NK'S POST

                  NK SINGH                                                       Bhopal: The 1985 Vidhan Sabha elections changed the colours in the political map of Madhya Pradesh. While the Bharatiya Janata Party has been almost wiped out of its traditional stronghold in Madhya Bharat region, it has been able to make an impressive dent in the Congress-(I) fortresses in Chhattisgarh Vidhan and Mahakoshal regions. The results may have far-reaching consequences on the future, political strategies of both the ruling Congress-(I) party, which has bagged 250 of the 320 seats in the State Assembly, and its distant rival, the BJP, which has emerged as the main Opposition party by winning 58 seats. The BJP lost heavily in the Madhya Bharat region, considered to be a stronghold of the party. It could win only 14 s...

NK SINGH Bhopal: The day the world will be observing 'Bhopal Day', to mourn the dead on the 100th day of the worst industrial disaster in history, the Madhya Pradesh Government Culture Department will start a celebration of classical dances. By a cruel coincidence, the State Government's Culture Department will organise its week-long Khajuraho festival of classical dances from March 12, the day the international environment groups, including the United Nations agencies, have decided to observe as Bhopal Day. The Culture Department and ifs prestigious show-piece, Bharat Bhavan, the multi-arts complex at Bhopal, was the subject of a recent controversy because of its insensitivity towards the plight of the poor illiterate gas victims. In a handout issued here on Saturday, the Madhya Pradesh Government has invited tourists from all over the world for the "most spectacular and exhilarating cultural experience of the year". Renowned dancers like Yamini Krishnamurti, Pro...

NK SINGH Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh Government on Sunday announced that the new reservation policy would not be implemented till it was reviewed even as the three-week-old anti-reservation stir of students spread to new areas and parents also joined the agitation at Indore.  The Chief Minister, Mr Arjun Singh, announced that the government would review its new policy, providing 25 per cent reservation in jobs, promotions and admissions to professional colleges to backward communities. He also told a meeting of office-bearers of students' unions of the various universities and colleges, besides some student leaders, that the policy would not be implemented till it was reviewed: The meeting had been convened by the Government to discuss the new reservation policy, which has triggered off a wave of protest all over the State. State Govt. claim The government's assurance not to implement the new policy is not considered important because last week the high court had stayed its impl...

NK SINGH Bhopal: Over two dozen labourers, including women and children, were feared buried alive when a 40-foot span of a bridge under construction on a busy thoroughfare here collapsed on Monday. Special army and fire brigade rescue teams. helped by local volunteers, had rescued about six persons, including the construction contractor. from the debris by late night. Except the contractor, all of them are in a bad shape. The authorities were unable to say anything about the fate of the persons buried under the debris. It is feared that most of them were killed. Removing the debris was proving an uphill task although cranes were pressed into service. A crowd of over 5,000 persons had assembled around the collapsed bridge by late night. March 4, 1985 Indian Express

NK SINGH Bhopal: A team of medical experts appears to be heading for a breakthrough in the treatment of methyl iso-cyanate victims. About 40 patients were administered sodium thiosulphate injections, and the cure for cyanide poisoning, under controlled conditions has shown remarkable signs of improvement. Consequently, the government has withdrawn its controversial ban on the use of sodium thiosulphate. A meeting of top medical experts of the country, including the additional director-general of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Prof Ramachari, decided here on Sunday that sodium thiosulphate may be administered "where warranted". Prof. V. S. Narain of the G. B. Pant Hospital, New Delhi, under whose supervision the experiment is being conducted at a special 302-bed hospital for the last 15 days, told ENS, "There is reasonable evidence that patients have benefited from Sodium thiosulphate. It has certainly helped them" However, he said that he was proceeding ver...

