The Indian Panorama

Tag: Uttar Pradesh

  • I.K. Gujral – a Profile

    I.K. Gujral – a Profile

    A suave gentleman, Gujral who was easy in every role, was passionately committed to friendship between India and Pakistan

    Inder Kumar Gujral was a rare breed of political persona who switched roles seamlessly from a practitioner of diplomacy to the rough and tumble of politics that took him to the pinnacle of political power as the Prime Minister of India.

    For someone born in a family of Congress workers at Jhelum, now in Pakistan on December 4, 1919, Gujral’s early political thoughts were influenced by the communist, worked closely with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the middle and drifted towards socialists in the end.

    Gujral’s family was among the thousands that crossed over to India from Pakistan post-Partition, and in his autobiography “Matters of Discretion”’, the former Prime Minister dwelt at length speaking nostalgically of his childhood days in Jhelum in West Punjab and the pangs of separation.

    It is perhaps the umbilical ties with undivided Punjab that drove the process to take India-Pakistan relations on a
    different plane. In fact, a few months before he was chosen by the Janata Dal to lead the United Front Government at the Centre, the then Pakistan Premier Nawaz Sharief had commented that India never had a Prime Minister from Punjab.

    Gujral began his career in politics as a student leader. He was arrested in 1942 and jailed for his involvement in the Quit India movement. Gujral got elected first to the Electoral College of Delhi and served as the Vice President of New Delhi Municipal Council. At the end of the tenure in 1964, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha where he served two consecutive terms till 1976.

    It was during this period that a storm was brewing in the Congress. The post-Nehru and Shastri-era saw the emergence of Indira Gandhi and her struggle against the ‘old guard’. The phase saw the young Gujral being drawn into the vortex marking his presence in the corridors of power.

    Such was his rise and proximity to the changing structure of power that Gujral was bracketed as someone in the early version of Indira Gandhi’s ‘kitchen cabinet’.

    Interestingly, in his book Gujral describes Indira Gandhi as a “split and very complex personality,” who could be mean, petty, and vicious yet large-hearted, gracious and charming.

    Gujral, however, held grudging respect for Indira Gandhi in whose Council of Ministers he served as a Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Communications, Information and Broadcasting, Works, Housing and Urban Development and later Planning.

    While students of politics were fortunate that Gujral left behind his memoirs for posterity, unfortunately he preferred not to elaborate as to why he fell out of favour with Indira Gandhi. Reports later suggested that he was not particularly keen to implement censorship that came in the wake of internal emergency. It is perhaps the gentleman-politician him that made Gujral avoid reference to the period or that of the rise of Sanjay Gandhi.
    For Gujral, a self-confessed Communist, his posting as India’s Ambassador to the then USSR between 1976-1990 served as springboard for his role later as the External Affairs Minister during the 1989-90 VP Singh’s Government.
    His days in Moscow allowed Gujral to follow the India’s foreign policy from close quarters especially since Indira Gandhi had excellent personal equations with the top Soviet leaders and the back and forth communication between New Delhi and Moscow through him.

    After his return from Moscow in 1980, amid growing distance from the Congress under Indira Gandhi, his intellectual and political thought was stimulated in the company of the leaders with socialist leanings.
    The period saw national upheavals and Gujral attending Opposition conclaves in various parts of the country, studying trouble in Jammu and Kashmir, the ‘Mandal’ upsurge and the ‘Mandir-Masjid’ issues that dominated political discourse in the country.

    During his tenure as the External Affairs Minister in the VP Singh Government, he expounded the Gujral doctrine which he expanded later first in his second stint in the Ministry of External Affairs under H D Deve Gowda and later as Prime Minister between April 1997 and March 1998. Among the books he published is one on ‘A Foreign Policy for India’.
    At a time when the United Front was under pressure to change Prime Minister Deve Gowda, Gujral emerged the front-runner. In fact, Gowda cautioned Gujral against assuming the mantle under such circumstances. The Congress withdrew support to the Janata Dal Government during March 1998 over the continuation of the DMK in the coalition Government in the wake of Jain Commission of Inquiry into Rajiv Gandhi assassination.

    During his tenure, a controversial decision to impose President’s Rule in Uttar Pradesh was returned by President KR Narayanan.

    IK GUJRAL-TIMELINE

    Born on December 4, 1919 in Jhelum town now in Pakistan
    Actively participated in the Freedom Struggle and was jailed in 1942 during the Quit India Movement
    Educated at DAV College, Haily College of Commerce and Forman Christian College, Lahore
    Gujral became vice-president of the New Delhi Municipal Committee in 1958
    He formally joined Congress and six years later, Indira Gandhi gave him a ticket with which he entered Rajya Sabha in April 1964
    He was part of the ‘coterie’ that helped Indira Gandhi become Prime Minister in 1966
    In Indira Gandhi’s government, he held several portfolios as Union Minister for Communications, Parliamentary Affairs and Housing
    He was Information and Broadcasting Minister when Emergency was imposed (on June 25, 1975), which brought in arbitrary press censorship
    As he refused to kowtow to the powers-that-be, he was taken out of the ministry and sent by Indira Gandhi as Ambassador to Moscow
    He continued even during the tenures of her two successors – Morarji Desai and Charan Singh
    He left the Congress to join the Janata Dal in the late-1980s
    Gujral became External Affairs Minister in the VP Singh-led National Front government in 1989
    He had a second stint as External Affairs Minister in the United Front government under HD Deve Gowda, whom he later replaced as PM after the Congress withdrew support in the Summer of 1997
    Gujral served as the 12th Prime Minister of India from April 1997 to March 1998
    He breathed his last in a private hospital in Gurgaon at 3.27 pm on November 30, 2012 after a multi-organ failure. He was admitted to the hospital on November 19 with a lung infection

