मत विभाजनले मोर्चालाई कुनै फरक नपर्ने... ब्राइन मोक्तानको शव पाइयो.... पार्टीबाट निकालिएको होइन, पदमुक्त मात्र गरिएको हो-खाती ... Posts snatched, rift cloud on ABGL

मत विभाजनले मोर्चालाई कुनै फरक नपर्ने - पहाड़को निम्ति गर्नुपर्ने निर्णयमा सरकारको जिम्मा-डा.हर्कबहादुर छेत्री

मनोज वोगटी, कालिमन्युज, कालेबुङ, 26 अप्रेल। विधानसभा चुनाउ सकियो अब जनताको निर्णय हेर्न बॉंकी छ। सबै दलले आ-आफ्नो मुद्दालाई अघि राखेर चुनाउ लड्यो, तर पहाड़का सबै दलहरूमध्ये गोर्खा जनमुक्ति मोर्चा नै बलियो दल हो। कुन दलसित कति समर्थक छन्‌, यही चुनाउको परिणामले स्पष्ट पार्नेछ। लोकसभा चुनाउमा जसवन्त सिंहलाई जिताएर पठाउने मत यसपल्ट विभाजित भयो। लोकसभामा जनमत गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति देखिए पनि यसपटक विधानसभाले जनमत विविध मुद्दामा बॉंड़िएको देखाउने छ। तर यो कुरालाई मोर्चाले भने सोझै नकारेको छ। मोर्चा प्रवक्ता डा.हर्कबहादुर छेत्रीले यस सम्बन्धमा भने, जनता मोर्चासित छ। मत विभाजन नै भए पनि जोसित धेर जनमत छ सरकारले उसैसित वार्ता गर्नेछ। अहिलेसम्म जनमत विना नै 11 पल्ट वार्ता भयो, अब जनमत लिएर 12 औं वार्ता मोर्चाले नै गर्नेछ। 

यता मोर्चालाई विपक्षका नेताहरूले लगाउने सम्पूर्ण आक्षेपले उनीहरूको राजनैतिक अपरिपक्वता स्पष्ट पारेको बताउँदै तिनले भने, विधायकहरूले गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति केही गर्न सक्दैन भन्दैछ, तर यो त विधायक भएर गएपछि, काम गर्न थालेपछि नै थाहा हुने कुरा हो। मोर्चालाई जनमत नरहेको आक्षेप बङ्गालको माकपाले लगाइरहेको छ। यसकारण यो चुनाउ मोर्चाको जनमत देखाउने चुनाउ हो, यसैकारण नै आन्दोलनको अंशकोरूपमा मोर्चाले यो चुनाउलाई लिएको हो। तिनले मोर्चाले जनमत पाएर मोर्चाले अघि बुझाएकै प्रस्तावमाथि वार्तामा कुरा गर्छ त? भन्ने प्रश्न राख्दा तिनले भने, मोर्चा केवल गोर्खाल्याण्ड भन्छ। गोर्खाल्याण्ड बाहेक अरू कुरा मोर्चाले पटक्कै गर्ने छैन। तर मोर्चाले बुझाएको प्रस्ताव पनि नकार्न नमिल्ने प्रस्ताव हो। यसको प्रसङ्ग चुनाउ अघिसम्म थियो, अब परिस्थिति त्यो प्रस्तावमाथि कुरा गर्ने रहेन। पहाड़को निम्ति कस्तो व्यवस्था दिनुपर्ने हो, त्यो सरकारको कुरा हो। तिनलाई गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति  राजनैतिक एकताको परिवेश नरहेको सम्बन्धमा प्रश्न गर्दा भने,मोर्चाले प्रयास गरेको हो। 

तर आन्दोलन मोर्चाले गरिरहेको छ। सुवास घिसिङलाई मोर्चाले खेदायो। गोरामुमोलाई नचल्ने दुवानी मोर्चाले बनायो। जनतालाई सड़कमा मोर्चाले उतार्‍यो। शहीद मोर्चाकै कार्यकर्ता भए। कुटाई मोर्चाकै भुतपूर्व सैनिक कार्यकर्ताहरूले खाए, अरू दलहरूले के गरेको छ? तरै पनि हामीले उनीहरूलाई लिएर काम गर्ने प्रयास गरेकै हौं। जब आन्दोलन हुन्छ तब दलहरू एक हुन अनिवार्य हो तर यसको प्रयासमा मोर्चा असफल बन्यो। दलहरूले मोर्चालाई बुझ्न सकेन। यसमा मोर्चाको कुनै दोष छैन। अब मोर्चा धेरै अघि निस्किसकेको छ। पछि फर्केर दलहरूलाई हेर्नुपर्ने परिस्थिति छैन।

पार्टीबाट निकालिएको होइन, पदमुक्त मात्र गरिएको हो-खाती

मनोज वोगटी, कालिमन्युज, कालेबुङ, 26 अप्रेल। मदन तामङको हत्यापछि गोर्खालिगमा साङ्गठानिक दुर्वलता शुरू भएको पर्यवेक्षकहरूले ठानेको छ। यता लीगलाई आफ्नो स्वार्थको निम्ति प्रयोग गर्ने घटनाहरू पनि देखापरेको छ। भर्खर मात्र गोरामुमो नेता छिरिङ शेर्पाले पहाड़ छिर्नको निम्ति गोर्खालीगको पुच्छर समातेका थिए। तिनलाई मोर्चाले कालेबुङबाट निर्वासित गरेको थियो। गोर्खाल्याण्डको नाममा छैटौं अनुसूचीको वकालती अनि दागोपापमा व्यापक भ्रष्टचारको कारण गोरामुमो नेताहरूलाई पहाड़बाट खेदाउने कार्य भएको थियो। तीनवर्षपछि गोरामुमो नेताहरूले पहाड़ छिर्न मानवाधिकार आयोग, गोर्खालीग र विधानसभा चुनाउको सहारा लिएका थिए। 

मानवाधिकार आयोगको आड़मा गोरामुमो नेता दावा पाखरिन पहाड़ छिरेका थिए, जो अर्कै दल खोलेर बसेका छन्‌। सुवास घिसिङ लगायत अन्य धेरै नेताहरू यसै विधानभा चुनाउलाई ताकमा पारेर पहाड़ छिरेका थिए भने छिरिङ शेर्पा लीगमा लागेर पहाड़ छिरेका थिए। तिनले गोरामुमो नेताहरू चुनाउको सहारा पहाड़ छिर्ने वित्तिकै आफू लीगमा मन भुलाउनको निम्ति आएको बताएर लीगलाई आफ्नो स्वार्थको निम्ति दुरूपयोग गरेको स्पष्ट पारेका थिए। यसै पनि मदन तामङको हत्याको कारण लीगको दलीय धरातल निक्कै धरासयी बन्ने ठानिएको थियो तर मदन तामङसितै लीगमा डटेर बसेका कार्यकर्ताहरूले मदन तामङ कै पत्नीलाई पार्टीमा ल्याएर लीगको अस्तित्व कायम राखिएको छ। तर भर्खर नै चुनाउ सकेपछि लीगका कार्यकारी अध्यक्ष दावा शेर्पा अनि सचिव मनोज देवानलाई आफ्नो पदबाट हटाए पनि लीग फेरि चर्चामा आएको छ। लीगका केन्द्रिय सदस्य प्रताप खातीले भने, शेर्पा अनि देवानलाई पदमुक्त गर्दा धेरै कुराहरू भइरहेको छ। 

