July 6, 1998
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Delhi: It's not just Jayalalitha who is making the BJP sweat. The party may be all-powerful at the Centre, but it can't come to grips with the power crisis plaguing the capital, or its own headquarters on Ashoka Road. The 100-odd journalists attending its daily press briefing have to routinely swelter in the small hall because for several months five of the six air conditioners have been "out of order". Even the party's leadership is not spared the summer ordeal. Since he became party president in early May, Kushabhau Thakre graduated from a cooler to the luxury of an ac in his living quarters on the office premises. But with prolonged power cuts, even the party top brass has to spend the afternoons just sweating it out -- especially since there are no generators. On the other hand, full-time pracharaks like General Secretary (Organisation) K.N. Govindacharya have no need for luxuries like coolers and acs. He appears content with his spartan room which boils through the summer. His philosophy: a simple life makes for a high moral character! Bangalore: The Lingayat-Vokkaliga tussle continues in Karnataka's politics. Last Friday, former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda took off for the US to take part in the Vokkaliga Vishwa Parishat (conference) in Los Angeles where he is one of the important speakers. Deve Gowda, the first-ever Vokkaliga prime minister, will also address a gathering of his community members in San Francisco and then proceed to Phoenix, Arizona. But, according to a source close to him, what the former prime minister will really be looking forward to is a trip to the Grand Canyon. That will be a real break from all the mundane politics that he has been subjected to for the past few weeks, said the source. Actually, Chief Minister J.H. Patel was to leave for the US for medical treatment, but thanks to a revolt led by Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, as also a tragedy in the family -- Patel's youngest brother Nataraj died at Davangere on June 20 -- he has postponed his trip indefinitely. Even here, Patel's predecessor in the state seems to have scored, much to the chagrin of the Lingayat lobby. Chandigarh: During the love-hate ties of the United Front government and "King Kesri", he played the role of a postman. But these days, former social welfare minister Balwant Singh Ramoowalia finds he has little to do in Delhi. Desperate to keep himself politically afloat, Ramoowalia is now trying his luck in home state Punjab. And how? By leading an agitation of milkmen against the Parkash Singh Badal Government. The balladeer-turned-politician has been projecting his rag-tag "Punjabi Bhalai Manch" as the champion of the "Punjab cause". Ramoowalia is planning to hold a sit-in outside Badal's residence in support of the agitating milkmen and other demands of his Manch. But the fact that even the ruling Akalis are ranting about the same demands may eventually sour Ramoowalia's plans to milk the Punjab bogey. Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi seems to have hit upon a novel plan to strengthen the party in states where it is in disarray. If she inducted her favourite Shiela Dixit of Uttar Pradesh as Delhi PCC chief, she is toying with the idea of sending her new man Friday Rajesh Pilot to Uttar Pradesh. It will be a homecoming for Pilot who belongs to western Uttar Pradesh but for the past 15 years has been contesting from Rajasthan. Sonia's search for an able leader in the cow-belt state ended in Pilot, a backward. But Pilot is reluctant. While he is comfortable with Rajasthan -- where he's lost just once in 1989 -- he fears that caste-ridden Uttar Pradesh may prove to be his Waterloo. Patna: A habitual dissenter in the classic socialist mould, Shivanand Tiwari is aptly called the stormy petrel of the Samata Party. But such has been his conduct in recent weeks that even his senior party colleagues -- Railway Minister Nitish Kumar and Defence Minister George Fernandes -- could take his barbs no more. So when Tiwari wondered loudly why the two were not quitting the Union Cabinet for their failure to get the Rabri Devi Government dismissed, a Samata Party promise to voters, he had to lose his post as the party general secretary. Tiwari was only echoing the sentiments of the party rank and file expressed at a recent state-level convention in Patna. But finding the language too harsh, Kumar removed Tiwari and himself vacated the state party chief's post for Raghunath Jha, a recent defector from the Laloo Yadav camp. The swift action has invited criticism from party cadres who feel it gives Laloo an opportunity to woo Samata dissidents. Tiwari himself says, "Even Laloo has never treated me like this." With the RJD leader facing the prospect of his Government's dismissal, the convulsions in the Samata Party suit him. Mumbai: Don't give up if calling 100 gives you an engaged tone. The Mumbai Police have the latest technology for those in trouble. On the heels of their going hi-tech with mobiles, comes the latest addition -- a website on the Internet. The first of its kind in the country, the purpose of the website, according to Mumbai Police Commissioner R.H. Mendonca, "is to inform, interact and engage the citizens in a more friendly manner". With just 4,206 officers and 34,299 constables to serve 12
million people, Mumbai Police had been finding it difficult to reach out to all corners of
the city in time. Now with the website offering information like the telephone numbers of
police stations and officers, citizens can look forward to ready assistance. So the next
time you have a problem and are afraid to step in to the police station, just log on to http:\\www.mumbai.police.com -- and stay on the
