गोरानिमोद्वारा युवा मोर्चाको घोषणाको स्वागत
डी के वाइबा, कालिमन्युज, कालेबुंग, 25 नोभेम्बेर : छुट्टै राज्य गोर्खाल्यण्डको आन्दोलनलाई गोर्खा जनमुक्ती युवा मोर्चाले अघि बडाउने घोषणा गरेपछि गोर्खाल्याण्ड राज्य निर्माण मोर्चा (गोरानिमो)ले स्वागत जनाएको छ। गोरानिमो प्रमुख दावा पाख्रीनले युवा मोर्चाको घोषणा स्वागतयोग्य रहेको बताउँदै युवा मोर्चाले सही समयमा सही निर्णय गरेको पनि बताए। तिनले छुट्टै राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको आन्दोलनलाई अघि बडाउन निस्केका दलहरु कुनै पनि हालतमा थाक्न नहुने पनि बताए। अहिले उत्तर प्रदेशलाई चारवटा राज्यमा बिभाजन गर्ने मुख्यमंत्री मायावतीको निर्णय पनि स्वागत योग्य रहेको बताउँदै यस निर्णयले छुट्टै राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको आन्दोलनलाई पनि बल पुग्ने पनि पाख्रीनले बताए। अहिले आफ्नो पार्टीको कुनै कर्यक्रम नरहेको जनाउँदै हाला भागोपको सामुहिक नेत्रीत्वको आन्दोलनमा ध्यान केन्द्रीत रहेको पनि तिनले जनाए।
भारतमा गोर्खाहरुको जातीय अस्तित्व र राष्ट्रीय चिन्हारी केवल छुट्टै राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डले मात्र बोक्न सक्ने दाबी गर्दै यसलाई प्राप्त गर्नको निम्ति सबै राज्नैतिक दलहरु एक हुनपर्ने पनि गोरानिमो प्रमुख दावा पाख्रीनले बताए। आज तेलेंगना राज्यको मागमा सम्पुर्ण राजनैतिक अनि गैरराजनैतिक दलहरु एक भएर आन्दोलन गरेको बताउँदै गोर्खाल्याण्ड राज्य गठनको निम्ति पनि सबै एक हुनपर्ने तिनले जनाए। आज गोर्खाहरु एक हुन नसकेको कारणनै गोर्खाल्याण्ड गठन हुन नसकेको दाबी गर्दै सबै एक भए कुनै पनि असम्भव नहुने पनि तिनले बताए।
एकातिर युवा मोर्चाको घोषणालाई कसैले स्वागतयोग्य रहेको बताईरहेका छन भने कसैले यो मोर्चाको राजनैतिक चाल रहेको पनि बताइरहेका छन। अहिले घरी बजारमा युवा मोर्चाले आगामी दिसम्बर महीना देखि शुरु गर्ने आन्दोलनकै चर्चाले जोड पक्रेको छ। यस बारेमा मानिसहरुले राम्रो न्राम्रो दुवै प्रकारको चर्चाहरु गरिरहेका छन। यसै क्रममा पिपल्स फोरमले युवा मोर्चाको घोषणा गोजमुमो पार्टीकै राजनैतिक चाल रहेको बताएका छन। अहिले दार्जीलिंग पहाडमा जीटीए गठनमा बिलम्ब भएको कारण नै मोर्चाले नया रणनीति अप्नाएको पनि फोरमले आरोप लगाएको छ। फोरमका सचिव प्रवीण गुरुंगले आज कुराकानी गर्दै यदि गोर्खा जनमुक्ती युवा मोर्चाले गोर्खाल्याण्डको आन्दोलनलाई अघि बडाउँछन भने पहिले गोजमुमोले सम्झौता गरेको जीटीएकोको खेस्रा जलाउँनु पर्ने चेतावनी दिए। तिनले युवा मोर्चाले गर्ने आन्दोलन एउटा राजनैतिक षडयंत्र रहेको बताउँदै बाबुले गोर्खाल्याण्ड छोडेर जीटीएमा ह्स्ताक्षर गरेपछि छोराहरुले आन्दोलन गर्छु भन्नु हाँस्यस्पद कुरा रहेको पनि जनाए। युवामोर्चाले यदि इमान्दार पुर्वक आन्दोलन गर्छ भने पहिले जीटीएको खेस्रा जलाउँनु पर्ने सुझाव दिँदै यसो गरे आफुहरु पनि युवा मोर्चालाई साथ दिन सडकमा आउने बताए। अहिले जीटीए गठनमा बिलम्ब हुनको साथै उत्तर प्रदेशलाई चार राज्यहरुमा बिभाजन गर्ने कुराले पहाडमा मोर्चा बिरोधी शक्तिहरुको जन्म हुने डरले पनि युवा मोर्चाले गोजमुमोको निर्देशमा यस्तो घोषणा गरेको पनि तिनले आरोप लगाए। यो राजनैतिक षडयंत्र रहेको बताउँदै जीटीए छिटो गठन गर्नको निम्ति यस्तो रणनीति अप्नाएको पनि तिनले जनाए।
Morcha youths set stage for state stir
VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, Darjeeling, Nov. 25: The Gorkha Janmukti Yuwa Morcha has started the groundwork for the revival of the agitation for a separate state by reorganising its units and appealing to people to write the slogan “we want Gorkhaland” on walls.
The youth wing of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha had recently announced that it would renew the demand for Gorkhaland by holding a meeting at Mungpoo on December 18.
“We have already started reorganising Yuwa Morcha units in different place. Our supporters are visiting various municipalities and villages to bring together youths for the movement. We are giving thrust to the consolidation of our position in Teesta Valley and areas along NH31A,” said Sidhant Rai, the organising secretary of the Yuwa Morcha.
Sources said office-bearers of the Yuwa Morcha had been removed at different units and new faces brought in to give a fillip to the Gorkhaland stir.
The most notable part of the shuffle was the appointment of Sanjay Thulung as the vice-president of the outfit’s central committee. The post had been lying vacant for long.
The organisation is seeking to involve the common people also in the agitation.
“We appeal to all people to start rewriting the slogan ‘we want Gorkhaland’ on walls and any every other available space, especially along roads from tomorrow onwards,” he added.
The Morcha had initiated a similar campaign when it had started the agitation for the statehood in 2007. The party had asked all shopkeepers to use the word “Gorkhaland” on their sign boards.
The Yuwa Morcha today said the Mungpoo meeting might be advanced depending on the situation (with regard to the formation of small states) in the country.
“We might bring forward the date of the meeting if a situation favourable for the formation of small states emerges in any other part of the country. The Mungpoo event has been planed to announce our agitation programmes,” said Rai.
The decision to restart the agitation was taken after Uttar Pradesh Assembly had passed a resolution on November 21 to divide the state into four.
The youth wing today sent a letter to the President, Prime Minister, home minister, BJP president and also to the Morcha president Bimal Gurung, saying Gorkhaland deserved to be given preference if the government had plans to form new states.
Salary hike demand
The Morcha-affiliated Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union has demanded a 33 per cent hike in the salaries of tea garden staff. A three-year agreement had been reached between planters and trade unions earlier to increase the wages of workers and the sub-staff.
“The wage hike for the staff is still due. We demand a flat 33 per cent increase in the salaries,” said P.T. Sherpa, the president of the Morcha union. The hike is due from April 1. The Darjeeling Tea Association will hold a meeting of the unions and the planters on November 28 to discuss the issue.
Congressmen from the Darjeeling Hills demand Union Territory status
Amitava Banerjee, HT, Darjeeling, November 26, 2011: After providing a boost to the Gorkhaland demand, chief minister Mayawati’s Bill to divide Uttar Pradesh into 4 states, has now resurrected the demand for a Union Territory (UT) status for the Darjeeling Hills. A Darjeeling District Congress Committee (Hills) team is departing for Delhi on Saturday towing the UT demand.
Saroj Kumar Khatri, Vice President, Darjeeling District Congress Committee (Hills) stated “With the Bill to divide Uttar Pradesh into 4 states being passed by the UP Assembly , there is an undercurrent of resentment among the Hill populace as to why the 105 year old demand of Gorkhaland is not being considered by the Government. West Bengal has meted out step motherly treatment towards Darjeeling. They have socially and economically exploited the Hills. Darjeeling wants separation from Bengal. We will meet the Congress Central leadership and demand for a Union Territory status.”
Khatri added that even Late Rajiv Gandhi had displayed a positive attitude towards the UT status for the Hills. The Darjeeling District Congress Committee (Hills) had moved a resolution for the UT status for Darjeeling Hills in April 2011.
“We will meet UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi along with Union Home Minister P Chidambaram requesting immediate Central intervention for the UT status. UT is the fastest and easiest option for separation from Bengal” remarked Khatri.
Following the Bill passed by the UP Assembly, the Youth wing of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha had given a clarion call for a Gorkhaland agitation.
The delegation led by KB Chettri, President, Darjeeling District Congress Committee (Hills) will also meet concerned Ministers with other demands. They will be meeting the Surface Transport Minister demanding the immediate repairs of the National Highway 55, the lifeline connecting the Darjeeling Hills with the plains.
“The NH55 has been shut down for the past one and a half years owing to major landslides at Tindharia and 14th mile. We demand the immediate restoration of this lifeline” demanded Khatri.
The Congressmen have also demanded the filling up of all vacancies at the All India Radio Station at Kurseong; immediately starting a FM radio station in Darjeeling; Filling up of vacancies at the Kurseong Railway Printing Press; Railway Workshop at Tindharia; a super specialty hospital under All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the Darjeeling Hills; Jobs for the next of kin of the deceased in the Bijanbari bridge tragedy and also a special package (equivalent to Sikkim) for relief and rehabilitation of damages caused by the earthquake that had rocked the Hills on September 18.
GJM union threatens to paralyze work
Deep Gazmer, TNN , Nov 26, 2011,DARJEELING: The Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union (DTDPLU), affiliated to Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), has threatened to paralyze tea gardens to press for its demand of increase in salary of the super staff during wage negotiation later this month.
DTDPLU had given the tea garden management time till November 15 to provide a positive response to its demand. The management, however, sought time till November 28, the day for salary negotiation, to respond to the demands.
On Friday, the GJM-affiliated trade union that is in the majority these days held a meeting with super staffers of various tea gardens of the Hills to chalk out strategies. which would help them to counter the management in case of a no-consensus conclusion.
"We wanted the garden management to give their assurance by November 15. But owing to various circumstances, the decision will be given later this month.
We don't want to divulge our action plan at this moment but it is definitely sure that we will paralyze work in the tea gardens," warned P T Sherpa, DTDPLU president. after the meeting in Darjeeling. Wage and bonus negotiations of tea garden workers are held every three years. The last negotiation was held in 2008. This year, negotiation for salary of super staffers, supposed to be concluded by March 31, could not be held. However, negotiations for wages of labourers and sub-staff have already borne fruit with record increase.
"We want that salary of super-staff to be increased. at par with that of the sub-staffers.
We want the gross increase to be at 33 % at one time instead of over a three-year period," said Sherpa. In March earlier this year, the trade union imposed an embargo on dispatch of ready tea leaves, thus compelling the management to give 20 % increase in bonus which was a record in the Hills. In July, salary of the sub-staff was increased by 33 % at one go instead of gradual increase.
The 1400-odd super staffers (clerical, medical and technical employees) are graded in various categories according to their posts. Salary of the clerical and medical staff ranges between Rs 5,000 and Rs 9,000. Minimum and maximum pay of technical is however Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,500 respectively.
The Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA), umbrella organization of the 87 tea gardens in the Hills, however differed with the demands of the union. "The super staffers are better paid because they are an educated lot. Just making demands is not enough as lots have to be done," said Sandeep Mukherjee, DTA principal advisor. Admitting that a salary negotiation would take place on November 28, the principal advisor advised the trade union to ensure better working inputs of the super staff.
"There will be a negotiation meeting with the trade union. However, the point is that the super staff should act responsibly," said Sandeep Mukherjee, DTA principal advisor. and dispense their work in a manner that sets an example among their subordinates which at the moment is lacking," said Mukherjee.
In its meeting on Friday, DTDPLU also discussed the issue of implementing GJM's vision of better education, health and social welfare in the tea industry sector of the Hills. "The vision of our party is to amend the minimum wage policy of the tea garden industry, providing land rights to workers and implementation of the panchayati facilities to over 68,000 people employed in the Hills tea gardens," said Trilok Chandra Roka, the union's legal advisor.
The trade union will also press for proper implementation of the pension policy, which allows opening of zero balance account, for retired workers, in various braches of the State Bank of India.
‘Kishenji arrested, then killed’
SNS, KOLKATA, 25 NOV: Maoist sympathiser and revolutionary writer, Varavara Rao, who arrived in the city today suspected that Kishenji was arrested by the security forces on Wednesday and then killed in a fake encounter.
Later, he accompanied Kishenji's niece, Deepa, to Writers’ Buildings and met the home secretary and submitted a deputation demanding that the post-mortem should be conducted in the city by a medical board of forensic experts in keeping with National Human Rights Act. They also demanded that the body should be handed over to the family and sent to Andhra Pradesh.