तर कुरा यो हो कि उनीहरूलाई पार्टीबाट निकालिएको होइन, पद मुक्त गरिएको हो। चुनाउ अवधी उनीहरूले पद अनुरूप कार्य गर्न नसकेकाले नै गणतान्त्रिक पार्टी लीगको केन्द्रिय समितिले उनीहरूलाई पदमुक्त गर्ने निर्णय गरेको हो। पत्रकारहरूले दलको केन्द्रिय नेतृत्वमा आइरहेको यस्ता हेरफेरले दललाई हानी पुग्दैन भन्ने प्रश्न गर्दा तिनले भने,लीगलाई कुनै हानी पुग्दैन, किन भने मदन तामङसित नै लीगको आचार संहिता अनि मुद्दालाई हेरेर कटिबद्धरूपले कार्य गरिरहेका कार्यकर्ताहरूले डटेर नै कार्य गरिरहेका छन्‌। यस्ता कार्यकर्ताहरूलाई पदमुक्त गरिएको थियो भने हानी हुन सक्थ्यो तर अहिलेको परिस्थिति यस्तो होइन। तिनले लीगले मुद्दा नफेर्ने अनि केवल गोर्खाल्याण्डको कुरा गर्ने बताउँदै मुद्दा फेर्नेहरूले प्राधिकरणको विरोध गर्दा लीग नेता मदन तामङको हत्या गरेको भए पनि लीगले आफ्नो राजनैतिक धर्मलाई अक्षुण्ण राख्ने बताउँदै भने, यसपाली जति पनि मत लीगले पाउने छ, त्यो गोर्खाल्याण्ड चहानेहरूको हुनेछ। जनाताको चहाना गोर्खाल्याण्ड रहेछ कि प्राधिकरण यो पनि यसपल्ट स्पष्ट हुनेछ।

ब्राइन मोक्तानको शव पाइयो

मनोज वोगटी, कालिमन्युज, कालेबुङ,  26 अप्रेल।चुनाउ आयो, गयो तर त्यही चुनाउको निम्ति कार्य गर्न गएका कालेबुङका चर्चित संगीतकार ब्राइन मोक्तान घर फर्किएनन्‌।  निखोज भएको आठ दिनपछि तिनी घर त फर्किए तर शवकोरूपमा। आज तिनको शव बाघपूल नजिक टिस्टा नदीमा तैरिरहेको अवस्थामा पाइयो। मानिसहरूले शव तैरिरहेको देखेपछि सेभोक थानालाई सूचित गरिएको थियो। 

खबर पाएपछि स्थानीय मानिसहरूको सहयोगमा बाघपूलदेखि डेड़ किलोमिटर तल मङपङछेउ टिस्टा नदीबाट पुलिसले शव उद्धार गर्‍यो। शव पाएको खबर पाएपछि कालेबुङबाट ब्राइन मोक्तानका निकटका मित्र उर्गेन लामा मिनी लगायत पॉंच जनाको टोली उद्धारस्थलमा पुगे। शव ब्राइन मोक्तानकै हो भन्ने कुरा शवको अनुहारबाट नचिनिएपनि मोक्तानले लगाएका पेन्ट र पेटीबाट चिनिएको थाहा लागेको छ।  मोक्तानको शव कालेबुङ महकुमा अस्पतालमा पोष्टमर्टमको निम्ति लगिएको छ।

Posts snatched, rift cloud on ABGL

VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, Darjeeling, April 26: The internal rift that led to the removal of the ABGL working president and general secretary from their posts has cast a shadow on the functioning of the party at a time it is looking to consolidate its base in the hills.

Till the resurgence of the GNLF a few weeks before the Assembly elections, the ABGL was the most visible rival of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in the hills.

Even now, observers believe that the party is likely to poll a high percentage of urban votes in the Assembly elections.

“We are confident of putting up a good show at least in the Darjeeling seat. We might even win this seat,” said ABGL vice-president Laxman Pradhan.

At this juncture, the ABGL’s announcement of the removal of two of its leaders from their posts — working president Dawa Sherpa and general secretary Manoj Dewan — could pose a new challenge to the party in consolidating its base, observers believe.

After a central committee meeting yesterday, Pradhan announced the removal, alleging that the two leaders had conducted the election campaigns irresponsibly.

“The central committee felt that the party’s working president and the general secretary had conducted the election campaigns irresponsibly. They did not fulfil the promises made to the candidates and following a written complaint from the candidates of Kurseong and Kalimpong, the party decided to remove them from their respective posts,” Pradhan said.

The ABGL had also alleged that Dawa Sherpa had skipped a public meeting at Kurseong despite being the main speaker and had kept himself aloof from the campaigns.

While the party had fielded Bharati Tamang from Darjeeling, S.K. Pradhan was its candidate in Kurseong and Tribhuwan Rai in Kalimpong. Bharati is the widow of former ABGL president Madan Tamang, who was hacked to death in broad daylight last year, allegedly by Morcha supporters.

Reacting to the charges, Dawa Sherpa said: “I joined the party when it was going through difficult times following the death of its leader. I helped revive the party to a large extent when it was rudderless and if this is how the family (Madan Tamang’s) and the party wants to treat me all I can say is thank you very much.”

Dawa Sherpa, who was with the BJP till he joined the ABGL in 2010 a few months after Tamang’s death, also said: “There are 26 members in the central committee and I do not know if the quorum of the meeting was fulfilled (while removing him from the post). Nevertheless, I just want to tell them that I don’t need the party if they don’t need me. I addressed public meetings at Bijanbari, Sukhiapokhri, Kaijhalay, Darjeeling and Kurseong and I did my best during the campaigns.”

Asked if he would reply to a showcause notice that the party intends to send him asking why his primary membership should not be taken away, Dawa Sherpa said: “If I receive such a show cause notice is will throw it in the dustbin.

Announcement for Kalimpong people 

Calcium and other tests done in Pensioner's Office near SDO's Office, Kalimpong on April 27 from 12 noon to 5 pm. For details contact: 9476156497

Ghising to visit Delhi, Bundh in hills

KalimNews: GNLF president Subhas Ghising will visit Delhi after the election result. He will meet P Chidambaram, Home Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Bundh to pay homage to Sathya Saibaba
KalimNews: GJM announced bundh in the hills to pay homage to Saibaba. In Darjeeling town bandh will be observed from morning till 1.30pm, however schools, colleges and offices as well movement of vehicles are exempted from the bundh, Roshan Giri, GJM general secretary said. In Kalimpong bundh for two hours was called by GJM but almost all the schools remain closed and most of the local vehicles observed bundh.Sikkim governor has declared holiday on Sathya Sai Baba's burial day.
Inputs from Decan herald: Three-hour-long rituals will mark Sathya Sai Baba’s last rites, with about 18 priests, of whom 12 arrived here on Tuesday and are already inside Prashanthi Nilayam, beginning the process with Ganapathi Homa and Dheksha Shubaramba.Besides, representatives of all religious groups, including Islam and Buddhism, will be present at Prashanthi Nilayam, where Sai Baba’s body will be lowered into a 6-9 foot-deep grave measuring six feet in length and three in width.
Emani Purushotham Avadhani, one of the priests, told Deccan Herald: “The rituals will be performed under the instructions of Kondukuri Kondavadhani, the chief priest and indications are that the process will begin by 7:30 am on Wednesday.” All pre-burial arrangements will be completed by Tuesday.
Wednesday’s rituals, which will be led by Baba’s nephew R J Ratnakar, will be completed by 11:30 am because the time after that, according to the Hindu calendar, is inauspicious.
Claiming that he felt privileged to have been chosen to perform the rituals for Sai Baba’s last rites, Avadhani said: “Not many people get the kind of rituals performed at their last rites, it requires them to be of special spiritual status for this. In my lifetime, I have only seen the Kanchi Jagadguru get such a send off.” The priests have arrived from Rajamundhry, Talarevu, Kabaleshwarapura and Dhraksharamacheru, all in Andhra Pradesh, and holy water has been brought here from the rivers Cauvery, Godavari and Saraswathi Theerthai.< Among the many rituals expected to be performed, Navadhanya Prakriya, readings from Yajur Veda, Avahana and Maha Avahana with which the ceremony would end, were some of the important ones, Avadhani said. Sources close to Sai Baba’s family told Deccan Herald that after Wednesday, the burial spot would remain as a mound for at least a week or so until the family observed the 11th day ritual and only then would the process of erecting a shrine begin. 
Hill singer’s body found

TT, Kalimpong, April 26: The body of singer-composer Brian Moktan was recovered from the bank of the Teesta near Sevoke Bazaar today, exactly a week after he jumped into the river off NH31A between Rambi and Kalijhora.

