastahan, besides 111 ATMs. ICICI Bank has a network of 2,009 branches and 5,219 ATMs. Bank of Rajasthan is a listed old Indian private sector bank with its corporate office at Mumbai in Maharashtra and registered office at Udaipur in Rajasthan. The bank had total assets of Rs17,224 crore, deposits of Rs15,187 crore and advances of Rs7,781 crore as of 31 March 2009. It made a net profit of Rs118 crore in the year ended 31 March 2009 but reported a net loss of Rs10 crore in the nine months ended 31 December 2009

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Dial 2611 - National Emergency Telephone Number proposed

National Emergency Telephone Number -2611 - has been mooted by during emergency and disaster management in the country. Dial 2611, a National Emergency Telephone Number system (NETNS,) is designed and developed as a nationwide single telephone number assigned to integrate local, regional and national help lines and is easy to remember, Dinkar Borde, a scientist and an innovator, said. Borde has submitted his proposal to Bureau of Police Research and Development in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs last October for its consideration. The number has been chosen mainly for two reasons--it is secured and fool-proof and is easy to remember for public as it relates to 26th November terrorist attack in Mumbai.
"Dial 2611 is a combination of man, machine and high-tech next generation telecom tools like Global Positioning system (GPS), Geographical Information System (GIS), Satellite, Mobile, IT and others for prompt response with perfect rescue coordination with Local Based Services (LBS)," he added. When a caller dials 2611, the call goes to a national switchboard which after noting his location will connect him to nearby Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) where specially trained officer will try to understand your emergency and depending on situation PSAP will arrange local rescue force at you.

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Flood like situation in western rajasthan

The floods continue to spell fury in India with Rajasthan under water for the third time in the last three years. Parts of Rajasthan were submerged with water as railway embankments were even washed away, children forced out of inundated schools and the once dry rivers Leek and Luni in Jaisalmer revived with vengeance. Koel Kanwar, a resident of Phulasar village in Jaisalmer said, “I barely escaped. The water rose at night. It was so scary.”

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Goa Shiv Sena chief booked for Rs. 15 Lakh extortion

Goa police have booked state Shiv Sena chief Upendra Gaonkar along with party's vice president Umesh Salgaoncar for allegedly trying to extort Rs 15 lakh from a casino management, police said today. While Salgaoncar was arrested last night, search is on to track Gaonkar, they said. The complaint was lodged at Porvorim police station, 5 km away from here by Hotel Majestic, which runs land-based casino. Police said that Gaonkar had personally contacted the hotel management demanding money, which was scaled down from initial Rs 50 lakh to Rs 15 lakh and later to Rs 50,000. Shiv Sena in the past has publicly opposed Casinos in the state and were part of the public agitation against this gambling den.

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ONGC could invest Rs. 12000 Crore in Rajasthan

Oil & Natural gas Corporation(ONGC) could invest about Rs 12,000 crore to built a six million tonne refinery in Rajasthan, as the Congress government in the state is willing to provide adequate fiscal incentives to the refinery. The refinery will initially process crude from the Cairn India-operated Barmer oil field in the state, which is at presented processed outside the state by various refineries. Cairn India and ONGC are 70:30 partners in the field. “The project could be announced after its feasibility is finalised,” a senior official in the government said, adding that the Rajasthan government was ready to provide adequate benefits and the Centre is more than willing.
The development was also confirmed by oil minister Murli Deora in the Rajya Sabha. “ONGC is in consultation with the government of Rajasthan on feasibility of setting up a refinery at Barmer,” he said. The previous BJP government in the state had refused to give concessions to ONGC for setting up the refinery as sops sought were more than double the project cost. After the BJP-led government in Rajasthan was replaced by the Congress regime, the project has gathered some urgency. Rajasthan government had even appointed a committee to explore the idea after Cairn and its 30% partner in the Barmer oil field Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) had shelved their plan to construct a well-head refinery.

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