अब मोर्चामा छ दायित्व सामुहिक रणनीति निर्माणको निम्ति मोर्चाको पहल अनिवार्य
(Compiled and Published by J.N. Manokaran (jnmanokaran@yahoo.com) on behalf of Glocal Resources Development Associates)
I India
1. The Princely State of India: Of the 545 MPs in the 15th Lok Sabha, 255 do not have any significant Family Background; 156 Family; 47 Student politics; 35 Business; 18 RSS; 16 Inducted; 10 Trade union; 7 Royal family; and 1 Maoist commander. In total, 28.6 per cent of MPs had a hereditary connection. ‘No significant family background’ covered nearly half of all MPs, which meant they had found their way to Parliament by a similar mixture of idealistic and weaselly routes as lawmakers in any representative democracy. (Patrick French Allen, Outlook 17 January 2011, p. 27-44)
2. Indians pay 78% of medical expenses from their own pocket: According to an analysis published in the medical journal `Lancet', private expenditure on health in India is close to 78% compared to 14% in the Maldives, 29% in Bhutan, 53% in Sri Lanka, 31% in Thailand and 61% in China. Only Pakistan is worse off with private expenditure being as high as 82.5%. The paper, "Financing health care for all: challenges and opportunities", says two features of the private out-of-pocket expenditure in India are noteworthy. First, most of the expenditure (74%) was incurred for outpatient treatment, and not for hospital care. Only 26% was for inpatient treatment. Secondly, purchasing drugs accounted for 72% of the total private out-of-pocket expenditure. Nearly 39 million people in India are pushed to poverty because of ill health every year. Around 30% in rural India actually didn't go for any treatment for pure financial reasons in 2004, up from 15% in 1995. Similarly, in urban areas, 20% of ailments were untreated for financial reasons in 2004, up from 10% in 1995. Shockingly, 47% of hospital admissions in rural India and 31% in urban India were financed by loans and the sale of assets. Medical insurance too has a meager market share. According to the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector, only 7% of India's workforce is in the organised sector. The remaining 93% are cultivators, agricultural labourers, artisans and workers who typically do not have a regular or assured source of income. Analysis of the per person public spending on health has also thrown up bleak results. While the government spent just 19 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars on every person for health, the figure stood at 207 in Thailand, 122 in China, 88 in Sri Lanka, 751 in Maldives and 60 in Bhutan. Public spending on health -- 0.94% of the gross domestic product (GDP) -- is among the lowest in the world. (Kounteya Sinha, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Indians-pay-78-of-medical-expenses-from-their-own-pocket/articleshow/7270363.cms accessed on 13 January 2011.)
3. Chennai first to assess buildings: A survey conducted to prepare a hazard map of the city has found that nearly one-third of the buildings in the city are vulnerable to earthquakes. Of the 22,758 multistoreyed buildings surveyed using aerial photographs and rapid visual screening, 29% were found to be vulnerable even to a moderate earthquake. Dr Rajarathnam, director of the Centre for Disaster and Mitigation Management (CDMM), Anna University, said areas such as Vyasarpadi, Otteri, Purasawalkam, Veppery, Egmore, Kolathur, Villivakkam, Anna Nagar, Ayanavaram, Koyambedu, Arumbakkam, Kodambakkam, parts of T Nagar, Taramani and parts of Velachery were amplification areas. "Amplification area means in case of an earthquake, the energy of the tremor will be higher than in that area in the other areas making it more damage-prone," he said. Chennai, is the first city to compile information based on a survey of resources in case of a disaster. Officials from various departments like police, housing and urban development, public works, housing board, electricity board, slum clearance board, fire service, directorate of public health and preventive medicine, Chennai corporation and Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) got together to discuss major issues. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Chennai-first-to-assess-buildings/articleshow/7272587.cms accessed on 13 January 2011.)
4. Supreme Court derails ticketless Mumbai magistrate; rejects job plea: A magistrate posted in Mumbai, Arundhati Ashok Walavalkar, who was caught travelling without a ticket in a local train has lost her job. She lost the last legal battle for retaining her job for at least two years so that she could get a pension. Dismissing her appeal, the Supreme Court on Thursday said that a judge's official and personal conduct must be "in tune with the highest standard of propriety and probity". "Obviously, this standard of conduct is higher than those deemed acceptable or obvious for others," a bench of Justice Mukundukam Sharma and Justice Anil R Dave said. Walavalkar, who joined the judicial service in 1992, was found traveling without a ticket from Mulund to Dadar at least thrice. She had once handed over her identity card to a travelling ticket examiner who had caught her. She even told the examiner that a magistrate was free to travel without a ticket. And once her colleague paid a fine of Rs102 for her. After investigating, the state government concluded that she had violated the service rules. She was awarded compulsory retirement. (Rakesh Bhatnagar, http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_supreme-court-derails-ticketless-mumbai-magistrate-rejects-job-plea_1494237accessed on 14 January 2011)
5. Decks cleared for Greater Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Thursday adopted a Bill to amend the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act 1919, thus paving the way for the inclusion of 42 local bodies in suburban areas into the Chennai Corporation. Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin moved the amendment Bill — Chennai City Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2011 — and it was adopted by voice vote after a brief discussion. The Amendment Act has retrospective effect and it shall be deemed to have come into force on December 21, 2010. The Bill amended the total number of divisions (wards) from 155 to 200. Till the elections to the Chennai Corporation later this year, the territorial divisions and its total number besides councillors shall be the same as they existed before the Amendment Act. The legislation repealed the ordinance issued last year, aimed at expanding the territorial limits of the Corporation. Chennai, has a population of 98 lakh. (http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/decks-cleared-for-greater-chennai/239448.html accessed on 14 January 2011,)
6. In India, 96.5% kids go to school: Survey: India took another step towards universal elementary education last year, with 96.5% of all children aged 6-14 years being enrolled in schools, an extensive private audit has revealed. NGO Pratham`s Annual Survey of Education Report says the proportion of girls in the age group of 11-14 years too increased to 94.1% although quality of education remained a big concern. The survey, the only private audit of elementary education in the country, found an increase of half a percentage point in enrolment over 2009. But it said there was an overall decline in students` ability to do basic mathematics and only 53.4% of children in Class V could read Class II level textbooks. Teacher attendance also showed consistent decline which could be one of reasons for a big increase in enrolment in private schools and tuitions. Bucking the trend was Punjab, where students showed an exceptional improvement in mathematical ability. Overall, Bihar emerged as a star performer with steady improvement in enrolment. Enrolment of boys in the state was 95.6% and that of girls 95.4%. In 2006, 12.3% of boys and 17.6% girls in Bihar were out of school. Among states continuing to return poor numbers in girl`s education, Rajasthan had 12.1% girls aged 11-14 years out of school and Uttar Pradesh 9.7%. In both states, there has been no change in the percentage of out-of-school girls. The survey conducted in all the districts of the country shows a large number of schools in the country fulfilling norms laid down in the Right to Education Act. At the same time, the report showed a big increase in enrolments in private schools — from 21.8% of all school-going children in 2009 to 24.3% last year. The trend has been holding since 2005. Southern states have more students going to private schools. In Andhra Pradesh, enrolment increased from 29.7% in 2009 to 36.1% while in Tamil Nadu it jumped from 19.7% to 25.1%. Kerala had 54.2% of children in private schools, up from 51.5% last year, and Karnataka 20% (16.8% in 2009). Among northern states, enrolment in private schools grew rapidly in Punjab — from 30.5% in 2009 to 38% in 2010. Mathematics proved to be a big bugbear for students across the country. The proportion of Class I students who could recognize numbers fell from 69.3% in 2009 to 65.8%. Barely 36.5% of Class III students could handle two-digit subtraction problems, as compared to 39% in 2009. The proportion of children in Class V who could do simple division dropped from 38% to 35.9%. Notably, Punjab bucked the trend. While 56.3% of students in Class II in the state could recognize numbers one to 100 in 2008, the figure jumped to 70.4% in 2010. Similarly, the proportion of Class IV children who could do subtraction went up from 66.9% in 2008 to 81.4%. In Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan, there was a perceptible rise in the proportion of children studying in Class I who could recognize letters. West Bengal led in private tuitions with the survey showing more than 75% of Class V students in government schools going to private tutors. In Bihar, the proportion was 55.5% and in Orissa, 49.9%. A positive feature of the report was the increasing number of five-year-olds in school. Nationally, it increased from 54.6% in 2009 to 62.8%. Karnataka emerged as an big achiever on this score with enrolment of five-year-olds jumping from 17.1% in 2009 to 67.6% in 2010. Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Assam also showed healthy increases in enrolment. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/In-India-965-kids-go-to-school-Survey/articleshow/7288637.cms accessed on 15 January 2011.
7. Shortage of female docs affecting health plans: India is facing a dire shortage of female doctors. At present, nearly two-third or 66% of all health workers are men. The number of female allopathic doctors (medical graduates with a bachelor's or post-graduate specialist diploma or degree registered with the Indian Medical Council) is especially low. Only 17% of all allopathic doctors and 6% of allopathic doctors in rural areas are women. This means that there is less than one female allopathic doctor per 10,000 population in rural areas (0.5) whereas it is 6.5 in urban areas. The number of female doctors per 10,000 population ranges from 7.5 in Chandigarh to 0.26 in Bihar. According to the paper "Human resources for health in India", published in the British Medical Journal 'Lancet', one in five dentists are women while the number stands at one in 10 pharmacists. Women, however, dominate the nursing and midwife category as expected. Around 80% of nurses and 85% midwives are women. There are eight healthcare workers, 3.8 allopathic doctors and 2.4 nurses per 10,000 population. When compared to other countries, this is about half the WHO benchmark of 25.4 workers per 10,000 population. When adjusted for qualification, the number falls to about a quarter of the WHO benchmark. In a strange dichotomy, even though the public sector is the main provider of preventive care services, 80% of outpatient visits and 60% of hospital admissions are in the private sector. Consequently, 71% of health spending is out of pocket, and, every year, such expenditure forces 4% of the population into poverty, the paper said. According to the 2005 estimates, India had almost 2.2 million health workers, including 6.7 lakh allopathic doctors and 2 lakh practitioners of ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha and homoeopathy. India has roughly 20 health workers per 10 000 population. The total healthcare workforce consists of allopathic doctors (31%), nurses and midwives (30%), pharmacists (11%), practitioners of ayurveda and yoga (9%) and others (9%). Health workers are also unevenly distributed across the country. The number of such workers per 10,000 population ranges from 23.2 in Chandigarh to 2.5 in Meghalaya. (Kounteya Sinha, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Shortage-of-female-docs-affecting-health-plans/articleshow/7292947.cms accessed on 16 January 2011.)