Police said the body was first noticed by some local people of Sevoke Bazaar around 9am. They immediately alerted the local police outpost. The police, in turn, relayed the message to Moktan’s family and friends. “I received a call from the police around 10.30am and immediately rushed to Sevoke with some friends. When we reached there, Brian’s body was lying face down on the riverbank. The face was barely recognisable, but we identified Brian from his pant, belt and vest,” said former footballer Urgen “Mini” Lama, a close friend of the popular hill singer.< The musician’s body was later brought to the Kalimpong sub-divisional hospital for post-mortem. A crowd had gathered at the hospital when the ambulance carrying the body arrived. “I was with Brian Sir a day before he left for Kurseong for election duty. And now to welcome him back in this manner,” said an emotional Kiran Chhetri, a young musician. Moktan had got down from a bus near Rambi on NH31A and then took a 20-feet plunge into the river at the end of a nearly two-hour drama on April 19. He was returning from Kurseong along with a team of polling officials after overseeing the voting there the previous day. The 58-year-old musician, also a schoolteacher, leaves behind him his wife, a married daughter, and a grandchild. The singer of “Jage jage sara raat”, Moktan is also the composer of hits like “Sambodan” and “Seer seer seer hawale” that were sung by Thupden Bhutia and Adrian Pradhan respectively. During his musical career spanning four decades, he also penned lyrics: the most popular among which are “Yaad timro auncha dillei beech ma” and “Sapani haruma”.

In fact, Moktan was collaborating with Kiran Chhetri for a new album when he died. “Brianjojo (elder brother) was very excited about the album. He was revisiting his unreleased compositions to see if they could be used in the new album. His death is a big loss for music in the hills. He was such an inspiration for us aspiring musicians,” said Manoj Tamang, another young musician. 

The PWB team in Darjeeling

Media correspondent, Darjeeling Times,  Darjeeling, April 26: Edith Wilkins Street Children Trust works with street children, child labourers, child trafficking victims, child victims of abuse as well as children who have dropped out of school, providing a variety of services – shelter, education, vocational training, medical support and counselling. Despite the change in the Child Labour Act in 2006, making it illegal to employ children under the age of 14 in hotels, restaurants and as child domestics, there continue to be hundreds of children engaged in child labour in Darjeeling.Performers Without Borders (PWB) works towards giving disadvantaged children the opportunity to explore their potential.

They teach circus and performing art to these children.EWSCT works to rehabilitate these children and help them return to school. The PWB team has been working with these children in our centre in Darjeeling for the last two weeks, and we at EWSCT can already see the benefits of this type of programme. The children are learning essential team work skills, communication skills and creativity; their confidence has increased – all while playing. 
Performers Without Borders (PWB) works towards giving disadvantaged children the opportunity to explore their potential.They teach circus and performing art to these children.(Photos: Rabin Rai)

The importance of play and games in child development has long been acknowledged, and the PWB project is a wonderful example of how fun and play can benefit children and aid in their development, particularly the marginalised and excluded children that we are working with. “I am sure the benefits of this project will continue to be seen well into the future.” – Emma Rai (Acting Director). “The children are fully engaged from the moment the team arrive and want to continue practicing even after they leave. They are all having a wonderful time, and learning so many new things.” (source: http://www.darjeelingtimes.com/main-news/general/2696-the-pwb-team-in-darjeeling.html)

Ivory in parcel seized at airport

TT, Guwahati, April 26: Customs sleuths today confiscated an Ahmedabad-bound parcel containing ivory at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport here.

“Acting on specific intelligence, officers of the anti-smuggling unit of Guwahati customs division seized three pieces of elephant tusk at Guwahati airport this morning,” S.R. Baruah, commissioner of customs (preventive), Northeast, said. “The consignment was booked under Speed Post parcel from Silapathar in Dhemaji district of Assam and it was destined for Ahmedabad,” he said.

The ivory pieces, weighing 3.450kg, were found concealed under paddy husk inside the Speed Post parcel.

The parcel was seized when it was about to be loaded into an Ahmedabad-bound Spicejet flight. The customs officials made the seizure in the presence of forest and postal officers. The customs department has registered a case under relevant provisions of the Customs Act and the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, but nobody has been arrested in this connection so far.

“The case is under investigation and the main culprits are likely to be apprehended very soon. The value of the tusk is estimated at Rs 10.35 lakh in the domestic market,” Baruah said. However, its value is likely to run into crores of rupees in the international market. Superintendent of customs (anti-smuggling) D.C. Bania said in the records of the postal department, the name of the consignee is Mahesh T. Shah of Choksi Bazar at Visnagar in Mehsana district of Gujarat. Customs sleuths suspect that the tusk is of an adult Asiatic elephant poached somewhere in the jungles of Arunachal Pradesh.”

AI pilot strike threat

TT: Around 800 Air India pilots have threatened to go on strike from Wednesday to demand pay parity. If late-night talks fail to break the deadlock, Air India’s domestic flights are likely to be affected first as the striking pilots belong to the erstwhile Indian Airlines. The airline, which has 1,200 pilots, is trying to rope in pilots from the management cadre as a contingency measure. The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) wants pay for recruits of the erstwhile Indian Airlines to be on a par with that of Air India.

Trial blast before the killer act

- Cops on the lookout for supplier of explosives

Prince Ghosh at the Malda court on Tuesday. Picture by Surajit Roy

TT, Malda, April 26: The arrested book bombers have told police that they had gone through every detail of their plot for a month, even carrying out a trial with an IED of weaker strength before sending the actual explosive through a hollowed-out book to the lady school teacher.

The teacher, Aparna Biswas, was killed after she opened the parcel supposedly containing books on Sunday, a few hours after it was delivered to her through a courier.

Police said Prince Ghosh and Rajkumar Rishi used chemicals like potassium nitrate and sulphur, common ingredients found in fireworks. An employee of a courier service in Gazole that had delivered the bomb parcel had contacted the police, giving them clues like Rishi’s mobile number, and helped them arrest the duo.

Malda police chief Bhuban Mondal today said it was Rajkumar who had devised the circuit of the unit that would cause the explosive to blow up once the parcel was tampered with.

Rajkumar was a television mechanic and a friend of Prince. Both of them had earlier worked at a servicing centre of a television manufacturing unit.

“The two used chemicals like potassium nitrate and sulphur that are common ingredients in fireworks. Prince had even borrowed Rs 14,000 from Rajkumar to carry out his plan. He has told us that about Rs 5,000 of that cash was still in his home in Old Malda’s Mangalbari. They devised a similar, but much smaller in scale, parcel and had carried out a trial at Prince’s house about 17 days before the woman was killed,” Mondal said.

The police chief said the area where Prince lived was relatively less populated and carrying out the trial explosion — the sound of which would have been very low in intensity — was not difficult at all. It was after the trial that they set upon putting together the “real” parcel bomb.

“They bought a second-hand book with over 600 pages from the court area for Rs 200, but we are yet to determine the title of the book or the author. They then used sharp razor blades to scoop out the middle of the tome. We recovered the mutilated portion of the book soon after the arrests were made,” the district police chief said.

The police said they were looking for the supplier of the explosives.

“We have come to know that a person called Munna had supplied the explosives. He is a resident of Sujapur and the Kaliachak police are on the lookout for him. A team of officers from the central intelligence branch have also come to investigate the parcel bomb case,” Mondal said

Prince, with whom the 26-year-old teacher had a relationship once, hatched the plot to murder her after she severed all ties with him one-and-a-half years ago when he slapped her on the bus.

The arrested duo were today produced before the court of the chief judicial magistrate here and remanded in police custody for 12 days.

They have been interrogated in phases by the investigating officers of the Englishbazar police as well as those belonging to the CID ever since they were picked up from the Chhoto Sujapur home of Rajkumar yesterday. They were also interrogated in the morning before being taken to court.

A cousin of the school teacher has told the police that Prince had accosted Aparna during the book fair here in January and had told her that he would kill her.

“Prince has studied up to Class VIII and yet he had got a job as a television mechanic with a reputed firm. This is a rarest of rare case, devising a parcel bomb to kill a former lover. Nowhere in the country has a plot like this been hatched for personal revenge,” Mondal said.

The Malda police have issued a directive to all courier companies in the district to strictly verify the contents of parcels in the presence of their clients before accepting them.

