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Foreign feathers fill Gujarat coffers

2011-11-06T11:58:00.000+05:30

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Farmers in the north of the state take to rearing Emus, the big Australian birds, banking on a business plan that promises average returns, reports Hitesh Ankleshwaria

Mathurbhai Amathabhai Patel used to grow potatoes at his village of Geritha in Mehsana. Apart from this, the farmer used to grow the odd vegetable or two. But since October, 2008, like some other farmers from his state, Mathurbhai started rearing the Emu, the faunal icon of Australia, in captivity. Till date, Mathurbhai has sold 150 Emu eggs for Rs 1500 each.

Two dedicated workers take care of the birds at this north Gujarat farm. They feed the gaggle, treat the birds in their sickness. When an Emu lays an egg, they enter it in the register before packing it in a box. But what did really prompt Mathurbhai to take to Emu rearing? He says, “In September, 2008, the Indian Emu Life Private Ltd had organised a seminar for farmers at Visnagar and informed them about this lucrative business. At this seminar, I came to know about the Australian bird and the good business potential it held. The company invited us to its head quarter in Nasik and we had an in-depth look into the business. This business promised good profits with less hard work. So I started.”

A lot of farmers like Mathurbhai in Gandhinagar, Mehsana and Banaskantha districts of Gujarat took to Emu rearing in 2008. Today more than 25 farmers are engaged in the business. An Emu help line centre has also started functioning at Visnagar town of Mehsana. The Gokul Kisangram Samiti is pre-booking Emus wanted by farmers. As per its trustee and chairman, Jigar Patel, in the last week, three new farmers have registered their names with the body. The organisation receives enquiries from more than ten farmers everyday. Patel was the first farmer who started this business in north Gujarat. He explains the business module.

“To start Emu rearing, 10 pairs of bird are required. It costs about Rs 1,50,000 and requires just half an acre land of land. Fencing, erecting the shed and arranging for water and buying a grass cutter account for another Rs 90,000. This brings the total project cost to around Rs 2,40,000. As per my estimate, total expenses for the Emus' food, medicine, maintenance, insurance (for the first year) and transportation will bring the net total to Rs 7,95,000 for five years. Income from the farm starts getting generated only after one year. Farmers get a market price of Rs 1500 per egg. An average pair of Emus (of the age of 3 years) lays 30 to 35 eggs every season over their 40-year life span. If one pair of Emus lays 15 eggs per year, the total for 10 pairs comes to 150 eggs which will earn a farmer Rs 2,25,000. If one pair lays 25 eggs in its third year and 35 eggs in the fourth and fifth years, the total income will be Rs 16,50,000 for first five years. Deduct the expenses and a farmer can earn Rs 8,55,000 from Emu farming in five years,” says Patel. Clearly, even at its optimistic best, the business model gives just above Rs.200,000 per year as income, with no guarantee that the eggs will get finally sold or not. That seems to be quite an average return when seen in the perspective of the infrastructure, money, and time investment. And the wonder of it is that it's not even clear what the egg is finally supposed to do, apart from giving birth to another Emu.

Yet, Emu rearers do not need to find a market for their products as a six-year contract exists between the Nasik-based Emu Life Private Limited (ELPL) and the Farmer which includes buying that all the bird's body parts, taking back of a live or dead Emu too. “Emu requires meticulous looking after till it becomes one year old. Thereafter things become relaxed as Emus have a robust immune system. However, ELPL provides us training and their doctors come here every three months for routine check-ups. Emus are voracious creatures. You have to feed them corns and green fodder. Apart from these, it is fond of black soil too. This bird can sustain temperature fluctuations ranging between -10 and 60 degree Celsius. To feed an Emu, it costs you Rs 20 per day which is one-third of what would take to feed a cow or a buffalo. Emus are not aggressive but can defend themselves. If a cat, a dog or a snake enters their territory, Emus gather in groups and chases away the encroaching animal and at times, even kill them,” Mathurbhai lets it all out in one breadth.

Patel sheds light on the future of Emu rearing in Gujarat. He draws the whole circle: “Emu rearing started in Maharashtra and spread to Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Right now, all the eggs produced here are sent to the Nasik-based company which processes these eggs for 50-60 days till they hatch. When the chicks grow up to three or four months, they sell them to the farmers. These farmers have to take care of them for one year and then, the female Emus start laying eggs.”

Apparently, every body part of the Emu has an international market. The oil extracted from a dead Emu fetches Rs 3,000 per litre and generally one adult Emu contains four to five litres of it. Each Emu weighs a minimum of 50 kg. Its skin, feathers and nails also have good markets. Farmers send the Emu's body parts to the committee office. Then the office, with ELPL help, sends them out to the market. Emu’s meat is protein-rich but has low fat. Its meat has a good demand in foreign markets. Patel thinks the future of Emu rearing in north Gujarat is bright. “Right now, farmers of north Gujarat have more than 1,000 pairs of Emus and as per our estimate, it will reach 5,000 pairs in one year,” he says.

Farmers of north Gujarat are dreaming of riding the Emus to make quick bucks. nly time will tell how much of it they actually manage to do. One just hopes this whole grandiose plan is not just a multi-level marketing setup in disguise.

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Since the BJD came to power in Orissa 10 years ago, nearly 2500 farmers have embraced death in the face of rising debt and failing crops.

2011-11-03T11:13:00.000+05:30

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Last December's unseasonal rains have only made matters worse for the state's already badly battered farm sector

The unseasonal rains that lashed Orissa last December swept away not just 52-year-old farmer Ashok Khatua's standing paddy crop but also his will to live. The suicide was yet another 'living' proof of the worsening agricultural crisis in the state. But who would have imagined that Khatua's son, Sujit, a teacher in a nearby private school, would follow suit and hang himself from the very tree from which he brought down his father's body just hours ago?

It was the morning of December 27. Ashok, a resident of Dhirpur village in Bargarh district, had left for his 3.5-acre farm the previous night. When the father of three did not return until 9 AM, his family members, who were preparing for his daughter's impending wedding, and other villagers launched a search. They fanned out in different directions. Sujit found his father hanging from a tree. In a state of shock, the young man killed himself.

The police recovered the two bodies – the father was lying on the ground, the son was hanging from the tree. The family was intimated, autopsies conducted and the bodies were handed over for the last rites. Amid all this, government officials were conspicuous by their absence.

Harvest time was approaching and the paddy crop in Ashok's farm was ripe. The rains came down without warning and the entire crop was damaged, leaving the debt-ridden farmer completely devastated. Says Anil Khatua, brother of the deceased peasant: “He was so depressed that he stopped talking to us. We thought time would heal him. But it didn't.” Talking about his nephew, Anil says: “He was very attached to his father and could not bear the shock. It was awful. Within minutes, the entire family was destroyed.”

Documents revealed that Ashok had taken a loan of Rs 20,000 from the local co-operative society, besides borrowing Rs 50,000 from relatives. Says Kishori, his widow: “I am aware of the loan. Tell me, how can I ever repay the sum. I have a family to run and a marriageable daughter.” She appealed to the government for help.
In a similar incident in Gopeipali village of Bargarh district, a marginal farmer Shiba Bhoi, 42, committed suicide on December 27 by consuming pesticide in his field after the unseasonal rain damaged his crop. He was rushed to Bargarh Hospital but he died the next evening.

Shiba had less than one acre of land and tilled other farms on a rental basis. He left behind two small daughters and a widow who reside in a dilapidated house in the village. The district administration sanctioned Rs 10,000 in both cases but did nothing more than that. “I have full sympathy for the bereaved families. I have asked my officers to find out how we can include their names in various government schemes,” Bhabagrahi Mishra, Bargarh collector, told TSI.

But the cases of Ashok and Shiba are just the tip of the iceberg. Farmer suicides have become alarmingly common in Orissa. Since no government effort is made to create awareness among farmers about the challenges posed by natural calamities, they are often driven to take desperate measures. Farmer leaders have pilloried the government for not taking prompt action to rescue the poor peasants from the situation created by unseasonal rainfall.

Farmers have rejected the relief package offered by the government – Rs 2000 per hectare. Says Ashok Pradhan, convenor, Western Orissa Farmers Coordination Committee: “We want proper compensation. Rs 2000 per hectare means Rs 800 per acre of land. What purpose can a meagre Rs 800 serve?”

Pradhan suggested that the government should provide a compensation of Rs 15,000 per acre to the affected farmers for both irrigated and non-irrigated land. The farmers' association recently organised demonstration and burnt copies of the relief package as a mark of protest.

Meanwhile, the Union government committee that visited the affected districts after the unseasonal rain is convinced that the damage was ‘extensive’. "The crop loss due to unseasonal rain in December is extensive as well as substantial. We will submit our report to the Centre shortly," Pankaj Kumar, joint secretary in the Union agriculture ministry, who is heading the team, told reporters in Bhubaneswar after meeting Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik and other senior state officials.
Experts attribute Orissa's worsening agrarian crisis to the state government's emphasis on rapid industrialisation at the expense of agriculture. The suicide rate among farmers is mounting in the face of increasing cost of cultivation and debt. “Industry and agriculture are equally important for the growth of the state. The government has to change its attitude if it is committed to the welfare of farmers,” says KC Panda, a retired professor.

Orissa agriculture minister Damodar Rout revealed in the state Assembly that 2,575 farmers have committed suicide during 2000-2008 – 345 in 2002, 365 in 2003, and 378 in 2004. The year-wise farmer suicide figures indicated that the number rose from 199 suicidal deaths in 2000 to 378 in 2004. Subsequently, 254 farmers committed suicide in 2005, 283 in 2006 and 235 in 2007. The figure in 2008 was 260. But the number of cases in 2009 and 2010 is higher because of constant crop loss. Though official figures aren't available, the farmers' body claims over 300 have committed suicide in the past two years.

Meanwhile, Opposition leaders allege the state government is deliberately trying to uproot farmers in order to please a few industrialists. “The government wants to divert agriculture land for industrial use. Farmers do not want to remain in agriculture in these circumstances. So we apprehend a drastic fall in farm output in the coming days,” says Gourahari Mishra, Bargarh district president of BJP. Although political arguments can keep continuing, the fact is that the value of a human life has degraded below what can be imagined. Can monetary support save these lives? The answer is unanimous - yes! The pity of it is - nobody's giving.

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Prakash Kaur, 60, began life as a foundling. Today she is mother to 60-odd abandoned girls in a unique shelter in Jalandhar, Punjab

2011-10-31T11:08:00.000+05:30

IIPM Mumbai Campus

The woman behind the home is Prakash Kaur, who was herself left on the streets as a baby 60 years ago. Since 1993, she has dedicated her life to the noble but onerous mission of rescuing unwanted and unclaimed newborn girls and giving them a secure home and future.

Today, Unique Home for Girls has 60-odd residents who call Prakash Kaur mother. “They are my own children,” the lady says. “They are never made to feel like abandoned children.”

As we walk around the home, it is easy to see that her claim is quite well-founded. Even as her ‘family’ expands and her responsibilities grow, Prakash Kaur’s fount of maternal compassion shows no signs of drying up.

She has touched the lives of many who’ve been cruelly shunned by their own. Siya was only a few hours old when she was found in a drain, wrapped in a black polythene bag. Reva was a newborn when her parents decided to dump her near the highway off Kapurthala. Razia and Rabiya were just a few days old when they were discovered in the fields outside Jalandhar.

These girls have all found shelter in Unique Home, where they now enjoy the real family experience that their pitiless parents chose to deprive them of simply because of their gender. The girls who live here range from the age of four days to 19 years.

Unique Home is run by a trust named after Bhai Ghanayya Ji, a disciple of Guru Gobind Singh. The trust aims to raise these children as healthy individuals and arm them with all the social skills and educational qualifications that they need to face life on their own terms. The girls could not have found a better person than Prakash Kaur for the job of providing them with support and succour.

Most of Unique Home’s inmates arrive here as hapless, barely alive foundlings. So they have no recollections of how they are brought here. But those that have grown up in the life-affirming warmth of this home are proud that they belong here.

Under Prakash Kaur’s care and tutelage, these girls are all well adjusted individuals willing and able to take their rightful place in a society that still seems to harbour a strong aversion to children of their gender.

Prakash Kaur is acutely aware of the challenges that lie before her, but she has faith. “Yeh uparwaale ka kaam hai. Jab ussney yeh zimmedaari di hai to himmat bhi wohi dega. Jab aaj tak mujhe koi mushkil nahin aayee to aagey bhi nahin aayegi. Neki key kaam mein kabhi koi rukawat nahin aati,” she says. She is obviously getting on in years but she still retains the strength to make chapatis for all the inmates of the home three times a day and seven days a week.

The first thing that strikes one in Unique Home is a small hatched box near the entrance. It is called the “cradle”. Flip open the hatch and you see a shelf built into the wall. When a rescued child is placed on the shelf, it sets off an alarm that tells the staff that they have a new girl to take care of. When it comes to christening the new arrivals, names are drawn from all the religions of India. So at Unique Home, girls have Hindu, Muslim and Christian and Sikh names and faith has no restrictions.

Although we visited Unique Home without any prior notice, Prakash Kaur ensured that we were made to feel at home. Not surprising at all coming from a lady who has dedicated her life to dispelling a bit of the darkness that engulfs Punjab, indeed all of India. The girls brought to Unique Home grow up with a sense of belonging. This is the only home they know.

For a home that houses 60-odd girls, the place looks a bit too small. The rather cramped space has limited amenities for the girls, including three small rooms that serve as bedroom, dining area and playroom, in addition to a small kitchen and an office for visitors.

The room that is meant for infants has three big cradles. Each has four to five babies sleeping in them. Unique Home has now acquired a new site and expansion plans are in place.

But living space is the least of the home’s problems for the hearts here are big. This is like a huge family where the older girls take care of the younger ones. We are told by the founder that the girls go to good English medium schools like Saint Mary’s in Mussoorie. A few have since been married into suitable homes. But Prakash Kaur’s responsibility does not end there.

