The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked an expert committee to examine the height of gaps between footboards of local trains and railway platforms and recommend suitable measures to prevent mishaps.
The Committee was asked to file its report by March 13 and the railway officers were directed to examine the report and come out with an action plan by March 20.
A bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M S Sanklecha also directed the expert committee to inspect each and every platform on the Central and Western Railway routes and decide how much space should be left between the platforms and the footboards of trains so that mishaps could be avoided.
The committee, which has been given this task, is the same one appointed earlier by the High Court to look into the problems of handicapped persons who commute by local trains.
The bench had taken up the issue after a 16-year-old college girl, Monica More, lost her arms after falling into a gap between the platform at suburban Ghatkopar railway station while trying to board a local train last month.
The tragic incident brought to the fore the risk lakhs of commuters take daily to board crowded suburban local trains, transport “lifelines” of Mumbai.
Western Railway today informed the court that it had increased the height of suburban platforms at nine railway stations including Grant Road and Dadar.
The Court has directed the expert committee to inspect these nine platforms also along with others.
The court reprimanded the railways for keeping wide gaps between the platforms and footboards of trains thereby putting the lives of commuters at great risk.
The court observed “you (railways) are not ready to listen to others. Your stand has been that whatever you say is right and others are wrong.”
Counsel for railways Suresh Kumar gave technical reasons for not increasing the height of platforms.
The railways said in an affidavit that the gap between the footboards of local trains and platforms is not the sole cause behind commuters losing their life or limbs in mishaps but there were several other factors involved like crossing of tracks, trespassing and over-crowding.
In Mumbai, there is no separate rail corridor for local suburban trains and long-distance trains. Since the width of the long-distance trains is greater than local trains, the platforms have to be constructed keeping this in mind.
A day after his party’s uncharacteristically peaceful agitation against toll plazas in Maharashtra, MNS chief Raj Thackeray was on Thursday back in his element, warning of “wreaking havoc” at houses of toll contractors who use force to collect the levy.
“I appeal to people of Maharashtra not to pay toll till the state government implements changes in the toll policy,” Raj told reporters after meeting Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on the issue.
“If you don’t want to pay toll and if anyone at the toll plaza forcibly makes you to do so, we will wreak havoc at the house of the concerned toll contractor,” the MNS president said.
“Then the government should not blame us,” he said.
“I met Chavan today as per his phone call to me yesterday. He has assured me that the new toll policy will be brought in before the code of conduct for the ensuing elections is implemented,” Raj said.
“The chief minister conceded mistakes in the state’s build, operate, transfer (BOT) policy and said the government will reconsider it,” Raj said. “Chavan agreed that the condition of roads in the state was bad. He also assured us that the government will wind up all illegal toll booths,” the MNS leader said.
To a query on the success of his party’s anti-toll stir, Raj said, “Anna Hazare had also written to the government against toll. But since our party’s first agitation on the issue, 65 toll booths have been shut. This means that the government understands our language and not that of Hazare.”
Raj, who said the chief minister’s response at the meeting earlier in the day, was “very positive”, had assured that toll collection will be stopped at 22 toll plazas where the project cost was less than Rs 10 crore.
A revenue official was abducted, robbed and made to sign some documents at knife point by four unidentified persons here, Thane rural police said on Thursday.
Vishnu Kedar Roundal, the nayab tehsildar at the Dahanu revenue office, received a call yesterday that some illegal excavation work was going on in his area of jurisdiction.
He was asked to come to the Charoti Naka to check the illegal work, assistant police inspector B T Chowdhary of Kasa police station said.
When Vishnu reached the place, four persons already waiting there in a jeep forced him inside the vehicle and took him to an unknown place in Manor of Palghar taluka where they allegedly forced him at knife point to sign some blank documents, according to the complaint lodged by the victim.
The victim later jumped out of the jeep to escape when it slowed down at some point. However, the four took away the cash that he had and his mobile phone, the complaint said.
Later, he reached the highway and informed Manor police about the incident. A complaint was later registered with Kasa police station.
A hunt is on for the four unknown men, police said, adding offences under sections 392 (robbery), 363 (kidnapping), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC have been registered against them.
