स्टडी फोरमका सदस्यहरूले पायो गोर्खाल्याण्ड, जनताले पायो धोका-फोरम
मनोज वोगटी, कालिमन्युज, कालेबुङ, 26 अगस्त। साङ्गाठानिक विमर्ष र अन्तरक्रियाको निम्ति कालेबुङ आइपुगेका दार्जीलिङ डुवर्स फोेरमका महासचिव प्रवीण गुरूङले एक भेटमा भारतवर्षका गोर्खाहरूले संवैधानिक र राजनैतिकरूपले चिन्हारीको सुरक्षाको निम्ति नै छुट्टैराज्य मागिरहेको भए पनि भट्टाचार्यको सरकारपछि फेरि व्यानर्जीको सरकारले पनि गोर्खाहरूलाई नै लगाएर त्यसलाई दबाएको बताए।
ममता व्यानर्जीहरूलाई चिह्नारीको संकट हुनसक्छ र पश्चिम बङ्गाललाई हटाएर बङ्ग थप्नु हतार पर्छ भने गोर्खाहरूले चिह्नारीको निम्ति नै राज्यको दाबी गर्दा किन दबाउँछ त? भन्ने प्रश्न उठाउँदै तिनले भने, विमल गुरूङ जस्तो राजनैतिक असचेत र लोकल मानसिकता बोकेको नेतालाई देखाउने दॉंत बनाएर बुद्धिजीवी भनेर लेबल लगाइएका बङ्गालकै नोकरशाह र व्यक्तिगत महत्वाकांक्षी नेताहरूले मुद्दालाई पैसा र चौकीको निम्ति साट्ने जुन कर्तुत गरे यसको विरूद्ध अब युवाशक्ति सङ्गठित भइरहेको छ। ढिलो होस् तर युवाशक्तिले बौद्धिक परिस्थिति तयार पारेर फोरमले बङ्गालबाटको मुक्तिको निम्ति आन्दोलन गर्ने शक्ति सञ्चय गर्नेछ।
तिनले मोर्चाका नेताहरूलाई पद र पैसामा किनेर विमल गुरूङलाई पनि धोकामा राखेर जुन ऐतिहासिक भूल गर्यो, त्यसको परिणति अब देखिन शुरू भएको पनि बताउँदै भने, अघिबाट नै कानून विभागमा पठाएर सबै कुरा ठीकठाक रहेको भनिएको जीटीएको बील फेरि कानून विभागमा पुग्नुले मोर्चाको बुद्धिजीवीहरूको बुद्धि र दलाली स्पष्ट हुन्छ। वास्तवमा मुख्यमन्त्रीले आफै हस्तक्षेप गर्ने प्रशासन पहाडमा स्थापित गरेको उचित हुनेथियो किन भने पहाडमा फेरि दोस्रो घिसिङ जन्मिन पाउने थिएन।
तिनले अझ भने, सम्झौता नाटक मात्र थियो अब सम्झौतापत्रमा भएका अधिकारहरू छॉंटेर मोर्चाको योग्यता अनुसारको दागोपाप मात्र थमाउने चलखेल केन्द्रियस्तरमा भइरहेको छ। तिनले खरसाङमा भएको गोरामुमोमाथि गोजमुमोको आक्रमणले पनि मोर्चाको मानसिकता र घिसिङे प्रवृृति स्पष्ट देखिने बताए। तिनले भने, के गोजमुमोबाहेक अरू कुनै पनि दलले राजनीति गर्न पाउँदैन? यसको उत्तर पाउँदैन हुन्छ भने उनीहरू गणतन्त्रका हत्यारा हुन्, यस्ता हत्याराको स्थापना ममता व्यनर्जी र विमल गुरूङले रेका हुन्। इतिहासका दोषीहरूलाई समयले माफ गर्नेछैन।
जनतालाई अत्याचार गर्न र एकक्षत्र तानाशाह बुद्धदेवले घिसिङ अनि ममताले विमल जन्माएर गोर्खाहरूको मूल मुद्दा दबाउने काम भएको कुरा जनतालाई बुझाउन फोरमले शीघ्र्र नै जनसभाको आयोजना दार्जीलिङमा गर्ने बताउँदै तिनले भने, गणतन्त्रका हत्यारा सरकार र मोर्चाको आन्द्राभुँडी गॉंसिएकोले हाम्रो कार्यक्रममा बाधा हुनसक्छ। तरै पनि हामी जनतालाई कुरा राखेर नै छोड्नेछौं। सरकार बद्लिए पनि बङ्गालमा गोर्खालाई दमन गर्ने नीति नबद्लिएको अनि पार्टी बद्लिए पनि पहाडमा तानाशाह नबद्लिएको बताउँदै भने, अत्याचार धेर भयो भने पड्किन्छ।
जीटीएको विरूद्ध बङ्गालबाट मुक्तिको निम्ति जनता एक हुन अब समय लाग्नेछैन। तिनले मोर्चाले अहिलेसम्म जति पनि ज्यानमालको क्षति गरेको छ, त्यसका दोषीहरूलाई कानूनी कार्वाही गर्नुपर्ने माग पनि राखेका छन्। तिनले भने, नत्र हामी उचित ठाउँमा निवेदन गर्नेछौं। हाइकोर्टमा पीआईएल गर्नेछौं। विमल गुरूङले जीटीएलाई गोर्खाल्याण्ड भन्दा पनि राम्रो बताइरहेको सन्दर्भमा तिनले विमल गुरूङबाट आइरहेको केहीदिनको टिप्पणीले नै तिनले जीटीए थापेको पैसाको निम्ति मात्र रहेको स्पष्ट भएको बताउँदै विमल गुरूङले पैसाको निम्ति बार्गेनिङ शुरू गरेको बताए।
जीटीएले जनतालाई फाइदा नहुने तर स्टडीफोरमका नेताहरूको निम्ति भने पुरै बन्दोबस्त भइरहेको बताउँदै तिनले भने, फोरमका तीनजना प्रतिनिधि त विधायक बनिहाले, एकजना बङ्गालको प्राइमेरी स्कूल बोर्डको दार्जीलिङ जिल्लाको चेयरम्यान छन्। अब रहेकालाई स्कूल सर्विस कमिशन, पव्लिक कमिशन अनि नेपाली एकाडेमी ठिक्क छ। एकजना सिन्कोनाको डाइरेक्टरको पदको निम्ति तयार छन्। एकजना बङ्गाल र जीटीएको कोअर्डिनेटर छन्, यता कन्ट्राक्टरहरू प्रसस्तै, नेताहरूको निम्ति कमिशन छ तर जनतालाई के छ धोकाबाहेक? तिनले 3,720 जना अस्थायी कर्मचारीहरूलाई वामफ्रण्ट सरकारले स्थायी गर्ने भएको थियो, ममता र जीटीएले के गर्यो? भन्ने प्रश्न उठाउँदै अलगराज्यले नै सबै समस्याको समाधान गर्ने बताए।
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| A CPRM supporter chains himself at the rally to show that he will get freedom only when Gorkhaland is formed. Picture by Kundan Yolmo |
TT, Siliguri, Aug. 25: The rally taken out by CPRM workers from Darjeeling to Siliguri in demand of Gorkhaland was stopped today by police at Panchnoi, 4km from the destination.
The procession organised to protest the agreement to from Gorkhaland Territorial Administration had started from Sukna this morning. Around 400 CPRM supporters were stopped at a police barricade after covering 4km on NH55.
“We plans to walk on the streets of Siliguri to raise our demand for the separate state and point out that the GTA had miserably failed to meet our aspirations,” said Govind Chhetri, the organisational head of the CPRM.
“We had halted at Sukna yesterday and started for Siliguri today. The police, however, raised a barricade on NH55 and stopped us at Panchnoi. They said our entry to Siliguri might lead to deterioration of law and order and if we tried to move further, all of us would be arrested.”
The marchers led by party general secretary Taramoni Rai and leaders like Arun Ghatany and Kishore Pradhan held placards and shouted slogans in favour of Gorkhaland and against the GTA accord. The rally had started from Darjeeling on Tuesday.
Around 70 policemen, led by additional superintendent of police of Siliguri Amit P. Javalgi and deputy superintendent of police Pradip Pal, were posted at Panchnoi to stop the march. A meeting was organised at the very spot and the speakers slammed the government and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha without naming the party.
“A hill party (Morcha) secured favourable mandate from the people in the Assembly polls by promising Gorkhaland. But later, they compromised and formed the GTA. We condemn such political moves, which have left the hill people disappointed,” said Chhetri.
In Siliguri, 12 supporters of the Bangla O Bangla Bhasha Banchao Committee, which had threatened to stop the CPRM rally from approaching town, were arrested this morning. Around 10.45am, Mukunda Majumdar, the president of the Bhasha Banchao Committee, reached Darjeeling More with his supporters and started a demonstration. Police soon reached the spot and whisked the protesters away.
Minorities march on hill street- Fear of being overshadowed gone, time to voice protestsThe procession organised to protest the agreement to from Gorkhaland Territorial Administration had started from Sukna this morning. Around 400 CPRM supporters were stopped at a police barricade after covering 4km on NH55.
“We plans to walk on the streets of Siliguri to raise our demand for the separate state and point out that the GTA had miserably failed to meet our aspirations,” said Govind Chhetri, the organisational head of the CPRM.
“We had halted at Sukna yesterday and started for Siliguri today. The police, however, raised a barricade on NH55 and stopped us at Panchnoi. They said our entry to Siliguri might lead to deterioration of law and order and if we tried to move further, all of us would be arrested.”
The marchers led by party general secretary Taramoni Rai and leaders like Arun Ghatany and Kishore Pradhan held placards and shouted slogans in favour of Gorkhaland and against the GTA accord. The rally had started from Darjeeling on Tuesday.
Around 70 policemen, led by additional superintendent of police of Siliguri Amit P. Javalgi and deputy superintendent of police Pradip Pal, were posted at Panchnoi to stop the march. A meeting was organised at the very spot and the speakers slammed the government and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha without naming the party.
“A hill party (Morcha) secured favourable mandate from the people in the Assembly polls by promising Gorkhaland. But later, they compromised and formed the GTA. We condemn such political moves, which have left the hill people disappointed,” said Chhetri.
In Siliguri, 12 supporters of the Bangla O Bangla Bhasha Banchao Committee, which had threatened to stop the CPRM rally from approaching town, were arrested this morning. Around 10.45am, Mukunda Majumdar, the president of the Bhasha Banchao Committee, reached Darjeeling More with his supporters and started a demonstration. Police soon reached the spot and whisked the protesters away.
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| The rally taken out by the All Buddhist Minority Welfare Association in Darjeeling on Thursday. Picture by Suman Tamang |
Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, Aug. 25: Social and religious issues so long overshadowed by the larger cause of statehood has starting resurfacing in the hills, now that a political settlement has been reached on Darjeeling with the signing of the agreement to set up the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.
Hundreds of Buddhists today took to the streets in Darjeeling to revive some of their longstanding demands, one of them being a paid holiday on the birthday of Lord Buddha. The Lepchas, an indigenous community, also brought out a rally to demand a development council.
The Buddhists made the demands under the banner of the All Buddhist Minority Welfare Association, which consists of various Gorkha communities like the Tamangs, Gurungs and non-Nepali tribes like the Sherpas, Bhutias and Yolmos.
“We had been wanting a holiday on (Buddha Purnima) since 1980 but the Left Front government had not paid heed to our demands. We are hopeful that the present government will fulfil our demand. Even Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung had supported our demand,” said M.S. Bomzon, the president of the association.
Buddha Purnima is currently a sectional holiday, which means that government employees who are Buddhists can take a day-off. “But there are a large number of workers in the tea gardens and the cinchona plantations (of Buddhist faith) and they have to work during Buddha Purnima,” said Bomzon.
If the state government declares a gazette holiday on Buddha Purnima, it will be extended to all sectors, including tea.
The Buddhists are also aggrieved that they have no representative in the West Bengal Minority Commission. “We would want at least one Buddhist, preferably from north Bengal, to be made a member of the commission so that our voices can be heard. Despite being minorities we have no say in the state,” said Bomzon.
Religious minorities, which includes Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and Jains, make up about 40 per cent of the hill population. “The state government has come up with a policy to declare a particular district Minority Concentrated District (MCD) if the minorities form 25-30 per cent of the population. But the same status has not been extended to Darjeeling district despite its higher concentration of minorities,” said Bomzon.
The association claimed that 12 districts in Bengal have been accorded this status. “The government has accorded this status where the concentration of Muslim population is high. They have conveniently forgotten us,” said Bomzon. “An MCD status would entail benefits for construction of houses and stipends for education to minority members, among others.”
North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad and Cooch Behar are among the 12 MCDs in north Bengal.
A district is eligible for MCD status if any minority group has a population of 20 per cent and above. The minority population of the district then enjoys the benefits of uplift programmes funded by the Centre. The purpose is to bring these districts, in terms of development and growth, at level with the national average.
But minorities living in other districts do not enjoy these benefits since non-MCD districts are considered more prosperous.
Darjeeling district magistrate Mohan Gandhi said in an MCD, an office of the minority development officer will be set up to implement various schemes that may be announced by the state government for MCDs.
Apart from Buddhists, the Lepchas are agitating for a development council to look after the community’s interests.
The Lepchas, known to be one of the original inhabitants of the hills, brought out a rally in town today. In Calcutta, 61 of their agitating supporters were arrested in Calcutta for defying Section 144 and marching towards Writers Buildings.
The Lepchas have been agitating in Calcutta since August 9. Another 60 members of the community were rounded up on August 22 when they were demonstrating near the Writers’ Buildings. They were all released later.
Bhupendra Lepcha, convener of the Lepcha Right Movement, which is spearheading the agitation, said: “We have also lined up a series of agitation.”
The agitation starts from tomorrow with a pen-and-chalk down strike by employees and teachers of the community across the state from 11am to 1pm.
“We will also start a mass indefinite hunger strike from September 19 in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Mirik, Siliguri, Calcutta and Delhi,” said Bhupendra.
The community has also called a 12-hour bandh on September 20 followed by blockade of national highways and railway tracks, civil disobedience movement and indefinite strike after the Pujas.
Lepchas pen down strike all over the state.
Biman Bose of CPM met Manmohan Singh, PM and submitted the party's stand against GTA.
Buddhists demand Buddha Purnima as a national holiday in N.I.Act.
Unsung heroes of the Hills
Romit Bagchi, SNS, SILIGURI, 25 AUG: Leo Tolstoy once said that history is like a deaf man which goes on answering questions which nobody has asked. But history cannot be wished away. No matter whether it is “bunk” or not a la former US President Henry Ford, its importance can hardly be undermined. Yet, history is embarrassing, for it often points out unpalatable truths about us.
Today is the martyrdom day of Captain Durga Malla. He was one of the Prisoners of War, held captive and brought to “justice” by the colonial British government in India when the Second World War was continuing. Originally hailing from Kalimpong, he was recruited in the Indian National Army along with several other Indian Nepali soldiers.
