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PANCHAYAT RAJ MADE MORE TRANSPARENT – REFORM IN TAMIL NADU
THE ALL NEW SOFTWARE : Panchayati Raj Institutions Accounting Software (PRIASoft) website
MANAGED BY : The Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj
WHAT THE SOFTWARE DOES ? It provides detailed data on all the revenue and expenses of all the village panchayats, can be an effective tool for fighting corruption and improving transparency in administration.
ACCESSBILITY : The website can be accessed by anyone, without the need for login credentials, to access the receipts and expenditure details of any panchayat in the country.
THE DATAs AVAILABLE : The data, basically at district, block and panchayat levels, can be accessed in various formats, including expenditure made on different account heads or schemes.
The data can also be accessed yearly or monthly, with data uploaded until the previous month. The website is also available in local language.
WOMEN WONDERS - Gulmarg snow-racing attracting motorheads to the Valley Breaking societal and mental barriers, Sharmeen Mushtaq Nizami, 40, a doctor by profession, will become the first woman to hit the icy tracks of Gulmarg at the second race-on-snow event in Kashmir .
COPS TO GET EXCLUSIVE APP TO DECONGEST ROADS
• ‘Google Maps’ are for commoners. • The Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) will get an exclusive app to help them regulate traffic and de-congest the city’s roads.
Key highlight : System will use colour code to indicate traffic level, will enable real-time monitoring
THE TEAM : A team of officials from Google and the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) are developing a custom-made ‘Traffic analyser app’ .
THE MALEGAON BLASTS CASE 2008 :
THE CRIME SCENE : The blasts took place on 29 September 2008 near Bhikku Chowk in Malegaon, Maharashtra. Almost simultaneously, another blast occurred in Modasa, Gujarat. The blast took place on the eve of Navaratri.
THE KEY ELEMENT : Two low intensity bombs were fitted on a Hero Honda motorcycle and rigged to detonate in Malegaon. The motorcycle used later led the police to the accused. On November 4, 2008,, the ATS arrested Lt. Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit, a serving Army officer, for his involvement in the blast.
IN SPECIAL COURT: In July 2009, the special court trying the case dropped the MCOCA charges on that ground that when the chargesheet was filed for Malegaon 2008, the cognizance of the accused was not taken in the other cases.
IN BOMBAY HIGH COURT : In 2010, the Bombay High Court restored the MCOCA charges stating that cognizance is taken of a crime, not of an accused, and hence in this case since cognizance of the other crimes had already been taken, MCOCA could apply.
IN SUPREME COURT : On April 15, 2015, the Supreme Court set aside the Bombay HC order, and dropped the MCOCA charges, stating there was hardly any evidence against the accused in the previous cases.
WHY IN NEWS NOW ? Recently Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit moved the Supreme Court against a Bombay High Court order dismissing his plea to quash a decision by a special court to take cognisance of offences against him in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case without a “valid sanction” for prosecution.
