Day robbery in the name of toll fee: Kota Srinivasa Poojary
Dharna near Sastana toll-gate protesting national highway problem
Kundapura, September 20: Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council Kota Srinivasa Poojary alleged that though the Navayug Company which got the contract of the maintenance of the national highway, has failed to provide facilities, it has been looting the people in the name of toll fee.
Addressing the agitators who staged a dharna near Sastana Toll-Gate, led by National Highway Awareness Committee, On Thursday Poojary said that the company should have constructed all service roads and put up street lights and completed the fly-over at Kundapura, Karavali and national highway work. But without doing it, it has been collecting toll fee and thus looting the people.
The national highway work has been posing many problems. Without giving priority for safety of the people, the company has taken up unscientific work. People would not tolerate such works, he warned.
District Lorry Owners Association President Rajesh Kaveri said that they were suspecting the existence of the democracy in the district. Though the people have been fighting against the National Highway problems for the last four years, the district administration has turned blind eyes towards the problem, he said.
National Highway Awareness Committee President Pratap Shetty, Advocates Shamsundar Nayari, Bannadi Somanath Hegde, ZP Member Raghavendra Barikere, TP Member Jyothi, Sathish Poojary of JayaKarnataka organization and others were present.
Call meeting by Sept 30
Kota Srinivasa Poojary said that the National Highway Authority officials who would agree the decisions in the meetings held by the district administration on National Highway problems, were exploiting the people. So, the deputy commissioner should convene a meeting of all leaders and representatives by September 30 and take a decision. Till then, local vehicles should be allowed freely in the toll-gate, he demanded.
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Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar appointed as deputy prime minister
Islamabad, Apr 28: In a surprise move, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar was on Sunday appointed as the country's deputy prime minister.
Dar, 73, a chartered accountant and a veteran politician, belongs to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.
According to a notification issued by the Cabinet Division, the appointment was made by Prime Minister Sharif "with immediate effect and until further orders".
The announcement was made when both Prime Minister Sharif and Foreign Minister Dar were away in Saudi Arabia to attend a World Economic Forum's moot.
It was clear what specific responsibilities Dar would perform as deputy prime minister as traditionally, all powers are concentrated in the prime minister, who is the head of the government.
Dar is considered close to former premier Nawaz Sharif due to matrimonial links between the two families, as his son is the son-in-law of the elder Sharif.
He has served as finance minister in two previous governments. He was considered the party's answer to all economic problems, serving as finance minister for the fourth and last time in the previous Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition government.
Despite being the party's go-to finance expert for decades, he was surprisingly made the foreign minister when Prime Minister Sharif shaped his cabinet in March.
Dar was tipped to be made chairman of the Senate, the upper House of the Parliament, but lost the race last month after the PML-N made a deal with the former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari-led Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) to win its support for the coalition government.
The party agreed to give the president and chairman senate slot to the PPP, leaving Dar with no option but to settle for some other role in the government.
The PML-N and the PPP agreed on a power-sharing deal to form the coalition government even though the former prime minister Imran Khan-backed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-backed independents won majority seats at the 266-member National Assembly.
It is not the first time a deputy prime minister has been appointed. Chaudhry Parvez Elahi served as Deputy Prime Minister during the tenure of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) from June 25, 2012, to June 29, 2013. His role at that time was mostly symbolic as he was rewarded by then-President Asif Ali Zardari for supporting the PPP government.
Elahi is currently president of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and is in jail due to allegations of corruption.