“The police cannot look into what the couriers are carrying. We are also grateful to the youth who delivered the fatal parcel as he contacted the police immediately after he heard of the incident,” the police chief said.
Life for child murder
TT, Siliguri, April 26: A resident of Nayabusty was given life sentence by the additional district and sessions’ judge of first court Siliguri today for murdering a 10-year-old boy about two years ago.
Avijit Sen, the assistant public prosecutor, said Sanju Munda of Nayabusty had gone missing on January 1, 2009. On the basis of a complaint lodged by his family, Manoj Sha was arrested January 3. During interrogation, Manoj confessed that he had murdered the boy because he wanted the bicycle that Sanju was riding. He had strangled the boy and hit him repeatedly. The court has also directed Manoj to pay a fine of Rs 1,000 or face further imprisonment of one month.
Body found
TT, Jaigaon: The body of a 40-year-old man was found in Bhagatpur tea garden in Nagrakata on Tuesday morning. The deceased has not been identified yet. The body bore marks of stab injuries and a bloodstained knife has been recovered from the spot, police said.
Train timings
TT, Siliguri: The 15651 Lohit Express scheduled to leave Guwahati on May 2, May 9 and May 16 at 1.15pm will leave the station at 2pm on those days. The 15653 Amarnath Express scheduled to leave Guwahati at 1.15pm on May 4 and May 11 will depart from the station at 2pm, said officials of the Northeast Frontier Railway.
Meal protest
TT, Siliguri: Students of Ghoghomali Primary School blocked the Eastern Bypass on Tuesday protesting the poor quality of mid-day meal served to them at the institution. The hour-long blockade was withdrawn around noon after police arrival.
Nine hurt
TT, Jaigaon: Nine persons were hurt when the car they were travelling in turned on its side near Birpara on NH31C on Monday. Police said the passengers were returning to Madarihat from a wedding at Banarhat. The injured have been admitted to the Birpara state general hospital.
Global Urban Vision – May 2011
(Compiled and Published by J.N. Manokaran (jnmanokaran@yahoo.com) on behalf of Glocal Resources Development Associates)
I India
1. India only 4th most corrupt in Asia Pacific: The Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd (PERC) rated India (4th) at 8.67 on a scale of zero to 10 with the high end being the worst case of corruption scenario and ahead of the Philippines (8.9 points), Indonesia (9.25 points) and Cambodia (9.27 points). Among the 16 countries reviewed in its latest report, Thailand was rated at 11 with a scale of 7.55, followed by China (7.93) and Vietnam (8.3). Comparatively, Singapore was given a clean sheet with a score of 0.37, followed by Hong Kong (1.10), Australia (1.39), Japan (1.90) and USA (2.39), putting them in the top five. In India, according to the report, civil and other local-level political leaders were found more corrupt than the national-level political leaders, with the former given a score of 9.25 and the latter slightly better at 8.97. Indian civil servants at the city level too were rated at 8.18, worst than the civil servants at the national level (7.76). The report also noted that the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry was worried that the problem of corruption and the way it was being treated in the media could seriously hurt India's international image and scare away potential investors. It takes two to tango and the level of corruption in the public sector would not be possible if there were not plenty of private businessmen willing to pay bribes and work the political system, said PERC. (http://ibnlive.in.com/news/india-only-4th-most-corrupt-in-asia-pacific/147476-3.html accessed on 29 March 2011.)
2. 17 murders in Gujarat temples, Ashrams in 5 years: There have been 17 murders and over 900 cases of theft and robbery in temples and ashrams across Gujarat in the past five years, Minister of State for Home Praful Patel said in the Gujarat Assembly. Also, there have been four cases of attempt to murder and 24 cases of attacks on temples and ashrams since October 2005 till September 30, 2010. In the last five years there have been 905 cases of theft, 30 cases of loot and 28 cases of robbery in temples and ashrams. (http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/17-murders-in-gujarat-temples-ashrams-in-5-years-95063 accessed on 30 March 2011.)
3. India short of vaccines against killer diseases: India was short by over 349 lakh doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT) in 2009-10 and nearly 300 lakh doses of TT vaccine that protects against tetanus and neonatal tetanus. India also required 1.42 lakh doses of the typhoid vaccine but there was no supply. While there was a demand for 133.47 lakh doses of the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella), there was "zero" supply. A production, demand and supply assessment by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence of all vaccines used in India in 2009-10 has shown that there was serious shortage of some crucial vaccines used in India. The report 'Vaccine-wise and institution-wise status of production, demand and supply 2009-10' said that when it came to the BCG vaccine against tuberculosis, Serum Institute of India (SII), Pune produced 1824.23 lakh doses in 2009-10 but there was supposedly "no demand". When it came to the DPT vaccine, In 2009-10 – SII, Pune (317 lakh doses), Human Biologicals Institute, Hyderabad (290 lakh doses), Shantha Biotechnics Ltd, Hyderabad (134.32 lakh doses) and Biologicals E Limited (594 lakhs). However, since Pasteur Institute of India, Coonoor and Central Research Institute, Kasauli weren't being allowed to produce vaccines, only 969 lakh doses were supplied against a demand of 1,318.72 lakh doses. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-short-of-vaccines-against-killer-diseases/articleshow/7854152.cms accessed on 3 April 2011.)
4. URLs in 7 regional languages soon: Seven Indian languages — Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu — have earned the distinction of becoming the only languages other than English, Russian and Arabic to support an entire web address written exclusively in them. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the body that governs website addresses, has allocated seven domain names in each of these languages that can be used for local websites. This makes India the only country to have eight domain extensions (besides ‘.in’ that already exists). India will also be the first to have a domain extension in Urdu, ahead of Pakistan, whose official language is Urdu. The government, has applied for similar allotments in other regional languages such as Malayalam, Marathi and Kannada. An internet user who is not an English-literate can now type the URL (Uniform Resource Locator), the global address of documents or resources on the World Wide Web, in any of the regional languages. For example, the Hindi edition of Yahoo can have ØæãêU.ÖæÚUÌ as its URL. (Sreejiraj Eluvangal, http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_urls-in-7-regional-languages-soon_1528401 accessed on 7 April 2011.)
5. Condom ad fuelling human trafficking? According to a report available with Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) figures, there are currently three million human trafficking victims in India - 1.2 million are children. National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) figures indicate that the average age of those who fall victim to human trafficking is between nine and thirteen years. There has been a staggering rise in the number of persons involved in human trafficking in the country - the figure has increased 17 times in the past decade. In a 3-day conference under the banner Coalition Against Trafficking of Women Asia- Pacific (CATW) it was discussed that a condom campaign is also a reason behind the increase in trafficking cases. The report also says that increasing mobile phone and internet penetration has given rise to forcefully engaging women and children into prostitution. According to recent findings, the maximum traffic coming to popular international porn websites is from India. Around 70 per cent traffic from India comes to these sites. Moreover the latest mobile applications are also used to access pornography websites, which has also led to an increase in demand for sex workers, leading to more trafficking. Victims and advocates from 25 countries, including India, Nepal, Philippines, Japan, South Korea and Australia, most of whom opposed legalising prostitution and punishment for 'buyers' in sex trade and demanded greater investment in welfare of girls and women from governments. (http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/apr/110411-news-delhi-NGO-suggest-Condom.htm accessed on 11 April 2011.)
6. SCs/STs form half of India's poor: Survey: The a pilot survey to identify the Below Poverty Line population found that SCs/STs were a mere 25% of the "non-poor households" who showed deprivation on some of the parameters -- ranging from housing to illiteracy to homelessness and destitution. The findings reiterate the long-held hypothesis that dalits are the most-underprivileged sections of population and the easiest marker of poverty. The pilot survey is significant given that results have come from the representative sample of 166 villages across 22 states. It will form the basis for the full-fledged survey to be conducted soon to identify the poor. (Subodh Ghildiyal, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/SCs/STs-form-half-of-Indias-poor-Survey/articleshow/7953487.cms accessed on 12 April 2011.)
7. Overused water cans, unhygienic storage remain concerns: Sales of bottled drinking water may be going up, but the water may not always be safe to drink. Often, the water refill cans are dirty, damaged or overused. The stickers on the cans may be of one brand, but the water inside could be of another, or worse, it could be just tap water. Or the water could get contaminated by unsafe storage practices. The can may be refilled only 35 times, but often, in practice, they are overused. The bottled drinking water industry in Chennai supplies four lakh litres of water, consisting of around 220 to 250 suppliers and 4,000 dealers. Experts say that the water will get contaminated if the plastic bottle is kept under direct sunlight for more than 38 hours. Some shopkeepers remove the sticker on the can and sell them, so we can never be sure if the correct brand is returned to the supplier. As per BIS norms, refilling cans of other brands in a BIS certified plant is an offence. (Mahalingam Ponnusamy, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Overused-water-cans-unhygienic-storage-remain-concerns/articleshow/7952590.cms accessed on 12 April 2011.)
