The Maharashtra School Education Minister has declared that the school children across Maharashtra will have to compulsorily recite the preamble of the Constitution during their morning assemblies from January 26.
A state government circular held that reading of the preamble is part of the “sovereignty of Constitution, welfare of all” campaign and will be implemented from Republic Day. A government resolution in this regard was issued in February 2013 when the Congress-NCP government was in power. As per the circular dated January 21, 2020, it was not implemented then.
“Students will recite the preamble of the Constitution every day after morning prayers so that they understand its importance. It is a resolution of an old government but we will implement from January 26,” the minister who belongs to the Congress told the media.
The move to make students read out the preamble of the Constitution comes at a time when large scale protests are being held against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act as well as the National Register of Citizens. The Congress is one of the constituents in the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government along with the NCP. Many Congress leaders have said that the “unconstitutional” law will not be allowed in Maharashtra.
Incidentally, people protesting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act have taken to reading the preamble at the time of demonstrations to highlight how it terms the country as secular while speaking out against discrimination. Bhim Army chief, Chandrashekhar Azad who has been released on bail after spending over a month in prison even claimed that he was arrested in January for no reason other than reading out the preamble.
For the first time, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act makes religion the test of citizenship in India. The government says it will help minorities from three Muslim-dominated countries get citizenship if they fled to India because of religious persecution before 2015. Critics say that it is designed to discriminate against Muslims and violates the secular principles of the Constitution.
The Preamble of the Indian Constitution declares: “We, the People of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign, Socialist and Secular Democratic Republic and to secure to all its citizens. The Maharashtra government has made it compulsory to recite the preamble of the Constitution in all schools starting January 26. A government resolution states that the objective is to instill values such as justice, freedom and equality enshrined in the Constitution. A similar resolution had been issued in 2013 by the then Congress-NCP government. The preamble is a brief introductory statement that sets out guidelines that guides the people of the nation and presents the principles of the Constitution and indicates the source from which the document derives its authority and meaning. The hopes and aspirations of the people are described in it. The preamble can be referred to as the preface that highlights the entire Constitution. It was adopted on 26 November 1949 by the Constituent Assembly and came into effect on 26 January 1950 celebrated as the Republic day in India. It is customary for a Constitution to have a preamble, but is not compulsory. The Govt. of India Act, 1935 did not have a preamble. It is a summary and essence of the whole Constitution. It is the prelude of the Constitution.
In a nut-shell, it tells what the Constitution is all about. In the era where most of the people are clueless about the Constitution and there are many misuses of the same reciting preamble keeps them updated of their rights as citizens, it reminds them of their duties. To understand the scope of their constitutional values and their all-inclusiveness and instill values such as justice, freedom, equality and fraternity on the society, it is important that students have a comprehensive introduction to the Constitution…The young minds of this age will thus become responsible, cultured citizens. It is expected that this starts from the school-going age and that is why every day, during the morning routine, there should be collective reading of the preamble and a government resolution is already in place for it from 2013. It has now been noticed that the decision is not being implemented. Therefore, under an initiative titled “Sarvabhaumatva Samvidhanache, Janhit Sarvanche” (Sovereignty of the Constitution, Welfare of All), all primary and secondary schools must undertake collective reciting of the preamble every day. The Maharashtra government will also be making Marathi language compulsory in all Maharashtra schools. A law to this effect will be brought in the next session of Assembly.
The Constitution is nothing but an elaboration of the preamble. The preamble is itself a most important part of the Constitution. Effectively, ideology can be found under one-page preamble which describes the actual motive of the set of rules in the document. To ascertain the supreme authority of our Constitution, the words we the people, sovereign it means India has no other external power to rule, and the people of India are the sole power. Almost all of it barring the injunctions are indeed important. The preamble of the Indian Constitution serves as its identity card. It lays out what our Constitution is trying to achieve. It is largely based on the Nehru’s objective resolution passed on the first meeting to draft the Indian Constitution. It reflects the philosophy and the ideology of the Indian Constitution. It tells the people of India what the framers had in their minds while making the biggest Constitution of the world.
