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| Sunday,
October 20, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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FOCUS Faridabad, October 19 A consensus seems to have evolved that in the absence of groundwork, it is difficult to save the industries from the recession. Although the town has been growing since 1950s, the industrial development lost its steam in the early 90s. While some people started calling Faridabad a ‘dying city’, adverse conditions forced many big units to close down or shift elsewhere. This resulted in unemployment and other related problems. The property rates have either gone down heavily or have been stagnant for long. According to people representing various sections of life, the reasons behind the ‘sluggishness’ were many. Mr S Narshiman, general secretary of the Faridabad Industrial Association (FIA), claimed that inadequate development of infrastructure; failure of units to upgrade their technology; heavy dependence of ancillary units on the mother unit; increasing global competition; and the taxation system – all had a drastic effect on the industrial scene in the past decade. He said that there were at least 240 exporting units and the garments units alone had been contributing about 60 per cent of the export turnover. Moreover, there has been a delay in taking up the projects which include construction of a flyover at Badarpur border; repair of the service lane on both sides of the National Highway; removal of encroachments on the sides of the highway; maintenance of the main Mathura Road and other roads in the town; lack of action against the growing pollution caused by the traffic and industries, especially dyeing and electroplating units; and no provision for housing the industrial workers and labourers. |
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Sheila lays stone of controversial flyover New Delhi, October 19 The Lieutenant Governor had raised certain objections on technical grounds after the Council of Ministers decided to contract the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC) for executing the works. The Council of Ministers of the Government of NCT of Delhi had maintained the project had been cleared by all agencies concerned and the objections were unwarranted. The DTTDC says the flyover will have two carriageways of three lanes each. The flyover will be constructed using pre-cast segmental construction technology and have an aesthetically pleasing fish-belly shape. The segments will be supported on contoured central pillars. “Pre-cast technology,” DTTDC Chairman Romesh Sabharwal told media persons, “is being used for the first time.” One carriageway of the flyover is proposed to be thrown open to traffic by September 30, 2003. The project will be completed by May 2004. It is estimated to cost Rs 55 crore. Sabharwal says the cost-estimate had been brought down from Rs 62 crore to Rs 53 crore after re-evaluation and the project would be completed in 18 months. “Penalty / reward clause in the agreement has been included for the first time ever,” he says. The DTTDC has already completed the construction of five flyovers at Loni, Wazirabad, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chirag Delhi, and Peeragarhi. An underpass at Madhuban Chowk, Rohini, is also planned. “After the flyovers at Loni (1.6 km) and Raja Garden (1.2 km), the flyover linking Lajpat Nagar with Sriniwaspuri will be the third longest in the NCT of Delhi,” Sabharwal adds. On the occasion of laying the foundation stone of the flyover, the chief minister told media persons the Council of Ministers was open to suggestions insofar as improving the construction of flyovers is concerned. “The Government of NCT of Delhi,” she said, “is not in favour of any delay in the construction of flyovers as traffic congestion and population of Delhi’s roads are increasing every day.” “We have to face several obstacles in undertaking developmental works but we are trying to complete them despite hindrances,” she said adding her Ministry was trying to complete the works as speedily as was possible and with the limited powers at the Council of Minister’s disposal. The reference was to the circulars issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs that she maintained curtailed the powers and the autonomy of the Cabinet. Transport Minister Ajay Maken, with whom the Lieutenant Governor was reportedly not happy for deciding to go ahead with the project ignoring his views, in turn said the Government of NCT of Delhi was not dependent on the Centre as the funds for the fly-over and other projects were self-generated.