  • Balasaheb Keshav Thackeray The Tiger Of Maharastra

    Balasaheb Keshav Thackeray The Tiger Of Maharastra

    In over 40 years since he plunged into social life, there was never an occasion for which Hindu Hriday Samrat (the King of Hindu Hearts) Bal Thackeray lacked an opinion. Whether it was on national politics, arts, sports or any other issue, he always had something witty or vitriolic to say and excelled in bringing the country’s financial capital to a standstill whenever needed. Born Bal Keshav Thackeray, to writer and political leader Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, on 23 January 1926 he perhaps had an early exposure to the regional politics of the time as his father was an integral part of the Samayukta Maharashtra movement to form the state of Maharashtra with Mumbai as its capital. He never matriculated from high school but knew how to wield the language more effectively than most, initially using them to greatest effect in his cartoons. Working as a cartoonist with the Free Press Journal in the 1950s, Thackeray signed his cartoons as ‘Mava’ and continued with the publication until he left to join another newspaper News Day. The paper didn’t survive very long and left without a job he started the weekly Marmikin 1960, along with his younger brother Shrikant, also a cartoonist. Often vitriolic, Marmik espoused the cause of the Maharashtrian people and in 1966, as his influence rose in the state by leaps, Thackeray founded the Shiv Sena, which claimed to be a revival of the army of Maratha king Shivaji. His first rally was held on Dussehra on 30 October 1966 in Shivaji Park in central Mumbai, close to his family home. He may have been slightly built, but his words were strong and incisive, making his first rally a grand success, which set the foundation for the growth of the Shiv Sena, symbolised by the fierce roaring tiger that he had drawn himself. The Shiv Sena did not claim to have an interest in politics, Thackeray said and in his rallies he said he wanted his Maharashtrian audience to realise how they were being deprived of their rights and what they could do about it.

    He raised social issues that affected the common middle class Maharashtrian man like the unemployment of the youth, discrimination in employment and erosion of pride that the community had at one time in history. He based his first campaign on the unemployment of the Maharashtrian youth, blaming south Indians for filling up posts that they could have been open to educated local youth.

    It was the politics of entitlement that the Sena preached and it found an eager audience in the form of unemployed educated Marathi youth and men stuck in jobs that seemed to lead nowhere.

    South Indian restuarants faced the brunt of the campaign with Shiv Sena activists targeting them. Gyan Prakash in his book Mumbai Fables describing the Shiv Sena pramukh (head) explains why Thackeray appealed to a disgruntled Maharashtrian community in the city that they had come to with dreams of glamour and had to settle for much less: Only forty years old when he founded the Shiv Sena, Thackeray presented himself as a fearless youthful leader of a new type, one able to bend feckless bureaucrats, the older generation, the elites, and evil enemies to the force of his will. Unlike most political leaders he did not advocate asceticism and sacrifice. He expressed feelings that most disaffected young men may have felt but dared not articulate.

    Openly advocating material acquisition and pleasure, he absolved “them from their feelings of guilt for failing to support their families or for their attractions to the hedonistic pursuits of life.” The Shiv Sena took to politics soon enough with a pitched battle against the Communist Party, which had until its arrival, dominated unions in the city and held sway over the functioning of Mumbai’s biggest industry, the textile mills. Initially the Shiv Sena was content to back a Congress candidate against a Communist one, but soon after the party stepped into active politics taking on the communist parties. Thackeray shrugged off claims of being an alternate front for the Congress and instead continued to build the party through shakhas (branches) in each area of Mumbai, a political strategy adopted from the RSS. In a nation where politicians claimed to follow the philosophies of Mahatma publicly, the Sena never shied away from violence and always endorsed action over thought and words. In 1969 when Thackeray was arrested for allegedly organising protests against the then deputy Prime Minister Morarji Desai, the city was thrown into chaos by rioting activists who were silenced only by a statement from their leader. However, it also meant that Thackeray would never again do anything that would result in him getting arrested or being thrown into jail. It was perhaps an unwritten rule in Maharashtra’s politics that he was not to be arrested in order to maintain the peace with the Shiv Sena. He was arrested on one other occasion but was quickly granted bail before the situation went out of hand in Mumbai. In keeping with his right wing philosophy, Thackeray also took on the Muslim community in Mumbai within years of forming the Shiv Sena.

    In the 1960s and early 1970s, Bhiwandi, a suburb near the edge of the city that housed powerlooms, was his first target for its high Muslim population mainly powerloom workers who had come from states like Uttar Pradesh. The Sena in the 1970s was largely muted barring a few agitations and despite its anti-government stance, the Shiv Sena and Thackeray remained silent throughout the period of the Emergency.

    It was in the 1980s through electoral victories in municipal elections the Sena grew in strength and the tiger was ready to pounce when the opportunity arose in the 1990s in the form of the Babri Masjid riots and subsequent 1993 serial blasts. Following the Babri Masjid riots and riots erupting in parts of the country, Thackeray wrote scathing editorials in his newspaper ‘Saamna’, making veiled calls for action against the Muslim community and in the bloodbath that followed in the city, many blamed him for instigating violence. The Srikrishna report which probed the riots recommended action against Thackeray, but coming while the BJP-Shiv Sena government was in power, nothing of any consequence was done. Subsequent governments also never followed up on it.

    The Shiv Sena which had allied with the BJP in the 1980s, swept into power in 1995 aided by a pro-Hindutva sentiment and Thackeray, despite never contesting elections, held the remote control to the Manohar Joshi-led state government. The easiest way to circumvent the government became Thackeray’s endorsement.