She continues to keep a watch over the girls even after they are married. She fights for their rights if the in-laws prove to be difficult. Take the case of former Unique Home inmate Alka. When her husband died prematurely, her in-laws grabbed all her property and threw her out of the house. Prakash Kaur intervened and fought tooth and nail. She eventually managed to secure for Alka her rightful share in the family property.

So far Prakash Kaur has organised the marriages of 17 of the Unique Home inmates. While a few of these girls graduated from college before they got married, the remaining tied the knot after passing out of high school. However, several of the older girls here have decided not to marry and instead dedicate themselves, like Prakash Kaur, to the service of Unique Home.

April 24 is a very special day at Unique Home. It is the day when the children here collectively celebrate their birthday. A huge 100-kg cake is cut and the day is marked by much merriment. That apart, once every year, during the summer holidays, the inmates of Unique Home go on a trip to Darjeeling.

On our visit to the home, we ate lunch with the children. The food was simple but delicious: rice, chapatis and aloo gobhi. Prakash Kaur made fresh chapatis for all the 60 children.

“We don’t want to give our kids up for adoption. People come to us but we refuse,” says Prakash Kaur. Although she did not give us any specific details, she told us that she knows of many cases in which adopted girls have been ill treated.

Prakash Kaur herself has no idea who her parents were. She was found abandoned and grew up in a Nari Niketan. She describes the work she does today as “the lord’s work”.

Asked if she ever faced any mistreatment in the Nari Niketan where she grew up, she smiles and says: “I will never allow my daughters to work as maids anywhere.”

The most essential part of this home is that the children are aware of the fact that their real parents have abandoned them because they are obsessed with boys. But this poisonous truth has only strengthened their resolve to prove themselves. Sheeba, who studies in a convent school in Mussoorie, wants to be a successful neurosurgeon.

“I want my real mother to know that the daughter she threw out of her life is well established. I want to be very famous. I want to prove to her that girls are not a burden,” she says. Sheeba has always stood first in her class with A-plus grades. She is determined to make it to a good medical college.

Lucy is 19 years old. She wants to be a professor of English. “I believe that education is the only way forward in this society which discriminates against girl children,” she says.

Punjab has one of India’s most skewed sex ratios. The percentage of women in the state’s population keeps dipping every year. A growing shortage of marriageable girls has forced men here to find partners in different cultures and states.

“When French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni came to India, they prayed for a boy. I was shocked. I used to think that Westerners treat both genders equally. He could have asked for a girl. It would have sent out a message to the people of India. It’s rather sad,” says Prakash Kaur. The French first couple prayed for a son at the Fatehpur Sikri dargah of Sufi saint Salim Chishti.

Female foeticide is on the rise, especially among the educated class and in higher strata of society. It has assumed alarming proportions. According to NGOs working with issues related to women, every year, 10 lakh cases of female foeticide take place in the country with the help of gender determination tests. The death of young girls in India exceed those of young boys by over 300,000 each year and every 6th infant death is specifically due to gender discrimination.

According to Anjalee Shenoy of Sama Resource Centre for Women and Health, new techniques like PGD (pre-implant genetic diagnosis), a method that involves producing embryos through IVF, cannot just help you decide the gender of the child but the colour of skin and hair. And there is no effective law in place right now to stop this practice. “This falls under the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994, but it is going undetected,” says Shenoy.

But there is hope yet. If only Prakash Kaur’s selfless spirit would rub off on society at large.

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End this culture rightaway

2011-10-28T10:48:00.000+05:30

Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri Dean Business School IIPM

The evil of violence extends beyond determining who gets to enjoy power, it destroys a society

The sporadic but widespread bloodshed in West Bengal today is causing genuine worries among commoners as most of the victims or casualties are youths, bubbling with energy and potential but nipped in the bud by a ruthlessly violent political machine. They are being killed in the villages and towns, on the top of the hills or in the middle of the jungles, inside colleges and immediate neighbourhoods. People play the role of onlookers as if the young people – killed or injured – do not belong to the society.

The malaise is deeper than the episodes where social conscience is in a semi-comatose state. The society is in grave jeopardy. The disease of inequality, corruption and misuse of power is ruling the roost. Both state and non-state actors have used violence like it will bring magic solution to all problems. The somewhat normal life and livelihood of people in the villages, whose lives have been caught up in this conflict, have been shattered.

The loss to the society has two dimensions that interpenetrate each other in terms of tragedy. Certainly, those who were killed for no fault of themselves cause a loss to the micro-society they lived in. But the damage is more penetrating for the youths that were not killed but related to the dead souls. The differential social impact on the extinguished and the combusting ones makes its unstable presence felt here. One pathos pierce another, along with avoidable escalation of mutual hatred that hampers the social texture of normal times. It’s not that just the academic milieu gets vitiated; the we-feeling among the youths is seriously fractured.

These acts of bloodsheds, in the guise of intra-party and inter-party rivalry or by any other name, are not natural as such violent episodes are aberrations in normal societal life. Lost are social assets in most of these deaths. Political parties are trying to cash in on these killings. The more the number of deaths, the more buoyant get their political and material benefits, albeit in the short term.

When those youths were alive, political leaders and the parties never knew them. After their deaths, political parties politicise the funerals of the victims, organise processions with dead bodies and make them martyrs in their political interests. Even if they do not openly preach and teach violence, they are not shy of reaping the profits of violence. In fact, all political parties have ‘blood on their hands’ today. They not only reap the harvest of deaths but instigate and pitch in their part. It is the political leaders who create malice among members of Gen-Next and make them kill one another.

They are engrossed in shameless ‘parliamentary cretinism’, seldom caring for the society of electorates or the well-being of the youths in general. These people did not matter so much when they were living than what their blood-stained bodies are worth. The society is at dangerous crossroads though the political class has already crossed it. The wounds are inflicted on the whole society and the entire society bleeds. And for that, we the elders, the parents, the common people – who are sometimes afraid to raise their voices in fear of state reprisal – want this to be stopped. We demand that all the political parties give patient hearings to what we have to say.

Use of violence as a means of grabbing power is not just true for West Bengal. It’s a global phenomenon. Violence is made into a culture. Now a large part of the world is looking back at the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, who never compromised with violence even at the cost of the country’s freedom. He once said, “I cannot teach you violence as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one, even at the cost of your life.”

Political consciousness today is a vague and misleading concept as the democratic polity is injured and social commitment is tragically scarce. Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the conscientious ex-Governor of West Bengal, stated very aptly: “Violence is crime’s signature. And that signature, in its many twists and loops, grows. And it often becomes oblique.” Violence is a hindrance to democratic life and normal social growth. It is time to disapprove of violence in every form. Violence is introduced by the state, we have learnt that from history and are witnessing the same in our daily lives. Anything that throttles the freedom of life – not just freedom of expression, association or the Press – is to be opposed. But that protest should have no room for violence but should be conducted in a benign and communicative way.

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Male over female

2011-10-25T10:33:00.000+05:30

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Tamil Nadu female foeticide: Many districts in Tamil Nadu show a skewed sex ratio

Secondary sex ratio (also called sex ratio at birth) in Tamil Nadu is declining at an alarming pace, reveals recent data. While the standard sex ratio at birth should be 952 females per 1000 males, it is 939:1000 in some rural parts of Tamil Nadu.

While various socio-economic factors can be attributed to this decline in the secondary sex ratio, activists point out that advancement in technology has facilitated this decline. It is very easy now to determine the sex of the foetus through ultrasonography. The mushrooming scan centres in the state bear testimony to the fact that the business is flourishing. Jeeva, a member of the core committee of the Campaign Against Sex Selective Abortion (CASSA) points out while talking to TSI that there are 3560 pre-natal scan centres in Tamil Nadu, and though they all claim that they do not reveal the sex of the foetus to anybody, the declining sex ratio at birth tells another story.

“There are 1530 primary health centres (PHC) in Tamil Nadu run by the government. According to the data available in 2008, at 689 PHCs the sex ratio is below normal,” adds Jeeva. Besides, as many as 434 primary health centres recorded a shocking sex ratio at birth below 900 female children per 1000 males.

“Earlier it was female infanticide. The districts of Madurai, Theni, Salem and Dharmapuri were particularly notorious for this. But now with the advent of scan centres it has transformed into female foeticide. This practice is prevalent in other districts also. This inhuman trend is being noted in about a dozen districts in Tamil Nadu,” says Balasundari, state convenor, CASSA.

The preference for male children over female has resulted in skewed sex ratio. Although determination of sex before birth through pre-natal diagnostic techniques is illegal, not many diagnostic centres abide by the rules it seems. Nevertheless, there are monitoring authorities at various levels.

“I feel the government should be more assertive and strict when monitoring the scan centres,” says Kavitha Ganesh, editor of the magazine Penne nee, adding, “The menace of dowry in society is still haunting the female child. It affects her even when she is in the womb of her mother. On the other hand I see that more girl students are being sent to schools and colleges, which is a positive trend. More awareness should be created in the society about the opportunities created for girls.”

S.P. Sarguna Pandian, chairperson of the state women commission, stresses the need of the society to be aware of the value of a female child. “When we kill a female child, whether in the womb or outside, we kill a mother who can give birth to many boys. Those who run scan centres should take a pledge that they would never disclose the sex of the child,” she says while talking to TSI.

She also highlights the steps the state government is taking to discourage people from killing girls in the womb. “Now Tamil Nadu government gives more economic help to girls from their education to marriage. Besides, it has brought law to make female children to be the legal heir of the family,” informs Pandian.

The statistics show a healthy sex ratio among the educated sections. So probably the answer to the problem lies in education and awareness.

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Former Andhra CM suddenly talks of farmer welfare

2011-10-22T11:27:00.000+05:30

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Andhra pradesh politics: Naidu's changed tone

When Nara Chandrababu Naidu sat on an indefinite fast for the sake of forlorn farmers of the calamity-hit coastal Andhra, taking the public amnesia for granted, the farmers were happy to see a changed Naidu. The former CM's eight-day hunger strike is nonetheless a medical miracle as he is a severe diabetic.

“How could anyone believe that Naidu’s indefinite fast was meant for welfare of farmers,” housing minister Kanna Laxminarayana wondered while talking to The Sunday Indian, taking a dig on Naidu's allegedly anti-farmer policies. “Naidu’s much hyped Vision 2020 programme did not have any significant provision to rehabilitate the farmers,” says PCC Kisan cell chairman, Kodanda Reddy.

Naidu received flak from all quarters for neglecting farmers and labourers during his tenure. Farmers were asked not to produce more rice as the state had no place to stock it. They were encouraged to shift to commercial crops such as tobacco, cotton, chillies and castor seed. This forced shift led to more suicides as the ill-equipped small farmers were no match for the big players ruling the market. The commercial crops required huge investments which the small farmers could not make.

Naidu became more unpopular among the farmers and labourers when his government refused to sanction ex-gratia to the bereaved families arguing that it would induce farmers into a suicide spree. Owing to his lopsided views on agriculture, he paid heavy price during the 2004 general elections.

Now, Naidu, who paid little attention to agriculture and irrigation facilities and turned a deaf ear to the plight of farmers when they were struck by, is ironically projecting himself as a messiah of farmers. “I feel the criticism on our leader’s views about agriculture is biased and unilateral. Even if that criticism on his past actions was valid, will it take away his right to voice for the welfare of farmers now? Don’t you allow any revision and re-examining of thoughts and views?” Nannapaneni Raja Kumari, a Telugu Desam MLC told TSI when contacted.

According to the senior political analyst, B.C. Sekhar, Naidu is not a changed soul. “His consistent objective is to promote the commercial interests of the agribusiness companies, foreign financial institutes, international bankers and the IT hardware units. When there has been a drastic change in the world scenario and when agriculture has again come into the centre stage, Naidu has tuned himself accordingly,” says Sekhar. According to him, Naidu developed sudden affection for agriculture when World Development Report 2008 called for greater investment in agriculture in developing countries. Thus, Naidu consistently dances to obvious tunes, this time around it's in the name of farmers!

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Manipur cops rub scribes the wrong way

2011-10-20T15:11:00.002+05:30

The arrest of a respected editor on an allegedly trumped up charge sees journalists cease work

No newspaper was published in Manipur for six consecutive days as scribes protested against the arrest of A. Mobi, editor of Sanaleibak. Mobi, who is also the vice-president cum spokesperson of the All Manipur Working Journalists' Union (AMWJU), was arrested on the charge of being an activist of the proscribed Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), Tabungba Group.

Mobi, who is 55 years old, was picked up at around 9.30 am on December 29 by police commandos in civil dresses who came on a pedal rickshaw. The police claimed to have recovered “extorted” money amounting to Rs 50,000, two mobile handsets, a LML NV scooter bearing no registration number from Mobi's possession. Section 17 and 20 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act were slapped on him and the police filed a case under FIR No 575 (12) 10 IPS. He was remanded to police custody till January 5 and was produced in the court of the chief judicial magistrate, Imphal.

As news of the arrest spread, scribes gathered at Manipur Press Club and discussed the charges levelled against him. Standing firmly behind the editor, AMWJU labelled it as a frame-up. Setting the record straight, AMWJU said that Mobi was in his office room when police commandos arrived in a rickshaw under the guise of KCP members and arrested him.

Apart from being the vice-president of AMWJU, Mobi shouldered the additional responsibility of being its spokesperson to mitigate the various threats that the media in the state is routinely subjected to. With the state police unable to instil a sense of security amongst the media professionals and instances such as sending bombs to media offices, threats issued by armed groups or physical attacks on the offices of the newspaper on the rise, AMWJU turned to Mobi. As Mobi was the contact man of AMWJU, the banned KCP had contacted him some time back for a meeting between them and the Manipuri media outside the state. Since the matter was sensitive, it was kept a secret and not spelt out to all AMWJU members.

However, as AMWJU had no provision to bear the expenditure involved in the travel of journalists to meet the underground cadres, KCP agreed to foot the Rs 50,000 bill. They said the amount would be delivered to Mobi’s office at 9:30 am on December 29. Accordingly, Mobi waited for them at his office.