Police are also trying to find out if the sand mafia was behind the crime.
Social activist Anna Hazare will campaign for Trinamool Congress candidates all over India in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, according to party General Secretary Mukul Roy.Roy, who called on Hazare at his native village of Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar district on Thursday told that Hazare would have a meeting with TMC chief Mamta Banerjee in Delhi on February 18. The former Railway minister, Roy who met the anti-graft crusader as Mamta’s emissary, said his party was “proud” of getting Hazare’s support in a departure from his known stand of not canvassing for any political party in the elections. “We feel proud that such a senior mass leader has hailed the leadership of Mamta Banerjee who had replied to his 17-point economic programme which is being incorporated in the party election manifesto,” he added. Roy quoted Hazare as saying that Mamta was an “honest leader committed to root out corruption”.
felicitation ceremony, which the Maharashtra government has been planning to honour retired batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, may take another three months, according to a senior state minister.
The state government has set up a seven-member committee to work out the modalities for honouring the cricketer, who retired from all forms of the game after his 200th Test match in November last year. It would take another 2-3 months for the government to felicitate Sachin, the minister said. “It’s not possible to hold the felicitation programme now as the Lok Sabha elections are approaching.
Also, the schedule of the government is busy because of regular Cabinet meetings,” the minister told. “The date (for felicitation) has still not been decided. We will seek the date and time after contacting him,” he added.
The panel set up by the government will finalise all aspects of felicitation function, including a memento to be given to the ace cricketer, who was recently conferred with the Bharat Ratna – the country’s highest civilian honour. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar are the patrons of the committee, which will be chaired by the minister for sports and youth welfare.
Terming Sachin the “great son of Maharashtra,” a government resolution had earlier said that the state government has been considering honouring the cricketer. “The prestige of Maharashtra and India has increased due to Sachin’s contribution to the game,” the government had said.
The state government is taking cue from the cricketing world’s tradition of presenting autographed bats to winners or retiring players, and is planning to present the Mumbai-based cricketer a special silver trophy bearing the signatures of all 40 ministers.
L Rajagopal, a Seemandhara MP, finely tuned the drama by spraying pepper spray in the air after being stopped from rushing to the Speaker’s chair. The pepper spray left several parliamentarians, staff and journalists coughing and teary-eyed. Many MPs tried to rush outside to avoid the smell and chemical effects of the spray. TDP MP Venugopal Reddy broke the Speaker’s microphone, while TV reports also claimed he brandished a knife during House proceedings. The lawmaker, however, denied the allegation saying he was merely waving the Speaker’s mic.
Hyderabad has always a dream city for Andhra Pradesh’s people. Poor public of Seemandhra area had always migrated to Hyderabad for better lifestyle and livelihood. Whenever problem arises due to issues of partition, no one wants to give Hyderabad to other parts of the state from their region. This city has always remained as source of earning for an average Andhraities. Andhra’s residents’ minds are ever changing, sometime they support separate Telangana and sometimes they want United Andhra. They are not firm on their decision. On the other hand, Telangana people always wanted a state of their own. So, separation is better and simultaneous development of any region and focusing on that line is the best solution instead of fighting every day.
Several politicians run their livelihood over separate Telangana issue. However, they had changed their stand when they saw the separate statehood granted to Telangana is reaching to reality which is genuine demand of the four crore people of the region. In 1973, they wanted a separate state because Supreme Court said that Mulki rules would be applicable to the people who live in Telangana. Several Seemandhra students and people died in that agitation. Indira Gandhi suppressed the problem by offering 6 point formula. Inspite of all the problems, later on corrupt and selfish Andhra politicians continued to ignore the development of Rayalaseema and cities in Andhra like Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam. Instead, they pumped money into Hyderabad and thereby increased the public’s lure to move to Hyderabad rather than other cities in Seemandhra area. Actually, everybody knows that Hyderabad is far away from the Andhra area. Inspite of this, politicians encouraged Hyderabad to grow faster than Seemandhra cities.