    An Enron power plant, that subsequently had to be shut down, and a Michael Jackson concert in the city were perhaps classic examples of the Shiv Sena leader contorting his own stand in order to finally favour those who sought it. Thackeray always loved to jump into matters pertaining to culture

    From films to art, Thackeray introduced a culture of intolerance towards anything that he deemed against ‘Indian culture’ or offended his sensibilities. The hounding of artist MF Hussain into an exile from which he never returned, a campaign against Valentines Day, a ‘chaddi’ march to the erstwhile friend Dilip Kumar’s house to object to him accepting an award from Pakistan and bringing down the shutters of theatres screening films like ‘Fire’ were among the Sena’s notable achievements in this regard. Despite being the editor of two newspapers, he also didn’t care much for criticism from fellow journalists and scribes writing critical pieces on him faced violent attacks by Shiv Sainiks.

    In some cases even carrying the statements of opposing leaders was enough to invite the party’s ire. However, the period when his party was at its peak was also perhaps the time of great personal tumult for the leader. He lost his wife Meena in 1995 and his son Bindhumadhav in a road accident in 1996. Bindumadhav was perhaps the heir apparent until his demise. His second son Jaidev broke away from the Shiv Sena and remained estranged from his family, despite staying a few buildings away from the family residence.

    His youngest son Uddhav chose to stay away from politics and was rarely seen, but there was a bright beacon in the form of his nephew Raj, who ran the Shiv Udyog Sena. Political stewards managed the state and its politics but none were ever bigger than Thackeray in stature or power. Finally when Uddhav decided he was ready for politics he was heralded in as the future head of the Shiv Sena. However, this resulted in the nephew, who had waited in the wings for years to take centre stage, to take flight and he formed his own political party, that embraced a similar ideology and manner of functioning to the Shiv Sena.

    Thackeray, who was an ardent critic of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and used their example to criticise dynastic politics, perhaps might have noted the irony of the situation when his grandson Aditya was also roped in to run the party’s youth wing. Raj wasn’t the only one to leave the Sena disgruntled. Regional leaders rose, battled for control of the party and finally would leave when they failed to get the power they desired. Thackeray and the Sena preferred to let them go rather with their vote bases than let them rise above the family.

    In the early 2000s, deteriorating health forced Thackeray onto the sidelines as his son Uddhav took over the operations of the party and was rarely seen in public barring public rallies. Always fond of his cigars and alcohol, Thackeray even had to give them up as his health deteriorated.

    Despite his worsening health and campaigning across the state in an attempt to revive the party, the Sena failed to achieve the heights it achieved in the 1990s. In his last few years, a frail Thackeray only appeared for the Shiv Sena’s annual rally in Shivaji Park, to hurl a few barbs at his enemies and to appeal for more support for his son. He restricted himself to editorials and interviews in his own paper ‘Saamna’ until his last days, sometimes raising a titter or mild outrage with his comments. But for the man whose words brought the city that never slept to a grinding halt while he sat on his throne in Bandra, it was indeed a tame ending.