Deepa told the media that she has been sent by her grandfather and was confident that she would able to identify the body because her uncle had quite a resemblance with her grandfather. However, state government officials are tightlipped on the issue saying only that the post mortem would be conducted tomorrow. While addressing a gathering at Phears Lane this afternoon, Rao said thousands of security personnel had encircled Kishenji on Thursday and informed media persons that he had escaped. But, the truth is, Kishenji was kept in the police custody, tortured and finally a day later he was killed.
He said that if the state government considered the claim to be false then it should prove it wrong adding that the guidelines of the National Human Rights Commission in respect of claims of encounter should be followed. Rao said that Kishenji's mother will file a writ petition through Association for Protection of Democratic Rights to bring the culprits to book. CPI leader Mr Gurudas Dasgupta too questioned the manner in which Maoist leader Kishenji was killed and asked the government to clarify whether he was done to death in “cold blood” after being arrested. In a letter to the Union home minister, Mr P Chidambaram, he claimed” “The story of the encounter appears to be fake, needs to be inquired into and the government must clarify”.
Terming Kishenji's death as a setback to Maoists, veteran Marxist and former Lok Sabha Speaker Mr Somnath Chatterjee today said it is a “belated realisation” on the part of chief minister Mamata Banerjee about the menace of Maoism.
Meanwhile, security concerns for chief minister Mamata Banerjee has increased manifold and her cover is likely to be enhanced. DG (Security) Mr Virendra, however, said: “There has been some incidents and we have taken note of them.”
In another development, members of Association For Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) slammed the media today for practicing yellow journalism after some media men reported that police arrested six human rights activists in Garfa and were interrogating them at the police station. Rumours were rife late tonight that six human rights activists were arrested from Garfa, where Mr Rao had gone to dine. However, Mr Prasanta Haldar, APDR representative from south Kolkata, said it was a rumour spread by a section of the media and some police officers to create sensation.
Boy with HIV tells torture tale
ANIRBAN CHOUDHURY, TT, Alipurduar, Nov. 25: A 14-year-old HIV positive boy was rescued by a local businessman yesterday when he was spotted loitering around town crying aloud for food after fleeing his home where he was allegedly tortured by his uncle.
The subdivisional officer of Alipurduar, Amalkanti Roy, has ordered an inquiry after the boy complained that his uncle had been torturing him since he lost his parents and was detected with HIV.
His parents, too, were HIV positive, a society that looks after the boy’s treatment said. The boy had lost his mother in childhood and the father passed away five years ago.
“His uncle and aunts often told him that he would infect the others in the family and that he was a burden. They told him that his disease had been born out of sin. He could not bear it any longer and fled home. He had on him papers that said he was under treatment at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital,” said Larry Bose, the secretary of the Alipurduar Avibhabok Mancha, a citizens’ forum.
The SDO has also ordered the uncle to submit papers related to the land owned by the boy’s father in his village, Mechbill, in Falakata.
Sandeep Verma, a shopkeeper of Alipurduar Marwary Patty, first spotted the boy at a public telephone booth in the afternoon. Earlier, he had been loitering around in the area, crying.
Verma brought him to his shop, fed him, heard his story and took him to Bose, who admitted him to the Alipurduar subdivisional hospital before calling up the SDO, who is the chairperson of the hospital patient welfare committee.
“I saw the boy enter the phone booth. He had been in the area for sometime. He was weeping and I thought he was not well for he could not make the call. He told me he was hungry,” said Verma. Later the boy also said he had been trying to ring up Aurobindo Biswas, the secretary of the Alipurduar Subdivisional Society for People living with HIV/ AIDS. He had come to Alipurduar by bus.
This morning, the boy was handed over to Biswas, who had been monitoring his treatment since he was diagnosed HIV positive four months ago. “His parents were HIV positive. He often told me about the barbs he had to face at home. I met his uncle at a conference that we held for such patients on November 20,” said Biswas.
SDO Roy said till he made further arrangements to shift the boy to a government shelter in Calcutta, he would stay with Biswas’s society.
Dalmore TE opening date
TT, Alipurduar: The Dalmore Tea Estate will reopen on November 29, Amiyo Das, the assistant labour commissioner of Birpara, said on Friday. The decision was taken at a tripartite meeting held in Siliguri on Friday. The garden has been shut since September 27.
Nod for dykes to tame Mechi
TT, Jalpaiguri, Nov. 25: India and Nepal have agreed to construct embankments along the Mechi river that marks the boundary between the two countries to prevent erosion and flood.
The embankments will also help prevent elephant movement from India to Nepal and the Sashastra Seema Bal carry out border patrolling in a better way. The barrier on the Indian side will come up in Naxalbari and Khoribari blocks in Darjeeling district.
The decision to build the spill-checking dam (embankment) was taken at a meeting attended by water experts from both the countries in New Delhi.
“While the Indian government will construct a 19.5km-long embankment on our side, Nepal will build a 5-6-km long barrier on the right bank of the river,” Narayan Chatterjee, the chairperson of North Bengal Flood Control Commission (NBFCC) who attended the meeting, told The Telegraph over the phone from Delhi.
The two-day meet organised by the Union ministry of water resources ended today.
“The central government will fund the construction on the Bengal side. We (NBFCC) have been asked to work in association with the Central Water Commission and the ministry and submit a detailed project report by December 31,” said Chatterjee.
The Mechi originates in eastern Nepal and flows along the Indian border in the Naxalbari and Khoribari blocks before entering Bihar and joining the Mahananda near Kishanganj.
Chatterjee said three border pillars (numbers 16, 17 and 18) had been either washed away or damaged by the Mechi on the Indian side. The river has also gobbled up 185 hectares in 12 mouzas in the two blocks
The flood-control panel head said the dykes would act as barriers against elephant movement from north Bengal to Nepal and facilitate border patrolling.
“Although the basic aim of the embankments is to check the inundation of villages along the river, the concrete structures also offer solutions to two problems. First, the SSB which guards the India-Nepal border will find it easy to carry out patrolling as a road will be built on the embankment. Second, elephants won’t be able cross the Mechi and enter Nepal,” said Chatterjee.
The “intrusion” of the animal from India into Nepal — the elephant corridor in north Bengal stretches from the Mechi till the Sankosh on the Assam border — often leads to loss of crop, properties and even human life in the neighbouring country. There were even reports of elephants suffering bullet injuries in Nepal.
CPM blames bungling of Buddha govt on Hills for poll debacle
SNS, SILIGURI, 25 NOV: The introspective exercise of the CPI-M has thrown the party’s Darjeeling district committee into a fresh controversy. A section of the CPI-M leadership today blamed the mishandling of the Darjeeling Hills turmoil by the Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee government for the party’s poor performance in Siliguri and its adjoining areas in the last Assembly poll.
Addressing the Press today, the re-elected secretary of the CPI-M Siliguri zonal committee, Mr Mukul Sengupta, said the bungling by the previous state government in the Hills had adversely impacted the election result in the plains. “We have failed to convince the electorate of the efficacy of the stance taken by the previous state government on the sensitive issue. The common people rejected us because the indecisiveness on the part of the previous state government failed to carry conviction with them. Had the state government taken some decisive measures to solve the logjam in the Hills, the result might not have been as disastrous as it turned out,” Mr Sengupta said.
Referring to the defeat of the former state urban development minister, Mr Asok Bhattacharya, he said that the people had vented their anger against the dragging tension and resultant disruption of life due to a series of bandhs both in the Hills and the plains. “Even those who are traditionally Left sympathisers rejected us outright because of our government’s failure to take an unequivocal and resolute stance on the emotive Gorkhaland issue,” Mr Sengupta said.
Mr Asok Bhattacharya sounded philosophical when he was asked to comment on the matter. “Decline follows growth in sync with the inexorable law of evolution. No organisation can remain immune to what is inevitable. We must accept the dribbling with grace and find out ways to rejuvenate it. Plucking loopholes in course of churning is good,” the former minister said.
Global Urban Vision – December 2011
(Compiled and Published by J.N. Manokaran (jnmanokaran@yahoo.com) on behalf of Glocal Leaders Network)
I India
1. The dropouts' story: In Karnataka, only 12.2 per cent of those who have completed pre-university/12th Standard join college. These astounding facts have been made available in a study conducted by the Karnataka Knowledge Commission on ‘The gross enrolment ratio in higher education in Karnataka'. As per the data, only 9.47 lakh of the 77.5 lakh students go on to join college. The calculated gross enrolment ratio (GER) for 2010-11 indicates that 87.78 per cent of the population in the age group of 18 to 23 are outside the purview of higher education. The GER in India in 2006 was 11. This was way less compared to the U.S. (82), Australia and Brazil (73), the U.K. (59), China (22) and South Africa (15). There is a substantial discrepancy between the number of students who are eligible to enrol in higher studies, and the number of those who actually do. Out of 56.7 per cent of eligible candidates, only 12.22 per cent are pursuing their higher studies. The Commission's findings also validate another strong trend – that of more males having the privilege of education than females. The male GER stands at 14 per cent, as opposed to 10.38 of females. This means that for the 5.52 lakh males enrolled in higher education, only 3.95 lakh females are enrolled. Among streams, Arts holds the sway in both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. In undergraduate courses, the enrolment percentage for arts courses is about 33.7 per cent, followed by commerce, science, engineering and management. A less favoured course is agriculture, with a share of 0.29 per cent. At the postgraduate level, arts continues its dominance with 32.7 per cent, while science has a 19 per cent share. Law has the least demand. The reasons can vary from being as serious as financial problems and non-availability of colleges in the locality, to as bizarre as not finding any meaning in studying and following the path of friends who have discontinued studies.The other reasons include marriage plans, lack of guidance on what to study, health problems, parents' pressure to discontinue, repeated failure in exams and household work. (K.C. Deepika, http://www.thehindu.com/education/article 2562748.ece accessed on 27 October 2011.)
2. Metros hold no charm for the poor: According to United Nations Population Fund’s (UNPFA) latest report, rural-to-urban population shift is on a decline in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh and Kolkata. Between 1991-2001Mumbai registered a 20% growth, while from 2001-2011 the growth was just 4.7%. In Indian cities like Mumbai, traditional city-centric populations are shrinking and peripheralisation is increasing due to high cost of living and lack of job opportunities. In such peripheral settlements, people have lost the advantage of both urban and rural life. Citing India as a very important subject, as it is home to one-third of the world’s poor (410 million), the report says that Indian income gaps are widening and the poor can’t sustain in cities now. While 35 million have migrated outside China, 20 million have migrated from India. An estimated 5 million Nepalis are living and working in India. (Kanchan Srivastava, Daily News Analysis 27 October 2011, p. 1 and 3)
3. Rat fever looms large over city: The city seems to be a happy habitat for rats - an unhygienic species that spoils food and spreads the deadly leptospirosis. There is no recent study on its burgeoning population in the city, but doctors say the increasing incidence of leptospirosis, commonly called rat fever, in the last decade, is proof enough. The bacterial disease transmitted from rodents to human beings is no more a seasonal occurrence due to water stagnation . In 2011, the disease was detected almost every month, including at the peak of summer. With the onset of the monsoon , the city is sitting on a time bomb, say experts. The civic body's integrated diseases surveillance system has reported 479 cases to the directorate of public health this year, while a laboratory attached to the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University has detected 1,405 cases. The state medical university lab has found an alarming increase in the number of rat fever cases over ten years. In 2001, it found 207 cases. By 2010, there were 1,405 cases. The hospital authorities in certain areas said received at least five cases a day throughout the year. Leptospirosis, however, is not easily diagnosed. The heat and humidity in the city aid the growth of the bacteria in water or soil. The problem is further compounded when rainwater carries the bacteria from contaminated ground into homes. (Pushpa Narayan, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Rat-fever-looms-large-over-Chennai/articleshow/10526865.cms accessed on 29 October 2011.)
4. 'Over 5K children raped, another 1,408 murdered in 2010': As many as 5,484 children were sexually assaulted and 1,408 others killed in different parts of the country last year, according to a government report. Giving a gloomy picture about the crimes committed against children, the latest National Crime Records Bureau data says 10,670 children were also kidnapped or abducted during the year in various states and union territories. In Uttar Pradesh, 315 children were killed while 1,182 children were sexually assaulted in Madhya Pradesh during the period -- the highest in the two categories of crimes. There were 211 incidents of murder of children in Maharashtra, another 200 such cases in Bihar and 124 victims in Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh recorded 747, 451 and 446 cases of sexual assault respectively in the last year. Similarly, 382 and 369 such incidents came to light in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. In Delhi, 29 children were murdered and 304 others were raped in 2010. The national capital has reported the highest number of kidnapping of children in the country -- 2,982, followed by Bihar (1,359), Uttar Pradesh (1,225), Maharashtra (749), Rajasthan (706), Andhra Pradesh (581) and Gujarat (565).( http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Over-5K-children-raped-another-1408-murdered-in-2010/articleshow/10541251.cms accessed on 30 October 2011.)
