रविवार, 6 जुलाई 2008

Pranab will reply to Left on N-deal: Congress

The Congress on Sunday kept up the suspense whether it would clarify by Monday to the Left parties on the issue of moving forward on the Indo-US nuclear deal as the by the deadline set key outside supporters nears its end।
"It is for senior leader Pranab Mukherjee to reply। He will reply in an appropriate manner," was what AICC media department chairperson Veerappa Moily said when asked whether the head of the UPA-Left joint mechanism on the nuclear deal would respond before the Left deadline.
The party leading the coalition had earlier rejected the July 7 deadline contending sovereign governments or political parties cannot be bound by ultimatums।
The party top brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Party chief Sonia Gandhi had held detailed consultations soon after the Left ultimatum।
The AICC has been unfazed by the Left action and has been maintaining that the nuclear deal is in national interest. The Left has been demanding that the Prime Minister should make the position clear on the issue before he proceeds to Japan on the G-8 Summit on Monday.

Two scribes assaulted in local train

Two journalists, one of them a woman, were allegedly abused and assaulted inside a local train last night by two Railway officials, who were immediately suspended।
An inquiry has also been ordered into the incident, Central Railway's Chief Relations Officer।
Assistant Yard Station Manager S A Patil and his junior Ravindra Thakur have been suspended for allegedly misbehaving and assaulting the two scribes, he said।
The two journalists were Sunanda Parameshwar, a woman PTI staffer, and Dharmendra Tiwari, an NDTV India employee।
"An internal inquiry has been initiated against the two Railway officials," said the PRO।
The two journalists lodged a complaint with police alleging that Patil in an inebriated state tried to misbehave with the woman scribe inside a compartment at around 11 pm।
However, the journalists managed to pull Patil and Thakur out when the train halted at Ghatkopar station, and tried to take them to the police station।
But, the two Railway employees assaulted them and also a commuter, who tried to help the journalists. A case of molestation, assault and outraging the modesty of a woman has been registered against them by the Kurla Railway Police.

Traffic jams have been a regular feature on the Western Express Highway

Traffic jams have been a regular feature on the Western Express Highway (WEH) for the last few weeks। But there might be some relief for commuters once the Domestic Airport flyover partially opens on July 15, which is only 10 days away.
The flyover will be open for traffic according to peak hours। In the morning it will be available for vehicles going towards Bandra, while in the evening vehicles proceeding to Andheri will be able to use the flyover. Suhas Nage, chief engineer, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) said, "The flyover will be open for public by July 15. This will ease traffic situation on that junction."
MSRDC, that is constructing this flyover and maintaining the road, will open three lanes for vehicles। Nearly 95 per cent of the work is complete and Rs 34 crore spent. Presently, it is nothing more than a struggle for nearly 60,000 vehicles (approximately) plying on WEH everyday.
However, the airport flyover has already crossed its earlier deadline of June 30। MSRDC expected to start traffic movement from this date, but they say heavy rains foiled their plans.
Politicians and babus from the state Government have been stressing on faster completion of work on this flyover since many high profile people use this patch of the highway and incomplete work makes for an ugly sight।
Currently, roads adjacent to the airport flyover on both the sides are in a mess, as the roads have been narrowed down to two-and-half lanes on each side from the earlier five lanes, resulting in traffic jams। They are in damaged conditions too and multiple potholes exist especially at the airport junction.
The asphalt material regularly gets washed off due to the high density of traffic। Situation worsens during rains after water seeps into the crevices of the road. MSRDC are replacing the asphalt with concrete paver blocks, which they think might fill up the potholes.
Meanwhile work on the entire flyover of six lanes will complete only by March next year. MSRDC will start work on the remaining 3 lanes post-monsoon.