  • Cabinet reshuffle: UPA ministry gets 17 new faces, core team stays

    Cabinet reshuffle: UPA ministry gets 17 new faces, core team stays

    New Delhi (TIP): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s imprint on the October 28 reshuffle in the Council of Ministers is evident with several leaders who are in favor of more economic reforms now a part of his new core team.
    In the biggest reshuffle of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Cabinet, Manmohan Singh inducted 17 new faces and a total of 22 ministers giving several new and young faces a chance to prove their mettle as his government tries to remove the taint of scams and non-performance from its progress report. The Congress has also shown that it is the big brother in the UPA by having 69 of the 79 ministers, including the Railways.
    The big movers include Salman Khurshid who has been made the External Affairs Minister, a portfolio which is considered to be very close to the Prime Minister. Khurshid’s move to the Ministry of External Affairs from Law & Justice and Minority Affairs is seen as an elevation despite allegation of his involvement in a scam in Uttar Pradesh. Ashwani Kumar had got the important portfolio of Law, which has been working overtime due the exposure of several corruption cases involving leaders of the ruling coalition.
    MM Pallam Raju, too, has been elevated from Minister of State for Defence and is now the Human Resource Minister while Pawan Kumar Bansal is the new Railways Minister with Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and KJ Surya Prakash Reddy as his junior ministers. CP Joshi was holding the Railways portfolio as additional charge after the Trinamool Congress quit the UPA and withdrew its ministers in September 2012 following differences over economic reforms.
    The PM has given young faces a chance to prove their mettle. But Salman Khurshid despite corruption allegations has been made the MEA.
    Manish Tewari with Information and Broadcasting and Telugu film superstar-turned-politician K Chiranjeevi, who has been given the Tourism portfolio are some of the new faces in the Council of Ministers. Both have been made the Ministers of State with independent charge. Shashi Tharoor, who had to quit as MoS External Affairs in April 2010 in the wake of allegations of wrongdoing in buying stakes in an IPL team, has made a comeback and is now Ministers of State Human Resource. Ajay Maken, too, has been elevated to the Cabinet rank and will handle the Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry. Maken at 48 years is also the youngest Cabinet minister in the Manmohan Singh government.
    The Prime Minister has kept with core economic team with Anand Sharma retaining the Commerce Ministry despite the political upheavel over foreign direct investments. However, S Jaipal Reddy has been out of Petroleum Ministry and given the low-profile Science & Technology and Earth Sciences portfolio.
    Kapil Sibal, too, has been downgraded and now only the Minister of Communications and Information Technology while Minister of Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad’s desire for a high profile portfolio has been ignored.
    The focus of the reshuffle was on inducting new and young faces with the states of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal cornering the major share out of the 22 ministers sworn in. While Andhra Pradesh has six new faces, West Bengal gets three more representatives. The move to give prominence to Andhra and Bengal is seen as a strategy to counter the Telangana statehood issue and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who has pulled out of the UPA following differences over economic reforms.
    Former Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman and veteran leader from Karnataka K Rahman Khan, despite allegations of involvement in a scam involving Wakf Board land, made a re-entry into the government as Minority Affairs Minister, a portfolio held by Khurshid. In UPA-I, Khan was a Minister of State. Dinsha Patel was promoted as Cabinet Minister in Mines Ministry in the reshuffle and expansion.
    Rahul Gandhi, who was earlier speculated to join the government, kept away with the Prime Minister saying the young leader wants to strengthen the party, notwithstanding his request to become a minister. The exercise, which the Prime Minister said was “hopefully, probably the last” before next Lok Sabha polls, was confined to Congress party barring the inclusion of Tariq Anwar of NCP as a Minister of State.
    The ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Pranab Mukherjee at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan attended by Vice President Hamid Ansari, the Prime Minister, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Cabinet Ministers and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj.
    The Prime Minister took away portfolios from ministers holding more than one charge and filled in the vacancies created by exit of six Trinamool Ministers, death of Vilasrao Deshmukh and resignation of eight Ministers including SM Krishna, Virbhadra Singh, Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik and Subodh Kant Sahai.
    Another significant promotion has been made in the case of Ashwani Kumar who has been upgraded to the Cabinet rank and given the charge of the Law Ministry held by Khurshid. Yet another upgradation has been made in the case of Harish Rawat, who was overlooked for the post of chief minister of Uttarakhand earlier in 2012 and had revolted. From MoS in Agriculture Ministry, he has now been made a Cabinet Minister for Water Resources.
    Significant changes have also been made by upgrading three young Ministers of State, considered close to Rahul Gandhi, and giving them independent charge. They are Jyotiraditya Scindia who has been given Power and Sachin Pilot Corporate Affairs, both of which were held by Moily in Cabinet rank. Jitendra Singh, who was MoS in Home Ministry, has been given Youth and Sports Affairs.
    Veteran Congress leader and MoS K H Muniyappa has been shifted from Railways to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and Bharatsinh Solanki from Railways to Drinking Water and Sanitation with Independent charge. The other Ministers of State who have been shifted are D Purandeswari (from HRD to Commerce and Industry), Jitin Prasada (from Road Transport to Defence and HRD), S Jagathrakshakan (from I&B to New and Renewable Energy), KC Venugopal (from Power to Civil Aviation) and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajiv Shukla who gets additional charge of Planning. MoS External Affairs E Ahamed has shed the additional charge of HRD while RPN Singh has been shifted from Petroleum to Home.
    Below is the full list of the ministers in the Union Cabinet after the reshuffle.
    Cabinet Ministers:
    l K Rahman Khan: Minority Affairs
    l Dinsha J Patel: Mines
    l Ajay Maken: Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation
    l MM Pallam Raju: Human Resource Development
    l Ashwani Kumar: Law & Justice
    l Harish Rawat: Water Resources
    l Chandresh Kumari Katoch: Culture
    l M Veerappa Moily: Petroleum & Natural Gas
    l S Jaipal Reddy: Science & Technology and Earth Sciences
    l Kamal Nath: Urban Development & Parliamentary Affairs
    l Vayalar Ravi: Overseas Indian Affairs
    l Kapil Sibal: Communications & Information Technology
    l CP Joshi: Road Transport & Highways
    l Kumari Selja: Social Justice & Empowerment
    l Pawan Kumar Bansal: Railways
    l Salman Khurshid: External Affarirs

    l Jairam Ramesh: Rural Development
    l Manmohan Singh: Prime Minister, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Ministry of Planning, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space
    l P Chidambaram: Finance
    l Sharad Pawar: Agriculture Minister, Minister of Food Processing Industries
    l AK Antony: Defence
    l Sushil Kumar Shinde: Minister of Home Affairs
    l Ghulam Nabi Azad: Minister of Health and Family Welfare
    l Dr. Farooq Abdullah: Minister of New and Renewable Energy
    l Ajit Singh: Civil Aviation
    l Mallikarjun Kharge: Minister of Labour and Employment
    l Kapil Sibal: Minister of Communications and Information Technology
    l Anand Sharma: Minister of Commerce and Industry, Minister of Textiles
    l GK Vasan: Shipping
    l MK Alagiri: Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers
    l Praful Manoharbhai Patel: Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
    l Sriprakash Jaiswal: Minister of Coal
    l V Kishore Chandra Deo: Minister of Tribal Affairs, Minister of Panchayati Raj
    l Beni Prasad Verma: Minister of Steel

    Ministers of State (Independent Charge)
    l Manish Tewari: Information & Broadcasting
    l K Chiranjeevi: Tourism
    l Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia: Power
    l KH Muniyappa: Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises
    l Bharatsinh Madhavsinh Solanki: Drinking Water & Sanitation
    l Sachin Pilot: Corporate Affairs
    l Jitendra Singh: Youth Affairs & Sports
    l Krishna Tirath: Ministry of Women and Child Development
    l Kuruppassery Varkey Thomas: Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
    l Srikant Kumar Jena: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
    l Jayanthi Natarajan: Ministry of Environment and Forests
    l Paban Singh Ghatowar: Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs

    Ministers of state
    l Shashi Tharoor: Human Resource Development
    l Kodikunnil Suresh: Labour & Employment
    l Tariq Anwar: Agriculture & Food Processing Industries
    l KJ Surya Prakash Reddy: Railways
    l Ranee Narah: Tribal Affairs
    l Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury: Railways
    l AH Khan Choudhury: Health & Family Welfare
    l Sarvey Sathyanarayana: Road Transport & Highways
    l Ninong Ering: Minority Affairs
    l Deepa Dasmunsi: Urban Development
    l Porika Balram Naik: Social Justice & Empowerment
    l Dr (Smt) Kruparani Killi: Communications & Information Technology
    l Lalchand Kataria: Defence
    l E Ahamed: External Affairs
    l D Purandeswari: Commerce & Industry
    l Jitin Prasada: Defence & Human Resource Development
    l Dr S Jagathrakshakan: New & Renewable Energy
    l RPN Singh: Home
    l KC Venugopal: Civil Aviation
    l Rajeev Shukla: Parliamentary Affairs & Planning
    l V Narayanasamy: Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Prime Minister Office
    l Lakshmi Panabaka: Ministry of Textiles
    l Namo Narain Meena: Ministry of Finance
    l SS Palanimanickam: Ministry of Finance
    l Preneet Kaur: Ministry of External Affairs
    l D Napoleon: Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
    l S Gandhiselvan: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
    l Tushar Amarsinh Chaudhary: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
    l Pratik Prakashbapu Patil: Ministry of Coal
    l Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ministry of Corporate Affairs
    l Pradeep Kumar Jain Aditya: Ministry of Rural Development
    l Charan Das Mahant: Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Ministry of Food Processing Industries
    l Milind Murli Deora: Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

  • Women in rural areas not that attractive: Mulayam

    Women in rural areas not that attractive: Mulayam

    nahin…,”(Only girls and women from affluent class can go forward…remember this..you (rural women) will not get a chance…Our rural women did not have that much attraction).”

    At a meeting in Barabanki, Yadav had opposed the Bill, saying it was only “going to benefit the richer women and the weaker sections would further lose their hold.”

    Mulayam claimed that if the bill is passed, women from affleunt class will be benefitted while those from the backward class will be further pushed back.

    Underfire for his statement, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said his opposition to the Women’s Reservation Bill was to the format in which it was tabled in parliament.

    “If our viewpoint is considered on the OBCs, minorities and dalits, we will certainly reconsider our stand on the issue,” he said.

    “Women have suffered for long, and have been discriminated against. I am of the opinion that society should give an equal chance to them to work for the progress of the country,” the former chief minister of UP later told IANS.
    “I would be happy if men and women work together,” he said.

    The Samajwadi Party (SP), along with Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) and Sharad Yadav’s Janata Dal United (JDU), has been bitterly opposing the Bill which envisages 33 percent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The Bill, passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2010, has been stuck in the Lok Sabha owing to bitter opposition from the Yadav trio – Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Yadav and Sharad Yadav.

  • Chilling reality: Madhya Pradesh tops in child rape, foeticide

    Chilling reality: Madhya Pradesh tops in child rape, foeticide

    BHOPAL (TIP): It is sure to come as an eye opener for the state government that claims to have left no stone unturned for the welfare of minor girls.

    Madhya Pradesh has recorded the highest number of child rape and foeticide cases in the country. Overall, the state is only second after Uttar Pradesh in crimes against minors.

    The startling revelation has been made in ‘Children in India 2012 – A statistical appraisal’, a recently-released report of ministry of statistics and programme implementation of the government of India. It states that 7,112 cases of child rape cases were reported in the country during 2011, as compared to 5,484 in 2010. The state reported the highest number of rape cases of minor girls (1,262) followed by UP (1,088) and Maharashtra (818). Similarly, 132 cases of foeticide were reported in 2011, of which the highest number was registered in MP, followed by Chattisgarh and Punjab. In 2011, the crime against children reported a 24% increase from the previous year with 33,098 cases of crime against minors reported in the country during 2011 compared to 26,694 cases a year earlier.

    Uttar Pradesh accounted for 16.6% of total crimes against children in 2011, followed by Madhya Pradesh (13.2%), Delhi (12.8%), Maharashtra (10.2%), Bihar (6.7%) and Andhra Pradesh (6.7%).

  • Take Advantage of Foreign Direct Investment Policy Initiatives-Minister Ahmed

    Take Advantage of Foreign Direct Investment Policy Initiatives-Minister Ahmed

    NEW YORK (TIP): The Consulate General of India in New York organized October 10 a Reception-cumdinner at the Consulate Ballroom in honor of E. Ahmed, Minister of State for External Affairs, to meet members of the Indian-American community as well as the media. Dharmendra Yadav, the youngest Member of Parliament, who had addressed the United Nations in Hindi earlier in the day, was also present at the function, which was well attended. Manjeev Singh Puri, the Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations also attended

    Welcoming the Minister, Consul General Ambassador Prabhu Dayal said that he is privileged to have known the Minister from the early 90s and has since then been in regular touch with him during his earlier assignments in Kuwait, Dubai, Morocco, etc. The Consulate General of India in New York was fortunate to have him here whenever he visits USA, he added, and thanked the Minister for sparing his precious time and gracing the occasion. He also welcomed the youngest Member of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh, Dharmendra Yadav. The Minister thanked Ambassador Dayal for hosting a grand reception and providing him an opportunity to meet and interact with the vibrant Indian-American community. Echoing Ambassador Dayal’s words, Minister Ahmed said that he had known Ambassador Dayal even while he was a Member of Parliament and has always remained in close contact with him wherever he was.

    On India’s foreign policy, the Minister asserted that it is dictated by our national interest, and, therefore, there are bound to be differences even with friendly countries like USA. He also gave an example of Myanmar on which India differed with USA. Complementing the Indian Foreign Service officers for their acumen and foresightedness in chalking out India’s foreign policy, he said that having been associated with the Ministry of External Affairs and working closely with these officers for several years, he has complete faith in their competence. Expressing his happiness at the comfortable life led by the Indian- American community, Minister hoped to see a similar standard of life in India in the near future. He also urged the Indian-American community to make optimal use of the recently announced Foreign Direct Investment policy initiatives by the Government of India.