He fought gallantly under the leadership of Netaji. Captain Malla was hanged in August 1944. Apart from Captain Malla, Dal Bahadur Thapa was another Indian Nepali soldier who was hanged for his INA “crime” in March 1945, a few months before the historic INA trial began in Delhi.
A statue of the martyr was unveiled at Hamiltongunj in the Dooars last year. His martyrdom anniversary is observed as Balidan Divas. But what is intriguing is that when the state government-GJMM bonhomie seems to have scaled astounding heights post-GTA agreement and the redoubtable GJMM president is being eulogised as the “Royal Bengal Tiger”, the Darjeeling district Trinamul Congress and Congress leadership do not seem to be even vaguely acquainted with the Durga Malla legacy. When reminded of the anniversary of the Hill martyr, the north Bengal development minister, Mr Goutam Deb, and the Siliguri mayor, Miss Gangotri Datta, pleaded ignorance. The same is the case with the Forward Bloc, which thrives on the Netaji legacy.
A senior Darjeeling district FB leader, Mr Smritish Bhattacharya, admitted that his party had never observed Durga Malla's martyrdom anniversary.
Ignorance is, perhaps, bliss as the proverb goes. Otherwise, we would remain clogged with “trash”. But the problem is that mere developmental politicking and cheap flattery cannot achieve things as far as emotional integration involving long estranged communities is concerned.
Assimilation through cultural empathy and interaction is more enduring, as Tagore and other Indian stalwarts have always stressed. The eminent historian associated with the North Bengal University, Dr Ananda Gopal Ghosh, did not sound surprised when told about the facts. “It is natural that the politicians do not know history. But what is pathetic is that most of them lack curiosity about the history of the region they claim to represent,” he said.
TT, Gangtok, Aug. 25: Bhaichung Bhutia’s friends hope his next innings will be played in the home state to take United Sikkim to new heights now that he has hanged up his boots for international football.
United Sikkim Football Club is co-owned by Bhaichung, who announced his retirement from international matches in New Delhi yesterday.
Soccer aficionados feel Bhaichung has left a mark on and off the field and he will continue to be an inspiration for budding players.
“It was a right decision (to retire from international football). But I would have loved to see Bhaichung playing the friendly match against Pakistan in London and announce his retirement there. Injuries did not permit him to do so. He has contributed a lot to Indian football and I am proud of him. I am sure that all the people of Sikkim are proud of Bhaichung,” said Sikkim sports secretary Karma P. Bhutia.
Karma is Bhaichung’s mentor and had introduced him to professional club football in Calcutta when he was a teenager.
“Bhaichung’s next innings is to take United Sikkim Football Club to new heights. He can continue to play for his club and contribute to Indian football,” said Karma.
Sherap Lepcha, the childhood friend of the footballer, believes it would take a long time for someone to fit in Bhaichung’s shoes.
“We are sad. The Indian team will get a new captain but it will be very difficult for anyone to fit in his shoes. He had not only soccer skills but also glamour and star appeal that attracts youngsters to the sport. Bhaichung had that off-the-field charisma and to fill this gap, it will take a long time,” said Sherap, who had grown up playing football with Bhaichung. Both had played for East Bengal in 2001.
Sherap said United Sikkim was Bhaichung’s biggest contribution to football in Sikkim.
“In future, big clubs in the country will be coming to Gangtok to play when United Sikkim qualifies in the I-League. This will bring crowds back to the stadium and youngsters will be encouraged to play football. On personal note, Bhaichung has taken a huge risk by investing his hard-earned money in the club. This is his way of contributing to Indian football after retirement,” said Lepcha.
United Sikkim chief coach H. Stanly Rozario said the 34-year-old former Indian captain was an inspirational leader. “Bhaichung’s presence in the field is a motivation for the Indian players. He is an inspirational leader. India has lost a great captain for the national squad. We will miss Bhaichung in Indian football team,” he said.
On the brighter side, Rozario said Bhaichung would definitely make a mark as an administrator and player of United Sikkim. “He has now a new role in the Indian football, particularly at club levels. Bhaichung will spend more time with United Sikkim and his mission will be to help the club become a strong and professional team,” said Rozario.
Arjun Rai, who was asked by Bhaichung to join United Sikkim as a senior manager, endorsed the retirement call. Bhaichung calls Arjun Rai ‘daju’ (elder brother).
“Now, Bhaichung will be free for his club which he wants to make one of the best sides in Asia. He can also give time to his football schools in New Delhi. In future, he can also actively contribute for the development of Indian football and coach the national squad like Maradona and other great players,” said Rai.
United Sikkim captain Nim Tshering Lepcha is sad that his idol has retired from international football. Nim Tshering is a product of “search for more Bhaichungs” scheme of the Sikkim government launched in 1999.
“I feel sad to hear about my idol’s retirement from international football though it is a right decision taken at the zenith of his career. I feel that it is huge loss to Indian football as he is the main idol for upcoming footballers,” said Tshering.
Hundreds of Buddhists today took to the streets in Darjeeling to revive some of their longstanding demands, one of them being a paid holiday on the birthday of Lord Buddha. The Lepchas, an indigenous community, also brought out a rally to demand a development council.
The Buddhists made the demands under the banner of the All Buddhist Minority Welfare Association, which consists of various Gorkha communities like the Tamangs, Gurungs and non-Nepali tribes like the Sherpas, Bhutias and Yolmos.
“We had been wanting a holiday on (Buddha Purnima) since 1980 but the Left Front government had not paid heed to our demands. We are hopeful that the present government will fulfil our demand. Even Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung had supported our demand,” said M.S. Bomzon, the president of the association.
Buddha Purnima is currently a sectional holiday, which means that government employees who are Buddhists can take a day-off. “But there are a large number of workers in the tea gardens and the cinchona plantations (of Buddhist faith) and they have to work during Buddha Purnima,” said Bomzon.
If the state government declares a gazette holiday on Buddha Purnima, it will be extended to all sectors, including tea.
The Buddhists are also aggrieved that they have no representative in the West Bengal Minority Commission. “We would want at least one Buddhist, preferably from north Bengal, to be made a member of the commission so that our voices can be heard. Despite being minorities we have no say in the state,” said Bomzon.
Religious minorities, which includes Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and Jains, make up about 40 per cent of the hill population. “The state government has come up with a policy to declare a particular district Minority Concentrated District (MCD) if the minorities form 25-30 per cent of the population. But the same status has not been extended to Darjeeling district despite its higher concentration of minorities,” said Bomzon.
The association claimed that 12 districts in Bengal have been accorded this status. “The government has accorded this status where the concentration of Muslim population is high. They have conveniently forgotten us,” said Bomzon. “An MCD status would entail benefits for construction of houses and stipends for education to minority members, among others.”
North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad and Cooch Behar are among the 12 MCDs in north Bengal.
A district is eligible for MCD status if any minority group has a population of 20 per cent and above. The minority population of the district then enjoys the benefits of uplift programmes funded by the Centre. The purpose is to bring these districts, in terms of development and growth, at level with the national average.
But minorities living in other districts do not enjoy these benefits since non-MCD districts are considered more prosperous.
Darjeeling district magistrate Mohan Gandhi said in an MCD, an office of the minority development officer will be set up to implement various schemes that may be announced by the state government for MCDs.
Apart from Buddhists, the Lepchas are agitating for a development council to look after the community’s interests.
The Lepchas, known to be one of the original inhabitants of the hills, brought out a rally in town today. In Calcutta, 61 of their agitating supporters were arrested in Calcutta for defying Section 144 and marching towards Writers Buildings.
The Lepchas have been agitating in Calcutta since August 9. Another 60 members of the community were rounded up on August 22 when they were demonstrating near the Writers’ Buildings. They were all released later.
Bhupendra Lepcha, convener of the Lepcha Right Movement, which is spearheading the agitation, said: “We have also lined up a series of agitation.”
The agitation starts from tomorrow with a pen-and-chalk down strike by employees and teachers of the community across the state from 11am to 1pm.
“We will also start a mass indefinite hunger strike from September 19 in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Mirik, Siliguri, Calcutta and Delhi,” said Bhupendra.
The community has also called a 12-hour bandh on September 20 followed by blockade of national highways and railway tracks, civil disobedience movement and indefinite strike after the Pujas.
Headlines: KalimNews
Lepchas pen down strike all over the state.
Biman Bose of CPM met Manmohan Singh, PM and submitted the party's stand against GTA.
Buddhists demand Buddha Purnima as a national holiday in N.I.Act.
Unsung heroes of the Hills
Romit Bagchi, SNS, SILIGURI, 25 AUG: Leo Tolstoy once said that history is like a deaf man which goes on answering questions which nobody has asked. But history cannot be wished away. No matter whether it is “bunk” or not a la former US President Henry Ford, its importance can hardly be undermined. Yet, history is embarrassing, for it often points out unpalatable truths about us.
Today is the martyrdom day of Captain Durga Malla. He was one of the Prisoners of War, held captive and brought to “justice” by the colonial British government in India when the Second World War was continuing. Originally hailing from Kalimpong, he was recruited in the Indian National Army along with several other Indian Nepali soldiers.
He fought gallantly under the leadership of Netaji. Captain Malla was hanged in August 1944. Apart from Captain Malla, Dal Bahadur Thapa was another Indian Nepali soldier who was hanged for his INA “crime” in March 1945, a few months before the historic INA trial began in Delhi.
A statue of the martyr was unveiled at Hamiltongunj in the Dooars last year. His martyrdom anniversary is observed as Balidan Divas. But what is intriguing is that when the state government-GJMM bonhomie seems to have scaled astounding heights post-GTA agreement and the redoubtable GJMM president is being eulogised as the “Royal Bengal Tiger”, the Darjeeling district Trinamul Congress and Congress leadership do not seem to be even vaguely acquainted with the Durga Malla legacy. When reminded of the anniversary of the Hill martyr, the north Bengal development minister, Mr Goutam Deb, and the Siliguri mayor, Miss Gangotri Datta, pleaded ignorance. The same is the case with the Forward Bloc, which thrives on the Netaji legacy.
A senior Darjeeling district FB leader, Mr Smritish Bhattacharya, admitted that his party had never observed Durga Malla's martyrdom anniversary.
Ignorance is, perhaps, bliss as the proverb goes. Otherwise, we would remain clogged with “trash”. But the problem is that mere developmental politicking and cheap flattery cannot achieve things as far as emotional integration involving long estranged communities is concerned.
Assimilation through cultural empathy and interaction is more enduring, as Tagore and other Indian stalwarts have always stressed. The eminent historian associated with the North Bengal University, Dr Ananda Gopal Ghosh, did not sound surprised when told about the facts. “It is natural that the politicians do not know history. But what is pathetic is that most of them lack curiosity about the history of the region they claim to represent,” he said.
Home Bhaichung future turf: Friends- Sikkim looks forward to player’s club
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| Bhaichung with United Sikkim players and coaches after the team lifted the Chogyal Sir Tashi Namgyal Memorial Cup in Gangtok on August 15 |
United Sikkim Football Club is co-owned by Bhaichung, who announced his retirement from international matches in New Delhi yesterday.
Soccer aficionados feel Bhaichung has left a mark on and off the field and he will continue to be an inspiration for budding players.
“It was a right decision (to retire from international football). But I would have loved to see Bhaichung playing the friendly match against Pakistan in London and announce his retirement there. Injuries did not permit him to do so. He has contributed a lot to Indian football and I am proud of him. I am sure that all the people of Sikkim are proud of Bhaichung,” said Sikkim sports secretary Karma P. Bhutia.
Karma is Bhaichung’s mentor and had introduced him to professional club football in Calcutta when he was a teenager.
“Bhaichung’s next innings is to take United Sikkim Football Club to new heights. He can continue to play for his club and contribute to Indian football,” said Karma.
Sherap Lepcha, the childhood friend of the footballer, believes it would take a long time for someone to fit in Bhaichung’s shoes.
“We are sad. The Indian team will get a new captain but it will be very difficult for anyone to fit in his shoes. He had not only soccer skills but also glamour and star appeal that attracts youngsters to the sport. Bhaichung had that off-the-field charisma and to fill this gap, it will take a long time,” said Sherap, who had grown up playing football with Bhaichung. Both had played for East Bengal in 2001.
Sherap said United Sikkim was Bhaichung’s biggest contribution to football in Sikkim.
“In future, big clubs in the country will be coming to Gangtok to play when United Sikkim qualifies in the I-League. This will bring crowds back to the stadium and youngsters will be encouraged to play football. On personal note, Bhaichung has taken a huge risk by investing his hard-earned money in the club. This is his way of contributing to Indian football after retirement,” said Lepcha.
United Sikkim chief coach H. Stanly Rozario said the 34-year-old former Indian captain was an inspirational leader. “Bhaichung’s presence in the field is a motivation for the Indian players. He is an inspirational leader. India has lost a great captain for the national squad. We will miss Bhaichung in Indian football team,” he said.
On the brighter side, Rozario said Bhaichung would definitely make a mark as an administrator and player of United Sikkim. “He has now a new role in the Indian football, particularly at club levels. Bhaichung will spend more time with United Sikkim and his mission will be to help the club become a strong and professional team,” said Rozario.
Arjun Rai, who was asked by Bhaichung to join United Sikkim as a senior manager, endorsed the retirement call. Bhaichung calls Arjun Rai ‘daju’ (elder brother).
“Now, Bhaichung will be free for his club which he wants to make one of the best sides in Asia. He can also give time to his football schools in New Delhi. In future, he can also actively contribute for the development of Indian football and coach the national squad like Maradona and other great players,” said Rai.
United Sikkim captain Nim Tshering Lepcha is sad that his idol has retired from international football. Nim Tshering is a product of “search for more Bhaichungs” scheme of the Sikkim government launched in 1999.
“I feel sad to hear about my idol’s retirement from international football though it is a right decision taken at the zenith of his career. I feel that it is huge loss to Indian football as he is the main idol for upcoming footballers,” said Tshering.
HC okays system for BEd entry - Private colleges told to start classes for 277
TT, Aug. 25: Calcutta High Court has upheld the centralised admission system introduced by North Bengal University for BEd and directed four private colleges to start classes for 277 students immediately.
The 277 students had been allotted seats in the private colleges in the first phase of counselling conducted by the university. But the institutions did not start classes for them, citing a high court order that had stayed the second phase of counselling.
The centralised admission system was upheld by the division bench of Justice Amit Kumar Talukdar and Justice Tarun Gupta yesterday.
“The court praised the centralised admission system started by the NBU. The court has also directed the four private colleges to begin classes immediately for 277 students admitted through this system,” Saptangshu Basu, counsel for the NBU, told The Telegraph.
Two of the four private institutions — Eastern Dooars BEd College in Alipurduar and Vidyasagar College of Education at Phansidewa — had in April this year challenged the centralised admission system in the high court. The colleges had filed a PIL on the ground that they were kept in the dark about the introduction of the new admission system by the varsity and its procedure was not transparent.
