Mumbai, December 10
Maharashtra has received a major setback as land acquisition issues have slowed down the construction of Delhi-Mumbai freight corridor which passes through the state. According to state government sources, the Central Government this week has decided to go ahead with the Vadodara-Rewari leg of the corridor in the first phase pushing the Gujarat-Mumbai sector to the second phase.

"While Gujarat has acquired 70 per cent of the land for the project, land acquisition has slowed down in Maharashtra," a note put up before the Maharashtra cabinet said. Following this, a committee headed by Chief Secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad has been set up to speed up land acquisition in Maharashtra.

With Maharashtra struggling to acquire land for the project, the Prime Minister's Office last week summoned the Chief Secretaries of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh to speed up the process.

The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC) set up specially to execute the project has managed to acquire 50 per cent of the 10,840 hectares of land required for the project. The Maharashtra Government has been given a deadline till June next year to complete the land acquisition process, sources said.

In all, 470 hectares of land is being sought to be acquired between Dahanu and Panvel on the outskirts of Mumbai near the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust.

Once complete, the 1,500-km freight corridor will connect JNPT with the National Capital Region.

The Western DFC between Dadri and JNPT will pass through Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Palanpur, Phulera and Rewari. This section of the corridor will be a double-lined diesel track. The corridor also includes another 32 km single line from Pirthala to Tughlakabad.

Faridkot, December 10
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) of the Ministry of Finance has declined to divulge the names of 69 persons who have admitted of stashing Rs 397.17 crore in overseas bank accounts and have paid Rs 30.07 crore as taxes recently.

A month ago, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had claimed that the government received information from France about overseas bank accounts of Indians and in 69 cases, the taxpayers have admitted to unaccounted income of Rs 397.17 crore and paid Rs 30.07 crore as taxes.

But in a reply to an RTI application, the Foreign Tax and Tax Research division of the CBDT declined to disclose the names of these 69 persons, saying it was a confidential information. Last month, Kamal Anand, an advocate, filed an RTI application seeking names of these 69 Indians who admitted of having unaccounted income.

At the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), three European women were heard saying that they had received an ‘advisory’ that they should avoid flying by an American carrier as it was riskier than other known airlines. They also said apart from the ‘risk factor’, the American authorities exercised discrimination in paying compensation in the event of casualties arising out of hijack.

According to International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), all passengers, including crew members, involved in a tragedy whether dead or injured, are required to be treated equally, regardless of their nationalities.

In 1986 when a Pan Am flight (PA-73) was hijacked at Karachi airport, there were about 390 passengers, including crew members, on board. Only 43 of them were Americans. Suddenly, four persons wearing Pakistan police uniforms made their way into the parked Pan Am aircraft. The cabin crew, reportedly all Indians, informed the entry of illegal persons to the cockpit crew who, after ascertaining that they were ‘terrorists’, fled to safety. This was one of the worst acts of cowardice by commanders, who considered ‘self’ more ‘valuable’ than the ‘ship.’

The ‘terrorists’ then ordered the cabin crew to collect passports of all passengers so that they could segregate Americans from others.

The Indian cabin crew did collect passports of all passengers but they hid them to save their lives. While doing this ‘noble’ act, they knew that they were risking their own lives.

The hijack ordeal lasted for 17 hours. All passengers were herded in one section of the aircraft. The ‘terrorists’ then started firing. At least 21 persons died and 70 were injured. In the tragedy, only two Americans died, thanks to the brevity of the Indian cabin crew.

The American authorities paid compensation to the families of the deceased who were Americans, but justice still eludes the Indian victims and their families. $10 million were paid to the kin of deceased and $3 million to those who were injured.

Like Bhopal gas tragedy, the Indian passengers and cabin crew members, who saved lives of several Americans, were discriminated.

Among them was Chandigarh’s Neerja Bhanot, who was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra and Tamgha-e-Insaniyat in Pakistan.