Two victims of Bhopal Gas Tragedy NK SINGH Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh Government on Thursday promulgated an ordinance for the restoration of moveable property sold by some people while fleeing Bhopal in panic following the gas leakage. The ordinance covers any transaction made by a person residing within the limits of the municipal corporation of Bhopal and specifies the period of the transaction as December 3 to December 24, 1984,  Any person who sold the moveable property within the specified period for a consideration which he feels was not commensurate with the prevailing market price may apply to the competent authority to be appointed by the state Government for declaring the transaction of sale to be void.  The applicant will furnish in his application the name and address of the purchaser, details of the moveable property sold, consideration received, the date and place of sale and any other particular which may be required.  The competent authority, on receipt of...

 NK SINGH Ever heard of a New Delhi- Kingston route via New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong? But that is what happened recently when the M.P. Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Mukund Sakharam Newalkar, decided to travel to Jamaica to grace the 24th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference there Obviously, on his way back, he decided upon a little sight-seeing abroad and visited America, Japan and Hongkong. This was his second "phoren" tour during the short span that the Janata government has been in existence. But Chief Minister Virendra Kumar Sakhlecha has been a little unfortunate in the matter of foreign trips. The first time he decided to go on a whistle-stop tour, touching 18 foreign countries in 22 days, in June last, of course on "State business". Prime Minister Desai vetoed it at the last moment saying it was "a mission of dubious value and uncertain results". Next time, when he flew to Kathmandu in a State plane for a one-day "holiday" even the short trip wh...

NK SINGH The burning to death of newly-wed brides is on the increase in Madhya Pradesh. Though exact figures are not available, according to newspaper reports half a dozen such cases were registered in the State during the last two months. The police recently arrested a naib tehsildar of Ujjain, Mr Om Prakash Sharma, in connection with the death last month of his daughter-in-law. Mrs Alka Sharma, who had been married to Mr Divya Prakash Sharma, last May. Twenty-year-old Alka had died shortly after sustaining third-degree burns. Police said she had been harassed in connection with her dowry and a case under Section 306 IPC was registered after recording the statements of the witnesses.  The police have also taken into possession certain letters written by the father-in-law of the deceased to Mr R. C. Upadhyaya, father of Alka, expressing dissatisfaction over the "inadequate dowry". In yet another case, Mr Manaklat Banbat, a freedom fighter and a resident of Nizamat Road villag...

NK SINGH Driven by acute poverty, the Gauds, an aboriginal tribe living in the villages around the two military-proof ranges at Itarsi and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, have taken to an unusual and dangerous occupation. They sneak into the artillery-proof range, entry into which is strictly prohibited, and pick up shells of the fused bombs which are exploded there. The shells contain brass, copper, aluminium and iron, which are processed separated and sold to unscrupulous traders at a fraction of the original value of the metal. The rich traders, who are alleged to wield political influence in the state, sell the stolen metal at an exorbitant profit through their well-organised network. The half-clad, illiterate people, including many adolescents and even women, wait behind nearby bushes and trees as the heavy mortars roar. Most of them race towards the fused shells even before the smoke caused by the firing clears. Experience gained through years in the trade has developed in them a cru...

NK SINGH This is a study in contrast, of two murderers who were hanged in the Raipur Central Jail, Madhya Pradesh, recently. Both of them had been convicted of killing their spouses. 38-year-old Pyarelal, sent to gallows on May 1, was every inch a hardened criminal and remained unrepentant till his last breath. While undergoing trial for killing his wife in 1964, he murdered two fellow prisoners inside the jail following an alteration of a personal nature. Both were fast asleep when their heads were crushed by a heavy boulder and an iron bar. Ultimately, Pyarelal was sentenced to death for the triple murder. 28-year-old Budhram was hanged on June 18 for murdering his wife Man Kunwar, 25, and uncle, Bagarsai, 27, when he found them in a compromising position. The murder, obviously committed in a rage, gave him such a psychosomatic shock that he lost his power of speech and hearing, which he regained only when told that he had been sentenced to death. Change At Last Budhram had turned hi...