New Delhi, March 9
Keen to spread the network of Metro rail across the country, the Centre has decided to enact a law aimed at addressing the legal hurdles in such an endeavour.

The Bill to amend the Delhi Metro Operation and Maintenance Act, 2002, will be introduced in Parliament in the current session so that it could be passed and the move gets implemented fast.

“The draft of the Metro Rail Amendment Bill, 2008, is ready and awaiting Cabinet approval. Once it is approved by the Cabinet, it will be introduced in the Lok Sabha in the ongoing Budget session,” a senior official in the Urban Development Ministry told PTI.

The government decided to effect the amendment after witnessing legal hurdles while extending the Delhi Metro Rail to Noida and Gurgaon in the absence of a central legislation.

“The enactment of a central legislation is required to provide legislative backup to all Metro operations in the country,” the official said, adding “it will be a smooth operation once a central law is enacted.”

So far, states like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and Chandigarh have shown interest in having Metro rail system.

Previously, barring the Calcutta Metro Act, 1978, which was extended to New Delhi for the construction of Delhi Metro, no state had enacted any law for rail-based transport system. Later, the government enacted the Delhi Metro Operation and Maintenance Act, 2003, for regulating the work of the Metro in the Capital.

Since the government is opening up for private players to invest in Metro system, the Act is essential to provide protection to them. It would provide legislative support for the construction, operation and maintenance of the system in cities.

While the Delhi Metro pattern is to be replicated in Banglore, Chandigarh and Chennai, the government may allow private investment in Hyderabad and Mumbai.

The Act will empower the Metro rail administration to do anything that may be necessary for the train system’s operations.

There are provisions in the proposed Act empowering the authorities to remove obstruction for smooth movement of rolling stock and passengers.

Besides Metro rail, a few states are also keen to have sky train, Monorail and also for light rail on an elevated track.

States have been given freedom to choose any mode of mass rapid transport system depending upon the feasibility. However, the Centre has to ensure the safety of all rail-based transport system. — PTI 

Guwahati, March 9
The Railways has run into hurdles posed by insurgents in implementing its projects in the Northeast at a desired pace. The chairman of the Indian Railway Board, K.C. Jena, said yesterday that it was definitely the insurgents who had been the biggest hurdle in the path of implementing railway projects in the Northeast.

He, however, assured that from now onward there would be no dearth of funds for taking up new railway projects and implementing existing projects in the region, thanks to the newly created non-lapsing fund of the railway ministry for the region.

The coffer, which has been formed at the initiative of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, would be formed with 25 per cent share from the Railways’ gross budgetary support and 75 per cent by the Union finance ministry. Meanwhile, the budgetary allocation of the Railways for the Northeast had gone up from Rs 902 crore in 2007-08 to Rs 1,269 crore in 2008-09.

Talking to the media at the Northeast Frontier (NF) Railways headquarters at Maligaon here, Jena said, “Insurgency problem in the Northeast has slowed down the implementation of railway projects and that has ultimately affected the development of the region.”

The Railways had been talking to state governments concerned in the region, Assam in particular, as most of the railway projects in the region were located in the state, and the Union home ministry had been seeking concrete steps to tackle the threat posed by insurgents.

“ So far, the government response in Assam has been positive in this regard. The Assam government has informed us about raising a 1,000 strong force of ex-servicemen to guard 86 project sites of the Railways in the state. Forty-two of these sites are now being manned by the Assam Police and paramilitary forces,” the Railway Broad chief said.

New Delhi, March 9
The air of unease between the UPA government and its Left allies over the Indo-US nuclear deal will continue till the last week of April and the battle lines are likely to be drawn only towards the end of next month, well-placed sources said today.

The UPA government has several options — overt as well as covert — and does not want to precipitate a point-of-no-return crisis as of now. Primarily, there are two reasons for that: one political, another diplomatic.