Mobi received a call in the morning that the sum of Rs 50, 000 meant for the travel expenditure of the media persons has been dispatched and that he may collect the same from two people in a pedal rickshaw parked outside his office.

However, when Mobi went out of his office to collect the money, the two people outside pulled out guns. He tried to fight them, he thought they were underground cadres. But the two identified themselves as police commandos. At that very moment, Mobi received a call from a KCP pointsman who called to enquire whether he had received the money. The police team forced him to say yes. When AMWJU representatives met him in police custody in the evening, Mobi told them that he had not even seen the amount which the police claimed to have seized from his possession. At the time of his arrest, he only had Rs 2000 in his pocket. That amount was seized along with two mobile phones and the keys of his scooter. AMWJU has refuted all charges levelled against Mobi as nothing but a blatant frame-up. The Rs 50,000 which the police claimed was seized from Mobi, was actually brought by the police commandos, AMWJU says.

To settle the matter, AMWJU representatives wanted to meet chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh in the evening of December 29. They were denied permission but nonetheless submitted a memorandum to the chief minister. It highlighted the fabricated charges levelled against Mobi and demanded his unconditional release. The same copy was also submitted to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, seeking his intervention in the matter. A memorandum went out to the Governor of Manipur Gurbachan Jagat too. A 10-member AMWJU team met with the chief minister on December 30. The CM said that the police had a different take on the matter and assured the delegation of needful action after consultation with the DGP and other top ranking police officers.

However, the words of assurance did not translate into real action. The journalists decided to strike to mark their protest. Rallies and sit-in demonstrations were part of the agitation that continued till January 4. No newspaper was published in the state of Manipur from December 31 to January 5. On January 5, Mobi was freed on bail at around 3.30 pm. Scribes resumed work from that very day.

Even though scribes resumed their duties, they decided on a media boycott of ministers and MLAs of Congress and CPI, partners in the SPF government, and all functions and events they were taking part in. Journalists also would not entertain press releases and statements of these two parties. Additionally, newspapers would not publish police statements including those highlighting their achievements till the demands of AMWJU was met by the government, said AMWJU president Khogendro Khomdram.

Mobi was granted bail in consideration of the fact that Sanaleibak daily might remain out of print if its editor continued to remain under police custody. It would amount to denial of information to the people. The health condition of Mobi was taken into account as well. Mobi was released with a surety bond of Rs 50,000 along with a directive that he should report to the investigative officer every Sunday.

After he was released, Mobi called his arrest a sign of danger for media persons. He said, while in police custody, he was forced to sign papers admitting to the charges levelled against him. Apart from this, he was subjected to harassment. No food was provided to him on his release day. He further added that scribes in the state were working under pressure from both the state government and the underground groups and that the police was doing nothing to protect the journalists. He also said that he would give up journalism if the charges were found to be true.

The Ethno Heritage Council (HERICOUN), the All Communities United Front, Manipur (ACUF), National Federation of Newspaper Employees and other civil society bodies strongly condemned the editor's arrest.

One of the oldest regional political parties, the Manipur People's Party (MPP), has also stood by the editor. Party chief Y.Mangi told TSI that the arrest was an attempt to blot the image of journalists working in the state. “Such conduct of the police has raised suspicion as to whether the state government is trying to gag the media,” he said.

Recalling the instances of underground elements being arrested along with arms from the quarters of ministers and MLAs some years back and the killing of SDO Dr Thingnam Kishan and Imphal Free Press' Rishikanta, Mangi demanded to know what steps the government has taken in these cases.

In the memorandum submitted to the Manipur Governor, AMWJU stated that the media was being targeted by the state police for its role in exposing the alleged fake encounter at BT Road on July 23, 2009, which is under CBI investigation. Several police officers were allegedly involved in the incident. So far four scribes have been gunned down by police and underground groups. There have been countless attempts on their lives, numerous arrests, many instances of harassment. Some journalists survive with bullet holes.

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MLAs' demand for pay and perks hike faces legal hurdles

2011-10-19T16:42:00.002+05:30

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Orissa legislators' salary: Time for a hike?

“Our salary is less than that of a class-IV employee of the state government,” said Pratap Sarangi, an independent member of Orissa Legislative Assembly, during a discussion on the hike of salary and allowances of the lawmakers. Sarangi was not a lone voice. Ruling Biju Janata Dal's Pradip Maharathy and Congress’s Santosh Singh Saluja also expressed similar views on the floor of the house. Cutting across the party lines, a majority of the legislators demanded a pay hike for themselves. An Orissa MLA at present takes home Rs 21,725 per month with the salary band at Rs 5,000.

Leader of BJP legislative party K.B. Singhdeo says, “Our counterparts in other states are getting much more than what we get. The amount given as constituency allowance, too, is very nominal. How could an MLA manage his public life with such a meagre amount?”

Subrat Tarai, a BJD MLA, expresses similar views. “Apart from their personal needs, a public representative has to meet public expectations too in day to day life. Poor people from our constituency frequently visit us for financial help for school admission fees of their children or treatment of any person or donations for social and religious functions. It is difficult for us to meet those demands with this pay,” he says.

A cabinet committee comprising of ministers for finance, law and parliamentary affairs was formed to look into the issue which has recommended to hike MLAs salary to Rs 90,000 per month. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had also given his nod to the recommendation, and had instructed the finance department to give final shape to the proposal, but a legal hurdle has come in its way. A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed by lawyer activist Nishikant Mishra in the Orissa High Court against the proposed salary hike. Making all the major parties a respondent, the petitioner has pleaded that the proposed hike is against public interest and will have cascading effects on the state's fragile economy.

Prasad Harichandan, chief whip of Congress legislative party, holds a different view. “Since the MLAs are lawmakers, they should not be given a free hand to increase their salary by passing a bill themselves. An independent commission consisting of non-political persons and intellectuals should be formed to review our demand. This, I think, will be a transparent process,” he suggests.

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Maintenance of updated data is not a national priority yet

2011-09-03T11:37:00.000+05:30

IIPM Mumbai Campus

India : Data Maintenance
Sorry Dr. Rangarajan...

The latest data that the Indian Ministry of Science and Technology can provide of investment on R&D is of 2002-03. Investment in R&D is one of the most imperative areas for policymakers. Imagine the ministry forming policies based on the 2002-03 data that is undoubtedly outdated; and a lot has changed since then on the investment front. A big challenge before policymakers today is availability of timely and reliable data. But unfortunately, gathering and maintenance of relevant statistics has not become a national priority yet.

India has many agencies including CSO, NSSO, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation for collecting and presenting data. There is extensive incongruity in statistics provided by them. One example relates to the poverty level calculation measures used in India by different agencies. As per the Arjun Sengupta Committee report submitted in 2007, 77 per cent Indians were living in poverty. In contrast, a Planning Commission report said that around 27.5 per cent people live below the poverty line. Another report by an expert group led by Dr.Suresh Tendulkar said the poverty rate in India was 37.2 per cent during the same period. Three different agencies and three different contrasting figures!

Another example is the population census. Ministries use the 2001 census for policy making. With 1.38 per cent population growth rate, the 2001 figure is surely not the one policymakers should be using to create policies. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is another example. WPI continue to consider certain factors which are no more in people’s regular consumption baskets while it continues to ignore certain new consumption factors like transportation, electricity, rent, medical expenses etc. that have become common today. That is why, while the official rate of general inflation was going down during the last few months; with roaring price of sugar, pulses, vegetables and fruits, food inflation was going sky high. The case is similar in IIP or GDP; it often gives misleading statistics.

Moreover, there is a huge time lag between collection of data and their propagation (which is a minimum of two years). There is also very little harmony between state and central agencies in gathering and disseminating data. The country has also not been successful in implementing the basic recommendations by the National Statistical Commission headed by of Dr. C. Rangarajan. Lessons can be learnt from US and China. Different departments in the US give special importance to data gathering and compilation for sensible conclusions. China is doing a record breaking comprehensive census covering 90 per cent of the population and 18 different areas including age, sex, education, employment etc. On a positive note, the World Bank has approved the financing of 80 per cent of the Rs.650.43 crore Statistical Strengthening Project and the ongoing Census 2011; UID system can be very effective too. Hope lives...

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The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

2011-08-31T10:31:00.000+05:30

IIPM Mumbai Campus

A fun adventure crafted from the body of a fine tale

Anyone with a bit of an imagination would be immediately drawn into CS Lewis’s “Chronicles of Narnia” series of books where Lewis creates the fantasy world of Narnia, that via their wardrobe the Pevensie family children land up in. The third movie in the popular franchise does decent justice to visually build an exciting canvas on which the adventures are showcased and also does a fair job of weaving the story well enough for both new and old fans. The Pevensie children – Lucy and Edmund and their cousin Eustace land up on the ‘Dawn Treader’, the ship being captained by Prince Caspian (technically King Caspian, since the Prince they met in the last installment of the story had overthrown the evil King Miraz who was ruling Narnia). Caspian embarks on a voyage across the sea to the edge of the world, one that brings in the usual elements of adventure as the crew meets dragons, warriors and other oddities along the way.The action is nicely done, peppered with good natured humour which makes the film a pleasant watch. The depth of the messages, which ostensibly are embedded in Lewis’ books, do not have much role here in what is brazenly executed as a family entertainer. But that doesn’t demean the source material and the actors – Georgie Henley (Lucy), Skandar Keynes (Edmund) and Ben Barnes (Caspian) seem to be enjoying the outing. Simon Pegg as the voice of the little mouse Reepicheep is a hoot as usual and injects an extra dash of energy. “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is a nice trip made worthwhile by the good CGI background work in creating the wondrous world of Lewis’ fabulous imagination.

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Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey: A historic waste of effort

2011-08-28T11:28:00.000+05:30

Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri Dean Business School IIPM

There is a scene in the movie “Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey” (KHJJS) where the teenage kids try to load bullets into their rifles and they do that painstakingly one bullet at a time. Those were the 1930s, before the era of automatic weapons. True to the spirit of the times, Ashutosh Gowarikar creates a world that transports us to a bygone era in an attempt to tell us a long forgotten story. Unfortunately, his assumption that not just the content but the speed and format of storytelling from the 1930s would work for the current generation with an attention span shorter than the speed of a machine gun totally misfires.

KHJJS tells the story of the revolutionary leader Surjya Sen (Abhishek Bachchan), who along with his comrades inspires a bunch of teenage kids to take up arms against the British in the Chittagong region. Sadly, the mission doesn’t succeed as planned and the gang is forced to beat a hasty retreat into the jungles only to be chased by an unrelenting British army. The way the story pans out, the revolutionaries seem to have achieved very little at the end and the same holds true for the people who made this film too.

KHJJS ends up looking more like a documentary rather than a piece of cinema, the main culprits being the linear characterisation which leaves no scope for any conflict or drama within the characters and the second is the unimaginative use of camera and background music. Barring the Vande Mataram track that plays at the end of the film, no other scene leaves an impact. One can only feel sad for the massive effort the team has put in because the same film in the hands of a more stingy editor and imaginative dialogue writer could have become an instant masterpiece.

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I would love to remake Amar Akbar Anthony

2011-08-25T16:50:00.006+05:30

IIPM Mumbai Campus

The maker of "Lagaan", "Jodhaa Akbar", and now "khelein hum jee jaan sey", Ashutosh Gowariker has his eyes trained on history. in an interview with Neha Sarin, Ashutosh comes clean on his penchant for patriotic themes, and his sensitivity to criticism.

How did you as an actor decide to become a director? Did you always want to become one?

No. First of all, I never thought I would be an actor. I became an actor by accident. In college, I was a part of plays and I got picked up for one of those parts in Ketan Mehta's "Holi". That’s how I became an actor. I have not trained as an actor or director. My only thing was intention. I realised, even as an actor, when I was on sets, I would keenly observe everything going around even if I was not in the shot. I would observe the director. I was like Eklavya, where I was watching and learning by proxy. Luck favoured me when I got my first opportunity in the form of "Pehla Nasha"; it was by Deepak Tijori. Aamir and Shah Rukh knew that I had an inclination and they also felt very strongly that I (Ashutosh Gowariker) should become a director.

How did you stumble upon the story of "Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey"?

I stumbled upon the book “Do and Die” by Manini Chatterjee about the uprising of the 1930s. I initially thought the book was called “Do or Die” but it was actually called “Do and Die,” meaning there was no option; I found that intriguing. It was about a massive uprising which consisted of 64 people attacking five different sects of the British power one night. It was led by Surjya Sen who was a school teacher and 55 of the 64 people were teenagers. I was absolutely embarrassed that I did not know anything about it except the little in the school books. After I read the account, I was fascinated with the book. You have so many attempts at achieving freedom and revolutions – some of which have been violent, some non-violent, some known and some unknown. I think this was one of those on the path of violence but in a manner that the mercenaries felt strongly in their hearts. The emotion I felt while reading it, I want the nation to discover the same thing. The teenagers’ involvement had a sense of daring because in a way, they are playing with their lives. And to reflect that aspect, I chose the title “Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey”.

You have worked with some of the finest actors in the industry including Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan. How was it working with Abhishek Bachchan?

I've been waiting to work with Abhishek for quite some time but never found the right script. The first impression I got of Surjya Sen, Abhishek's face came to my mind right away and I thought here is an opportunity to work with him and have him play this particular part. What attracted me the most was that he was a school teacher who planned the entire revolution. On one hand is this act of rebellion, but along with that is this purity and innocence. He is a man with a dream in his eyes. I felt Abhishek has these qualities. In his persona there is strength and rebelliousness but at the same time there is a certain degree of purity. It has been tremendous working with Abhishek in this film.

Deepika is such a generation Y girl. What made you select her for the role of Kalpana Dutta in KHJJS?