The amendments to the Constitution have been debated and adored; added and subtracted. So, let us take a moment to appreciate and learn from the 52 uplifting and permanent words of the preamble. The Constitution being no ordinary document but the ultimate law of the land, it required an introduction so that every person before reading the other provisions may keep in mind what are the objectives and aims of the Constitution and what it is expecting from the people. It also reflects the vision of the Constitution makers. Well, if it was not included in the Constitution probably we would have been still searching for the true meaning of the Constitution. Although the preamble is used as an interpretation tool sparingly as the articles of the Constitution have more authority than the Constitution, nonetheless it is a valuable part of the Constitution. The preamble secures to every citizen, justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. It provides social, economic and political justice. It secures liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. It provides equality of status and opportunity. It assures the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation. The preamble of the Constitution is quite relevant for the interpretation of the Constitution. This question was raised for the first time before the Supreme Court in the historic case of Keshavanand Bharti vs. State of Kerala. In this case, the Attorney General of India argued that by virtue of its amending power in Article 368, even the preamble of the Constitution could be amended. The petitioners however contended that the amending power under Article 368 is limited. The preamble creates an implied limitation on the power of amendment. The preamble contains the basic elements or the fundamental features of our Constitution. Consequently, amending power cannot be used so as to destroy or damage these basic features mentioned in the preamble.
It was argued that the preamble cannot be amended as it was not a part of the Constitution. The Supreme Court held that the preamble is part of the Constitution. The majority view of the Supreme Court was that although the preamble is part of the Constitution, it could be amended but subject to the condition that “the basic features” in the preamble could not be amended. The Court held, “The edifice of our Constitution is based upon the basic elements mentioned in the Preamble. If any of these elements are removed, the structure will not survive and it will not maintain its identity. The preamble declares that the people of India have resolved to constitute their country into a Sovereign Democratic Republic. No one can suggest that these words and expressions are ambiguous in any manner. The amending power would be interpreted so as to confer power on the Parliament to take away any of these fundamental and basic characteristics of our Constitution. The amending power cannot change the Constitution in such a way that it ceases to be a Sovereign Democratic Republic.
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The old timers were not facing tight playing schedule and felt that there is no need of restricting it to four day test matches. But present day set of players feel the pinch and they are being rested for less important series to provide them rest and recuperation. It provides players to recover from injuries as well.
Four days versus five is a false debate. The spinner will be denied a fifth-day wicket which seems like part a conspiracy to drive him out of the game. That alone should ensure the proposal is thrown out of the window when the ICC’s Cricket Committee sits down to discuss it. In any case, bilateral Tests can be played over four days, as South Africa have done against Zimbabwe, or England against Ireland. It would be interesting to see if England and Australia play an Ashes Test over four days. Test cricket is a peculiar sport, and its charm lies in its peculiarity. Part of this lies in its duration, in the fact that teams take break for tea, and in the manner it is a series of individual contests within the framework of an overall contest. No other team sport has such sustained individual competition within itself.
From a purist’s point of view and being an admirer of Test cricket, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar thought it should not be tinkered with. The format has to be played in the way it has been played for so many years in the conventional form. A day less, according to the world’s highest run-getter across two formats, will lead to batsmen thinking of Tests as an extended version of limited-overs cricket.
Many Tests end on the fourth day because there is a fifth day available. This is not as mystifying as it sounds. The extra day calls for changes in the approach. The fifth day’s 90 overs is not merely mathematical, it is psychological. The richness of the game reveals itself, as does the character of the players. The last hour 15 overs were the most interesting those days and play used to commence 30 minutes early to provide sufficient time to bowl mandatory overs in the fading light. Now with 90 overs permitted in a day, the question of mandatory overs does not arise. Holding on to a five days format is the best option. This might be a romantic view, but what is sport without romance? Interestingly, players are in favour of five days. And fans have no complaints. There lies the answer in affirmative.
1Marathon is not for a city like Mumbai which is humid and polluted
Yet another runner collapsed and died at Sunday’s run sponsored by the Tata group and two others battling for their life in the ICU’s of a city hospital. I distinctly remember my friend collapsing in the 2014 edition when 38-year old Amit Kasat who was so very passionate about running marathons that he died in tragic circumstances after collapsing near to the finish line.
Running long distance like a marathon should be done after undergoing strenuous training and a proper diet. Organisers too should put stringent conditions like mandatory health checks before the race to avoid deaths which has become fairly routine in the annual Mumbai marathon which has gained popularity over the years. Medical facilities of top quality need to be pressed into service on the day of the run when organisers charge a lot of fee for the race.
S.N.Kabra
2Gas leak at resort claims eight lives
In a shocking tragedy eight Indian tourists from Kerala, including four children, died on Tuesday due to a possible gas leak from a room heater in their room at a resort in Daman in Makwanpur district of Nepal. They were part of a 17-member tourist group who had checked into Everest Panorama resort at Daman, a popular tourist destination in Nepal. According to the SP of District Police Office, Makwanpur the tourists turned on the gas heater in the room and later got suffocated due to some defect in the device leading to carbon monoxide leak resulting in death.
