Cong targets governor over mayor prediction
NEWDELHI: The Congress has taken exception to Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik’s remarks that a “foreign-educated person” will be the next Srinagar mayor. The governor gave the comment to a TV channel on Monday, when the first-phase of the J&K civic elections began.
Senior J&K Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Monga said that ongoing local bodies’ elections have lost credibility due to Malik’s remarks. “The BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] and the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] have already decided who the next Srinagar mayor will be. The governor has failed to uphold the Constitutional authority of the Raj Bhavan. Being the constitutional head of the state, he should not play in the hands of the BJP and RSS,” he said.
The governor’s remark was widely interpreted as alluding to Junaid Azim Mattu, who quit the National Conference leader to contest the municipal polls from Srinagar city.
“It is surprising to see such an irresponsible statement having come from the governor of the state. The statement is going to cause a severe damage to the ongoing electoral exercise in the state,” Monga said.
BJP state spokesman Altaf Thakur said that only Malik can explain his statement. “Being a political party we will try to get numbers so that Srinagar will get new BJP mayor,” he said.
Earlier, the National Conference had said Malik’s remarks have put a big question mark on the impartiality of the governor’s office. “The ongoing election process is a smokescreen to hide the machinations of the governor’s office to throttle the democratic institutions in the state,” said a joint statement of senior NC leader, Mubarak Gul, MLA, Shamima Firdous, secretary, Irfan Shah, provincial vice president, Muhammad Syed Akhoon and Srinagar district president, Peer Afaq Ahmad. RAIPUR: The chief executive officer (CEO) of the Bhilai Steel Plant was removed and two senior officials suspended on Wednesday, a day after an explosion in a gas pipeline at the Durg-based unit of the state-owned Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) claimed the lives of 11 people.
Union steel minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said CEO M Ravi has been removed with immediate effect; general manager (safety department) T Pandya Raja and deputy general manager (energy department) Naveen Kumar were suspended. Singh spoke to reporters after meeting injured employees of the plant at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Hospital in Bhilai town.
On Tuesday, nine people had died and 14 others were injured in the explosion that took place during a scheduled maintenance job. Two employees, who were critically injured, died on Wednesday , taking the death toll to 11.
“There was an uneven pressure in the gas pipeline for last two days. As per the protocol, a fire brigade [engine] and ambulance were stationed at the unit before starting the maintenance work. The blast took place after the bolts of a joint in the pipeline were loosened,” said SP Dey, who works in the plant’s Coke Oven Battery complex and is also the president of the Bhilai unit of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions.
Inspector general of police (Durg range) G P Singh said that after the police receive post-mortem reports on the victims, a case under the IPC Section 304 (A), of causing death by negligence, will be registered followed by an inquiry into the explosion.
Union minister of state for steel Vishnudeo Sai had said on Tuesday that a four-member committee has been constituted by SAIL to probe the incident.
THERE WAS AN UNEVEN PRESSURE IN PIPELINE FOR 2 DAYS AND BLAST OCCURRED AFTER BOLTS OF A JOINT IN PIPELINE WERE LOOSENED, SAID A PLANT EMPLOYEE