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Obituary
Another Cong leader dies in his prime
DGCA probe into air worthiness of chopper
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Quotes of remembrance
Technology aids one of the biggest manhunts
Punjab’s flight safety record worst
Singur Land Row
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Obituary
Hyderabad, September 3 YSR, as he was popularly known, was arguably the tallest leader in Andhra Pradesh Congress, having single-handedly steered the party to power for a second term in the recent Assembly elections overcoming the anti-incumbency factor. In fact, he was one of the main architects of the UPA’s victory as well, with AP contributing 33 Congress MPs to the coalition’s kitty, the highest by any state. The rise of YSR to national prominence reflected triumph of populism over harsh reforms. At a time when populism was dubbed as politically incorrect and reforms was the buzzword, he had steadfastly pitched for free power to farmers and made it his USP in the 2004 elections. The 60-year-old Rayalaseema strongman’s sustained focus on welfare schemes and rural development paid rich dividends for the ruling party. YSR, who holds a record of never losing an election in his three decade-long political career, was known for his outspokenness, simplicity, warmth and commitment to keep up promises. What endeared him to the people was his unflinching pro-poor approach in framing policies. Unlike several of his predecessors who had to battle infighting and groupism, YSR had emerged as an undisputed leader in the state Congress, enjoying full confidence of the party high command. He became the first Chief Minister in the state to steer the party to victory for a second term. YSR’s electoral success is being attributed to a string of populist schemes including free power to farmers, subsidised rice, weaker section housing, community health insurance scheme, old age pensions and a massive irrigation mission. Born into a Protestant Christian family at Pulivendula in Kadapa district on July 8, 1949, Reddy started his political career at an young age of 28 and was first elected to the Assembly in 1978 from Pulivendula , a constituency that has returned him six times so far. Reddy had served four terms in Lok Sabha, following his election from Kadapa in 1989,1991, 1996 and 1998, before returning to state politics to lead the party in the 1999 elections. The constituency is now represented by his industrialist-son Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. Before entering politics, YSR served as medical officer at the Jammalamadugu Mission Hospital briefly and had established a 70-bed charitable hospital. YSR had emerged as one of the few leaders in the country to retain power beating the anti-incumbency factor. The victory was particularly significant as it came in the face of a triangular fight between Congress, TDP and actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party. The year 2003 was a turning point in his political career when he undertook a 64-day padyatra across the state, covering 1,500 kms. This had catapulted him to power the following year. Unlike the pro-urban and IT-savvy image of his predecessor Chandrababu Naidu, YSR positioned himself as pro-farmer, populist politician focused on agriculture and rural development. Desperation to meet people proved fatal
The desperation to quickly reach out to villagers proved fatal for Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy. Despite poor weather and forecast of rains, the Chief Minister was understood to have prodded the authorities to make quick arrangements to leave for Chittoor where he was scheduled to launch a mass contact programme and interact with villagers. “The CM was keen to leave the city early so that he could find more time for interaction with villagers. Initially, he wanted to leave at 7.30 am but the Air Traffic Control did not give clearance. Finally, the clearance was given for take-off at 8.30 am,” official sources said. His last words before embarking on the fateful journey reflected his restlessness to get on with the scheduled programme. "I want to know the problems in villages through such surprise visits and want to have a direct interaction with people to know about their problems,” YSR had said in his last comments to the media before boarding the ill-fated helicopter.
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Another Cong leader dies in his prime
New Delhi, September 3 Ever since Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber in Tamil Nadu in 1991, there have been a series of tragic incidents in which other leaders like Rajesh Pilot and Madhavrao Scindia lost their lives. YSR, as the late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister was fondly called, today joined the club of those charismatic leaders of the Congress who passed away at a time when their political careers were looking up. Rajiv Gandhi was only 46 when he was assassinated while campaigning for general elections which he was all set to win. Former Internal Security Minister Rajesh Pilot (55) was killed in a road accident in 2000 when the car he was driving collided with a bus in Dausa, his parliamentary constituency in Rajasthan.