right side of the law. Bangalore: When the city's only all-women police station was set up in 1994 opposite the mayor's office at Ulsoor Gate, it was meant to enable women to file their complaints without any reservations. But four years down the line, its very purpose seems to have been defeated. Reason: there are often no women constables to register complaints. Says Nagamani, a member of a women's welfare group who failed to file a dowry harassment case on a friend's behalf: "Most of the women constables are never there. so we have to go to the regular police stations." Admittedly, there's a shortage of women constables. Assistant Commissioner of Police C. Motiram says that women constitute less than 10 per cent of the city's 7,000 police personnel and "we have to constantly use them for other duties". The lack of women officers and constables shows. The all-women police station, headed by Inspector V. Indiramma and comprising three head constables and seven constables, was also supposed to be a counselling centre. But with most of them often away on other duty, women seek out other support groups. So far, the Police Department has done nothing to set matters right. An indication of its indifference is the helpline launched by the city police last year. For three months women in distress who called 103 got the traffic police. Calcutta: When the Comptroller and Auditor-General's (CAG) report on the alleged diversion of plan and non-plan funds into personal ledger accounts (PLAs) by the state Government was tabled in the West Bengal Assembly last week, it produced mixed reactions. While the Marxist Government claimed it had not been indicted by the CAG, the Opposition accused it of perpetrating the biggest ever financial scam. The report is only indicative though it suggests that a huge irregularity occurred in rural West Bengal. Hamstrung by weak logistics and resistance from the state Government, the CAG's scrutiny covered only PLAs operating in five districts over the past three financial years and the withdrawal of Rs 576 crore out of the Rs 805 crore deposited illegally. The report also mentions that details of Rs 254.19 crore were not produced for audit while utilisation certificates for Rs 319.32 crore were just not available. Belling the cat is now the job of the Public Accounts
Committee of the state Assembly. However, this panel, headed by Congress MLA Satya Ranjan
Bapuli, is not expected to make it an issue. Reason: too much probity may weaken the
Congress-CPI(M) "secular alliance". Mumbai: Pramod Navalkar, the self-appointed, one-man moral brigade, is better known for his clean-up drives against pornography, obscene advertisements and bawdy lyrics. That he has a penchant for other crusades too has come out into the open only recently. Maharashtra's minister for cultural affairs now wants to preserve Mumbai's historical Prince of Wales Museum. And for that he has targeted buses parked near the building whose noxious fumes, he believes, are endangering precious antiques and artefacts. "The plying of the buses has to be stopped because the area has to be developed into an aesthetic zone," says Navalkar. The minister's plan envisages the shifting of the bus terminus to another spot and the rerouting of the buses away from the museum. He also wants the area freed of hawkers. However, in his zest to protect the monument, the minister seems to have ignored a major problem. Thousands of people who use the bus service daily to commute to busy places near the museum, such as Nariman Point and the Bombay Stock Exchange, are likely to be affected. Does Navalkar have an alternative plan to ease their hardship? He's not saying anything at the moment. Delhi: After giving a new lease of hope and normal life to physically and mentally challenged children in the capital, the Tamana Association -- which runs a school for them -- has launched Nai Disha, a unique "group home-living" concept. The brainchild of Tamana President Shyama Chona, Nai Disha aims to rehabilitate mentally challenged women above 16 years. Under the project, the first of its kind in India, about a dozen women will be trained at the home, raised at a cost of Rs 30 lakh. Two women will share a unit -- comprising a living room, a bedroom and a kitchenette. "The idea is to prepare them for managing their own homes and for making adjustments later on," explains Chona. The inmates will be trained in typing, cooking, gardening and
weaving. And to keep them fit, a gymnasium is also being planned. "Inmates may then
feel that they are very much a part of society," says Mehreen Khosla, Tamana's
director. That's also the association's ultimate tamanna (wish). Hyderabad: Who says that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is the sole master of novel campaigns? When it comes to the crunch, officials in the state can better him. Last week, after the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) showed losses of Rs 5 crore -- the highest in a decade -- from damage to 151 buses since April, Managing Director V. Appa Rao decided it was time to create awareness about protecting public property. And what does he do? Despatch seven damaged buses with blackened seats and broken windowpanes on a five-hour drive through the city with drivers and conductors holding placards detailing the reasons for the mounting losses. "Our goal is to remind everyone that buses are not for
burning," says Rao. "Destruction backfires, causing people inconvenience and
higher fares." It is too early to say whether the placards in English, Telugu and
Urdu -- like "I have no caste or religion, why do you set me on fire " -- have
had any effect. But they have surely enthused the APSRTC staff. In the next few weeks, all
six unions will take out similar drives in all districts. Kollam: Marxist cadres in Kerala are notorious for roughing up journalists. Last week, they surpassed themselves at the additional district and sessions court in Kollam when a verdict was to be passed on five CPI(M) workers charged with murdering two RSS workers eight years ago. As soon as photographers started clicking the accused, a 30-member group beat them up and snatched their cameras. Reporters who tried to intervene were also thrashed mercilessly, forcing the magistrate to postpone his verdict to the next day. With the police not on duty, the mediamen had no option but to flee the scene. Later, following a complaint from them, E. Shanavas Khan, the defence lawyer and district CITU president, and six CPI(M) cadres were arrested. However, office-bearers of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) allege that those arrested have been charged under sections dealing with minor offences obviously under political pressure. The KUWJ has now taken the case to the high court, and the Vienna-based International Press Institute has demanded action from the state Government. Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar has promised "the guilty would be booked whichever party they belong to". But the KUWJ is not too sure. After all, isn't the CPI(M) part of the ruling Left Democratic Front? |
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