The group — travelling to Pokhara from Kerala — were returning home. On the way, they had stopped at Everest Panorama Resort in Daman. The guests on reaching their room turned on a gas heater to keep themselves warm. The room had poor ventilation as all the windows were shut in the winter night. Hotels and homes in places experiencing very cold weather use heaters to keep the temperature warm and the most common devices to heat the rooms are gas heaters.
Gas heaters that are not installed correctly or has become faulty over time can cause a carbon monoxide leak. Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs when the heat exchanger is cracked inside the heater. It is important to have gas heaters serviced regularly.
As Carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless, tasteless gas it becomes difficult to detect for people who are not familiar with such occurrences. Prolonged exposure to carbon monoxide leads to severe health problems and most often results in death. To prevent this hazard hotels and homes should inspect and rectify such appliances regularly. Hi tech sensors and other devices should be installed to detect and warn the people if there is any leakage.
Hotels located in cold weather places should caution the visitors of such hazards and give instructions . Also tourists staying in hotels in cold places should be aware of such silent dangers.
M Pradyu
3Faulty legal loopholes responsible for delay in hanging of Nirbhaya convicts
It is wrong to play politics on regular postponement of hanging of convicts of infamous rape-cum-murder of Nirbhaya on December 16, 2012. Fault lies in system allowing too many loopholes whereby convicts get liberal opportunities to defer death-sentence. All the four convicts have no fear of death as they are still clever enough to misuse delaying-tactics to defer hanging. It is for certain that hanging to convicts will not even be possible on the third postponed date of February 1, 20 because rest of the three convicts will now file mercy-petitions one by one. It is surprising that how and why mercy-petitions of these convicts are being entertained now when they were informed by Jail Superintendent of Tihar Jail (Delhi) on December 29, 2019 that only seven days were then left to file mercy-petitions.
System should be reformed whereby crimes attracting death-penalty may be heard on fast track during all stages of trial from District Court to Supreme Court. Provision of filing mercy-petition may not be there in case death-sentence is confirmed by all the courts. Review or curative petitions may be allowed only at Supreme Court that too to be finally decided within fortnight of filing these. Mercy-petition to be decided in a time-bound period of maximum three months may be allowed only when any of the court might not have approved death-sentence.
Early and extra hangings that too to really deserving ones will practically save lives of many more by preventing rapes and murders as criminals will then only be fearful against death-penalty.
Madhu Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
After an explosion and a subsequent fire broke out in an industrial unit in a Chemical factory in MIDC, Badlapur this morning, one person was killed while two others sustained serious injuries. According to a fire official, the incident took place at around 9 am in a dryer of Kajay Remedies Pvt Ltd that happens to be manufacturers and exporters of chemical products.
The officer said there were many other employees working in the morning shift when the explosion took place. The injured persons were immediately rushed to the Dhanvantari Hospital. The cause of the blast is not yet known, further information is underway.
Devendra Fadnavis meeting Raj Thackeray created many speculations in the corridors of Maharashtra politics. After Shiv Sena joining hands with the NCP and the Congress, it was expected that Raj Thackeray could lead a new role. For the last few years, MNS has lost political ground in Maharashtra. In the last Assembly Election 2019, the party led by Raj Thackeray has won just one seat and 2.3 per cent vote share. Moreover, Uddhav has comprised his Hindutva line by joining hands with secular ideologies. This is a good opportunity for Raj Thackeray to make a passage closer to the Hindutva dogma. Shiv Sena is facing criticism after forming the government with mismatched or unparalleled ideological parties like Congress and NCP. BJP also needed a quick replacement in place of Shiv Sena. After forming the alliance with Raj Thackeray, BJP would be able to spread a message to unsatisfied Shiv Saniks that the other Thackeray is going to stand by what the Supremo has uttered all this while. By this, the selection of Uddhav Thackeray as a legacy of Balasaheb Thackeray’s would be proven wrong.