Kalpana was part of the Congress, but around those times, women couldn’t get into the revolution in a big way. She was someone who had a very rich background; she was a land owner's daughter. Still she wanted to give it away and participate in the revolution. I found an uncanny resemblance between Deepika and the original Kalpana Dutta.
How did you get around to casting Shah Rukh Khan in "Swades", a movie that did touch many a heart, but somehow didn’t set the Bollywood cash registers ringing?
There has been a lot of exchange of ideas and likes and dislikes with Shah Rukh through the acting years, and then during "Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa" and "Chamatkar". When I discussed the idea of "Swades" with him, his immediate reaction was, “I want to be Mohan Bhargav”. For me Mohan Bhargav had to be someone who did not belong. You don't often see Shah Rukh sitting with a book or in a train. I felt the contrast between someone qualified and someone re-entering the world at the grassroots to rediscover. I thought those two opposites helped make Shah Rukh Khan as Mohan Bhargav convincing.

Out of all the films ever made, if you had to remake one film, which one would it be?
I would love to remake “Amar Akbar Anthony” because it’s absolutely escapist entertainment. It’s something that I have never done. I have done more of realistic cinema. What inspires me is the (concept of) three religions. It’s about tolerance and coming together and living in harmony. I like the theme of the film.

Does it bother you when you get negative feedback or comments on your films?

It saddens me but it does not bother me, if you know what I mean. I like constructive criticism; I definitely like to know why it wasn't liked so that I can understand that and see whether I agree or disagree with it. It helps me in taking a step ahead. Opinions and criticisms do matter to me and I try to turn it into something positive.

From where do you draw inspiration for films like "Lagaan" and "Swades"?

One of the things that attract me is that there are people who can come together and make something happen if they want it. We can have different backgrounds and we might have divergent opinions like in the case of “Lagaan” but they decide to come together to fight a common enemy. Even in the case of “Swades”, the way the villagers come together and put their mind to it to improve their way of life. KHJJS too reflects that because there is a revolution led by Surjya Sen with 64 key members; all of them came together for the freedom of the country. If we can come together, we can do it. That is a theme that has an element of patriotism and that subconsciously interests me.

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The mushrooming of unapproved private schools in Tamil Nadu is a symptom of a larger rot in the education system

2011-08-22T09:56:00.000+05:30

IIPM Mumbai Campus

Anybody's playground

It was perhaps a slip of the tongue. K. Devarajan, director of matriculation schools in Tamil Nadu, may not have expected newspapers to pick up the verbal gaffe. He was reported as saying that anybody can open a school in Tamil Nadu. Even a carpenter can start a school without an official licence. He was probably right.

This statement was made in the course of a public hearing held by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in Chennai recently. The event was attended by parents, educationists, students, activists and officials from the education department.

''As far as school education is concerned, what Mr Devarajan said is true in TN,” says Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary, State Platform for a Common School System. “If you have some land, some chairs and some investment, anybody can start a matriculation school in TN. Getting official approval is only a formality and a matter of time. There is a huge demand for elementary schools here. More than 4000 matriculation schools are currently functioning in the state. Around 1,000 of them are awaiting approval for many years but are operational nonetheless,” he says. As there is no monitoring of these schools, their standards are abysmal, he points out.
The fire accident a few years ago at a primary school at Kumbakonam in which 96 children died stands out as a telling example of the conditions that prevail in private educational institutions in TN. After the mishap the state seemed to take action to stem the mushrooming of private schools with inadequate infrastructural facilities.

Senior educationist and former vice-chancellor of MS University Dr Vasanthi Devi points out that 75 per cent of private schools in TN are unfit for continuation. ''As per the guidelines laid down in the Right to Education Act, if we rightly examine the educational standards of the teaching staff, infrastructure of the schools, 75 per cent of schools here are fit to be closed. This is the reality. Many of the private schools here are like petty shops. They don’t even have playgrounds. In every village, private schools have been started indiscriminately. Only when they ask for approval does the government give them approval. Otherwise they can continue as long as they wish without approval. As these schools have very poor infrastructure, it is doubtful whether we can avoid a disaster like Kumbakonam in the future,” she laments.

Her concerns can be understood in the context of a simple case that was discussed at the public hearing. There was a private school in which nine students died when the school van fell into a pond. The school still functions with a changed name. Needless to say, it does so without government approval.

When TSI met Devarajan and requested him to explain his reported statement, he said he was misunderstood by the media. “According to the prevailing law, one can start a school only after showing the necessary land, infrastructure and approval from the school education department. There is an exception only for minority institutions. But in fast developing states like TN, there is huge demand for school education. When a private institution imparts quality education, more students go and join it. When somebody approaches us after starting a school, we grant them recognition only after a thorough direct inspection,” he said.

The lack of infrastructure in TN schools came in for severe criticism at the NCPCR hearing. Statistics revealed that many schools are run from rented buildings. Many were reported for not having toilets and playgrounds. Members of NCPCR expressed their displeasure about the tardy implementation of the Right to Education Act in the state.
Dr Shantha Sinha said the state was yet to frame guidelines for the functioning of the school management committee. The fact that the mandatory state commission for students’ rights was yet to be formed in the state was also pointed out during the hearing.

Incidents of abuse of students in schools and hostels by the authorities, well documented already in news reports, were reiterated during the hearing. Many victims turned up to share their woes. When explanations were sought regarding these complaints, the district education officers failed to provide proper status reports. Some claimed that the areas in question were not under their purview.
In TN, education has been a controversial subject for several years. The Equitable Education Act and regulation of the fee structure for private schools are two key issues. Under the Equitable Education Act the state government formulated uniform syllabi for all schools across various streams of education. The move was challenged in the court of law. After a prolonged struggle the issue is now settled.

But the regulation of fees for private schools has run into rough weather. A commission headed by retired judge Govindarajan first determined a fee for matriculation schools. While the Matriculation School Association has gone to court, the judge has resigned citing poor health. Now another retired judge, Raviraja Pandian, has assumed charge.

The TN school education department has won laurels for its implementation of activity-based learning in government schools. But there are areas in which they still have miles to go. Perhaps it needs many more public hearings to debate the anomalies that have crept into the school education system here.

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Insiders say the congress faces rebellions and defections because of the lack of communication between the high command and the party leaders

2011-08-19T15:53:00.000+05:30

IIPM Mumbai Campus

Rebels with a pause

In political circles, the Congress party is often referred to as “the big house”. This is because politicians and workers who leave tend to return to its fold in due course after testing the waters outside. It is not that other parties don't have such examples. They do. But they are few and far between. People like Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharti, Madan Lal Khurana and Amar Singh have learned at their own expense that individuals are never bigger than an organisation. But as far as exceptions are concerned, there are a few in the Congress too. People like Chandrashekhar, Morarji Desai and Charan Singh in the past and Maninderjeet Singh Bitta in more recent times never returned to the party after deserting it.

There are some interesting names on this list. Ajit Jogi and K Karunakaran were expelled from the party, but were taken back to the fold. People like S Bangarappa has been in and out of the party so many times that he himself might have lost count.
So what is the reason behind this phenomenon? To start with, it appears that people lose their political standing when the defect from a big party. Congress, technically, means congregation of people, and that is what it has always proved to be. Now not everybody is like Sharad Pawar and Mamata Banerjee, who have the money power and the political base respectively to launch and sustain an independent party. In fact, without these two factors, it is impossible to run a regional outfit. To put it in perspective, in 2007 alone, as many as six such regional outfits merged with the Congress because of “lack of funds”. Being foregone conclusions, these mergers did not make news.

The Congress budget runs into crores of rupees. At election time individual candidates are allocated huge sums. Election Commission guidelines are often flouted in ingenious ways. In fact, many candidates save money from this poll fund for completely private use. But look at the condition of regional parties. Their musclemen and local middlemen ask for exorbitant sums to manage votes. Failing to secure what they want, they threaten to transfer the votes to the official Congress candidate in lieu of money. The exasperated rebel candidate realises that life is easier under the umbrella of a big party.

Talk to any politician about this and they will pour their hearts out. Subramaniam Swamy still holds the post of the president of the Janata Party, but the party itself is now in a mummified state. Swamy has lost his status as a political leader of import; he is at best an “anarchist” with some nuisance value. People like P Chidambaram and K Karunakaran were smart enough to return to the party fold before things got out of hand.

Another question that intrigues all is, why does the Congress face so many rebellions and defections? Insiders say the primary reason is the lack of communication between the high command and the leaders. People like Natwar Singh, Arjun Singh, Sheila Dikshit and Kedar Nath Singh had differences over the election of PV Narasimha Rao as party president. They supported the one-man one-post norm, which didn't go down well with the then PM. The Gandhi family was out of politics at that juncture and Rao was at the helm of affairs. Well-wishers wanted Sonia Gandhi to come into active politics and thus raised the one-man one-post issue. They wanted Sonia to be president of the party if Rao was to keep the post of the Prime Minister. The above-mentioned quartet rebelled during the Surajkund general meeting and just after that the 'Tiwari Congress' came into being.

Tiwari Congress was an interesting case. Sonia had started giving signals that she might join active politics after all. At the Tiwari Congress's office adjoining New Delhi's Le Meridien Hotel, Narain Dutt Tiwari used to discreetly keep tabs on Sonia's plans. Even veteran journalists covering the Congress were unaware of the real reason behind this outfit. They only got wind of it when they saw Janardhan Dwivedi, considered close to Sonia, coming out of Arjun Singh's house though the latter had left the party. This rebellion was clearly not against the Gandhi-Nehru family. Not surprisingly, this outfit merged with the mother party following Sonia's entry into active politics.

It was much later that Arjun Singh and Natwar Singh fell out with the party high command. Arjun Singh is an outspoken man. Insiders say he was too forthright a leader to remain subdued for too long. Natwar Singh, on the other hand, was let down by his son's involvement in the Volcker oil-for-food scandal.

Old timers will tell you that as far as rebellions in the Congress are concerned, it was never against the high command. Talking to TSI, Bhishm Narain Singh says, “From Debkanta Barooah to Siddhartha Shankar Ray, each one of them advised Indiraji to proclaim Emergency. Because of this wrong advice, a lot of people left the Congress. This weakened the party. Our biggest enemy is in-fighting and back-stabbing.”
Had conflict with the high command been the reason for desertion, many of the rebels would not have returned to the Congress. People like Ambika Soni, Pranab Mukherjee, AK Antony and Chidambaram would have severed all links with the party once they had turned their backs on it. The fact that Agatha Sangma is a junior minister in the Cabinet also confirms that the high command doesn't keep grudges. The party's problem is that the "coterie" gives dubious advice to the high command. For example, Natwar Singh was done in by Sonia's political adviser Ahmad Patel. The latter was reportedly unhappy with Natwar's direct access to Sonia.

Take the case of Jagan. A party bigwig from Andhra Pradesh who was promoting his aides convinced the party that Jagan's defection would not harm the party's prospects. Rahul Gandhi was not sure. So he sent a young general secretary to analyse the situation. That office-bearer was coerced by the big gun to give the same input. However, he gave the actual report saying that Jagan's departure would hurt the party in the next polls and that Jagan is of the same temperament as his father.
The list of people who left the Congress because of “neglect”, “insult”, “ego clashes” and otherwise is long. The first big name is that of K Kamraj, who was the original kingmaker. Kamraj was instrumental in getting Lal Bahadur Shastri the post of PM. It was only after his death that Indira Gandhi overcame the so-called Syndicate to become PM. Around the same time and after, Chandrashekhar, Morarji Desai and Charan Singh left the party never to return. They formed their own outfits and became political heavyweights in their own right.

Analysts might add here that since the aforementioned did not strictly adhere to the “Congress ideology”, they left the party. Similarly in February 1977, Babu Jagjivan Ram left the Congress and formed Congress for Democracy. Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna and erstwhile Orissa CM Nandani Satpathy joined his ranks. The same year, Karnataka's Devraj Urs tried to split the Congress. He was initially backed by AK Antony, Sharad Pawar, Ambika Soni, Priyaranjan Dasmunshi, Oomen Chandi and PC Chako, but all of them returned to the Congress soon enough.
Antony, meanwhile, formed the Regional Congress (A), which was rechristened Indian Congress (S) with the inclusion of Sharad Pawar. However, the party merged with the Congress in 1981. In 1994, Tiwari Congress and Bangarappa's Karnataka Congress merged with the Congress. Bangarappa, to give him his due, revolted again and formed Karnataka Vikas Party but rejoined after much cajoling. But he again upped and quit and joined Samajwadi Party only to return when reality sunk in.

It was during the same year that GK Moopanar's Tamil Manila Congress, Madhavrao Scindhia's Madhya Pradesh Vikas Party and Gegong Apang's Regional Arunachal Congress also merged with the Congress.

Following an analysis of the defeats the party has faced in recent elections, a high-power committee of the Congress has recommended that it should actively try to woo back the sidelined old warhorses in a bid to reclaim its lost impetus. After all, as recent political history has repeatedly shown, Congress rebels are pretty prone to changing their anti-party stance with just a bit of coaxing.

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Decoding the Indian Muslim - Integration or alienation?

2011-08-16T10:50:00.000+05:30

IIPM Mumbai Campus

A First-Ever TSI-Team Cvoter Nationwide Survey

India's largest minority community has been the subject of frenetic discussions across the political spectrum in recent decades. on the right of the divide, they are pilloried for being beneficiaries of an alleged policy of minority appeasement. On the other side, they usually end up being used and abused as a convenient vote bank. At election time, for candidates in a large number of crucial constituencies across the length and breadth of india, muslims assume great significance because they possess the power to impact the final outcome at the hustings. But how much really has the indian muslim suffered as a result of being a pawn in a game of political expediency? How has continuing economic backwardness and a lack of mainstream educational and employment opportunities impacted the way members of the community think? this exhaustive survey conducted across multiple locations and social segments seeks out the answers from a complex web of questions that confront the indian muslim in contemporary india...