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DGCA probe into air worthiness of chopper
New Delhi, September 3 After it emerged from the DGCA website that the twin-engine Bell 430 helicopter had not been certified for its airworthiness, the government went into a denial mode saying that the website had not been updated and that chopper actually had the certificate of airworthiness till 2010. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel asserted that despite what was posted on the DGCA website, the helicopter was airworthy. He further said that the DGCA had constituted a commission of inquiry, which would go into the reasons for the crash of the helicopter. “The DGCA has begun investigations to find out the cause that led to the crash of the chopper. Our preliminary reports say the helicopter may have run into bad weather,” Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel told reporters here. Patel said: “There was no indication of a snag or shortcoming throughout the flight.” The chopper had weather radar and was technically capable of flying even in “blind conditions”. “The chopper was operating under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) instead of being instrument-guided. It is a decision of the pilot. But the facts would be out only after the investigations.” Patel did not spell out the time by which the DGCA would complete its probe. “The two pilots killed in the crash were experienced and certified pilots,” he added. However, yesterday a posting on the DGCA website said that the certification of the helicopter had lapsed two years ago. The twin-engine Bell 430 helicopter, call sign VT-APG, bore certificate of airworthiness number 2,390 issued on July 6, 2006 and was valid till July 4, 2007, said the website. Panel constituted
New Delhi: The Civil Aviation Ministry on Thursday set up a four-member committee to probe the cause of YS Rajasekhara Reddy's helicopter crash. The committee has been asked to complete its inquiry within two months. R K Tyagi, chairman and managing director of Pawan Hans Helicopters, will head the committee. Sources said the DGCA will now insist on carrying of satellite phones and effective transponders on every helicopter carrying a VIP apart from the other equipments on the choppers. —
PTI
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“It’s a huge loss for the party and Andhra Pradesh…we waited in hope day and night that he will be back on his feet. Sadly at 8.20 am this morning, we got this terrible news (of his death).’’
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Technology, human effort in one of the biggest manhunts
New Delhi, September 3 On the ground the Army, paramilitary columns, Greyhounds (an anti-naxal force), tribal police and forest officials had fanned out in a dense, naxal-ridden forest, Home Ministry officials said. The technology included satellite imagery, IAF reconnaissance planes, tracking down of signals originating from towers of mobile companies, a sophisticated high-resolution terrain mapping radar on board the IAF’s front line fighters Sukhoi-30 was used for the first time in the civilian-domain. Crucially, it may have been an SMS received by a mobile phone of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister’s security officer ASC Wesley that formed a series of clues studied by the IAF team based out a temporary control room established last night in Kurnool. The SMS was received on the phone of Wesley around noon yesterday, almost two hours after the chopper crashed. That means that the phone might have been flung out of the chopper, said officials. Technology aids one of the biggest manhunts New Delhi, September 3 On the ground the Army, paramilitary columns, Greyhounds (an anti-naxal force), tribal police and forest officials had fanned out in a dense, naxal-ridden forest, Home Ministry officials said. The technology included satellite imagery, IAF reconnaissance planes, tracking down of signals originating from towers of mobile companies, a sophisticated high-resolution terrain mapping radar on board the IAF’s front line fighters Sukhoi-30 was used for the first time in the civilian-domain. Crucially, it may have been an SMS received by a mobile phone of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister’s security officer ASC Wesley that formed a series of clues studied by the IAF team based out a temporary control room established last night in Kurnool. The SMS was received on the phone of Wesley around noon yesterday, almost two hours after the chopper crashed. That means that the phone might have been flung out of the chopper, said officials.