    Thanking Ambassador Dayal for inviting him to the Consulate, Dharmendra Yadav thanked Ambassador Dayal for inviting him to the Consulate. He said he felt very happy that he could address the UN in Hindi, which was well received, and thanked the Permanent Mission of India for making it happen

  • Himachal polls Nov 4, Gujarat Dec 13 and 17

    Himachal polls Nov 4, Gujarat Dec 13 and 17

    EW DELHI (TIP): Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat will pick new assemblies in elections on November 4 and December 13 and 17, respectively, in what will be a virtual straight fight between the ruling BJP and the Congress in both states.
    Chief election commissioner (CEC) VS Sampath told reporters here that votes in both states will be counted on December 20.

    These will be the most important state elections since Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, voted in February-March this year, along with Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur.

    Both Himachal Pradesh (68 seats) and Gujarat (182 seats) are ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with the Congress desperate to dislodge it.

    The announcement came hours after Congress president Sonia Gandhi unleashed the party’s campaign in Gujarat with a stinging attack on the BJP.

    The Congress welcomed the polls and said these would not be a referendum on the performance of the central government.

    “We welcome poll dates. Every election is a local election, even parliamentary elections are decided by local issues. No state poll is a referendum on the performance of the national government,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters later.

    “The only one is the Lok Sabha poll, which we won decisively,” he said.

    BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said, “We are sure of victory in the two states. Our workers have worked hard.”
    “We are making foolproof security arrangements in both states by deploying adequate strength of central police forces,” said Sampath.

    Armed police forces from other states would also be deployed in the two states for peaceful conduct of elections.
    Sampath said there would be strict monitoring of expenditure by political parties and candidates as well as of “paid news”.

    “Paid news is a learning process for us,” said Sampath, adding that “it will be monitored at the district, state and commission level”.

    He said all candidates would be required to open separate bank accounts and incur expenditure only from these accounts.

    The Election Commission, Sampath said, expects “the highest standards” of conduct and neutrality in election work from officials.

    “Their work will be under constant watch and scrutiny,” he said, and added that the model code of conduct for political parties would be strictly enforced.

    Sampath said the polling dates have been determined after taking into account climatic conditions, particularly in Himachal Pradesh, academic calendar, festivals, law and order, and availability of security forces.

    The number of eligible voters in Himachal Pradesh is 45.16 lakh against 3.78 crore in Gujarat. The electors will be given their voting slips a few days before the polling dates, said Sampath.

    To facilitate voting, the poll panel has increased the number of polling stations by 10 percent to 44,496 in Gujarat and by 16 percent in Himachal Pradesh to 7,252, he said. The CEC said the candidates will have to file only one affidavit, from two required earlier, to provide information if they have been charged or convicted in any criminal case and declaring their assets and educational qualifications.

  • Crime against children up by 24% in 2010-11

    Crime against children up by 24% in 2010-11

    NEW DELHI (TIP): India is fast earning the label of a country unsafe for children, with an alarming 24% increase in crimes against children in 2011 compared to the previous year. Nearly 33,100 cases were reported in 2011 against 26,694 cases in 2010.

    Uttar Pradesh accounted for 16.6% of total crimes against children in 2011, followed by Madhya Pradesh (13.2%), Delhi (12.8%), Maharashtra (10.2%), Bihar (6.7%) and Andhra Pradesh (6.7%).

    Maharashtra accounted for 74% of the total 27 cases of “buying of girls for prostitution” while West Bengal accounted for 77% of the total 113 cases of “selling of girls for prostitution”.

    Last year also saw a 43% increase in cases abduction, while cases of rape increased by 30%. UP and Delhi together accounted for 47.6% abduction of children while MP, UP and Maharashtra together made up 44.5% of child rape cases in 2011.

    These are the findings of the latest ‘Children in India 2012’ report brought out by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation. The last time such a report on the state of India’s children came out was in 2008.

    Feticide cases increased by 19% a year

    Feticide cases increased by 19% over 2010 to 132 cases in 2011, most of which were registered from Madhya Pradesh, followed by Chhattisgarh and Punjab, says a ministerial report. The three states together reported 56% of the foeticide cases last year.

    The report said, “The analysis of crime and children as presented here, puts forward a few upsetting revelations about the child victims as well as child offenders, which points out to the vulnerable conditions of children that need to be addressed urgently especially poverty.”

    India’s chief statistician T C A Anant said in the report, “Even today, after six decades of independence, the condition of children remains a cause of concern in the country. As the statistics speaks out loudly, we have miles to go to ensure a bright future for the children in all spheres of their life.” According to the report, procurement of minor girls saw a 27% spike—862 cases in 2011 compared to 679 cases in 2010. West Bengal reported the highest chunk of these cases (298) —a share of 34.6% followed by Bihar (183), Assam (142) and Andhra (106).

    The average chargesheeting rate for all crimes against children was 82.5% in 2011, which was the same in 2010 as well.

    The highest chargesheet rate was observed in cases under ‘buying of girls for prostitution’ (100%) followed by ‘rape’ (97.3%) in comparison to the prevailing national level chargesheeting rate of 78.8% for the IPC crimes. The lowest charge sheet rate was found in cases of feticide.

    The conviction rate at national level for the crimes committed against children stood at 34.6%. The conviction rate for ‘infanticide (other than murder)’ was highest at 46.9% followed by cases under ‘murder’ (45.5%).

    When taking all the crimes against children into account, the crime rate (ratio of number of crimes to population) saw a marginal increased from 2.3 in 2009 to 2.7 in 2011. Delhi, however, topped the crime rate (25.4) followed by Andaman and Nicobar Islands (20.3), Chandigarh (7) and Chhattisgarh (7), Madhya Pradesh (6) and Goa (5.1).