Through the centralised system, the varsity conducted the entire admission process unlike earlier time when the colleges took in students themselves. According to the authorities, the new system was put in place to stop the private colleges from charging more than the fee stipulated by the varsity. Under the NBU norm, a BEd student has to pay Rs 41,000 to study in the private colleges.
On May 16, the high court issued a stay on the second phase of counselling for admission scheduled to begin from May 27.
The varsity had already admitted 559 candidates through the first phase of counselling held between May 2 and 11. While 277 candidates were chosen for the four private institutions, remaining 282 were admitted to four government colleges. There are 151 seats still vacant in the eight BEd colleges. The seats were supposed to be filled up through the second phase of counselling.
After the stay order was issues, all the four private colleges refused to take in the 277 students, saying the matter was sub-judice. The four government colleges started BEd classes for 282 students on July 1.
“There are 151 seats vacant in the colleges now. They were supposed to be filled up after the second phase of counselling. The process of filling up these seats will begin after the classes for 277 candidates get started,” the source added.
The private colleges said they would wait for the certified copy to come before starting classes for the 277 students. “The court has requested us to start classes for the 277 candidates but we will decide on the date after we receive a certified copy of the judgment,” said Gopal Sarkar, the secretary of the managing committee of Vidyasagar College of Education.
Kolkata-Cooch Behar flights to begin operations from 5 Sept
SNS, KOLKATA, 25 AUG: Flight services between Kolkata and Cooch Behar will finally start from 5 September. Announcing this, state transport minister Mr Subrata Bakshi said the North East Shuttle Pvt. Ltd. has decided to start commercial flights from Kolkata to Cooch Behar and back five days a week except Wednesday and Sunday.
The chief minister, Miss Mamata Banerjee, had flagged off the inaugural flight from Siliguri on 19 July. Though the flight services were supposed to start from 1 September, it would face a delay of four days only because of some “technical problems”.
Today, Mr Bakshi announced that 18-seater aircraft will be pressed into service for this purpose and to ensure that the flight operations are commercially viable, state government has decided to provide subsidy up to a maximum of eight seats per flight for a period of six months. One has to pay Rs 5,000 for a single journey.
In a bid to making the Cooch Behar airport operational, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has undertaken an upgrade of the airport which has recently been completed at a cost of Rs 35 crore.
Mr BP Gopalika, the state transport secretary, said the flight service is being inaugurated with an 18-seater flight only because the runway at Cooch Behar airport allows to land small aircraft only. “Once more and more people start flying to Cooch Behar and the runway is extended, initiatives will be taken to introduce a bigger aircraft,” the transport secretary said.
Students from North-east get Oz treatment in city
SNS, KOLKATA, 25 AUG: In a city that boasts of cultural diversity and tolerance towards varied ethnicity, facial features are enough to make people feel alienated, and in worse cases subject them to social ostracism.
Not only the students from the North-east have to face this sort of discrimination in the city, but also the residents of Hills in West Bengal are typified and are harassed in several ways when they come to the city to study or to avail medical facilities.
A group of three students of department of Arts in Jadavpur University had to face what Indians have been facing in Australia a couple of months ago. Mr Tashi Tshering Bhutia, Mr Kunzang Lama and Mr Vivek Chhetri, all residents of Darjeeling, on their way to an eatery were verbally abused and told to walk from the other side of the road by a group of drunken hooligans near Gariahat at 10.30 p.m. a few days ago.
Mr Bhutia, who had been staying in the city for the past seven years, said: “Kolkata is our capital as well. But, that was the day I felt how hated we are because of our facial features,” he added.
Another student narrated what he had to face in Metro when due to rush he stumbled while boarding a crowded train. “The man on whom I fell started abusing me. I said sorry but he refused to calm down. All the passengers took his side. They called me an animal and told me to touch the man's feet and apologise,” he added.
Several students from Darjeeling hills and other North-eastern states, said if room rent for Bengalis is Rs 1,500 in Tollygunge, Jadavpur, Prince Anwar Shah Road, Santoshpur, Garfa, and Palm Avenue, it is Rs 5,000 for them. Even vegetable sellers and taxi drivers charge them exorbitant rates.
A student from Manipur, Mr Angel Shishak, referring to Bidhannagar Municipality chairman Mrs Krishna Chakraborty's comment, said: “We are harassed at government offices and even nationalised banks. We want an apology from the chairman who said that we are the ones who create nuisance on roads.”
When students go to look for an accommodation, the house owners ask them for their passport.
“We have no problem providing documents, but why people from other states in India are not asked to furnish passports?” asked Mr Sambo Lapung, a student from Arunachal Pradesh. An owner of a paying guest accommodation in Jadavpur said that he generally doesn't allow people from North-east to stay as they are “dirty, they take drugs and are difficult to understand” while an owner of another flat in Ganguli Bagan said: “We prefer students from North-east as they are peaceful and they abide by rules.”
Mr Kunzang Lama summed up the feeling saying: “They want Kunchenjunga but not its people. They want Darjeeling tea, but not those who pick them at Rs 62 per day wage.”
A Lokpal Critique
Vaibhav H. Wasnik, Countercurrents.org, KalimNews, 24 August, 2011: The following is a collection of points from online debates that I have been part of, consolidated as an article. That corruption is a problem in India or most developing economies is not anybody's secret. But the rampant misusing of the power of suggestion by a ``corporations'' backed media to counter the electorate process by promoting a non-ballot based center of power is even more mischievous.
The Jan Lokpal Andolan with an old simple looking man called Anna Hazare as its poster boy, heavily publicized by the national media is the talk of the day in India today. With a country drenched in idol worship, with footing in the dominant religion of Hinduism, to the god like status given to popular media idols such as the ones in Bollywood, a properly chosen archetype of a simple saint like man (that does seem to draw plenty of inspiration in the country's history, with saints like Tukaram, Dynaneshwar etc standing up against the established social order) to supposedly counteract a supposed social evil like 'monetary' corruption is quite intelligent. But tbe brilliance of feeding the emotional senses of the public a well publicized melodrama to promote an agenda that further reduces the choice in the hands of 'people' to direct their own destiny is what seperates this movement from other intelligent media campaings. Alas, whereas the ideologies of Tukaram, Dyaneshwar etc favored the transfer of power in the hands of the people, the brilliant minds behind the Lokpal are bent on transferring the power in the hands of a select few.
To get a better idea about the actual issues with the proposal, let us look at the draft of the Lokpal Bill itself.
Let us move to the portions which talk about the committee and its selection. The Lokpal Bill claims that a selection committee consisting of the following shall be set up:
1. The Chairpersons of both Houses of Parliament : Sounds fair enough.
2. Two senior most judges of Supreme Court : Sometime back a Supreme Court judge commented against the possibility of reservations in judge selections in the Supreme Court. Such statements are obviously drenched in bias by the judge who works for a public institution which hardly has any representation from 85 percent of India made up of the SC/ST/OBCs and Muslims . Especially, when the statement by the judge does not qualify as a constitutional mandate, but only reflects his own bias.
3. Two senior most Chief Justices of High Courts :Point 2. above
4. All Nobel Laureates of Indian Origin: The politics, leg pulling involved in academia is legendary. Expecting, an academic, no matter what his award to be of a clear conscience is fallacious.
5. Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission: Who happen to be former supreme court judges etc, instead of ground level activists who actually have fought substantial battles for the procurement of human rights.
6. Last two Magsaysay Award winners of Indian origin: Point 4. above
7. Controller and Auditor General of India: So the implication is that an IAS officer, who gets a minimum of 5 crore dowry, somehow is of a clear conscience.
8. Chief Election Commissioner: Point 7. above
9. Bharat Ratna Award winners: Now it starts getting even more ridiculous. Can the likes of Lata Mangeshkar, AR Rahman or some talented artist, sportsman etc have any idea about the pulse of an entire nation.
10. After the first set of selection process, the outgoing members and Chairperson of Lokpal.
As we read on, we even are presented with examples of the ridiculousness involved in the framing of the bill with vague statements such as "The members and Chairperson should have unimpeachable integrity and should have demonstrated their resolve and efforts to fight against corruption in the past". Looking at the selection procedure we come up with the conclusion that the relevant individual talked in the statement really amount to a biased court judge, a dowry taking IAS officer, Lata mangeshkar, AR rahman, a spiritually messed up academic etc. All of whom are in the highest probability would never be an SC/ST/OBC, who make up 85 percent of the country.
Now even if an assumption is made that the amateurness involved in the selection procedures of the proposed Lokpal really counteracts the proposed claim that the committe would atleast be non-corrupt as corruption is an issue that is largely perpetuated by the elected representatives of the people (as claimed by the Lokpal brigade); Then the whole debate instead could definitely be enriched by demanding a Lokpal committee, made up of international human rights activists/stalwarts, so that they would atleast not be biased towards any particular community in India. The likes of Nelson Mandela, Aung san suu kyi etc could be perfect choices. If the possible complains are one's relating to national integrity, then one could safely comment that such objections don't hold any water as majority of the investment in (buying away of) India is anyway foreign in nature. So the counter question would be as to why should monetary rule by outsiders be ok, but social rulings by international human stalwarts be considered not ok?
Let us try to simplify things further and ask why does the Anna Hazare anti-corruption movement simply not take the route of the ballot, get elected and then amend the constitution as needed to fight corruption, just as any individual who values the democratic nature of the Indian republic, would do. Referendums are never the modus operandi in the workings of democratic institutions. Ideas which need to be framed as policies are taken to the people by political organizations who if elected pass laws in the respective assemblies. Anna Hazare has more political advertising at this disposal than any other politician in India history. If the issue of corruption is the number one issue in the country, his modus operandi would have been to translate the public sentiment to the ballot by organizing his own political front. It is definitely easier and more worthwhile than fasting. The fact that he shies away from such a direction, basically points to the fact that the issue of corruption even though being important is still a media created phenomenon.
But if corruption is not the biggest problem in India today, then why is the corporate media so hell bent on publicizing the Anna Hazare movement? Who would be the prime examples of the polity that would be affected by Jan Lokpal in the wrong way? One can easily find example of these, who are advertised out of proportion as being corrupt by a biased national English speaking media. The likes of Mayawati, whose net worth is just 50 crores, while the IAS officers working under her may be worth more than 100 crores each and most lowercaste politicians fall in this category. The people who would not be affected are the likes of Arun Shourie, who sold the Centaur hotel at 80 crores as the disinvestment minister in the BJP government, only to be resold by the buyer of the hotel in a few months at 160 crores. Arun Shourie is about the ideology of removing participation of lowercastes from white collared jobs. The BJP intelligentsia that fooled everyone with promises of Ram Mandir (which was plainly an excuse of diverting the consolidation of 85 percent of india the SC/ST/OBCs by the mandal commission) really accelerated disinvestment (selling of public sector companies to the private sector at a loss), in effect neutering the gains attained through mandal. The above may be generalizations, with issues being more subtle and involved, however they do work well in giving us a flavor of the intended consequences of a Lokpal office which brings us to the main issue.
The primary issue is that corruption is still not the main issue affecting the majority of India. However, the issue has been advertised as being the one that would take care of ills affecting Indian society and by some very weird leaps in logic, is claimed to be a cure for issues such as poverty. However, the correlations are really a mirage. Even the promise of a free market economy being the road to economy prosperity does not apply to India Inc, which is far from a free market enterprise. A free market by its very definition does not exist in an economic system, where a few corporations control the majority of production and supply. Far from what India is and far from what it will ever become, if the narrow minded issue of corruption being the most important thing for the country to deal with is put forth. The solution really is about policies to get the majority of the country in the economic market, be it through encouraging entrepreneurship from disadvantaged poor communities or otherwise, so that the guy who is poor actually feels that it is corruption that is preventing him from participating in the market. It is then that he would vote for candidates who are hell bent on destroying corruption, tackling the problem head on. The widening gap between the rich and poor is independent of corruption and would continue to exist even if everyone was not corrupt in the bribe taking sense. Even the 2G scam was just about some guy taking bribes in giving out contracts. Ambani's existence does not do good to the vast majority of the country, whether a government official takes bribe from him or not. The fact that the Anna Brigade does not even want to think about following the electoral route, but is dancing around a melodramatic movement, blaming the bribe takers, but getting support from the bribe givers (the corporations and the media they sponsor) really points to the intentions of the movement not being wholesome, towards the development of the society. Instead the obvious intent of transfer of actual transfer of power from the electorate that is the cornerstone of a democratic institution, to a bureaucracy that does not answer to the people, seems to be the sole motive behind this well publicized movement.
Vaibhav Wasnik is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Biophysics at Clark University Worcester Massachussets
Global Urban Vision – September 2011
Compiled and Published by J.N. Manokaran (jnmanokaran@yahoo.com) on behalf of Glocal Leaders Network-KalimNews
I India
1. Kerala’s Mental Block: 5.86 percent of Kerala’s population suffers from mental illness against the national average of 2 percent. There are three Government mental hospitals, psychiatry department in three Government medical colleges, with 1800 psychiatry beds and 143 private mental hospitals in the State. None of the private hospitals have license from the Government. 10 percent of Kerala population suffers from psychiatric disorders. 2.5 percent have psychosomatic ailments and neurosis. 1 in every 100 children below six years in Kerala are mentally retarded. Alcoholism, divorce and domestic violence fuel the surge of psychological illness in the State. Kerala has highest suicide rate of 25.3 persons per 100 000 population. 11.8 percent is the share of domestic violence in the total crimes of Kerala, while the national share is 5.3 per cent. Divorce rate in Kerala is 3.3 per cent while the national average is 1.1 percent. (M.G. Radhakrishnan, India Today 1 August 2011, p. 52-53.) Kerala kids high on blood pressure: The blood pressure of teenagers in Kerala is high when compared to their counterparts in other states as well as the rest of the world, studies have revealed.Doctors ascribe this to the unending academic regimen of teenagers including early morning tuition, the long hours they slump on the couch in front of the television and the near-total lack of physical exercise. Doctors were stunned to find systolic pressure of 114.5 mm and diastolic pressure of 74.3 mm in a study conducted among plus two students of Kazhakkuttam. In a survey conducted by another physician among plus two students in Varkala and a comprehensive study conducted among around 16,000 students across Kerala by the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences. This may look okay since we are told that normal adult blood pressure levels are in 120-80 range. But in adolescence this is abnormal. The diastolic blood pressure among teens in other parts of the world hovered around 50 to 55 mm and the systolic pressure around 100. The solution is for schools to ensure 30 minutes of physical exercise every day. BP of kids will come down if parents curb this tuition marathon. (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/kochi/kerala-kids-high-blood-pressure-778 accessed on 12 August 2011.)
