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Friday,
September 13, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Undertake urban reforms, states
told Probe Rajdhani mishap:
Panja Rescue work poor: minister
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Nitish meets Kalam Admn to cremate 14 victims Lineman detects
rail fracture Global talks on airport safety
Ravi Kant’s
passport cancelled HC to take action against
Manisha
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Undertake urban reforms, states
told New Delhi, September 12 Inaugurating a meeting of state and Union Territory ministers of Urban Development, Housing and Local Self Government here, Union Urban Development Minister Ananth Kumar asked them to lower stamp duty in phases to less than 5 per cent, reform rent-control laws and computerise registration system. The minister also wanted the state governments to levy user charges to collect full cost of operation and maintenance by the end of the 10th Plan and introduce double-entry system of accounting in urban bodies. “Many urban legislations have created hinderances and have caused distortions in the development process leading to unplanned and uncontrolled growth in urban areas with serious negative effects on the life of dwellers and the environment,” Mr Ananth Kumar regretted. He also emphasised the need to adopt new concepts and unconventional methods in the management of urban areas and undertake drastic reforms to develop urban areas. Endorsing Mr Ananth Kumar’s viewpoint, Punjab Minister for Local Government Jagjit Singh admitted that to clear the backlog on providing basic civic amenities, there was a need to innovate new ideas. “To clear the backlog, there is a need to innovate new ideas, so that the urban governance is able to meet the present rush of duties and responsibilities,” he said. Appreciating the urban sector reforms initiated by the Centre namely the Urban Reform Incentive fund, the City Challenge fund, the State Pool Finance Development fund, the tax-free municipal bonds and the rationalisation of stamp duty, Mr Jagjit Singh pointed out that to implement Centre’s programmes state government was yet to receive assistance from the Union Government. Haryana Minister of State for Urban Development Subhash Goyal disclosed that his department had decided to adopt satellite-imaging for a Geographic Information System to prepare and digitise base maps of towns, their masterplans and identification of municipal lands so as to check encroachments and improve collection of taxes. He said the project would be coupled with digitised software for the management of property and enhancement of efficiency. The Haryana Urban Infrastructural Development Board had already approved Rs 7 crore for the project which would be operational within one-and-a-half years. |
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Probe Rajdhani mishap:
Panja Kolkata, September 12 Mr Panja, now a rebel Trinamool Congress MP, who is a barrister by profession, said since there had been a sharp difference of opinion between the Deputy Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, also the Home Minister, and the Railway Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, over the causes of the accident, it was all the more necessary to get a judicial inquiry conducted. CPM politburo has also demanded a similar inquiry into the accident. Mr Panja felt the official inquiry, which had been ordered, would be a routine matter and it would never reveal the real causes of the disastrous accident. Meanwhile, the West Bengal Government today officially blamed the Railways for their poor response towards the rescue and relief operation of the accident victims and the injured passengers. The state Civil Defence Minister, Mr Srikumar Mukherjee, who led a team to the accident place at the instance of the Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadev Bhattacharjee, after returning to Kolkata yesterday apprised him of the poor arrangements made by the Railways and the Bihar Government for the relief and rescue operations. Mr Mukherjee informed the Chief Minister that still several passengers of the ill-fated compartments could not be traced and the Railways had no information about them. |
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Rescue work poor: minister Patna, September 12 Mr Duttatreya said: “The rescue operation was almost complete but a few relatives complained of some bodies not being available. Hence, the rescue was continued and will now end today evening.” He said though the final death toll was 105 but a few more bodies might be trapped inside a compartment. He said the rail traffic in the down line would commence from tomorrow. Regarding Koilwar rail bridge, he said the state government was not checking the illegal sand mining in the 800 metres both sides of the bridge and despite three requests to the state government and the concerned District Magistrate, no reply was given. |
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Nitish meets Kalam New Delhi, September 12 According to a press note issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan, the minister apprised the President of the action plan evolved to meet such contingencies in future. |
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Admn to cremate 14 victims Gaya, September 12 District Magistrate Brajesh Mehrotra said the decision to cremate the bodies was taken in view of the absence of any claim to the bodies. The bodies had started decomposing causing health hazards and environmental pollution as the district administration did not have the facilities to preserve them, he said.