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Railway
tickets are for lesser mortals! Meerut, October 19 This happened on October 16, 2002, on board 4512 Saharanpur-Allahabad-Nauchandi Express, which touches Lucknow en route. Both the senior superintendent of police, Meerut, Mukul Goel, and the district magistrate, Meerut, Rama Raman, travelled without ticket from Meerut City station to Kharkhauda in a sleeper coach. But nobody dared ask them for ticket. The next day the BKU proposed to hold a rally in Lucknow despite a government ban. Result: The administration of each district of western UP had made elaborate security arrangements to stop the farmers from proceeding to Lucknow. In fact, the administration had planned to arrest BKU president Mahendra Singh Tikait at Meerut City railway station. The police force ‘scanned’ and checked the trains, including its lavatories, but did not find the BKU president. Apart from the police personnel, at least 20 TTEs and chief ticket inspectors were on the prowl. In the midst of this heavy bandobast, the DM, Mr Rana Raman, and the SSP, Mr Mukul Goel, boarded the sleeper coach of the 4512 Nauchandi Express. Some highly reliable sources in the SSP and the DM office confirmed to the ‘NCR Tribune’ that they did not buy tickets. According to the Superintendent, city railway station, Mr A K Mittal: “Had they been caught, they would have been fined up to Rs 178. Had they failed to cough up the fine, they would have been jailed. Had they been caught by a magistrate, they would have been fined Rs 500. Or it could have resulted in an imprisonment for three months.” |
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CPM wants CBI probe into lynching Rohtak, October 19 The party state secretary, Mr Inderjit Singh, told the ‘NCR Tribune’ here today that there was no chance of justice for the victims’ families under the investigation to be conducted by the Commissioner, Rohtak division. He asked the state government to place all officials under suspension who were present at Duleena at the time of the ghastly murders and grant Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the aggrieved families. The grant of Rs 1 lakh compensation to the victims’ families by the government was insufficient as the families have been left with no means of sustenance. Mr Inderjit Singh, who visited Duleena and Jhajjar after the report of killings of five Dalits, denied that the lynching of five Dalits was a spontaneous reaction of the frenzied mob as was being proclaimed in the official versions. “In fact, the cow slaughter theory is a farce and has been concocted to cover up the hated act in order to save the actual culprits,” he said. The fact that the five Dalits were detained illegally for more than four hours raises several questions on the conduct of the policemen and their complicity with those communal elements who used this long period for spreading rumours and mobilise the trouble-makers and brought them to the spot, he said. The Duleena police post is actually situated at a lonely place with hardly any habitation around it and the villages are far from the spot. In fact, Jhajjar is nearer to this police post. The CPM leader said that the police version was suspect. There have been many occasions when the police post personnel had demanded bribes from the animal skin traders on the pretext of implementing the anti-cow slaughter laws in the state. He said that the charge made on the basis of past experience by the family members of those killed is that it was the police personnel who first beat the Dalits as they refused to pay the police. All this calls for investigation, he said. Mr Inderjit Singh said that there were many unresolved questions regarding the skinning that ostensibly triggered the violence. The police versions that a dead cow was bought in Farooknagar by Kailash, the trader, and then skinned on the open road was highly unlikely. The trader, he said, was interested in getting his consignment valued at about Rs 40,000 to the delivery station and the brothers of licensed skinner were keen to collect the payment and get back home, why should they suddenly buy a dead cow worth Rs 200 and then stop in the middle of the road to skin it, that too near a police post? |
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GETTING AWAY Champawat is a historical place and famous for its temples with beautiful architecture and carvings. The breathtaking landscape of the town makes it a favourite get away. The place offers the tourists not just pleasant sight-seeing but a chance to view the varied wildlife and a few good places to trek. The historical ruins of the fort of the Chand rulers can be seen here in Champawat, which was once the capital of Kumaon. The Baleshwar and Rataneshwar temples, which display exquisite works of carvings, are also located here. A small fort and the temples of Baleshwar, Champadari, Ratneshwar and Durga adorn the city. The places worth seeing near Champawat are Narsinh Danda, Hingia Devi, Hidimba Ghatokach temple, Maneshwar, Karanteshwar and a temple of Surya at village Ramak. For excursions one can go to
Baleshwar
temple A group of temples dedicated to Baleshwar, Ratneshwar and Champawati Durga. The early Chand rulers have built these temples, which display intricate structural carvings. The carvings and paintings on the ceilings of these temples are evidence of the ancient glory and artistic excellence of the era.
Mayawati Ashram The headquarters of Adwait Ashram, it was sanctified by Swami Vivekanand and is also known for its charming surroundings.