Keeping The Faith

Much water has flowed down the Saryu since the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya – and the idea that is India - was reduced to rubble nearly two decades ago. One of independent India’s most cataclysmic flashpoints, this outrage committed by Hindutva's foot soldiers occurred a year or so after the process of economic liberalisation was set in motion. The nation as a whole has definitely moved on since then. But has the Indian Muslim been allowed to keep pace? Have the fruits of economic progress touched his day-to-day existence quite to the extent that it has the lives of India’s burgeoning middle class?

Let’s face it, it hasn’t. The Rajinder Sachar Committee report, tabled in Parliament in 2006, provided confirmation of that fact and, ironically, appeared to vindicate the BJP’s contention that the left and the left-of-centre political parties have only indulged in ‘minority appeasement’ and exploited Muslims merely as a vote bank. Therefore, six decades and a bit after Independence, true empowerment continues to elude major swathes of India’s largest minority community.
But it is amply clear from the findings of the exhaustive TSI-Team CVoter survey on the following pages that Indian Muslims want to put the past behind them and find their rightful place in the national scheme of things in terms of both socio-economic indices and educational parameters. But who will show them the way? Muslims are crucial to the electoral fortunes of all leading political formations of the country, but economically and socially they have constantly oscillated between real despair and false hope as those who claim to represent the community’s interests have only flattered to deceive.

While more than 40 per cent of the Muslim respondents across the three categories covered by the survey – minority college students, madarsa pupils and the rest of India – asserted that they are satisfied with the role that religious organisations play in their lives, a majority felt that they do not need a separate Muslim political party to espouse their cause. Clearly, the leadership within and outside the community has failed them. Significantly, however, 58 per cent of minority college students, 50 per cent of madarsa students and 65 per cent of general Muslims said that they do not feel insecure in Hindu majority India and an overwhelmingly large percentage asserted that they would never opt for Pakistan or Bangladesh given a chance.

It is a community in flux. Even though a whole new generation has emerged – for them the baggage of Partition is a thing of the past – they have reason to look back in anger. Yet, the dignity and maturity with which Muslims in general have reacted to the contentious Ayodhya verdict is an indication that the dust is probably beginning to settle and happier days could be up ahead.
But it can never be easy to live down the past no matter how enticing the future may appear to be. It is especially difficult when the past is littered with turns of events that have engendered fear and distrust. It is a bit of a cul-de-sac: while the doctrine of majoritarian supremacy often stares the Muslim community in the face, most political, social or administrative moves aimed at bettering the community's lot evokes instant cynicism. They get battered by Muslim-baiters even as they are accused of being mollycoddled by the so-called pseudo secularists. It's a no-win situation.

The Indian Muslim has had to weather many storms in the past few decades as a result. The Shah Bano case of the 1980s and the then Rajiv Gandhi government’s response to it triggered the accusations of appeasement that have, sadly, continued to dominate all discourse pertaining to Indian Muslims ever since.

In the 1970s, there were riots after riots in different parts of the country and in each case ordinary people bore the brunt as political and religious forces sought to cash in on heightened emotions. In the 1980s, Muslims had to repeatedly ‘pass’ the cricket loyalty test to prove their allegiance to India. In the 1990s, they had to live under the shadow of a Masjid dome that was no more. And in the first decade of the new millennium, the post-Godhra Gujarat riots exposed their vulnerability like never before. And now, every time a terror strike takes place somewhere in india, the common Muslim cowers in trepidation. The historical spectre of the two-nation theory refuses to stop haunting them.

As of April 2010, the 160 million-strong community constitutes 13.4 per cent of India’s population – only two nations, Indonesia (200 million) and Pakistan (174 million), have more Muslims. But their representation in Indian government jobs and security agencies is grossly lower than what it should ideally be.

But all is certainly not lost. The literacy rate among Muslims is 59 per cent against the all-India overall rate of 65 per cent – with a just a little effort, the gap is eminently bridgeable. A Muslim child today attends school for three years and four months compared to the national average of four years. Once again, the distance does not seem to be so yawning that it cannot be closed.
Indeed, once the education gap that separates Muslims and the rest of India is eliminated, everything else could begin to fall in place. What is needed is genuine political will. Indian Muslims have kept their faith in India’s ‘secularism’ in the face of the gravest of provocations. The nation owes them more than mere lip service.

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As long as the US remains adventurous in the Yellow Sea, China will keep playing Pyongyang card to its merit

2011-08-13T11:47:00.000+05:30

IIPM Mumbai Campus

A Ship In My Backyard

We will never allow others to keep snoring beside our beds," Chairman Mao Zedong famously quipped years ago when he was asked to define the strategy to contain the hostile nations in the vicinity. Half a century later, with the United States' 7th fleet breathing down their necks in the backyard, the comrades appear as cool as cucumber. There is no confusion it seems. None was allowed to snore then; none, it appears, will be allowed now.

During the last weekend, China proposed emergency consultations among participants to the Six-Party Talks next month amidst growing hostility on the Korean Peninsula.
"After careful deliberations, China proposes emergency consultations, among the heads of delegations to the Six-Party Talks, in early December in Beijing," said Wu Dawei, Chinese special representative for Korean Peninsula affairs. It was China's latest decision following the exchange of artillery fire last week between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (ROK).

It was deliberated as the ROK and the United States started a four-day joint naval exercise in waters west of the Korean Peninsula, with the US aircraft carrier USS George Washington spearheading the exercise.

However, sources close to TSI have maintained that no live-fire drills were planned at the US' 7th Fleet. Officials would not provide the immediate site for the exercise but sources said it was being conducted at about 160 kilometres south of Yeonpyeong Island, the scene of last week's artillery exchange.

Let's look into the reason behind the current spike in hostilities. The basic rationale behind this showdown is the long-term inter-Korean mutual military deterrence. In the run up to the latest exchange of artillery fire, tensions were still lingering on the Korean Peninsula following the sinking of the Cheonan. The situation was made complex because of the refusal of the US and the ROK to engage in dialogue with Pyongyang while indulging in a series of joint military exercises.
To worsen the situation, in response to the hard-line policy of the US and the ROK, the DPRK took an even pugnacious formulation and threatened to wage war against the ROK saying that if the latter's force infringe on even one inch of its territorial sea, it will come all guns blazing.

More perturbing, Pyongyang unveiled its new uranium enrichment plant to an American scientist while the ROK's hawkish defence minister has hinted that Seoul might weigh asking the US to redeploy nuclear weapons, which were withdrawn from the peninsula following the collapse of Soviet Union.

It is expected that Beijing will try to induce Pyongyang to exercise restraint and stop its military dealings, and will talk Seoul into stopping military determent and showdown. However, under the menace of predominant large-scale US-ROK military exercises, it is hard to conceive of that Pyongyang will evaluate Beijing's proposal.
Recently, China's leaders marked the 60th anniversary of its entry into the Korean War and the "friendship established in battle" with the North. However, experts have started to believe that its neighbour and ally is more often a source of frustration than sympathy these days.

"Of course our statesmen are peeved. But they don't express it in public,” said Shi Yinhong, an expert on Peninsula hostilities at Renmin University in Beijing. “For us it has become increasingly difficult to balance our relationship with the North and the South.”

Experts also warn that Beijing's forbearance would run out if the North continued to act incendiary. Indeed, Beijing's cagy reaction to the artillery attack – refusing to impute blame and calling on all sides to show restraint – should not be mistaken for blessing.

China has, in the past, snubbed the North in public, however, it can not afford to damage its relationship. Pyongyang is already bitter about Beijing's maximising ties with Seoul – financial dealings between China and Seoul reached $140 bn last year; in relation, that with Pyongyang was worth less than $3bn the previous year.

However, America's continued adventures off China's coast has made Beijing prioritise its responses. The situation is made complex by China’s inquisitive attempts to liken economic waters, which commonly extend about 200 nautical miles off a nation's coast, with territorial waters, which normally reach about 12 nautical miles off the same. But experts seem to have answer for that.

"During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when the Soviet Union constituted nuclear missile bases on the island, the US objected to the close propinquity of the Soviet weapons system even though they travelled only through international waters to reach Cuba, and the US set up a encirclement to stop them being positioned," points out Shen Dingli, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, while talking to TSI. "When the US ponders the idea of positioning its nuclear aircraft carrier in the Yellow Sea, very next to China, shouldn't China have the aforesaid notion as the US did when the Soviet Union deployed missiles in Cuba?" Point Taken.

China may not have the militaristic forte to forcefully forestall such drills now, but it may do so in consequence to such provocative acts in the futurity. Also in terms of geopolitical scheme, the Yellow Sea is the entryway to China's capital area and a critical transit to the heartland of Beijing and Tianjin. The exercise location chosen by the United States and South Korea is only 500 kilometres off Beijing. Naturally, China will be mindful of the security imperativeness from military drills conducted so close to China's heartland.

Major General Luo Yuan, a military expert at the PLA Academy of Military Sciences, says, “7th Fleet has a combat radius of 600 kilometres and its fighters have that of 1,000 kilometres. The drills present a direct security menace to China's hinterland and the Bohai Rim Economic Circle.”

Under the circumstances, China will continue to play the Pyongyang card – a potent card in its hand as a regional and global player. However, there are terminus ad quem to its use as it will not risk regional imbalance, the North's collapse, a deluge of refugees along its extended border with the North and possibly a unified peninsula. As one Chinese diplomat quipped famously, “North Korea is our East Germany. We wont let it die. Remember what happened when East collapsed? Soviet Union collapsed too.” That says it all.

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Film Festival: A not-so-sweet sixteen

2011-08-10T15:42:00.002+05:30

IIPM Mumbai Campus

Kolkata's annual cinema celebration has been run to the ground by ill-equipped bureaucrats

The Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) is riddled with flaws. The principal one is that the Bengal government runs the show. When a festival of this nature is managed by the government, it can only be bad news. No festival in the world is state-controlled to the extent that KIFF is and none is as badly run.

Take the example of the International Film Festival of Kerala. It is organised by a state where the leftist LDF and the Congress-led UDF wield political power by turns. But never does the government get directly involved with the conduct of the film festival. The event is run by an autonomous body made up of filmmakers, producers, actors and cinema experts. The person who is appointed the director of the festival is somebody who has put in years of work in cinema. In contrast, the film festival in Kolkata is headed by the CEO of Nandan Film Centre. It makes no sense at all.
Take the Pusan Film Festival in Korea as another case in point. Currently it is Asia’s number one film festival. It is also counted among the world’s top six or seven film festivals. Like the Kolkata Film Festival, the Pusan event is 16 years old. While the Kolkata festival has steadily lost its lustre, Pusan has gone from strength to strength. It isn’t difficult to see why.

The Kolkata festival is plagued by corruption and nepotism at every level. The event is controlled completely by bureaucrats and politically connected functionaries. They have a free run of the field. No wonder affairs have come to such a sorry pass.
It is not as if the Kolkata Film Festival was always like this. When it started 16 years ago, and for several years thereafter, it was a much-awaited annual celebration of the art and craft of cinema. The first director of this festival was the unimpeachable Prabodh Maitra, whose knowledge of and passion for the medium was beyond question. He has been replaced today by people whose only claim to fame is that they are close to the CM.

These men have decided they can organise a festival by doing DVD projections. They have no clue that DVD projections can never be the real thing. Amazingly, the festival director has argued that major festivals like the one in Cannes also screen DVDs. This false claim obviously stems from a lack of awareness. Has this gentleman ever been to the Cannes Film Festival? If he had, he would never ever said what he has. He would have known that what he claims to be a DVD projection is actually the screening of a master tape, or digibeta.

It is a natural urge for every nation to promote its cultural identity. An international film festival is an important means of doing that. The essence of Kolkata’s intellectual spirit could have been raised to new heights in the 16 years that this film festival has been in existence. The event could have given the city a unique branding of its own. Were that to happen, the exercise would have had the involvement of a wide cross-section of people. However, the bureaucrats at the helm have not allowed that to happen.

To get down to a more specific problem, is every film that the Kolkata Film Festival screens backed by formal permissions from the rights owners? Do they invite the makers of these films as a rule? I have my doubts. Last year, they screened my documentary film, Wagah, but they did not seek my permission nor did they extend a formal invitation to me. In the West, many producers and sales agents refuse to screen their films at festivals unless they receive a screening fee.

Why are policemen deployed in such large numbers at the festival venue? A cultural activity should be a liberating experience that encourages a free exchange of ideas. In the Nandan complex, freedom is conspicuous by its absence. Why should a filmmaker have to seek the permission of policemen to enter the premises. It’s a shame. The complex has no space for adda sessions, no restaurants and no lounges. There is no infrastructure here for people who might want to meet each other in a convivial, relaxed atmosphere.

Several steps need to be taken to salvage the festival from its inertia. First and foremost, it should be taken away from the government and handed over to an autonomous body manned by people who understand cinema. The event should also be turned into a competitive festival – that is the only way to attract high quality films. Pusan and Kerala have competitive festivals. In Kerala, the prize money is to the tune of Rs 20 lakh. Moreover, the focus of the Kolkata film festival should always firmly be on Bengali cinema.

I have another crucial suggestion: the festival should have two directors, one creative, the other financial. And to make the festival really worthwhile for aspiring filmmakers, a film fund should be set up so that grants could be given to promising new projects. It is important to save the Kolkata Film Festival because the fortunes of Bengali cinema are intertwined with its health.

In India to put an end to the cruel treatment meted out to working-bulls,

2011-06-30T11:21:00.000+05:30

Ingrid E Newkirk took some time out to speak with Anu Gulmohar about her life's work as the Founder and President of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

Meet Ingrid. A single child, she was extremely fond of the dog she grew up with, and considered him to be her brother. “He and I went everywhere together. We’d go to see our grandmother and both of us would get car-sick at the same time, and they would have to stop the car and let both of us out! We sometimes slept together, in my bed or in his big wicker basket. I knew what he was feeling and he knew what I was feeling,” she recalled to me. And then her family moved to India. She remembers the first time she ever ran to the rescue of an animal. Nine-year-old Ingrid saw a trembling bull, pulling a heavily loaded cart. As he got slower and slower, the owner pulled up the bull’s tail and rammed a stick into him. “The bull bellowed, but instead of running, which the man wanted him to do, the bull collapsed. Then the man got down from the cart and began beating the bull on the street. I ran as fast as I could, and even though I was just a little girl, I was completely outraged and grabbed the stick to stop him fr
om beating the bull. Then people came and took me back home,” Ingrid remembers. Her one regret: “I don’t know what happened to that bull in the end. And I’m sure it couldn’t have been good. I never forgot it because I know there are so many bulls in the same situation.”

