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Tuesday,
July 30, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Bifurcation of E. Railway not to be reviewed EC team to visit Gujarat Centre disburses drought-relief BJP takes U-turn on UP Cabinet expansion
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Ranga had ‘foreboding of death’ ’84 riots: troops not used ‘judiciously’ Flag Code ‘violated’ at Kant’s funeral
BSF should manage
border: panel Cong appoints 2 more spokesmen Chandigarh may have
glaciology centre Monks to dispense
peace notes in India, Pakistan Musician Sudhir Phadke dead
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Bifurcation of E. Railway not to be reviewed New Delhi, July 29 Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj maintained at the post-Cabinet briefing here that the decision to go ahead with the creation of the new zones was “not taken on regional considerations but in keeping with the administration and operation requirements of the railways.” It is apparent that the Vajpayee government was unwilling to review the earlier decision of the Cabinet. Clearly Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani, Union Defence Minister George Fernandes and Union Railways Minister Nitish Kumar carried the day in going ahead with the reorganisation of the zones despite the Prime Minister’s endeavour to find an amicable way out of the impasse. Mrs Swaraj acknowledged that Ms Banerjee had written a letter to the Prime Minister reaffirming her stand that the bifurcation of Eastern Railway should be reviewed as it would have a deleterious impact on West Bengal. She refused to divulge the details observing that “it is an internal matter of the Cabinet.” The Trinamool Congress leader has once again been pushed to the wall. Ms Banerjee has no option now but to adopt a hard stand towards the BJP-led NDA government. She had postponed the launching of a statewide agitation of taking to the streets if the decision to bifurcate Eastern Railway was not reviewed and put on hold. To add salt to the wound it was announced that the East-Central Zone at Hajipur and the North-Central Zone at Jaipur would become operational immediately. The other zones would begin functioning from April 1, next year. Expressing “shock” in Kolkata about tonight’s decision of the Union Cabinet, she characterised it as committing gross injustice against West Bengal. “I had confidence in the Prime Minister but we know that some people have played a dirty game. It is a reward to Nitish Kumar,” she told mediapersons in an agitated tone. She will now have to decide where the Trinamool Congress should break away from the NDA and burrow her own path keeping in mind the susceptibilities of her own constituents. Nevertheless, the working committee of the Trinamool Congress will be meeting on Wednesday to take stock of the Cabinet’s rejection of stalling the bifurcation of Eastern Railway and chalk out the future course of action. The stand of certain senior ministers in the Vajpayee Cabinet had hardened over the past week that it would be improper to review a decision of the Union Cabinet taken in the past. In any case, Mr Nitish Kumar has had the last laugh in this matter much to the
embarrassment and chagrin of Ms Banerjee. There is widespread feeling in the NDA that the coalition
arrangement at the Centre should not be pressurised by its partners to suit their agendas and political
predelictions. A large section in the NDA believes that its partners should not take the existing arrangement for granted and leave it and return to the fold at the drop of a hat. Obviously, this hardline group in the Union Cabinet believes that if Ms Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress want to chart their own course outside the NDA then they are free to do so. The NDA is comfortable in terms of the critical arithmetic in the Lok Sabha. That there is a political gambit in making Hajipur the headquarters of the East Central Zone needs no elaboration. The NDA’s gambit is clearly to break the stanglehold of the RJD supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav in Bihar in the run up to the general election scheduled in 2004. Earlier, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s aide Sudheendra Kulkarni, who has been liaising with Ms Banerjee over the past two years, telephoned her in Kolkata requesting her to come to the Capital for discussions. Ms Banerjee, however, declined the offer and awaited the decision of the Union Cabinet. |
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Cabinet sticks to ’96
decision New Delhi, July 29 Briefing newsmen after the cabinet meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj said the bifurcation of the Eastern Railway had been done keeping in mind the increasing workload, accessibility, geographical sprawling, administrative and operational problems rather than the regional considerations. She accepted that Ms Banerjee had sent a letter to the Prime Minister today within regard to the