5. Gender bias: Only Afghanistan fares worse than India in South Asia: India's abysmal gender inequality statistics seem to have taken a turn for the worse. New data shows the country's Gender Inequality Index (GII) (UN Development Porgramme) worsened between 2008 and 2011, and India now ranks 129 out of 146 countries on the GII, better only than Afghanistan in south Asia.On the Human Development Index (HDI), India ranks 134 out of 187 countries. When inequality is factored in, it experiences a 30% drop in its human development values, ranking 129 out of 146 nations. The GII, measures female disadvantage in three areas: reproductive health as measured by the maternal mortality ratio and the adolescent fertility rate, empowerment measured by seats in Parliament and proportion with at least secondary education, and the labour force participation rate. India's decline is accounted for by a fall in its female labour force participation rate and a worsening of its adolescent fertility rate. The proportion of women with at least secondary education is still just half that of men. Globally, richer countries with higher human development have higher female labour force participation too. Within India's neighbourhood, Sri Lanka has overtaken China on human development and with an HDI of 0.691, is now within touching distance of the "high human development" category. Sri Lanka performs particularly well on gender equality indicators; its maternal mortality ratio is the same as Russia's. (Rukmini Shrinivasan, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gender-bias-Only-Afghanistan-fares-worse-than-India-in-South-Asia/articleshow/10587827.cms accessed on 3 November 2011.)
6. Now, senior citizens look for love and live-ins: Live-in relationships, popular among youngsters who want to check compatibility with their partners before marriage, has found favour with the elderly as well. The first-ever public function to help 50-plus men and women from across India find live-in companions will be held on November 20 at Mehndi Nawaz Jung Hall in Ahmedabad. Organizer Natubhai Patel, who runs Vina Mulya Amulya Sewa, an organization created to help arrange marriages of lonely senior citizens in the country, says the concept of live-in relationships has interested a lot of elderly, who are shy of getting married again fearing legal wrangles and succession disputes. Also, many seniors are wary of being stuck with an incompatible partner in old age. Of the 3,000-odd applications, nearly 1,000 prefer finding a live-in partner who will keep them company without inviting social and legal complications associated with marriage. Most women still prefer marriage but many say they are fine with live-in companions if they provide them financial security. All men and women above 50 years of age including divorcees, widows and single are eligible to join the meet in Ahmedabad.(Radha Sharma, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ ahmedabad/ Now-senior-citizens-look-for-love-and-live-ins/articleshow/10586142.cms accessed on 3 November 2011.)
7. Old’s own country: Kerala’s state realizes the flipside of progress as the rise of a greying population leads to a new economic crisis. People above 60 constitute 13 percent of the state’s population of 3.34 crore compared to the national figure of 8.2 per cent, according to the 2011 Census. While India’s population grew by 17.6 per cent during the past decade. Kerala’s growth rate was merely 4.6 per cent. For the first time, a district Pathanamthitta, registered a negative population growth. At Rs. 7311 crore, the annual outgoing from the exchequer for pensions is more than 35 per cent of the total tax receipts. The proportion of the elderly dependent population in the state is 57.8 per cent and 35.1 percent of the aged do not own any property. With remittances touching 42288 crore in 2008, Kerala’s economy has prospered. But there is an acute shortage of labourers. The shortage, coupled with high minimum wages, has attracted a huge influx of migrant labour from Bihar, West Bengal and the North-East. With virtually one in Every four Kerala families having a member working abroad, the number of non-resident Keralites has risen to 33.5 lakh in 2008. Old age homes have increased from 150 to 300 since 2000. (M.G. Radhakrishnan, India Today 7 November 2011, p.50)
8. Illegal abortion clinics flourishing in Ambala: he Patiala health department has asked the neighbouring Ambala district administration of Haryana to take action against the mushrooming illegal abortion clinics there. Ambala has become a safe haven for illegal abortions. During inquiries by health department here, it has come to light that sex-determination and abortion racket has been flourishing in Ambala district, said an official. As per sources in health department, 5.78 lakh had terminated their pregnancies since 2005 in Punjab. In 2005-06, 5,32,959 pregnant women were registered in all Punjab districts, but only 4,18,937 pregnant women came for deliveries. After strictness in Punjab, many couples are going to other states. Since Haryana is nearest, it may have become best location. (Parvesh Sharma, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Illegal-abortion-clinics-flourishing-in-Ambala/articleshow/10601472.cms accessed on 4 November 2011.)
9. There is no god, only E.T: A religion that believes in the worship of UFOs and has 80,000 official followers worldwide is slowly finding a foothold in India, with official numbers growing from six to 60 in the last two years, and unofficial figures reaching 2,000. Ra lism is the International UFO religion. On the morning of December 13, 1973, while he was editor of Auto Pop, a a leading car-racing magazine, Frenchman Claude Vorilhon claims to have had a rather dramatic encounter with a being from another planet. This episode unfolded at Puy de Lassolas, a volcano park in France. According to Claude Vorilhon, who was 27 at the time, the extra-terrestrial named Yahweh gave him a detailed explanation of the origins of mankind, and some information on how to organise the future. After six consecutive meetings with Yahweh in the same location, followed by taking down detailed notes of what was being narrated to him, the former sports journalist accepted the mission given to him -- that of informing humanity about this message, and preparing people to welcome their creators, the Elohim, without fear. Vorilhon went on to change his name to Ra l ('messenger' in Hebrew), and began spreading the message within a year. His first book, The Book Which Tells the Truth, detailed his encounters and carried the message of the Elohim. In September 1974, he organised the first Ra lian public conference in Paris, a meeting that attracted over 2,000 people. Shortly after, he founded MADECH, which consisted of a group of people interested in helping him, and stood for The Movement for Welcoming the Elohim, Creators of Humanity. Ra l wrote Extraterrestrials Took Me to Their Planet in 1975, and since then he has authored several titles including Sensual Meditation, which forms the core of his teachings. Geniocracy advocates a more intelligent management of the planet, while Yes To Human Cloning explains the possibility of being eternal. By the end of 1974, his group had 170 members in France. Today, there are more than 80,000 members around the world, including Panchal India’s first member. Ra lians are initiated into the religion through a process they call Transmission of the Cellular Plan. Cellular refers to the organic cells in the body, while plan refers to the genetic makeup of the individual. "Transmission is a scientific way to connect DNA frequencies of a human with the mother computer of the Elohim. Every DNA carries a different frequency. When I conduct Transmission, I am already connected with the mother computer. So, the frequency of the one to be initiated flows through me and reaches the mother computer. When his frequency is received by the mother board, he becomes a Ra lian," Prasad says. It takes a small monetary contribution too. Every Transmitted Ra lian in India pays Rs 1,000 as initiation fee. The process of Transmission is similar to that of Baptism. "We wet our hands with water so that there is better connectivity with the mother computer. I place my right hand on the back of the member's head, and the left one on his forehead. And I tell the Elohim, so-and-so person has accepted them as creators." The mother computer that Panchal refers to is believed to hold genetic information of each and every creature on earth. The Elohim, they say, will use this data available to judge if an individual who has come to the end of his life, deserves to be reborn. For Ra lians, meditation is a daily practice which they indulge in on waking up, and before every meal. The practice of meditation is elaborated upon in Intelligent Designs, a book that urges members to get in touch with fellow Ra lians to attempt telepathic communication with the Elohim. This is religiously followed by the 10-12 Ra lians who live in Mumbai and Delhi, at meetings they hold every Sunday. The Elohim are important for Ra lians because it's they who created all creatures on earth. The Elohim are 26,000 years more advanced than human beings. Active followers of Ra lism have exhibited their anti-war views through outdoor contacts such as elaborate parades. The Elohim watching us are scared that we will destroy ourselves. They want to come to Earth, they want us to create an embassy and speak to our world leaders on how they should utilise their time to make our lives easy and peaceful. Ra lians don't believe in democracy. They believe in Geniocracy, a practice that says the world would be better if geniuses had an exclusive right to govern. Geniuses, people who have a higher IQ than the rest, should rule the world. There are over 2,000 closet Ra lians in India; members who believe in the concept but refuse to Transmit fearing a backlash from family, friends and society. And there are those who join for 'benefits', says Panchal. By that he is referring to Ra lian tenets of free love and open sex. (Yoshita Sengupta, http://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/2011/nov/061111-There-is-no-god-only-E-T.htm accessed on 6 November 2011.)
10. 11/11/11: A big day for births, marriages, divorces: As droves of couples queued up at the marriage registrar's office on Friday to read their sacred vows, barely a kilometre away in Bandra, the family court too was abuzz with activity. The court received 32 applications on 11/11/11 from warring couples seeking, among other things, divorce, maintenance or protection from domestic violence. Early divorce is, indeed, a prayer that many sparring spouses chant, especially as the family court has a backlog of around 11,000 cases. On an average day, the court gets between 8 and 20 new cases. One wife wanted to file a case on 11/11/11 as an act of vengeance. She said she wanted her husband to always remember the day that she took him to court for divorce. Among the divorce cases that did get filed, the majority were filed under the Hindu Marriage Act seeking separation on grounds of cruelty, while others were filed under the Special Marriage Act and the Indian Divorce Act. Other cases, meanwhile, related to issues ranging from dowry harassment to child custody. One case was filed by a 52-year-old Bandra resident against her 56-year-old husband, seeking protection under the Domestic Violence Act from a "gun-toting husband".(Shibu Thomas, http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-12/india/30390809_1_divorce-cases-family-court-dowry-harassment accessed on 12 November 2011.
11. Over 3 lakh kids die of pneumonia in India: Despite sustained campaigns against infectious diseases, India has one of the highest number of flu-related pneumonia deaths among children. According to a new study, out of 1.4 million pneumonia deaths worldwide (more than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined), 3,70,000 are Indian children below five years. Out of these 7% die of flu-related pneumonia. The study published in the medical journal Lancet was conducted by the University of Edinburgh with support from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Indian Council of Medical Research, Public Health Foundation of India and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It estimated that 90 million cases of seasonal flu occur in under-five children each year globally. 20 million of these are flu-related pneumonia resulting in 1 million hospital admissions. Flu related-pneumonia is also responsible for 28,000 to 1,15,000 deaths around the globe in this age group, the study said. The estimates for India were based on influenza and pneumonia data from Ballabgarh in Haryana. Researchers estimated that although about 6,000 flu-related pneumonia deaths occurred in hospitals here, as many as three times this number could be occurring at home. Another study in the same journal claimed an estimated 3 million infants and children younger than 5 years die every year from pneumonia in developing countries. According to WHO, though pneumonia can be treated with antibiotics, only about 30% of children receive the antibiotics they need. (Vineeta Pandey, http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_over-3-lakh-kids-die-of-pneumonia-in-india_1611707 accessed on 13 November 2011.)
12. Rich trash Pickings: Repacking industry – inject back used medical debris – syringes, pills vials, hypodermic needles, platic drips etc. into the health care system. The Ministry of Environment and Forest on 29 August released a list of 13037 healthcare facilities including Patna Medical College and Hospital in India that have been found to be in violation of bio-medical waste generation and disposal rules. The number of errant healthcare units in 2007-2008 was 19090. 4,05,702 kg of biomedical waste is generated every day in the country of which only 2,91,983 kg is disposed. Every day 1,13,719 kg of waste is left unattended which more often than not re-enters the system. The figures show that the highest number of violating medical facilities is in Maharashtra (4,667), Bihar (1221) and Kerala (1,547). In February 2009, more than 50 deaths of viral hepatitis were reported from Gujarat Modasa town. A health department investigation had revealed that improper disposal of biomedical waste led to the spread of the dealy virus that killed many. The absence of deterrent is also a big reason by biomedical waste led to the spread of the deadly virus that killed many. Police do not initiate action as the government hospitals are the biggest violators. (Amitabh Srivastava, India Today 14 November 2011, p. 72-73)
13. Losing childhood: Rat race leads to dip in Indian kids' EQ: In fact children are indeed growing up fast, speeding past the springtime of their lives, say psychiatrists who connect that to the falling levels of emotional quotient. The warm hugs, the tiny kisses, a ride on the Ferris wheel, a family camping trip, vanishing into a book with mum, playing chess against dad, are all now just cloying instances tucked away in fables. "The EQ among our children is on the decline. They have a lower threshold for tolerance, they are easily depressed, their coping ability has reduced and complexity has gone up. Seven- and eight-year-olds talk of violent acts and of dying these days," says psychiatrist Dr Nirmala Rao. The new toys like Angry Birds, Crime Life: Gang Wars and other ultraviolent games don't score too well in enriching EQ. Our cities' kids-unfriendly design doesn't help either: you need to go to a hill station even for a horse ride or to spend time under a waterfall. Teaching children to wait is so important. But a BlackBerry is given as soon as it demanded, then there is an instant ice cream, an laptop handed out immediately after it is asked for. Instant gratification is bringing down the EQ. Kids hold more power, less discipline; they order, but take fewer orders and PG (parental guidance) is just an inane abbreviation that pops up before some movies. Parents squeeze all kinds of classes into a day. Kids start going for swimming, but soon their parents push them to clock better timings. It's about competing, winning, rarely ever about the joy of learning. (Hemali Chhapia & Yogita Rao http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Losing-childhood-Rat-race-leads-to-dip-in-Indian-kids-EQ/articleshow/10720240.cms accessed on 14 November 2011.)Hemali Chhapia & Yogita Rao
14. Toll mounts as brain fever grips 'resurgent' Bihar: Bihar is in the grip of yet another lethal outbreak of viral encephalitis, which has claimed the lives of 82 children in the Magadh division so far. The latest death was reported on 13 November. The division's only government hospital, the Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College Hospital, has been swamped with 383 cases of encephalitis, with an average of six cases pouring in each day. This is the second major bout of encephalitis to strike the State since the onset of monsoon this year, with more than 50 children dying in the Tirhut division in June. Hospital sources ascribe more than a third of the 82 deaths to the lethal Japanese Encephalitis virus. Disturbingly, the issue has barely found any space in local dailies, whose main pages have been devoted to unwanted details of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's ‘Seva Yatra.' As cases pour in, the hospital faces a severe shortage of bag valve masks (commonly called Ambu bags), supportive medicines and doctors, as some of Bihar's most indigent and illiterate communities struggle to cope with the outbreak. Power and water problems further bedevil the hospital, often at the wrong moments. The medical ventilator rests idle without qualified personnel to man it. At least 12 children died owing to lack of ventilatory support. Among those discharged, at least 190 children developed severe neurological complications leading to movement disorders, facial palsy and mental retardation. The doctors, overworked and understaffed, prefer to analyse results in terms of statistics, percentages and “case studies.” “Our death rate is a little over 20 per cent, which is well below the expected 40 per cent deaths in encephalitis cases,” says one doctor. Lack of decent sanitation facilities within the hospital premises have forced women to use the open space outside as toilet. The hospital's lavatories often do not have regular water supply. Twenty-four days since the outbreak of the disease in August, Health Minister Ashwini Kumar Chaubey has visited the hospital just once before busying himself with Lal Krishna Advani's ‘Jan Chetna Yatra.' Till date, no concrete steps had been taken to combat encephalitis which has been recurring over the past decades. While Bodh Gaya, barely 20 km from the epicentre of the outbreak, has been kept in top order to secure the attention of royal personages, investigations by Along the fringes of Gaya district revealed a complete breakdown of preventive public health mechanisms. In 2009, 46 children died of viral encephalitis here. A massive immunisation drive that followed in the division resulted in no encephalitis case being officially recorded in 2010. But no awareness programme or immunisation drive was carried out that year. (Shoumojit Banerjee, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2627676.ece?homepage=true accessed on 15 November 2011.)