8. 1326 Indians die due to accidents, suicide every day: Every fifth person who killed himself in Maharashtra in 2009 was a farmer, recent suicide data says, nailing the state for most farm suicides for the tenth year in a row. Nationwide, 17,368 farmers killed themselves in 2009, 7% more than the count in 2008. The data is part of National Crime Records Bureau`s annual report of deaths and suicides across the country. Overall, India reported 418 accidental deaths a day in 2009. Road accidents killed 348 people a day; as many killed themselves daily for reasons ranging from illness to failure in love. The suicide count rose 1.7% compared to 2008 while accidental deaths, including those in road mishaps, increased by 7.3% over the last year. Around 1.27 lakh people committed suicide and 3.57 lakh died accidental deaths. Five states accounted for nearly two-thirds of all farm suicides in the country: Maharashtra (2,872), Andhra Pradesh (2,414), Karnataka (2,282), Chhattisgarh (1,802) and Madhya Pradesh (1,395). A total of 17,368 farmer suicides were reported in 2009. The figures almost doubled for Tamil Nadu, which reported 1,060 farmers` suicides in 2009, compared to 512 a year ago. While poverty remained among the most common reasons for committing suicide, poorer states such as Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand reported far fewer suicides than others. Bihar, for instance, reported 112 suicides while West Bengal reported most cases, 14,648. Orissa and Jharkhand reported 154 and 164 cases respectively. Bengal, along with four other states — Andhra Pradesh (14,500), Tamil Nadu (14,424), Maharashtra (14,300) and Karnataka (12,195) — accounted for more than 55% of the countrywide count. Delhi fared better, with 1,477 cases being reported in 2009. Uttar Pradesh reported a comparatively lower number of suicides, accounting for only 3.3% of the total cases. A total of 223 males commit suicides per day in the country while the number for women is 125 out of which 69 are housewives. Seventy-three people commit suicide on a single day due to illness while 10 are driven to suicide due to love affairs. Illness drove 21% of suicide victims while family problems was the reason cited in 21% of the cases. Around 68.7% of the 1.27 lakh people who committed suicide across the country were in their prime -- 15-44 years. Among cities, Bangalore (2,167), Chennai (1,412), Delhi (1,215) and Mumbai (1,051) together reported almost 43.3% of the total suicides in 35 big cities in the country. However, in terms of rate of rise in accidental deaths, the sharpest climb was in Pune. Road accidents accounted for 37.9% of accidental deaths, followed by poisoning (8%), railway accidents (7.8%), drowning (7.7%) and fire accidents (7%). (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/1326-Indians-die-due-to-accidents-suicide-every-day/articleshow/7300325.cms accessed on 17 January 2011)
9. Servants turn killers: More than 700 criminal acts are committed across the country every year by domestic helps. This alarming statistic comes from the National Crime Records Bureau's (NCRB) Crime of India Report 2008 that lists 77,247 crimes committed in residential premises. The NCRB report has bracketed 1,96,729 cases under IPC sections 379 to 382, which include cases involving crimes committed by domestic helps. Of this, the number of cases in residential premises has been nearly the same over the years-73,427 in 2007 and 74,989 in 2006. It is worrisome because the victims are unsuspecting and therefore most vulnerable. Everyone is vulnerable: those living in high-security highrises, apartments or independent bungalows across all cities. According to the NCRB report, Mumbai tops the list with 8,904 cases registered under IPC sections 379 to 382. Delhi is second with 7,272 cases; Bangalore has 4,076; Chennai 1,276 and Kolkata 2,819. Even tier two and three cities have a significant number of such cases: Bhopal 1,091; Indore 1,054; Lucknow 1,325; Jaipur 1,538 and Patna 230. Servants are often illtreated and paid poorly while employers flaunt their wealth before them. Servants watch the huge disparity of incomes and see it as an opportunity to move up the ladder quickly. Another reason for killing employers is vendetta and anger. Poisoning is a weapon of choice. (Amitabh Srivastava, Indian Today 24 January 2011, p. 57-58.)
10. Delhi tops metros in crimes, atrocities on women: Delhi has earned the dubious distinction of being the most unsafe metro in the country, topping the list in the number of crimes as well as in atrocities on women and children. According to latest government statistics, Delhi accounted for 13.2 per cent of a total of 3,43,749 crimes reported in 35 mega cities across the country in 2009, followed by Bengaluru with 9.4 per cent and Mumbai with 9.1 per cent. Among cities, the Crime in India 2009 report prepared by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reveals the capital has reported 23.8 per cent (404 out of 1,696) of total rape cases and 38.9 per cent (1,379 out of 3,544) of cases of kidnapping and abduction of women. The city also reported 15.2 per cent cases (104 out of 684) of dowry deaths and 14.1 per cent cases (491 out of 3,477) of molestation. "The highest crime rate of 16.0 was reported by Delhi as compared to national average of 2.1 against children," the report said. According to the report, total number of crimes have shown an increase of 12.4 per cent in 2009 when it reported 66,75,217 cases as against 59,38,104 in 2008. "46.5 per cent of those arrested belonged to 18-30 years reflecting the drift of younger people taking to crimes. A large chunk of juveniles (64.1 per cent) belonged to the poor families whose annual income was up to Rs. 25,000. The share of juveniles hailing from middle income group (Rs. 50,000-Rs. 2,00,000) was 12.8 per cent," the report said. Uttar Pradesh reported the highest incidence of violent crimes accounting for 11.9 per cent of total violent crimes in the country (27,414 out of 2,30,500) followed by Bihar with 10.2 per cent (23,485) and Maharashtra with 9.2 per cent (21,257). UP reported 14 per cent (4,534 out of 32,369) of total murder cases in the country and 14.3 per cent (4,141 out of 29,038) of attempt to murder cases, it said. (http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/delhi-tops-metros-in-crimes-atrocities-on-women-80789 accessed on 21 January 2011.)
11. Think twice before you order Butter Chicken: Investigations carried out by MiD DAY have found out that the chicken recipes served by a lot of restaurants and street food stalls across the Delhi National Capital Region comprise dead chicken. The restaurant and street food stall owners buy the birds that usually die during transportation from the wholesalers in Paharganj area at throw away prices. A chicken that weighs 3 kilograms and costs around Rs 420 at your local meat shop is sold for just Rs 50 (Rs 15 per kg roughly )after its death. Many local food joint owners near Paharganj and Karol bagh area are regular takers of these dead chicken. But they claim to boil them before use. No one is sure about the cause of their death. It could be some diseases too. Everyone should avoid consuming meat of animal which die during transportation. However, Indian cooking involves boiling of meat and vegetables at very high temperature which make food fit to eat but still selling the meat of dead animal is unethical. (Amit Singh and Shashank Shekhar, http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/jan/200111-News-Delhi-chicken-dish-restaurant-owner-rotting-birds.htm accessed on 20 January 2011)
12. Here's why the corrupt need not fear the law: In 2008, the latest year for which data is available, there were 8,554 cases for investigation across all states and Union territories. Of these, 7,292 were actually investigated during the year, while 2,543 resulted in chargesheets. In other words, only about a third of the cases investigated resulted in chargesheets as a proportion of the cases available for investigation, the figure drops even further to about 30%.
But chargesheeting is only the first stage in the tortuous road to nailing the accused. The next set of circles depicts what happens to those being tried for corruption. In 2008, there were 29,783 people facing such trials. Of these, trials were completed only for 2,985 people. Of those, 977 were convicted. That translates again to about a third of all those whose trials were completed being convicted, but when compared to those facing trial, the proportion drops to a mere 3%. Look at what happens when cases are reported for departmental action against the accused. That's the third set of circles. In 2008, there were 736 such people, of whom 268 were punished in some form or the other by their respective departments. But only 65 of them lost their jobs. That means less than one in eleven reported for action actually were sacked. Put all these figures together and the picture you get makes it clear why public servants can indulge in corrupt practices with such impunity in our country. The chances of the investigation leading to chargesheeting are slim, even if they do get chargesheeted the chances of the trial concluding any time soon are even slimmer and finally when the trial does conclude the odds are on being let off. A final thought. We are dealing here with a few thousand people being investigated or tried in any given year. Now consider the fact that there are about 10 million central and state government employees. Assuming conservatively that just 1% of them are corrupt, that would mean about a lakh of people indulging in corruption. With less than 1,000 getting convicted, the corrupt can be 99% sure they'll get off. That's the problem. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Heres-why-the-corrupt-need-not-fear-the-law/articleshow/7330860.cms accessed on 21 January 2011.)
13. Chennai safest for women, crime bureau data shows: According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report on crime in India in 2009, Chennai ranks 34th among 35 cities across the country when it comes to crimes and offences committed against women.
While Delhi, Hyderabad , Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Mumbai take the top five slots, Chennai is penultimate on the list, followed by Dhanbad. The report is based on the number of cases reported in local police stations and takes into account crimes such as rape, eve-teasing , molestation , kidnapping and abduction, demands for dowry and cruelty by husband and relatives in 35 cities across India. Most women felt less threatened in Chennai when compared to Delhi and Bangalore. One woman said that though the city was safe, the attitude of policemen and society was hostile to women who stayed out late. (Revathi Ramanan, The Times of India 27 January 2011, p.1.)
II Diaspora
Indian diplomat in UK accused of assaulting wife: Anil Verma, a senior Indian diplomat at the high commission here, has been accused of assaulting his wife but he is escaping prosecution by British Police by claiming diplomatic immunity, media reports here said. Reports said Verma's wife's screams one night from their official residence in Golders Green, in the upmarket neighbourhood of Hampstead, was reported by neighbours to the police. The police confirmed they had been called in and questioned Verma but did not make an arrest. In Delhi, MEA spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said both the ministry and the high commission were looking into the incident, and treading carefully because of the sensitive and personal details involved. The reports said Verma attacked his wife after a heated exchange between them. (Ashis Ray, The Times of India 10 Jan. 2011, p.1)
III Global
US: 5000 birds fall from the sky, most dead: In a shocking incident in Arkansas, 100,000 drum fish washed up along the Arkansas river. Scientists say that a disease is likely to blame. On their own dead fish might not raise too many eyebrows. But a little more than 100 miles away, in Beebe, there was another animal mystery. Just before the stroke of midnight on New Year's eve, thousands of birds started falling from the sky. On roads, on roofs, on lawns, up to 5000 blackbirds fell within a one-mile area. Most of them were dead. Everybody is amazed at this happening. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission says this phenomenon is not as unusual as it might seem. The likely culprit is a lighting strike or high-altitude hail, possibly even fireworks. Investigators say there is no connection between the dead fish and dead birds. (http://ibnlive.in.com/news/us-5000-birds-fall-from-the-sky-most-dead/139349-2.html?from=tn accessed on 4 January 2011.)