8. Chennai: Power cuts for one hour during day for domestic consumers: Summers are set to get tougher for people in Chennai as there are going to be one-hour long power cuts during the day for domestic consumers in the city. For the rest of Tamil Nadu, however, there are going to be 3-hour long power cuts during day. The Tamil Nadu govt has assured people that the situation will ease in a few weeks. (http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/chennai-power-cuts-for-one-hour-during-day-for-domestic-consumers-100571 accessed on 21 April 2011.)
9. A New Skyline: 20 cities in India are expected to grow as new trendsetters by the year 2030, according to a study conducted by Mckinsey Global Institute. The cities are: Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara, Nashik, Indore, Bhopal, Kochi, Agra, Kanpur, Patna, Asansol, Varanasi, Lucknow, Visakhapatnam, Nagpur, Coimbatore and Madurai. The combined population of these 20 cities would be 66 million by 2030. (Shirish Sankhe and Sunali Rohra, India Today 2 May 2011, p. 44-45)
10. India 5th most powerful nation, says govt index: India is the fifth most powerful country in the world in the hierarchy of top 50 nations identified on the basis of their GDP; says the latest national security index (NSI) designed by the country's foremost security and economic experts. According to Foundation for National Security Research the NSI is based on an assessment of defence capability, economic strength, effective population, technological capability and energy security of the top 50 countries. The US is at the top of the list on the basis of these criteria followed by China, Japan and Russia. South Korea emerged as the sixth most powerful nation followed by Norway, Germany, France and UK. While India ranked third in the case of population and fourth in terms of defence capabilities, it was at the 34th position in technology and 33rd in energy security. Only US, China and Russia are ranked higher than India in defence capability. In economic strength, India ranked seventh. Out of the five criteria, maximum weightage was given to defence capabilities at 30%. Economic strength, technology and effective population had weightage of 20% each. Energy security had the remaining 10%. China ranked first in the assessment of effective population which was calculated on the basis of three variables -- size of population between 15 and 64, size of population educated up to secondary level and above and human development index based on UNDP reports. The US is at the second position in effective population category. Norway's high position was attributed to its number one position in the field of energy security. The NSI said some of the most powerful countries in the world were not necessarily energy self-reliant. (Sachin Parashar, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-5th-most-powerful-nation-says-govt-index/articleshow/7967651.cms accessed on 13 April 2011.)
11. Woman athlete loses leg after being ‘thrown out' of train: Sonu Sinha alias Arunima Sinha, a 20-year-old State-level athlete, lost a leg when she was reportedly thrown out of a running train. Railway police sources said the tragedy followed an incident of eve-teasing about 15 km from the Bareilly railway station in Uttar Pradesh. The girl boarded the train to go to Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida) for appearing in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) entrance examination. According to the police officer, interrogation of the girl revealed that she boarded the general compartment of Padmawat Express at around 12.40 p.m. on Tuesday for Noida, where she was to take the entrance test. A couple of hours when the train was nearing Bareilly a dispute erupted between two persons sitting next to her. Soon the two persons started trading blows. In the melee someone tried to snatch the girl's chain, following which she lost her balance and fell from the running train. (Atiq Khan, http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/14/stories/2011041464311500.htm accessed on 14 April 2011.)
12. India BPO industry suffers 55% attrition: The study released by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) blamed the high turnover rate on bad working hours and a perceived lack of long-term career growth for the 55% attrition rate in India’s Business Process Outsourcing sector. Between December 2010 and April 2011, the attrition rate in the BPO industry increased to 55 per cent from 40 per cent during the same period a year earlier, Assocham said. The sector is also facing serious challenges such as a shortage of skilled workers, the study said. US and other foreign firms, drawn by India's English-speaking workforce and lower costs than in the West, have farmed out a wide range of jobs from answering bank client calls to processing insurance claims and equity analysis. Worst hit by the turnover problems are the pharmaceutical and financial services industries, which have an attrition rate of 60 per cent, the study said. The job retention crunch comes as India's BPO industry faces stiff competition from countries such as Mexico, Philippines, Malaysia, China, Canada and Ireland, the study noted. The Indian outsourcing sector directly employs 2.54 million workers and accounts for 6.4 per cent of the country's gross domestic product. India recently lost its crown to the Philippines as the call centre capital of the world. But India continues to lead the overall global outsourcing market, increasing its share to 55 per cent in 2010, up from 51 per cent the previous year. (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/business/industry/india-bpo-industry-suffers-55-attrition-277 accessed on 15 April 2011.)
13. Office water to blame for health officials' illness? 70 employees of the Directorate of Health Services (DHS), which is charged with ensuring the good health of residents of the state of Maharashtra, have fallen sick themselves, allegedly because of drinking contaminated water in office. The problem began in October last year, when employees complained that the water in their office was not fit for drinking. They sent some samples of the water in the coolers to the state testing laboratory in Thane and the report said that it was unfit for drinking as it had a high concentration of coliform and thermotolerent microorganisms, which can cause gastroenteritis. Notices were then pasted near the coolers, warning employees against using the water for drinking. DHS officials then switched to packaged drinking water to meet the employees' needs, but a recent laboratory report has proved that even that was unfit for drinking. Of the 15 water samples collected on March 18, five were found unfit for drinking, while out of 14 collected on March 30, six were found contaminated. These tests were also conducted by the state testing laboratory in Thane. Nearly 70 people out of DHS' 350 employees have fallen ill since October and they blame their illness on the water. "After falling ill because of the water in the office, I have started carrying boiled water from home," said an employee. (Priyanka Vora, http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/apr/160411-DHS-Office-water-health-illness-mumbai.htm accessed on 16 April 2011.)
14. India has highest number of stillbirths: Lancet report: India figures at the top of 10 countries that have the highest number of stillbirths, according to the Stillbirth series published in the British medical journal, The Lancet. As high as 66 per cent (1.8 million) stillbirths in the world occur in just 10 countries. India is followed by Pakistan, Nigeria, China, Bangladesh, Congo, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Afghanistan and Tanzania. The top five — India, Pakistan, Nigeria, China and Bangladesh — alone represented half of all stillbirths worldwide. In India, the stillbirth rates varied from 20 to 66 per 1,000 total births in different States. China has made some progress over the years to reduce its figure. Almost half of all stillbirths, 1.2 million, happen when the woman is in labour. These deaths are directly related to the lack of skilled care at this critical time for mothers and babies. Two-thirds occur in rural areas, where skilled birth attendants — midwives and physicians in particular — are not always available for essential care during childbirth and for obstetric emergencies, including Caesarean section. About 2.6 million stillbirths occurred worldwide in 2009. Every day, more than 7,200 babies are stillborn — 98 per cent of these occur in low and middle-income countries. These deaths occur mainly during the last trimester of pregnancy (after 28 weeks' gestation). Of these 2.6 million, approximately 1.2 million stillbirths occur during birth (intrapartum) and 1.4 million before birth (antepartum). Most intrapartum stillbirths are associated with obstetric emergencies (childbirth complications). In high-income countries, obesity, smoking, and advanced maternal age are among the big risk factors. Childbirth complications, maternal infections in pregnancy, maternal disorders, especially hypertension and diabetes, foetal growth restriction, and congenital abnormalities are the biggest reasons for stillbirths. The overall number of stillbirths fell from an estimated 3.03 million in 1995 to 2.64 million in 2009.The global rate has been reduced from 22 stillbirths per 1,000 total births to 19. Analyses suggested that stillbirths had decreased by 1.1 per cent per year since 1995, lower than the 2.3 per cent annual reduction rate in child under-five mortality, and 2.5 per cent annual reduction in maternal mortality. (Aarti Dhar, http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/15/stories/2011041564151000.htm accessed on 15 April 2011.)
