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Jaffer Sharief, the man behind golden era in Railways sector

Vijesh Kamath for Deccan Herald
November 26, 2018

Bengaluru, Nov 26: Former union minister and senior Congress leader C K Jaffer Sharief, best known for ushering in a golden era in the railways sector in Karnataka, passed away in Bengaluru on Sunday. He was 85.

Sharief suffered a major cardiac arrest at home and was rushed to a private hospital. He breathed his last at 12.30 pm. He will be laid to rest at Jayamahal burial grounds on Millers Road following namaz at Khadria mosque on Monday afternoon.

Born on November 3, 1933, in Chitradurga, Sharief started his political career driving the car of his political mentor and former chief minister S Nijalingappa in the late 1960s.

He was loyal to the Congress, but at times caused embarrassment to the party by making caustic remarks against the leadership.

Sharief was best known for his tenure as railway minister (1991-95) in the P V Narasimha Rao Cabinet. He brought several railway projects to Bengaluru and is credited with the task of broad gauge conversion across the country.

Sharief’s tenure at the helm of the Railways is known as the golden period for the state. He sanctioned 1,000 km of gauge conversion works out of the 6,000 km sanctioned to the entire country. This included conversion of section like Bengaluru-Guntakal, Bengaluru-Mysuru.

He also secured several new lines including Chitradurga- Rayadurga and Mangaluru-Roha. He was instrumental in getting the Wheel and Axle plant to Bengaluru. He played a pivotal role in the establishment of the South Western Railways and securing the Inland Container Depot and Railway Recruitment Board to the state.

It was during Sharief’s time that services like Shatabdi and Rajdhani were introduced from Karnataka and several rail over bridge and rail under bridges built. A seven-term Lok Sabha member, he represented Bengaluru North constituency without a break between 1977-96. He was denied a ticket in 1996 following his initials figuring in the infamous Jain diaries. However, he came back with a bang, winning the seat in 1998.

In 1969, Sharief took sides and joined the Indira Gandhi faction when the Congress split. It is said it was Sharief who sounded Indira Gandhi that senior Congress leaders were planning to expel her from the party for indiscipline.

This earned a reward for Sharief who was inducted into the cabinet as minister of state for railways by Indira Gandhi in 1980. He also served as the minister of state for coal in the Rajiv Gandhi government.

Popularly called “Jaffer bhai” in political circles, Sharief many a time wanted to enter state politics and even cherished the dream of becoming chief minister. However, that was not to be. The last time he contested elections was in 2009 from Bengaluru North constituency and was defeated by D B Chandre Gowda of the BJP.

In the last few years, Sharief fell out with the Congress leadership as he felt he was being sidelined. On several occasions, he threatened to quit the party, sulking for being denied a ticket to him or his family members. Sharief lost two of his sons in 1996 and 2008. He is survived by two daughters.

Comments

Sruti Kotian
 - 
Monday, 26 Nov 2018

True.. such a good man

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News Network
March 23,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 23: Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai had warned those who chose to defy the lockdown order clamped in nine districts, to prevent the spread of the dreaded COVID-19 virus in the state. 

Speaking to newsmen, he said, "We have ordered for a lockdown in nine districts in the state to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and issued guidelines to follow it."

The nine COVID-19-affected districts are Bengaluru, Bengaluru Rural, Mysuru, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada (Mangaluru), Dharwad, Belagavi, Kalaburgi and Chikkablapur.

According to Mr. Bommai, the State government will put in place further measures next week depending on how the situation will unfold in the State and the neighbouring States.

"Government offices will be operational in the State, including in the nine COVID 19-affected districts. As per the current schedule, the legislature sessions will also continue. Pourakarmikas will be working at 50% strength," he added.

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News Network
February 14,2020

Mangaluru, Feb 14: Police have submitted over 50 videos in a pen drive to Udupi Deputy Commissioner G Jagadeesha as evidence to violent protests that led to police firing on December 19 in which Jaleel and Nausheen died.

ACP and police nodal officer Belliyappa submitted a pen drive consisting over 50 video clips including CCTV footage. 

The police earlier had submitted 20 digital video recorder (DVR) before the court and an acknowledgement of the same was produced before the Magistrate.

Hearing on video evidence will be held at High Court on February 24.

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News Network
July 12,2020

Kochi, Jul 12: The two main accused in Kerala gold smuggling case, Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair have been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Both the accused will be produced before NIA court in Kochi, Kerala on Sunday.

Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair were detained by NIA from Bengaluru, Karnataka on Saturday.

Swapna is named as the second accused and Sandeep has been named as the fourth accused in the FIR taken by NIA and both have been slapped with Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, (UAPA) along with first accused Sarith PS and third accused Fazil Fareed
Already, Sarith PS was arrested by the Customs, while Fazil Fareed is still at large. 

NIA officials yesterday conducted a detailed interrogation of Sarith after reaching the customs office in Kochi where he is in custody.

The Customs Department had on July 5 seized 30 kg gold worth Rs 15 crore concealed in diplomatic consignment at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport.

The NIA on Friday registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Sarith Kumar, Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair, the three persons allegedly involved in the case.

The agency has charged them with offences under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

Swapna Suresh was on the run following the gold seizure. She was employed in Space Park and Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited (KSITL), which comes under the IT department, a portfolio held by Kerala Chief Minister. She was ousted after being named an accused in the case.

Sarith Kumar, an accused in the case who had previously worked as a public relations officer (PRO) in UAE Consulate-General's office in Thiruvananthapuram, was arrested on July 6.

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