2. In 10 years, urban Indian women's average income doubles: According to a study by market research firm IMRB: The urban Indian woman who earned Rs 4,492 per month in 2001 was taking home as much as Rs 9,457 as of 2010. The rise in her income is directly reflected in the average monthly household income of urban India going up from Rs 8,242 to Rs 16,509 in 2010, says the IMRB survey. According to official data, India's per capita income rose from Rs 16,688 in 2000-01 to Rs 54,835 in 2010-11, a 228% rise. The IMRB figures suggest that urban incomes in the same period rose by 100% and incomes of urban women by 111%. Aspirations and financial independence of women is evident not only in urban India but in tier II and tier III cities. With the woman's personal income doubling, she is increasingly outsourcing household work. From 91% women saying they did household work themselves, the number has dropped to 71% in 2010, according to the survey. While 34% of women participated in the actual buying process in 2003, by 2010 that number had gone up to 43%. The survey, which interviewed 9,000 urban women above 25 years says as an impact of increasing financial independence, there has been a 33% jump in the number of women who have a savings bank account in the last decade. Also, from only 4% of women owning their own credit card back in 2001, there has been a 150% growth as 10% of women in 2010 possessed a credit card. Given that one-third of the estimated 480 million jobs in the country are being performed by women, more than half of the advertising is targeted towards the homemaker. (Samidha Sharma & Namrata SinghSamidha Sharma & Namrata Singh, http://timesofindia.indiatimes. com/india/In-10-years-urban-Indian-womens-average-income-doubles/articleshow/9364285.cms accessed on July 26, 2011)
3. Haryana college bans use of mobile phones by girls: In an incident that conforms to the prevailing gender bias in Haryana, the Priyadarshni Indira Gandhi Govt College for Women here has imposed a blanket ban on students bringing mobile phones in the college even as Govt Postgraduate College for Men, located in the same campus, has not imposed any restriction on mobile use by students. The women's college authorities maintained that the ban had been enforced to ensure discipline in the college as it had become an instrument of disturbance in the college. Surprisingly, the Govt Postgraduate College for Men, located in the same campus, which shares the entrance with the women's college, has no such restrictions on students. Dr Mehtab Singh, principal of men's college, stated, "Though we discourage use of mobiles in the college, we have not taken a decision to ban it. Boys are very difficult to discipline and even if we take such a decision, it would be tough to enforce the same". (Deepender DeswalDeepender Deswal, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Haryana-college-bans-use-of-mobile-phones-by-girls/articleshow/9366751.cms July 26, 2011.
4. Eternal traffic woes: Over the last few years, Chennai has grown into a teeming metro and one of the biggest IT hubs in the country. This means that the population has also increased rapidly. The result is heavy traffic congestion. And, the construction of the metro rail is only adding to people’s woes. According to reports, the number of registered vehicles in and around Chennai as on April 1, 2010 was 26,58,083, as opposed to 9,75,915 on April 1, 1998. Even the educated class of our society breaks the rules, leading to commotion. From jumping traffic signals to something as simple as turning the indicator on, the level of negligence is extremely high. Civic activists and politicians who have been observing the scenario, say that it’s important that citizens and the traffic authorities strike a chord to get the system into place. The drivers of the public transport buses are the main cause of serious commotion. They stop even on main roads, irrespective of whether a bus stop is there or not. (Srinidhi Rajagopal, http://www.deccanchronicle.com/tabloid/chennai/eternal-traffic-woes-937 accessed on 26 July 2011.)
5. Divorce cases in Mumbai soar 86% in less than 10 years: As the stigma around divorce dissolves steadily, an increasing number of couples in the city are choosing to end their marriage, sometimes soon after exchanging their wedding vows. Between 2009 and 2010, the number of divorces in Mumbai rose from 4,624 to 5,245, a spike of over 13%. Last year's figure is even more startling when compared to 2002's statistic of 2,805 - this means that the number of divorces has climbed by more than 86% in less than a decade. Social scientists and psychiatrists explain this as a sign that the till-death-do-us-apart class of marriage is under strain. "Young couples marry impulsively and separate equally spontaneously. Divorce is now seen more as a corrective mechanism and a way to move forward in life," says psychiatrist Harish Shetty. Shetty states financial independence, multiplicity of relationships and ample career opportunities as some of the reasons for the increase. (Viju B., http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Divorce-cases-in-Mumbai-soar-86-in-less-than-10-years/articleshow/9376942.cms accessed on 27 July 2011.)
6. Indians most depressed people in the world, says WHO study: Indians are the world's most depressed people with nearly 36 per cent suffering from Major Depressive Episode (MDE), the cluster of symptoms of depression, according to a WHO-sponsored study. The people living in wealthier nations like Netherlands, France and the US were less happy and more depressed than those in poorer ones. Netherlands with an average 33.6 per cent case of MDE came second while France and US were placed on third and fourth positions with 32.3 per cent and 30.9 per cent cases respectively. In India, around 9 per cent of people reported having an extended period of depression within their lifetime and nearly 36 per cent suffered from MDE. The average age of depression in India is 31.9 years compared to 18.8 years in China, and 22.7 years in the US. The study, published in the BMC Medicine journal, is based on interviews of more than 89,000 people in 18 different countries. One in seven people (15 per cent) in high-income countries is likely to get depression over their lifetime, compared with one in nine (11 per cent) in middle and low-income countries, the study says. MDE is characterised by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy and poor concentration, besides feeling depressed. WHO ranks depression as the fourth leading cause of disability worldwide and projects that by 2020, it will be the second leading cause. Women are twice as likely to suffer depression as men and the loss of a partner, whether from death or divorce, was a main factor, the study reveals. Depression affects over 120 million people worldwide. It can interfere with a person's ability to work, make relationships difficult, and destroy quality of life. In severe cases it leads to suicide, causing 850,000 deaths a year. (http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_indians-most-depressed-people-in-the-world-says-who-study_1570027 accessed on 27 July 2011.)
7. In a first, Gurgaon court recognizes lesbian marriage: While granting police protection to a runaway lesbian couple from Khekada village in Baghpat, additional sessions judge Vimal Kumar recorded matter-of-factly that Beena and Savita claimed to be married to each other. Their statements were recorded in the order without any indication that such a marriage had no legal status. "We have married to each other on July 22, 2011 of our own free will without coercion, duress, fraud, misrepresentation etc," it stated. The court also recorded that one of them, Savita, had earlier been married to a man and that the marriage had been dissolved by a khap panchayat in Bagpat district. Their petition disclosed that Beena and Savita subsequently married each other by signing an affidavit before a public notary in Gurgaon. On the basis of these dodgy claims about divorce and marriage, the Gurgaon court invoked a 2009 Punjab and Haryana high court judgment directing all district and sessions judges to "ensure help and assistance to runaway couples". The high court direction had come in the wake of honor killings ordered by khap panchayats against marriages within the same gotra. The Gurgaon judge has now extended that protection to a marriage within the same sex. According to the petition before the Gurgaon court, Beena was unmarried prior to July 22 while Savita had tied the knot with one Ombir last December. Her marriage was dissolved in panchayat proceedings held in Nipura tehsil in Baghpat. The couple in their petition had submitted before the court that they had known each other for 15 years. "They fell in love in June 2011 and both decided to (have a) live-in-relationship with each other," the petition said. Their counsel had told the court that both the petitioners had conveyed their intention to their parents, who did not give their consent and threatened them with dire consequences. The couple maintained that their marriage is legally recognized and valid. The petitioners said, "Though they are both female, they have legally married and their marriage is recognized as valid because they fulfill the legal requirements for a legal marriage." They further asserted, "For all purposes of legal interpretation, the petitioners are a 'married couple' and simply writing the word 'living-in relationship" does not take away their legal status of a married couple." (Dipak Kumar Dash & Sanjay YadavDipak Kumar Dash & Sanjay Yadav, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/In-a-first-Gurgaon-court-recognizes-lesbian-marriage/articleshow/9401421.cms accessed on July 29, 2011.)
8. Adopt if wife cannot conceive, says SC: Inability to conceive could not be fastened only on the wife, said a bench of Justices Markandey Katju and C K Prasad while upholding conviction of a husband who regularly assaulted his wife, forcing her to commit suicide. "It is natural that everyone wants children, but if a woman does not have a child, that does not mean that she should be insulted or harassed. In such a situation, the best course would be to take medical help, and if that fails, to adopt a child," the bench said. "Experience has shown that an adopted child gives as much happiness to the adoptive parents as any natural child does," it said while reducing the sentence of the husband from seven years to five years, a period which he had already undergone. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Adopt-if-wife-cannot-conceive-says-SC/articleshow/9402332.cms accessed on 29 July 2011.)
9. Woman hanged to death by husband, in-laws over dowry demand: A woman was hanged to death and later the body set on fire allegedly by her in-laws over dowry demand, police said on 30 July 2011. The incident took place on at Bitawda village. The woman, in her mid-20's, was hanged to death by her husband and in-laws in front of her six-year-old son. They later set the body on fire, they said. Acting on a complaint lodged by the victim's brother, police rushed to the spot and recovered the burnt body and sent it for postmortem. A case has been registered against the in-laws. Search is on to nab the woman's husband, parents-in-law and sister-in-law who are absconding, police said. (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/woman-hanged-to-death-by-husband-inlaws-over-dowry-demand/824700/ accessed on 31 July 2011.)
10. Abused schoolchildren crying for help: Study ‘helpline’ for government and aided schools set up by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and the Kerala Mahila Samakhya Society (KMSS) has revealed widespread physical and mental abuse of schoolchildren in the state. The helpline set up for 1,500 schools received an average of two calls a day in the last one-and-a-half years, said KMSS director Seema Bhaskar.The SSA and KMSS have intervened in and documented over 300 child abuse cases in Kerala. In nearly 95% of the cases, the violators are the protectors themselves — parents, teachers and relatives. More than 40 children, who were found unsafe in their homes, have been placed in the protection of Mahila Shikshan Kendras. The cases reveal a shocking perversity latent in the society. Sample these. A seventh standard girl in Thiruvananthapuram is regularly abused by her uncle. She attempted suicide twice. Another class seven girl in Kottayam is pushed into prostitution by her own mother. Every weekend the mother drives her to houses where she is doped, made to watch porn videos and taken advantage of by men.The organisations will extend the helpline to 6,000 more schools from August 2. (R. Ayyappan, http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/kochi/abused-schoolchildren-crying-help-study-682 accessed on 2 August 2011.)
11. What a Girl wants: Geeta Mohanpuria from Kishengarh village near Ajmer has done it all: hassled men for questioning her occupation, ferried fellow women journalists to remote villages on reporting assignments on her bike, quizzed village menfolk on dowry deaths and domestic violence, even reported on panchayat meetings till the wee hours. With four other rural women journalists, Geeta runs Khabra Ri Potli, a six-page monthly newspaper for women that’s put together in a cosy, three-room apartment in Ajmer. The thrill of telling stories is attracting scores of rural women across India; young and old, many illiterate, an overwhelming number from marginalised communities. Boosting this shift is an expanding rural media, where several community radio stations, rural newspapers and outlets for video news stories are taking root, offering jobs that pay anywhere between Rs 2,000-4,000 a month. A women’s collective working on a rural newspaper in Sitamarhi and Sheohar districts of Bihar is just taking wing, another in Ajmer is well into its third year of circulation. Over 15 tribal women in Bastar post live news on an online news portal and across Bundelkhand a clutch of women are emerging as RJs-cum-reporters, anchoring programmes for women on a number of local radio stations. Keeping up with the times, a fledgling mobile news alert service in Rampur-Mathura village of Uttar Pradesh has roped in a young girl as reporter, while in Andhra Pradesh, over 50 women have been trained in making short films and newsclips that are regularly picked up by regional TV networks. Some of these stories, such as the one that highlighted corruption in nrega, have even been picked up by national publications. Despite the odds, even women who have always been homemakers are now out and experimenting. Like Uma Yadav, a mother of four in her 40s, from Balkheda village in Bundelkhand has become radio jockey whose voice is heard across 120 villages. Gurdi Punyamma, who cannot read and write but video reports along with ten member team. Their films have been screened across the world, a sure sign that the agricultural practices documented have global relevance. Rachna Singh in Bundelkhand is busy at work, she says: “I love editing my stories, putting music to a script. When I watch TV, I look out for interesting music that I can record and use as background score,” explains the anchor-reporter. In spite of initial reluctance and demand for hard work, women have pursued this well. The business model is simple: the outfits depend mostly on government and private grants, and earn a little extra through small-time advertising and subscriptions. The ads, mostly from local traders, is often sought through door-to-door visits by the women themselves. The subscription fee is usually Rs 1-3 for the newspapers, and a nominal amount for the community radio station. The video journalists earn a commission for each news clip or film, depending on the duration of the video. The print journalists also publicise their outfits by travelling to each village in the catchment area, dropping off copies where people might take note of their product, like at the village grocery store. The radio jockeys arrange village meetings with women, take along a radio, and play them a live show to make them aware and create interest in the radio channel. (Neha Bhatt, Outlook 8 August 2011, p. 54-56.)
12. Man in treasure hunt kills kids: A man killed his two-year-old son and seven-month-old daughter in Madhya Pradesh's Satna district in the hope of getting a treasure. He was arrested by police. Phool Chand dreamt of treasure buried under his hut in Ucchehra, 25 km from Satna town, and believed he could obtain it only if he sacrificed his children. On 1 August morning, he smashed his daughter Khushi's head on the floor and grabbed son Abhilash by his legs and banged his head till he died. When Phool Chand's wife Rita returned home, she found her children's bodies soaked in blood."The husband was the only person in the house. When Rita returned, the children were dead," said sub-inspector Hitendra Singh. (Suchandana GuptaSuchandana Gupta, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Man-in-treasure-hunt-kills-kids/articleshow/9462681.cms accessed on 3 August 2011.)
13. Living in a public toilet, battling for life: Every day 10,000 patients are treated and 323 surgeries conducted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (Aiims), the biggest hospital in the country. Yet, it's not enough to clear the backlog of the many thousands who wait patiently for their turn to get treated and cured. They come with their families and friends, taking up the daily footfall to 50,000. With the wait for elective (non-emergency) surgery ranging from a few days to two years, those with money rent rooms or go back home, if the wait for surgery is too long. Those with no money have no option but to live in subways, under flyovers, on pavements, under trees — and some in unused urinals. 45-year-old Ramrati has come all the way from Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh for a heart-valve replacement. As she waits for a surgery date, the men's toilet outside AIIMS has been her home for two weeks. And Hem Kumari (25) who has blood cancer and an enlarged liver, is here with her husband Man Bahadur (30), from a village in Mahua district, Uttar Pradesh. Leaving behind their two children — Neeraj (5) and Pranshi (2) — with their grandparents, the couple first camped under a tree outside the OPD before moving into the men's urinal two weeks ago. "It's better than living under a tree," says Kumari, "at least, we have four walls around us.” (http://www.hindustantimes.com/Living-in-a-public-toilet-battling-for-life/H1-Article1-728715.aspx accessed on 3 August 2011.)