15. Funds meant for Maharashtra tribals diverted: Of the 36.15 lakh families below poverty line (BPL) in the state, more than 7 lakh or 19.89% families are from tribal communities, while 1.80 lakh families do not even earn Rs250 per month. Though 91.11% of the tribals live below the poverty line, the state government has not made adequate provision in its budget. In fact, it diverted part of the sum of Rs8,074 crore, which was meant for tribal welfare, to other departments in the last 18 years. Tribal communities form 9% of the state population and the budgetary allocation on the schemes meant for them is expected to be 9% of the state budget. However, it does not exceed 3% of the total budget. The records show that the government could not have spent the entire budgetary allocation in the last 10 years. The state of the education and health services is so poor among the tribals that the illiteracy and mortality rate among them is higher than that of the general population. Infant foeticide (73.6 per 1,000) and infant mortality rate among the tribals are also high. Nearly 64.2% of the tribal women are anaemic, while 35.4% children are below their average weight. (http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_funds-meant-for-maharashtra-tribals-diverted_1533431 accessed on 19 April 2011.)
16. From rags to ditches: The Delhi government’s push towards corporatisation of door-to-door collection of 8,000 tonnes of solid municipal waste has been formulated with scant regard for the city’s 3.5 lakh waste pickers. Or for the neighbourhoods where this waste is to be incinerated in waste-to-energy plants. Though 80 percent of waste collection has been contracted to corporates by the authorities, there is still a large unorganised sector working on the streets to keep Delhi clean. Their livelihood hovers in a grey area created by legal semantics and the question of ownership. Delhi’s municipal waste consists of 40 percent organic, 30 percent recyclable and 20 percent inert material. The responsibility to collect, segregate and transport waste from garbage dumps to landfills has never been shouldered satisfactorily by the civic authorities. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is responsible for 95 percent of the city, 3 percent is with the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and 2 percent with the Cantonment Board. Since the segregation of waste by households never took off, this task is performed by the underprivileged, those who make their living from picking out paper, plastic, bottles and other recyclable waste that can be sold for a price. It is this vulnerable section of our society that is now under threat from the organised sector. Instead of a humane system that would incorporate or rehabilitate waste pickers, a clash of interests has been created. On one side, the five contracted companies — Delhi Waste Management (DWM), ABG Enviro, Metro Waste, Ramky and Delhi MSW Solutions — are looking to maximise profits by taking over the waste business, and on the other is the livelihood of 3.5 lakh waste pickers, already so precarious. Of the 330 tonnes of waste produced in the NDMC areas daily, 80 tonnes is recyclable, if we apply a flat rate of Rs 5 for every kg, 80 tonnes will generate a daily income of Rs 4 lakh, a monthly income of Rs 1.2 crore and a yearly income of Rs 14.45 crore. That is for just 3 percent of Delhi’s waste. Most of Delhi’s waste pickers earn Rs 150- Rs 250 a day. With families unable to survive on a single income, waste picking has become a family business. It seems bizarre that the government can spend Rs 1.5 lakh on a fingerprint scanner, Rs 40,000 on a GPS tracker and Rs 40,000 a month on an unused tractor but can’t give Kumar his wage of Rs 5,850. Waste pickers are the tiny cogs in the wheel that sustains our city. Unseen, unheard, they keep our city clean, but are an exploited lot. Who will fight for their rights and make them stakeholders in an industry that had sustained them? Delhi, fast running out of landfills, wants to kill two birds with one stone by producing electricity from municipal waste. So the Jindal group has been allowed to set up a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant that will generate 16 MW by processing 1,950 tonnes of waste a day. Waste will be segregated, dried and burnt. A company executive suggests waste volume will be reduced by 90 percent and the ash residue (10 percent) will be used to make bricks. The upcoming plant at Okhla is surrounded by Jamia Milia Islamia, three hospitals — Apollo, Holy Family and Fortis Escorts — and five residential colonies with roughly six lakh residents. As the rich get richer, it will be at the cost of the waste pickers and their families. Civil society groups believe if households segregate waste at source, the waste pickers could be organised into a cooperative to collect waste door to door and ensure that nonbiodegradable waste is properly recycled. Organic waste should be composted locally at a colony or block level. That would leave only the 20 percent inert waste to be transported to a landfill. (Avalok Langar, Tehelka 23 April 2011, p.14-17.)
17. Corporation seizes 38,750 substandard water sachets in Chennai: In a massive exercise across the city on 20 April 2011, the Chennai Corporation's public health department seized 38,750 substandard water sachets from several residential colonies. The sachets were later destroyed at the notified dumping yards, an official press release said. Local assistant health officers led a team of officials, including sanitary officers, conservancy inspectors and conservancy workers, and visited petty shops. The team also found that 203 water cans, and 795 artificially-flavoured juices and buttermilk sachets were of substandard quality. They also were destroyed at the dump sites. The raids took place in Tondiarpet, Washermenpet, Royapuram, Vysarpadi, Perambur and Pulianthope in north Chennai, Anna Nagar, Aminjikarai and Virugambakkam in the Kilpauk zone, besides Adyar, Mandaveli, Saidapet, Mylapore, Velachery and T Nagar in south Chennai. More than 300 shops were targeted. Many of the sachets didn't have the date of manufacturing, 'best before use' date and batch number of the product printed on the wrapper. "The packaged water was found to be unfit for consumption and 32 samples were lifted for tests at Public Analyst Laboratory," said an official. The officials also seized 795 kg of contaminated food sold in road-side eateries. The corporation has requested the public to look for details like date of manufacturing, batch number and best-before-use date on the wrappers before purchase. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Corporation-seizes-38750-substandard-water-sachets-in-Chennai/articleshow/8043442.cms accessed on 21 April 2011.)
18. Madhya Pradesh govt's move on Gita Saar inclusion in syllabi draws flak: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's directive to introduce Gita Saar in school curriculum has not gone down well with the main Opposition Congress which has termed the move as an attempt to saffronise the education system in the state. He has also instructed the officials to add stories of valour of the freedom fighters like Tantya Bheel and Nayak Shankar Shah Raghunath Shah. The Christian community also seemed to be not pleased with the move. Archbishop of Bhopal, Father Leo Cornelio said, "the directives to introduce Geeta Saar in the school curriculum is again an unnecessary interference on the part of the state government in the education system." Earlier also they introduced Surya Namaskar in the system as part of their saffron agenda, following opposition from minority institutions, the participation in the Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation exercise) was made voluntary by the government.( http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_madhya-pradesh-govt-s-move-on-gita-saar-inclusion-in-syllabi-draws-flak_1534747 accessed on 22 April 2011.)
19. Treasure Hunt: There's money in teaching. This simple fact, long known to tuition teachers, proprietors of coaching classes, trusts that run private schools, and politicians who have set up private colleges, has finally dawned on the corporate world. All kinds of private players, led by venture capital, or VC, firms and private equity, or PE, funds are making a beeline for this sector. Over 140 m children study in government run primary schools. 60-70 m children in private primary schools. 142 m children do not go to school. 10-15 m children go to government run secondary schools, while 25-30 m children go to private secondary schools. There are 6 m college students, and most colleges are private. The size of India's private education sector, including the coaching classes segment, is estimated at around $40 billion or Rs 1.84 trillion (1 trillion equals 100,000 crore) already, with school education - the kindergarten to Class 12, or K12, segment - comprising half the amount, and higher education, including vocational education, the other half. It is now set to grow even bigger with the entry of corporate funding. Flush with money, the recipients are thinking big - planning not one or two new schools, but big chains with corporate-style management. For children and parents, still, it is the quality and reputation of institutions that matter most. Which is why every city has its handful of iconic schools, and there is such a mad rush for admissions into those few schools every academic year. The message is clear: no matter what the input sources or resources are, it is the output that matters.( E. Kumar Sharma, Business Today 1 May 2011, p. 64-68.)
20. Working women of Haridwar village face panchayat's wrath: Working women of Sarai village in Uttarakhand's Haridwar district have come under the wrath of a local panchayat which issued a diktat prohibiting them from pursuing jobs. The panchayat imposed a penalty of Rs5,100 if anybody violated its order, besides four lashes in public as punishment. Taking a serious note of the matter, Uttarakhand Women's Commission has directed the district magistrate and senior superintendent of police to initiate action against the culprits. About 60 women from the village work in various industrial units in Sidcul in Haridwar. (http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_working-women-of-haridwar-village-face-panchayat-s-wrath_1535068 accessed on 23 April 2011.)
21. Court allows two girl friends to live together: A division bench of the Chhattisgarh High Court, based at Bilaspur, ruled Thursday that Khusbu Jaiswal, a girl from Gondia of Maharashtra, can live with a person of her choice. The court also ordered authorities to give security to Khusbu and her Raipur-based friend Neha Singhania, 23 after they informed the court of their intention to live together and that they were not interested to live with their parents anymore. The court gave the rulings when Khusbu wrote to Neha, saying she had been virtually confined by her parents after they came to know about the relationship. Neha moved to high court with a habeas corpus petition and Khusbu was produced in the court, (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/north/court-allows-two-girl-friends-live-together-400 accessed on 23 April 2011.)