There is already a whisper that Uddhav Thackeray has shown disloyalty to the founder of Shiv Sena. Most probably on 23rd January 2020 on the birth anniversary of Balasaheb Thackeray, Raj Thackeray will announce a tie-up with BJP. On the same day, the party is expected to unveil its new identity a saffron flag that will feature Maratha king Shivaji’s seal. Thus the old flag of the MNS will be replaced. The ‘Marathi Manoos’ issue will no longer be the ideology of Raj Thackeray now. It means that Raj Thackeray will adopt a liberal policy for all. It is also expected that in the coming future, BJP and MNS will jointly contest the local body elections in Maharashtra. After the alliance between BJP and MNS, both will be benefitted either in respect of vote share or for giving a tough challenge to Shiv Sena. So, keeping a view for better prospects, Devendra Fadnavis and Raj Thackeray met and decided to go together.
Uddhav’s arrogance and ego have hurt many of his close confidants. He doesn’t know when to go strong against his partner and when to compromise. His hawkish attitude with the strong support from Sanjay Raut put to rout his party. Uddhav, of late, has been depending more on Sanjay Raut for political advice. He himself is snooty who cannot negotiate but stick to his views only, can never become a successful political advisor. Additionally, Sharad Pawar who was waiting for an opportunity to fulfill the promises made to Balasaheb in bringing back Shiv Sena to power. In 2014, Pawar rendered support to BJP and Modi but as 2019 approached, he successfully revived the NCP and got a huge number of seats. Before 2014 elections, Raj Thackeray was talking about an alliance with the BJP and the Shiv Sena. He had even said that the MNS would support Modi as the PM. Now he’s rubbing shoulders with Modi’s protagonists. He then supported Sharad Pawar. Raj Thackeray said he would fight the Lok Sabha elections. Then at the last moment, he backed out. Then he said he would fight the Vidhan Sabha elections. At the last moment, he backed out (again). Later he said he would ally with the Shiv Sena. Then he backed out. He said he had a “blueprint” to develop Maharashtra. When MNS finally won the Nagpur municipal elections, the blueprint vanished. Nagpur should have been a model for him to build on. But he didn’t pay any attention there. MNS is eight years old and it is heavily centralised. There is nobody apart from Raj Thackeray who can take decisions in the party.
MNS projected an image of anti-North Indians but then called Muslims and neo-Buddhists towards itself. This alienated the majority Hindu vote bank which still believes in the caste system and is anti-Muslim. His party’s flag has blue at the top. He’s saying it outright that he wants neo-Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims. Neo-Buddhists don’t vote for him because that small blue strip is very tiny. Hindus don’t vote for him because the blue strip is over and above the saffron. Muslims in general are less territorial but even those who are seeing that green at the bottom. There are going to be only two main parties at the centre. If he chooses NDA, he will lose his Muslim vote bank. He should decide if his Muslim support means a lot to him or if he can make do with most of them.
If he chooses UPA in the current scenario, it will not benefit him. The third option for him is to go to South India and try to find allies in other regional parties and try to make the ticket to the Centre. This will also not work. Regional parties are not strong enough to make him enter the Centre. There are some practical aspects of politics without which a party cannot come to power. Now, most of the strong opposition parties have aligned with Shiv Sena by rejecting the BJP. Therefore, BJP has no obligation to support Sena anymore. Raj Thackeray is a political arch enemy of Uddhav Thackeray. He is popular with Maharashtrians. He can give a tough fight to the Shiv Sena. Now he has been marginalised by Shiv Sena. So, it is natural that BJP and Raj Thackeray will talk with each other under new circumstances. It will be beneficial to both the parties politically.
After MNS was formed in 2006, the Shiv Sena unit of Nashik joined him. Within 6 years, he won the municipal polls. He promised to visit Nashik every month and transform it into an ideal city. Had he done that, he could have showcased it as a model city and used it to broaden his base in the highly urbanised Maharashtra but that never happened. He hardly visited Nashik. After singing praisess for Narendra Modi, Raj Thackeray was in two minds about whether to fight the 2014 general elections or not till the very end. Finally, he fought against the Modi wave and lost deposits in all places! This was the beginning of the fall of his party. Raj couldn’t stop it when he faced the Assembly elections that happened just five months ago. MNS won only one seat in Pune district. By now, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena that was wiped out of Maharashtra, can work wonders by joining hands with the BJP.
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The day when Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray will launch his son Amit into mainstream politics on January 23, happens to be the late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s birth anniversary. Though Amit has been accompanying his father Raj at almost all party events, he has never addressed party workers. On this auspicious day, he is likely to make his maiden address during the party event.
When AV spoke to MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande about Amit Thackeray’s entry into active politics he said, “Raj Thackeray has still not decided whether Amit Thackeray will enter politics. However, the party workers think that Amit Thackeray should be given some important responsibility. But the final decision will be taken by Raj saheb as he is the only person who can take a call. And if he wishes to enter politics, we will welcome Amit with open hearts. Since it’s not possible for Raj saheb to reach everywhere always, the induction of Amit could be beneficial for the party.”