Today, the world knows Ingrid E Newkirk as the Founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India and PETA affiliates worldwide. After having championed several causes of animals rights and proclaiming loud and clear across the world her organisation’s slogan – ‘animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment,’ – she recently returned to India to put an end to cruelty to working bulls. In Mumbai, bullocks are used to transport kerosene, and while on September 30, 2008, the Ministry of Food and Civil Supplies banned their use for this purpose, it remains to be implemented. On November 12, 2010, Ingrid donated a diesel-powered "auto rickshaw" – fitted with an oil tank and provided free of charge by Piaggio – to the owner of a bullock-drawn cart in a ceremony near the Sewri Railway Station. The weary bullock was sent to a sanctuary operated by PETA's Animal Rahat rescue programme in Sangli. “The bullocks are really in slavery, they are being tyrannised,” said Ingrid. “
Today, I saw a bull unhitched from his cart while his man had gone to have lunch. The bull had a sore the size of a teapot on his hump, all red, oozing. The owner was going to return and put that wood shaft back on his hump, on that completely open sore. When they finish, what is the ‘thank you’ that they get?” cried Ingrid. “They’re put together in one truck and taken to the slaughter house. When they get to the slaughter house, it’s so horrific. They stand in their own blood, and they watch everybody else in front of them have their necks slit. There’s no kindness, they shove them down to the floor. They break their shoulder while they’re cutting their neck. What is this? This gentle, thoughtful animal, who’s already been castrated with no anaesthesia, who’s already had a ring put inside his nose, the yoke put on his back… it’s a horrifying life with a terrifying death in the end. Yet, it’s Nandi! We call them Gods! In a village in Jabalpur, a few days ago, I met a family who loved their bull and the grandm other cried because their bull was put down because he had a cancer and was in pain. And I said ‘why can’t everybody be like you?’ They loved that bull and they had a picture of themselves with the bull, and they had done what was right for the bull. The bull they have now is in beautiful condition. They don’t overload him, they don’t beat him,” said Ingrid, making a point that whilst the bulls are openly abused in the streets, there is a part of India where the Nandi is dearly loved and respected too.

“It’s illegal to have bulls pull oil carts. We may donate more auto-rickshaws. We thought, let’s kick it off, give it a headstart, and see how it goes from there. We’re working with the Ministry, we’re talking to the union, the union’s talking to the bull-cart owners, we want to talk to the petroleum people and say, ‘it’s illegal, it’s wrong, it’s a mess, it needs to change. Let’s do it now. Here’s a headstart’,” explains Ingrid.

Working to protect animals since 1972, Ingrid’s undying enthusiasm has led her organisation to valiantly fight to make right the several wrongs committed against animals. While her most satisfying campaign in her career remains stopping all car companies in the world from using animals for car crash tests and instead opting for robot-controlled mannequins, there have been numerous milestones in her career. “We do a lot of other work in India,” says Ingrid. “For example, we’re working to get lions and tigers out of the circus and that’s already successful. We’re very worried about the leather industry, because it’s a co-product of the meat industry, and again the manner in which the animals are killed is atrocious. The leather industry will not take any responsibility, so we do tell people, ‘don’t buy leather, don’t eat the animals, don’t wear the animals.’ Cosmetics or any household product tested on animals, in four months, will be illegal in the whole of Europe. In these tests, they pour the chemicals, shampoos, the oven cleaners, in the rabbit’s eyes, down the dog’s throat. In India we would like the same kind of arrangement. Exotic skins are a bit of a problem here too.” And just as celebrities around the world have supported the work they do, helped spread awareness about the cruelty suffered by animals, Indian stars too have been working with PETA. “It’s fine to be in a movie and everybody loves you, but do you have a heart? We have John Abraham from the beginning. He says, ‘Open the cage, let the birds fly free. Don’t keep birds in cages.’ Raveena Tandon helped us with the leather campaign. All the celebs help us with the 'Go Veg' campaign. When they speak, people listen. And they know how to act. They look good in the commercial; some of them are very funny and some of them are very beautiful, but all of them are beautiful inside,” says Ingrid.

Vegetarianism is among PETA’s pet projects, and several celebrities have come out to support this cause. While the slogan ‘Let vegetarianism grow on you’ is as eye-catching as the ladies decked up in leaves, we wondered if the campaigns worked for their own employees too. Are they all vegetarian? “Oh yes! They’re vegan! We don’t require it for people coming in, but once they come in and see what’s going on; they taste the delicious food, they know they won’t miss anything. We had this beautiful chocolate birthday cake with vanilla frosting last night and it was all vegan. And today we had banana flavoured soya milk. They realise that they’re healthier, and they’re not hurting animals in any way. I’ve hired meat-eaters and they’ve become vegans very quickly!” clucks Ingrid happily.

Ingrid doesn’t believe PETA needs to get as aggressive as Greenpeace to drive home their point. Yet she’s quite sure that there are many things still to do. “We’re still too small! We need everybody’s help.

We need volunteer help, we need money, we need more stars! We need every single person to take the veg pledge, and we’ll help them with the vegetarian starter kit, everything. The journey has been a steady growth, there are more young people coming in. But we need to grow more,” insists Ingrid.

Reinstating animals to their rightful place in the world, Ingrid perhaps revealed her life’s philosophy best as she spoke about her relationship as a child with her family dog. “I’ve always felt a part of the animal kingdom. I think we’re all animals, we’re all flesh and blood, and we all feel pain and joy and fear and loneliness and love, and we all want to be with our families. It’s all the same.” How long will it take for everyone to realise this? Your guess is as good as mine.

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Spending millions on state visits makes very less sense!

2011-06-27T10:17:00.001+05:30

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Obama’s recent 10 days Asia visit attracted mammoth media attention and relatively similar criticism. If for some political pundits the tour was mere rhetoric and lip service, then another group of critics found it to be quite historical. Amidst all these, the issue of a huge amount of money spent on Obama’s visit received enough criticism. According to various media reports, the US spent a whopping $200 million per day on Obama's Asia tour to take care of the President’s security, stay and other aspects. The per day cost of this so-called peace visit is more than three times the money (read aid) declared by Obama to fight child labour in India. Prior to this, the most expensive visit by any US President was that of Bill Clinton, where the estimated expenditure was $10 million per day.

Expenditures incurred from State visits by heads of states have always made a huge dent in the economy and mostly proved to be less effective. The cost of the Pope's recent visit to the UK, in September 2010 is estimated to be $32.2 million was under huge protest by the people. Thus, on Pope’s visit to Germany, a German minister stated that “…it would have been cheaper to fly all the people to the Vatican and let the Vatican worry about the cost of security!” So much so that Spain saw a massive protest regarding the estimated €5 million worth visit of the Pope, especially when Spain is planning austerity measures to check the growing unemployment and other economic malaise. Moreover, the president of Philippines, Gloria Arroyo went on 81 foreign trips in her presidential term, one of the highest in recent times. This trip had cost the economy a whopping P1.45 billion in foreign travel expenses (from 2002 to 2007)! A study by the US National Taxpayers Union (NTU) on US presidential travels from 1953 to 2001 concluded that Jimmy Carter and Ford went abroad almost eight times a year during their terms.

The problem is not only about the expenditure incurred from such visits but also the way it is increasing. At a time when major economies are undergoing economic slowdown and finding it difficult to manage funds for social development and austerity measures, and also committing to donate 0.7 per cent of their GDP as aid, cost of visits is raising eyebrows. More so, because, it's taxpayers' money. Had the money spent on Obama's visit been invested in different projects, it would have created more jobs for Americans. While one cannot negate the importance of such visits in times of globalisation where a nation's policy has global influence, rising expenditure should not be overlooked.

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Criminals in politics: Politics is in my backyard

2011-06-24T11:11:00.001+05:30

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Decriminalising politics is imperative for a successful democracy

India’s democracy, despite being the largest in the world, is at stake. And criminals entering into politics is certainly adding to the woes of the already tainted national polity. Politicians with a criminal record is not a new phenomenon. But, there has been little progress in decriminalising the Indian polity especially looking at the recent Bihar Assembly election. 139 candidates participating in the 35 assembly constituencies have criminal records and 75 of them have serious criminal charges including murder or attempt to murder. Surprisingly, they got tickets from major parties. 65 per cent of RJD candidates have criminal cases against them followed by JD(U) (59 per cent) BJP (54 per cent), Congress (40 per cent) and BSP (40 per cent). Thisgives enough reasons to ponder over the issue.

The Bihar assembly election is not an isolated example. 206 members out of 403 who won the 2002 Uttar Pradesh assembly election had criminal backgrounds. More surprisingly, in its 2007 assembly election, 74 per cent of the candidates had criminal cases. Mafiosi like Arun Gawli, Hitendra Thakur and Pappu Kalani dominated the polity of Maharashtra for years. The situation at the national level is equally dreadful. As per Washington Times, in 2008, one-fourth of the 540 Indian Parliamentarians had criminal records. In 1996, there were 70 Parliamentarians and over 100 state assembly members with ‘criminal background.’ Shockingly, in the 2009 general elections, 43 MPs from BJP and 41 from Congress and 69 from other minor political parties are facing criminal cases against them. What is more shocking is that 19 BJP and 12 Congress newly elected MPs are having serious criminal charges against them.

Criminals entering into politics is a rare phenomenon in successful democracies. Why can't India stop criminals entering into politics? The Chances are rare unless strong measures are taken. India's strange laws do not allow undertrials to vote but allow even jailed politicians to contest in elections. A politician is barred from contesting elections only when guilt is established. There has also been lack of political will. However, Sonia Gandhi recently avowed, “We need to do more in contending with the influence of money and muscle power... We also need to build a consensus on how to prevent individuals with a criminal record from contesting elections." However, just a statement is certainly not enough. Such a strong decision needs greater commitments, political will and a strong leadership. Now the question is – can the current leadership deliver it? Obama has only termed India as 'the world's largest democracy'. Can we make it the most successful and transparent one?

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Brilliantly connects the universal themes of friendship and betrayal with the tech obsessed 21st Century generation

2011-06-21T10:54:00.001+05:30

The Social Network: Life in bits and bytes

You would think that there wouldn’t be much to play around with in the telling of a straight forward tale of how another super geek invented the next big thing on the Internet. But “The Social Network,” which traces the founding story of Facebook (by miles the most popular social networking website), in the hands of two masterful craftsmen in director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, zings with emotional intensity and wry wit. It captures not only the characters and the emotions of those who were associated with Facebook but also the zeitgeist of a generation.

The origins of Facebook, it would appear, were mired in a lot of sex, lies and coding scripts. In the fall of 2003, Jessica Albright (Rooney Mara) breaks up with the socially awkward but brilliant Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), and an angry and inebriated Mark gets back to his dorm room desperately looking for something to take his mind off her. In a rage filled bout of coding he manages to hack into the online student directories of practically every Harvard dorm and uses the data to create Facemash.com, a website where the photos of two students can be compared by users to decide who’s hotter. The website goes viral, crashes servers at Harvard, and Mark has a brainwave about a social networking website. He discusses the idea with his best friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) and gets him to financially support his newly launched website and thus is born the facebook.com. Things would have been pretty fine for Mark at this point had he not promised to help three other students – twins
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (Armie Hammer plays both) and Divya Narendra (Max Minghella) – with coding on a website with a similar idea. When thefacebook.com goes live, the twins are livid and finally sue Mark.

The story is told in flashback from the depositions in the cases against Zuckerberg in 2007, with a Rashomon like narrative device where parts of the story are recounted from different characters’ point of view. It works like a dream because all the while the tale keeps moving forward. The dialogue is sharp, biting and fast and the acting is brilliant. Eisenberg fantastically encapsulates the discomfort, disdain and the dislike the uber geek feels when dealing with mere mortals, while Andrew Garfield delivers a tour de force as the loyal and caring friend who becomes roadkill in Facebook’s rush towards the big time. But the one to watch out for is Justin Timberlake, who plays the role of maverick Silicon Valley entrepreneur Sean Parker (of ‘Napster’ fame) to perfection. As the man who drives the wedge between the friendship of Zuckerberg and Saverin, Parker’s role requires a certain sophistication and impishness and Timberlake nails it.

“The Social Network” does much more than just tell how Facebook came into being; it also poignantly illustrates the frustration of a whole generation in coming to terms with itself

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Heavy inflows of FII money, falling exports due to rising rupee, and widening current account deficit!

2011-06-18T11:44:00.000+05:30

India is now walking on the same lane that once brought in the Asian financial crisis.

In July 1997 the South East Asian stock markets, especially South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines, which till then were on rampage, not only came to a screeching halt, but also entered into a prolonged phase of nightmare – better known as the Asian financial crisis. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), which poured in a whopping $19.1 billion into the countries’ markets in 1996 and drove these markets to record highs, flew away overnight ruining the countries’ stock markets and economic stability. So much so that while the Thai stock market lost 75% of its value, the PSE Composite in Philippines fell by around 66%.

