The Magnificance of Shaniwarwada

Although Shaniwarwada bears no sign of royal history, there was a time when the place was non-official capital of India. Peshwas built the palace here. The place is a spectator of many incidents in the history of Maharashtra. The love story of Bajirao I and Mastani unfolded itself here. It was here that Narayan Peshwa was killed by his uncle Raghunath Peshwa on Dec.  13, 1772. For the fact, not Peshwa Raghunath killed himself Narayanrao. Gardis, the security guards attacked the young king. At the time, Narayanrao was just 16 years  old. Today, the palace has no signs of greatness as a single wall is standing there which served tas the outer coat for the security of the palace. The original mansion which was inhabited  by Peshwa fell victim to a fire in fire in 1828. The Maratha Empire was abolished in 1818. When Pune accepted the British rule, it was the beginning of the British Raj.

The Shaniwarwada was originally built as a residing place for the Pehwas. Bajirao I laid the foundation of the palace on Jauary 10, 1730. The actual construction was completed in 1732. The word Shaniar means Saturday in Marathi. The cost of the palace was Rs 16,110 at that time. At one time, the palace was occupied by over thousand people.

Even though the construction is mainly recognised by its imposing gates in the front, there are four other gates in the structure also. One is known as Narayan Darwaja, since it was from here that the dead body of Narayanrao Peshwa was taken out for crematio after he was murdered. The main gate is known as Dilli Darwaja because it is faced towards north, in the direction of Delhi. It was a sign of the ambitions of Peshwa to spread their kingdom. According to one legend, Bajirao chose the place for constructing his palace after he saw one rabbit chasing a hound. •

Yesterday, i was at Shaniwarwada.This was not my first visit to the ruins of the Maratha empire. I think I have visited the place at least two times before. But there is certain charm in the site where nothing extraordinary can be seen for a general person. Many people ask me what is there spectacular in Shaniwarwada. it is not easy for me to explain that the plae has more imaginative and historic value than that of an entertaining value. You should try to imagine the presence of Peshwas and history of the Maratha empire.

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Two Regional Tracks Led To Railway Exmination Decision

The announcement by Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee that the railway recruitment examination in Marathi will be conducted soon comes as a boon for the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. It is nothing less than a victory for the party which was consistently harping on the issue. However, the decision could not have come had Mamata herself was not an avid advocate of regional politics.

Banerjee, who was in Mumbai yesterday to flag off new train services, announced that the Candidates can now give their exams in their regional language mentioned in Schedule I of the Constitution including Marathi. Banerjee, also said the exams will now be held in a single day and also announced concessions in terms of postal orders for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and economically backward class (EBC) candidates appearing for the recruitment examinations.

Earlier Maharastra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had urged Railway Minister that people domiciled in the state should be given local employment opportunity first. Against the backdrop of MNS manhandling candidates from North India appearing in railway exams in Maharashtra, this announcement was a surprise gift for MNS. Especially in view of Shiv Sena being in the thick after ransacking IBN-Lokmat, the news could have a music to the MNS.

Banerjee herself is a devout fighter for the cause of Bengalis. The Tata fiasco in Singur notwithstanding, she has projected herself as an advocate of Bengali cause. Kolkata being heavily filled with Bihari workers, it is not a coincidence that the moment for the decision come when she became the railway minister.

The announcement by Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee that the railway recruitment examination in Marathi will be conducted soon comes as a boon for the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. It is nothing less than a victory for the party which was consistently harping on the issue. However, the decision could not have come had Mamata herself was not an avid advocate of regional politics.

Banerjee, who was in Mumbai yesterday to flag off new train services, announced that the Candidates can now give their exams in their regional language mentioned in Schedule I of the Constitution including Marathi. Banerjee, also said the exams will now be held in a single day and also announced concessions in terms of postal orders for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and economically backward class (EBC) candidates appearing for the recruitment examinations.

Earlier Maharastra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had urged Railway Minister that people domiciled in the state should be given local employment opportunity first. Against the backdrop of MNS manhandling candidates from North India appearing in railway exams in Maharashtra, this announcement was a surprise gift for MNS. Especially in view of Shiv Sena being in the thick after ransacking IBN-Lokmat, the news could have a music to the MNS.

Banerjee herself is a devout fighter for the cause of Bengalis. The Tata fiasco in Singur notwithstanding, she has projected herself as an advocate of Bengali cause. Kolkata being heavily filled with Bihari workers, it is not a coincidence that the moment for the decision come when she became the railway minister.