15. Despite campaign, only 17% girls in Maharashra study after HSC: Despite much-touted state-run campaigns such as ‘Mulagi Shikli, Pragati Jhali’ which have aimed to raise awareness of the importance of educating the girl child, a government report has found that Maharashtra is far behind other states in sending its girls for higher education. According to the latest report of the bureau of planning, monitoring and statistics under the ministry of human resource development, only 16.9% of girls in the state go in for higher studies after completing their higher school certificate education is compared to 25.3% of boys. The gender disparity in higher education in Maharashtra is one of the highest in the country. In contrast, in states like Goa, Uttarakhand and Meghalaya, more girls are pursuing higher education than boys. Goa has a 31% gross enrolment ratio (GER) for girls, whereas only 26% of boys dothe same. The national GER is 17.1% for boys and 12.7% for girls. The total GER in Maharashtra is just 21.4%, which is higher than the national figure (15%) but much lower than that of Uttarakhand (36%), Mizoram (26.5%) and Puducherry (29%). Delhi has a healthy GER of nearly 48%. In a recent United Nations development programme report on gender inequality, India ranks 129 in 146 countries, lagging behind even Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan on the gender inequality index. (Kanchan Srivastava, http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_despite-campaigns-only-17pct-girls-in-maharasthra-study-after-hsc_1612621 accessed on 15 November 2011.)
16. India remains 'dirtiest' country, laments Ramesh: India remains the 'dirtiest and filthiest' country in the world, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said, lamenting that people in many areas had access to mobile phones, but not toilets. Ramesh, who is also a minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, highlighted lack of awareness about sanitation and expressed concern on the issue of rampant open defecation in the country, particularly in rural areas. "In one area in which India can claim success in the social sector is education. We can't say same thing in health, we can't say same thing in nutrition, we certainly can't say the same thing in sanitation because we do remain the dirtiest and filthiest country," he said addressing a function in New Delhi. During an interaction with the audience, Ramesh said: "I am concerned. The biggest challenge I am facing, as a rural development minister, is to educate people about sanitation. 60 per cent of all open defecation in the world are in India." (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/north/india-remains-dirtiest-country-laments-ramesh-431 accessed on 15 November 2011.)
17. Children in State can now claim right to education: The Tamil Nadu State government has notified the rules under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, in the Government gazette dated November 12. With this, the State has taken an important milestone in ensuring education for all children between six and 14 years of age. Notifying the rules meant a lot for every stakeholder responsible for a child's education. All children can now claim their right to education. There was some disappointment, however, that the rules do not specify the manner in which schools ought to select students from the disadvantaged groups and weaker sections in their neighbourhood, to the extent of 25 per cent of the strength of their Class I or pre-school, as required under Section 12 of the Act.At least 20 States have already notified their draft rules, including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Delhi. The notification of the rules would mean that there would be more control over private schools. (Liffy Thomas & M. Lavanya, http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article2630947.ece accessed on 16 November 2011.)
18. Teenage drinking up by 100% in 10 years: Study of 2,000 teens between ages of 15 and 19 reveals that they are hitting the bottle more than ever before; youngsters boozing in Mumbai second only to Delhi-NCR. Whether it is break-ups or boredom, loneliness or the whimsical urge to get a kick out of a dull day, world-weary teenagers of this day and age in this city and country seem to have found the cure-all: it lies at the bottom of a bottle. A recent study by ASSOCHAM reveals that almost 45 per cent of 12th graders in metropolitan cities are downing pegs way beyond what their parents would like to know. In the course of the last 10 years, teenage drinking has escalated by a full 100 per cent. And we, as a nation, have become the most sought after market for alcoholic beverages companies. Further, Mumbai is second only to Delhi-NCR in terms of liquor-consuming adolescents, followed by Chandigarh and Hyderabad, where more than 1 in 10 binge drink (consumes five or more drinks on one occasion). Also, the number of girls who like to drink it up trumps all figures in the recorded history of the country. The alcohol consumption in India will cross 19,000 million litres by 2015 from the current 6,700 million litres perhaps we should ask what is driving the youth to guzzling. Teenaged boys and girls are resorting to drinking at a younger age due to high disposable incomes, lack of parental supervision, changing society norms and peer pressure. Incidentally, half of these reasons coincide with those cited in news reports regarding the swell in youth suicide figures. As per the study, nearly 16% of teens started drinking beforethey turned 15. The study states that the Indian palate has a predilection for hard liquor, and girls are as fond of drinking sprees as boys, also they prefer fruit-flavoured beverages. Marketing blitzkrieg plays its role in swaying suggestible teens. The legal drinking age is 25 years for hard drinks (rum, gin, whisky and vodka) and 21 years for mild beer and wines. But does anyone care? The enforcing system is too weak, and teenagers drink when they legally shouldn't be. The study claims that India's alcoholic beverage market, comprising beer, wine and spirits, will cross Rs 1.4 lakh crore mark in 2015, from the current size of about Rs 50,700 crore. >Almost 70 per cent alcohol in Southeast Asia is produced in India. India's contribution in total alcohol beverage imports in the region is nearly 10 per cent. India is the largest consumer of whiskey. 80 per cent of the entire liquor market. Indian whiskey market, around Rs 40,500 crore, is expected to cross Rs 54,000 crore mark within next two years. Kerala is the leading alcohol consumer, followed by Punjab. 32% teens said they drink when they are upset; 18% said they drink when they are alone; 15% said they drink when they are bored; and 46% said they drink to get high. (Urvashi Seth, http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/nov/051111-Teenage-drinking-up-by-100-in-10-years.htm accessed on 5 November 2011.)
19. India has highest share of family businesses in Asia: Report: India has the highest percentage share of family businesses in Asia, accounting for 67 percent of total listed companies with market capitalisation of more than $50 million, Credit Suisse research report. The report said 663 out of 983 listed Indian firms were family businesses and they account for half of all corporate hirings. Family businesses in India account for 46.8 percent of the total market capitalisation. Indian energy major Reliance Industries, top IT exporter Tata Consultancy Services, mobile operator Bharti Airtel and No.3 software exporter Wipro are among the top 20 firms in the Credit Suisse " Asian Family Business Basket". (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/India-has-highest-share-of-family-businesses-in-Asia-Report/articleshow/10628426.cms accessed on 6 November 2011.)
20. Chennai police stations to employ receptionists: By 7am on 21 November 2011, 129 police stations in Chennai will have receptionists who will welcome visitors with a smile and guide them in drafting their complaints. The Greater Chennai City Police have introduced the scheme with a view to give a pleasant experience to those who come to police stations carrying a grievance. A total of 258 woman police constables have already been selected and trained. "Their main duty is to attend to complainants, especially unlettered and first-time visitors. The duties include welcoming persons and helping them in writing down complaints.
They shall then guide them to the concerned police personnel for appropriate action," said a senior officer. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Chennai-police-stations-to-employ-receptionists/articleshow/10810996.cms accessed on 21 November 2011.)
21. India leads world with 25 lakh TB cases, says WHO: According to the latest World Health Organi-sation (WHO) report, India leads the world with around 25 lakh TB cases, ahead of China, which reports only 9 lakh patients. The report titled ‘Global Tuberculosis Control 2011’ states that WHO registered 8.8 million cases of TB last year of which 2.5 million patients were from India. The five countries with the highest incidence in 2010 were India (2.5 million), China (1.2 million), South Africa (0.59 million), Indo-nesia (0.54 million) and Pakistan (0.48 million). India alone accounted for an estimated 26 per cent of all TB cases worldwide, and China and India combined accounted for 38 per cent. TB remains a major killer in India, killing two persons every three minutes, nearly 1,000 a day. Experts here admit that tuberculosis is no longer a straightforward bacterial infection that can be treated with a reliable antibiotic regime — it has grown to become multi-drug resistant because patients tend to discontinue their medication as soon as their symptoms disappear. In Tamil Nadu alone, the government has identified more than 1,000 patients with drug resistant TB who have to be treated with the DOTS-plus regi-me, costing around Rs 2 lakh per course. TB has also become synonymous with HIV and other co-morbidities. Anybody with a weakened immune system and even those who do not eat wholesome, nutritious food are at risk of contracting TB. Every Indian above the age of 20 is at a 10 per cent risk of developing tuberculosis in his lifetime. Tuberculosis of the lymph nodes and the pleura are becoming increasingly common. With India being the diabetes capital, the threat of a tuberculosis epidemic looms even larger. Occurrence of tuberculosis infection in people with diabetes is 3 to 4 times more than in non-diabetics. Diabetes accounts for 14.8 per cent of pulmonary TB and 20.2 per cent of smear positive TB, which is highly infectious. In 2009, there were an estimated 9.7 million children who were orphans as a result of parental deaths caused by TB. Globally, the absolute number of incident TB cases per year has been falling since 2006 and the incidence rate per 100,000 population has been falling by 1.3 per cent per year since 2002. (N. Arun Kumar and Anisha Francis, http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/south/india-leads-world-25-lakh-tb-cases-says-who-238 accessed on 6 November 2011.)
II Diaspora
1. ‘3 lakh Indian engg professionals likely to return home’: Amid uncertain job market conditions overseas, as many as 3,00,000 Indian engineering professionals are expected to return home during the five-year period from 2011-15, says a survey by Global workforce solutions provider Kelly Services India. For a majority of reverse migrants, job satisfaction levels in India will outshine their previous overseas jobs within the next 2-3 years. The findings are based on a survey of 1,000 respondents from different parts of India as well as foreign countries. “Though 48 per cent of respondents who favoured the job satisfaction overseas indicated that the key reason for them was high remuneration, they also indicated that growth opportunities abroad are rather bleak with only 10 per cent respondents feeling that opportunities abroad are favourable,” the report said. India is estimated to have received USD 55 billion remittances from overseas last year. Going by estimates, the population of international migrants stood at around 214 million in 2010. One of the key reasons for reverse migration during 2008-2011 period were insecure job market overseas. Karnataka is the most preferred Indian state to live for reverse migrants at 88 per cent followed by Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi & Punjab at 72 per cent, 66 per cent, 65 per cent, 58 per cent, 55 per cent and 48 per cent, respectively. (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/3-lakh-indian-engg-professionals-likely-to-return-home/868458/0 accessed on 1 November 2011.)