bifurcation but refused to divulge details of what transpired in the Cabinet meeting over it. She said it was an internal matter of the NDA and not for the Union Cabinet to consider. Ms Swaraj said as of now from the new zones the East-Central Railway Zone at Hajipur and the North-Central Zone at Jaipur would become operational as per the earlier notification and the other zones would become operational from April 1, 2003. She said the decision to bifurcate Eastern Railway was a readjustment of two zones rather than the division of one zone. As regard the staff unrest, the Cabinet decided to give the railway employees one time offer of choosing their place of transfer for better man management, the minister said. The decision taken by the United Front government had created a new East Central Railway Zone by bifurcating the Eastern Railway, from which Dhanbad, Mughalsarai and Danapur divisions would go to the new zone, which was opposed by her. She has convened a meeting of her party’s working committee on Wednesday in Kolkata to discuss the issue. Ms Swaraj said the new zone with its headquarters at Hajipur would comprise Dhanbad, Mughalsarai and Danapur to be carved out of the Eastern Railway, and Sonepur and Samastipur, taken out of the North Eastern Railway. The new zone will be operational from October 1, she said. Ms Banerjee had earlier refused to join the Cabinet demanding revocation of the bifurcation decision or divesting Mr Nitish Kumar of the Railway Ministry while the latter had ruled out a review of the decision saying that only the Cabinet could do so. The Trinamool Congress leader in her opposition to the bifurcation move was supported by the ruling Left Front in West Bengal while Bihar Legislative Assembly had passed a resolution welcoming the creation of a new zone with Hajipur as headquarter. Ms Banerjee also served an ultimatum at a public rally in Kolkata to launch a statewide stir against the bifurcation following which Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said the issue would be discussed in the next Cabinet meeting. |
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EC team to visit Gujarat New Delhi, July 29 The team will consist of two deputy election commissioners and seven other officials, Deputy Election Commissioner A.N. Jha said here today. No time limit has been set for the team, which will tour Gujarat beginning July 31, to complete its task, Mr Jha said. The commission’s decision comes in the wake of contradictory claims made by the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress and Left parties about the state’s prepardness to hold early Assembly elections. There has been hectic lobbying by the ruling and opposition parties for and against the holding of an early poll in Gujarat soon after the state Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi had on July 19 tendered the resignation of his ministry and recommended the dissolution of the state’s tenth Assembly, seven months before its term was scheduled to end. The same day, senior BJP leader and former Law Minister Arun Jaitley had met the Election Commission and pleaded for the conduct of an early poll in Gujarat, asserting that the situation in the state was normal. The BJP also stressed that it was a “constitutional obligation” for the commission to announce elections so that the next session of the Gujarat Assembly could be held within six months of its last sitting on April 5 this year. However, the Congress, Left parties, JD(S) and several other parties warned the Election Commission of taking any hasty decision on the conduct of the poll, saying that the situation in Gujarat was not conducive for conducting a free and fair poll. They demanded that the commission should announce the poll dates only when it was sure that a free and fair poll could be conducted. A delegation of opposition leaders, led by former Prime Minister Chander Shekhar, today met the Chief Election Commissioner, Mr J.M. Lyngdoh and advised against early elections. |
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Centre disburses drought-relief New Delhi, July 29 “There are 524 districts according to the categorisation made by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). This year 355 districts (68 per cent) have received scanty rainfall and 202 districts cumulatively deficient rainfall (- 22 per cent to - 60 per cent). About 151 districts (29 per cent of the total districts) have received scanty rainfall (- 60 per cent to - 99 per cent)”, Special Secretary in the Union Agriculture Ministry Hemendra Kumar told newspersons here today. He added that according to the figures made available by the IMD,the “subdued monsoon conditions was likely to continue for the next two-three days”. Punjab, where 14 of the 16 districts have received deficient or scanty rainfall, is among the most-affected states. Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi (all 21 districts received deficient or scanty rainfall), Uttar Pradesh (62 of the 64 districts received scanty rainfall), Rajasthan (all 32 districts received deficient ranfall), Madhya Pradesh (39 of the 45 districts received scanty rainfall) and Himachal (all 12 districts recorded deficient rainfall) are the most adversely affected states. The 12 states which have received the first instalment from the Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) are Haryana (Rs 33.61 crore), Andhra Pradesh (Rs 40.94 crore), Jammu and Kashmir (Rs 41.9 crore) Assam (Rs 41.98 crore), Karnataka (Rs 30.83 crore), Kerala (Rs 27.8 crore), Madhya Pradesh (Rs 25.89 crore), Maharashtra (Rs 64.99 crore), Rajasthan (85.58 crore), Tamil Nadu (Rs 42.43 crore), Uttar Pradesh (Rs 118.07 crore) and West Bengal (Rs 81.61 crore). “In case of Punjab an assessment of the damage is yet to be made and the state government will undertake a survey from August 10 to estimate the damage”, Mr Hemendra Kumar said. |