22. India ranks 14th on list of 37 in internet freedom:In its latest report on the state of internet, Freedom House — a US-based organization monitoring democratic changes, human rights and freedom of speech — ranked India 14th among 37 countries that were assessed on the basis of free and unrestricted access to the web. Estonia topped the list. According to the report, the internet is only "partly free" in India — even though there is no substantial political censorship, bloggers and online users have been arrested in the last two years. Among Asian countries, India ranks second. The country scored 36 on a scale of 100. South Korea (32) topped in the continent. In 2009, India's score was 34. "In the past, instances of the central government seeking to control communication technologies were relatively rare. However, following the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai and with an expanding Maoist insurgency, the need, desire, and ability of the Indian government to control the communications sector have grown," the report states. As far as global trends are concerned, in democratic countries like Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, and the UK, internet freedom is increasingly undermined by legal harassment, opaque censorship procedures, or expanding surveillance. The report talks about wide gulf between urban and rural areas when it comes to internet penetration in India. "There is a pronounced urban-rural divide, with an approximate rural user base of just 6.46 million, and only 4.18 million active users. It indicates there are approximately 10 times more urban internet users than rural internet users in India," it adds. (Javed Anver, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-ranks-14th-on-list-of-37-in-internet-freedom/articleshow/8069061.cms accessed on 24 April 2011.)
23. Ladies, mind your heart: Over the past decade, heart diseases have overtaken all forms of cancer to become the leading cause of death among women in India, say cardiologists. According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular disease (CVD) will kill more women than men in India by 2040. At the Christian Medical College, Vellore, a total of 251 women were treated in its cardiology unit last year, the figure, he says, is higher than previous years and is only increasing. At the Fortis-Escorts Heart Institute, New Delhi, for every 100 patients admitted from 2006 to 2010, around 25 were women. (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/ladies-mind-your-heart/780153/ accessed on 23 April 2011.)
24. ‘Less was spent on education, health in 11th 5-year plan’: India did not spent enough for the poor despite a commitment being made in the 11th five year plan. Health, education, women and children and agriculture got much less allocation than what the UPA government had promised. Infrastructure sectors ate into the funds meant for the social sector, except rural development. Both, health and education got just 60% of the funds projected for these sectors in the 11th plan. Health got Rs 75,533 crore as against the target of Rs 1,23,900 crore. Education got Rs 1,42,659 crore, while the target was 2,38,600 crore. Women and child development managed Rs 34,982 crore against the target of Rs 48,420 crore, primarily on account of increase in allowances of anganwadi workers. The plan panel had assured a modest Rs 54,800 crore for agriculture, but was able to provide just Rs 43,583 crore. And most of that money came in the last two years of the plan, primarily to fight drought and its after effects. However, infrastructure sector received more: The urban development sector got Rs 23,312 crore as against Rs 14,261 promised. Railway got about Rs 18,000 crore more than the target in the plan period. The social sector also suffered in allocations because of an 8 % to 12 % increase in the government’s salary and pension bill and non-plan expenditure rising by about 14 %. (Chetan Chauhan, http://www.hindustantimes.com/Less-was-spent-on-education-health-in-11th-5-year-plan/H1-Article1-688503.aspx accessed on 24 April 2011.)
II Diaspora
1. Another malady, another Pulitzer: Indian Doc's book on cancer wins prize: She is an interpreter of maladies. He's the biographer of one of the great maladies of all time. Dr Siddharth Mukherjee, a New Delhi-born oncologist, has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his book "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer," more than a decade after Jhumpa Lahiri won the prize for her similarly-titled collection of short stories. While the New York-based Lahiri won the 2000 Pulitzer for fiction, Dr Mukherjee, 41, who also lives in Big Apple, has been awarded the 2011 prize for general non-fiction. In its citation, the Pulitzer committee described the book, which has won rave reviews, as "an elegant inquiry, at once clinical and personal, into the long history of an insidious disease that, despite treatment breakthroughs, still bedevils medical science." Mukherjee joins a growing band of Indian-origin physicians who seem endowed with literary DNA. Among them, Dr Abraham Verghese, who began his writing career in the late 1980s with "My Own Country: A Doctor's story," which centered on the AIDS in the US, Dr Atul Gawande, a staff writer for the New Yorker and most recently author of 'The Checklist Manifesto," and Dr Deepak Chopra, the new age spiritual guru of mind-body dynamics, whose books are numerous. Mukherjee, who is currently serving as Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University and is also a staff cancer physician at Columbia University Medical Center, began his writing career more recently after an encounter with a patient who had stomach cancer, who told him she was willing to go on fighting, but she needed to know what she was battling. He couldn't point her to a book that could explain cancer, and he began writing as an answer to her query. Mukherjee tells the stories of several cancer patients and survivors, while recognizing pioneering researchers, including the breakthrough provided by the Indian scientist, Yellapragada Subba Rao (1895-1948) who synthesized the Folic Acid for the first antifolate clinical trials conducted by Sidney Farber, who initiated the treatment of childhood leukemia. Largely unrecognized and forgotten both in India and in the US (where he spent much of his career), Subba Rao is also credited with developing Methotrexate, one of the first cancer chemotherapy agents and still in widespread clinical use. In his book, Mukherjee muses about why Subba Rao, who came from the provincial town of Bhimavaram in Andhra Pradesh, never got his due (his peers won the Nobel), describing him as "a reclusive, nocturnal, heavily accented vegetarian who lived in a one-room apartment downtown, befriended only by other nocturnal recluses." Mukherjee came from a slightly different India to a more welcoming US. After schooling in New Delhi (St. Columba's, five years junior to Shah Rukh Khan), he went on to major in biology at Stanford University, before winning a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University where he earned a Ph.D. in immunology. After graduation, he attended Harvard Medical School to train as an internist and won an oncology fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is married to the artist Sarah Sze, who is herself an accomplished sculptor and a recipient of the 2003 MacArthur Fellows "genius grant."
Incidentally, Lahiri and Mukherjee are not the first Pulitzer winners of Indian-origin. That honor belongs to Gobind Bihari Lal, a US-based science writer (and contemporary of Subba Rao), who shared the 1937 Pulitzer with three other Americans "for their coverage of science at the tercentenary of Harvard University," -- the same university which denied Subba Rao a regular faculty position forcing him to go work at Lederle Laboratories. Although the Pulitzer award carries a modest prize of $10,000, the book will get another publicity bump, adding to the already significant critical acclaim. Published by Simon and Schuster in 2010, it was nominated as a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist and made the Top Ten list under various categories in The New York Times, Time magazine and The Oprah magazine. Among the finalists Mukherjee pipped in non-fiction category were Nicholas Carr for "The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brain," and SC Gwynne for "Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History." (Chidanand Rajghatta, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Another-malady-another-Pulitzer-Indian-Docs-book-on-cancer-wins-prize/articleshow/8029070.cms accessed on 20 April 2011.)
2. Indians add to TB numbers in UK: Half of all tuberculosis cases in the UK are among newly-arrived immigrants from the Indian subcontinent, reports The Lancet Infectious Diseases. One in five immigrants from the subcontinent and one in three from sub-Saharan Africa carry latent TB to the UK, says the study. Around 430,000 Indians, including visitors, go to the UK every year. UK's TB rates almost doubled between 1998 and 2009, largely because 75% of the 9,000 infections are among the rising numbers of foreign-born immigrants. UK policy requires all immigrants from countries with an incidence higher than 40 per 100,000 to get a chest X-ray on arrival for active TB, but detection is just 0.01%. Unlike immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa, those from the subcontinent are not screened for latent TB.Tuberculosis occurs in 185 per 100,000 people in India, said WHO's global TB report, 2009. (Sanchita Sharma, http://www.hindustantimes.com/Indians-add-to-TB-numbers-in-UK/H1-Article1-687742.aspx accessed on 21 April 2011.)
