ND Tiwari passes away: Only Indian to serve as CM of two states breathes his last on 93rd birthday
New Delhi, Oct 18: Former Union minister Nayaran Dutt Tiwari passed away on Thursday evening at the Max Hospital in Delhi’s Saket after a prolonged illness. Tiwari passed away on his 93rd birthday. He was hospitalised and put in intensive care at the same hospital in September last year after suffering from a brain stroke.
Tiwari had joined the Congress in 1963 and is the only Indian politician to serve as the chief minister of two states – Uttar Pradesh and later, Uttarakhand. He was considered close to the Gandhi family and was elected the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1976. He was elected as the state CM for the second time in 1984 and during this tenure, helped Congress win the state elections held months after Indira Gandhi’s assassination the same year.
His tenure lasted for a little over one year and in 1985, Tiwari was replaced. However, he returned to power for the third time in Uttar Pradesh in 1988 for a tenure that lasted about seven months.
During his time with Congress, Tiwari was elected to both the houses of Parliament. In 1980, he was elected to the 7th Lok Sabha and served as a union minister in several portfolios in the 1980s: starting with Planning, and also remained Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission.
Between 1985 and 1988 he served as a member of Rajya Sabha.
In 2002, the Congress stalwart became chief minister of Uttarakhand and till date, is the only chief minister in the state to complete a five-year term.
Tiwari has also served as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh between 2007 and 2009. However, he resigned after he was caught in a controversy after a sting operation at Raj Bhavan.
Tiwari was hit by controversy when lawyer Rohit Shekhar had filed a paternity suit claiming Tiwari was his biological father. In a petition to the Delhi court, Shekhar had claimed that he was born out of an illegitimate relationship between the Congress veteran and his mother Ujjwala.
The claims were dismissed by Tiwari but the Congress leader was asked to undergo DNA tests by the High Court. These tests confirmed that Rohit was his biological son and an order was passed by the Delhi High Court on the same in 2014.
Earlier this year, Rohit had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of party president Amit Shah, ahead of the assembly elections in the state.
Courtesy: www.financialexpress.com
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Chhattisgarh Vedanta power plant blast: Death toll rises to 20; sixteen workers undergoing treatment
Sakti (Chhattisgarh) (PTI): The death toll in a blast at the Vedanta power plant in Chhattisgarh's Sakti district has mounted to 20 with seven more workers succumbing to injuries, while 16 others are undergoing treatment at different hospitals, officials said on Wednesday.
The deceased include six labourers from West Bengal, five from Chhattisgarh, three each from Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, two from Bihar, and one from Madhya Pradesh.
The opposition Congress has demanded registration of an FIR against the plant management and a judicial inquiry into the incident.
The explosion occurred on Tuesday afternoon in a steel tube carrying high-pressure steam from the boiler to the turbine at the Vedanta Ltd power plant located in Singhitarai village, leaving several workers with severe burn injuries.
According to officials, four workers died on the spot, while nine others succumbed to injuries soon after the incident.
Seven more workers have died in hospitals, raising the toll to 20, Sakti Collector Amrit Vikas Topno told PTI on Wednesday.
He said that a total of 36 workers were affected in the blast, and 20 of them died.
"Of the 16 injured workers, five are undergoing treatment in hospitals in Raipur, while 11 others are in hospitals of Raigarh, the neighbouring district of Sakti," he added.
Topno added that every possible effort was being made to provide the best medical treatment to the injured.
The deceased were identified, and their family members are being contacted. Arrangements have been made to transport the mortal remains to their native villages via ambulance following the postmortem examination and to provide immediate financial assistance, he said.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the families of each deceased worker and Rs 50,000 for those injured.
Vedanta Power has also announced a Rs 35 lakh compensation for the family of each deceased worker, along with employment support.
The company will also provide Rs 15 lakh to each injured person, ensure salary continuation until recovery, and offer counselling support, a statement from the plant management said.
The chief minister has ordered an inquiry by the Commissioner of the Bilaspur division, assuring strict action against the guilty.
He directed officials to ensure free and proper medical treatment for all injured and emphasised that no negligence in their care would be tolerated.
The district administration has also ordered a separate magisterial probe, while the company has initiated its own internal investigation.
Collector Topno has appointed the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Dabhra to conduct the magisterial inquiry.
The SDM has been asked to submit a report within 30 days covering key aspects, including the cause of the accident, whether it was due to technical or human error, and details of safety inspections carried out at the plant.
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress has demanded registration of an FIR against the plant management and a judicial inquiry into the incident.
State Congress communication wing head Sushil Anand Shukla on Wednesday alleged negligence on the plant management's part and accused the government of attempting to shield those responsible.
He also demanded compensation of Rs 1 crore for the families of the deceased and Rs 50 lakh for the injured.
The construction of a 1,200 MW coal-based thermal power project (two units of 600 MW each) in Singhitarai, originally owned by Athena Chhattisgarh Power Ltd, started in 2009, but remained stalled between 2016 and 2022.
Vedanta acquired the plant in 2022, after which a 600 MW unit was completed and commissioned in August last year, while the second unit is still under construction.
The deceased have been identified as Amrit Lal Patel, Thanda Ram Lahre, Udhab Singh Yadav, Rameshwar Mahilange, and Nadeem Ansari (all from Chhattisgarh); Susanta Jana, Sheikh Saifuddin, Manas Giri, Kailash Mahto, Shibnath Murmu, and Dipankar Singh (West Bengal), Tarun Kumar Ojha, Abdul Karim and Ashok Parhiya (Jharkhand), Raju Ram, Pappu Kumar and Brijesh Kumar (Uttar Pradesh), Aakib Khan and Ritesh Kumar (Bihar), and Chitranjan Dhulai of Madhya Pradesh, officials said.