The scenario was more or less the same in January 2008, when the Indian benchmark index Sensex after scaling a historic high of 21,206 on January 10, dwindled down to 15,322 by January 22. This time the same FIIs, who from January 1 till January 16 had infused Rs 30.59 billion into the Indian stock markets, pulled out a nerve-wracking Rs 44.65 billion in just two days, January 17 and 18. And now, the Indian stock market has again become the purple cow for the FII group. As per the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), net investments made by FIIs in the country’s equity markets has already gone past a mind-boggling Rs 1 trillion ($22 billion), pushing the market to the 21,000 level. What is most noticeable here is the way the FIIs have got hold of the nerve of the Indian market since the beginning of September 2010. Since then, while they have infused $17.3 billion, the Sensex has soared 16.5%. While industry mouthpieces like C. B. Bhave, Chairman SEBI, might not be overly worried about the situation, what cannot be ignored is the fact that while in 1996-97, India was fairly insulated from the global economy and even FII hot money vagaries, the situation is quite different currently. While the reasons for the sudden fall in the stock markets might be quite clear to industry players, a majority of global investors would fail to undertake a deeper analysis and could arbitrarily decrease the sovereign ratings for the nation – resulting in much collateral damage, international loan interest rates inclusive.

In fact, due to the increasing inflow of external capital and surging demand for the rupee, value of the domestic currency has risen sharply in terms of real effective exchange rate hurting the country’s exports. As for records, the rupee, which was trading at 47.08 against the greenback on August 31, surged almost 6% to 44.26 (as on November 8) on the back of heavy buying by the FIIs. Moreover, the strengthening of the rupee has allowed imports to surge 35.7% y-o-y in the second quarter as against a 21.7% y-o-y decline last year, pushing India’s trade deficit to rise by 33.5% to $34.2 billion in Q2FY’10 from $25.6 billion in the same quarter last fiscal. Though the exporters are now lobbying with the central bank to put a check on the rate hikes to somehow protect their competitiveness (a drop in the interest rate can put a pause to the capital inflow by reducing the difference between the prevailing near zero interest rates of the developed countries and the high interest rate of India), the Reserve Bank itself is in a helpless situation in its fight against inflation.

The RBI is currently increasing its base rates by around 25 to 50 basis points in almost every fiscal policy meeting to absorb the excess liquidity that was injected by the government to the economy earlier to lift the country’s GDP growth rate to over 8%. But in the process, it is drawing a higher inflow of foreign funds to the country’s economic system. As of now, the spread between India’s 10-year bonds and the US 10-year treasuries is standing at a record high of 5.7%, making India a hot destination for the overseas investors. In fact, considering the fact that RBI is still to reach to a peak in terms of interest rate hikes, India even stands as a better destination for FIIs as compared to other developing Asian markets where inflation is well under control and hence chances of rate hike is lesser than India.

On the other hand, such a rush of FIIs to invest in the Indian market has created another hassle for the apex bank. As Bodhi Ganguli, Economist, Moody’s Economy points out, “All foreign-currency purchases by the RBI will have to be fully sterilised now to prevent from adding excess liquidity to the domestic economy.” But then, considering that India’s foreign currency reserve has grown over 5% from $256 billion to $269 billion between August 27 and October 29, the job in the hands of RBI does not seem to be an easy one. And if the country’s Broad Money (M3) is an indicator to be considered, then RBI is certainly struggling on this front as India’s M3 has grown by nearly 4.1% during that period to Rs 60.68 trillion (October 22) from Rs 58.30 trillion (August 27).

However, for the time being, the country can be in solace as the Planning Commission is still confident that these inflows can be absorbed by the country’s huge current account deficit. But, for a long term benefit of the country’s economy, today, Indian regulators must let go of the short term market benefits and put a check on the hot money flow. Else, sooner or later, India will end up being the epicentre of yet another Asian financial crisis.

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Hundreds of thousand of people live stateless in enclaves on either sides of the Indo-Bangla border amid inhuman conditions

2011-06-15T10:51:00.001+05:30

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The nowhere men

He's a real nowhere man/Sitting in his Nowhere Land/Making all his nowhere plans for nobody. Doesn't have a point of view/Knows not where he's going to/Isn't he a bit like you and me?- The Beatles

“Please don’t ask me what happened on the night of October 16, 2010. On that fateful night, hundreds of houses in my village of Garati were burnt down to ashes. I was just returning to my village after my day's work at a doctor’s pharmacy in the district town of Panchgarh in Bangladesh. I saw my brother Joshim Miyan’s house being torched. I was frantically shouting out the names of my brother, cousins and other family members. No one replied. Everyone was crying out the names of their own family members, people were running helter skelter for shelter. I ran too, I had to save myself. I don’t know how long I ran for. Someone told me all houses in my village were gutted and that Bangladeshi miscreants were roaming around with firearms. I did not have any clue about my two brothers and my old parents. People were running towards their agricultural fields with their children to escape the marauding miscreants. I took shelter on an open road in Bangladesh like some other villagers, we waited for dawn to arrive. It
was a horrible night,” says Hamidul Miyan. Hamidul is a resident of Garati village, which is one of the Indian enclaves within Bangladesh.

An enclave is a geographical territory which is completely surrounded by foreign land.

It is locally called chitmahal. “Chit” means a fragment and “Mahal” means land. Chitmahals are enclaves which are geographically separated from the mainland but still pay revenue to it.

Hamidul has come just on the other side of the Kurshahat border gate in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal with two other affected villagers from Garati, Asraful and Sirajul, to meet this reporter. They wanted to come to India to demand justice for the people of the Indian enclaves. But the Border Security Force (BSF) and the state administration will not allow them to come into India.

Hamidul is aghast at being treated as a foreigner even after 64 years of Independence. “It is very painful to live in the enclaves. We have no identity, we are neither Indian nor Bangladeshi. It is my own land but I can’t claim it, parents cannot fix marriages for their daughters, we can't apply for proper jobs. Tell me what will we do? Who is responsible for us leading lives led by prisoners,” asks the angry young man.

Hamidul is 28 years old, his father Samsul Miyan has been a resident of Garati from the pre-Independence times. Hamidul is known as a medic in his village. Actually, he is a helper of a doctor in Panchgarh, Bangladesh. He passed his 10th standard from a Bangladeshi school. It is very difficult for people of chitmahals to get access to education. They have to persuade Bangladeshi families to let them use their names as their parents for admission in Bangladeshi schools.

The mob, which torched and vandalised several houses inside the Indian enclave in Panchagarh district of Bangladesh, apparently did so in retaliation of the alleged killing of a Bangladeshi criminal, Ramjan Ali, on October 15.

Diptimaan Sengupta, assistant secretary of “Bharat Bangladesh Enclave Exchange Committee (BBEEC), told TSI, “We are working to spread awareness among people in enclaves on both sides of the border to stop illegal activities. You know, some miscreants take shelter in the enclave after the crime as the local administration can’t enter the foreign land. We have had reasonable success and crime in the enclaves has stooped to an all-time low.”

Sengupta continues, “That’s why the enclave people denied shelter to Ramjan Ali, a known Bangladeshi anti-social. Ramjan and his group then attacked the Garati people with arms. Now hundreds of people are living under the open sky, they have lost everything. We appealed to the West Bengal state administration to send relief material. They have sent some but not in sufficient quantity. The people from the Bangladeshi enclaves are also lending their helping hand to the people of Garati.”

BBEEC has just started a census in the Indo-Bangla enclaves, a first since 64 years of Independence. According to the organisation, the census report, apart from finding out the exact number of affected people, will also bring out the social problems, the economic situation and the health conditions of the people so that they can appeal for help of both the Indian and the Bangladeshi governments.

“We are extremely sympathetic to the problems of the people in the enclaves, people who are living in Bangladeshi enclaves in India and those who are living in Indian enclaves in Bangladesh. The people of Indian enclaves can’t come to India easily because they have to cross Bangladeshi area. So, they need permission from both the countries. After the Garati incident, we have sent relief materials to the affected people through BSF and Bangladesh Rifles (BDR),” are the kind words of Smaraki Mahapatra, the district magistrate of Cooch Behar.

Things have started looking up for residents of Bangladeshi enclaves in India. “For the last two years, we are not treated as badly as before. Now if we need to see a doctor, we can go to the Indian mainland for treatment. Two years back, this was just impossible, the police would arrest us immediately but thanks to BBEEC's intervention, a lot have changed,” says Saheb Ali, a resident of the Bangladeshi enclave of Puaatur Kutir within the district of Cooch Behar. Currently, Saheb is busy collecting relief materials from Bangladeshi enclaves to help the Garati Indian enclave people. According to him, people of the enclaves on both sides are suffering the same situation and an acute identity crisis.

According to an Oxfam study conducted back in 2002, there were 1,50,000 people in the Indian enclaves in Bangladesh. As many as 50,000 people migrated to the Indian mainland as they were evicted from the enclaves. Thus, hundreds of thousands of people are living as stateless along the Indo-Bangla border. Lack of political will to find an effective and permanent solution has made their lives more miserable than ever before.

Available sources indicate that 92 Bangladesh enclaves exist within India. The number of Indian enclaves within Bangladesh stands at 111. After the partition of India in 1947, Cooch Behar district was merged with India and Rangpur went to then East Pakistan which became Bangladesh in 1971. After the formation of Bangladesh, New Delhi and Dhaka signed an agreement in 1974 demarcating the land boundary between the countries. According to that, both the countries agreed to exchange the enclaves or at least provide each other easy access to the enclaves. But very little has materialised ever since. The people of the enclaves on both sides have been demanding corridors connecting their respective enclaves with the mainland. They think since India and Bangladesh are friendly countries, ordinary people should not face discrimination or harassment.

“The current estimate of the number of stateless people is about 15 million all over the world and a large number of them are Bengalis living in the enclaves on both sides of the Indo-Bangla border. We want immediate intervention of the relevant authorities to solve the problem,” says a passionate Sengupta.

Mahapatra conceded that residents on both sides have demanded merger of their enclaves with the host nations or at least easy access to each other's mainland territory. But since these matters are much beyond the purview of a district magistrate and rest with the respective Central governments, she could not elaborate on what follow-up actions have been taken on these demands.

Unlike The Beatles' nowhere man, the saga of these men and women is not so romantic and escapist. Their lives are hard, there is no yellow submarine to ride. Their nights are cold and no one wants to hold their hands.

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Hrithik Roshan on why 'Guzaarish' may be his best yet

2011-06-12T11:47:00.000+05:30

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This is one of the happiest films that I have done

What drew you to "Guzaarish"?
I remember the day when Sanjay Leela Bhansali came to my house with this movie and while I was debating with him, I was very skeptical if I was evolved enough to take forth his vision and do justice to his creative genius or not… I was not sure. He took me through the film and in five minutes he made me laugh and cry and I heard myself say, ‘When do we start with this?’

You visited quite a few paraplegia patients… Was it your decision or was it Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s idea?
Oh, this decision would be the call for any actor… that’s what we’re paid for! It’s a huge responsibility when you’re doing a film like this, to portray the right spirit and the right mindset of a quadriplegic patient. Moreover, an actor’s biggest weapon is information without which one really can’t do much. So I set off on my journey to meet such people. Some of them are very good friends of mine today. This film has all shades… it’s dark, intense, tragic and yet puts a smile on your face.

Dark, intense and tragic films or superhero films, what do you enjoy doing more?
Let me make myself clear here: this is one of the happiest films that I have done. It is a character that smiles more than any other I have portrayed before. Ethan, my character, is the biggest and most powerful superhero that I’ve played. He can bring happiness into anyone’s life and that’s the spirit of the film.

You’ve worked with the finest directors in the industry. How was the experience with Sanjay Leela Bhansali?
With every journey comes a new world and I have to become a part of that world. With Sanjay Leela Bhansali I enjoyed the freedom I got as an actor, which I had never enjoyed in my life. I’d say he would just let me fly. There were times when I would come on the set and have some thoughts to add to the scene, but we were communicating at such a level that we never sat down and discussed it. So most of the time I would come in for a scene, he’d say action and then he would see what I had in mind for that scene in that shot which I gave. And this needs a lot of faith.

Share some memorable moments from the sets of “Guzaarish”…
Every day was fun. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is also the music director of the film, so every day he would come up with some new tune. There was always a guitar on the set and Aditya, who plays a very important role in the film, plays the guitar really well, so all the time we would sing and dance… Sometimes, Sanjay would also get up and show a step or two. A lot of his secrets were revealed including that he can dance, sing and make music. It was amazing.

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2011-06-09T12:49:00.000+05:30

IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism

Subal Rai is 48 year old. A resident of Salbari chit number 37, an Indian enclave in Bangladesh, he fled to the Indian mainland. He was driven out from the village about ten years back. “We spent countless sleepless nights. Sometimes I took my children and wife to the agricultural field for a safe shelter as looting and rapes are regular occurrences in the enclaves. We had to hide our daughters and wives from the Bangladeshi miscreants. They would come and take away my crops in broad daylight, they would steal my cattle too. Then I took a decision to leave my own land and home. Those miscreants occupied my five acres of land. But the strange thing is that we are identified here as Bangladeshis or illegal migrants. Can you imagine that,” asks an aggrieved Subal.

Subal is not alone. Kanai Rai from Kajal Dighi chit, Chandmoni Rai from Kotbhajni chit, Chuni Rai from Khagrabari chit, Anarul Haque and Matiur Rahaman from Najirganj chit are among tens of thousands of Indian people who migrated from the Indian enclaves to the mainland. As per an Oxfam report, 50,000 people came to the Indian mainland after being evicted from the enclaves.

In the enclaves, most dwellers were agriculturists. After migrating to the Indian mainland, they have become daily wage earners. Thousands of such families live along the Teesta river canal in the districts of Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in West Bengal. Most work as stone crushers on the river bed and earn very little.

Naren Rai is 56 and from the same enclave as Subal. He left for India in 1992. He is not at all surprised by the Garati incident. “This Garati incident is nothing new. We, the people from the enclaves, very well know the situation. Can you understand how painful it is to leave one's own home and own agricultural land? The day I left, Bangladeshi miscreants torched and vandalised our houses, we spent the night hiding in the fields. After that, they started looting the houses and raping the women. We, nearly 50 families, left our land and came to the mainland. For nearly three months, we lived on the platform of the Haldibari rail station. After that, I started to work as a daily wage labourer,” he lets out in one breath.

