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Resentment against hike in bus fare mounting in Bhopal

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NK SINGH Though a Govt. directive has frustrated the earlier efforts of the MPSRTC to increase the city bus fares by as much as 300 per cent, the public resent even the 25 per cent hike. It is "totally unjust, uncalled for and arbitrary", this is the consensus that has emerged from an opinion conducted by "Commoner" among a cross-section of politicians, public men, trade union leaders, and last but not least, the common bus travelling public. However, a section of the people held, that an average passenger would not grudge a slight pinche in his pocket provided the MPSRTC toned up its services. But far from being satisfactory, the MPSRTC-run city bus service in the capital is an endless tale of woe. Hours of long waiting, over-crowding people clinging to window panes frequent breakdowns, age-old fleet of buses, unimaginative routes and the attitude of passengers one can be patient only when he is sure to get into the next bus are some of the ills plaguing the city b...
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Will Arjun Singh’s autobiography reveal it all?

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NK SINGH


Veteran Congress leader Arjun Singh’s much-awaited bare-it-all autobiography, scheduled to be released sometime in March, may now get delayed a bit due to his death.


            The 500-page book had evoked a keen curiosity in political circles when Singh, a key player of Indian political scene for 50 years, had announced last year that it will reveal many new facts about several momentous events.


            With characteristic modesty Singh, who was known to be a voracious reader, had titled his autobiography “A Grain of Sand in the Ocean of Time’. (Later, when the book came out after his death, it was called "A Grain of Sand in the Hourglass of Time".)


            It is being published by Hay House India, the same publication house that recently came out with autobiographies of eminent jurist Fali S Nariman and former Prime Minister IK Gujral.


            Arjun Singh had held several key positions during his long political innings. His book, said sources who had discussed it with him, is expected to shed light on important chapters in modern history like Punjab Insurgency, Bhopal gas leak tragedy, Babri mosque demolition and surrender of Chambal bandits like Phoolan Devi and Malkhan Singh.


            Arjun Singh had submitted his manuscript to the publishers two months back. “At present, he was revising it and he had already completed about 85% of the work,” said Ashok Chopra, the head of Hay House.


            He said they would take up the matter with family members of the departed leader once the mourning period was over. He expected the book to come out soon.


            Hay house denied reports that Singh had accepted a “hefty” advance for writing the book contract.


            Singh’s book, said a senior journalist in Bhopal whom he had shown some chapters of his book, was not very kind towards two persons he considered his adversaries - former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao and present Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.


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Originally published in Hindustan Times, 6 March 2010


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