14. India emerging as the global Hepatitis capital: India is all set to emerge as the global capital of the dreaded Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), according to a team of doctors from MIOT Hospital in Chennai. “Forty two million Indians suffer from chronic Hepatitis B infection. The Hepatitis B Virus is responsible for 60% of liver cancer cases in India,” said Dr Arul Prakash, leading gastroenterologist, MIOT Hospital. Not even 1% of school children have been vaccinated against HBV. There are 400 million people chronically infected by the HBV.and 40% of these people will end up in cirrhosis and liver cancer. On 31 July more than 22,000 school children from 13 schools in Chennai city being given free vaccination coupons against HBV. “We have set up an Advanced Centre For Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseasesfor spreading the message about HBV all over India,” said Dr P.V.A. Mohandas. Director of MIOT Hospital, Chennai.(Kumar Chellappan, http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_india-emerging-as-the-global-hepatitis-capital_1572133 accessed on 3 August 2011.) Breaking News:
15. On IIT-B campus, you can be gay and happy: In what is probably a first for an Indian educational institute, IIT-B has set up a support group, Saathi, for those of its students who belong to a sexual minority-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer-to help them accept their sexuality and shed their 'straight' masks if they want to. Saathi is a positive space not only for LGBTQs but also for those still unsure of their sexuality. On 1 August, freshmen at IIT-B were introduced to Saathi. Nivvedan S, is the founder of Saathi. At the address, the power point slides-accompanied by mugs of well-known gay people like Oscar Wilde, Freddy Mercurie, Lindsay Lohan and the fictional Albus Dumbledore--put to rest a lot of doubts like 'Is homosexuality a disease?' "NO,' was the answer loud and clear, 'you can be gay and lead a perfectly happy, normal, successful life.' In effect then, 'You can be happy and gay.' "The country has been indifferent to the LBGTQ community for too long," said IIT-B's public relations officer Jaya Joshi. "Saathi is a fine example of an initiative of change and freedom in mindset. It's time to knife these silences-and as an institute we support this initiative whole-heartedly." (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/On-IIT-B-campus-you-can-be-gay-and-happy/articleshow/9477116.cms accessed on 4 August 2011.)
16. City police expands to be biggest in country: The city will have the largest police commissionerate in the country in terms of stations, with the state government on 4 August announcing the merger of the city and suburban police to form the Greater Chennai commissionerate. The new commissionerate with 156 police stations across 588 sqkm will be divided into four zones - north, central, south and west. Bangalore police have 104 stations, while Mumbai police have only 89. Greater Chennai police, with a strength of about 20,000 personnel, however, will be no match in manpower to Mumbai police with about 41,000 personnel. The strength of Delhi police, a state-wide force, is 57,500. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/City-police-expands-to-be-biggest-in-country/articleshow/9488815.cms accessed on 5 August 2011.)
17. ‘25% of India's urban population is poor': A quarter of India's urban population lives below the poverty line and are poor, the Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja. Orissa has the highest percentage of urban poor in the country. Quoting the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) for the year 2004-05, Selja informed the Rajya Sabha that 807.96 lakh people - which comprise 25.7 percent of the urban population of the country - were poor. In Orissa, 44.30 percent of the population live below the poverty line. (http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_25pct-of-india-s-urban-population-is-poor_1572300 accessed on 5 August 2011.)
18. 31% of judges' posts in SC, HCs lying vacant:More than 31% of posts of judges in various high courts and the Supreme Court are lying vacant, law minister Salman Khurshid said in the Lok Sabha. Of the 895 sanctioned posts of judges in the apex court and 21 high courts of the country, 284 were vacant as on August 1, 2011. The largest number of vacancies is in Allahabad High Court where 98 of 160 posts - more than 61% -- have not been filled. Himachal Pradesh HC is the only one which has no vacancies. Sikkim HC is functioning with just one judge against its sanctioned strength of three. The 21 high courts have a cumulative pendency of 42,17,903 cases as on September 30, 2010. The highest number of pending cases is in Allahabad HC where 9,73,599 cases are yet to be disposed of. Sikkim HC has the least pendency of 52 cases. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/31-of-judges-posts-in-SC-HCs-lying - vacant /articleshow/9521618.cms accessed on 8 August 2011.)
19. Hanging by a thread: Tripur that was considered as glorious example of entrepreneurship, is facing trouble. The recession has hit this town badly. 493 people committed suicide in 2009; 565 in 2010; and 225 till April 2011. Debt and exploitation is driving many to frustration in the garment industry. (Kavitha Muralidharan, The Week 14 August 2011, p. 22-23) Breaking News:
20. 45,000 engg seats fall vacant in state this year: The number of engineering seats falling vacant in the Tamil Nadu government quota has increased six times over last year to touch 45,000 now. Last year, 8,172 government quota seats were left without takers. Experts estimate the total vacancies, including management quota seats, to be around 70,000 this year, up from 33,000 last year. Academics attribute the trend to excess supply of seats and a waning interest in engineering among students. At the end of the single window counselling session for candidates in the general category on 11 August, 1,04,152 BE/BTech seats had been allotted. There has been a steady increase in the number of government quota seats allotted from 2008. It touched a peak in 2010 when 1,06,002 candidates were allotted BE/BTech seats through single window counselling. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/45000-engg-seats-fall-vacant-in-state-this-year/articleshow/9573586.cms accessed on 12 August 2011.)
21. Biharis addicted to 'khaini': Survey: “Altogether 63 per cent males and 35 per cent females in Bihar use smokeless tobacco," the survey by the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS India) says. "Every second adult in Bihar uses smokeless tobacco and its prevalence in the state is the highest among all states in India," it said. Among the six geographical regions of the north, east, central, north east, west and south in the country, the prevalence of tobacco use in any form and that of smokeless tobacco is the highest in the eastern region. The survey shows that tobacco use starts among adults in the state between the ages 20 and 34, while daily tobacco use starts on an average at the age 18.8 years. The mean age of initiation of smoking and smokeless tobacco is 20-34 is and 18.8 years respectively. (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/biharis-addicted-to-khaini-survey/831050/ accessed on 12 August 2011.)
22. Biggest threat to freedom? Corruption, say young India: A survey of 18-25 year olds was conducted by Synovate, a global research agency, across eight of our biggest cities in young India's most favoured hubs, colleges and malls for Times of India sought to find out and its results shed light on four clear trends: young urban Indians greatly cherish the various freedoms our country offers; look forward to the many economic opportunities available; vehemently despise corruption; and, predictably, are patently cricket-mad. 75% of young Indians clearly felt that they enjoyed enough rights and freedoms today. But Mumbaikars disagreed; 56% in India's commercial capital felt they're not free. In Mumbai, on the other hand, 64% or nearly two-thirds plumped for the right to work anywhere. Perhaps some indication of disenchantment with the regional chauvinism and anti-outsider politics in Maharashtra.While 64% of respondents felt 'today's India offers great job opportunties', most Mumbaikars disagreed again. Over 60% of respondents listed 'corruption' as the biggest threat facing India today, and 80% supported the Anna Hazare-led campaign to fight graft. Opinion is more divided on what they'd do if asked to pay a bribe. While 35% said they would not pay and 'walk away quietly', 34% stated they would lodge a complaint. But a sizeable 28% admitted they'd pay up. Only Bangalore, with 69% saying they'd pay a bribe, appeared to skew towards a majority tolerating corruption in some way. Interestingly, when asked what India's greatest achievement in the last decade was, respondents, surprisingly, gave short shrift to the country's globally feted march to economic superstardom; just as they did to our much vaunted telecom revolution. The decade's big moment for them was clearly Team India's emphatic cricket World Cup victory, with 46% plumping for Dhoni's Devils' big night in Mumbai earlier this year. 31% pointed to Sachin Tendulkar when asked who their role model was. Anna Hazare (16), who appears to have really caught young India's imagination, comes (a distant) second, with Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan (16) and Aamir Khan (12) next. Rahul Gandhi (9) is fifth on the list. (Praveen Dass, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Biggest-threat-to-freedom-Corruption-says-young-India/articleshow/9583970.cms accessed on 13 August 2011.)
23. Realty bites: House in Mumbai slums for Rs 40 lakh: The realty market is booming in Mumbai. But not in its traditional posh, suburban or newly developing pockets. It is flourishing in the teeming slums that house 60% of the city's population. Some tenements in these areas sell for as much as Rs 15,000 per sq ft while rents for the humble hovels can soar as high as Rs 10,000 a month. It's another matter that the living conditions almost always remain sub-human. Thousands of shanties in prime locations are regularly bought and sold under the radar of government scrutiny. The market boasts its own set of brokers and investors. A two-room house at the Matunga labour camp on Dharavi's 60-feet Road, for instance, can cost up to Rs 40 lakh, say local brokers. In upmarket localities like Worli, Nepean Sea Road, Cuffe Parade and Colaba, the rate for a shanty can shoot up to over Rs 25 lakh-the offer generally made by builders keen to redevelop the slum enclave. In the Bharat Nagar slum adjoining Bandra-Kurla Complex, some residents received over Rs 1 crore a shanty to shift permanently a few years ago. Calculated per square foot, some of these values could well match the going rates in western suburbs such as Malad, Andheri and Borivli. The numbers, however, do not show the squalor and poor living conditions prevailing in Mumbai's slum clusters. The poor can no longer afford to live in a slum. Rents in Wadala's slums are around Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 a month for a 100-sq-ft home and around Rs 3,500 for a 200-sq-ft tenement. At the other end of the city, PM Shaikh, another realtor, pegs the rentals at Colaba's Azaad Nagar slum between Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000 a month. Shanties in Dharavi can cost up to Rs 10 lakh. They can also fetch rent as high as Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 a month.
A developer with deep insight into slum redevelopment projects in central Mumbai says there are two categories of slums-those that are eligible for rehabilitation under the state government's slum rehousing schemes and those declared unauthorized. The eligible ones command a price of Rs 20 lakh to Rs 30 lakh in Worli, Saat Rasta and Lower Parel. An illegal shanty, on the other hand, can fetch between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh. Free houses provided to eligible slum dwellers are another goldmine. Although it is illegal for them to sell these houses for 10 years, as many as 40% of all slum residents who are eligible to receive a 269-sq-ft flat encash them and move out. Most inhabitants of slums, however, prefer to take a shanty on rent. (Anahita Mukherji & Nauzer K Bharucha, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Realty-bites-House-in-Mumbai-slums-for-Rs-40-lakh/articleshow/9585639.cms accessed on 13 August 2011.)Anahita Mukherji & Nauzer K Bharucha
24. Less than equal: How Delhi school tagged kids who got fee waiver: St. Andrews Scots Senior Secondary School, is under the scanner of a child rights panel for tagging poor students. The irony is it boasts of “providing value-based education” to its students. The school admits poor students under the legally bound 10% freeship quota — fee waiver — for economically disadvantaged children.But the students, parents and child rights activists allege the school discriminates against poor kids, profiles them on the basis of their socio-economic status and makes them wear tags showing they have been admitted under the quota.The children were made to wear an ink mark “F/S”, denoting freeship, on their collars to distinguish them from the rest. (http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_less-than-equal-how-delhi-school-tagged-kids-who-got-fee-waiver_1576080 accessed on 16 August 2011.)
25. House of spirits: In spite of several Vaastu corrections and a series of pujas, the ‘spirit’ of Anugraha, the official residence of the Karnataka chief minister continues to be revail. H.D. Kumaraswamy’s government spend Rs. 68 lakhs in 2006-07 on restructuring the house. It didn’t help him keep the CM’s job. B.S. Yeddyurappa spent a whopping Rs. 1.32 crore on vaastu corrections and an additional Rs. 56.54 lakh on remodelling. That didn’t help either and he lost the CM’s post. On Naga Panchamai, new CM Sadananda Gowda conducted a special puja to propitiate the snake god. The house is said to be inhabitated by a black snake, considered unlucky, which occasionally appears on the lawns. Will this puja change the course of hiss-tory? (Kaveree Bamzai, India Today 22 August 2011, p. 16.)
II Diaspora
Indian girl murdered for dowry in Surrey: As per official release of Surrey police (copy with TOI) accused Sunny Bhangu allegedly attacked the victim (Ravinder Kaur) in a business complex located in the 8100 block of 128th Avenue Surrey. Police nabbed her husband from spot. During preliminary investigations it came to light that the suspect and victim had been married since 2008. Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) has been deployed and is now leading the investigation with assistance fr--m Surrey RCMP and Lower Mainland District Forensic Identification Unit. "She compl----------------------------]eted her graduation from local Patel College and got married on December 24, 2008. She went with her husband Sunny to Surrey in 2008," said a neighbour, without disclosing identity. The husband first threw the daughter out of their house and finally killed her. The parents in India were under stress for many months after the in-laws of their daughter started making threatening calls to them for dowry. The mother of deceased has been unwell from many months. (Parvesh Sharma, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Indian-girl-murdered-for-dowry-in-Surrey/articleshow/9427229.cms accessed on 31 July 2011.)
III Global:
Pak 3rd largest immigrant group in Norway: Pakistanis are the third largest number of immigrants in Norway after Poles and Swedes. A thinly-populated country of 5 million people, Norway, according to its government statistics, has more than 600,000 (or about 12%) immigrants as of 2011. Poles top the list of immigrants at 60,000, followed by Swedes at 34,000. But followed by Pakistanis at 32,000? The next two immigrant nationalities on the list - Iraq and Somalia (27,000 each). Iran and Turkey also figure at 9th and 10th (16,000) each. In contrast, there are only 10,000 Indians in Norway, less than a third of the Pakistani immigrant population. In fact, there are more Sri Lankans and Afghans (14,000 each) than Indians. Immigration to Norway is driven from distant politically and economically troubled states. Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia, Sri Lanka all went through political turmoil at a time Norway also had liberal immigration policies, especially towards political refugees. This is evident across the world, including in the US, where the Indian-American population is said to have crossed 3 million, and Pakistani-American numbers are thought to be in the region of 700,000 - about a 4:1 ratio. But in many Western European countries, especially in Scandinavia, Indians are fewer in numbers than Pakistanis, Arabs, Turks, etc. In that sense, both India and China appear to have been victims of a restrictive passport regime, not to speak of their own domestic economic success. Such one-shot political and economic-based immigration can occur between countries under special circumstances. For instances, Germany's massive 4 million Turkish immigrant population began innocuously enough in the 1960s on the back of high population growth and mass unemployment within Turkey and a demand for cheap labour in Germany. The construction of the Berlin Wall had restricted the flow of labour from East Germany so the Turkish government asked Germany to recruit Turkish guest workers. By the 1980s and 1990s, family re-unification rights propelled it past a million, at which point it also becomes a political and electoral issue. Norway's Pakistani growth has followed a similar pattern on a smaller scale. Many early Pakistanis immigrants came in fact from Punjab's Kharian town and surrounding areas in the 1960s and swelled through the family re-unification process in the 1970s and 1980s even as immigration laws became stricter in 1976. Today, Pakistani-Norwegians are making a mark in public and political life: Akhtar Chaudhry is a Member of the current Stortinget (Norway's Parliament) for the Sosialistisk Venstreparti (Socialist Left Party); Afshan Rafiq is a former member of the Stortinget for the Hoyre (Conservative Party of Norway) and her husband Aamir Sheikh is a member the Oslo city council. There are Pakistani-Norwegian news anchors, entertainers, and filmmakers. Indians do not migrate to these countries because of knowledge of English. While even languages like Spanish and French are taught in India, Swedish, Norwegian or Danish aren't. This is despite the fact that the human development indicators of this region are among the best in the world. Learning the languages of this region may well be the new passports to prosperity for immigrants. Government should, therefore, promote these languages. In fact, it should focus more on winning the fjords of Norway than the glaciers of Siachen. (Chidanand RajghattaChidanand Rajghatta, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pak-3rd-largest-immigrant-group-in-Norway/articleshow/9511373.cms accessed on 7 August 2011.)