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BJP takes U-turn on UP Cabinet expansion Lucknow, July 29 It may be recalled that Ms Mayawati had earlier announced to expand her ministry on August 1. This decision was taken after the BJP had raised much hue and cry, and Urban Development Minister Lalji Tandon, who is also the constituency in-charge of Prime Minister, dashed off letter to the CM asking her to expand the Ministry. Even angry words were exchanged between the BSP and the BJP leaders on this issue. All of a sudden the BJP took a U-turn and after a long meeting decided that the expansion of the Ministry should be put on the hold for some time. The state President of the BJP, Mr Vinay Katiyar, met Ms Mayawati last evening and conveyed the party’s decision. The Chief Minister gleefully accepted this suggestion and announced that now the Cabinet expansion would take place sometime in mid-September. There are red faces in the saffron party over this sudden turn of events. A senior BJP leader told The Tribune here today that what wrong Ms Mayawati had done when she had asked for the list of probable candidates, aspiring to be ministers. The whole incident proved that the BJP was not ready for expansion, he said. Highly placed sources said the decision to put the Cabinet expansion on hold was taken to stop a possible dissension in the BJP. There were 15 vacancies and for this there were over 40 aspirants for ministerial berth. Despite the best effort of the party leadership they had failed to finalise the list. “There was apprehension that those leaders, who would be left out, could form a pressure group and this could create problems in the Budget session beginning August 8”, said a general secretary of the party. Moreover, there was discord between the two allies — the BJP and the BSP — over the inclusion of some leaders in the Ministry who have criminal records. In Rajnath Singh’s government there were around five ministers who had criminal records against them. The BJP leaders wanted to include at least three such leaders in the Ministry. All of them are independent candidates, who had won election on the support of the BJP. But the Chief Minister was averse to this idea. Sources say around two days back two senior BJP leaders — Mr Tandon and Mr Om Prakash Singh, who is PWD minister — met Ms Mayawati and tried to persuade her to change her views. Apparently, it seems that they have failed in their mission as Ms Mayawati has reiterated that she does not want any criminal in her Ministry. The state president of the BJP said that this issue will be resolved. “Good and right people will get berth in ministry,” he said. It seems a Herculean task for the BJP leadership to select the right candidates. Till they do it, Ms Mayawati is all likely to rule the roost. |
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Ranga had ‘foreboding of death’ New Delhi, July 29 “Ranga (as he was popularly known) was a shattered man after his wife died two years ago. He had told relatives that he didn’t have more than two years to live,” said Mr T.R. Ramachandran, Chief of Bureau of The Tribune for which Ranga drew cartoons. Ranga died of a massive heart attack on Sunday, 16 days after the second death anniversary of his wife on July 12. The end came while he was visiting his brother Anantharaman in Bangalore. He had arrived in the city on Saturday. The cremation took place in Bangalore on Sunday evening. “He was completely dependent on his wife and though he went on with his life after her death, he was never his old self,” recalled Mr Ramachandran, who knew Ranga for close to three decades. “It’s not easy to concentrate on someone’s facial expressions and the contours of the face when you are being jostled about by the security and your fellow reporters,” recalled cartoonist Sudhir Telang. Most dignitaries whom Ranga sketched would ask him for a copy and he quickly mastered the art of churning out two works in the time taken for one. In all this, there was but one hiccup but Ranga laughed it away. “This doesn’t at all look like me,” scrawled former Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on Ranga’s sketch. “What does he know about cartooning?” was how Ranga brushed off the remark. The Bhutto caricature was a permanent fixture at the annual exhibition Ranga organised here to display his latest works — an event that was eagerly looked forward to by the Capital’s political glitterati.