The MNS has organised its Maha-Adhiveshan in Mumbai on January 23. The speculations indicate that the MNS may adopt staunch Hindutva ideology expanding its ideology of Marathi Manoos and son of soil. Furthermore, the party will possibly announce an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Since Uddhav Thackeray formed an alliance with secular parties and somewhere compromised on Hindutva politics, this opportunity has inspired Raj Thackeray to hold Balasaheb’s roots of philosophy.
BJP spokesperson Shaina NC said, “Any person who wants to enter politics is welcome as they are here to serve the society and it’s not important what surname he/ she has. Because gone are the days of dynastic politics as people want to see his/her performance. If your performance is good then you stay in it and if it’s not, the same people will chuck you out.”
Talking on the subject, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray clarified by saying, “I might go to any laundry but my basic colour would be saffron. I would never shy away from this colour as it is my existence.” People should stop playing politics on colours.
Meanwhile there is no official announcement of Amit Thackeray entering politics through the MNS. But the party has changed its party flag which has a stamp (Raj Mudra) used during Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s rule and the flag is saffron in colour giving it a Hindutva attitude and tone. However, no official announcement regarding the change of the party’s flag has come from the MNS end. Few weeks ago, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had met Raj Thackeray in a Mumbai hotel. After the meeting, the assumptions were that the Raj Thackeray-led MNS would likely forge an alliance with the BJP and announce a major shift in its policy.
If Amit is pushed into mainstream politics, MNS will get a youth leader and a ‘fresh’ face in the public which can be beneficial for the regional party. In 2014, Raj Thackeray had stated that he will induct Amit into politics at the right time. In the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections, MNS witnessed a huge setback and was completely washed off from power. Only one MNS candidate Raju Patil managed to win from the Kalyan assembly constituency. Therefore, the change in MNS’ policy on Hindutva and building a relationship with BJP, especially on the electoral front, seems like a strong possibility. The alliance with BJP on the Hindutva issue will only benefit the regional party electorally.
On the other hand, BJP may try to monopolise on the issue of the “sons of the soil” if it allies with Raj Thackeray-led MNS which can spell trouble for Shiv Sena. Besides, if MNS turns completely saffron (or towards Hindutva), with the support of BJP, it can affect Sena’s vote bank in the upcoming civic elections. Recently, MNS chief Raj Thackeray and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were seen together in a banner put up for the Zilla Parishad elections in Palghar which were held on January 7. After the 2019 Maharashtra assembly election results, BJP was left hanging after its 35-year-old ally Shiv Sena formed a government with the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
A 32-year-old woman was allegedly raped by four persons near a railway track in suburban Kurla on Monday. All four accused have been arrested by the police. According to the police the incident took place around 11 pm near the Harbour Line rail track in Sable Nagar locality late on Monday night when the victim, a resident of Worli, was finding a way to reach the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) in Kurla area.
After reaching there, she asked a passerby for directions to LTT and followed him on the Harbour Line route. Later the woman mid-way went to relieve herself in the bushes at that time, two men who were consuming drugs in the bushes allegedly attacked the victim and raped her.
A police officer said, later two other men, who were passing by on a two-wheeler, stopped at the spot and also allegedly raped and also robbed the victim of Rs 3,000 and snatched her ‘mangalsutra’ worth around Rs 25,000 before letting her go.
The victim somehow managed to walk some distance where she met a woman who helped to approached Nehru Nagar police. Based on the victim’s statement the police arrested all the four accused within hours of the crime.
The arrested accused persons have been identified as Shrikant Bhogle, Sonu Tiwari, Nilesh Baraskar and Siddharth Wagh. From the four accused, three of the accused were arrested from Kurla, whereas Wagh was caught from Vikhroli.
Police have booked all the accused under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural sex), 354 (assault).
The cricketing fraternity appears to be divided on four-day Tests. While a section of former players have given the new proposal a thumbs up, most of them are against the idea. As an ex-cricketer, I belong to the old school and I believe that in five-day cricket, the first day belongs to the medium-pacers. Test cricket itself is a test of character for a cricketer. It’s a test for every individual and you are taking that away. The tricky final day wicket is ticklish to handle and the bowlers have the upper hand and the batsmen will have to struggle to keep their wickets in tact or go for the runs to help the side win. It is really tough fight between ball and bat.
