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Good
Economics,
Risky Politics
Defying the pressures of politics, Finance
Minister Yashwant Sinha has come forth with a bold, hard budget. He has
committed the Government to a slew of daring economic reforms through
this year's budget. But, beyond the initial euphoria generated by sheer
promises, lies a rough road to fulfilling them. Will the pressures of
coalition politics and an irrational Opposition allow him to deliver?
Interview:
Yashwant Sinha
"It is my budget,
not the PMO's."
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THE NATION
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Smeltdown
The NDA Government handsomely wins a vote moved
by the Opposition in the Lok Sabha against the privatisation of Bharat
Aluminium Company (BALCO), but it should now start worrying about the
poor response to bidding for strategic partnership of public-sector units.
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CARE TODAY
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Progress
Report
With an overwhelming response from readers, the
CARE TODAY society had funds flowing in from all quarters to aid it in
its efforts to help those rendered homeless and jobless by the devastating
earthquake of January 26.
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STATES
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Reeling
Estate
Gujarat is witnessing a strange phenomenon
with the two hands of the Sangh Parivar, the RSS and the VHP, earning
public goodwill and the BJP leadership finding itself in the hot seat
over links with the building mafia.
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Bust
to Dust
International outrage doesn't deter the Taliban militia from pushing ahead
with its plan to destroy historical statues, including the 2,000-year-old
Buddha statues in Bamiyan.
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ARCHAEOLOGY
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Piecing
the
Ahar Puzzle Excavations of
sites from the 4,500-year-old Ahar culture provide clues to the link between
the Harappans and their predecessors.
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OTHER STORIES
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Home |
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STATES: GUJARAT
As Expected Sinha Is Transferred
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Builders' Association
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Revenue Minister Vajubhai Vala's alleged
links with dubious builders and the land mafia fuel public ire
# Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation orders demolition
of the multi-storeyed building, Shivalik, then reverses the decision,
allegedly under pressure from Vala whose son is a partner of the
Shivalik builder, Chiman Agrawal.
# Files relating to Shikhar Buildings (which
collapsed on January 26) go missing from Ahmedabad Urban Development
Authority office. The builder, S. Nyalchand, is a partner of Agrawal
who is Vala's son's business partner.
# A petition in the Gujarat High Court
alleges Agrawal is the original builder of Shikhar and says files
have been deliberately misplaced to protect him.
# Case filed against Vala's younger son, Ketan, following
complaint by a flat owner. Police initially register case, then
take the stand that Ketan has been unfairly named.
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The
last straw came in May 1999 when, in an unprecedented step, Sinha got
the AMC to issue a newspaper ad that listed 40 buildings with illegal
constructions. The ad called upon clients to beware of these buildings
before buying flats or shops in them. It specified the various violations
in these buildings, right from floor space index infraction and lack of
firefighting facilities to "building use" permissions and absence
of parking slots. This led to a series of cancellations of flat and shop
bookings by clients, thus shaking the builders' lobby. Next, a month later,
Sinha was transferred as Keshubhai couldn't resist the pressure from his
powerful partymen any more.
Meanwhile Vala received a notice from the Gujarat
High Court last week, following a PIL seeking a CBI probe into the disappearance
of important files relating to the Shikhar building from the office of
the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA). Satish Nyalchand, Shikhar's
absconding builder, is Agrawal's partner in the building while Agrawal
is Vala's son's partner in the Ahmedabad multiplex.
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AFTERSHOCKS: There are more tremors for Vala (left)
and Keshubhai
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In the meantime, Vala finds himself in the eye
of another storm brewing in Rajkot. Last week the police registered a
case against Vala's younger son Ketan on a complaint by a flat owner who
alleged that his building had cracked on January 26 because of substandard
construction by builders. Apart from naming the main builder, the complainant
named Ketan too because he, the complaint alleges, is a partner in the
building project. Vala says Ketan has nothing to do with that project.
The alleged scams involving Vala and the mysterious
silence of the state BJP leadership and Keshubhai in the matter put the
BJP in a very piquant situation. The BJP leadership's dubious connections
with the real estate sharks have poured cold water over a series of good
work done by the Keshubhai Government in its three-year tenure.
The image of the BJP as a spotless party-a claim
which the party repeatedly made while in the opposition-lies buried. As
a senior RSS leader concedes: "To old-timers like us who spent their
entire lives preaching high moral principles, its seems as if the BJP
leadership in Gujarat has sullied a mission." Adds another: "In
spite of the RSS-VHP combine's good work, it will be nearly impossible
for them to convert that goodwill into votes for the BJP in the near future."
An average BJP worker, who is severely disenchanted with the party leadership's
behaviour, is likely to agree with that.
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METRO TODAY |
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 Web
Exclusives |
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The
Keoladeo National Park Sanctuary in Bharatpur gets an unprecedented number
of migratory birds due to the dry spell last year. But experts feel another
drought could be disastrous, writes INDIA TODAY's Supriya Bezbaruah
in
Despatches.
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INTERVIEWS
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"The
only obvious competition is in bhangra," say the Pakistani duo of
the music group, Strings, in conversation with INDIA TODAY's Sonia
Faleiro in
Interviews.
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