समाचार विश्लेषण - कालिमन्युज |
मोर्चाको केन्द्रिय कमिटीको बहुमतले नै अन्तरिम प्राधिकरण खारेज गरेर समयसापेक्ष कदम उठाएको सबैले भन्न थालेका छन्। मोर्चाको यो निर्णयसित सबै खुशी छन्। तर अझ पनि मोर्चा शंकाकै घेरोमा छ। अन्तरिम प्राधिकरण नै दुइपल्ट भयो मोर्चाले खारेज गरेको। यसपल्ट भने मोर्चाको केन्द्रिय कमिटीको अधिकांशले नै खारेज गरेकोले उप्रान्त फेरि अन्तरिम प्राधिकरणको कुरा उठ्न नसक्ने आशा पनि गरिएको छ।
मोर्चाको केन्द्रिय कमिटीको अधिकांशले प्राधिकरण खारेज गरेको कुराभित्र थुप्रै कुराहरू लुकेको आभाष पनि पाइएको छ। के मोर्चाभित्र पनि दुइ खेमा छ त? यस्तो शंका गरिन थालिएको छ कि मोर्चामा एक खेमा गोर्खाल्याण्ड पन्थी अनि अर्को खेमा प्राधिकरण पन्थी रहेको छ। यसो हो भने प्राधिकरण खेमाले गोर्खाल्याण्ड खेमालाई विश्वासमा लिएर प्राधिकरणमाथि बढ़ोचासो लिएर दिल्लीमा कार्य गरिरहेका सांसद जसवन्त सिंह अनि तिनका अन्य सहयोगीहरू लगाएर प्राधिकरणको निम्ति दवाब बनाउने कार्य तीब्र हुनसक्छ अनि फेरि पनि केन्द्रिय गृहमन्त्रीलाई अर्को षड़यन्त्रमा गोर्खाल्याण्ड मुद्दा पार्नको निम्ति चलखेल हुनसक्छ।
विश्लेषकहरूले कस्ता अनुमान गरिहेका छन् भने मोर्चा अध्यक्ष विमल गुरूङ गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति कटिबद्ध भए प्राधिकरण पन्थी नेताहरूले गुरूङलाई साथ दिने छैनन्। किन भने यतिञ्जेलसम्म देखेको सपना जहॉं पुरा हुने सम्भावना रहँदैन उ त्यहॉं अँट्न सक्दैन। सबैलाई थाहा छ गोर्खाल्याण्ड अहिले नै सम्भव छैन तर असम्भव भने छैन। यसको निम्ति कटिबद्ध र सामुहिक रणनीतिको आवश्यकता पर्छ। यसो गर्न नचाहनेहरूलाई विभिन्न सिँड़ी हुँदै जानुपर्ने बाध्यता आइपर्छ।
अन्तरिम प्राधिकरणलाई पक्कापक्कीरूपमा मोर्चाले छोड़ेको हो भने यतिञ्जेलसम्म चलखेल गर्नेहरू मोर्चा बाहिर आउन सक्छन्। जो बाहिर आउँछन् उनीहरू गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति नभएर गोर्खाल्याण्डको सिँडीको निम्ति लड्न चहानेहरू हुन्। बहुसंख्यक र अल्पसंख्यक मोर्चा केन्द्रिय समितिका सदस्यहरूबीच अन्तरिम प्राधिकरणकै मुद्दाले फाटो ल्याउन सक्ने सम्भावना पनि देखापर्छ। यसकुरामा मोर्चाले होसियारी अप्नाउनुपर्ने देखिन्छ। मोर्चाले अन्तरिम पक्कापक्कीरूपमा छोड़ेको हो अनि उप्रान्त गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति लड्ने हो भने सबै दलले पनि मोर्चालाई सघाउने छन् भने बुद्धिजीवी, शिक्षित, पत्रकार, साहित्यकार तथा आम जनताले पनि दिलोज्यानले मोर्चालाई सघाउन सक्छन्।
तर मोर्चाले लिखितरूपले केन्द्रलाई प्राधिकरण छोड़ेको जनाउनै पर्छ। हुन त मोर्चाले कुनै पनि कागजमा हस्ताक्षर नगरेकोले प्राधिकरण खारेज गरेको रिपोर्ट राखिराख्नु पर्दैन तर मोर्चाले अन्तरिम प्राधिकरण कै निम्ति यत्रो वार्ता गरेकोले, वार्ताको मिनट लेखिएकोले र केन्द्रलाई मोर्चा प्राधिकरणको पक्षमा नै रहेको मात्र थाहा रहेकोले केन्द्रलाई प्राधिकरण खारेजीको जानकारी गराएकै राम्रो देखापर्छ। यसपछि मोर्चाले सबै दलहरू जसले मोर्चालाई अहिलेसम्म टिप्पणी मात्र गर्यो उनीहरूसित एउटा बैठक गरेर सामुहिक रणनीतिको निम्ति अग्रनी पहल गर्नु अनिवार्य छ। पुराना दुश्मनी र रिसइबी त्यागेर सबैदललाई एकैठॉंउमा ल्याएर कार्यनीति तय गरिए सबैले उत्तम मान्ने देखिएको छ।
सबैलाई थाहा छ कि मोर्चा ठूलो दल हो। यसकारण सबैदलले यसैदलसित आआफ्नै झण्डामा बसेर सामुहिकरूपले कार्य गर्न अनिवार्य छ। अब प्राधिकरण रहेन भने अन्यथोकको निम्ति वार्ता गरिरहन पनि परेन, गुटगुट भएर नेताहरूले चलखेल गरिरहन पनि परेन। न त अन्य दलहरूसित सम्बन्ध विच्छेद नै गर्न पर्यो। वार्ता हुन्छ भने गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति हुनुपर्यो तर यसको निम्ति असरदार कार्यक्रमको अनिवार्यता देखापर्नेछ। यो कार्यक्रम सबैदलको सामुहिक छलफलद्वारा नै हुनुपर्नेछ। कार्यक्रम बनाउँदा सबै मिलेर बनाए मात्र असरदार हुनसक्छ। आजकोभोली गोर्खाल्याण्ड नहुने हुनाले कार्यक्रमको ढॉंचा र खाका धेरै अन्तरक्रियापछि निस्किएको निचोड़ अनुसार भएमा सबैले उत्तम मान्नेछन्।
अब दायित्व मोर्चामाथि नै आइपरेको छ। सबै दल मोर्चालाई नै ताकेर बसेकै छन्। उनीहरूले मोर्चाले आह्वान गरे र सामुहिक रणनीति निर्माणको निम्ति मोर्चाको पहल भए सबै दल एक भएरै काम गर्ने बताइसकेका छन्। मोर्चाले प्राधिकरण छोड़ेर गोर्खाल्याण्डको आन्दोलन गरे मोर्चा गठनको प्रारम्भीककालमा जुनरूपको मोर्चा थियो त्यही रूपमा बल प्राप्त गर्न सक्ने सम्भावना रहेको छ। तर मोर्चाको मानसिकता र दुरदर्शितामा नै सबैकुरा अल्झिएर बसेको विश्लेषकहरूको अनुमान छ।
जनता अब लामो र कड़ा आन्दोलनको तयारीमा बस्नुपर्छ-डा.छेत्री
मनोज बोगटि, कालिमन्युज,कालेबुङ,28 जनवरी।मोर्चाको केन्द्रिय कमिटीको बहुसंख्याले अन्तरिम प्राधिकरण खारेज गरिदिएको छ। एकातिर मोर्चाको यो निर्णयले जनतामा खुशीको लहर छाएको छ भने अर्को तिर मोर्चाले प्राधिकरणको खारेजीपछि जनता कड़ा र लामो आन्दोलनको निम्ति यतारीमा बस्नुपर्ने कुरामा सतर्क गराएको छ।
हिजो कुमानीमा अन्तरिम प्राधिकरण खारेज भएपछि कालेबुङको नीजि बासस्थानमा पत्रकार सम्मेलन डाक्दै मोर्चा प्रवक्ता डा.हर्कबहादुर छेत्रीले 7 फरवरीको दिन केन्द्रिय समितिको सभा हुने अनि अबको आन्दोलन सधैँ जस्तो नहुने स्पष्ट पारेका छन्। तिनले प्राधिकरण खारेजपछि केवल गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति आन्दोलन हुने तर यता गोर्खाल्याण्ड भने एकैपल्टमा सोझै हुन नसक्ने बताउँदै भने,केन्द्र नपुसंक रहेको यसपाली पत्तो लाग्यो। नत्र प्राधिकरणको निम्ति करकाप गर्न सक्थ्यो। चिदम्बरम पनि हेल्पलेस थिए। तिनले त हामीलाई पो के गर्नुपर्ने हो भन्ने कुरामा सुझाव माग्दैथिए। तर तिनले हामीलाई भनेका थिए कि अन्तरिम प्राधिकरण भएर नै गोर्खाल्याण्ड पुगिन्छ। सोझै राज्य गठन हुन नसक्ने भएकोले नै प्राधिकरण थाप्नुपर्ने जनाएका थिए।
तर मोर्चाको केन्द्रिय समितिमा जुन गणतन्त्र छ, त्यसै अनुसार अन्तरिम प्राधिकरणलाई खारेज गरियो। अब आन्दोलन कड़ा हुन सक्छ। लामो हुन सक्छ। गोर्खाल्याण्डको आन्दोलन थेग्न जनता तयार भएर बस्नुपर्छ। म त देख्दैछु कि अबको परिस्थिति अर्कै हुन्छ। अब सजिलो आन्दोलन हुँदैन। विमल गुरूङले हॉंस्दै, नाच्दै, गाउँदै गोर्खाल्याण्ड ल्याउँछु भनेका छन्, तिनलाई यसरी ल्याउन राज्य र केन्द्रको षड़यन्त्र र कुटनीतिले दिन्छ के त शंका गर्नुपर्ने स्थिति भएको छ। अबको आन्दोलनमा धेरै मान्छे आफ्नो पेशामा फर्किन सक्छन्। म पनि फर्किन सक्छु। केही दिनमा मलाई पनि आम जनता देख्न सक्छन्।
