Skip to main content

Cracks In Rs 500-Crore Project? Madhya Pradesh Airport Wall Crumbles In Rain

A section of the boundary wall of the newly-constructed Rewa Airport in Madhya Pradesh, built at a cost of Rs 500 crore, has collapsed barely months after completion, raising serious questions about construction quality and flood preparedness of one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the state. According to locals, the ground beneath the wall gave way due to heavy rainfall, causing a portion of the airport's outer boundary to crumble during the night. This is not the first time the boundary wall has failed - a similar breach was reported during the rains last year, even before the airport became operational. Rewa Airport was envisioned as a game-changer for the Vindhya region. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the project virtually from Varanasi, the airport was completed in a record 18 months on 323 acres of land acquired from five villages. The facility boasts a 2,300-meter-long runway and is currently operating two flights connecting Rewa to Bhopal ...

Manmohan Singh, The Technocrat Who Transformed India's Economy

Manmohan Singh -- former Prime Minister of India, renowned economist, technocrat and the architect of India's liberalisation, which pulled the country out of economic atrophy - has died at 92. Dr Singh, who had been ailing for a while, died at Delhi's AIIMS hospital this evening.

Seen as a reluctant politician, Manmohan Singh was the automatic choice for Sonia Gandhi when, after an unexpected victory of the Congress-led UPA, she stepped away from the post of Prime Minister.

Dr Singh's background as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor and former finance minister, and his unimpeachable reputation made it an obvious decision.

While the economy has never looked back after the liberalisation of 1991 that pulled it out of a phenomenal low of the balance of payments crisis, delivering an average growth rate of around 8.5 per cent, Manmohan Singh took the other huge step, in foreign policy, in 2009.

The India-US nuclear deal was forged in the fire of a huge political row in the country, the withdrawal of support by the left Front, which left Dr Singh's government confronting a test of strength.

The deal he stood by ended the era of sanctions placed on India after the Pokhran 2 nuclear tests of 1998, with partial sanctions by IAEA that covered only the civil nuclear facilities. It also steered the country away from the Nehruvian policy of non-alignment, placed it front and centre of the international community and secured it a place at the nuclear club high table.  

Dr Singh's political journey of over three decades saw his meteoric rise from a post-partition humble background to the country's highest office.

Born in Gah in undivided Punjab (now in Pakistan) on September 26, 1932, Dr Singh was a brilliant student who got a first class degree in Economics from Cambridge University and a DPhil from Oxford in the early 1960s.

He was handpicked as finance minister by former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao after having held almost every top job in the government: Chief Economic Advisor, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission,  Reserve Bank of India Governor and Union Finance Secretary.

While Dr Singh's personal honesty was never questioned, his government faced allegations of corruption and  policy paralysis in its final years. Allegations linked to the 2G, CWG and Coal block allocations were seized by the Opposition BJP.

The other huge criticism against his government was sparked by the perception of then party chief Sonia Gandhi as a parallel power centre. 

His critics even disparagingly dubbed him as the "Accidental Prime Minister".

Dr Singh, however, maintained that history would be kinder to him.

In January 2014, addressing his last press conference as Prime Minister, he said, "I honestly believe that history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media, or for that matter, the Opposition parties in Parliament".

Even his fiercest rivals, however, respected and admired him - which is rare in today's politics.



from NDTV News- Special https://ift.tt/iIoQ7xa

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why Trump's Claims About Americans Splitting The Atom Angers New Zealanders

Imagine a newly-elected president of a country claiming the legacy of someone as foundational as Thomas Edison. That's the kind of appropriation New Zealanders are witnessing. The recent inaugural address of President Donald Trump has sparked a heated debate over the origins of a groundbreaking scientific achievement: splitting the atom. Trump's claim that American experts were responsible for this feat has been met with swift correction from New Zealanders, who proudly assert that their native son, Sir Ernest Rutherford, was the true pioneer behind this discovery. Rutherford's achievement in 1917 at Victoria University of Manchester in England marked a pivotal moment in the history of nuclear physics. His work not only earned him a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908 but also led to the discovery of radioactive half-life and the understanding that radioactivity involves the transmutation of one chemical element to another. Nick Smith, the mayor of Nelson, near Rutherford...

"Khala Ka Ghar Nahi...": Akhtar On India Having It Easy In Asia Cup Final

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has warned Team India ahead of the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka. The Rohit Sharma -led side received a timely wake up call following its loss to Bangladesh in the final Super 4 fixture on Friday. While India had rested several key players for the game, including star batter Virat Kohli , Akhtar suggested that it was a embarrassing defeat. Sri Lanka defeated tournament favourties Pakistan to reach the final, and Akhtar feels that winning the final won't be a cakewalk for India. "We were not expecting that India would lose to a team like Bangladesh but they did. It was an embarrassing defeat. Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka. They are out of the Asia Cup, which is an even bigger embarrassment. India are still in the final. All is not lost for them. It was a great wakeup call for them to come back harder and make sure they secure victory in the finals but that will only happen if they play really well. Ye khala ji ka ghar nahi hai jaha pe India...

Video: US Teens Vandalise Chinese Restaurant, Police Search For Suspects

A group of masked, violent teens enters a Chinese restaurant and vandalises it badly over the weekend, overturning tables and breaking chairs as terrified staff watched helplessly, according to The New York Post. According to a video shared on Twitter by local activist Yiatin Chu, the wicked hooligans left the eatery in very bad shape.The footage shows full anarchy ensuing inside the restaurant as the masked teenagers flipped tables, flung chairs, and broke dishes, leaving a trail of destruction behind. This video is going viral on WeChat. Fish Village, a restaurant in College Point, Qns was ransacked by a gang of masked kids in hoodies. We've fallen so low that there's no expectation of consequences for this horrific attack on private property. pic.twitter.com/DQdnHPR5r8 — Yiatin Chu (@ycinnewyork) March 7, 2023 "This video is going viral on WeChat. Fish Village, a restaurant in College Point, Qns., was ransacked by a gang of masked kids in hoodies. We've fall...