Politically, the government would not like to be accused of delivering a still-born baby if its “poll budget” were not to be implemented in the first place. This will happen if the government falls before the Finance Bill is passed by Parliament, for which the Left parties’ support is of crucial importance.

The government hopes to pass vote-on-account before Parliament breaks into a three-week recess from March 20. After Parliament reconvenes, the passage of the Finance Bill will be the government’s topmost priority as only after this the proposals contained in the 2008-09 union budget will become operational.

Diplomatically, the Manmohan Singh government does not have to actually put its signatures either with the IAEA for an India-specific additional safeguards agreement or with the Nuclear Suppliers Group for an India-specific waiver for nuclear commerce before the matter goes to the US Congress.

With the IAEA, India has already completed its negotiations and the text agreement is “frozen”. India does not have to actually sign the agreement with the IAEA before the US takes up India’s case with the NSG. The agreed text between IAEA and India is enough for reaching out to the NSG. After the IAEA and NSG nod, the US Congress can take up the nuclear deal — a roadmap which is going to take months.

Obviously, the Left parties are not unaware. They can breathe fire or fire salvos at the government for scoring brownie points. But it is unlikely that they can afford to appear unreasonable even in their anti-US stance.

The government, for its part, is not interested in uncontrolled aggression as of now and would like to bide time. CPM general secretary Prakash Karat gave ample indications of the time-is-of-essence formula when he told reporters today at the end of the three-day session of the party’s central committee here that the date for the next UPA-Left panel meeting on the nuclear deal was expected to be known tomorrow.

The tug-of-war between the government and the Left parties is expected to continue. The two sides are likely to show controlled aggression to each other. A full-blown political crisis does not seem to be on the cards in the coming couple of weeks, the sources said.

New Delhi, March 9
About 30 flights were delayed, 14 diverted and four cancelled at the Indira Gandhi International airport here after runway visibility dipped suddenly due to heavy fog this morning.

“The runway visibility range (RVR) dropped to 125 metres this morning due to heavy fog, disrupting the flight movements,” sources said, adding as a result low visibility procedure (LVP) was implemented from 6.34 am.

Over 30 flights, coming to Delhi and taking off from here, were delayed by up to two to three hours. Also 14 flights, 12 domestic and two international, were diverted to other destinations, sources said. Four flights were also cancelled.

The fog was so dense that no flight took off from the airport for about two hours. However, flight landed using CAT I and III B instrument landing system (ILS) from 6.30 am to 10.30 am. About 44 flights operated during the LVP using the ILS.

The RVR improved at around 10.30 after which LVP and safeguard procedure were removed, the airport officials said.

Passengers faced a lot of inconvenience, as they had to wait for two to three hours before flight operations resumed.

The situation returned to normalcy only after 10.30 am, the officials added. — PTI 

Kolkata, March 9
The controversy in the Left Front over the selection of candidates in the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections in West Bengal still persisted.

The elections will be held on March 26 in five vacant seats following the expiry of the terms of the MPs belonging to the Left Front as well as the Trinamool Congress.

The front chairman Biman Bose admitted that they were yet to finalise their candidates list since no decision could be taken about the allotment of seat to the CPI.

“We have still differences among ourselves about the selection of candidates in two of the four seats belonging to the Left parties,” he said. He, however, hoped at the front meeting on March 13, these differences would be resolved and the Left Front’s list be finalised.

The CPM, the major partner, initially wanted the Forward Bloc to allow the CPI to contest in the vacant seat following the expiry of the term of Debabrata Biswas, the party’s all-India general secretary. But the Front Block did not agree. Instead, the party decided to re-nominate Biswas for another term.

The Front Block was also unwilling to ask their another sitting candidate, Barun Mukherjee to step down before the expiry of his term for accommodating Biswas in that seat which was suggested by the CPM.

