Dinesh Trivedi calls for a national railway policy, lays stress on beefing up infrastructure along China border

Hyderabad

14 March 2012

Dinesh Trivedi made an impassioned plea for augmenting rail infrastructure in the border areas, in an implicit reference to China building a network of rails and roads in areas bordering India's north-eastern states.

In the same breath, he pitched for evolving a national policy for Railways, so that there is continuity of policy across successive governments and policies can be executed without them falling a victim to partisan politics.

"... the time has come to think of a national policy for Railways, just as we have one for defence and for external affairs," Mr Trivedi said Wednesday in his budget speech in the Lok Sabha.

Uncharacteristically for a railway minister, Mr Trivedi spoke about how the geopolitical situation on borders arising out of building of state-of-art road and rail network by neighbouring countries "requires a matching response."

The Railways, he continued, must remain in a state of preparedness to move men and machines to border areas.

Mr Trivedi sought to impress upon the relevant ministries of the government, not least of all the ministry of finance, that it was therefore necessary to undertake projects of national importance on priority and to ensure adequate funding.

Similarly, he argued for liberal funds for connecting the remote and backward areas in Jammu and Kashmir and the north-eastern states, without worrying about the return on investment or such other factors.

He warned that the projects in J&K and in the north-east, which required more than Rs 4,000 crore for the current year, may get delayed for want of adequate funding.

"The budgetary support to Indian Railways has been pegged at a modest level of Rs 24,000 crore as against a projected requirement of Rs 45,000 crore. The national projects in Kashmir and northeast region have also to be funded out of this," he said.

In his speech, Mr Trivedi also dwelled on how the Indian Railways was contributing its bit for improving India's relations with her neighbours. He cited the proposed Tripura-Bangladesh railway link, and the new Jogbani-Biratnagar line and Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas to provide connectivity to Nepal as a case in point.

Washington imposes sanctions for supplying chemicals to Iran; 'we didn't break any law', Indian companies tell US

New Delhi

29 December 2005

The two Indian companies sanctioned by the United

States Government for supplying chemicals to Iran say the shipments

were as per Indian law and the guidelines under the Chemical Weapons

Convention were complied with.

The vice chairman of Mumbai-based Sabero Organics Gujarat Limited, Mr

Mohit Chuganee, said the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of

Chemicals and Fertilisers had found no discrepancy in the business

transaction.

Mr Smit repeat Smit Patel of Sandhya Organic Chemical Private Limited,

in turn, said he was surprised to learn about the imposition of the

sanctions despite adhering to all India laws and the relevant international

guidelines.

Mr Patel would not take more questions and chose to conclude his

remarks by stating that the supply of chemicals were not without the

approval of the government agencies concerned. However, Mr Chuganee

was more forthcoming.

"There had been extensive contacts with the Ministry of External Affairs

and the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers before and after the one-

time shipment of 90 tons of trimethyl phosphite two years ago," Mr

Chuganee told this newspaper.

Mr Chuganee, however, acknowledged that the government did suggest

sometime ago that while the shipment was as per rules, politically it

would better if the business transaction was terminated and further

shipment discontinued with.

He said trimethyl phosphite was a dual-use chemical notified under the

Schedule Three of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Some 150

countries are signatories to the Convention including India, Iran and the

United States.

"We were in touch with both the director general of foreign trade (DGFT)

and the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals under the Ministry

of Chemicals and Fertilisers, which is the nodal agency designated under

the Chemical Weapons Convention," he said.

He said the Iranian company called Raja Shimi wanted to buy more

quanities of the chemical but he chose not to process the request. "The

[decision to exercise the] option was ours," he said, who is business for

the past decade.

Washington, meanwhile, maintained that the sanctions were based on

"credible evidence". State Department Deputy Spokesman Adam Ereli

said "[the sanctions are] an important and effective tool in constraining

Iran's efforts to develop missile and weapons of mass destruction

capabilities."

Alleged supply of chemicals to Iran: India tells US that sanctions on Indian firms not justified

New Delhi

28 December 2005

Amid the negotiations with the United States on the

civil nuclear deal, India on Wednesday termed as unjustified the reports

about imposition of sanctions by the Bush administration on two Indian

companies for allegedly selling chemical materials to Iran.

The spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr Navtej Sarna, told

reporters that it was New Delhi's view that the two companies named had

not acted in violation of Indian laws or regulations.

A US media report on Tuesday said that the two Indian chemical

companies -- Sabero Organics Gujarat Limited and Sandhya Organics

Limited -- along with Chinese and Austrian firms will soon be sanctioned

by US President George Bush's administration under the US Iran

Proliferation Act, 2000, for allegedly selling missile goods and chemical

arms materials to Iran.

The spokesman said that the "imposition of sanctions by the US on our

firms, which in our view have not acted in violation of our laws or

regulations, is not jusified." "The Government," he said, "also reiterates

that sactions against Dr YSR Prasad should be removed."

He said the sanctions related to the transfer of some chemicals to Iran.

"Our preliminary assessment is that the transfer of such chemicals is not

in violation of our regulations or our international obligations," he said.

The spokesman observed that the government's commitment to prevent

onward proliferation was second to none and that it has instituted a

rigorous system of export controls. "Our track record in this regard is well

known. India is working with international community including with the

US as a partner against proliferation," he said.

The spokesman said the government has also seen the reports about the

removal of sanctions on Dr C Surendar by the US Government. "The

removal of sanctions on Dr C Surendar vindicates Government's position

on this matter. Since the imposition of sanctions in September 2004,

Government has maintained that this had no justification. Accordingly, we

had urged the US Government to review the issue and withdraw the

sanctions," he said.