Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to inaugurate multiple projects in MP

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Bhopal, Jan 17 (IANS) Saturday marks an important milestone for Madhya Pradesh road development as Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate completed sections and lay foundation stones for new segments of eight national highway projects together valued at more than Rs 4,400 crore.

According to government officials, the event is scheduled in Vidisha at the old Mandi. Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav and Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will accompany him on the occasion as the start of a fresh phase of progress for the state, a BJP local office-bearer said.

The combined length of these initiatives reaches roughly 181 kilometres, and they will reinforce connectivity throughout Central India with particular benefits reaching the Bundelkhand belt. The upgrades are expected to open new pathways for regional economic expansion, industrial expansion and simpler daily commuting.

The completion of these national highway projects will bring smoother traffic movement along key industrial, agricultural and tourism corridors, including the vital Bhopal-Vidisha-Sagar-Rahatgarh-Biaora stretch, a local BJP office-bearer said.

The four-lane widening work is designed to cut down travel time noticeably while delivering measurable savings in fuel consumption, lowering vehicle emissions and raising overall road safety standards. Several stretches have received targeted upgrades, such as black spot corrections, underpasses and geometric redesigns, all aimed at bringing down accident probabilities.

Alongside the highway works, foundation stones will be laid for three state-of-the-art driving training centres. These facilities, built under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways framework, follow the Institute of Driving Training and Research and the Regional Driving Training Centre models.

Equipped with contemporary simulators and instructional setups, the centres will focus on instilling safe, disciplined and responsible driving habits among learners. The long term goals include a tangible drop in road crashes and the creation of skill-based job opportunities for young people entering the workforce.

One of the highlighted components is the four-lane widening of the 12-kilometre Abdullaganj-Itarsi section passing through the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary area at a cost of Rs 418 crore. This stretch forms an essential link within the larger Obedullaganj-Itarsi Betul corridor that improves access toward Nagpur via Betul.

Earlier, the two-lane configuration created persistent bottlenecks and heavy congestion. Once widened, the road will allow freer flow of vehicles, saving between 15 and 30 minutes per journey along with corresponding reductions in fuel use and exhaust pollution.

To protect the biodiversity, the design includes dedicated animal underpasses and sound-insulated corridors that permit tigers and other wildlife to cross safely, thereby helping minimise instances of human wildlife conflict in the region.

–IANS

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After completing 91 years, Jabalpur’s Lala Ramswaroop Panchang popular in foreign lands

Jabalpur, Jan 12 (IANS) It won’t be wrong to say that Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur-based Lala Ramswaroop Panchang, the Hindu calendar, which has completed 91 years of journey, has become an integral part of the life of people across the country.

The most trusted yearly calendar now has started making a strong presence in foreign lands, including the US, the UK, the UAE and almost every part of the world wherever Indian families are living, said Prahlad Agrawal, who is the owner of Lala Ramswaroop calendar.

During an exclusive interaction with IANS, sharing the successful journey for more than nine decades of this calendar, Lala Ramswaroop Agrawal’s son Prahlad Agrawal said that his father had started this calendar from his home district Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh in 1934.

“In the past 91 years, the Lala Ramswaroop calendar has reached almost every home from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and for a few years, it has also started making a presence in several overseas countries. People are sending this calendar to their children wherever they are living, and this is the reason, it has made a strong presence across the world,” he added.

Prahlad Agrawal said that it was initially started as a pamphlet, having information about Hindu ‘tithis’ and ‘nakshatras’ and used to distribute to the people in Jabalpur free of cost.

The number of copies and content continued to increase as per the demand from the people, and it has become the most trusted Hindu Panchang in the country.

“After growing demand of the Panchang, for the first time, my father decided to publish as many as 500 copies. All copies were sold out within a few days, which probably made him work more on it year after year. Gradually, it became our business,” he added.

Agrawal also added that for this 12-page calendar (one page is dedicated for one month), he works for the entire 365 days to collect every single information added to it.

“This is not just a calendar but the trust of millions of people. Hence, we try to provide accurate information to maintain that faith,” he said.

The calendar is designed to make it accessible to the common man as it guides astrological almanack and for practising Hindu festivals.

Agrawal said that the Lala Ramswaroop calendar had started publishing about digital arrests around 10 years ago when the people were not aware of it.

The Lala Ramswaroop Panchang includes information such as ‘Tithi’ (Hindu date), ‘Vara’ (days of the week), ‘Nakshatra’ (group of stars), ‘Yoga’ (auspicious moment), and ‘Karan’ (half of the Tithi).