धेरैले आन्दोलन सहन सक्दैन। अब असुविधाको परिस्थिति हुनसक्छ। तिनलाई आज निक्कै उदास देखिएको थियो। तिनले अन्तरिम प्राधिकरण नै अहिले परिस्थितिमा उचित रहेको संकेत दिए। तिनले भने, अन्तरिम प्राधिकरणमा यस्ता कुराहरू थिए जो अघि थिएन। छेटौं अनुसूचीमा नरहेका यस्ता धेरै विभागहरू, कानूनहरू थियो। तौजी र वनविभागको कुरा पनि भइसकेको थियो। स्टेट एक्ट नामनेर सेन्टर एक्ट हुनुपर्छ भनेका थियौं, लेजिसलेटिभ,एक्ज्युकेटिभ,एडमिनस्ट्रेटिभ, फाइनेन्सियल पावर सबै थियो। यही भएर नै युटी वा गोर्खाल्याण्ड पुग्न सक्ने पी.चिदम्बरमसमेतले बताइसकेका थिए। तर केन्द्रिय कमिटीले खारेज गर्यो।
जनताले जतिबेला चहान्छ त्यतिबेला जुनै मुद्दा पनि छोड्न सकिन्छ। मोर्चा जनताको दल हो यसकारण सबै भइसकेको प्राधिकरण पनि मोर्चाले खारेज गरेको हो। तिनले केन्द्रमा नै प्राधिकरण खारेज गरेको रिपोर्ट दिएको हुनुपर्छ भन्ने दलहरूलाई ठाड़ो प्रतिक्रिया गर्दै भने, जसले कुनै आन्दोलन गरेको छैन, केवल टिप्पणी गरिरहेका छन्। जसले अन्तरिम प्राधिकरण पढ़ेकै छैन उसले के अब पनि आन्दोलन नगर्ने? के केवल टिप्पणी मात्र गर्ने? छैटौं अनुसूचीको पो बील पारित भएको थियो र खारेज भयो। प्राधिकरण त कुराकानीमा मात्र छ। मोर्चाले यसको निम्ति हस्ताक्षर गरेको छैन। किन खारेज गरेको रिपोर्ट दिनु? जनताले खारेज गरेपछि कसैले खारेज गर्नुपर्दैन।
प्राधिकरणको कुरा नबुझ्ने वा बुझेर पनि अबुझ हुनेहरूले सोझै गोर्खाल्याण्ड ल्याउँछ भने म उनीहरूलाई नमस्ते गर्छु। तिनले सोझै पटक्कै गोर्खाल्याण्ड हुन नसक्ने बताउँदै अझ भने, इन्द्रेको बाउ चन्द्रे आए पनि सोझै गोर्खाल्याण्ड ल्याउँछु भन्छ भने उ महाधुर्त हो, जनताविरोधी हो। सोझै गोर्खाल्याण्ड हुन सक्दैन।हामीले नर्थइष्टमा कसरी राज्य बनिएको थियो त्यो हेरेका थियौं। विपक्षले तेलङ्गना र अन्य तीनवटा राज्य बनिँदा प्राधिकरण परेन त भनेर प्रश्न उठाउँछ, तर त्यसबेला केन्द्रमा बीजेपी थियो। परिस्थिति अर्कैथियो।
केही नबुझी विरोध गर्नेहरूको कारण नै अहिलेको परिस्थिति निर्माण हुनु हो। तिनले क्रामकपालाई आशा लागेको दल रहेको बताउँदै भने,क्रामाकपा आशा लागेको दल थियो तर यसले पनि भर्खर पो रोडम्याप बनाउँदैरहेछ। कहिले आन्दोलन गर्ने? आन्दोलन नगरी सरकारले वार्ता गर्दैन। मोर्चाले 11 पल्ट वार्ता गरेको थियो र नै वार्ता भयो। परिस्थिति अनुसार प्राधिकरणको कुरा आयो। सबै भएर साथ दिनुपर्ने बेला विरोध गर्यो नतिजा अहिले समुन्ने छ।
राज्य सरकारले विधानसभा चुनाउमा फाइदा उठाउन गोर्खाल्याण्ड त परैजावोस् प्राधिकरण पनि हुन नदिने षड़यन्त्र गरिसकेको छ। अशोक भट्टाचार्यले चिदम्बरमलाई वार्ताबाट फर्केर प्रेस कन्फरेन्स पनि गर्दिन भनेका थिएछन्, तर तिनले यहॉं आएर मोर्चाले प्राधिकरणमा सही गर्यो तथा अनेकौ अगड़मबगड़म कुरा गरे। वास्तवमा मोर्चाले प्राधिकरणको जुन सेभ वनाएको थियो त्यो देखि राज्य सरकार डराएको छ। प्राधिकरण हुनु बङ्गाल विभाजनको प्रक्रिया शुरू हुनु मानेको छ राज्य सरकारले। डा. छेत्री समाचार पत्रका समीक्षक वा विश्लेषकहरूसित पनि खुब रिसाए। तिनले यस्ता पर्यवेक्षक, समीक्षक वा विश्लेषकहरूले कहिले पनि मोर्चाको पक्षमा नलेखेको बताउँदै भने, उनीहरूले कसको पक्षमा लेख्दैछन् म जान्दिन तर आन्दोलनमा उनीहरूको कुनै योगदान छैन।
मोर्चाको केन्द्रिय कमिटीको बहुमतले नै अन्तरिम प्राधिकरण खारेज गरेर समयसापेक्ष कदम उठाएको सबैले भन्न थालेका छन्। मोर्चाको यो निर्णयसित सबै खुशी छन्। तर अझ पनि मोर्चा शंकाकै घेरोमा छ। अन्तरिम प्राधिकरण नै दुइपल्ट भयो मोर्चाले खारेज गरेको। यसपल्ट भने मोर्चाको केन्द्रिय कमिटीको अधिकांशले नै खारेज गरेकोले उप्रान्त फेरि अन्तरिम प्राधिकरणको कुरा उठ्न नसक्ने आशा पनि गरिएको छ।
मोर्चाको केन्द्रिय कमिटीको अधिकांशले प्राधिकरण खारेज गरेको कुराभित्र थुप्रै कुराहरू लुकेको आभाष पनि पाइएको छ। के मोर्चाभित्र पनि दुइ खेमा छ त? यस्तो शंका गरिन थालिएको छ कि मोर्चामा एक खेमा गोर्खाल्याण्ड पन्थी अनि अर्को खेमा प्राधिकरण पन्थी रहेको छ। यसो हो भने प्राधिकरण खेमाले गोर्खाल्याण्ड खेमालाई विश्वासमा लिएर प्राधिकरणमाथि बढ़ोचासो लिएर दिल्लीमा कार्य गरिरहेका सांसद जसवन्त सिंह अनि तिनका अन्य सहयोगीहरू लगाएर प्राधिकरणको निम्ति दवाब बनाउने कार्य तीब्र हुनसक्छ अनि फेरि पनि केन्द्रिय गृहमन्त्रीलाई अर्को षड़यन्त्रमा गोर्खाल्याण्ड मुद्दा पार्नको निम्ति चलखेल हुनसक्छ।
विश्लेषकहरूले कस्ता अनुमान गरिहेका छन् भने मोर्चा अध्यक्ष विमल गुरूङ गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति कटिबद्ध भए प्राधिकरण पन्थी नेताहरूले गुरूङलाई साथ दिने छैनन्। किन भने यतिञ्जेलसम्म देखेको सपना जहॉं पुरा हुने सम्भावना रहँदैन उ त्यहॉं अँट्न सक्दैन। सबैलाई थाहा छ गोर्खाल्याण्ड अहिले नै सम्भव छैन तर असम्भव भने छैन। यसको निम्ति कटिबद्ध र सामुहिक रणनीतिको आवश्यकता पर्छ। यसो गर्न नचाहनेहरूलाई विभिन्न सिँड़ी हुँदै जानुपर्ने बाध्यता आइपर्छ।
अन्तरिम प्राधिकरणलाई पक्कापक्कीरूपमा मोर्चाले छोड़ेको हो भने यतिञ्जेलसम्म चलखेल गर्नेहरू मोर्चा बाहिर आउन सक्छन्। जो बाहिर आउँछन् उनीहरू गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति नभएर गोर्खाल्याण्डको सिँडीको निम्ति लड्न चहानेहरू हुन्। बहुसंख्यक र अल्पसंख्यक मोर्चा केन्द्रिय समितिका सदस्यहरूबीच अन्तरिम प्राधिकरणकै मुद्दाले फाटो ल्याउन सक्ने सम्भावना पनि देखापर्छ। यसकुरामा मोर्चाले होसियारी अप्नाउनुपर्ने देखिन्छ। मोर्चाले अन्तरिम पक्कापक्कीरूपमा छोड़ेको हो अनि उप्रान्त गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति लड्ने हो भने सबै दलले पनि मोर्चालाई सघाउने छन् भने बुद्धिजीवी, शिक्षित, पत्रकार, साहित्यकार तथा आम जनताले पनि दिलोज्यानले मोर्चालाई सघाउन सक्छन्।
तर मोर्चाले लिखितरूपले केन्द्रलाई प्राधिकरण छोड़ेको जनाउनै पर्छ। हुन त मोर्चाले कुनै पनि कागजमा हस्ताक्षर नगरेकोले प्राधिकरण खारेज गरेको रिपोर्ट राखिराख्नु पर्दैन तर मोर्चाले अन्तरिम प्राधिकरण कै निम्ति यत्रो वार्ता गरेकोले, वार्ताको मिनट लेखिएकोले र केन्द्रलाई मोर्चा प्राधिकरणको पक्षमा नै रहेको मात्र थाहा रहेकोले केन्द्रलाई प्राधिकरण खारेजीको जानकारी गराएकै राम्रो देखापर्छ। यसपछि मोर्चाले सबै दलहरू जसले मोर्चालाई अहिलेसम्म टिप्पणी मात्र गर्यो उनीहरूसित एउटा बैठक गरेर सामुहिक रणनीतिको निम्ति अग्रनी पहल गर्नु अनिवार्य छ। पुराना दुश्मनी र रिसइबी त्यागेर सबैदललाई एकैठॉंउमा ल्याएर कार्यनीति तय गरिए सबैले उत्तम मान्ने देखिएको छ।