Abbot Mount Situated amongst thick forests of oak and deodar, Abbot Mount is one of Kumaon’s idyllic hill resorts for a peaceful, secluded holiday. To reach Champawat, the nearest railhead is Tanakpur, which is about 75 km away. For those who wish to travel by road, the place is well connected to Nainital, 233 km, Haldwani is about 193 km, Tanakpur, 75 km and Pithoragarh 74 km. Champawat is well-connected by road with other parts of Kumaon. Hotels and Dharamshalas are available for night stay at the place. |
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SEARCH WITHIN Mera Bharat Mahan’ You must have seen that slogan on billboards. Patriotism drips from such self-righteous proclamations. “Sareh Jahan Se Acha…” begins another jingoist piece in praise of the nation. But what makes a nation proud? One important prerequisite is the sense of equality. However, at no time is this principle more violated than when fanatically inclined members of ruling groups harp on differences that divide people rather than focussing on issues which perpetuate such inequalities and disadvantages. Such groups coin new definitions of Indianness or patriotism to exclude rather than to include, to cause hatred rather than to unite. If news reports are to be believed, Gujarat’s economy has been badly hit by communal strife. The business climate has vitiated, the state’s coffers are nearly empty and the gross domestic product is actually falling. Moreover, the violence has created a sense of insecurity among the people. All these have sprung up from the State’s divisive, communal politics. How could anyone feel proud of such a situation? The Gaurav Yatra, it is said, was intended to restore the people’s confidence. “It is intended to obliterate the blots and enable Gujaratis to hold their heads high once again.” If that is the need, the method adopted is definitely not suitable. This gaurav (pride) is all about patriotic spirit, one of the values promoted in most parts of our globe. But men of vision like Tolstoy have been warning people against the danger of promoting narrow loyalties in the name of patriotism. Dr Johnson was nearly prophetic when he proclaimed long ago that patriotism was the last resort of the scoundrel. While on the one hand, the global village is shrinking owing to scientific and technological strides, patriotism has come to mean promotion of narrow loyalties by vested interests who want to appropriate certain privileges. Gustave Herve, another great anti-patriot, justly calls patriotism “a superstition —one far more injurious, brutal, and inhumane than religion..” It is a superstition artificially created and maintained “through a network of lies and falsehoods; a superstition that robs man of his self-respect and dignity, and increases his arrogance and conceit.” It promotes the idea that one’s own country is correct and great! Thus, people of one country consider themselves “better, nobler, grander, and more intelligent than the living beings inhabiting other parts of the earth.” When people of other countries think the same way, confrontations take place. Children are taught to fight and kill in defence of a particular religion, ideology or land. The mind of the child is poisoned with blood-curdling stories and false images of the enemy. They come to assume that a good patriot is the enemy of the rest of mankind. Afghanistan presents the most recent example of such perverted thinking. It is time to come out of the shibboleth of patriotism. The awful waste, militarism and war that patriotism necessitates ought to be sufficient “to cure the man of even average intelligence from this disease” wrote Emma Goldman who had crusaded against the evil in the 1900s. Gandhiji, Tagore and Tolstoy had also drawn the people’s attention to the intolerance bred by narrow loyalties. Yet patriotism demands still more. The people are urged to be patriotic and for that luxury they pay, not only by supporting their “defenders”, but by sacrificing their own children. Patriotism requires allegiance to the flag, which means obedience and readiness to kill father, mother, brother, sister, recalls one of the crusaders against evils in society. M. P. K. Kutty
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Govt to allot land or building to Haj panel New Delhi: The Government of NCT of Delhi on Saturday announced that land or building would be sanctioned for the Delhi State Haj Committee. Addressing delegates at the valedictory session of the training programme for Haj pilgrims, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said representatives of the Haj Committee and Urs Committee would be invited to a conference to be hosted by the government so that outstanding problems faced by the community could be mutually redressed. On the occasion, the Chief Minister said more funds could be allocated to the Delhi State Haj Committee and services for the pilgrims augmented as Delhi was a transit point for the pilgrims from neighbouring states. TNS
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Insider’s hand suspected in woman’s murder New Delhi, October 19 Sugar racket:
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At a distance of 76 km from Pithoragarh, Champawat, situated at a height of about 1615 mts above sea level, was originally the Capital of Chand Rajas of Kumaon. Legend goes that it was at Champawat that Lord Vishnu appeared in Kurmavatar, the reason perhaps why Kumaon came to be known as Kurmanchal. 