–IANS

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Kaleshwaram case: Telangana HC bars state govt from taking action against KCR, Harish

Hyderabad, Sep 2 (IANS) In an interim relief to former Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and former irrigation minister T. Harish Rao, the Telangana High Court on Tuesday restrained the state government from taking any action against them till further orders in the case relating to alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project based on the Ghose Commission’s report.

The court restrained the government from taking the action while adjourning the hearing till October 7.

The bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin directed the government not to take action against the petitioners based on the report of the P.C. Ghose Commission, which probed the alleged irregularities in the construction of the project during Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) rule.

The State government on Monday decided to recommend a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the case.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had announced this in the Assembly in the early hours of Monday after a marathon debate on the Ghose Commission report.

K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) and Harish Rao, who had last month filed the petitions seeking orders to quash the report of the Ghose Commission, pressed for an early hearing in view of the government’s decision.

Supreme Court senior counsels Aryama Sundaram and Seshadri Naidu, appearing for Harish Rao and KCR respectively, sought directions to the government not to take any coercive steps against the petitioners.

Advocate General A. Sudarshan Reddy submitted to the bench that the government has ordered the CBI probe based on the report of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA). He clarified that there is no link between the Ghose Commission and the CBI report.

The Advocate General held that the petitions of KCR and Harish Rao were not maintainable.

After hearing the arguments from both sides, the Court restrained the government from taking any action against the petitioners based on the Ghose Commission report and adjourned the hearing till October 7.

During the hearing on August 22, the State government had told the court that no action would be taken against the petitioners before tabling and discussing the Commission’s report on the floor of the Assembly.

The High Court had adjourned the hearing for five weeks after directing the Chief Secretary and the Irrigation and Command Area Development Secretary to file detailed counter-affidavits in response to points raised by the petitioners within four weeks. The petitioners were given one week thereafter to file their reply, if any.

The petitioners contended that the very constitution of the Commission should be declared arbitrary and illegal, as it was made against the provisions of the Commission of Inquiry Act.

According to them, the Commission made the findings regarding their conduct and reputation without following the prescription of law under 8B and 8C of the Commission of Inquiry Act, and violated the principles of natural justice.

The petitioners argued that the Commission’s report was invalid, prejudicial, scurrilous and defamatory against them.

Headed by former judge of the Supreme Court Pinaki Chandra Ghose, the one-man commission submitted its report to the Telangana government on July 31.

The Commission was constituted on March 14, 2024, to probe the alleged irregularities in planning, design, construction, quality control, operation and maintenance of Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla Barrages of the Kaleshwaram project.

The Commission held KCR directly and vicariously accountable for irregularities in planning, execution, completion, operation and maintenance of the Kaleshwaram project. It also indicted Harish Rao.

–IANS

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Bill not linked to religion, it’s prospective and not retrospective: Kiren Rijiju flays naysayers

New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) Union Minister for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday tore into the Opposition for ‘spreading falsehood’ over the Waqf Amendment Bill and urged the ‘doubters and naysayers’ to refrain from misleading the people on the proposed reforms.

The Minister, after introducing the bill in Lok Sabha, gave a detailed account of how the Bill was not linked to religion and was only meant to bring transparency and better governance of Waqf properties.

He also rubbished charges of any government interference in Waqf properties, including mosques, dargahs and said that their management will lie in their hands only.

“Waqf boards will work under state governments. This will benefit marginalised as well as Pasmanda Muslims, including women and children,” he said.

“This bill is prospective and retrospective. This is not meant to snatch anyone’s property,” the minister said, dismissing canards spread by naysayers.

Launching a sharp critique of the Opposition, the Minister said that these are the same people who peddled lies over previous legislations.

“Earlier also, they claimed that the Citizenship Amendment Bill will take away the citizenship rights of Muslims. I want to ask, has anything of this sort happened?” he said.

The Minister also shed light on the changes proposed in the bill by the Joint Parliament Committee (JPC).

“Under the Waqf Bill, the District Collector was given the last authority to decide on the ownership of land. The JPC suggested certain changes, which have been duly accepted,” he informed the House.

“We had proposed two members in the Waqf Tribunal, but the Committee proposed three members with fixed tenure,” he added.

He further said that Section 40 of the Waqf Bill was the most draconian law which has now been done away with.

“It gave the power to Waqf Boards to declare any property as its own. Now, it will no longer be the case,” he pointed out.

The new amendments in the Bill also facilitate appeal in higher courts if the concerned party is not satisfied with the Waqf Tribunal decision. Earlier, the decision of Waqf Boards and Tribunals remained unchallenged.

–IANS

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