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Punjab’s flight safety record worst
Chandigarh, September 3 The latest incident involving a Punjab VIP was on August 30, when a helicopter carrying Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal made an emergency landing in a field near Ferozepur due to a technical snag. The Bell 230 helicopter was hired by the government from a private operator. No one, however, was injured. The helicopter crash in which the Andhra chief minister YSR Reddy was killed yesterday has focused attention on state-owned aircraft or those charted to ferry VIPs. In 2005 then Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh had a miraculous escape when the twin-engine helicopter in which he was travelling crashed into electricity wires at Bahadurpur Rajoy village near Gurdaspur. Two cabinet ministers were also with the chief minister. During take-off, the chopper could not gain height and came down over the wires. All occupants escaped unhurt, though. More recently, Punjab’s King Air C-90 twin-engine aircraft crashed at Jugiana near Ludhiana on October 29 last year. Just a week after it was cleared for flying following a 7-year grounding, it was lost along with two pilots Dalip Singh Kataria and Manjit Singh Khokhar. The aircraft was on a test flight from Chandigarh to Sahnewal and fortunately not ferrying any VIP. Two personalities from Haryana, state agriculture minister and former CM Bansi Lal’s son Surender Singh and industrialist and power minister Om Prakash Jindal died in a helicopter crash near Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh in April 2005. The private Eurocopter EC-120, with Col T S Chauhan (retd) at the controls, was flying from Chandigarh to Delhi. Reports indicated engine failure. On November 22, 1963, then GOC-in-C, Western Command, Lt Gen Daulet Singh was killed in a chopper crash near Poonch. He was the son of Col Wazir-ud-Daula Rai Bahadur Dina Nath, chief minister of erstwhile Indore state and perhaps the senior most army officer to have been killed in a crash in India, with the exception of Lt Gen Jameel Mohammed GOC-in-C Eastern Command, who was killed in a Mi-8 crash in Bhutan on May 7, 1993. Two Rajasthan CMs have had close shaves. Ashok Gehlot’s Chetak developed a snag and fell on a tree shortly after take-off from Rajgarh near Chiru in 2001, while Vasundhara Raje’s aircraft crash-landed while returning to Jaipur from Delhi in 2007. Other notable fatalaties include union minister S.M. Kumaramangalam in 1973, Sanjay Gandhi at Safdarjung in Delhi in June 1980, Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia in UP in September 2001 and former Lok Sabha speaker G.M.C. Balayogi in March 2002 in Andhra Pradesh. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has regularly been issuing circulars laying down safety norms, pointing out irregularities in aircraft operations and directing strict compliance of rules. According to experts, rate of helicopter crashes is three times higher than that of commercial aircraft.
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Singur Land Row
Kolkata, September 3 Tata Industries chairman Ratan Tata had conveyed to the state government the Tatas were ready to return the land provided they were compensated for the Rs 500 crore they had spent on the Nano car project in Singur and the plant was returned to Tata Motors. Sen, who met Tata here on Tuesday, told reporters there had been no discussion of the issue during their talks. However, he initially admitted the government was considering certain proposals on utilizing the vacant land in Singur after the Nano project was moved out to Gujarat. “In the changed situation the government cannot utilise the land for industries or any other purposes”, he remarked. The opposition leader in the state Assembly, Partha Chatterjee (TMC), reiterated the demand to return 400 acres of the 1,000 acres of land acquired by the Tatas to farmers. The remaining 600 acres, he added, should be handed over to Indian Railways to set up a coach factory there, as suggested by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee. Chatterjee criticised Tata for demanding Rs 500 crore as compensation for returning the Singur land to the government. Meanwhile, two CPI(M) state ministers traded accusations of resorting to corruption in acquiring the new township at Rajarhat and the adjoining Vedic village. Land Reforms Minister Abdul Rezaak Mollah alleged irregularities had been committed in acquisition of the land and its utilisation in Rajarhat. On the hand, the minister in charge of the concerned department, Gautam Dev accused Mollah of “illegally transferring the land vested with the government in Vedic village to a private promoter. Later, both ministers held separate press conferences in which they accused each other of land misuse in Rajarhat and elsewhere.
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Hyderabad, September 3