Kolkata-Cooch Behar flights to begin operations from 5 Sept
SNS, KOLKATA, 25 AUG: Flight services between Kolkata and Cooch Behar will finally start from 5 September. Announcing this, state transport minister Mr Subrata Bakshi said the North East Shuttle Pvt. Ltd. has decided to start commercial flights from Kolkata to Cooch Behar and back five days a week except Wednesday and Sunday.
The chief minister, Miss Mamata Banerjee, had flagged off the inaugural flight from Siliguri on 19 July. Though the flight services were supposed to start from 1 September, it would face a delay of four days only because of some “technical problems”.
Today, Mr Bakshi announced that 18-seater aircraft will be pressed into service for this purpose and to ensure that the flight operations are commercially viable, state government has decided to provide subsidy up to a maximum of eight seats per flight for a period of six months. One has to pay Rs 5,000 for a single journey.
In a bid to making the Cooch Behar airport operational, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has undertaken an upgrade of the airport which has recently been completed at a cost of Rs 35 crore.
Mr BP Gopalika, the state transport secretary, said the flight service is being inaugurated with an 18-seater flight only because the runway at Cooch Behar airport allows to land small aircraft only. “Once more and more people start flying to Cooch Behar and the runway is extended, initiatives will be taken to introduce a bigger aircraft,” the transport secretary said.
Students from North-east get Oz treatment in city
SNS, KOLKATA, 25 AUG: In a city that boasts of cultural diversity and tolerance towards varied ethnicity, facial features are enough to make people feel alienated, and in worse cases subject them to social ostracism.
Not only the students from the North-east have to face this sort of discrimination in the city, but also the residents of Hills in West Bengal are typified and are harassed in several ways when they come to the city to study or to avail medical facilities.
A group of three students of department of Arts in Jadavpur University had to face what Indians have been facing in Australia a couple of months ago. Mr Tashi Tshering Bhutia, Mr Kunzang Lama and Mr Vivek Chhetri, all residents of Darjeeling, on their way to an eatery were verbally abused and told to walk from the other side of the road by a group of drunken hooligans near Gariahat at 10.30 p.m. a few days ago.
Mr Bhutia, who had been staying in the city for the past seven years, said: “Kolkata is our capital as well. But, that was the day I felt how hated we are because of our facial features,” he added.
Another student narrated what he had to face in Metro when due to rush he stumbled while boarding a crowded train. “The man on whom I fell started abusing me. I said sorry but he refused to calm down. All the passengers took his side. They called me an animal and told me to touch the man's feet and apologise,” he added.
Several students from Darjeeling hills and other North-eastern states, said if room rent for Bengalis is Rs 1,500 in Tollygunge, Jadavpur, Prince Anwar Shah Road, Santoshpur, Garfa, and Palm Avenue, it is Rs 5,000 for them. Even vegetable sellers and taxi drivers charge them exorbitant rates.
A student from Manipur, Mr Angel Shishak, referring to Bidhannagar Municipality chairman Mrs Krishna Chakraborty's comment, said: “We are harassed at government offices and even nationalised banks. We want an apology from the chairman who said that we are the ones who create nuisance on roads.”
When students go to look for an accommodation, the house owners ask them for their passport.
“We have no problem providing documents, but why people from other states in India are not asked to furnish passports?” asked Mr Sambo Lapung, a student from Arunachal Pradesh. An owner of a paying guest accommodation in Jadavpur said that he generally doesn't allow people from North-east to stay as they are “dirty, they take drugs and are difficult to understand” while an owner of another flat in Ganguli Bagan said: “We prefer students from North-east as they are peaceful and they abide by rules.”
Mr Kunzang Lama summed up the feeling saying: “They want Kunchenjunga but not its people. They want Darjeeling tea, but not those who pick them at Rs 62 per day wage.”
A Lokpal Critique
Vaibhav H. Wasnik, Countercurrents.org, KalimNews, 24 August, 2011: The following is a collection of points from online debates that I have been part of, consolidated as an article. That corruption is a problem in India or most developing economies is not anybody's secret. But the rampant misusing of the power of suggestion by a ``corporations'' backed media to counter the electorate process by promoting a non-ballot based center of power is even more mischievous.
The Jan Lokpal Andolan with an old simple looking man called Anna Hazare as its poster boy, heavily publicized by the national media is the talk of the day in India today. With a country drenched in idol worship, with footing in the dominant religion of Hinduism, to the god like status given to popular media idols such as the ones in Bollywood, a properly chosen archetype of a simple saint like man (that does seem to draw plenty of inspiration in the country's history, with saints like Tukaram, Dynaneshwar etc standing up against the established social order) to supposedly counteract a supposed social evil like 'monetary' corruption is quite intelligent. But tbe brilliance of feeding the emotional senses of the public a well publicized melodrama to promote an agenda that further reduces the choice in the hands of 'people' to direct their own destiny is what seperates this movement from other intelligent media campaings. Alas, whereas the ideologies of Tukaram, Dyaneshwar etc favored the transfer of power in the hands of the people, the brilliant minds behind the Lokpal are bent on transferring the power in the hands of a select few.
To get a better idea about the actual issues with the proposal, let us look at the draft of the Lokpal Bill itself.
Let us move to the portions which talk about the committee and its selection. The Lokpal Bill claims that a selection committee consisting of the following shall be set up:
1. The Chairpersons of both Houses of Parliament : Sounds fair enough.
2. Two senior most judges of Supreme Court : Sometime back a Supreme Court judge commented against the possibility of reservations in judge selections in the Supreme Court. Such statements are obviously drenched in bias by the judge who works for a public institution which hardly has any representation from 85 percent of India made up of the SC/ST/OBCs and Muslims . Especially, when the statement by the judge does not qualify as a constitutional mandate, but only reflects his own bias.
3. Two senior most Chief Justices of High Courts :Point 2. above
4. All Nobel Laureates of Indian Origin: The politics, leg pulling involved in academia is legendary. Expecting, an academic, no matter what his award to be of a clear conscience is fallacious.
5. Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission: Who happen to be former supreme court judges etc, instead of ground level activists who actually have fought substantial battles for the procurement of human rights.
6. Last two Magsaysay Award winners of Indian origin: Point 4. above
7. Controller and Auditor General of India: So the implication is that an IAS officer, who gets a minimum of 5 crore dowry, somehow is of a clear conscience.
8. Chief Election Commissioner: Point 7. above
9. Bharat Ratna Award winners: Now it starts getting even more ridiculous. Can the likes of Lata Mangeshkar, AR Rahman or some talented artist, sportsman etc have any idea about the pulse of an entire nation.
10. After the first set of selection process, the outgoing members and Chairperson of Lokpal.
As we read on, we even are presented with examples of the ridiculousness involved in the framing of the bill with vague statements such as "The members and Chairperson should have unimpeachable integrity and should have demonstrated their resolve and efforts to fight against corruption in the past". Looking at the selection procedure we come up with the conclusion that the relevant individual talked in the statement really amount to a biased court judge, a dowry taking IAS officer, Lata mangeshkar, AR rahman, a spiritually messed up academic etc. All of whom are in the highest probability would never be an SC/ST/OBC, who make up 85 percent of the country.
Now even if an assumption is made that the amateurness involved in the selection procedures of the proposed Lokpal really counteracts the proposed claim that the committe would atleast be non-corrupt as corruption is an issue that is largely perpetuated by the elected representatives of the people (as claimed by the Lokpal brigade); Then the whole debate instead could definitely be enriched by demanding a Lokpal committee, made up of international human rights activists/stalwarts, so that they would atleast not be biased towards any particular community in India. The likes of Nelson Mandela, Aung san suu kyi etc could be perfect choices. If the possible complains are one's relating to national integrity, then one could safely comment that such objections don't hold any water as majority of the investment in (buying away of) India is anyway foreign in nature. So the counter question would be as to why should monetary rule by outsiders be ok, but social rulings by international human stalwarts be considered not ok?
Let us try to simplify things further and ask why does the Anna Hazare anti-corruption movement simply not take the route of the ballot, get elected and then amend the constitution as needed to fight corruption, just as any individual who values the democratic nature of the Indian republic, would do. Referendums are never the modus operandi in the workings of democratic institutions. Ideas which need to be framed as policies are taken to the people by political organizations who if elected pass laws in the respective assemblies. Anna Hazare has more political advertising at this disposal than any other politician in India history. If the issue of corruption is the number one issue in the country, his modus operandi would have been to translate the public sentiment to the ballot by organizing his own political front. It is definitely easier and more worthwhile than fasting. The fact that he shies away from such a direction, basically points to the fact that the issue of corruption even though being important is still a media created phenomenon.
But if corruption is not the biggest problem in India today, then why is the corporate media so hell bent on publicizing the Anna Hazare movement? Who would be the prime examples of the polity that would be affected by Jan Lokpal in the wrong way? One can easily find example of these, who are advertised out of proportion as being corrupt by a biased national English speaking media. The likes of Mayawati, whose net worth is just 50 crores, while the IAS officers working under her may be worth more than 100 crores each and most lowercaste politicians fall in this category. The people who would not be affected are the likes of Arun Shourie, who sold the Centaur hotel at 80 crores as the disinvestment minister in the BJP government, only to be resold by the buyer of the hotel in a few months at 160 crores. Arun Shourie is about the ideology of removing participation of lowercastes from white collared jobs. The BJP intelligentsia that fooled everyone with promises of Ram Mandir (which was plainly an excuse of diverting the consolidation of 85 percent of india the SC/ST/OBCs by the mandal commission) really accelerated disinvestment (selling of public sector companies to the private sector at a loss), in effect neutering the gains attained through mandal. The above may be generalizations, with issues being more subtle and involved, however they do work well in giving us a flavor of the intended consequences of a Lokpal office which brings us to the main issue.
The primary issue is that corruption is still not the main issue affecting the majority of India. However, the issue has been advertised as being the one that would take care of ills affecting Indian society and by some very weird leaps in logic, is claimed to be a cure for issues such as poverty. However, the correlations are really a mirage. Even the promise of a free market economy being the road to economy prosperity does not apply to India Inc, which is far from a free market enterprise. A free market by its very definition does not exist in an economic system, where a few corporations control the majority of production and supply. Far from what India is and far from what it will ever become, if the narrow minded issue of corruption being the most important thing for the country to deal with is put forth. The solution really is about policies to get the majority of the country in the economic market, be it through encouraging entrepreneurship from disadvantaged poor communities or otherwise, so that the guy who is poor actually feels that it is corruption that is preventing him from participating in the market. It is then that he would vote for candidates who are hell bent on destroying corruption, tackling the problem head on. The widening gap between the rich and poor is independent of corruption and would continue to exist even if everyone was not corrupt in the bribe taking sense. Even the 2G scam was just about some guy taking bribes in giving out contracts. Ambani's existence does not do good to the vast majority of the country, whether a government official takes bribe from him or not. The fact that the Anna Brigade does not even want to think about following the electoral route, but is dancing around a melodramatic movement, blaming the bribe takers, but getting support from the bribe givers (the corporations and the media they sponsor) really points to the intentions of the movement not being wholesome, towards the development of the society. Instead the obvious intent of transfer of actual transfer of power from the electorate that is the cornerstone of a democratic institution, to a bureaucracy that does not answer to the people, seems to be the sole motive behind this well publicized movement.
Vaibhav Wasnik is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Biophysics at Clark University Worcester Massachussets
Global Urban Vision – September 2011
Compiled and Published by J.N. Manokaran (jnmanokaran@yahoo.com) on behalf of Glocal Leaders Network-KalimNews
I India
1. Kerala’s Mental Block: 5.86 percent of Kerala’s population suffers from mental illness against the national average of 2 percent. There are three Government mental hospitals, psychiatry department in three Government medical colleges, with 1800 psychiatry beds and 143 private mental hospitals in the State. None of the private hospitals have license from the Government. 10 percent of Kerala population suffers from psychiatric disorders. 2.5 percent have psychosomatic ailments and neurosis. 1 in every 100 children below six years in Kerala are mentally retarded. Alcoholism, divorce and domestic violence fuel the surge of psychological illness in the State. Kerala has highest suicide rate of 25.3 persons per 100 000 population. 11.8 percent is the share of domestic violence in the total crimes of Kerala, while the national share is 5.3 per cent. Divorce rate in Kerala is 3.3 per cent while the national average is 1.1 percent. (M.G. Radhakrishnan, India Today 1 August 2011, p. 52-53.) Kerala kids high on blood pressure: The blood pressure of teenagers in Kerala is high when compared to their counterparts in other states as well as the rest of the world, studies have revealed.Doctors ascribe this to the unending academic regimen of teenagers including early morning tuition, the long hours they slump on the couch in front of the television and the near-total lack of physical exercise. Doctors were stunned to find systolic pressure of 114.5 mm and diastolic pressure of 74.3 mm in a study conducted among plus two students of Kazhakkuttam. In a survey conducted by another physician among plus two students in Varkala and a comprehensive study conducted among around 16,000 students across Kerala by the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences. This may look okay since we are told that normal adult blood pressure levels are in 120-80 range. But in adolescence this is abnormal. The diastolic blood pressure among teens in other parts of the world hovered around 50 to 55 mm and the systolic pressure around 100. The solution is for schools to ensure 30 minutes of physical exercise every day. BP of kids will come down if parents curb this tuition marathon. (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/kochi/kerala-kids-high-blood-pressure-778 accessed on 12 August 2011.)