Recent reports suggested that the ICC’s cricket committee plans to recommend trimming Test matches to four days and all the possibilities are being worked out. Present day test wickets are under prepared and did not last long for five days. Most of the matches end in three days and hence the question of 4 day test matches came to fore. When India played Australia at Wankhede Stadium the match was over on the third day even after first day’s play was almost washed out for two sessions. But at a time when Test cricket is struggling to attract spectators and the stands are empty excitement is to be brought through new innovation of 90 overs four innings games for four days.
Excitement is there in every season. How you look at it is important, but it should not be boring and the matches should not end in a tame draw. Apart from cricketers from other countries Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Ajinkya Rahane, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev have opposed to four day tests. Now it is up to ICC to decide upon the duration of matches in future. However, the ICC wants to try out the four-day Tests during the next FTP cycle between 2023-2031 to get more free days for the commercially lucrative shorter formats.
The spinners in test match cricket mature with age and they wait for the pitch to deteriorate to make the ball talk on day five. But if four day test matches come into play then the survival of star spinners will tested. The ICC, is set to reflect on the idea of making test matches four day affairs to free up a crammed international calendar and reduce player workload.
(The latter part of the article will continue tomorrow)
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut has kicked up a controversy by making a statement that Indira Gandhi used to meet Don Karim Lala and this caused a political stir in India. There is no point in feeling so offended or proving Raut wrong, criminalisation of politics has long been a concern especially in Maharashtra where the flourishing underworld has been part of its functioning from olden days. Karim Lala was one of the three top underworld dons of Mumbai for over two decades, from the sixties to the early eighties and the other two being Mastan Mirza alias Haji Mastan and Varadarajan Mudaliar. So in the name of mouth piece, Raut is causing rot in the Sena cadre.
Akhilesh Krishnan
2Honour Bapu Nadkarni with a postal stamp
Bapu Nadkarni better known as maiden-over machine and being the most accurate bowler of the world having bowled record 21 successive maiden overs (131 continuous balls without giving any run) in a test-match against England in Madras (now Chennai) in the year 1963-64 with bowling-figure 32-27-5-0, breathed his last on January 17, 2020 at the age of 86 years. He had similar economical bowling averages like 32-24-23-0 at Kanpur followed by 34-24-24-1 in Delhi against Pakistan in the year 1960-61. He had a career economy rate of less than two runs per over. He took voluntary retirement from first-class cricket in the year 1967 after playing against New Zealand even though he had career-best figure of taking 6 wickets for just 43 runs in that match.
Department of Posts should honour such a fine cricketer of yesteryears by issuing a postage-stamp in memory of Bapu Nadkarni, the finest all-rounder of those times whose performance as maiden-over machine could not be repeated. Unfortunately cricketers of present era playing in money and fame are honoured so frequently including one with greatest honour of Bharat Ratna, real cricket-heroes of yesteryears are forgotten. Even a series of postage-stamps on cricketers of yesteryears can be considered to be issued.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal
3Another step taken by railways to enhance passenger amenities
The much awaited IRCTC’s premium train Tejas Express inaugural run between Ahmedabad and Mumbai Central is welcome. The move comes at a time when the Indian Railways is experimenting with the concept of privately run trains on its route network. The first such successful private run between New Delhi and Lucknow is also getting good response and it is welcome to know that the carrier is planning more such initiatives with new routes across India.
The concept of privately run trains with operations like catering and housekeeping being undertaken by a private carrier onboard Tejas Express is worth a risk. Privately run trains under luxury segment will definitely be a success and will help the railways to place itself in a better perspective. Indian Railways should now experiment such a concept not only with premier trains but also superfast/mail express trains that are crying for attention w.r.t. superior passenger amenities. Privatizing train’s maintenance and other aspects related to passenger amenities will only help railways inch closer to achieve its goal of customer satisfaction whilst providing high passenger comfort.
Varun Dambal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
After an explosion and a subsequent fire broke out in an industrial unit in a Chemical factory in MIDC, Badlapur this morning, one person was killed while two others sustained serious injuries. According to a fire official, the incident took place at around 9 am in a dryer of Kajay Remedies Pvt Ltd that happens to be manufacturers and exporters of chemical products.
The day when Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray will launch his son Amit into mainstream politics on January 23, happens to be the late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s birth anniversary. Though Amit has been accompanying his father Raj at almost all party events, he has never addressed party workers. On this auspicious day, he is likely to make his maiden address during the party event.