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ĂĈ Ħ Ăq Ĉǣ Still trying to recover from the shock of losing her son, Kewla, 70, spends good part of her day lying on her bed in her home in Dharauli Madhupur village in Pratapgarh.
She has hardly eaten ever since March 11 when her 38-year-old son constable Satish Chandra Verma died while fighting the Maoists in Sukma’s Kottacheru village. “I lost my son but the state government did not even send a minister to offer condolence. We have received nothing from the UP government till date,” she says. Ramraj, 74, the father claimed to have received ij9 lakh from film star Akshay Kumar. ÒAŘ7A¼Ǣ Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious sub-regional road connectivity plan involving Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) has hit a roadblock with Bhutan withdrawing the agreement from the agenda for its upcoming Parliament session.
Bhutan took the decision, which threatens to further delay the project, on April 21.
The four countries had signed the motor vehicle agreement aimed at allowing seamless movement of passenger and cargo vehicles through each other’s territory at Thimpu in June 2015. However, all the nations involved have to ratify the pact for it to become operational. So far, only India, Bangladesh and Nepal have done so.
“The BBIN motor vehicle agreement is not likely to become operational anytime soon due to the Bhutan government’s latest ¼Ij(³òářǣ The Uttar Pradesh petrol pump owners were siphoning off over ij200 crore per month by using a hi-tech chip-based device that helped in dispensing less petrol, initial probe after the Thursday raids on city petrol pumps has revealed.
The UP Special Task Force (STF), which raided seven petrol pumps in Lucknow on Thursday, claimed on Friday that not only pumps in the state capital but around 80% petrol pumps across the state were in fact dispensing less fuel using the device.
“While initial probe suggests that the “wonder chip” is already installed at around 80% of fuel filling stations in UP, the figure could further go up as the probe progresses and more facts tumble out,” said STF SSP Amit Pathak.
At least 23 people, including four petrol pump owners and an electric technician, were arrested on Friday after registration of seven separate FIRS. The arrest move,” said a senior Union road transport and highways ministry official.
While India currently has bilateral motor vehicle agreements with Nepal and Bangladesh, a multilateral pact would go a long way in strengthening trade and tourism across the region.
Sources said that with Bhutan not playing ball, India is now mulling over making a truncated version of the original pact with Bangladesh and Nepal operational. “The ministry of external of more persons is likely in the matter. A city-based electrician Rajendra, who has been arrested, has admitted installing such a chip in hundreds of refilling stations in Lucknow and other districts, as well as other states.
The chip is controlled by a remote controlled device used to reduce the oil quantity delivered to consumers even as the oil dispenser meter showed the right measurement. This way a consumer gets around 100 ml less fuel per litre at stations where these chips are installed.
While each chip cost around ij30,000 to ij 40,000, an electrician took ij 5,000 to ij 10,000 to install the affairs has suggested that we start the process of signing the BBIN protocol with Bangladesh and Nepal,” said an official.
Indian officials said Bhutan took the decision after it became clear that the agreement wouldn’t pass muster in its Parliament. “Stakeholders across the board raised concerns that a large number of vehicles entering the country, once the pact is ratified, will play havoc with the country’s environment,” said an official.
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A city electrician Rajendra, who was allegedly involved in installation of specially designed electronic chip in hundreds of dispensing units, was held by the UP STF after tracking him for around 12 months. SSP STF Amit Pathak said Rajendra was on the radar for last one year after an insider tipped off about this corrupt practice.
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The probe revealed that the petrol pump employees used to keep the remote censor devices, which could operate from the distance of 100 metres, into their cash bags. The chip used to remain activated almost the whole day as often fuel is being filled in the fuel tank of vehicles and the quantity could not be measured during it. The chip was deactivated whenever the officials concerned used to do surprise checking at the pumps.