2. In 10 years, urban Indian women's average income doubles: According to a study by market research firm IMRB: The urban Indian woman who earned Rs 4,492 per month in 2001 was taking home as much as Rs 9,457 as of 2010. The rise in her income is directly reflected in the average monthly household income of urban India going up from Rs 8,242 to Rs 16,509 in 2010, says the IMRB survey. According to official data, India's per capita income rose from Rs 16,688 in 2000-01 to Rs 54,835 in 2010-11, a 228% rise. The IMRB figures suggest that urban incomes in the same period rose by 100% and incomes of urban women by 111%. Aspirations and financial independence of women is evident not only in urban India but in tier II and tier III cities. With the woman's personal income doubling, she is increasingly outsourcing household work. From 91% women saying they did household work themselves, the number has dropped to 71% in 2010, according to the survey. While 34% of women participated in the actual buying process in 2003, by 2010 that number had gone up to 43%. The survey, which interviewed 9,000 urban women above 25 years says as an impact of increasing financial independence, there has been a 33% jump in the number of women who have a savings bank account in the last decade. Also, from only 4% of women owning their own credit card back in 2001, there has been a 150% growth as 10% of women in 2010 possessed a credit card. Given that one-third of the estimated 480 million jobs in the country are being performed by women, more than half of the advertising is targeted towards the homemaker. (Samidha Sharma & Namrata SinghSamidha Sharma & Namrata Singh, http://timesofindia.indiatimes. com/india/In-10-years-urban-Indian-womens-average-income-doubles/articleshow/9364285.cms accessed on July 26, 2011)
3. Haryana college bans use of mobile phones by girls: In an incident that conforms to the prevailing gender bias in Haryana, the Priyadarshni Indira Gandhi Govt College for Women here has imposed a blanket ban on students bringing mobile phones in the college even as Govt Postgraduate College for Men, located in the same campus, has not imposed any restriction on mobile use by students. The women's college authorities maintained that the ban had been enforced to ensure discipline in the college as it had become an instrument of disturbance in the college. Surprisingly, the Govt Postgraduate College for Men, located in the same campus, which shares the entrance with the women's college, has no such restrictions on students. Dr Mehtab Singh, principal of men's college, stated, "Though we discourage use of mobiles in the college, we have not taken a decision to ban it. Boys are very difficult to discipline and even if we take such a decision, it would be tough to enforce the same". (Deepender DeswalDeepender Deswal, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Haryana-college-bans-use-of-mobile-phones-by-girls/articleshow/9366751.cms July 26, 2011.
4. Eternal traffic woes: Over the last few years, Chennai has grown into a teeming metro and one of the biggest IT hubs in the country. This means that the population has also increased rapidly. The result is heavy traffic congestion. And, the construction of the metro rail is only adding to people’s woes. According to reports, the number of registered vehicles in and around Chennai as on April 1, 2010 was 26,58,083, as opposed to 9,75,915 on April 1, 1998. Even the educated class of our society breaks the rules, leading to commotion. From jumping traffic signals to something as simple as turning the indicator on, the level of negligence is extremely high. Civic activists and politicians who have been observing the scenario, say that it’s important that citizens and the traffic authorities strike a chord to get the system into place. The drivers of the public transport buses are the main cause of serious commotion. They stop even on main roads, irrespective of whether a bus stop is there or not. (Srinidhi Rajagopal, http://www.deccanchronicle.com/tabloid/chennai/eternal-traffic-woes-937 accessed on 26 July 2011.)
5. Divorce cases in Mumbai soar 86% in less than 10 years: As the stigma around divorce dissolves steadily, an increasing number of couples in the city are choosing to end their marriage, sometimes soon after exchanging their wedding vows. Between 2009 and 2010, the number of divorces in Mumbai rose from 4,624 to 5,245, a spike of over 13%. Last year's figure is even more startling when compared to 2002's statistic of 2,805 - this means that the number of divorces has climbed by more than 86% in less than a decade. Social scientists and psychiatrists explain this as a sign that the till-death-do-us-apart class of marriage is under strain. "Young couples marry impulsively and separate equally spontaneously. Divorce is now seen more as a corrective mechanism and a way to move forward in life," says psychiatrist Harish Shetty. Shetty states financial independence, multiplicity of relationships and ample career opportunities as some of the reasons for the increase. (Viju B., http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Divorce-cases-in-Mumbai-soar-86-in-less-than-10-years/articleshow/9376942.cms accessed on 27 July 2011.)
6. Indians most depressed people in the world, says WHO study: Indians are the world's most depressed people with nearly 36 per cent suffering from Major Depressive Episode (MDE), the cluster of symptoms of depression, according to a WHO-sponsored study. The people living in wealthier nations like Netherlands, France and the US were less happy and more depressed than those in poorer ones. Netherlands with an average 33.6 per cent case of MDE came second while France and US were placed on third and fourth positions with 32.3 per cent and 30.9 per cent cases respectively. In India, around 9 per cent of people reported having an extended period of depression within their lifetime and nearly 36 per cent suffered from MDE. The average age of depression in India is 31.9 years compared to 18.8 years in China, and 22.7 years in the US. The study, published in the BMC Medicine journal, is based on interviews of more than 89,000 people in 18 different countries. One in seven people (15 per cent) in high-income countries is likely to get depression over their lifetime, compared with one in nine (11 per cent) in middle and low-income countries, the study says. MDE is characterised by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy and poor concentration, besides feeling depressed. WHO ranks depression as the fourth leading cause of disability worldwide and projects that by 2020, it will be the second leading cause. Women are twice as likely to suffer depression as men and the loss of a partner, whether from death or divorce, was a main factor, the study reveals. Depression affects over 120 million people worldwide. It can interfere with a person's ability to work, make relationships difficult, and destroy quality of life. In severe cases it leads to suicide, causing 850,000 deaths a year. (http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_indians-most-depressed-people-in-the-world-says-who-study_1570027 accessed on 27 July 2011.)
7. In a first, Gurgaon court recognizes lesbian marriage: While granting police protection to a runaway lesbian couple from Khekada village in Baghpat, additional sessions judge Vimal Kumar recorded matter-of-factly that Beena and Savita claimed to be married to each other. Their statements were recorded in the order without any indication that such a marriage had no legal status. "We have married to each other on July 22, 2011 of our own free will without coercion, duress, fraud, misrepresentation etc," it stated. The court also recorded that one of them, Savita, had earlier been married to a man and that the marriage had been dissolved by a khap panchayat in Bagpat district. Their petition disclosed that Beena and Savita subsequently married each other by signing an affidavit before a public notary in Gurgaon. On the basis of these dodgy claims about divorce and marriage, the Gurgaon court invoked a 2009 Punjab and Haryana high court judgment directing all district and sessions judges to "ensure help and assistance to runaway couples". The high court direction had come in the wake of honor killings ordered by khap panchayats against marriages within the same gotra. The Gurgaon judge has now extended that protection to a marriage within the same sex. According to the petition before the Gurgaon court, Beena was unmarried prior to July 22 while Savita had tied the knot with one Ombir last December. Her marriage was dissolved in panchayat proceedings held in Nipura tehsil in Baghpat. The couple in their petition had submitted before the court that they had known each other for 15 years. "They fell in love in June 2011 and both decided to (have a) live-in-relationship with each other," the petition said. Their counsel had told the court that both the petitioners had conveyed their intention to their parents, who did not give their consent and threatened them with dire consequences. The couple maintained that their marriage is legally recognized and valid. The petitioners said, "Though they are both female, they have legally married and their marriage is recognized as valid because they fulfill the legal requirements for a legal marriage." They further asserted, "For all purposes of legal interpretation, the petitioners are a 'married couple' and simply writing the word 'living-in relationship" does not take away their legal status of a married couple." (Dipak Kumar Dash & Sanjay YadavDipak Kumar Dash & Sanjay Yadav, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/In-a-first-Gurgaon-court-recognizes-lesbian-marriage/articleshow/9401421.cms accessed on July 29, 2011.)
8. Adopt if wife cannot conceive, says SC: Inability to conceive could not be fastened only on the wife, said a bench of Justices Markandey Katju and C K Prasad while upholding conviction of a husband who regularly assaulted his wife, forcing her to commit suicide. "It is natural that everyone wants children, but if a woman does not have a child, that does not mean that she should be insulted or harassed. In such a situation, the best course would be to take medical help, and if that fails, to adopt a child," the bench said. "Experience has shown that an adopted child gives as much happiness to the adoptive parents as any natural child does," it said while reducing the sentence of the husband from seven years to five years, a period which he had already undergone. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Adopt-if-wife-cannot-conceive-says-SC/articleshow/9402332.cms accessed on 29 July 2011.)
9. Woman hanged to death by husband, in-laws over dowry demand: A woman was hanged to death and later the body set on fire allegedly by her in-laws over dowry demand, police said on 30 July 2011. The incident took place on at Bitawda village. The woman, in her mid-20's, was hanged to death by her husband and in-laws in front of her six-year-old son. They later set the body on fire, they said. Acting on a complaint lodged by the victim's brother, police rushed to the spot and recovered the burnt body and sent it for postmortem. A case has been registered against the in-laws. Search is on to nab the woman's husband, parents-in-law and sister-in-law who are absconding, police said. (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/woman-hanged-to-death-by-husband-inlaws-over-dowry-demand/824700/ accessed on 31 July 2011.)
10. Abused schoolchildren crying for help: Study ‘helpline’ for government and aided schools set up by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and the Kerala Mahila Samakhya Society (KMSS) has revealed widespread physical and mental abuse of schoolchildren in the state. The helpline set up for 1,500 schools received an average of two calls a day in the last one-and-a-half years, said KMSS director Seema Bhaskar.The SSA and KMSS have intervened in and documented over 300 child abuse cases in Kerala. In nearly 95% of the cases, the violators are the protectors themselves — parents, teachers and relatives. More than 40 children, who were found unsafe in their homes, have been placed in the protection of Mahila Shikshan Kendras. The cases reveal a shocking perversity latent in the society. Sample these. A seventh standard girl in Thiruvananthapuram is regularly abused by her uncle. She attempted suicide twice. Another class seven girl in Kottayam is pushed into prostitution by her own mother. Every weekend the mother drives her to houses where she is doped, made to watch porn videos and taken advantage of by men.The organisations will extend the helpline to 6,000 more schools from August 2. (R. Ayyappan, http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/kochi/abused-schoolchildren-crying-help-study-682 accessed on 2 August 2011.)
11. What a Girl wants: Geeta Mohanpuria from Kishengarh village near Ajmer has done it all: hassled men for questioning her occupation, ferried fellow women journalists to remote villages on reporting assignments on her bike, quizzed village menfolk on dowry deaths and domestic violence, even reported on panchayat meetings till the wee hours. With four other rural women journalists, Geeta runs Khabra Ri Potli, a six-page monthly newspaper for women that’s put together in a cosy, three-room apartment in Ajmer. The thrill of telling stories is attracting scores of rural women across India; young and old, many illiterate, an overwhelming number from marginalised communities. Boosting this shift is an expanding rural media, where several community radio stations, rural newspapers and outlets for video news stories are taking root, offering jobs that pay anywhere between Rs 2,000-4,000 a month. A women’s collective working on a rural newspaper in Sitamarhi and Sheohar districts of Bihar is just taking wing, another in Ajmer is well into its third year of circulation. Over 15 tribal women in Bastar post live news on an online news portal and across Bundelkhand a clutch of women are emerging as RJs-cum-reporters, anchoring programmes for women on a number of local radio stations. Keeping up with the times, a fledgling mobile news alert service in Rampur-Mathura village of Uttar Pradesh has roped in a young girl as reporter, while in Andhra Pradesh, over 50 women have been trained in making short films and newsclips that are regularly picked up by regional TV networks. Some of these stories, such as the one that highlighted corruption in nrega, have even been picked up by national publications. Despite the odds, even women who have always been homemakers are now out and experimenting. Like Uma Yadav, a mother of four in her 40s, from Balkheda village in Bundelkhand has become radio jockey whose voice is heard across 120 villages. Gurdi Punyamma, who cannot read and write but video reports along with ten member team. Their films have been screened across the world, a sure sign that the agricultural practices documented have global relevance. Rachna Singh in Bundelkhand is busy at work, she says: “I love editing my stories, putting music to a script. When I watch TV, I look out for interesting music that I can record and use as background score,” explains the anchor-reporter. In spite of initial reluctance and demand for hard work, women have pursued this well. The business model is simple: the outfits depend mostly on government and private grants, and earn a little extra through small-time advertising and subscriptions. The ads, mostly from local traders, is often sought through door-to-door visits by the women themselves. The subscription fee is usually Rs 1-3 for the newspapers, and a nominal amount for the community radio station. The video journalists earn a commission for each news clip or film, depending on the duration of the video. The print journalists also publicise their outfits by travelling to each village in the catchment area, dropping off copies where people might take note of their product, like at the village grocery store. The radio jockeys arrange village meetings with women, take along a radio, and play them a live show to make them aware and create interest in the radio channel. (Neha Bhatt, Outlook 8 August 2011, p. 54-56.)
12. Man in treasure hunt kills kids: A man killed his two-year-old son and seven-month-old daughter in Madhya Pradesh's Satna district in the hope of getting a treasure. He was arrested by police. Phool Chand dreamt of treasure buried under his hut in Ucchehra, 25 km from Satna town, and believed he could obtain it only if he sacrificed his children. On 1 August morning, he smashed his daughter Khushi's head on the floor and grabbed son Abhilash by his legs and banged his head till he died. When Phool Chand's wife Rita returned home, she found her children's bodies soaked in blood."The husband was the only person in the house. When Rita returned, the children were dead," said sub-inspector Hitendra Singh. (Suchandana GuptaSuchandana Gupta, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Man-in-treasure-hunt-kills-kids/articleshow/9462681.cms accessed on 3 August 2011.)
13. Living in a public toilet, battling for life: Every day 10,000 patients are treated and 323 surgeries conducted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (Aiims), the biggest hospital in the country. Yet, it's not enough to clear the backlog of the many thousands who wait patiently for their turn to get treated and cured. They come with their families and friends, taking up the daily footfall to 50,000. With the wait for elective (non-emergency) surgery ranging from a few days to two years, those with money rent rooms or go back home, if the wait for surgery is too long. Those with no money have no option but to live in subways, under flyovers, on pavements, under trees — and some in unused urinals. 45-year-old Ramrati has come all the way from Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh for a heart-valve replacement. As she waits for a surgery date, the men's toilet outside AIIMS has been her home for two weeks. And Hem Kumari (25) who has blood cancer and an enlarged liver, is here with her husband Man Bahadur (30), from a village in Mahua district, Uttar Pradesh. Leaving behind their two children — Neeraj (5) and Pranshi (2) — with their grandparents, the couple first camped under a tree outside the OPD before moving into the men's urinal two weeks ago. "It's better than living under a tree," says Kumari, "at least, we have four walls around us.” (http://www.hindustantimes.com/Living-in-a-public-toilet-battling-for-life/H1-Article1-728715.aspx accessed on 3 August 2011.)