2. After China, India ranks No. 2 in foreign students in US: China and India occupy the top two spots in contributing foreign students to the United States, with the international education sector bringing in USD 21.3 billion into the domestic economy, a new report released yesterday by the Institute of International Education said. Together, the top three sending countries -- China, India and South Korea -- comprise nearly half (46 per cent) of the total international enrollments in US higher education. Led by a surge of students from China, international student enrollment increased by five per cent in 2010-2011. Chinese student enrollment rose to a total of nearly 158,000 students, or nearly 22 per cent of the total international student population. Students from India, the second largest international cohort in the United States, decreased by one per cent to a total of nearly 104,000. Yet, India, as a destination for US students study abroad, increased 44.4 per cent. South Korea is the third leading place of origin, with more than 73,000 students, increasing by two per cent and making up 10 per cent of the total. Women represent approximately 45 per cent of the total number of international students. International students contribute more than USD 21 billion to the US economy, through their expenditures on tuition and living expenses, according to the US Department of Commerce. (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/after-china-india-ranks-no.-2-in-foreign-students-in-us/876098/0 accessed on 16 November 2011.)Breaking News:
III Global
Poorest poor in US hits new record: 1 in 15 peopleThe ranks of America's poorest poor have climbed to a record high — 1 in 15 people — spread widely across metropolitan areas as the housing bust pushed many inner-city poor into suburbs and other outlying places and shrivelled jobs and income. New census data paint a stark portrait of the nation's haves and have-nots at a time when unemployment remains persistently high. Traditional inner-city black ghettos are thinning out and changing, drawing in impoverished Hispanics who have low-wage jobs or are unemployed. Neighborhoods with poverty rates of at least 40 per cent are stretching over broader areas, increasing in suburbs at twice the rate of cities. Once-booming Sun Belt metro areas are now seeing some of the biggest jumps in concentrated poverty. About 20.5 million Americans, or 6.7 per cent of the U.S. population, make up the poorest poor, defined as those at 50 per cent or less of the official poverty level. Those living in deep poverty represent nearly half of the 46.2 million people scraping by below the poverty line. In 2010, the poorest poor meant an income of $5,570 or less for an individual and $11,157 for a family of four. That 6.7 per cent share is the highest in the 35 years that the Census Bureau has maintained such records, surpassing previous highs in 2009 and 1993 of just over 6 per cent.Broken down by states, 40 states and the District of Columbia had increases in the poorest poor since 2007, and none saw decreases. The District of Columbia ranked highest at 10.7 per cent, followed by Mississippi and New Mexico. Nevada had the biggest jump, rising from 4.6 per cent to 7 per cent. Concentrated poverty also spread wider. After declining during the 1990s economic boom, the proportion of poor people in large metropolitan areas who lived in high-poverty neighbourhoods jumped from 11.2 per cent in 2000 to 15.1 per cent last year, according to a Brookings Institution analysis. Such geographically concentrated poverty in the U.S. is now at the highest since 1990, following a decade of high unemployment and rising energy costs. Extreme poverty today continues to be prevalent in the industrial Midwest, including Detroit, Grand Rapids, Mich., and Akron, Ohio, due to a renewed decline in manufacturing. But the biggest growth in high-poverty areas is occurring in newer Sun Belt metro areas such as Las Vegas, Riverside, Calif., and Cape Coral, Fla., after the plummeting housing market wiped out home values and dried up construction jobs. As a whole, the number of poor in the suburbs who lived in high-poverty neighbourhoods rose by 41 per cent since 2000, more than double the growth of such city neighbourhoods. (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/world/north-america/poorest-poor-us-hits-new-record-1-15-people-695 accessed on 4 November 2011.)
Morcha youths set stage for state stir
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| A shop with ‘Gorkhaland’ sign board in Darjeeling. Picture by Suman Tamang |
The youth wing of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha had recently announced that it would renew the demand for Gorkhaland by holding a meeting at Mungpoo on December 18.
“We have already started reorganising Yuwa Morcha units in different place. Our supporters are visiting various municipalities and villages to bring together youths for the movement. We are giving thrust to the consolidation of our position in Teesta Valley and areas along NH31A,” said Sidhant Rai, the organising secretary of the Yuwa Morcha.
Sources said office-bearers of the Yuwa Morcha had been removed at different units and new faces brought in to give a fillip to the Gorkhaland stir.
The most notable part of the shuffle was the appointment of Sanjay Thulung as the vice-president of the outfit’s central committee. The post had been lying vacant for long.
The organisation is seeking to involve the common people also in the agitation.
“We appeal to all people to start rewriting the slogan ‘we want Gorkhaland’ on walls and any every other available space, especially along roads from tomorrow onwards,” he added.
The Morcha had initiated a similar campaign when it had started the agitation for the statehood in 2007. The party had asked all shopkeepers to use the word “Gorkhaland” on their sign boards.
The Yuwa Morcha today said the Mungpoo meeting might be advanced depending on the situation (with regard to the formation of small states) in the country.
“We might bring forward the date of the meeting if a situation favourable for the formation of small states emerges in any other part of the country. The Mungpoo event has been planed to announce our agitation programmes,” said Rai.
The decision to restart the agitation was taken after Uttar Pradesh Assembly had passed a resolution on November 21 to divide the state into four.
The youth wing today sent a letter to the President, Prime Minister, home minister, BJP president and also to the Morcha president Bimal Gurung, saying Gorkhaland deserved to be given preference if the government had plans to form new states.
Salary hike demand
The Morcha-affiliated Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union has demanded a 33 per cent hike in the salaries of tea garden staff. A three-year agreement had been reached between planters and trade unions earlier to increase the wages of workers and the sub-staff.
“The wage hike for the staff is still due. We demand a flat 33 per cent increase in the salaries,” said P.T. Sherpa, the president of the Morcha union. The hike is due from April 1. The Darjeeling Tea Association will hold a meeting of the unions and the planters on November 28 to discuss the issue.
Congressmen from the Darjeeling Hills demand Union Territory status
Amitava Banerjee, HT, Darjeeling, November 26, 2011: After providing a boost to the Gorkhaland demand, chief minister Mayawati’s Bill to divide Uttar Pradesh into 4 states, has now resurrected the demand for a Union Territory (UT) status for the Darjeeling Hills. A Darjeeling District Congress Committee (Hills) team is departing for Delhi on Saturday towing the UT demand.
Saroj Kumar Khatri, Vice President, Darjeeling District Congress Committee (Hills) stated “With the Bill to divide Uttar Pradesh into 4 states being passed by the UP Assembly , there is an undercurrent of resentment among the Hill populace as to why the 105 year old demand of Gorkhaland is not being considered by the Government. West Bengal has meted out step motherly treatment towards Darjeeling. They have socially and economically exploited the Hills. Darjeeling wants separation from Bengal. We will meet the Congress Central leadership and demand for a Union Territory status.”
Khatri added that even Late Rajiv Gandhi had displayed a positive attitude towards the UT status for the Hills. The Darjeeling District Congress Committee (Hills) had moved a resolution for the UT status for Darjeeling Hills in April 2011.
“We will meet UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi along with Union Home Minister P Chidambaram requesting immediate Central intervention for the UT status. UT is the fastest and easiest option for separation from Bengal” remarked Khatri.
Following the Bill passed by the UP Assembly, the Youth wing of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha had given a clarion call for a Gorkhaland agitation.
The delegation led by KB Chettri, President, Darjeeling District Congress Committee (Hills) will also meet concerned Ministers with other demands. They will be meeting the Surface Transport Minister demanding the immediate repairs of the National Highway 55, the lifeline connecting the Darjeeling Hills with the plains.
“The NH55 has been shut down for the past one and a half years owing to major landslides at Tindharia and 14th mile. We demand the immediate restoration of this lifeline” demanded Khatri.
The Congressmen have also demanded the filling up of all vacancies at the All India Radio Station at Kurseong; immediately starting a FM radio station in Darjeeling; Filling up of vacancies at the Kurseong Railway Printing Press; Railway Workshop at Tindharia; a super specialty hospital under All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the Darjeeling Hills; Jobs for the next of kin of the deceased in the Bijanbari bridge tragedy and also a special package (equivalent to Sikkim) for relief and rehabilitation of damages caused by the earthquake that had rocked the Hills on September 18.
GJM union threatens to paralyze work
Deep Gazmer, TNN , Nov 26, 2011,DARJEELING: The Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union (DTDPLU), affiliated to Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), has threatened to paralyze tea gardens to press for its demand of increase in salary of the super staff during wage negotiation later this month.
DTDPLU had given the tea garden management time till November 15 to provide a positive response to its demand. The management, however, sought time till November 28, the day for salary negotiation, to respond to the demands.
On Friday, the GJM-affiliated trade union that is in the majority these days held a meeting with super staffers of various tea gardens of the Hills to chalk out strategies. which would help them to counter the management in case of a no-consensus conclusion.
"We wanted the garden management to give their assurance by November 15. But owing to various circumstances, the decision will be given later this month.
We don't want to divulge our action plan at this moment but it is definitely sure that we will paralyze work in the tea gardens," warned P T Sherpa, DTDPLU president. after the meeting in Darjeeling. Wage and bonus negotiations of tea garden workers are held every three years. The last negotiation was held in 2008. This year, negotiation for salary of super staffers, supposed to be concluded by March 31, could not be held. However, negotiations for wages of labourers and sub-staff have already borne fruit with record increase.
"We want that salary of super-staff to be increased. at par with that of the sub-staffers.
We want the gross increase to be at 33 % at one time instead of over a three-year period," said Sherpa. In March earlier this year, the trade union imposed an embargo on dispatch of ready tea leaves, thus compelling the management to give 20 % increase in bonus which was a record in the Hills. In July, salary of the sub-staff was increased by 33 % at one go instead of gradual increase.
The 1400-odd super staffers (clerical, medical and technical employees) are graded in various categories according to their posts. Salary of the clerical and medical staff ranges between Rs 5,000 and Rs 9,000. Minimum and maximum pay of technical is however Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,500 respectively.
The Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA), umbrella organization of the 87 tea gardens in the Hills, however differed with the demands of the union. "The super staffers are better paid because they are an educated lot. Just making demands is not enough as lots have to be done," said Sandeep Mukherjee, DTA principal advisor. Admitting that a salary negotiation would take place on November 28, the principal advisor advised the trade union to ensure better working inputs of the super staff.
"There will be a negotiation meeting with the trade union. However, the point is that the super staff should act responsibly," said Sandeep Mukherjee, DTA principal advisor. and dispense their work in a manner that sets an example among their subordinates which at the moment is lacking," said Mukherjee.
In its meeting on Friday, DTDPLU also discussed the issue of implementing GJM's vision of better education, health and social welfare in the tea industry sector of the Hills. "The vision of our party is to amend the minimum wage policy of the tea garden industry, providing land rights to workers and implementation of the panchayati facilities to over 68,000 people employed in the Hills tea gardens," said Trilok Chandra Roka, the union's legal advisor.
The trade union will also press for proper implementation of the pension policy, which allows opening of zero balance account, for retired workers, in various braches of the State Bank of India.
‘Kishenji arrested, then killed’
SNS, KOLKATA, 25 NOV: Maoist sympathiser and revolutionary writer, Varavara Rao, who arrived in the city today suspected that Kishenji was arrested by the security forces on Wednesday and then killed in a fake encounter. Later, he accompanied Kishenji's niece, Deepa, to Writers’ Buildings and met the home secretary and submitted a deputation demanding that the post-mortem should be conducted in the city by a medical board of forensic experts in keeping with National Human Rights Act. They also demanded that the body should be handed over to the family and sent to Andhra Pradesh.
Deepa told the media that she has been sent by her grandfather and was confident that she would able to identify the body because her uncle had quite a resemblance with her grandfather. However, state government officials are tightlipped on the issue saying only that the post mortem would be conducted tomorrow. While addressing a gathering at Phears Lane this afternoon, Rao said thousands of security personnel had encircled Kishenji on Thursday and informed media persons that he had escaped. But, the truth is, Kishenji was kept in the police custody, tortured and finally a day later he was killed. He said that if the state government considered the claim to be false then it should prove it wrong adding that the guidelines of the National Human Rights Commission in respect of claims of encounter should be followed. Rao said that Kishenji's mother will file a writ petition through Association for Protection of Democratic Rights to bring the culprits to book. CPI leader Mr Gurudas Dasgupta too questioned the manner in which Maoist leader Kishenji was killed and asked the government to clarify whether he was done to death in “cold blood” after being arrested. In a letter to the Union home minister, Mr P Chidambaram, he claimed” “The story of the encounter appears to be fake, needs to be inquired into and the government must clarify”. Terming Kishenji's death as a setback to Maoists, veteran Marxist and former Lok Sabha Speaker Mr Somnath Chatterjee today said it is a “belated realisation” on the part of chief minister Mamata Banerjee about the menace of Maoism. Meanwhile, security concerns for chief minister Mamata Banerjee has increased manifold and her cover is likely to be enhanced. DG (Security) Mr Virendra, however, said: “There has been some incidents and we have taken note of them.”
In another development, members of Association For Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) slammed the media today for practicing yellow journalism after some media men reported that police arrested six human rights activists in Garfa and were interrogating them at the police station. Rumours were rife late tonight that six human rights activists were arrested from Garfa, where Mr Rao had gone to dine. However, Mr Prasanta Haldar, APDR representative from south Kolkata, said it was a rumour spread by a section of the media and some police officers to create sensation.Boy with HIV tells torture tale
ANIRBAN CHOUDHURY, TT, Alipurduar, Nov. 25: A 14-year-old HIV positive boy was rescued by a local businessman yesterday when he was spotted loitering around town crying aloud for food after fleeing his home where he was allegedly tortured by his uncle.
The subdivisional officer of Alipurduar, Amalkanti Roy, has ordered an inquiry after the boy complained that his uncle had been torturing him since he lost his parents and was detected with HIV.
His parents, too, were HIV positive, a society that looks after the boy’s treatment said. The boy had lost his mother in childhood and the father passed away five years ago.
“His uncle and aunts often told him that he would infect the others in the family and that he was a burden. They told him that his disease had been born out of sin. He could not bear it any longer and fled home. He had on him papers that said he was under treatment at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital,” said Larry Bose, the secretary of the Alipurduar Avibhabok Mancha, a citizens’ forum.