The demand for Telangana state today is loud and clear across the social, economic and political spectrum and it is a demand based not only on numerous instances of discrimination and lack of development, but also as much about the self-respect and dignity of 40 million people of that region. The Telangana people will not be happy! It is the politicians from the Telangana regions who will be benefitted by this separation. They will not share their loot with other region politicians. They will get whole share of the loot. No new state is being formed from nowhere. It is by partitioning the existing state and there will be lot of invisible bloodshed when that state is cut. From the very next day, the very same people will be fighting for river waters followed by blockades and all! Why is it so difficult to treat the Telugu people as one? From more than 50 years, the state was called as Andhra Pradesh. Let it now be called as Telangana! All people of the state will become Telanganites! The Telangana people cannot be happy with this?
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had recently met President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari to appraise them on the Telangana Bill. And these unruly parliamentarians and the President of India on their instance call Arvind Kejriwal to be an anarchist. Shame on such lawmakers and to those who are undermining each and every act of reform Kejriwal has performed in the recent past. Government can create as many states as they want. If Telangana creation is successful then think about the future. The same episode can be repeated by every government before elections for other parts of India creating chaos every time. Telangana is not peoples demand. Its demand imprinted in the minds of people by powerless people who wants power. Suppose, if Mumbai and surrounding areas wants a separate state in the name of sentiments depriving the rights of other parts of Maharashtra, politicians will inject that ideas in peoples’ mind same thing. Same happened with Andhra’s people. Congress politicians from Seemandhra are upping the game to retain their popularity and get back to people to get re-elected.
Telangana statehood issue first came in front of the government in 1960s. Congress has taken a decision to declare Telangana as state but I think it will take some more time to officially get a separate identity. Since 1960s, many youth had lost their lives and the matter lingers in political corridors. Separate Telangana violence is one of the biggest violent moments in the entire history. The current government is riding a blind horse for the votebank and will create long term problems for the country’s unity and integrity. The UPA Government and its High Command, BJP and several other national parties are supporting the idea of separate Telangana. To my surprise, even BJP is also supporting this. Here question arises that, by separating Telangana, will they restore the parliamentary seats in both states as per 1956 status? Post 1956, some parliamentary seats of Telangana were increased at the expense of Coastal Andhra. All over India, number of parliamentary seats remained constant in all states. Restoring 1956 situation means restoring parliamentary seats as per 1956 status. Will the borders of 1956 be restored? Bhadrachalam, Chintur and other areas were part of the Coastal Andhra before 1956. It was subsequently transferred to Khammam district of Telangana. Do these entities have an action plan to create infrastructure of the truncated or just orphaned state of Andhra Pradesh?
On a day pepper spray was used, a computer flung and a mic yanked out in unprecedented scenes in Parliament, the Delhi assembly was not far behind.
A BJP legislator, RP Singh, placed bangles and lipstick before Law Minister Somnath Bharti, who was targeted by the main opposition party over his raid at his constituency targeting African women he alleged were involved in a drugs and sex racket.
The Congress, which provides external support to the Aam Aadmi Party government, too joined the opposition in demanding Mr Bharti’s sacking.
A Congress lawmaker walked up to Delhi Speaker MS Dhir, tore up a file at his table and wrenched out his mic. The MLA, Asif Mohammad Khan, then walked to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and tried to rip out his mic too. Soon, other legislators followed and continued vandalism in the house.
“The Congress-BJP match-fixing was exposed today. I don’t think any legislature in the country has seen the BJP and the Congress joining hands this way,” said Mr Kejriwal.
“When the BJP was not slogan-shouting, then the Congress took over. When the Congress stopped, the BJP took over. It was coordinated.”
The AAP government has called the four-day assembly session to pass its two pet proposals, the anti-corruption Jan Lokpal Bill and the Swaraj Bill.
But the opening day was drowned out in protests, shouting and general chaos. The house was adjourned repeatedly, with BJP leader Harsh Vardhan declaring, “Unless the Law Minister is sacked, we will not let the House function.”
L Rajagopal, the man who used pepper spray in Parliament, says he acted in self-defence. He is among the richest MPs from Andhra Pradesh, with 300 crores to his name according to his affidavit to the Election Commission in 2009. The 53-year-old parliamentarian from Vijayawada may have shamed Parliament, but supporters at his constituency claim he is their hero.