UNI |
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Lineman detects rail fracture Ahmedabad, September 12 A lineman, Navsar Ratan, during his routine check, found rails fractured at Damanganga bridge between Vapi and Karamwel stations in Valsad district of south Gujarat around 10.30 p.m. He ran on the tracks for one-and-half km waving a red cloth and succeeded in stopping the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Karnavati Express which was to pass on the section, reports reaching here stated. Another lineman, Vitthal, alerted the railway officials, who rushed to the venue and conducted the necessary repairs. The train resumed its journey after an hour’s delay. However, railway officials claimed such fractures were routinely detected and they normally did not cause accident.
UNI |
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Global talks on airport safety New Delhi, September 12 Civil Aviation Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain will lead a team of senior officials to the talks with ICAO President Assad Kotaite and Secretary-General R.C. Costa Pareira, from September 15. India is keen to further contribute to mechanisms to improve civil aviation security. Since India has been a leading contributor to the development of civil aviation security systems, there are some more suggestions which it now wants to put forward to the ICAO. Many of the practices adopted here like security checking for domestic flights at par with international flights and strict screening of passengers and baggage are now also being adopted as the ICAO’s Standard and Recommended Practices around the world. Reports said that with the ICAO now in the process of setting up mandatory airport security audit systems, the minister’s visit to Montreal has added significance since India will play a big role in the legislative and monitoring frameworks that are being drawn up. The ICAO will be making a detailed presentation to Mr Hussain. India is also involved in international cooperation in major areas like development of satellite-based navigation systems, another area in which the ICAO has been making steady progress. Mr Hussain, who is visiting Canada on an invitation from Minister of Transport David M Collenette, will also hold talks with the Canadian Government on issues of common interests like civil aviation security in the current global context and the futuristic navigation systems. With the privatisation of the four metro airports—Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai — underway, the minister will have detailed discussions with the Vancouver Airport services and the Toronto Airport Development Corporation . |
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Bangalore comes
to halt
Bangalore, September 12 Business activity came to a halt. Most city roads wore a deserted look with city buses and autorickshaws off the roads and cinema houses and petrol stations closed. “The bandh has been absolutely peaceful. There has been no incident”, city Police Commissioner H.T. Sangliana told PTI this afternoon, as a heavy deployment of police, aided by the Rapid Action Force, kept a close vigil, particularly in sensitive areas inhabited by linguistic minorities. Attendance in government and private offices and banks was thin. Thousands of people stayed home as IT companies in this infotech hub declared a holiday. Mr Sangliana said some 500 antisocial elements had been rounded up. He said some 15 Kannada activists, including Vatal Nagaraj and G. Narayankumar, were detained when they tried to obstruct traffic in front of the Raj Bhavan. They were later released. The 12-hour bandh, which began at 6 a.m., has been supported by the Janata Parivar, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, Raj Kumar Fans Association and Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Private schools and colleges have declared a holiday. Essential services, including milk supply and medical services, remained normal. Train services were not hit. The police has promulgated prohibitory orders in certain pockets of the city.
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Ravi Kant’s
passport cancelled New Delhi, September 12 The Ministry of External Affairs immediately decided to revoke the passport of the suspended police officer, a spokesperson for the ministry said. The Delhi police sent a request to the ministry on September 10 for revoking of the travel documents of Sharma, who has been eluding arrest for the past month.
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HC to take action against Manisha Mumbai, September 12 Justices R.M. Lodha and Dilip Bhonsle told Advocate General Goolam Vahanvati to be present in the court tomorrow morning as they wanted to hear him in the matter as an amicus curie (friend of the court). The Bench said it would like to ascertain whether Manisha had committed contempt of the court by taking her grievance to the extra-constitutional authorities. Despite pendency of her appeal in the High Court, Manisha had approached Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray to mediate and sort out the controversial issue with producer Shashilal Nair.
PTI |
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