The SDO has also ordered the uncle to submit papers related to the land owned by the boy’s father in his village, Mechbill, in Falakata.
Sandeep Verma, a shopkeeper of Alipurduar Marwary Patty, first spotted the boy at a public telephone booth in the afternoon. Earlier, he had been loitering around in the area, crying.
Verma brought him to his shop, fed him, heard his story and took him to Bose, who admitted him to the Alipurduar subdivisional hospital before calling up the SDO, who is the chairperson of the hospital patient welfare committee.
“I saw the boy enter the phone booth. He had been in the area for sometime. He was weeping and I thought he was not well for he could not make the call. He told me he was hungry,” said Verma. Later the boy also said he had been trying to ring up Aurobindo Biswas, the secretary of the Alipurduar Subdivisional Society for People living with HIV/ AIDS. He had come to Alipurduar by bus.
This morning, the boy was handed over to Biswas, who had been monitoring his treatment since he was diagnosed HIV positive four months ago. “His parents were HIV positive. He often told me about the barbs he had to face at home. I met his uncle at a conference that we held for such patients on November 20,” said Biswas.
SDO Roy said till he made further arrangements to shift the boy to a government shelter in Calcutta, he would stay with Biswas’s society.
Dalmore TE opening date
TT, Alipurduar: The Dalmore Tea Estate will reopen on November 29, Amiyo Das, the assistant labour commissioner of Birpara, said on Friday. The decision was taken at a tripartite meeting held in Siliguri on Friday. The garden has been shut since September 27.
Nod for dykes to tame Mechi
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| A bridge over the Mechi at Panitanki, 40km from Siliguri. File picture |
The embankments will also help prevent elephant movement from India to Nepal and the Sashastra Seema Bal carry out border patrolling in a better way. The barrier on the Indian side will come up in Naxalbari and Khoribari blocks in Darjeeling district.
The decision to build the spill-checking dam (embankment) was taken at a meeting attended by water experts from both the countries in New Delhi.
“While the Indian government will construct a 19.5km-long embankment on our side, Nepal will build a 5-6-km long barrier on the right bank of the river,” Narayan Chatterjee, the chairperson of North Bengal Flood Control Commission (NBFCC) who attended the meeting, told The Telegraph over the phone from Delhi.
The two-day meet organised by the Union ministry of water resources ended today.
“The central government will fund the construction on the Bengal side. We (NBFCC) have been asked to work in association with the Central Water Commission and the ministry and submit a detailed project report by December 31,” said Chatterjee.
The Mechi originates in eastern Nepal and flows along the Indian border in the Naxalbari and Khoribari blocks before entering Bihar and joining the Mahananda near Kishanganj.
Chatterjee said three border pillars (numbers 16, 17 and 18) had been either washed away or damaged by the Mechi on the Indian side. The river has also gobbled up 185 hectares in 12 mouzas in the two blocks
The flood-control panel head said the dykes would act as barriers against elephant movement from north Bengal to Nepal and facilitate border patrolling.
“Although the basic aim of the embankments is to check the inundation of villages along the river, the concrete structures also offer solutions to two problems. First, the SSB which guards the India-Nepal border will find it easy to carry out patrolling as a road will be built on the embankment. Second, elephants won’t be able cross the Mechi and enter Nepal,” said Chatterjee.
The “intrusion” of the animal from India into Nepal — the elephant corridor in north Bengal stretches from the Mechi till the Sankosh on the Assam border — often leads to loss of crop, properties and even human life in the neighbouring country. There were even reports of elephants suffering bullet injuries in Nepal.
CPM blames bungling of Buddha govt on Hills for poll debacle
SNS, SILIGURI, 25 NOV: The introspective exercise of the CPI-M has thrown the party’s Darjeeling district committee into a fresh controversy. A section of the CPI-M leadership today blamed the mishandling of the Darjeeling Hills turmoil by the Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee government for the party’s poor performance in Siliguri and its adjoining areas in the last Assembly poll.
Addressing the Press today, the re-elected secretary of the CPI-M Siliguri zonal committee, Mr Mukul Sengupta, said the bungling by the previous state government in the Hills had adversely impacted the election result in the plains. “We have failed to convince the electorate of the efficacy of the stance taken by the previous state government on the sensitive issue. The common people rejected us because the indecisiveness on the part of the previous state government failed to carry conviction with them. Had the state government taken some decisive measures to solve the logjam in the Hills, the result might not have been as disastrous as it turned out,” Mr Sengupta said.
Referring to the defeat of the former state urban development minister, Mr Asok Bhattacharya, he said that the people had vented their anger against the dragging tension and resultant disruption of life due to a series of bandhs both in the Hills and the plains. “Even those who are traditionally Left sympathisers rejected us outright because of our government’s failure to take an unequivocal and resolute stance on the emotive Gorkhaland issue,” Mr Sengupta said.
Mr Asok Bhattacharya sounded philosophical when he was asked to comment on the matter. “Decline follows growth in sync with the inexorable law of evolution. No organisation can remain immune to what is inevitable. We must accept the dribbling with grace and find out ways to rejuvenate it. Plucking loopholes in course of churning is good,” the former minister said.
Global Urban Vision – December 2011
(Compiled and Published by J.N. Manokaran (jnmanokaran@yahoo.com) on behalf of Glocal Leaders Network)
I India
1. The dropouts' story: In Karnataka, only 12.2 per cent of those who have completed pre-university/12th Standard join college. These astounding facts have been made available in a study conducted by the Karnataka Knowledge Commission on ‘The gross enrolment ratio in higher education in Karnataka'. As per the data, only 9.47 lakh of the 77.5 lakh students go on to join college. The calculated gross enrolment ratio (GER) for 2010-11 indicates that 87.78 per cent of the population in the age group of 18 to 23 are outside the purview of higher education. The GER in India in 2006 was 11. This was way less compared to the U.S. (82), Australia and Brazil (73), the U.K. (59), China (22) and South Africa (15). There is a substantial discrepancy between the number of students who are eligible to enrol in higher studies, and the number of those who actually do. Out of 56.7 per cent of eligible candidates, only 12.22 per cent are pursuing their higher studies. The Commission's findings also validate another strong trend – that of more males having the privilege of education than females. The male GER stands at 14 per cent, as opposed to 10.38 of females. This means that for the 5.52 lakh males enrolled in higher education, only 3.95 lakh females are enrolled. Among streams, Arts holds the sway in both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. In undergraduate courses, the enrolment percentage for arts courses is about 33.7 per cent, followed by commerce, science, engineering and management. A less favoured course is agriculture, with a share of 0.29 per cent. At the postgraduate level, arts continues its dominance with 32.7 per cent, while science has a 19 per cent share. Law has the least demand. The reasons can vary from being as serious as financial problems and non-availability of colleges in the locality, to as bizarre as not finding any meaning in studying and following the path of friends who have discontinued studies.The other reasons include marriage plans, lack of guidance on what to study, health problems, parents' pressure to discontinue, repeated failure in exams and household work. (K.C. Deepika, http://www.thehindu.com/education/article 2562748.ece accessed on 27 October 2011.)
2. Metros hold no charm for the poor: According to United Nations Population Fund’s (UNPFA) latest report, rural-to-urban population shift is on a decline in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh and Kolkata. Between 1991-2001Mumbai registered a 20% growth, while from 2001-2011 the growth was just 4.7%. In Indian cities like Mumbai, traditional city-centric populations are shrinking and peripheralisation is increasing due to high cost of living and lack of job opportunities. In such peripheral settlements, people have lost the advantage of both urban and rural life. Citing India as a very important subject, as it is home to one-third of the world’s poor (410 million), the report says that Indian income gaps are widening and the poor can’t sustain in cities now. While 35 million have migrated outside China, 20 million have migrated from India. An estimated 5 million Nepalis are living and working in India. (Kanchan Srivastava, Daily News Analysis 27 October 2011, p. 1 and 3)
3. Rat fever looms large over city: The city seems to be a happy habitat for rats - an unhygienic species that spoils food and spreads the deadly leptospirosis. There is no recent study on its burgeoning population in the city, but doctors say the increasing incidence of leptospirosis, commonly called rat fever, in the last decade, is proof enough. The bacterial disease transmitted from rodents to human beings is no more a seasonal occurrence due to water stagnation . In 2011, the disease was detected almost every month, including at the peak of summer. With the onset of the monsoon , the city is sitting on a time bomb, say experts. The civic body's integrated diseases surveillance system has reported 479 cases to the directorate of public health this year, while a laboratory attached to the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University has detected 1,405 cases. The state medical university lab has found an alarming increase in the number of rat fever cases over ten years. In 2001, it found 207 cases. By 2010, there were 1,405 cases. The hospital authorities in certain areas said received at least five cases a day throughout the year. Leptospirosis, however, is not easily diagnosed. The heat and humidity in the city aid the growth of the bacteria in water or soil. The problem is further compounded when rainwater carries the bacteria from contaminated ground into homes. (Pushpa Narayan, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Rat-fever-looms-large-over-Chennai/articleshow/10526865.cms accessed on 29 October 2011.)
4. 'Over 5K children raped, another 1,408 murdered in 2010': As many as 5,484 children were sexually assaulted and 1,408 others killed in different parts of the country last year, according to a government report. Giving a gloomy picture about the crimes committed against children, the latest National Crime Records Bureau data says 10,670 children were also kidnapped or abducted during the year in various states and union territories. In Uttar Pradesh, 315 children were killed while 1,182 children were sexually assaulted in Madhya Pradesh during the period -- the highest in the two categories of crimes. There were 211 incidents of murder of children in Maharashtra, another 200 such cases in Bihar and 124 victims in Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh recorded 747, 451 and 446 cases of sexual assault respectively in the last year. Similarly, 382 and 369 such incidents came to light in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. In Delhi, 29 children were murdered and 304 others were raped in 2010. The national capital has reported the highest number of kidnapping of children in the country -- 2,982, followed by Bihar (1,359), Uttar Pradesh (1,225), Maharashtra (749), Rajasthan (706), Andhra Pradesh (581) and Gujarat (565).( http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Over-5K-children-raped-another-1408-murdered-in-2010/articleshow/10541251.cms accessed on 30 October 2011.)
5. Gender bias: Only Afghanistan fares worse than India in South Asia: India's abysmal gender inequality statistics seem to have taken a turn for the worse. New data shows the country's Gender Inequality Index (GII) (UN Development Porgramme) worsened between 2008 and 2011, and India now ranks 129 out of 146 countries on the GII, better only than Afghanistan in south Asia.On the Human Development Index (HDI), India ranks 134 out of 187 countries. When inequality is factored in, it experiences a 30% drop in its human development values, ranking 129 out of 146 nations. The GII, measures female disadvantage in three areas: reproductive health as measured by the maternal mortality ratio and the adolescent fertility rate, empowerment measured by seats in Parliament and proportion with at least secondary education, and the labour force participation rate. India's decline is accounted for by a fall in its female labour force participation rate and a worsening of its adolescent fertility rate. The proportion of women with at least secondary education is still just half that of men. Globally, richer countries with higher human development have higher female labour force participation too. Within India's neighbourhood, Sri Lanka has overtaken China on human development and with an HDI of 0.691, is now within touching distance of the "high human development" category. Sri Lanka performs particularly well on gender equality indicators; its maternal mortality ratio is the same as Russia's. (Rukmini Shrinivasan, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gender-bias-Only-Afghanistan-fares-worse-than-India-in-South-Asia/articleshow/10587827.cms accessed on 3 November 2011.)
6. Now, senior citizens look for love and live-ins: Live-in relationships, popular among youngsters who want to check compatibility with their partners before marriage, has found favour with the elderly as well. The first-ever public function to help 50-plus men and women from across India find live-in companions will be held on November 20 at Mehndi Nawaz Jung Hall in Ahmedabad. Organizer Natubhai Patel, who runs Vina Mulya Amulya Sewa, an organization created to help arrange marriages of lonely senior citizens in the country, says the concept of live-in relationships has interested a lot of elderly, who are shy of getting married again fearing legal wrangles and succession disputes. Also, many seniors are wary of being stuck with an incompatible partner in old age. Of the 3,000-odd applications, nearly 1,000 prefer finding a live-in partner who will keep them company without inviting social and legal complications associated with marriage. Most women still prefer marriage but many say they are fine with live-in companions if they provide them financial security. All men and women above 50 years of age including divorcees, widows and single are eligible to join the meet in Ahmedabad.(Radha Sharma, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ ahmedabad/ Now-senior-citizens-look-for-love-and-live-ins/articleshow/10586142.cms accessed on 3 November 2011.)