The CPM already decided to re-elect their two sitting MPs, Prasanta Chatterjee, former Kolkata Mayor and Tarini Roy and for a third seat, the party initially decided to elect a woman party leader, which was not announced since the party had to meet the demands of the CPI as well as Front Block.

Mamata Banerjee said the Trinamool Congress would contest in the fifth seat and she hoped she would get the support from the Congress, the SUCI and the GNLF. The WBPCC president Priya Das Munshi, however, said they had not yet decided about their stand. He said he would consult Sonia Gandhi and other AICC leadership before finally deciding if the Congress would field a separate candidate or support the TMC candidate in the fifth seat against the CPM.

Prior to the Left Front’s meeting last evening, the CPM state secretariat held detailed discussion about the party’s stand in the Rajya Sabha vis-à-vis Panchayet poll. 

Kohima/Shillong, March 9
Non-Congress formations were all set today to form the next governments in volatile Nagaland and Meghalaya after securing razor-thin majorities in the recent Assembly elections.

In Nagaland, the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland with 34 members, including four Independents, met Governor K. Sankaranarayanan this evening and formally staked claim to form the next government in the state.

After electing Neiphiu Rio as the DAN legislature party leader, the MLAs of NPF (26), BJP (2) and NCP (2), accompanied by Lok Sabha MP of NPF W. Koniyak, met the Governor. The four Independents told the Governor that they have formed a group and would extend support to Rio as the DAN legislature party leader besides extending individual support.

In Meghalaya, the United Democratic Party (UDP) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) combined Meghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA) is all set to form the new government.

Meghalaya’s UDP and NCP have agreed to lead the government for two-and-half years each of the total five-year-term with UDP president Dr Donkupar Roy leading the first half while NCP general secretary P.A. Sangma leading the remaining years of the MPA government.

“There is a perfect understanding among the coalition partners and we don’t foresee any difficulty of MPA leading a coalition government,” Sangma said.

The former Lok Sabha Speaker said the other aspects of the ministry formation and election for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker posts would be discussed later with the coalition partners.

A core committee, headed by Dr Roy has been formed to study the manifestoes of different political parties of the alliance to draw up a Common Minimum Programme (CMP).

The MPA comprises of NCP (14), UDP (11), Hill State Peoples Democratic Party (2), two Independents and one each from the BJP and the Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement.

In Tripura, Manik Sarkar will be sworn in as the Chief Minister tomorrow after the CPM-led Left Front romped back to power for the fourth consecutive term with a whopping two-third majority. Twelve ministers also would take the oath of office along with Sarkar.

Ramendra Debnath and Bhanulal Saha have been nominated as Speaker and Deputy Speaker, respectively, who would also be given the oath of secrecy with the cabinet. — UNI 

Bangalore, March 9
Former Chief Minister S M Krishna is his own man and so are his followers. Supporters of the former Chief Minister are set to give him the much larger- than- life role his detractors in the Karnataka Congress are loathe to accept by bringing him to Bangalore at the head of a 600- km roadshow.

According to Krishna’s supporters, he will be received at Belgaum on March 14 where a grand reception has been organised to welcome him on home ground. Following this, his supporters have decided to undertake a roadshow from Belgaum to Bangalore which will pass through the major towns of Hubli, Dharwad, Devangere, Chitradurga and Tumkur before reaching Bangalore.

The roadshow has been planned by Krishna loyalist D. K Shivakumar and others, including P M Ashok and Prakash Rathod, are associated with it. The roadshow has not got the blessings of the Pradesh Congress and state Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge is not expected to attend the event.

Sources said while the roadshow would help to re-energise the Congress which needs Krishna’s face to reinvent itself in the state, it is also likely to expose the fissures in the Pradesh Congress. They said this would be more apparent if a large number of Pradesh Congress office-bearers kept away from the roadshow which the party is informally maintaining is not a party programme.