    The 2012 data showed that juvenile IPC crimes in 2011 increased by 10.5% over 2010 as 22,740 IPC crimes by juveniles were registered during 2010 which increased to 25,125 cases in 2011. Out of the total 888 juvenile murder cases reported in the country in 2011, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh reported 16.3% and 12.6% cases.

    The highest incidence of the juvenile rape cases was reported from Madhya Pradesh (23.6%) followed by UP (12.7%) and Maharashtra (10.9%). Among such disturbing trends, the report also had some good news. In 2011, buying of girls for prostitution showed a decline of 65%, and selling of girls for prostitution reported a decline of 13% compared to 2010. Cases of infanticide too showed a decline of 37 points during this period.

  • Maoist diktat says no Hindi Films in Nepal

    Maoist diktat says no Hindi Films in Nepal

    Kathmandu (TIP): The Maoists have succeeded in preventing the supply of Bollywood films to Nepal after blocking all traffic via Maharajganj in Uttar Pradesh. As a result, there is no cinema hall in Nepal showing a Hindi film at present. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), a radical faction of the ruling Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), led by Mohan Kiran Vaidya had threatened last week that supporters would attack cinema halls if they continued screening Hindi films. Simultaneously, several Maoist groups owing allegiance to Vaidya established their camps in Nepal’s border area of Bhairahwan near Nautanwa in Maharajganj on the UP side and stopped all vehicles from plying between the two countries.

    Vaidya had alleged that Hindi movies created hatred against Nepal. “They show Nepalis as servants only and portray us in bad light,” he said. Raj Kumar Rai, president of Nepal Film Producers Association, was quoted as saying that cinema halls across Nepal will incur a loss of several crores. “Since most of the people go to cinema halls to see Hindi movies, they are now deprived of entertainment here.

  • KUSHINAGAR A serene Buddhist destination

    KUSHINAGAR A serene Buddhist destination

    Welcome to the land of the Buddha. A breather from most other religious destinations, which, ironically, reel under chaos, Kushinagar – the place where Gautam Buddha breathed his last – is a place where you can pray in peace or simply soak in the beauty of the architectural marvels and the natural surrounding. Situated 51 km east of Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Kushinagar is one of the four important religious destinations for Buddhists.

    This is the place where the Buddha delivered his last sermon, and died. The other three important destinations are Lumbini, Bodh Gaya and Sarnath. It’s of little surprise then that the place, which is well endowed with greenery, is flocked by tourists – both domestic and foreign – through the year, but especially so in the cooler months between October and April. It is estimated that nearly two million tourists visit Kushinagar every year. “Many tourists come to Kushinagar to pray and to pay their respect to the place where Lord Buddha delivered his last sermon and finally rested in peace. From among foreign countries, we mainly have people coming from Thailand, Japan, China, Korea, Sri Lanka and Myanmar,” said Bhadant Choudhury, a Buddhist monk at the Mahaparinirvana temple. One of the main attractions of the place, the Niravana Chaitya or the Main Stupa, was excavated by Carlleyle in 1876 and stands at a height of 2.74 metres.

    A copper vessel was unearthed at this site and it bore an inscription in ancient Brahmi, which stated that Lord Buddha’s remains had been deposited there. The Stupa was restored and its chamber was ceremoniously closed in 1927, in the presence of 16 Buddhist priests. Several gold, silver and copper plateinscriptions were deposited inside, recording the facts of discovery and identification of the monument. Right in front of the Nirvana Stupa is the Mahaparinirvana temple, which you wouldn’t want to miss – not just for religious purposes but also for the grandeur of a 6.10 metre-long statue of the Buddha in a reclining position which dates back to the fifth century and was also excavated in 1876. While it looks as if it was made of gold, the statue, which represents the dying Buddha, is made of monolith red sandstone.

    “One of the amazing things about the statue is that the facial expression of Lord Buddha seems to change when you look from different positions. If you stand in front, from an angle, it looks like he is smiling; from behind his head, it looks like he is thinking; and from his feet, it looks like he is dying,” explained Amit Kumar, a resident of Kushinagar. Sitting on the steps of the temple, Choudhury motioned to the beeline of devotees to wait for some time until a Thai delegation of 20 people inside were done with their chanting. “The foreigners travel great distances to reach this place and that too for a few days. So it doesn’t make much of a difference if the rest of us wait for a few minutes…and people really don’t mind. Everyone is patient,” he said, as other devotees sat on the steps with him, chatting with the monks. One of those waiting, Lakshmi Devi, from the neighbouring state of Bihar, said: “It’s all right if we have to wait for a little while for the foreigners…they have, after all, come from so far and are our guests. My family and I wanted to pay our respects to Lord Buddha, and we are here. What will we get by creating a fuss?” Considering the heavy flow of foreign tourists, many neighbouring countries have built their own temples near the Mahaparinirvana temple.

    Their temple complexes also have guest houses to accommodate their citizens and are again a must-see for the sheer beauty of their architecture. The Watt Thai temple, for instance, is a huge temple complex built in the Thai- Buddhist architectural fashion. The Japanese temple has a beautiful Ashta Dhatu (eight metal) statue of the Buddha which has been brought from Japan. The Linth Son Chinese temple, Myanmar temple and the Korean temple, among others, are also some must visits. Just about 400 yards from the Nirvana Stupa is the Matha Kuar shrine which has a colossal statue of the Buddha in the ‘Bhumi Sparsh Mudra’ (earth touching posture) under the ‘Bodhi tree’, carved out of a single block of stone. The inscription at the base dates it to the 10th-11th century. Also on the itinerary should be a visit to the Ramabhar Stupa which is the cremation ground of the Buddha.