7. Old’s own country: Kerala’s state realizes the flipside of progress as the rise of a greying population leads to a new economic crisis. People above 60 constitute 13 percent of the state’s population of 3.34 crore compared to the national figure of 8.2 per cent, according to the 2011 Census. While India’s population grew by 17.6 per cent during the past decade. Kerala’s growth rate was merely 4.6 per cent. For the first time, a district Pathanamthitta, registered a negative population growth. At Rs. 7311 crore, the annual outgoing from the exchequer for pensions is more than 35 per cent of the total tax receipts. The proportion of the elderly dependent population in the state is 57.8 per cent and 35.1 percent of the aged do not own any property. With remittances touching 42288 crore in 2008, Kerala’s economy has prospered. But there is an acute shortage of labourers. The shortage, coupled with high minimum wages, has attracted a huge influx of migrant labour from Bihar, West Bengal and the North-East. With virtually one in Every four Kerala families having a member working abroad, the number of non-resident Keralites has risen to 33.5 lakh in 2008. Old age homes have increased from 150 to 300 since 2000. (M.G. Radhakrishnan, India Today 7 November 2011, p.50)
8. Illegal abortion clinics flourishing in Ambala: he Patiala health department has asked the neighbouring Ambala district administration of Haryana to take action against the mushrooming illegal abortion clinics there. Ambala has become a safe haven for illegal abortions. During inquiries by health department here, it has come to light that sex-determination and abortion racket has been flourishing in Ambala district, said an official. As per sources in health department, 5.78 lakh had terminated their pregnancies since 2005 in Punjab. In 2005-06, 5,32,959 pregnant women were registered in all Punjab districts, but only 4,18,937 pregnant women came for deliveries. After strictness in Punjab, many couples are going to other states. Since Haryana is nearest, it may have become best location. (Parvesh Sharma, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Illegal-abortion-clinics-flourishing-in-Ambala/articleshow/10601472.cms accessed on 4 November 2011.)
9. There is no god, only E.T: A religion that believes in the worship of UFOs and has 80,000 official followers worldwide is slowly finding a foothold in India, with official numbers growing from six to 60 in the last two years, and unofficial figures reaching 2,000. Ra lism is the International UFO religion. On the morning of December 13, 1973, while he was editor of Auto Pop, a a leading car-racing magazine, Frenchman Claude Vorilhon claims to have had a rather dramatic encounter with a being from another planet. This episode unfolded at Puy de Lassolas, a volcano park in France. According to Claude Vorilhon, who was 27 at the time, the extra-terrestrial named Yahweh gave him a detailed explanation of the origins of mankind, and some information on how to organise the future. After six consecutive meetings with Yahweh in the same location, followed by taking down detailed notes of what was being narrated to him, the former sports journalist accepted the mission given to him -- that of informing humanity about this message, and preparing people to welcome their creators, the Elohim, without fear. Vorilhon went on to change his name to Ra l ('messenger' in Hebrew), and began spreading the message within a year. His first book, The Book Which Tells the Truth, detailed his encounters and carried the message of the Elohim. In September 1974, he organised the first Ra lian public conference in Paris, a meeting that attracted over 2,000 people. Shortly after, he founded MADECH, which consisted of a group of people interested in helping him, and stood for The Movement for Welcoming the Elohim, Creators of Humanity. Ra l wrote Extraterrestrials Took Me to Their Planet in 1975, and since then he has authored several titles including Sensual Meditation, which forms the core of his teachings. Geniocracy advocates a more intelligent management of the planet, while Yes To Human Cloning explains the possibility of being eternal. By the end of 1974, his group had 170 members in France. Today, there are more than 80,000 members around the world, including Panchal India’s first member. Ra lians are initiated into the religion through a process they call Transmission of the Cellular Plan. Cellular refers to the organic cells in the body, while plan refers to the genetic makeup of the individual. "Transmission is a scientific way to connect DNA frequencies of a human with the mother computer of the Elohim. Every DNA carries a different frequency. When I conduct Transmission, I am already connected with the mother computer. So, the frequency of the one to be initiated flows through me and reaches the mother computer. When his frequency is received by the mother board, he becomes a Ra lian," Prasad says. It takes a small monetary contribution too. Every Transmitted Ra lian in India pays Rs 1,000 as initiation fee. The process of Transmission is similar to that of Baptism. "We wet our hands with water so that there is better connectivity with the mother computer. I place my right hand on the back of the member's head, and the left one on his forehead. And I tell the Elohim, so-and-so person has accepted them as creators." The mother computer that Panchal refers to is believed to hold genetic information of each and every creature on earth. The Elohim, they say, will use this data available to judge if an individual who has come to the end of his life, deserves to be reborn. For Ra lians, meditation is a daily practice which they indulge in on waking up, and before every meal. The practice of meditation is elaborated upon in Intelligent Designs, a book that urges members to get in touch with fellow Ra lians to attempt telepathic communication with the Elohim. This is religiously followed by the 10-12 Ra lians who live in Mumbai and Delhi, at meetings they hold every Sunday. The Elohim are important for Ra lians because it's they who created all creatures on earth. The Elohim are 26,000 years more advanced than human beings. Active followers of Ra lism have exhibited their anti-war views through outdoor contacts such as elaborate parades. The Elohim watching us are scared that we will destroy ourselves. They want to come to Earth, they want us to create an embassy and speak to our world leaders on how they should utilise their time to make our lives easy and peaceful. Ra lians don't believe in democracy. They believe in Geniocracy, a practice that says the world would be better if geniuses had an exclusive right to govern. Geniuses, people who have a higher IQ than the rest, should rule the world. There are over 2,000 closet Ra lians in India; members who believe in the concept but refuse to Transmit fearing a backlash from family, friends and society. And there are those who join for 'benefits', says Panchal. By that he is referring to Ra lian tenets of free love and open sex. (Yoshita Sengupta, http://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/2011/nov/061111-There-is-no-god-only-E-T.htm accessed on 6 November 2011.)
10. 11/11/11: A big day for births, marriages, divorces: As droves of couples queued up at the marriage registrar's office on Friday to read their sacred vows, barely a kilometre away in Bandra, the family court too was abuzz with activity. The court received 32 applications on 11/11/11 from warring couples seeking, among other things, divorce, maintenance or protection from domestic violence. Early divorce is, indeed, a prayer that many sparring spouses chant, especially as the family court has a backlog of around 11,000 cases. On an average day, the court gets between 8 and 20 new cases. One wife wanted to file a case on 11/11/11 as an act of vengeance. She said she wanted her husband to always remember the day that she took him to court for divorce. Among the divorce cases that did get filed, the majority were filed under the Hindu Marriage Act seeking separation on grounds of cruelty, while others were filed under the Special Marriage Act and the Indian Divorce Act. Other cases, meanwhile, related to issues ranging from dowry harassment to child custody. One case was filed by a 52-year-old Bandra resident against her 56-year-old husband, seeking protection under the Domestic Violence Act from a "gun-toting husband".(Shibu Thomas, http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-12/india/30390809_1_divorce-cases-family-court-dowry-harassment accessed on 12 November 2011.
11. Over 3 lakh kids die of pneumonia in India: Despite sustained campaigns against infectious diseases, India has one of the highest number of flu-related pneumonia deaths among children. According to a new study, out of 1.4 million pneumonia deaths worldwide (more than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined), 3,70,000 are Indian children below five years. Out of these 7% die of flu-related pneumonia. The study published in the medical journal Lancet was conducted by the University of Edinburgh with support from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Indian Council of Medical Research, Public Health Foundation of India and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It estimated that 90 million cases of seasonal flu occur in under-five children each year globally. 20 million of these are flu-related pneumonia resulting in 1 million hospital admissions. Flu related-pneumonia is also responsible for 28,000 to 1,15,000 deaths around the globe in this age group, the study said. The estimates for India were based on influenza and pneumonia data from Ballabgarh in Haryana. Researchers estimated that although about 6,000 flu-related pneumonia deaths occurred in hospitals here, as many as three times this number could be occurring at home. Another study in the same journal claimed an estimated 3 million infants and children younger than 5 years die every year from pneumonia in developing countries. According to WHO, though pneumonia can be treated with antibiotics, only about 30% of children receive the antibiotics they need. (Vineeta Pandey, http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_over-3-lakh-kids-die-of-pneumonia-in-india_1611707 accessed on 13 November 2011.)
12. Rich trash Pickings: Repacking industry – inject back used medical debris – syringes, pills vials, hypodermic needles, platic drips etc. into the health care system. The Ministry of Environment and Forest on 29 August released a list of 13037 healthcare facilities including Patna Medical College and Hospital in India that have been found to be in violation of bio-medical waste generation and disposal rules. The number of errant healthcare units in 2007-2008 was 19090. 4,05,702 kg of biomedical waste is generated every day in the country of which only 2,91,983 kg is disposed. Every day 1,13,719 kg of waste is left unattended which more often than not re-enters the system. The figures show that the highest number of violating medical facilities is in Maharashtra (4,667), Bihar (1221) and Kerala (1,547). In February 2009, more than 50 deaths of viral hepatitis were reported from Gujarat Modasa town. A health department investigation had revealed that improper disposal of biomedical waste led to the spread of the dealy virus that killed many. The absence of deterrent is also a big reason by biomedical waste led to the spread of the deadly virus that killed many. Police do not initiate action as the government hospitals are the biggest violators. (Amitabh Srivastava, India Today 14 November 2011, p. 72-73)
13. Losing childhood: Rat race leads to dip in Indian kids' EQ: In fact children are indeed growing up fast, speeding past the springtime of their lives, say psychiatrists who connect that to the falling levels of emotional quotient. The warm hugs, the tiny kisses, a ride on the Ferris wheel, a family camping trip, vanishing into a book with mum, playing chess against dad, are all now just cloying instances tucked away in fables. "The EQ among our children is on the decline. They have a lower threshold for tolerance, they are easily depressed, their coping ability has reduced and complexity has gone up. Seven- and eight-year-olds talk of violent acts and of dying these days," says psychiatrist Dr Nirmala Rao. The new toys like Angry Birds, Crime Life: Gang Wars and other ultraviolent games don't score too well in enriching EQ. Our cities' kids-unfriendly design doesn't help either: you need to go to a hill station even for a horse ride or to spend time under a waterfall. Teaching children to wait is so important. But a BlackBerry is given as soon as it demanded, then there is an instant ice cream, an laptop handed out immediately after it is asked for. Instant gratification is bringing down the EQ. Kids hold more power, less discipline; they order, but take fewer orders and PG (parental guidance) is just an inane abbreviation that pops up before some movies. Parents squeeze all kinds of classes into a day. Kids start going for swimming, but soon their parents push them to clock better timings. It's about competing, winning, rarely ever about the joy of learning. (Hemali Chhapia & Yogita Rao http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Losing-childhood-Rat-race-leads-to-dip-in-Indian-kids-EQ/articleshow/10720240.cms accessed on 14 November 2011.)Hemali Chhapia & Yogita Rao
14. Toll mounts as brain fever grips 'resurgent' Bihar: Bihar is in the grip of yet another lethal outbreak of viral encephalitis, which has claimed the lives of 82 children in the Magadh division so far. The latest death was reported on 13 November. The division's only government hospital, the Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College Hospital, has been swamped with 383 cases of encephalitis, with an average of six cases pouring in each day. This is the second major bout of encephalitis to strike the State since the onset of monsoon this year, with more than 50 children dying in the Tirhut division in June. Hospital sources ascribe more than a third of the 82 deaths to the lethal Japanese Encephalitis virus. Disturbingly, the issue has barely found any space in local dailies, whose main pages have been devoted to unwanted details of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's ‘Seva Yatra.' As cases pour in, the hospital faces a severe shortage of bag valve masks (commonly called Ambu bags), supportive medicines and doctors, as some of Bihar's most indigent and illiterate communities struggle to cope with the outbreak. Power and water problems further bedevil the hospital, often at the wrong moments. The medical ventilator rests idle without qualified personnel to man it. At least 12 children died owing to lack of ventilatory support. Among those discharged, at least 190 children developed severe neurological complications leading to movement disorders, facial palsy and mental retardation. The doctors, overworked and understaffed, prefer to analyse results in terms of statistics, percentages and “case studies.” “Our death rate is a little over 20 per cent, which is well below the expected 40 per cent deaths in encephalitis cases,” says one doctor. Lack of decent sanitation facilities within the hospital premises have forced women to use the open space outside as toilet. The hospital's lavatories often do not have regular water supply. Twenty-four days since the outbreak of the disease in August, Health Minister Ashwini Kumar Chaubey has visited the hospital just once before busying himself with Lal Krishna Advani's ‘Jan Chetna Yatra.' Till date, no concrete steps had been taken to combat encephalitis which has been recurring over the past decades. While Bodh Gaya, barely 20 km from the epicentre of the outbreak, has been kept in top order to secure the attention of royal personages, investigations by Along the fringes of Gaya district revealed a complete breakdown of preventive public health mechanisms. In 2009, 46 children died of viral encephalitis here. A massive immunisation drive that followed in the division resulted in no encephalitis case being officially recorded in 2010. But no awareness programme or immunisation drive was carried out that year. (Shoumojit Banerjee, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2627676.ece?homepage=true accessed on 15 November 2011.)