The roadshow is not only expected to highlight the “suspicion” with which Mallikarjun Kharge holds Krishna as he is loathe to share power with him, but also bring out the third group led by former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Sources said Siddaramaiah, who has shifted loyalties to the Congress from the Janata Dal (Secular) and leads the group of informally referred to as “migrants” as well backward class leaders, is also not expected to be part of the roadshow. Already former union minister C K Jaffer Sharief has also expressed his displeasure at the re-induction of Krishna in the state, by claiming it would not have any effect.

It is to be seen what role Krishna perceives for himself in the state with sources saying he is likely to be appointed Chairman of the Congress Coordination Committee which will work out and implement a strategy for the upcoming elections. Krishna’s supporters are, however, upbeat that the roadshow will bear positive results. Former minister and Krishna supporter Shivakumar claimed that the roadshow was being organised on the demand of the people who wanted to express their solidarity with Krishna and the Congress party. 

New Delhi, March 9
From being scavengers carrying night soil on their heads for years, 28 women from Alwar are now all set to walk the ramp at the United Nations’ General Assembly Hall.

The liberated scavengers, 30 to 70 year-old, who till recently followed the age-old family practice in their localities, have been shortlisted as part of the social reform initiative of the Sulabh Sanitation movement, to walk the ramp.

“It is a symbolic gesture to showcase the path-breaking contributions of liberated scavengers in the context of social reform,” says Bindeshwar Pathak, founder, Sulabh movement.

According to Chameli, one of the 28 women who have now become almost like a role model, the women are busy designing the clothes, which they plan to showcase at the UN Assembly in July 2.

“I started carrying the night soil since I was a child. I continued with the profession even after marriage and this had become our lone source of income and almost like a ritual for us,” says Chameli (35), a liberated scavenger.

“Now, I feel more confident and more a human since I have left the profession,” she adds.

A book containing success stories of these women titled, ‘Princess of Alwar’, would also be released at the Assembly.

“The journey from being a scavenger carrying night soil in a small town to a chance to walk on the ramp and rub shoulders with celebrities was torturous. — PTI

Panaji, March 9
A man was arrested today in connection with the death of a teenaged British girl, whose bruised body was found on a beach here. The Goa police filed a case of murder following a second autopsy on her body.

The second autopsy conducted this weekend on the body of 15-year-old Scarlette Eden Keeling concluded she was murdered and did not drown as the police had initially insisted.

“We have arrested one person and more arrests will be made soon,” inspector general of police Kishan Kumar told PTI.

“The person arrested has been identified as Samsung D’Souza (29). He has been arrested on rape charge because he was seen in compromising position with the British girl a little before she was found dead,” IGP Kishen Kumar said.

The state police earlier in the day had detained three persons in the connection of murder.

While the police had throughout maintained the case was that of accidental death, a second autopsy report has changed the course of investigation with the police registering the death as murder.

Keeling was found dead on Goa’s popular Anjuna Beach on February 18 in semi-nude condition. Her family members suspected that she was raped and murdered.

After the media focus and political lobbying, the state government had ordered a second autopsy which recommended that the death to be investigated as “murder”. — PTI 

New Delhi, March 9
It was an atmosphere charged with emotions when the mother of Manjunath Kalmani, paralysed neck down since a car crash in the US, came all the way from their village in Karnataka to meet him here.

"I hope my son's treatment is taken care of. We do not have the financial means to take care of him," a tearful Vidyavati said after meeting her son.

Manjunath, a promising software engineer had his life rudely interrupted at the age of 27, when he was reduced to the status of an invalid living under the care of nurses in an alien land after meeting with a car accident. All he can do now is speak in a rasping whisper.

"Our nodal officer received information from the Indian Embassy that there is a patient Manjunath coming from the USA. He arrived and was in very critical condition, having all sorts of problems and I think his brother is not very inclined to come here to see the patient," his doctor, Dr Jagdish Prasad, said.

Manjunath cannot even breathe on his own due to the paralysis and is on a ventilator. — PTI