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’84 riots: troops not used ‘judiciously’ New Delhi, July 29 Alleging that there was laxity on the part of the authorities to stem the violence that followed the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, Brigadier Brar said, “The GOC, Delhi area, was in touch with the civil authorities, but the cause of non-deployment was due to unwillingness of the civil authorities.” “The troops were not judiciously used where they were needed most”, said Brigadier Brar deposing as a witness before the commission probing the events leading to the riots. “I do not know whether this was because of the failure of the civil authorities to bring to the notice of the GOC, the areas of major violence,” he added. “The troops were sent to areas where there was little violence,” he submitted, adding that “they were not utilised where they were needed most.”
PTI |
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Flag Code ‘violated’ at Kant’s funeral Jaipur, July 29 “The National Flag draped on the body of the Vice-President had the saffron portion towards his arm. This is a flagrant violation of the code,’’ Mr Gyan Prakash Qamra, a government official said here. Mr Qamra said he had sent a telegram to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam yesterday in this connection. He pointed out that Section 3.58 of the new Flag Code of India says: “On occasions of state and military funerals, the National Flag shall be draped over the bier or coffin with the saffron towards the head of the bier or coffin.’’
UNI |
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BSF should manage
border: panel New Delhi, July 29 The committee headed by senior Congress leader Pranab Kumar Mukherjee, in its 91st report, has observed that ‘effective border management could alone plug holes in border defence’. While recommending the posting of BSF jawans along the border and the LoC, the committee pointed out that the BSF was in any case raising additional battalions. Noting that though the rise in the number of killings of terrorist during 2000-2001 suggested that the security forces were gaining an upper hand in the Kashmir valley, the situation did not appear to have been restored to the pre-Kargil days. |
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Cong appoints 2 more spokesmen New Delhi, July 29 Former Union Minister Syed Sibte Razi and Mr Satyavrat Chaturvedi, Lok Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh, were today appointed spokespersons. With this, the number of spokespersons of the Congress has risen to five. While Mr Jaipal Reddy is the chief spokesperson, Mr Anand Sharma and Mr Abhishek Sighvi are the other spokespersons for the party. |
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Chandigarh may have
glaciology centre New Delhi, July 29 The sub-committee on Himalayan Glaciers has recommended that the centre could be initiatlly located at the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment, Chandigarh, or at the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Glaciology, Dehra Dun. |
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Monks to dispense
peace notes in India, Pakistan New Delhi, July 29 Rev Terasawa Junsei, who is leading the march told mediapersons here today that the three-month-long prayer march for peace would start from the famous Ashoka’s Dharamarajika Stupa of Taxila on August 6, a grim reminder of the day when the first atomic bomb was dropped over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The first phase of the peace march in India is scheduled to start on September 15 from the Wagah border. The march will be joined by the local people till Amritsar. The march will pass through Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Sanghol, Sugh. The second phase of the walk will include a walk to the Yamuna right up to
Mathura.
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Musician Sudhir Phadke dead Mumbai, July 29 He was admitted to Hinduja Hospital on July 23 after a brain haemorrhage and was in the ICU till this morning, hospital sources said. He had taken active part in the Goa Liberation Movement. The musician had a fall at his Shivaji Park residence.
PTI |
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In video: Parliament mourns the death of Vice-President Krishan
Kant who passed away on Saturday morning following a heart attack. (