सबैलाई थाहा छ कि मोर्चा ठूलो दल हो। यसकारण सबैदलले यसैदलसित आआफ्नै झण्डामा बसेर सामुहिकरूपले कार्य गर्न अनिवार्य छ। अब प्राधिकरण रहेन भने अन्यथोकको निम्ति वार्ता गरिरहन पनि परेन, गुटगुट भएर नेताहरूले चलखेल गरिरहन पनि परेन। न त अन्य दलहरूसित सम्बन्ध विच्छेद नै गर्न पर्यो। वार्ता हुन्छ भने गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति हुनुपर्यो तर यसको निम्ति असरदार कार्यक्रमको अनिवार्यता देखापर्नेछ। यो कार्यक्रम सबैदलको सामुहिक छलफलद्वारा नै हुनुपर्नेछ। कार्यक्रम बनाउँदा सबै मिलेर बनाए मात्र असरदार हुनसक्छ। आजकोभोली गोर्खाल्याण्ड नहुने हुनाले कार्यक्रमको ढॉंचा र खाका धेरै अन्तरक्रियापछि निस्किएको निचोड़ अनुसार भएमा सबैले उत्तम मान्नेछन्।
अब दायित्व मोर्चामाथि नै आइपरेको छ। सबै दल मोर्चालाई नै ताकेर बसेकै छन्। उनीहरूले मोर्चाले आह्वान गरे र सामुहिक रणनीति निर्माणको निम्ति मोर्चाको पहल भए सबै दल एक भएरै काम गर्ने बताइसकेका छन्। मोर्चाले प्राधिकरण छोड़ेर गोर्खाल्याण्डको आन्दोलन गरे मोर्चा गठनको प्रारम्भीककालमा जुनरूपको मोर्चा थियो त्यही रूपमा बल प्राप्त गर्न सक्ने सम्भावना रहेको छ। तर मोर्चाको मानसिकता र दुरदर्शितामा नै सबैकुरा अल्झिएर बसेको विश्लेषकहरूको अनुमान छ।
जनता अब लामो र कड़ा आन्दोलनको तयारीमा बस्नुपर्छ-डा.छेत्री
मनोज बोगटि, कालिमन्युज,कालेबुङ,28 जनवरी।मोर्चाको केन्द्रिय कमिटीको बहुसंख्याले अन्तरिम प्राधिकरण खारेज गरिदिएको छ। एकातिर मोर्चाको यो निर्णयले जनतामा खुशीको लहर छाएको छ भने अर्को तिर मोर्चाले प्राधिकरणको खारेजीपछि जनता कड़ा र लामो आन्दोलनको निम्ति यतारीमा बस्नुपर्ने कुरामा सतर्क गराएको छ।
हिजो कुमानीमा अन्तरिम प्राधिकरण खारेज भएपछि कालेबुङको नीजि बासस्थानमा पत्रकार सम्मेलन डाक्दै मोर्चा प्रवक्ता डा.हर्कबहादुर छेत्रीले 7 फरवरीको दिन केन्द्रिय समितिको सभा हुने अनि अबको आन्दोलन सधैँ जस्तो नहुने स्पष्ट पारेका छन्। तिनले प्राधिकरण खारेजपछि केवल गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति आन्दोलन हुने तर यता गोर्खाल्याण्ड भने एकैपल्टमा सोझै हुन नसक्ने बताउँदै भने,केन्द्र नपुसंक रहेको यसपाली पत्तो लाग्यो। नत्र प्राधिकरणको निम्ति करकाप गर्न सक्थ्यो। चिदम्बरम पनि हेल्पलेस थिए। तिनले त हामीलाई पो के गर्नुपर्ने हो भन्ने कुरामा सुझाव माग्दैथिए। तर तिनले हामीलाई भनेका थिए कि अन्तरिम प्राधिकरण भएर नै गोर्खाल्याण्ड पुगिन्छ। सोझै राज्य गठन हुन नसक्ने भएकोले नै प्राधिकरण थाप्नुपर्ने जनाएका थिए।
तर मोर्चाको केन्द्रिय समितिमा जुन गणतन्त्र छ, त्यसै अनुसार अन्तरिम प्राधिकरणलाई खारेज गरियो। अब आन्दोलन कड़ा हुन सक्छ। लामो हुन सक्छ। गोर्खाल्याण्डको आन्दोलन थेग्न जनता तयार भएर बस्नुपर्छ। म त देख्दैछु कि अबको परिस्थिति अर्कै हुन्छ। अब सजिलो आन्दोलन हुँदैन। विमल गुरूङले हॉंस्दै, नाच्दै, गाउँदै गोर्खाल्याण्ड ल्याउँछु भनेका छन्, तिनलाई यसरी ल्याउन राज्य र केन्द्रको षड़यन्त्र र कुटनीतिले दिन्छ के त शंका गर्नुपर्ने स्थिति भएको छ। अबको आन्दोलनमा धेरै मान्छे आफ्नो पेशामा फर्किन सक्छन्। म पनि फर्किन सक्छु। केही दिनमा मलाई पनि आम जनता देख्न सक्छन्।
धेरैले आन्दोलन सहन सक्दैन। अब असुविधाको परिस्थिति हुनसक्छ। तिनलाई आज निक्कै उदास देखिएको थियो। तिनले अन्तरिम प्राधिकरण नै अहिले परिस्थितिमा उचित रहेको संकेत दिए। तिनले भने, अन्तरिम प्राधिकरणमा यस्ता कुराहरू थिए जो अघि थिएन। छेटौं अनुसूचीमा नरहेका यस्ता धेरै विभागहरू, कानूनहरू थियो। तौजी र वनविभागको कुरा पनि भइसकेको थियो। स्टेट एक्ट नामनेर सेन्टर एक्ट हुनुपर्छ भनेका थियौं, लेजिसलेटिभ,एक्ज्युकेटिभ,एडमिनस्ट्रेटिभ, फाइनेन्सियल पावर सबै थियो। यही भएर नै युटी वा गोर्खाल्याण्ड पुग्न सक्ने पी.चिदम्बरमसमेतले बताइसकेका थिए। तर केन्द्रिय कमिटीले खारेज गर्यो।
जनताले जतिबेला चहान्छ त्यतिबेला जुनै मुद्दा पनि छोड्न सकिन्छ। मोर्चा जनताको दल हो यसकारण सबै भइसकेको प्राधिकरण पनि मोर्चाले खारेज गरेको हो। तिनले केन्द्रमा नै प्राधिकरण खारेज गरेको रिपोर्ट दिएको हुनुपर्छ भन्ने दलहरूलाई ठाड़ो प्रतिक्रिया गर्दै भने, जसले कुनै आन्दोलन गरेको छैन, केवल टिप्पणी गरिरहेका छन्। जसले अन्तरिम प्राधिकरण पढ़ेकै छैन उसले के अब पनि आन्दोलन नगर्ने? के केवल टिप्पणी मात्र गर्ने? छैटौं अनुसूचीको पो बील पारित भएको थियो र खारेज भयो। प्राधिकरण त कुराकानीमा मात्र छ। मोर्चाले यसको निम्ति हस्ताक्षर गरेको छैन। किन खारेज गरेको रिपोर्ट दिनु? जनताले खारेज गरेपछि कसैले खारेज गर्नुपर्दैन।
प्राधिकरणको कुरा नबुझ्ने वा बुझेर पनि अबुझ हुनेहरूले सोझै गोर्खाल्याण्ड ल्याउँछ भने म उनीहरूलाई नमस्ते गर्छु। तिनले सोझै पटक्कै गोर्खाल्याण्ड हुन नसक्ने बताउँदै अझ भने, इन्द्रेको बाउ चन्द्रे आए पनि सोझै गोर्खाल्याण्ड ल्याउँछु भन्छ भने उ महाधुर्त हो, जनताविरोधी हो। सोझै गोर्खाल्याण्ड हुन सक्दैन।हामीले नर्थइष्टमा कसरी राज्य बनिएको थियो त्यो हेरेका थियौं। विपक्षले तेलङ्गना र अन्य तीनवटा राज्य बनिँदा प्राधिकरण परेन त भनेर प्रश्न उठाउँछ, तर त्यसबेला केन्द्रमा बीजेपी थियो। परिस्थिति अर्कैथियो।
केही नबुझी विरोध गर्नेहरूको कारण नै अहिलेको परिस्थिति निर्माण हुनु हो। तिनले क्रामकपालाई आशा लागेको दल रहेको बताउँदै भने,क्रामाकपा आशा लागेको दल थियो तर यसले पनि भर्खर पो रोडम्याप बनाउँदैरहेछ। कहिले आन्दोलन गर्ने? आन्दोलन नगरी सरकारले वार्ता गर्दैन। मोर्चाले 11 पल्ट वार्ता गरेको थियो र नै वार्ता भयो। परिस्थिति अनुसार प्राधिकरणको कुरा आयो। सबै भएर साथ दिनुपर्ने बेला विरोध गर्यो नतिजा अहिले समुन्ने छ।
राज्य सरकारले विधानसभा चुनाउमा फाइदा उठाउन गोर्खाल्याण्ड त परैजावोस् प्राधिकरण पनि हुन नदिने षड़यन्त्र गरिसकेको छ। अशोक भट्टाचार्यले चिदम्बरमलाई वार्ताबाट फर्केर प्रेस कन्फरेन्स पनि गर्दिन भनेका थिएछन्, तर तिनले यहॉं आएर मोर्चाले प्राधिकरणमा सही गर्यो तथा अनेकौ अगड़मबगड़म कुरा गरे। वास्तवमा मोर्चाले प्राधिकरणको जुन सेभ वनाएको थियो त्यो देखि राज्य सरकार डराएको छ। प्राधिकरण हुनु बङ्गाल विभाजनको प्रक्रिया शुरू हुनु मानेको छ राज्य सरकारले। डा. छेत्री समाचार पत्रका समीक्षक वा विश्लेषकहरूसित पनि खुब रिसाए। तिनले यस्ता पर्यवेक्षक, समीक्षक वा विश्लेषकहरूले कहिले पनि मोर्चाको पक्षमा नलेखेको बताउँदै भने, उनीहरूले कसको पक्षमा लेख्दैछन् म जान्दिन तर आन्दोलनमा उनीहरूको कुनै योगदान छैन।
Mamata to flag off four new trains in N Bengal - Partymen upbeat over leader’s visit today
SNS, SILIGURI/ KOLKATA, 28 JAN: Trinamul Congress leaders and workers from across north Bengal are gearing up to mark railway minister Miss Mamata Banerjee’s official visit to the region tomorrow to start several railway projects. The railway minister will flag off four new trains and attend some foundation stone laying ceremonies for new projects.