14. India emerging as the global Hepatitis capital: India is all set to emerge as the global capital of the dreaded Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), according to a team of doctors from MIOT Hospital in Chennai. “Forty two million Indians suffer from chronic Hepatitis B infection. The Hepatitis B Virus is responsible for 60% of liver cancer cases in India,” said Dr Arul Prakash, leading gastroenterologist, MIOT Hospital. Not even 1% of school children have been vaccinated against HBV. There are 400 million people chronically infected by the HBV.and 40% of these people will end up in cirrhosis and liver cancer. On 31 July more than 22,000 school children from 13 schools in Chennai city being given free vaccination coupons against HBV. “We have set up an Advanced Centre For Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseasesfor spreading the message about HBV all over India,” said Dr P.V.A. Mohandas. Director of MIOT Hospital, Chennai.(Kumar Chellappan, http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_india-emerging-as-the-global-hepatitis-capital_1572133 accessed on 3 August 2011.) Breaking News:
15. On IIT-B campus, you can be gay and happy: In what is probably a first for an Indian educational institute, IIT-B has set up a support group, Saathi, for those of its students who belong to a sexual minority-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer-to help them accept their sexuality and shed their 'straight' masks if they want to. Saathi is a positive space not only for LGBTQs but also for those still unsure of their sexuality. On 1 August, freshmen at IIT-B were introduced to Saathi. Nivvedan S, is the founder of Saathi. At the address, the power point slides-accompanied by mugs of well-known gay people like Oscar Wilde, Freddy Mercurie, Lindsay Lohan and the fictional Albus Dumbledore--put to rest a lot of doubts like 'Is homosexuality a disease?' "NO,' was the answer loud and clear, 'you can be gay and lead a perfectly happy, normal, successful life.' In effect then, 'You can be happy and gay.' "The country has been indifferent to the LBGTQ community for too long," said IIT-B's public relations officer Jaya Joshi. "Saathi is a fine example of an initiative of change and freedom in mindset. It's time to knife these silences-and as an institute we support this initiative whole-heartedly." (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/On-IIT-B-campus-you-can-be-gay-and-happy/articleshow/9477116.cms accessed on 4 August 2011.)
16. City police expands to be biggest in country: The city will have the largest police commissionerate in the country in terms of stations, with the state government on 4 August announcing the merger of the city and suburban police to form the Greater Chennai commissionerate. The new commissionerate with 156 police stations across 588 sqkm will be divided into four zones - north, central, south and west. Bangalore police have 104 stations, while Mumbai police have only 89. Greater Chennai police, with a strength of about 20,000 personnel, however, will be no match in manpower to Mumbai police with about 41,000 personnel. The strength of Delhi police, a state-wide force, is 57,500. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/City-police-expands-to-be-biggest-in-country/articleshow/9488815.cms accessed on 5 August 2011.)
17. ‘25% of India's urban population is poor': A quarter of India's urban population lives below the poverty line and are poor, the Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja. Orissa has the highest percentage of urban poor in the country. Quoting the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) for the year 2004-05, Selja informed the Rajya Sabha that 807.96 lakh people - which comprise 25.7 percent of the urban population of the country - were poor. In Orissa, 44.30 percent of the population live below the poverty line. (http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_25pct-of-india-s-urban-population-is-poor_1572300 accessed on 5 August 2011.)
18. 31% of judges' posts in SC, HCs lying vacant:More than 31% of posts of judges in various high courts and the Supreme Court are lying vacant, law minister Salman Khurshid said in the Lok Sabha. Of the 895 sanctioned posts of judges in the apex court and 21 high courts of the country, 284 were vacant as on August 1, 2011. The largest number of vacancies is in Allahabad High Court where 98 of 160 posts - more than 61% -- have not been filled. Himachal Pradesh HC is the only one which has no vacancies. Sikkim HC is functioning with just one judge against its sanctioned strength of three. The 21 high courts have a cumulative pendency of 42,17,903 cases as on September 30, 2010. The highest number of pending cases is in Allahabad HC where 9,73,599 cases are yet to be disposed of. Sikkim HC has the least pendency of 52 cases. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/31-of-judges-posts-in-SC-HCs-lying - vacant /articleshow/9521618.cms accessed on 8 August 2011.)
19. Hanging by a thread: Tripur that was considered as glorious example of entrepreneurship, is facing trouble. The recession has hit this town badly. 493 people committed suicide in 2009; 565 in 2010; and 225 till April 2011. Debt and exploitation is driving many to frustration in the garment industry. (Kavitha Muralidharan, The Week 14 August 2011, p. 22-23) Breaking News:
20. 45,000 engg seats fall vacant in state this year: The number of engineering seats falling vacant in the Tamil Nadu government quota has increased six times over last year to touch 45,000 now. Last year, 8,172 government quota seats were left without takers. Experts estimate the total vacancies, including management quota seats, to be around 70,000 this year, up from 33,000 last year. Academics attribute the trend to excess supply of seats and a waning interest in engineering among students. At the end of the single window counselling session for candidates in the general category on 11 August, 1,04,152 BE/BTech seats had been allotted. There has been a steady increase in the number of government quota seats allotted from 2008. It touched a peak in 2010 when 1,06,002 candidates were allotted BE/BTech seats through single window counselling. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/45000-engg-seats-fall-vacant-in-state-this-year/articleshow/9573586.cms accessed on 12 August 2011.)
21. Biharis addicted to 'khaini': Survey: “Altogether 63 per cent males and 35 per cent females in Bihar use smokeless tobacco," the survey by the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS India) says. "Every second adult in Bihar uses smokeless tobacco and its prevalence in the state is the highest among all states in India," it said. Among the six geographical regions of the north, east, central, north east, west and south in the country, the prevalence of tobacco use in any form and that of smokeless tobacco is the highest in the eastern region. The survey shows that tobacco use starts among adults in the state between the ages 20 and 34, while daily tobacco use starts on an average at the age 18.8 years. The mean age of initiation of smoking and smokeless tobacco is 20-34 is and 18.8 years respectively. (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/biharis-addicted-to-khaini-survey/831050/ accessed on 12 August 2011.)
22. Biggest threat to freedom? Corruption, say young India: A survey of 18-25 year olds was conducted by Synovate, a global research agency, across eight of our biggest cities in young India's most favoured hubs, colleges and malls for Times of India sought to find out and its results shed light on four clear trends: young urban Indians greatly cherish the various freedoms our country offers; look forward to the many economic opportunities available; vehemently despise corruption; and, predictably, are patently cricket-mad. 75% of young Indians clearly felt that they enjoyed enough rights and freedoms today. But Mumbaikars disagreed; 56% in India's commercial capital felt they're not free. In Mumbai, on the other hand, 64% or nearly two-thirds plumped for the right to work anywhere. Perhaps some indication of disenchantment with the regional chauvinism and anti-outsider politics in Maharashtra.While 64% of respondents felt 'today's India offers great job opportunties', most Mumbaikars disagreed again. Over 60% of respondents listed 'corruption' as the biggest threat facing India today, and 80% supported the Anna Hazare-led campaign to fight graft. Opinion is more divided on what they'd do if asked to pay a bribe. While 35% said they would not pay and 'walk away quietly', 34% stated they would lodge a complaint. But a sizeable 28% admitted they'd pay up. Only Bangalore, with 69% saying they'd pay a bribe, appeared to skew towards a majority tolerating corruption in some way. Interestingly, when asked what India's greatest achievement in the last decade was, respondents, surprisingly, gave short shrift to the country's globally feted march to economic superstardom; just as they did to our much vaunted telecom revolution. The decade's big moment for them was clearly Team India's emphatic cricket World Cup victory, with 46% plumping for Dhoni's Devils' big night in Mumbai earlier this year. 31% pointed to Sachin Tendulkar when asked who their role model was. Anna Hazare (16), who appears to have really caught young India's imagination, comes (a distant) second, with Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan (16) and Aamir Khan (12) next. Rahul Gandhi (9) is fifth on the list. (Praveen Dass, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Biggest-threat-to-freedom-Corruption-says-young-India/articleshow/9583970.cms accessed on 13 August 2011.)
23. Realty bites: House in Mumbai slums for Rs 40 lakh: The realty market is booming in Mumbai. But not in its traditional posh, suburban or newly developing pockets. It is flourishing in the teeming slums that house 60% of the city's population. Some tenements in these areas sell for as much as Rs 15,000 per sq ft while rents for the humble hovels can soar as high as Rs 10,000 a month. It's another matter that the living conditions almost always remain sub-human. Thousands of shanties in prime locations are regularly bought and sold under the radar of government scrutiny. The market boasts its own set of brokers and investors. A two-room house at the Matunga labour camp on Dharavi's 60-feet Road, for instance, can cost up to Rs 40 lakh, say local brokers. In upmarket localities like Worli, Nepean Sea Road, Cuffe Parade and Colaba, the rate for a shanty can shoot up to over Rs 25 lakh-the offer generally made by builders keen to redevelop the slum enclave. In the Bharat Nagar slum adjoining Bandra-Kurla Complex, some residents received over Rs 1 crore a shanty to shift permanently a few years ago. Calculated per square foot, some of these values could well match the going rates in western suburbs such as Malad, Andheri and Borivli. The numbers, however, do not show the squalor and poor living conditions prevailing in Mumbai's slum clusters. The poor can no longer afford to live in a slum. Rents in Wadala's slums are around Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 a month for a 100-sq-ft home and around Rs 3,500 for a 200-sq-ft tenement. At the other end of the city, PM Shaikh, another realtor, pegs the rentals at Colaba's Azaad Nagar slum between Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000 a month. Shanties in Dharavi can cost up to Rs 10 lakh. They can also fetch rent as high as Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 a month.
A developer with deep insight into slum redevelopment projects in central Mumbai says there are two categories of slums-those that are eligible for rehabilitation under the state government's slum rehousing schemes and those declared unauthorized. The eligible ones command a price of Rs 20 lakh to Rs 30 lakh in Worli, Saat Rasta and Lower Parel. An illegal shanty, on the other hand, can fetch between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh. Free houses provided to eligible slum dwellers are another goldmine. Although it is illegal for them to sell these houses for 10 years, as many as 40% of all slum residents who are eligible to receive a 269-sq-ft flat encash them and move out. Most inhabitants of slums, however, prefer to take a shanty on rent. (Anahita Mukherji & Nauzer K Bharucha, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Realty-bites-House-in-Mumbai-slums-for-Rs-40-lakh/articleshow/9585639.cms accessed on 13 August 2011.)Anahita Mukherji & Nauzer K Bharucha
24. Less than equal: How Delhi school tagged kids who got fee waiver: St. Andrews Scots Senior Secondary School, is under the scanner of a child rights panel for tagging poor students. The irony is it boasts of “providing value-based education” to its students. The school admits poor students under the legally bound 10% freeship quota — fee waiver — for economically disadvantaged children.But the students, parents and child rights activists allege the school discriminates against poor kids, profiles them on the basis of their socio-economic status and makes them wear tags showing they have been admitted under the quota.The children were made to wear an ink mark “F/S”, denoting freeship, on their collars to distinguish them from the rest. (http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_less-than-equal-how-delhi-school-tagged-kids-who-got-fee-waiver_1576080 accessed on 16 August 2011.)
25. House of spirits: In spite of several Vaastu corrections and a series of pujas, the ‘spirit’ of Anugraha, the official residence of the Karnataka chief minister continues to be revail. H.D. Kumaraswamy’s government spend Rs. 68 lakhs in 2006-07 on restructuring the house. It didn’t help him keep the CM’s job. B.S. Yeddyurappa spent a whopping Rs. 1.32 crore on vaastu corrections and an additional Rs. 56.54 lakh on remodelling. That didn’t help either and he lost the CM’s post. On Naga Panchamai, new CM Sadananda Gowda conducted a special puja to propitiate the snake god. The house is said to be inhabitated by a black snake, considered unlucky, which occasionally appears on the lawns. Will this puja change the course of hiss-tory? (Kaveree Bamzai, India Today 22 August 2011, p. 16.)
II Diaspora
Indian girl murdered for dowry in Surrey: As per official release of Surrey police (copy with TOI) accused Sunny Bhangu allegedly attacked the victim (Ravinder Kaur) in a business complex located in the 8100 block of 128th Avenue Surrey. Police nabbed her husband from spot. During preliminary investigations it came to light that the suspect and victim had been married since 2008. Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) has been deployed and is now leading the investigation with assistance fr--m Surrey RCMP and Lower Mainland District Forensic Identification Unit. "She compl----------------------------]eted her graduation from local Patel College and got married on December 24, 2008. She went with her husband Sunny to Surrey in 2008," said a neighbour, without disclosing identity. The husband first threw the daughter out of their house and finally killed her. The parents in India were under stress for many months after the in-laws of their daughter started making threatening calls to them for dowry. The mother of deceased has been unwell from many months. (Parvesh Sharma, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Indian-girl-murdered-for-dowry-in-Surrey/articleshow/9427229.cms accessed on 31 July 2011.)
III Global:
Pak 3rd largest immigrant group in Norway: Pakistanis are the third largest number of immigrants in Norway after Poles and Swedes. A thinly-populated country of 5 million people, Norway, according to its government statistics, has more than 600,000 (or about 12%) immigrants as of 2011. Poles top the list of immigrants at 60,000, followed by Swedes at 34,000. But followed by Pakistanis at 32,000? The next two immigrant nationalities on the list - Iraq and Somalia (27,000 each). Iran and Turkey also figure at 9th and 10th (16,000) each. In contrast, there are only 10,000 Indians in Norway, less than a third of the Pakistani immigrant population. In fact, there are more Sri Lankans and Afghans (14,000 each) than Indians. Immigration to Norway is driven from distant politically and economically troubled states. Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia, Sri Lanka all went through political turmoil at a time Norway also had liberal immigration policies, especially towards political refugees. This is evident across the world, including in the US, where the Indian-American population is said to have crossed 3 million, and Pakistani-American numbers are thought to be in the region of 700,000 - about a 4:1 ratio. But in many Western European countries, especially in Scandinavia, Indians are fewer in numbers than Pakistanis, Arabs, Turks, etc. In that sense, both India and China appear to have been victims of a restrictive passport regime, not to speak of their own domestic economic success. Such one-shot political and economic-based immigration can occur between countries under special circumstances. For instances, Germany's massive 4 million Turkish immigrant population began innocuously enough in the 1960s on the back of high population growth and mass unemployment within Turkey and a demand for cheap labour in Germany. The construction of the Berlin Wall had restricted the flow of labour from East Germany so the Turkish government asked Germany to recruit Turkish guest workers. By the 1980s and 1990s, family re-unification rights propelled it past a million, at which point it also becomes a political and electoral issue. Norway's Pakistani growth has followed a similar pattern on a smaller scale. Many early Pakistanis immigrants came in fact from Punjab's Kharian town and surrounding areas in the 1960s and swelled through the family re-unification process in the 1970s and 1980s even as immigration laws became stricter in 1976. Today, Pakistani-Norwegians are making a mark in public and political life: Akhtar Chaudhry is a Member of the current Stortinget (Norway's Parliament) for the Sosialistisk Venstreparti (Socialist Left Party); Afshan Rafiq is a former member of the Stortinget for the Hoyre (Conservative Party of Norway) and her husband Aamir Sheikh is a member the Oslo city council. There are Pakistani-Norwegian news anchors, entertainers, and filmmakers. Indians do not migrate to these countries because of knowledge of English. While even languages like Spanish and French are taught in India, Swedish, Norwegian or Danish aren't. This is despite the fact that the human development indicators of this region are among the best in the world. Learning the languages of this region may well be the new passports to prosperity for immigrants. Government should, therefore, promote these languages. In fact, it should focus more on winning the fjords of Norway than the glaciers of Siachen. (Chidanand RajghattaChidanand Rajghatta, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pak-3rd-largest-immigrant-group-in-Norway/articleshow/9511373.cms accessed on 7 August 2011.)
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