The Supreme Court has directed the Centre to implement the ambitious interlinking of rivers project in a time-bound manner and appointed a high-powered committee for its planning and implementation. Observing that the project has already been delayed resulting in an increase in its cost, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia said the Centre and the state governments concerned should participate for its “effective” implementation “in a time bound manner”. The bench appointed a high-powered committee comprising of representatives of various government departments, ministries, experts and social activists to chart out and execute the project. The committee will comprise Union minister of water resources, the ministry secretary, secretary of ministry of environment and forest and four expert members appointed by the water resources ministry, finance ministry, planning commission and MoEF. Representatives from state governments, two social activists and senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, who has been assisting the court in the case, will also be its members. “We direct the Union of India to forthwith constitute a committee for interlinking of rivers,” the bench said, adding “we direct the committee to implement the project”. The river interlinking project was the brainchild of the NDA government and in October, 2002, the then PM AB Vajpayee had formed a task force to get the project going against the backdrop of the acute drought that year.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
NCTC would not Operational before Consulting States : P Chidambaram
Union home minister P Chidambaram reached out to 10 chief ministers, saying the government would not operationalize the National Counter-Terrorism Centre before consulting the directors general of police and heads of anti-terror wings in the states. Chidambaram argued that the NCTC would have “bare minimum powers” essential for any counter-terror body to have “operational capability” in “certain circumstances”. The states, however, appeared unmoved. There are also indications that chief ministers are not impressed by the idea of being kept out of consultations on an issue which concerned the division of responsibilities between the Centre and states as laid down in the Constitution. Chidambaram also enclosed a three-page note with his letter to the non-Congress chief ministers, explaining finer points of the existing law-Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act - from which the NCTC draws its power to make arrest and conduct search and seizure. Requesting the chief ministers “to carefully consider the note”, he said, “Before we take the next steps, I have asked the home secretary to call a meeting of directors general of police and the heads of anti-terror organizations/forces of the state governments and discuss in detail the scope and functions of the NCTC.” The home minister, at the same time, reminded the chief ministers that the matter (countering terror) was of national importance and should be kept above “parties and politics”. “All of us are agreed that terrorism is a grave threat to our country and our way to life. Countering terrorism is, therefore, a shared responsibility,” he said in his letters to the chief ministers including West Bengal (Mamata Banerjee), Gujarat (Narendra Modi) and Tamil Nadu (J Jayalalitha). Though he has not specified any date for this meeting, indications are that the ministry will try to do the consultation before March 1-the day when NCTC is scheduled to get operational.
Monday, February 6, 2012
PM shown black flags by Anna supporters in Amritsar
The New Year does not have seem to begun on a very good note for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as he faced black flag demonstrations on 1 January 2012 at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The incident occurred early this morning when the PM, along with his wife Gursharan Kaur, was coming out of the temple after offering prayers. Around 30-40 pro-Anna Hazare demonstrators gathered outside the temple began shouting slogans and waved black flags.
Army jawans allegedly assault cops in Pune
A group of Army jawans in Pune clashed with police following an altercation over traffic violation, sparking tension on Tuesday evening. According to the police, the trouble started when a jawan attached to the College of Military Engineering (CME), riding a motorbike, was stopped by a traffic constable at Sambhaji Bridge for running into a no-entry area.
Man throws black ink at Baba Ramdev; beaten up, arrested
There was ruckus at a press conference organised by Baba Ramdev in New Delhi today after a man threw black ink at the yoga guru. The attack reportedly left his left eye blackened. The attacker has been identified as Kamran Siddiqui, a resident of Delhi who is said to be running an NGO named 'Real Cause'. Following his attempt, the attacker was beaten up by Baba Ramdev's supporters. His aides claim he had gained entry into the hall posing as a security personnel.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
India successfully tested Agni IV Missile
India on Tuesday successfully tested a new-generation Agni missile with a strike range of 3,500 km and souped-up “kill efficiency”, prompting excited defence scientists to proclaim it would add “fantastic deterrence” to the country’s nuclear weapons programme. The test of the “most advanced” surface-to-surface missile called Agni-IV also launched the countdown for India to test its most ambitious strategic missile Agni-V, which will have near-ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) capabilities with an over 5,000-km range, in December-January. “This test has paved the way for the success of Agni-V mission, which will be launched shortly,” said DRDO’s chief controller (missiles and strategic systems) Avinash Chander. The Agni-IV incorporates many new technologies in navigation, propulsion, avionics and other areas to represent “a quantum leap” in missile technology for India. Having inducted the Pakistan-specific Agni-I (700-km) and Agni-II (over 2,000-km) missiles, the armed forces are now in the process of operationalizing the 3,500-km Agni-III after completion of its developmental and pre-induction trials last year. The two-stage Agni-IV and three-stage Agni-V, in turn, are meant to add some much-needed credible deterrence muscle against China, which has a massive nuclear arsenal with missiles like the 11,200-km Dong Feng-31A capable of hitting any Indian city. The canister-launch Agni-V, with its high road mobility and fast-reaction ability, in particular, is being talked about as a small but sharp riposte to China. The Agni-IV represents a significant step towards this objective. Though it was tested for a 3,000-km range, it can easily go up to 3,500 km. The missile, however, will have to be tested several times before it can be ready for serial production and then induction.
Indian Government did agreement with Japan for its proposed High Speed Train
Japan, a pioneer in bullet train operations, on Thursday committed to “work closely” with the Indian government in its proposed high speed projects in the country. An extensive deliberation was held in this regard between visiting Japanese minister for Land Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Takeshi Maeda and railway minister Dinesh Trivedi, according to railway sources.
Trivedi is understood to have said that there is an increasing demand for high-speed trains in the country in view of its growing economy as well as the demand from a larger section, which aspires such service.
The Japanese minister is believed to have assured his country's support and expressed desire to work closely with India, which has identified six high speed corridors in the country, sources said. Maede led a delegation, which included senior deputy DG of Japan's Railway Bureau Akhihiko Tamura, President, East Japan Railway Company Satoshi Seino, chairman of Kawasaki Heavy Industry Tadaharu Ohashi and Ambassador of Japan to India Akitaka Saiki among others.
Japan’s External Trade Organization and Oriental Consultancy along with Parsons Brinkhoff India has bagged the contract to conduct pre-feasibility study of the Hyderabad-Vijayawada-Chennai corridor, one of the six corridors identified by Indian Railways for high speed train operations.
Railways has already announced to set up a National High Speed Rail Authority (NHSRA), the approval of which is expected to be placed before the Union Cabinet this year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