According to North-east Frontier Railway chief public relation officer, Mr S Hajong, railway minister Miss Mamata Banerjee would flag off the DEMU (Diesel Electrical Mechanical Unit) train from Cooch Behar to Malda around 10.30 a.m. and then she would lay the foundation stone for a workshop (Electronic Signaling Production Unit) there. In Kolkata, the Trinamul chief and railway minister said that there was a long-standing demand for new trains in Cooch Behar and people from the areas of the district will be benefited by it.
Miss Banerjee would also flag off three more new trains ~ New Jalpaiguri (NJP) to Chennai Central Express, NJP to Amritswar Karmabhumi Express and another express train between NJP and Darbhanga in Bihar. Miss Banerjee said: “Many people from our neighbouring state work in north Bengal and there was a demand for an express train from Siliguri.” The people in Siliguri and adjoining areas faced problems in obtaining reservation tickets for Chennai, Amritsar and Darbhang-bound trains from NJP station, Mr Hajong said.
Apart from new trains Miss Banerjee would also lay foundation stone, from Siliguri through video conferencing, for the construction of a new railway track connecting the neighbouring country of Nepal. The new railway track would connect Biratnagar in Nepal with Yogbani in Bihar.
The Trinamul Congress workers and supporters are very much enthusiastic as their party chief will visit the region to inaugurate several new projects. The Cooch Behar district Trinamul Congress president, Mr Rabindranath Ghosh, said: “Introduction of a new DEMU train from Cooch Behar to Malda has evoked much response among the people.” “The train connecting Malda and Cooch Behar was a long-standing demand. Miss Banerjee is implementing one project after another to keep her promises to the people. The inauguration of new trains and other projects would generate a positive impact ahead of the Assembly election,” said Malda Trinamul Congress district president, Mrs Sabitri Mitra.
Trinamul demands justice for victims of violence
Demanding justice for the victims of ‘state-sponsored terrorism’ at Netai, Nandigram and Singur, Trinamul Congress will organise a massive rally in the city prior to the Parliament’s Budget session. “We will demand justice for the victims....’’
‘Kolkata played a crucial role in Nepal’s democracy’
ENS, Kolkata: Nepal’s President Ram Baran Yadav recalled the crucial role played by India and West Bengal in setting up democratic institutions in his country during his speech at the 177th Foundation Day celebrations of Medical College, Kolkata, of which he is an alumnus.
“I will be failing in my duty if I don’t mention the great contribution this city has made in Nepal’s long struggle for democracy, freedom, civil rights and rule of law. Kolkata was of great help as Nepal entered the modern era. Nepal, during its freedom struggle, drew inspiration from India’s freedom struggle,” the President said.
The 63-year-old Yadav — who spent 10 years studying medicine at the Medical College and clinical pathology at the School of Tropical Medicines in Kolkata—- spoke fluent Bengali.
He discussed how Kolkata had nurtured parties and groups that played a significant role in Nepal’s democracy.
“This was where the great democratic leaders of Nepal held the first conclave of the Nepali Congress, the premiere political organisation of Nepal. The Communist party of Nepal was also born here,” he said.
Yadav also pointed out that the leaders of Nepal had a fruitful stay here during the struggle of the 1940s and the first meeting of the Nepal National College was held at Khalsa College, Bhawanipore.
He also spoke of the contribution of the city in producing doctors who went back to serve their motherland.
The President, who was witness to Naxalite violence in Bengal and Maoist insurrection in his country, evaded any direct response on the Maoist problem in India. “The state government and the Centre will take care of situation. I hope everything will be okay,” he said.
He also expressed hope that his country would tide over the current political crisis. A seven-month caretaker government is in place in Nepal in the absence of consensus between political parties and a clear majority.
Delhi casts spy doubt after ‘haul of crores’
TT, Jan. 28: New Delhi today said Ugyen Trinley Dorje was no Karmapa and could be questioned by security agencies following the seizure of at least Rs 6 crore in Indian and foreign currencies from his Dharamsala home.
The unaccounted cash, which includes at least 11 lakh Chinese yuans (worth Rs 77 lakh), has buttressed suspicion that Dorje is a Chinese spy and had planned to build a network of China-friendly Tibetan institutions across the Himalayan region.
A highly placed government official said that if any criminal offence was established, Dorje would be tried in a court of law like any other person.
‘Kolkata played a crucial role in Nepal’s democracy’
“I will be failing in my duty if I don’t mention the great contribution this city has made in Nepal’s long struggle for democracy, freedom, civil rights and rule of law. Kolkata was of great help as Nepal entered the modern era. Nepal, during its freedom struggle, drew inspiration from India’s freedom struggle,” the President said.
The 63-year-old Yadav — who spent 10 years studying medicine at the Medical College and clinical pathology at the School of Tropical Medicines in Kolkata—- spoke fluent Bengali.
He discussed how Kolkata had nurtured parties and groups that played a significant role in Nepal’s democracy.
“This was where the great democratic leaders of Nepal held the first conclave of the Nepali Congress, the premiere political organisation of Nepal. The Communist party of Nepal was also born here,” he said.
Yadav also pointed out that the leaders of Nepal had a fruitful stay here during the struggle of the 1940s and the first meeting of the Nepal National College was held at Khalsa College, Bhawanipore.
He also spoke of the contribution of the city in producing doctors who went back to serve their motherland.
The President, who was witness to Naxalite violence in Bengal and Maoist insurrection in his country, evaded any direct response on the Maoist problem in India. “The state government and the Centre will take care of situation. I hope everything will be okay,” he said.
He also expressed hope that his country would tide over the current political crisis. A seven-month caretaker government is in place in Nepal in the absence of consensus between political parties and a clear majority.
Delhi casts spy doubt after ‘haul of crores’
 |
| Ugyen Trinley Dorje |
The unaccounted cash, which includes at least 11 lakh Chinese yuans (worth Rs 77 lakh), has buttressed suspicion that Dorje is a Chinese spy and had planned to build a network of China-friendly Tibetan institutions across the Himalayan region.
A highly placed government official said that if any criminal offence was established, Dorje would be tried in a court of law like any other person.
Dorje, 25, had carried out his headline-making “escape” from Tibet to India in January 2000, aged 14. His followers claim he is the 17th Karmapa — head of the Karma Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism — and the successor to the Dalai Lama.
But New Delhi has severely curbed his movements in recent years on suspicion that Beijing had stage-managed his “escape”.
“He is not a Karmapa. He is Ugyen Trinley Dorje,” the government official said. “It is a matter of serious concern that unaccounted money has been sourced to him. The law will take its course.”
Sources said the remarks were a signal to Dorje, his followers and Tibetans at large that India considered the young man a Chinese agent, and that there was no chance of his ever succeeding the Dalai Lama — who heads a different sect, anyway.
Yesterday, Himachal Pradesh police had raided Dorje’s home in a Dharamsala monastery, seized six suitcases of cash and arrested his close aide Shakti Lama. Sources said Dorje himself was unlikely to be detained immediately. Today, the Enforcement Directorate joined the probe.
Counting is still on. “The police have so far recovered Indian and foreign currencies worth Rs 6 crore in all. The foreign currency is from 25 countries, including China, Japan, America, Britain, Australia, Germany, Denmark, Singapore, Nepal, Canada and Thailand,” Himachal police chief D.S. Manhas said.
He added that Rs 30 lakh in Indian currency had been counted so far along with 11 lakh Chinese yuans and six lakh US dollars (worth Rs 2.7 crore). An intelligence source said the money trail so far seemed to lead to Hong Kong, suggesting a Chinese hand.
Some reports said the money was meant to buy a five-acre plot in Himachal’s Kangra district. Two earlier attempts by Dorje to buy land in Kangra, in 2007 and 2008, were scuttled after coming under the Enforcement Directorate’s scanner.
Dorje is alleged to have bought a large tract in Kangra’s Kotla village, near Dharamsala, in the name of Maya Devi, a small farmer from Kinnaur district. The police are investigating the source of the money and a case is pending in the Kangra deputy commissioner’s court. It is listed for hearing on March 23.
Himachal police sources said they knew of about 400 benami land deals by Tibetan refugees, and that cases had been registered in 263 instances.
Some sources said China may have wanted Dorje to do in the Indian Himalayas what Beijing had done in Nepal.
All along the India-Nepal border, the Chinese have opened 17 “China study centres” that ostensibly teach Chinese culture and language. But their main aim is suspected to be to establish a long-term Chinese influence in Nepal that could hurt Indian interests.
The sources said Beijing had sent Dorje to India to keep an eye on the Dalai Lama’s activities and project himself as his successor.
Beijing also wanted Dorje to take control of the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim, the principal seat of the Kagyu sect, but that has not happened so far because of the emergence of a rival claimant to Karmapa status.
The “he is no Karmapa” remark suggests Dorje has lost this prospect too. India wants the rival, Thinley Thai Dorji, who is about the same age as Dorje, to take charge of the Sikkim monastery, which has more than 700 overseas branches and is influential both in the Indian Himalayan region and Tibet.
Himachal police chief Manhas said the money seized from Dorje’s home may have been routed through hawala from the Majnu Ka Tila area of Delhi, inhabited largely by Tibetan refugees.
“The money was reportedly drawn from the Majnoo Ka Tila branch of a private sector bank. We have arrested two people and are interrogating them,” he said.