15. Despite campaign, only 17% girls in Maharashra study after HSC: Despite much-touted state-run campaigns such as ‘Mulagi Shikli, Pragati Jhali’ which have aimed to raise awareness of the importance of educating the girl child, a government report has found that Maharashtra is far behind other states in sending its girls for higher education. According to the latest report of the bureau of planning, monitoring and statistics under the ministry of human resource development, only 16.9% of girls in the state go in for higher studies after completing their higher school certificate education is compared to 25.3% of boys. The gender disparity in higher education in Maharashtra is one of the highest in the country. In contrast, in states like Goa, Uttarakhand and Meghalaya, more girls are pursuing higher education than boys. Goa has a 31% gross enrolment ratio (GER) for girls, whereas only 26% of boys dothe same. The national GER is 17.1% for boys and 12.7% for girls. The total GER in Maharashtra is just 21.4%, which is higher than the national figure (15%) but much lower than that of Uttarakhand (36%), Mizoram (26.5%) and Puducherry (29%). Delhi has a healthy GER of nearly 48%. In a recent United Nations development programme report on gender inequality, India ranks 129 in 146 countries, lagging behind even Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan on the gender inequality index. (Kanchan Srivastava, http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_despite-campaigns-only-17pct-girls-in-maharasthra-study-after-hsc_1612621 accessed on 15 November 2011.)
16. India remains 'dirtiest' country, laments Ramesh: India remains the 'dirtiest and filthiest' country in the world, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said, lamenting that people in many areas had access to mobile phones, but not toilets. Ramesh, who is also a minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, highlighted lack of awareness about sanitation and expressed concern on the issue of rampant open defecation in the country, particularly in rural areas. "In one area in which India can claim success in the social sector is education. We can't say same thing in health, we can't say same thing in nutrition, we certainly can't say the same thing in sanitation because we do remain the dirtiest and filthiest country," he said addressing a function in New Delhi. During an interaction with the audience, Ramesh said: "I am concerned. The biggest challenge I am facing, as a rural development minister, is to educate people about sanitation. 60 per cent of all open defecation in the world are in India." (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/north/india-remains-dirtiest-country-laments-ramesh-431 accessed on 15 November 2011.)
17. Children in State can now claim right to education: The Tamil Nadu State government has notified the rules under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, in the Government gazette dated November 12. With this, the State has taken an important milestone in ensuring education for all children between six and 14 years of age. Notifying the rules meant a lot for every stakeholder responsible for a child's education. All children can now claim their right to education. There was some disappointment, however, that the rules do not specify the manner in which schools ought to select students from the disadvantaged groups and weaker sections in their neighbourhood, to the extent of 25 per cent of the strength of their Class I or pre-school, as required under Section 12 of the Act.At least 20 States have already notified their draft rules, including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Delhi. The notification of the rules would mean that there would be more control over private schools. (Liffy Thomas & M. Lavanya, http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article2630947.ece accessed on 16 November 2011.)
18. Teenage drinking up by 100% in 10 years: Study of 2,000 teens between ages of 15 and 19 reveals that they are hitting the bottle more than ever before; youngsters boozing in Mumbai second only to Delhi-NCR. Whether it is break-ups or boredom, loneliness or the whimsical urge to get a kick out of a dull day, world-weary teenagers of this day and age in this city and country seem to have found the cure-all: it lies at the bottom of a bottle. A recent study by ASSOCHAM reveals that almost 45 per cent of 12th graders in metropolitan cities are downing pegs way beyond what their parents would like to know. In the course of the last 10 years, teenage drinking has escalated by a full 100 per cent. And we, as a nation, have become the most sought after market for alcoholic beverages companies. Further, Mumbai is second only to Delhi-NCR in terms of liquor-consuming adolescents, followed by Chandigarh and Hyderabad, where more than 1 in 10 binge drink (consumes five or more drinks on one occasion). Also, the number of girls who like to drink it up trumps all figures in the recorded history of the country. The alcohol consumption in India will cross 19,000 million litres by 2015 from the current 6,700 million litres perhaps we should ask what is driving the youth to guzzling. Teenaged boys and girls are resorting to drinking at a younger age due to high disposable incomes, lack of parental supervision, changing society norms and peer pressure. Incidentally, half of these reasons coincide with those cited in news reports regarding the swell in youth suicide figures. As per the study, nearly 16% of teens started drinking beforethey turned 15. The study states that the Indian palate has a predilection for hard liquor, and girls are as fond of drinking sprees as boys, also they prefer fruit-flavoured beverages. Marketing blitzkrieg plays its role in swaying suggestible teens. The legal drinking age is 25 years for hard drinks (rum, gin, whisky and vodka) and 21 years for mild beer and wines. But does anyone care? The enforcing system is too weak, and teenagers drink when they legally shouldn't be. The study claims that India's alcoholic beverage market, comprising beer, wine and spirits, will cross Rs 1.4 lakh crore mark in 2015, from the current size of about Rs 50,700 crore. >Almost 70 per cent alcohol in Southeast Asia is produced in India. India's contribution in total alcohol beverage imports in the region is nearly 10 per cent. India is the largest consumer of whiskey. 80 per cent of the entire liquor market. Indian whiskey market, around Rs 40,500 crore, is expected to cross Rs 54,000 crore mark within next two years. Kerala is the leading alcohol consumer, followed by Punjab. 32% teens said they drink when they are upset; 18% said they drink when they are alone; 15% said they drink when they are bored; and 46% said they drink to get high. (Urvashi Seth, http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/nov/051111-Teenage-drinking-up-by-100-in-10-years.htm accessed on 5 November 2011.)
19. India has highest share of family businesses in Asia: Report: India has the highest percentage share of family businesses in Asia, accounting for 67 percent of total listed companies with market capitalisation of more than $50 million, Credit Suisse research report. The report said 663 out of 983 listed Indian firms were family businesses and they account for half of all corporate hirings. Family businesses in India account for 46.8 percent of the total market capitalisation. Indian energy major Reliance Industries, top IT exporter Tata Consultancy Services, mobile operator Bharti Airtel and No.3 software exporter Wipro are among the top 20 firms in the Credit Suisse " Asian Family Business Basket". (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/India-has-highest-share-of-family-businesses-in-Asia-Report/articleshow/10628426.cms accessed on 6 November 2011.)
20. Chennai police stations to employ receptionists: By 7am on 21 November 2011, 129 police stations in Chennai will have receptionists who will welcome visitors with a smile and guide them in drafting their complaints. The Greater Chennai City Police have introduced the scheme with a view to give a pleasant experience to those who come to police stations carrying a grievance. A total of 258 woman police constables have already been selected and trained. "Their main duty is to attend to complainants, especially unlettered and first-time visitors. The duties include welcoming persons and helping them in writing down complaints.
They shall then guide them to the concerned police personnel for appropriate action," said a senior officer. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Chennai-police-stations-to-employ-receptionists/articleshow/10810996.cms accessed on 21 November 2011.)
21. India leads world with 25 lakh TB cases, says WHO: According to the latest World Health Organi-sation (WHO) report, India leads the world with around 25 lakh TB cases, ahead of China, which reports only 9 lakh patients. The report titled ‘Global Tuberculosis Control 2011’ states that WHO registered 8.8 million cases of TB last year of which 2.5 million patients were from India. The five countries with the highest incidence in 2010 were India (2.5 million), China (1.2 million), South Africa (0.59 million), Indo-nesia (0.54 million) and Pakistan (0.48 million). India alone accounted for an estimated 26 per cent of all TB cases worldwide, and China and India combined accounted for 38 per cent. TB remains a major killer in India, killing two persons every three minutes, nearly 1,000 a day. Experts here admit that tuberculosis is no longer a straightforward bacterial infection that can be treated with a reliable antibiotic regime — it has grown to become multi-drug resistant because patients tend to discontinue their medication as soon as their symptoms disappear. In Tamil Nadu alone, the government has identified more than 1,000 patients with drug resistant TB who have to be treated with the DOTS-plus regi-me, costing around Rs 2 lakh per course. TB has also become synonymous with HIV and other co-morbidities. Anybody with a weakened immune system and even those who do not eat wholesome, nutritious food are at risk of contracting TB. Every Indian above the age of 20 is at a 10 per cent risk of developing tuberculosis in his lifetime. Tuberculosis of the lymph nodes and the pleura are becoming increasingly common. With India being the diabetes capital, the threat of a tuberculosis epidemic looms even larger. Occurrence of tuberculosis infection in people with diabetes is 3 to 4 times more than in non-diabetics. Diabetes accounts for 14.8 per cent of pulmonary TB and 20.2 per cent of smear positive TB, which is highly infectious. In 2009, there were an estimated 9.7 million children who were orphans as a result of parental deaths caused by TB. Globally, the absolute number of incident TB cases per year has been falling since 2006 and the incidence rate per 100,000 population has been falling by 1.3 per cent per year since 2002. (N. Arun Kumar and Anisha Francis, http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/south/india-leads-world-25-lakh-tb-cases-says-who-238 accessed on 6 November 2011.)
II Diaspora
1. ‘3 lakh Indian engg professionals likely to return home’: Amid uncertain job market conditions overseas, as many as 3,00,000 Indian engineering professionals are expected to return home during the five-year period from 2011-15, says a survey by Global workforce solutions provider Kelly Services India. For a majority of reverse migrants, job satisfaction levels in India will outshine their previous overseas jobs within the next 2-3 years. The findings are based on a survey of 1,000 respondents from different parts of India as well as foreign countries. “Though 48 per cent of respondents who favoured the job satisfaction overseas indicated that the key reason for them was high remuneration, they also indicated that growth opportunities abroad are rather bleak with only 10 per cent respondents feeling that opportunities abroad are favourable,” the report said. India is estimated to have received USD 55 billion remittances from overseas last year. Going by estimates, the population of international migrants stood at around 214 million in 2010. One of the key reasons for reverse migration during 2008-2011 period were insecure job market overseas. Karnataka is the most preferred Indian state to live for reverse migrants at 88 per cent followed by Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi & Punjab at 72 per cent, 66 per cent, 65 per cent, 58 per cent, 55 per cent and 48 per cent, respectively. (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/3-lakh-indian-engg-professionals-likely-to-return-home/868458/0 accessed on 1 November 2011.)
2. After China, India ranks No. 2 in foreign students in US: China and India occupy the top two spots in contributing foreign students to the United States, with the international education sector bringing in USD 21.3 billion into the domestic economy, a new report released yesterday by the Institute of International Education said. Together, the top three sending countries -- China, India and South Korea -- comprise nearly half (46 per cent) of the total international enrollments in US higher education. Led by a surge of students from China, international student enrollment increased by five per cent in 2010-2011. Chinese student enrollment rose to a total of nearly 158,000 students, or nearly 22 per cent of the total international student population. Students from India, the second largest international cohort in the United States, decreased by one per cent to a total of nearly 104,000. Yet, India, as a destination for US students study abroad, increased 44.4 per cent. South Korea is the third leading place of origin, with more than 73,000 students, increasing by two per cent and making up 10 per cent of the total. Women represent approximately 45 per cent of the total number of international students. International students contribute more than USD 21 billion to the US economy, through their expenditures on tuition and living expenses, according to the US Department of Commerce. (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/after-china-india-ranks-no.-2-in-foreign-students-in-us/876098/0 accessed on 16 November 2011.)Breaking News:
III Global
Poorest poor in US hits new record: 1 in 15 peopleThe ranks of America's poorest poor have climbed to a record high — 1 in 15 people — spread widely across metropolitan areas as the housing bust pushed many inner-city poor into suburbs and other outlying places and shrivelled jobs and income. New census data paint a stark portrait of the nation's haves and have-nots at a time when unemployment remains persistently high. Traditional inner-city black ghettos are thinning out and changing, drawing in impoverished Hispanics who have low-wage jobs or are unemployed. Neighborhoods with poverty rates of at least 40 per cent are stretching over broader areas, increasing in suburbs at twice the rate of cities. Once-booming Sun Belt metro areas are now seeing some of the biggest jumps in concentrated poverty. About 20.5 million Americans, or 6.7 per cent of the U.S. population, make up the poorest poor, defined as those at 50 per cent or less of the official poverty level. Those living in deep poverty represent nearly half of the 46.2 million people scraping by below the poverty line. In 2010, the poorest poor meant an income of $5,570 or less for an individual and $11,157 for a family of four. That 6.7 per cent share is the highest in the 35 years that the Census Bureau has maintained such records, surpassing previous highs in 2009 and 1993 of just over 6 per cent.Broken down by states, 40 states and the District of Columbia had increases in the poorest poor since 2007, and none saw decreases. The District of Columbia ranked highest at 10.7 per cent, followed by Mississippi and New Mexico. Nevada had the biggest jump, rising from 4.6 per cent to 7 per cent. Concentrated poverty also spread wider. After declining during the 1990s economic boom, the proportion of poor people in large metropolitan areas who lived in high-poverty neighbourhoods jumped from 11.2 per cent in 2000 to 15.1 per cent last year, according to a Brookings Institution analysis. Such geographically concentrated poverty in the U.S. is now at the highest since 1990, following a decade of high unemployment and rising energy costs. Extreme poverty today continues to be prevalent in the industrial Midwest, including Detroit, Grand Rapids, Mich., and Akron, Ohio, due to a renewed decline in manufacturing. But the biggest growth in high-poverty areas is occurring in newer Sun Belt metro areas such as Las Vegas, Riverside, Calif., and Cape Coral, Fla., after the plummeting housing market wiped out home values and dried up construction jobs. As a whole, the number of poor in the suburbs who lived in high-poverty neighbourhoods rose by 41 per cent since 2000, more than double the growth of such city neighbourhoods. (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/world/north-america/poorest-poor-us-hits-new-record-1-15-people-695 accessed on 4 November 2011.)
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