The 64-year-old BJP leader stepped down as CM last month and made way for his party colleague Mohan Yadav to take over the top post after the saffron party recorded a comprehensive win in the state polls.
'You don't have any options within the BJP. You only have to follow the orders of the top leadership.'
Government on Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking enhancement of compensation from Rs 750 crore to Rs 7,700 crore for the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy in which more than 5,000 people were killed due to leakage of poisonous gas from the Union Carbide factory.
The hapless voters fervently hope that they get to make a more equal choice in the next election and political discourse in the country becomes positive and more enlightened. One wonders if the masses would become more politically aware to discern good intent and performance from gimmickry, notes Biswajit Dasgupta.
The post, accompanied by Chouhan's picture with his palms brought together, sparked off speculation as "Ram Ram" is used both as a greeting as well as a parting message.
The US has dismissed as "incorrect" reports that it is linking India's efforts to seek more compensation from the Union Carbide in the Bhopal gas tragedy with the bilateral investment ties, saying it is committed to building a strong relationship with the country.
The Opposition on Wednesday charged the government with failing to ensure justice for the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy."Justice and accountability has been the real casualty," Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said while initiating a discussion on the issue.He pointed out that 26 years have passed and 20,000 people died in the incident and asked the government to disclose the exact number of deaths in its record.
A Bench comprising Justice Shivaraj V Patil and Justice B N Srikrishna approved the welfare commissioner's action plan placed before the court and directed that the money be disbursed on "pro rata basis" from November 15.
Admitting that it has moved on Bhopal gas disaster issue in view of public outcry, the government on Thursday said it will ask the Central Bureau of Investigation to seek early hearing in a Bhopal court on its revision petition and seek graver punishment for the accused in the tragedy.
The go-ahead given to prosecute Arundhati Roy would be seen by supporters of freedom of speech as an announcement that the Right-Wing doesn't feel humbled by the results of the elections, argues Shyam G Menon.
All schemes from Ladli Laxmi' to others being run by the previous government will continue and funds will be transferred to beneficiaries' accounts on the due date, Yadav said.
The clean up issue, ignored in the Bhopal gas tragedy settlement, emerged 20 years later, with the government trying to hold Dow Chemicals, UCIL's successor, liable on the 'polluter pays' principle. From the legal perspective, for the victims, efforts at Anderson's extradition or a Law Ministry face off with Dow on cleanup are pointless, writes Kumkum Sen
The Group of Ministers on Bhopal gas tragedy is understood to have decided on Sunday to recommend filing of a curative petition in the Supreme Court to fix criminal liability, seek extradition of former Union Carbide Corp CEO Warren Anderson and cleaning up the complex by burying the toxic waste.
The Group of Ministers on Bhopal gas tragedy discussed legal options available to the government, said Home Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday, the second day of the GoM meeting.
The trial court in the Bhopal gas tragedy case has held the owners of the Union Carbide pesticide plant, the Indian government and 'to some extent' the government of Madhya Pradesh responsible for the magnitude of the disaster. "The problem was worsened by the plant's location near a densely populated area, non-existent catastrophe plans and shortcomings in health care and socio-economic rehabilitation," said the judgment delivered by Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohan P Tiwari.
Laying emphasis on striking a balance between environment and development on the 30th anniversary of Bhopal Gas tragedy, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday said all measures should be taken to avert a repeat of such an industrial disaster.
Welcoming them into the BJP fold, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav cryptically said many people are feeling anxious and they will eventually join the saffron party in the coming days.
Some of them also carried pictures of Lord Hanuman as party workers and leaders assembled at Indira Bhawan, the state Congress office, and distributed sweets, threw gulal powder and burst firecrackers.
Nariman received the Padma Bhushan in January 1991 and in 2007, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan.
Congress leader Arjun Singh finally broke his silence over the Bhopal gas tragedy on Wednesday during a rare appearance in the Rajya Sabha. The septuagenarian leader, who was the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh when the Bhopal gas tragedy took place, arrived in a wheel chair soon after Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad initiated a discussion on the issue. "I felt that Union Carbide CEO) Warren Anderson should be arrested," he said.
Bajrang Dal activists took on a moral policing role on Tuesday, when they accosted and attacked young couples near some religious spots in Bhopal. It accused couples of promoting indecent behaviour near religious spots such as the Lord Hanuman temple.
The survivors had demanded damages from the company and alleged that their water aquifiers were polluted due to the leak of hazardous chemicals from the UCC factory in Bhopal.
The sources said the opposition leaders would now plan joint rallies that were put on hold due to the assembly elections.
What is needed is dharma or good faith among both companies and officials to limit harm. Regulators should also remember that costs forced on companies become higher costs for consumers, says Gurcharan Das
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday cruised to a two-thirds majority in Madhya Pradesh assembly, winning as many as 163 of the 230 seats in the House, leaving the Congress a distant second at 66.
Death of a princess, deadly Godzilla and detectives galore on OTT this week.
Singh in a statement noted several newspapers have claimed that he cancelled his visits to Jhabua and Khategaon due to his displeasure.
He had ordered probe into the allegations against the private school that it made students wear hijab-like headscarves, Chouhan told reporters in Morena.
Two revision petitions were filed in the district court in Indore on Wednesday against the magistrate's order rejecting the demand that Shehla Masood murder case be transferred to Bhopal for trial.
After Delhi and Gujarat, the 'poster war' in support of Narendra Modi's bete noire Sanjay Joshi has shifted to Madhya Pradesh with the banners condemning the Bharatiya Janata Party for "deviating" from value-based politics, cropping up near the state BJP headquarters in Bhopal on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court has accepted the resignation of former Chief Justice A M Ahmadi as the Chairman of the Bhopal Memorial Hospital Trust looking after the treatment of the gas victims.
Talks are on with a German firm for disposal of toxic waste left at the Union Carbide plant in the aftermath of the 1984 disaster after Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra declined to allow its destruction in their territory, Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Tuesday.
The Union cabinet will discuss the report of the Group of Ministers on the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy on Thursday.
Fourteen priests, including 'sevaks' (assistants), were injured in a fire that broke out in the Mahakal Temple in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh on Monday during 'bhasma aarti', an official said.
The Congress Core Committee met on Thursday evening to discuss the Bhopal gas leak and to give directions to the Group of Ministers who would be meeting on Friday afternoon to find a way of breaking the impasse created by the court verdict in handing out punishment to the guilty, said highly placed sources.
A children's movement in Bhopal takes on the might of Dow Chemicals.
Survivors of the deadly 1984 Bhopal gas leak are holding a 'Special Olympics' with children suffering birth defects from the tragedy.
Twenty-six years after one of the worst industrial disasters, Bhopal Gas Tragedy, which claimed thousands of lives occurred, a local court trying the case would pronounce its verdict on June 7.
The longest-serving Bharatiya Janata Party chief minister and popularly known as mama (maternal uncle) and 'paon-paon wale bhaiya' (foot soldier), Shivraj Singh Chouhan has emerged as the hero of his party's stunning victory in the state assembly elections.
Shariq Ahmed Khan of Nishatpura locality in Bhopal was arrested for allegedly sending the e-mails in the name of the Lashkar-e-Qahar, Superintendent of Police A K Singh said