Global Urban Vision – February 2011(Compiled and Published by J.N. Manokaran (jnmanokaran@yahoo.com) on behalf of Glocal Resources Development Associates)
I India
1. The Princely State of India: Of the 545 MPs in the 15th Lok Sabha, 255 do not have any significant Family Background; 156 Family; 47 Student politics; 35 Business; 18 RSS; 16 Inducted; 10 Trade union; 7 Royal family; and 1 Maoist commander. In total, 28.6 per cent of MPs had a hereditary connection. ‘No significant family background’ covered nearly half of all MPs, which meant they had found their way to Parliament by a similar mixture of idealistic and weaselly routes as lawmakers in any representative democracy. (Patrick French Allen, Outlook 17 January 2011, p. 27-44)
2. Indians pay 78% of medical expenses from their own pocket: According to an analysis published in the medical journal `Lancet', private expenditure on health in India is close to 78% compared to 14% in the Maldives, 29% in Bhutan, 53% in Sri Lanka, 31% in Thailand and 61% in China. Only Pakistan is worse off with private expenditure being as high as 82.5%. The paper, "Financing health care for all: challenges and opportunities", says two features of the private out-of-pocket expenditure in India are noteworthy. First, most of the expenditure (74%) was incurred for outpatient treatment, and not for hospital care. Only 26% was for inpatient treatment. Secondly, purchasing drugs accounted for 72% of the total private out-of-pocket expenditure. Nearly 39 million people in India are pushed to poverty because of ill health every year. Around 30% in rural India actually didn't go for any treatment for pure financial reasons in 2004, up from 15% in 1995. Similarly, in urban areas, 20% of ailments were untreated for financial reasons in 2004, up from 10% in 1995. Shockingly, 47% of hospital admissions in rural India and 31% in urban India were financed by loans and the sale of assets. Medical insurance too has a meager market share. According to the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector, only 7% of India's workforce is in the organised sector. The remaining 93% are cultivators, agricultural labourers, artisans and workers who typically do not have a regular or assured source of income. Analysis of the per person public spending on health has also thrown up bleak results. While the government spent just 19 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars on every person for health, the figure stood at 207 in Thailand, 122 in China, 88 in Sri Lanka, 751 in Maldives and 60 in Bhutan. Public spending on health -- 0.94% of the gross domestic product (GDP) -- is among the lowest in the world. (Kounteya Sinha, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Indians-pay-78-of-medical-expenses-from-their-own-pocket/articleshow/7270363.cms accessed on 13 January 2011.)
3. Chennai first to assess buildings: A survey conducted to prepare a hazard map of the city has found that nearly one-third of the buildings in the city are vulnerable to earthquakes. Of the 22,758 multistoreyed buildings surveyed using aerial photographs and rapid visual screening, 29% were found to be vulnerable even to a moderate earthquake. Dr Rajarathnam, director of the Centre for Disaster and Mitigation Management (CDMM), Anna University, said areas such as Vyasarpadi, Otteri, Purasawalkam, Veppery, Egmore, Kolathur, Villivakkam, Anna Nagar, Ayanavaram, Koyambedu, Arumbakkam, Kodambakkam, parts of T Nagar, Taramani and parts of Velachery were amplification areas. "Amplification area means in case of an earthquake, the energy of the tremor will be higher than in that area in the other areas making it more damage-prone," he said. Chennai, is the first city to compile information based on a survey of resources in case of a disaster. Officials from various departments like police, housing and urban development, public works, housing board, electricity board, slum clearance board, fire service, directorate of public health and preventive medicine, Chennai corporation and Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) got together to discuss major issues. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Chennai-first-to-assess-buildings/articleshow/7272587.cms accessed on 13 January 2011.)
4. Supreme Court derails ticketless Mumbai magistrate; rejects job plea: A magistrate posted in Mumbai, Arundhati Ashok Walavalkar, who was caught travelling without a ticket in a local train has lost her job. She lost the last legal battle for retaining her job for at least two years so that she could get a pension. Dismissing her appeal, the Supreme Court on Thursday said that a judge's official and personal conduct must be "in tune with the highest standard of propriety and probity". "Obviously, this standard of conduct is higher than those deemed acceptable or obvious for others," a bench of Justice Mukundukam Sharma and Justice Anil R Dave said. Walavalkar, who joined the judicial service in 1992, was found traveling without a ticket from Mulund to Dadar at least thrice. She had once handed over her identity card to a travelling ticket examiner who had caught her. She even told the examiner that a magistrate was free to travel without a ticket. And once her colleague paid a fine of Rs102 for her. After investigating, the state government concluded that she had violated the service rules. She was awarded compulsory retirement. (Rakesh Bhatnagar, http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_supreme-court-derails-ticketless-mumbai-magistrate-rejects-job-plea_1494237accessed on 14 January 2011)
5. Decks cleared for Greater Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Thursday adopted a Bill to amend the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act 1919, thus paving the way for the inclusion of 42 local bodies in suburban areas into the Chennai Corporation. Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin moved the amendment Bill — Chennai City Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2011 — and it was adopted by voice vote after a brief discussion. The Amendment Act has retrospective effect and it shall be deemed to have come into force on December 21, 2010. The Bill amended the total number of divisions (wards) from 155 to 200. Till the elections to the Chennai Corporation later this year, the territorial divisions and its total number besides councillors shall be the same as they existed before the Amendment Act. The legislation repealed the ordinance issued last year, aimed at expanding the territorial limits of the Corporation. Chennai, has a population of 98 lakh. (http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/decks-cleared-for-greater-chennai/239448.html accessed on 14 January 2011,)
6. In India, 96.5% kids go to school: Survey: India took another step towards universal elementary education last year, with 96.5% of all children aged 6-14 years being enrolled in schools, an extensive private audit has revealed. NGO Pratham`s Annual Survey of Education Report says the proportion of girls in the age group of 11-14 years too increased to 94.1% although quality of education remained a big concern. The survey, the only private audit of elementary education in the country, found an increase of half a percentage point in enrolment over 2009. But it said there was an overall decline in students` ability to do basic mathematics and only 53.4% of children in Class V could read Class II level textbooks. Teacher attendance also showed consistent decline which could be one of reasons for a big increase in enrolment in private schools and tuitions. Bucking the trend was Punjab, where students showed an exceptional improvement in mathematical ability. Overall, Bihar emerged as a star performer with steady improvement in enrolment. Enrolment of boys in the state was 95.6% and that of girls 95.4%. In 2006, 12.3% of boys and 17.6% girls in Bihar were out of school. Among states continuing to return poor numbers in girl`s education, Rajasthan had 12.1% girls aged 11-14 years out of school and Uttar Pradesh 9.7%. In both states, there has been no change in the percentage of out-of-school girls. The survey conducted in all the districts of the country shows a large number of schools in the country fulfilling norms laid down in the Right to Education Act. At the same time, the report showed a big increase in enrolments in private schools — from 21.8% of all school-going children in 2009 to 24.3% last year. The trend has been holding since 2005. Southern states have more students going to private schools. In Andhra Pradesh, enrolment increased from 29.7% in 2009 to 36.1% while in Tamil Nadu it jumped from 19.7% to 25.1%. Kerala had 54.2% of children in private schools, up from 51.5% last year, and Karnataka 20% (16.8% in 2009). Among northern states, enrolment in private schools grew rapidly in Punjab — from 30.5% in 2009 to 38% in 2010. Mathematics proved to be a big bugbear for students across the country. The proportion of Class I students who could recognize numbers fell from 69.3% in 2009 to 65.8%. Barely 36.5% of Class III students could handle two-digit subtraction problems, as compared to 39% in 2009. The proportion of children in Class V who could do simple division dropped from 38% to 35.9%. Notably, Punjab bucked the trend. While 56.3% of students in Class II in the state could recognize numbers one to 100 in 2008, the figure jumped to 70.4% in 2010. Similarly, the proportion of Class IV children who could do subtraction went up from 66.9% in 2008 to 81.4%. In Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan, there was a perceptible rise in the proportion of children studying in Class I who could recognize letters. West Bengal led in private tuitions with the survey showing more than 75% of Class V students in government schools going to private tutors. In Bihar, the proportion was 55.5% and in Orissa, 49.9%. A positive feature of the report was the increasing number of five-year-olds in school. Nationally, it increased from 54.6% in 2009 to 62.8%. Karnataka emerged as an big achiever on this score with enrolment of five-year-olds jumping from 17.1% in 2009 to 67.6% in 2010. Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Assam also showed healthy increases in enrolment. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/In-India-965-kids-go-to-school-Survey/articleshow/7288637.cms accessed on 15 January 2011.
7. Shortage of female docs affecting health plans: India is facing a dire shortage of female doctors. At present, nearly two-third or 66% of all health workers are men. The number of female allopathic doctors (medical graduates with a bachelor's or post-graduate specialist diploma or degree registered with the Indian Medical Council) is especially low. Only 17% of all allopathic doctors and 6% of allopathic doctors in rural areas are women. This means that there is less than one female allopathic doctor per 10,000 population in rural areas (0.5) whereas it is 6.5 in urban areas. The number of female doctors per 10,000 population ranges from 7.5 in Chandigarh to 0.26 in Bihar. According to the paper "Human resources for health in India", published in the British Medical Journal 'Lancet', one in five dentists are women while the number stands at one in 10 pharmacists. Women, however, dominate the nursing and midwife category as expected. Around 80% of nurses and 85% midwives are women. There are eight healthcare workers, 3.8 allopathic doctors and 2.4 nurses per 10,000 population. When compared to other countries, this is about half the WHO benchmark of 25.4 workers per 10,000 population. When adjusted for qualification, the number falls to about a quarter of the WHO benchmark. In a strange dichotomy, even though the public sector is the main provider of preventive care services, 80% of outpatient visits and 60% of hospital admissions are in the private sector. Consequently, 71% of health spending is out of pocket, and, every year, such expenditure forces 4% of the population into poverty, the paper said. According to the 2005 estimates, India had almost 2.2 million health workers, including 6.7 lakh allopathic doctors and 2 lakh practitioners of ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha and homoeopathy. India has roughly 20 health workers per 10 000 population. The total healthcare workforce consists of allopathic doctors (31%), nurses and midwives (30%), pharmacists (11%), practitioners of ayurveda and yoga (9%) and others (9%). Health workers are also unevenly distributed across the country. The number of such workers per 10,000 population ranges from 23.2 in Chandigarh to 2.5 in Meghalaya. (Kounteya Sinha, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Shortage-of-female-docs-affecting-health-plans/articleshow/7292947.cms accessed on 16 January 2011.)
