No plans to merge Konkan Railway with Indian Railways: Govt to Lok Sabha
New Delhi(PTI): The government has no proposal under its consideration for the merger of the Konkan Railway with the Indian Railways, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
Union Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Patil Danve said the Konkan Railway is a corporation (public sector unit) and the central government has always been helping it.
At present, there is no proposal to merge the Konkan Railway with the Indian Railways, he said during Question Hour.
The Konkan Railway connects Mumbai with Mangalore. The 741-kilometre line passes through Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka along the western coast.
Referring to various railway projects, Danve said the projects are sanctioned Zonal Railway-wise and not State-wise, as Indian Railway's projects may span across state boundaries.
However, as on April 1, 2021, 35 projects (16 New Line, 2 Gauge Conversion and 17 Doubling) costing Rs 91,137 crore for 6,142 km length falling fully or partly in Maharashtra are under different stages of planning or approval or execution, out of which 906 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs 18,008 crore incurred up to March, 2021, he said.
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New Zealand MP performs traditional dance in Parliament, rips up copy of contentious bill
Wellington: New Zealand’s youngest Member of Parliament Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke has once again grabbed the headlines after a video of her staging the traditional Maori dance and ripping up a copy of a contentious bill during a House session went viral on social media.
A viral footage of the vote on the Treaty Principles Bill shows the 22-year-old Te Pati Maori MP interrupting the session by tearing apart a copy of the controversial bill before performing a haka. She is then joined by the people in the public gallery, prompting Speaker Gerry Brownlee to briefly suspend the House.
The ACT New Zealand party, a junior partner in the centre-right coalition government unveiled the Treaty Principles Bill last week. It proposes changes to some principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. The bill has sparked strong opposition from many Maori groups.
The Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840 between the British Crown and more than 500 Maori chiefs, established the framework for governance between the two parties. It remains a foundational document in New Zealand, with its clauses continuing to influence legislation and policy to this day.
The bill is being seen as undermining the rights of the country’s indigenous people by many Maori and their supporters. Notably, Maoris make up around 20% of New Zealand’s 5.3 million population.
As the proposed bill passed its first reading, hundreds of demonstrators embarked on a nine-day march, or hikoi, from New Zealand's north to the national capital of Wellington to voice their opposition.
New Zealand’s youngest MP Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke made it to the headlines once again as she tore apart the copy of the Treaty Principles Bill and performed the traditional group dance Haka in the Parliament. This video is now going viral across the world. #HakaDance… pic.twitter.com/PU5XBA9CQu
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