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Govt. Wakes Up To Fake Currency

The government seems to have risen to the threat of parallel economy by means of fake currency notes. The central Government has decided to introduce 1 billion pieces of polymer banknotes in Rs. 10/- denomination on trial basis. According to information was given by Minister of State for Finance, Shri Namo Narain Meena in written reply to a question raised in Lok Sabha today, Reserve Bank of India has initiated the process of purchase of polymer notes on trial basis. Polymer notes are being introduced in Rs. 10/- denomination, where the incidence of counterfeiting is negligible. However, the reason attributed by the minister is to increase the life of bank notes.

According to Crime in Maharashtra 2008, the annual report of crimes in the state which is prepared by Criminal Investigation Department (CID), that the cases of counterfeiting of coins and currency notes in the state has increased by a whopping 50 per cent in 2008. The number of fake currency cases registered in 2007 was 270. In 2008, the number has gone up to 405.
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MNS Attracts Strong Reactions

While political analysts and media is engaged in bashing Maharashtra Navnirman Sena over the incident yesterday in assembly house, there is equally strong reactions from the public in favour of the party. Marathi blogs are replete with the praise for the MLAs who staked their position in the incident. Surprisingly, Ramesh Wanjale, MLA from Khadakwasla constituency was also involved in the manhandling of Abu Azmi. Surprisingly, because he was not a genuine MNS member, but has recently switched over to the party from Congress.

MNS MLAs on Monday attacked Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Azmi inside the state assembly for taking oath in Hindi and not in Marathi marking a violent debut for Raj Thackeray's party in the House. The house acted tough and passed a resolution suspending four MNS members from the House for four years within hours after the chaos. The MLAs were also accused of misbehaving with a woman MLA.

The resolution moved by parliamentary affairs minister Harshvardhan Patil to suspend  Shishir Shinde, Ramesh Vanjale, Ram Kadam and Vasant Geete was approved by voice vote.

Chief minister Ashok Chavan also did not rule out action against MNS chief Raj Thackeray saying this will be taken if the video footage of his reported comments outside the Assembly showed he had instigated his party MLAs. On the other hand, people justify MLAs demands. The members have chosen a right target as Azmi has a very bad reputation in Maharashtra and nobody is willing to support him. One of my friend who works in a reputed IT company called me in night. He said he was receiving many mails pointing to the whole incident. So much as I have read yet, nothing was criticizing MNS. Even those who were not hailing Raj or MNS, only chose to remain silent because they are ready to consent through their silence.

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Oath Taking Replaces Incertainty

After 15 days of lingering incertainty, there is a government finally an the state. The 38 members strong council of ministers tookl oath of the secrecy today. The Congress has 18 ministers and NCP 20. NCP ministers are expected to take oath on at once  and Congress ministers would be sworn in two phases.

Pune, including district has got only three ministers in the new cabinet while city will be represented by only one representative. Ramesh Bagve will be the only minister in cabinet. Bagave has been elected from Pune Cantonment constituency. He got 65638 votes to defeat his rival Sadanand Shetty of Shis Sena. Shetty managed to get 28313 votes. He had the biggest winning margin from all eight assembly segments in Pune.

Ajit Pawar and Harshvardhan Patil are other two minister related to the city. Dilip Walse Patil, who managed finance ministry in the last government has been axed this time.

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A Government At Last

Ok. What is the ‘big deal’

Full 15 days after the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party returned to power in Maharashtra, the new government is finally to be instated. After a fortnight-long tough bargaining over portfolio-sharing between two parties, Congress and NCP finalised a deal based on the 1999 formula to form a new government.

Chief Minister-elect Ashok Chavan had indicated on Tuesday that the next government would be in place within two days. NCP leader Praful Patel told reporters in Mumbai that portfolio-sharing will be done on the basis of the 1999 formula. Although media reports indicated that the ministries would be shared in 23-20 ratio with larger chunk going to Congress.

Congress and NCP rode back to power for the third time in a row defeating opposition Shiv Sena-BJP in a mainly four-cornered contest. The Government formation was delayed after declaration of assembly poll results on October 23 due to hard negotiations between Congress and NCP over portfolio-sharing. Irked over the delay, governor S C Jamir had to intervene and urge both the parties to show a sense of urgency to put in place a government.