8. 1326 Indians die due to accidents, suicide every day: Every fifth person who killed himself in Maharashtra in 2009 was a farmer, recent suicide data says, nailing the state for most farm suicides for the tenth year in a row. Nationwide, 17,368 farmers killed themselves in 2009, 7% more than the count in 2008. The data is part of National Crime Records Bureau`s annual report of deaths and suicides across the country. Overall, India reported 418 accidental deaths a day in 2009. Road accidents killed 348 people a day; as many killed themselves daily for reasons ranging from illness to failure in love. The suicide count rose 1.7% compared to 2008 while accidental deaths, including those in road mishaps, increased by 7.3% over the last year. Around 1.27 lakh people committed suicide and 3.57 lakh died accidental deaths. Five states accounted for nearly two-thirds of all farm suicides in the country: Maharashtra (2,872), Andhra Pradesh (2,414), Karnataka (2,282), Chhattisgarh (1,802) and Madhya Pradesh (1,395). A total of 17,368 farmer suicides were reported in 2009. The figures almost doubled for Tamil Nadu, which reported 1,060 farmers` suicides in 2009, compared to 512 a year ago. While poverty remained among the most common reasons for committing suicide, poorer states such as Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand reported far fewer suicides than others. Bihar, for instance, reported 112 suicides while West Bengal reported most cases, 14,648. Orissa and Jharkhand reported 154 and 164 cases respectively. Bengal, along with four other states — Andhra Pradesh (14,500), Tamil Nadu (14,424), Maharashtra (14,300) and Karnataka (12,195) — accounted for more than 55% of the countrywide count. Delhi fared better, with 1,477 cases being reported in 2009. Uttar Pradesh reported a comparatively lower number of suicides, accounting for only 3.3% of the total cases. A total of 223 males commit suicides per day in the country while the number for women is 125 out of which 69 are housewives. Seventy-three people commit suicide on a single day due to illness while 10 are driven to suicide due to love affairs. Illness drove 21% of suicide victims while family problems was the reason cited in 21% of the cases. Around 68.7% of the 1.27 lakh people who committed suicide across the country were in their prime -- 15-44 years. Among cities, Bangalore (2,167), Chennai (1,412), Delhi (1,215) and Mumbai (1,051) together reported almost 43.3% of the total suicides in 35 big cities in the country. However, in terms of rate of rise in accidental deaths, the sharpest climb was in Pune. Road accidents accounted for 37.9% of accidental deaths, followed by poisoning (8%), railway accidents (7.8%), drowning (7.7%) and fire accidents (7%). (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/1326-Indians-die-due-to-accidents-suicide-every-day/articleshow/7300325.cms accessed on 17 January 2011)
9. Servants turn killers: More than 700 criminal acts are committed across the country every year by domestic helps. This alarming statistic comes from the National Crime Records Bureau's (NCRB) Crime of India Report 2008 that lists 77,247 crimes committed in residential premises. The NCRB report has bracketed 1,96,729 cases under IPC sections 379 to 382, which include cases involving crimes committed by domestic helps. Of this, the number of cases in residential premises has been nearly the same over the years-73,427 in 2007 and 74,989 in 2006. It is worrisome because the victims are unsuspecting and therefore most vulnerable. Everyone is vulnerable: those living in high-security highrises, apartments or independent bungalows across all cities. According to the NCRB report, Mumbai tops the list with 8,904 cases registered under IPC sections 379 to 382. Delhi is second with 7,272 cases; Bangalore has 4,076; Chennai 1,276 and Kolkata 2,819. Even tier two and three cities have a significant number of such cases: Bhopal 1,091; Indore 1,054; Lucknow 1,325; Jaipur 1,538 and Patna 230. Servants are often illtreated and paid poorly while employers flaunt their wealth before them. Servants watch the huge disparity of incomes and see it as an opportunity to move up the ladder quickly. Another reason for killing employers is vendetta and anger. Poisoning is a weapon of choice. (Amitabh Srivastava, Indian Today 24 January 2011, p. 57-58.)
10. Delhi tops metros in crimes, atrocities on women: Delhi has earned the dubious distinction of being the most unsafe metro in the country, topping the list in the number of crimes as well as in atrocities on women and children. According to latest government statistics, Delhi accounted for 13.2 per cent of a total of 3,43,749 crimes reported in 35 mega cities across the country in 2009, followed by Bengaluru with 9.4 per cent and Mumbai with 9.1 per cent. Among cities, the Crime in India 2009 report prepared by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reveals the capital has reported 23.8 per cent (404 out of 1,696) of total rape cases and 38.9 per cent (1,379 out of 3,544) of cases of kidnapping and abduction of women. The city also reported 15.2 per cent cases (104 out of 684) of dowry deaths and 14.1 per cent cases (491 out of 3,477) of molestation. "The highest crime rate of 16.0 was reported by Delhi as compared to national average of 2.1 against children," the report said. According to the report, total number of crimes have shown an increase of 12.4 per cent in 2009 when it reported 66,75,217 cases as against 59,38,104 in 2008. "46.5 per cent of those arrested belonged to 18-30 years reflecting the drift of younger people taking to crimes. A large chunk of juveniles (64.1 per cent) belonged to the poor families whose annual income was up to Rs. 25,000. The share of juveniles hailing from middle income group (Rs. 50,000-Rs. 2,00,000) was 12.8 per cent," the report said. Uttar Pradesh reported the highest incidence of violent crimes accounting for 11.9 per cent of total violent crimes in the country (27,414 out of 2,30,500) followed by Bihar with 10.2 per cent (23,485) and Maharashtra with 9.2 per cent (21,257). UP reported 14 per cent (4,534 out of 32,369) of total murder cases in the country and 14.3 per cent (4,141 out of 29,038) of attempt to murder cases, it said. (http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/delhi-tops-metros-in-crimes-atrocities-on-women-80789 accessed on 21 January 2011.)
11. Think twice before you order Butter Chicken: Investigations carried out by MiD DAY have found out that the chicken recipes served by a lot of restaurants and street food stalls across the Delhi National Capital Region comprise dead chicken. The restaurant and street food stall owners buy the birds that usually die during transportation from the wholesalers in Paharganj area at throw away prices. A chicken that weighs 3 kilograms and costs around Rs 420 at your local meat shop is sold for just Rs 50 (Rs 15 per kg roughly )after its death. Many local food joint owners near Paharganj and Karol bagh area are regular takers of these dead chicken. But they claim to boil them before use. No one is sure about the cause of their death. It could be some diseases too. Everyone should avoid consuming meat of animal which die during transportation. However, Indian cooking involves boiling of meat and vegetables at very high temperature which make food fit to eat but still selling the meat of dead animal is unethical. (Amit Singh and Shashank Shekhar, http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/jan/200111-News-Delhi-chicken-dish-restaurant-owner-rotting-birds.htm accessed on 20 January 2011)
12. Here's why the corrupt need not fear the law: In 2008, the latest year for which data is available, there were 8,554 cases for investigation across all states and Union territories. Of these, 7,292 were actually investigated during the year, while 2,543 resulted in chargesheets. In other words, only about a third of the cases investigated resulted in chargesheets as a proportion of the cases available for investigation, the figure drops even further to about 30%.
But chargesheeting is only the first stage in the tortuous road to nailing the accused. The next set of circles depicts what happens to those being tried for corruption. In 2008, there were 29,783 people facing such trials. Of these, trials were completed only for 2,985 people. Of those, 977 were convicted. That translates again to about a third of all those whose trials were completed being convicted, but when compared to those facing trial, the proportion drops to a mere 3%. Look at what happens when cases are reported for departmental action against the accused. That's the third set of circles. In 2008, there were 736 such people, of whom 268 were punished in some form or the other by their respective departments. But only 65 of them lost their jobs. That means less than one in eleven reported for action actually were sacked. Put all these figures together and the picture you get makes it clear why public servants can indulge in corrupt practices with such impunity in our country. The chances of the investigation leading to chargesheeting are slim, even if they do get chargesheeted the chances of the trial concluding any time soon are even slimmer and finally when the trial does conclude the odds are on being let off. A final thought. We are dealing here with a few thousand people being investigated or tried in any given year. Now consider the fact that there are about 10 million central and state government employees. Assuming conservatively that just 1% of them are corrupt, that would mean about a lakh of people indulging in corruption. With less than 1,000 getting convicted, the corrupt can be 99% sure they'll get off. That's the problem. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Heres-why-the-corrupt-need-not-fear-the-law/articleshow/7330860.cms accessed on 21 January 2011.)
13. Chennai safest for women, crime bureau data shows: According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report on crime in India in 2009, Chennai ranks 34th among 35 cities across the country when it comes to crimes and offences committed against women.
While Delhi, Hyderabad , Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Mumbai take the top five slots, Chennai is penultimate on the list, followed by Dhanbad. The report is based on the number of cases reported in local police stations and takes into account crimes such as rape, eve-teasing , molestation , kidnapping and abduction, demands for dowry and cruelty by husband and relatives in 35 cities across India. Most women felt less threatened in Chennai when compared to Delhi and Bangalore. One woman said that though the city was safe, the attitude of policemen and society was hostile to women who stayed out late. (Revathi Ramanan, The Times of India 27 January 2011, p.1.)
II Diaspora
Indian diplomat in UK accused of assaulting wife: Anil Verma, a senior Indian diplomat at the high commission here, has been accused of assaulting his wife but he is escaping prosecution by British Police by claiming diplomatic immunity, media reports here said. Reports said Verma's wife's screams one night from their official residence in Golders Green, in the upmarket neighbourhood of Hampstead, was reported by neighbours to the police. The police confirmed they had been called in and questioned Verma but did not make an arrest. In Delhi, MEA spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said both the ministry and the high commission were looking into the incident, and treading carefully because of the sensitive and personal details involved. The reports said Verma attacked his wife after a heated exchange between them. (Ashis Ray, The Times of India 10 Jan. 2011, p.1)
III Global
US: 5000 birds fall from the sky, most dead: In a shocking incident in Arkansas, 100,000 drum fish washed up along the Arkansas river. Scientists say that a disease is likely to blame. On their own dead fish might not raise too many eyebrows. But a little more than 100 miles away, in Beebe, there was another animal mystery. Just before the stroke of midnight on New Year's eve, thousands of birds started falling from the sky. On roads, on roofs, on lawns, up to 5000 blackbirds fell within a one-mile area. Most of them were dead. Everybody is amazed at this happening. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission says this phenomenon is not as unusual as it might seem. The likely culprit is a lighting strike or high-altitude hail, possibly even fireworks. Investigators say there is no connection between the dead fish and dead birds. (http://ibnlive.in.com/news/us-5000-birds-fall-from-the-sky-most-dead/139349-2.html?from=tn accessed on 4 January 2011.)
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