    Although there is no air or rail link right to Kushinagar, it is well connected to Gorakhpur, which in turn has a railway station and an air strip. Food and accommodation are not a problem with numerous guest houses and restaurants with, predictably, names like Vipassana and Nirvana! So pack your bags for a few days of nirvana in Kushinagar!

  • UP CM Akhilesh Yadav approves setting up two leather parks in Kanpur and Hardoi to attract investment of Rs 2,000 crores

    UP CM Akhilesh Yadav approves setting up two leather parks in Kanpur and Hardoi to attract investment of Rs 2,000 crores

    LUCKNOW (TIP): Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has given an in principle approval for two mega leather cluster projects in Hardoi and Kanpur districts. In a meeting with leather industrialists from Kanpur, the Chief Minister assured all possible help from the state government to develop these green field mega clusters which would bring an investment of around Rs 2,000 crores. The CM also directed officials of UP State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) to make available land for these projects.

    According to Industrial and Infrastructure Development Commissioner, Anil Kumar Gupta one of the proposed leather parks would come up on 300 acres of land in Sandila Industrial Area of Hardoi district. The second would come up in Ramaipur area of Kanpur. About 625 acres of land in Kuraina, Bahadurnagar and Senpurabpara villages has been identified for this project. Gupta said that the proposed integrated leather parks would have world class infrastructure with latest technology equipped production chain to meet the demands of both the domestic as well as export market. He said that the parks will generate employment opportunity for 10,000 persons and 50 per cent of the factories would belong to the small and medium enterprises sector

  • Samajwadi Party workers not in favour of bailing out

    Samajwadi Party workers not in favour of bailing out

    LUCKNOW (TIP): The demand to withdraw support to UPA II within the Samajwadi Party (SP) went up on September 20 as a shutdown called by it evoked near complete response in many parts of Uttar Pradesh.

    The SP had earlier put off its parliamentary board meeting as it wanted to gauge the “mood of the nation” against the central government decisions to allow FDI in multi-brand retail trade and hike diesel prices.

    The party’s rank and file seem to feel that any support to the Congress could spike its electoral fortunes.
    Enough indications trickled from the top brass of the SP that it was no longer keen to be seen on the same side of the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance.

    Close aides of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said he was holding talks with senior party colleagues.
    An aide said the channel of communication opened between the Congress and the SP was on hold for now.

    Many SP leaders like Bhagwati Singh, Mohan Singh, Shivpal Yadav, Ahmad Hasan and Mohd Azam Khan have reportedly asked Mulayam Singh not to be swayed by Congress sweet talk or political blackmail.

    “It is very clear that UPA II is now on ventilator, why should we be seen siding with a sinking ship?” a senior UP minister said.

    Senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav says the Congress should understand the anger among the people.
    He also demanded a rollback of last week’s decisions, including a hike in diesel prices and a cap on the number of subsidised cooking gas cylinders to consumers.

    “The Congress government is tottering and it should be flexible,” Mulayam Singh told a group of leaders who met him in New Delhi on Thursday.

    The SP is understood to be miffed over reports that the Congress was trying to strike a deal with its arch rival, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati.

    A section of SP leaders, including the young brigade led by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, are learnt to be of the view that siding with the Congress now could prove suicidal.

    Akhilesh Yadav had recently said that his party was ready for early Lok Sabha elections.

  • Modi challenges ‘scared’ Rahul to come and campaign in Gujarat

    Modi challenges ‘scared’ Rahul to come and campaign in Gujarat

    VALSAD (TIP): Amid growing speculation of a Narendra Modi versus Rahul Gandhi electoral battle in 2014, the Gujarat chief minister indirectly challenged Rahul to come and campaign in the state. “Now Congress says Rahul is not coming to Gujarat. Why? People of the state and I want to know the reason. Does he think Gujarat is so bad that he won’t tour the state?

    ” Modi said, addressing a rally in Mota Pondha village in Valsad district of south Gujarat. Modi’s jibe comes at a time when the Congress does not want to take any chances to pit the 42-year-old party general secretary against the BJP strongman on his own turf, lest he suffer the ignominy similar to the Uttar Pradesh debacle and further dent is already waning. Modi addressed a series of rallies in south Gujarat as a part of his monthlong Swami Vivekanand Yuva Vikas Yatra.

    In Pardi town near Vapi, BJP leader Smriti Irani also took potshots at Rahul saying, “How can he come to Gujarat when he has completely lost face after Congress’s drubbing in Uttar Pradesh elections?” Addressing a rally in Valsad, Modi threw an open challenge to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi. “I am ready for any contest,” he said.

    Modi was also severe in his criticism of Congress’s slogan ‘Change the direction to change your condition’ saying that the party’s only direction was “dynasty rule”. “Only one family gets importance…. If they make someone Prime Minister, he has to go to the family before taking any decision,” he said. “Congress’s ‘direction’ is of nepotism, spreading communalism, divisive politics and not fulfilling promises,” he alleged.

  • Delhi court issues summons against Raj Thackeray

    Delhi court issues summons against Raj Thackeray

    New Delhi (TIP):

    A Delhi court August 30 issued summons to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray for humiliating people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar by calling Chhath Puja a “drama.”

    Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Manish Yaduvanshi issued the summons to Thackeray for humiliating Biharis and promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion.

    An application moved by lawyers Sudhir Kumar Jha and Murad Ali from Bihar and Sudhakar Ojha from Jharkhand sought to initiate proceedings against Thackeray for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and humiliating people from UP and Bihar.

    Jha said that Thackeray humiliated people from Bihar and UP in a Feb 2008 speech by ridiculing Chhath Puja, which is celebrated with enthusiasm in the two states.

    Various criminal cases were lodged against him in Bihar and Jharkhand.
    Later, the Supreme Court transferred the cases to the Delhi court after Thackeray raised concerns over his security.