Mr. Rajagopal walked into the Lok Sabha armed with a spray can, and during a fight between MPs, pulled it out and aimed it indiscriminately across the house. MPs rushed out the house holding handkerchiefs to their eyes and nose. Many MPs, including Mr. Rajagopal, were taken to hospital with complaints of burning eyes and coughing.
“I did it in self-defence. They pounced on whoever opposed the Telangana bill. I would have done the same thing anywhere. It’s not a lethal weapon,” the MP said, claiming that he has carried pepper spray for protection in the past.
Mr. Rajagopal was among the six MPs expelled by the Congress for moving a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the proposal to split Andhra Pradesh and create Telangana.
These MPs belong to Seemandhra, or the non-Telangana region that is vehemently opposed to bifurcation. Mr. Rajagopal said he would do all he can to block the Telangana bill in Parliament.
Mr. Rajagopal has always displayed a flair for drama. In December 2009, he sat on a protest fast for more than a week against Telangana, holding the national flag, and emerged as one of the most prominent faces of the United Andhra Pradesh movement.
Utter chaos prevailed in the Delhi Assembly on Thursday as legislators of the BJP and Congress raised slogans demanding the removal of Law Minister Somnath Bharti over the issue of midnight raid against African women, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings twice.
The Opposition ceased to let the House function and scenes similar to the Parliament were witnessed when Congress MLA Asif Mohd broke the microphone place
As the House met, the BJP legislators objected to the Speaker’s reference of “special session” to the proceedings in his introductory address. They demanded that he call it the budget session.
The four-day assembly session, which began today, has been called for passage of contentious anti-corruption legislation Jan Lokpal Bill and Swaraj Bills by Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi Government.
The BJP also gave a Calling Attention notice against the Law Minister. The notice was read out by Speaker M S Dhir following which Bharti’s comments were sought.d before Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
It was also reported that RP Singh, BJP MLA from Rajinder Nagar constituency, threw bangles and lipstick towards Somnath Bharti in a bid to force him into resigning.
Amid shouting of slogans by BJP MLAs, the House was adjourned for 20 minutes by the Speaker.
However, when the business resumed in the Assembly, Congress MLAs trooped into the well of the House and shouted slogans against Bharti. They were carrying placards accusing Bharti of fuelling racism in the city.
Following uproarious scenes, the House was again adjourned for 20 minutes. Somnath Bharti has been in the eye of the storm for carrying out controversial midnight raid last month in South Delhi’s Khirki Extension area alleging drug trafficking and sex racket by some of African nationals living there.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Health Minister Shabir Khan, who is facing charges of molesting a woman doctor, reached Srinagar today. He was missing for a week.
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court had ordered Mr. Khan to appear before the police. However, Mr. Khan, a powerful Congress leader in the state, is yet to meet the police, and is staying at a government guest house. Despite resigning as a state minister after the woman doctor alleged molestation, Mr. Khan is reportedly enjoying all the official privileges including security and an official car.
Sources say Mr. Khan, who has managed to evade his arrest for over a week, is insisting that the police officials should come to the guest house to question him, rather than him going to the police station despite the high court’s order.
Mr. Khan has been booked under non-bailable sections by the police.
The woman has said in her complaint that she received repeated calls from Mr. Khan’s staff last month and was told that the minister wanted to know what announcements Union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad made during his visit to the hospital where she works. Despite her requests that Mr. Khan should obtain the information from senior officials, the doctor alleged, she was compelled to report to his office on January 28.
When the minister came to meet her, she said, he acted like a “sexual predator” and made “provocative advances – both verbal and physical”.
Mr. Khan has alleged a political conspiracy, saying he is innocent and judiciary will give him justice.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked an expert committee to examine the height of gaps between footboards of local trains and railway platforms and recommend suitable measures to prevent mishaps.
On a day pepper spray was used, a computer flung and a mic yanked out in unprecedented scenes in Parliament, the Delhi assembly was not far behind.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Health Minister Shabir Khan, who is facing charges of molesting a woman doctor, reached Srinagar today. He was missing for a week.