3. Hindus find a Ganges in Queens: A pair of pilgrims lighted incense on the shore and dropped two coconuts into the sacred waters, otherwise known as Jamaica Bay. The shells bobbed in the surf, not far from clay bowls, rotting limes and waterlogged rags that had washed back ashore, flotsam from previous Hindu ceremonies to mark festivals, births, deaths and everything in between. As the Hindu population has grown in Queens over the last decade, so too has the amount of ritual debris -- clothing, statues, even cremation ashes -- lining the banks of the bay in Gateway National Recreation Area. "We call it the Ganges," one pilgrim, said as he finished his prayers. "She takes away your sickness, your pain, your suffering." But to the park rangers who patrol the beach, the holy waters are a fragile habitat, the offerings are trash and the littered shores are a federal preserve that must be kept clean for picnickers, fishermen and kayakers. Unlike the Ganges, they say, the enclosed bay does not sweep the refuse away. Park officials, wary of dictating matters of faith, have reached out to Hindu temples, gently encouraging members to pray at the waters but to leave nothing there for the gods. And many Hindus have obliged. But as new immigrants arrive, unaware of the rules, and others refuse to change their ways, park rangers have intermittently forsaken good-cop sensitivity for bad-cop force: installing signs, closing the parking lot at night and threatening to hand out $75 fines, to little avail. Cremated remains are a particularly touchy subject. The scattering of ashes in water is among Hinduism's most sacred rituals, necessary for a successful transition to the next life. The practice has drawn concern from park officials; they issue special permits for spreading ashes on a case-by-base basis, but Hindu leaders acknowledge that some bereaved families do not wait for permission. While some go to the Rockaways or Ferry Point Park, the most popular spot is the beach near North Channel Bridge. The waters there are not nearly as dirty as the Ganges, which is thick with factory runoff, untreated sewage and, of course, religious offerings. But some Hindu leaders have embraced the park rangers' message that their offerings threaten the bay. (Sam Dolnick, http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/hindus-find-a-ganges-in-queens-100711 accessed on 22 April 2011.)
III Global
1. Youngsters suffer from gadget withdrawal symptoms: Today's tech-savvy youngsters seem to so obsessed with laptops and mobiles that they suffer from gadget withdrawal symptoms that are comparable with those of drug addicts going "cold turkey" when deprived of their modern devices, a new study has found. Researchers found 79 per cent of students subjected to a complete media blackout for just one day reported adverse reactions ranging from distress to confusion and isolation. In vivid accounts, they told of overwhelming cravings, with one saying they were "itching like a crackhead". The study focused on people aged between 17 and 23 in ten countries, including the UK, where about 150 students at Bournemouth University spent some 24 hours banned from using phones, social networking sites, the Internet and TV. They were allowed to use landline phones or read books and were asked to keep a diary. One in five reported feelings of withdrawal akin to an addiction while 11 per cent said they were confused or felt like a failure. Nearly one in five (some 19 per cent) reported feelings of distress and 11 per cent felt isolated. Just 21 per cent said they could feel the benefits of being unplugged. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/personal-tech/computing/Youngsters-suffer-from-gadget-withdrawal-symptoms/articleshow/7915555.cms accessed on 9 April 2011.)
2. China speaks better English than India: study: Emerging market giant China has pipped neighbouring rival India in English language proficiency skills, despite the South Asian nation's strong anglophone tradition, according to a new study. Both countries were given a 'low-proficiency' score, with China standing 29th, one place ahead of India in a list of 44 countries rated according to an English proficiency index. The study was carried out by EF Education (EF), the world's largest privately held education company that specialises in language training and other education areas. A large English-speaking population has been one of the key factors behind the boom in outsourcing to India which has seen Western companies set up IT back-up or call centres in cities such as Bangalore and Hyderabad. But numerous experts have warned that India is losing this linguistic edge to its giant neighbour which is pouring far more resources into English-language teaching. Nevertheless the findings published earlier this month were similar to a 2009 British Council report that highlighted a 'huge shortage' of English teachers and quality institutions in India.The report concluded that China 'may already have more people who speak English than India'. And India's own National Knowledge Commission has admitted that no more than one percent of the population uses English as a second language. The EF study said there were currently more than 100,000 native English speaking teachers working in China where the private English training market is estimated to be worth three billion dollars. Out of 44 countries rated in the EF index, Norway boasted the highest level of English proficiency, while Kazakhstan was at the bottom of the list. (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/world/asia/china-speaks-better-english-india-study-708 accessed on 9 April 2011.)
3. Medical errors in top 10 killers: WHO: World Health Organization believes that one in 10 hospital admissions leads to an adverse event and one in 300 admissions in death. An adverse event could range from the patient having to spend an extra day in hospital or missing a dose of medicine. Unintended medical errors are a big threat to patient safety. Although there is no Indian data available on this topic, WHO lists it among the top 10 killers in the world. While a British National Health System survey in 2009 reported that 15% of its patients were misdiagnosed, an American study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2000 quantified this problem most effectively. It said that there are 2,000 deaths every year from unnecessary surgery; 7,000 deaths from medication errors in hospitals; 20,000 from other errors in hospitals; 80,000 from infections in hospitals; and 106,000 deaths every year from non-error, adverse effects of medications. In all, 225,000 deaths occur per year in the US due to unintentional medical errors. In the western nations, it is believed that the incidence of unintentional medical errors is between 10% and 17% of all cases. One of Indian studies had shown unsafe practices associated with 70% of the injections administered in our country. One in 10 patients is harmed while receiving hospital care. The risk of health care-associated infection in some developing countries is as much as 20 times higher than in developed countries. At any given time, 1.4 million people worldwide suffer from infections acquired in hospitals. At least 50% of medical equipment in developing countries is unusable or only partly usable. Often the equipment is not used due to lack of skills or commodities. As a result, diagnostic procedures or treatments cannot be performed. This leads to substandard or hazardous diagnosis or treatment that can pose a threat to the safety of patients and may result in serious injury or death. In some countries, the proportion of injections given with syringes or needles reused without sterilization is as high as 70%. This exposes millions of people to infections. Each year, unsafe injections cause 1.3 million deaths, primarily due to transmission of blood-borne pathogens such as hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and HIV. Over 100 million people require surgical treatment every year. Problems associated with surgical safety in developed countries account for half of the avoidable adverse events that result in death or disability. There is a one in 1,000,000 chance of a traveller being harmed while in an aircraft. In comparison, there is a one in 300 chance of a patient being harmed while being given health care. (Malathy Iyer, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Medical-errors-in-top-10-killers-WHO/articleshow/8032059.cms accessed on 20 April 2011.)
4. China among top six international edu destinations: China joined the big league becoming one of the top six nations to host international students on its land. South Korea continued to send the maximum number of students (27.1%) to China, but the surprise entrant, a close second was the US. When this decade opened, China was not on any student's radar; now, most are studying humanities, followed by medicine. But fresh data put together by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development shows that there are as many international students in China as there are in Australia or in Germany. It sits there in the company of giants like the United States, the United Kingdom and France, three nations that now capture 40% of the international student market which is growing at a feverish pace. Since 2000, the number of students leaving home in the pursuit of higher education increased by 65%, totaling about 3.3 million students globally. Clearly, international education has turned into an export house; a fertile ground where share among nations is constantly altering—the rise of Canada and China, the drop in US's singular hold, the UK inching towards the number 1 spot and smaller Asian nations like Singapore marching in for space. India, with about 22,000 international students, has a tough test to crack once the Foreign Education Providers' Bill is passed. It will have to build an SOP to lure the brightest if it must transform this nation into an international classroom. Singapore has been making strides in this area with the establishment of Education Singapore, a new agency charged with promoting and marketing Singapore and attracting 1,50,000 foreign students by 2015. Malaysia seeks to attract 80,000 international students by 2010; China seeks to host 5,00,000 by 2020; and Japan has set the goal of hosting 3,00,000 international students by 2020. India has not been as significant a host for students from other countries. It's due in large part to the same quality and capacity issues of its higher education sector that lead so many Indians to seek educational opportunities elsewhere. Though students from 195 countries come to India for undergraduate, postgraduate and research programmes from 127 universities, they total around 21,778 (2009), or about 8% of the total of outbound students. The International students in US: 690923; UK: 415585; France: 278213; Australia: 245593; Germany 244776 and China: 238184. (Hemali Chhapia, Times of India 25 April 2011, p. 1.)