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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Split Wide Open

Fifteen people were killed and over 100 injured as the police and army fired on angry, curfew-defying crowds in 20 locations across the state on Tuesday. In Delhi, the union government called a second all party meeting in five days in another bid to control the explosive situation.

Thirteen of the deaths occurred in the Kashmir valley where thousands poured into the streets, ignoring the curfew imposed, to mourn the death of Shaikh Abdul Aziz, the separatist leader who was killed in firing by security forces on Monday Two other people were killed in Jammu, where the situation turned rapidly communal, with Hindus and Muslims clashing in several towns, burning each other's shops and houses.

Over 50,000 people, some from faraway towns, converged in Srinagar to offer burial prayers for Shaikh Aziz. Large crowds surrounded the policemen deployed outside the houses of separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, both of whom were under house arrest, rendering the police helpless. Both leaders, at the urging of the crowd, walked out free and led processions to Aziz's grave.

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Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Left gone, numbers game on

The congress is counting on the Samajwadi Party (SP) and a bunch of small parties to pull the government through during the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha. But there are already indications that such support will not come easy, cheap or early.

Within hours of the Left announcing the pullout, one of these potential kingmakers, the two-MP JD(S), announced it would take a final decision on supporting the government only on the day before the trust vote. Another, the three-MP TRS, wanted the Centre to start the process for carving out a separate Telangana state. And the SP said it had kept its side of the agreement by pledging support to the government; it now expected the government to do its bit.

Congress floor managers on Tuesday spoke about having 236 members on the coalition's side, and getting another 39 from the SP, taking its support past the magic figure of 272. But it was clear that the Congress could not take anyone for granted. The challenge will be to muster the numbers and keep its flock together in a situation where smaller parties increasingly figure they could be the only ones standing between the government staying or going.

The first sign of the difficulty of the task came from former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda. Even as Congress managers counted the JD(S) as a firmally, Deve Gowda declared his two MPs would make a decision only on the eve of the trust vote.

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Monday, June 9, 2008

Ex- CJI under corruption panel scanner

In a development unprecedented in the country's judicial history, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), the government's anti-corruption watchdog, has forwarded a set of complaints with allegations of corruption and misconduct against former Chief Justice of India Y. K. Sabharwal to the government for further action.

"A bunch of complaints filed by a group called Campaign for Judicial Accountability and some individuals against the former CJI has been sent by the CVC to the ministry for necessary action", a senior Law ministry official confirmed to Hindustan Times.

"There is no precedent of a complaint seeking criminal proceedings against a for- mer CJI being examined by an institution like the CVC first, and subsequently being forwarded to the respective department for appropriate action," the official said. The matter has now been referred to the Law Ministry for "necessary action" by the CVC.

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Saturday, May 3, 2008

MBA dream shattered, youth tries to kill self

A 21 year old student tried to kill himself on Friday after realising that a private college he had joined was allegedly not recognised by the government. Kanpur native Arunesh Singh's family had taken a Rs 3 lakh loan to send him to Delhi for an MBA.

Laxmi Nagar-based IIMR is not recognised by the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), students alleged. Nor is it affiliated to the University Grants Commission (UGC). AICTE is the apex body that approves courses in engineering, management, architecture, hotel management etc. Many corporate houses do not recognise a degree that is not approved by AICTE.

"Two days ago, I confronted the institute director S.K. Singh, and he assured me that he would soon get affiliation. When I demanded an explanation, I started getting threatening calls on my mobile phone," Arunesh said from his hospital bed. In despair, the young man popped a handful of sleeping pills early on Friday morning.

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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

If BRT Doesn't Work We'll Scrap IT Corridor Of Chaos Says Government

If things don't improve on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) stretch in two days, the government may in all likelihood dump the project that has created a traffic nightmare in south Delhi and caused widespread anger.

"If the people of Delhi feel that it is not working, we could take a decision. After all in a democratic setup, policies and programmes are drawn for the benefit of the people," said Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf on Tuesday He, however, still hoped that the 5.8 km corridor from Ambedkar Nagar to Moolchand flyover would "succeed" after the faults are rectified.

"We do not want to do anything to inconvenience the people in an election year," he said.

His comments came even as jams on the BRT continued to fuel public anger for the third straight day.


The anger echoed in the Rajya Sabha as well where members demanded scrapping of the project - "one of the most ill-conceived transport schemes ever seen by the Capital".


Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit meanwhile chaired an emergency meeting with all BRT stakeholders. A source said she was "angry, disturbed and annoyed" due to the complete failure of the project so far. "She has realised that the cascading effect of the corridor had practically led to huge traffic problems in most south Delhi localities," the source added.

Abandoning the project did not come up for discussion but Dikshit gave a stern warning to all involved in the project - DIMTS, transport department, DTC, tranc police, RITES and two professors from IIT-Delhi. "You people had advised us that the project is doing wonders elsewhere. The experience suggests otherwise," she told the oncials and gave them two days to improve the system.

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Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Rs 1,400 crore down stinking drain

This must be the most expensive bit of housekeeping anywhere in the world, and pointless. Over Rs 1,400 crore has been spent on cleaning up 22 km of Yamuna River cutting through Delhi. And it remains just as dirty .

Supreme Court judge Markandeya Katju called it a "stinking drain" on Tuesday. "I went there to perform the last rites of my mother and the smell at the ghat was unbearable."

This observation came at a hearing by a bench comprising Katju and Justice H.K. Sema of a public interest litigation seeking the court's intervention in the implementation of safety measures on national highways.

Katju raised the Yamuna clean-up issue to explain why the Supreme Court cannot and should not get into areas marked out for the executive (the government). It didn't work in the case of Yamuna.

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Monday, November 26, 2007

Bengal Unmoved, Taslima Stuck

Taslima Nasreen's insistence on returning to Kolkata and the West Bengal government's reluctance to have her back in the city have led to a deadlock, sources in the government said on Sunday . Interlocutors of the central government were working overtime to find a way out for the controversial Bangladeshi writer who has been holed up in Rajasthan House in Delhi since Friday night.

Intelligence sources said Taslima is being persuaded to shift out temporarily to some safe house somewhere else in the country But the author, . who was moved out of her ‘second home' Kolkata last week following violence over her stay is reluctant. ,

A glimmer of hope appeared on Sunday afternoon, when television channels aired reports that West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had welcomed her back. An excited Taslima told HT on phone: "I just saw it on a television channel. Is it true that the CM has made such a statement?"
"I just cannot express my feelings. I am really grateful to the CM... Now let me find out how soon I can get back to my flat in Kolkata." But then came the bad news. The chief minister had made no such statement. The reports were wrong.

And Taslima broke down.
Talking about life in the past four days, Taslima, who was taken out of Jaipur a day after she reached there as the state government feared unrest over her presence, said she felt being treated like a football, being kicked around.
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image and article source: HindustanTimes
Article taken from the issue: 26 November, 2007

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