This is not the first time that this type of delay took place in Maharashtra. In 1999, when the two parties fought separately, there was dilly-dallying by two parties for over a week. In 2004, they fought together but after NCP emerged with more seats, it staken claim to the post of chief minister. Then also the issue was stretched for almost a week before Sharad Pawar finally wrested more and important portfolios from alliance partner Congress. The two parties could so easily take their time because they are sure that opposition parties are in no situation to stake claim to form the government. Meanwhile, various major issues are pending and the new government has an uphill task in the form of load shedding, drought situation and most of all, health situation. Maharashtra is getting some persons to man the ministries, but the million rupees question is: will they deliver?

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H1N1 Worsens in Maharashtra

PIB Press Release

Maharashtra continues to be the hub of Swine Flu activity as the 12 cases are reported in the state today.  The total number of deaths due to H1N1 Flu have touched 204 and Pune is almost on the verge of touching 100 deaths due to the pandemic. Worse, there have been 48 confirmed cases of dengue among 138 suspected cases in the city, still the Pune Municipal Corporation claims the situation is ‘under control’. They feel it’s not a ‘dangerous’ number for a population of 35 lakh people. PMC’s additional medical officer said, “If the temperature of the city settles at a maximum of around 20 degrees centigrade, there will be no problem of mosquitos causing dengue.”  So, we think it’s time to ditch health officers and doctors and pray to the weather gods.

Pune has become the hotbed of the swine flu virus in India, with the most number of people infected by swine flu. But if you thought that the concerned officials would sit up and take decisions to tackle the threat head-on, it didn’t happen. On June 3, 2009, the PMC health department drew a contingency plan to tackle the H1N1 pandemic. But, after that, even as the number of deaths rapidly increased, there have been no changes in the plan.

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The Question of National Character

When I read that France is embarking on a debate of nationalism, I was surprised. We the Indians are always accustomed to living with differences and the voices of rebels against the nationalism are always dominant in the country, even as the reverence for nationalist activists have never receded. Having said so, we have never defined the national character of an Indian. Living with 3000 ethnicities and 21 scheduled languages, we never can. That is why the announcement by Eric Besson appears ambitious. The country which gave the world three basic words of democracy-Liberty, Equality and Fraternity-is going to redefine its national characters.

According to the the Reuters story, the French government has opened a website for the discussion and it will take place in overseas territories also. It will take place till January 31, 2010. In India, the issue has haunted the country since time memorial. Because of so many diverse communities and so many languages, a homogeneous public following a single code of law has remained a dream till now. Even speaking in terms of French perspective, Pondicherry has more affinity with the French culture than the Indian one. Also, there are regional aspirations what with agitations like Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and others. People living in North-Eastern states have never really felt close to the other parts of India.

Can India do away with the dissenting voices by redefining the character? I think so. Even if there is no consensus about the character, at least it will open up a dialogue for the people.

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Power Game in Maharashtra

Even ten days after the election results are out, there is no government in the state. The power sharing talks between Congress and NCP are still continuing and each side is testing the patience of other. Congress and NCP have got the mandate of the people of Maharashtra but they are yet to win over the confidence of their allies.

The bargaining between both the parties over major portfolios and numbers of ministers from each party is creating a hurdle in the ministry formation. Chief minister-elect Ashok Chavan has said that both the parties are trying to reach a consensus before November 3, which is the deadline for ministry formation. In an event of a further delay, Mr Chavan and Mr Bhujbal would be sworn in along with some senior leaders and the alliance might go in for a ministerial expansion after a session of the legislature on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena has demanded that presidential rule should be imposed in the state. It is unlikely that the demand will be accepted. Meanwhile, each party is entertaining the public and giving the TV channels a run for their money. Chief Minister Ashok Chavan chose to worship Sathya Sai Baba in the hope of returning to the chair rather than busying himself with the parleys of seat sharing. He is adamant on Congress getting  plum posts, in view of the ten years that the party had to remain without those posts. He has got some gunpowder with the fact that Congress has got 20 seats more than NCP. Latter is more worried about the rebellious posture adopted by Ajit Pawar than the prospect of the party in power sharing. In case all major portfolios go to Congress, many NCP leaders will have to part their departments, prominent among them will be Ajit Pawar. In such a scenario, he can anytime chose to exit from the party to form next government. Shiv sena and BJP have shown more than readiness to support him in such a venture. He is helped by the large number of independents who are mainly his supporters.

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