“We want voting rights, we want recognition as Indians,” says Sukhen Buskey who migrated from the Sakati chit in 1973. Till date, he has no ration card. Like other people who migrated from the enclaves, he has his land certificate from the Cooch Behar district administration as proof but is still not considered as Indian.

“From time to time, there has been an influx of residents of Indian enclaves into the Indian mainland. We refer to them as oustees who are deprived of all rights even though they no longer live in the enclaves,” said Arindam K. Sen, chairperson of APRICRO (Association for Protection of Citizen’s Rights for Indian Chitmahal Residents and Oustees), an organisation fighting for the rights of the chitmahal people.

Sen points out the destitution the oustees face and rampant police harassment. The organisation has repeatedly appealed to the Centre and the West Bengal government to empower these people with their due rights. But they have never received anything in reply.

Professor Partha Pratim Basu, professor of international relations at Jadavpur University, sounds out the red herring. He says, “These people are the victims of international politics. India should solve this problem in its own interest. If they are recognised as forced migrants, they will have to be accorded status of refugees and extended all benefits due to them. But the fact that they cross the international border complicates the situation and clouds their status. But the Indian government will have to classify them and provide them with a rehabilitation package. We have to remember that 50,000 was the number eight years back. In case we don't take stock now, the problem might grow to a different magnitude.”

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IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

On the road with luxury

2011-05-31T10:56:00.000+05:30

IIPM Professor Arindam Chaudhuri on 'OBAMA and OSAMA'

A traveller's delight and a desire to indulge into luxury and that too in the best way. Here is a peek into what has redefined luxury holidays that some even call a dream today!

Music to your ears
MSC Cruise
MSC Orchestra Cruises are the perfect blend of design, comfort and safety. Airy, open spaces and MSC Cruises’ signature Italian style make MSC Orchestra a stylish pioneer for future cruise ship projects and designs. On board the luxury MSC Orchestra cruise ship you will be enthralled by the wide spectrum of entertainment facilities – a rejuvenating Turkish bath, dining at the Shanghai Chinese restaurant, relaxation at the exotic animal-print Savannah Bar, sumptuous Purple Bar or one can enjoy Hollywood-style glamour in the chic Zaffiro Bar. Try your luck at the Palm Beach Casino, dance the night away in the disco and enjoy the best holiday one could ever ask for!

“The magic of backwaters”
Kumarakom Lake Resort, Kottayam, Kerala
Along the coastal lowlands and backwaters of India’s south-western state of Kerala lies the vast Vembanad Lake, connected to the Arabian Sea by a network of canals, estuaries and rivers. And at the edge of Vembanad Lake is Kumarakom, a tiny town at the edge of a lagoon, crisscrossed by narrow waterways used for navigation and irrigation. There you’ll find the Kumarakom Lake Resort, a collection of low-slung villas with red tile roofs, surrounded by palm trees, clustered around a long and winding 250-metre free-form swimming pool. You can enjoy the serenity of the waters and rekindle all the joys of the world and forget the hustle and bustle of daily life.

Spa it out
Sereno Spa at Park Hyatt Goa
Spread over 36,000 square feet, Sereno Spa at Park Hyatt Goa is a complete wellness spa destination, set in lush beachfront gardens in the idyllic region of South Goa, India. Sereno Spa Goa offers holistic massage treatments and a blend of unique therapies inspired by Ayurvedic and Yogic traditions, designed to refresh and revitalise. A serene sanctuary for the senses, the luxury Spa offers personalised body and facial treatments with spa packages and fitness programmes to promote wellness, detoxification and serenity. Sereno Spa has been awarded “World’s Number One Spa” and “Best Spa in Asian and Indian Subcontinent" by Conde Nast Traveller Reader’s Spa Awards 2006.

The “wonder” of luxury!
Oberoi Amarvillas, Agra
Spend long moments sitting on the room balcony just being awed by the view of the world's greatest monument of love. Wake up to the glorious sight of the Taj, bathed by the first rays of dawn. Watch her sparkle by day as the sun shines on her architectural perfection. Allow yourself to be swept away by her romance at dusk. Let the nights be filled with the magic of the Taj by moonlight. The richly detailed interiors are perfectly complemented by a choice of international and Indian cuisine. You will be treated like royalty at the Spa, with therapies designed to rejuvenate body and soul.Amarvilas will be exclusive and unforgettable.

For the body, mind and soul
Ananda in the Himalaya
Located in the tranquil Himalayan foothills, close to the mythological cities of Haridwar and Rishikesh, surrounded by graceful Sal forests, overlooking the peaceful Ganga as it meanders into the distance, the award winning Ananda is the spiritual pathway to be discovered through the union of body, mind and soul. It is not just a retreat that will leave you breathless with the enchantment of its surroundings, but assists in redefining lifestyles to include the well-known traditional Indian wellness regimes of Ayurveda.

Be the king of your palace
Devi Garh Palace, Udaipur
Nestled in the Aravali hills, the 18th century Devi Garh palace in the village of Delwara forms one of the three main passes into the valley of Udaipur. The Fort Palace is conceived as a place where the past meets the future. This all-suite luxury hotel comprises of 39 suites with an emphasis on design and detail, and the use of local marbles and semi-precious stones. The contemporary design showcased within this spectacular heritage property, complemented by personalised and intimate service, creates a new image of India for the 21st century. With private suites and spectacular spas, this palace will fulfil all dreams to live like a king!

Cocoon decor
The perfect fit for home where all dreams will come true.

Veneta Cucine
The kitchen king
This vivid collection goes beyond modernity. The wood is used as a distinctive feature in a design that incorporates the most advanced trends of a modern style. A dream kitchen for anyone and specially the ones who love to cook. The light oak becomes a distinguishing element of a design that assimilates the latest trends without losing the feel of naturalness. The ideal kitchen with lots of space, style and spectacular design will be a dream come true.

Maspar
Snuggle away to glory
Snuggle into this divinely restful bed collection and get transported back to the days where seamstresses lovingly poured over yards and yards of fine cloth, creating wonders . The vintage bed collection is a rare testimony of the past days of fine workmanship, which merges beautifully with the outstanding design sense of today. Here, the classic meets the contemporary . The superior detailing and textures recall the antique lines of 19th-century European wedding trousseaus. Slip between the sheets for a night of restful sleep.

FCML-(Bath fittings)
Bathing will never be the same again!
The luxurious bathrooms are the epitome of creative energy to present an exclusive and dynamic collection. This contemporary, state-of-the art designs are for those who enjoy good living. With European luxurious bathroom design products, elegant and contemporary Home décor products and accessories and à la mode collection of the most beautiful eco-friendly, recycled tiles, all inside one parapet, FCML can be aptly called the elixir of lifestyle products and a show-stealer.

D'Decor
Endow your house with style

Usher into your home a rich history of luxurious and elegant home furnishings by D'Decor. The collections that are celebrating life, created by the the world's third-largest mills in the home furnishing space. These creations will continue to reflect the distinction of being India's largest manufacturer and exporter of home furnishing fabrics.

Suave Nests
Home is not where you live, but where they understand you. Here's providing you with the list of 'dream homes' gracing the land of India

Royal life...
Commander's Court
If peace is the only thing on your mind, then set in the most prestigious part of Chennai, centrally located and luxuriously appointed Commander's Court by DLF is where you should take long-term rest. This oasis of serenity provides you with a life of comfort, luxury and peace. With salient features like air-conditioned apartments and duplexes, fully-integrated kitchen appliances, jacuzzi in master bathroom, and flanked by restaurants, party lawns, swimming pool, gym, spa, aerobic and yoga centre and table-tennis room, it is the place where the journey of a hassled life ends... and a life full of bliss begins.

Lavasa Hill City
Hills beckon...
If you want a hill-city between the city of dreams (Mumbai) and the aqua gateway (Goa), here comes Lavasa, a man-made hill city based on neo-urbanism. Although the whole city is like an elongated dream at your disposal, the dreamiest ones are the Goan and Mediterranean theme villas along the lakefront. Lavasa is an exclusive offering from HCC. It is a city away from a city, and has everything to sustain itself luxuriously. Starting from schools and colleges, management institutions, excellent education centres to clubs, golf-courses, spas, resorts, multi-theme parks, eco-safari and water-and adventurous sports – everything is at your doorstep. Lavasa is home to the rarest species of butterflies(Oak Leaf), birds (Tickell's Flowerpecker) and flowers (Karvy or Blue Bloom).

Kingswood Oriental
Into the woods...
Do dense woods beckon you? Then, Kingswood Oriental by Jaypee is destined for you. Grab the earliest opportunity to name one for yourself. Besides the modern amenities ranging from jacuzzi in the master bathroom to miniature gazebos in the back-garden of the house and terrace garden with top-of-the-line security system, this estate in Noida will also provide you with a very unique and oriental feel due to the use of wood and bamboo design and private lily ponds. Set on five basic pillars of life – longevity, harmony, beauty, happiness and blend, it is an exclusive community that offers unparalleled ambiance and lifestyle. Lavish homes of Kingswood are surrounded by stunning bonsai landscapes, zen garden and soothing water-bodies. Bliss! Isn't it?

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Cut-price nation: In India, a land that is forever in festival mode, discount sales are a round-the-year affair that finds takers without fail

2011-05-27T10:12:00.000+05:30

Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....

Another bumper sale is underway at a superstore in the friendly neighbourhood shopping mall. The offer is tempting: buy a sofa set, get a cupboard free. Enticed? Go grab the furniture before it is too late.

But hang on. In India, it is never too late. Stock clearances and factory seconds sales on garments, home décor products, electronic appliances and etc are a round-the-year affair in one of the world's fastest growing economies.

So take it easy. This "bumper sale" isn’t going away in a hurry. Even if it does, rest assured it will be back soon enough, beckoning you to make that big purchase that might not be all that essential. But why resist? A good deal is a good deal whether you need it or not.

The consumer base is impressively vast and vibrant in contemporary India. But we remain a land where the ethos of the good old village mela holds sway. When business is conducted in the informal, laid-back ambience of a rural fair, cheap isn’t necessarily bad. For the seller, the principle is pretty simple: give the buyer a bargain that he cannot refuse. It is an age-old compact that is valid to this day.

India has changed beyond recognition in the past two decades and the urge to splurge has multiplied manifold among a thriving segment of its populace. But, for an average Indian buyer, value for money is still of utmost importance. Doesn’t that explain why a discount sale never fails to catch the imagination of this country's burgeoning post-liberalisation middle class?

Sreekant Jain, a leading retailer of branded costumes in Kolkata's Burrabazar, says: "The offers run throughout the year basically in order to sell items that have remained unsold or have gone out of vogue. To accommodate the new fashion, we are compelled to sell the older ones at lower prices. But there's no denying that sales go up appreciably when we offer discounts. A 25 per cent price reduction pushes up sales by at least 35 per cent."

In the retail business arena, the average Indian consumer heartily embraces the tried and tested. Familiarity does not breed contempt here. If anything, it generates an air of comfort. So we head for big-brand outlets that give us the right prices and the right vibes.

Shopping malls are cavernous, impersonal and anonymous spaces where the consumer is by and large on his own although he is surrounded by streams of similarly meandering and gawky-eyed people. In these new temples of consumerist glitz and gloss, aspirations are sky high, and the inducements are countless.

The consumer strolls around the place, sometimes with intent, often quite aimlessly. When he finally strays into a shop that sells designer objects of desire, the products are often well beyond his budget. So, he occasionally ends up picking up stuff not because it has caught his fancy but because it turns out that he can afford it.

What probably creates an even bigger gulf between the buyer and the ‘faceless’ departmental store is that the former has to deal with constantly changing faces at the billing till. A transaction devoid of emotional connect does not lead to long-term allegiances. No wonder the retail supermarkets today go out of their way to develop relationships with their customers by handing out loyalty cards that guarantee special discounts and redeemable points every time a purchase is made.

"Discount sales target the middle class in particular. The idea is not just to attract them. We give them these benefits because we want to take them into confidence and engender in them a sense of being valued as customers," says Nadeem, proprietor of Zyclone Shop, a menswear store near the Kochi International Airport.

What comes in handy in this marketing strategy is the fact that India is a land of festivals, religious and otherwise, and an array of national celebrations. One simply needs an occasion – Diwali, Dussehra, Christmas, Eid, Guru Nanak Jayanti, Gandhi Jayanti, Independence Day, Raksha Bandhan, et al – to unleash "the biggest sale of the season".

In recent years, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day and, most importantly, Valentine’s Day, among sundry other diurnal ideas borrowed from the West, have been added to that never-ending list of pretexts to woo consumers with sales that promise the earth and the moon in one go.

Bargain sales and stock clearances are certainly not peculiar to the Indian context. But in which other country of the world do retailers have the sheer diversity of valid reasons to pull out the stops and inveigle buyers with slashed prices?

In this country of a billion-plus people, not a month passes without a festival or anniversary of national significance impacting the retail scenario. Add to that the "end-of-season" sales that take place when winter and summer draw to a close, there isn’t a week when branded products aren’t up for grabs at eye-popping prices.

Says Ganpatbhai Kothari, owner of Kothari Electronics in Ahmedabad: "The festival season, a period of three to four months, is extremely crucial for us. People are on a shopping binge and in order to attract them we give them discounts that make a difference."

The festival season in India stretches for months – in Kerala it begins with Onam, in Gujarat with Navratri, in Bengal with Durga Puja, and in Maharashtra with Ganesh Chaturthi. Nowhere in India do people withdraw from their celebration mode until they have ushered in the New Year with a binge to put all other binges in the shade.

"The craze for discount sales is fuelled principally by India’s huge youth population that goes out looking for its favourite brands but often prefers to wait until the time they are available at reduced prices. Says 28-year-old Ahmedabad resident Yogendu Joshi: "I always prefer to shop during Navratri because of the benefits that are available in the festival season.

Yes, quality is important, so when big brands offer hefty discounts why shouldn’t we grab it?"

But shops that offer year-round discounts – sometimes as high as 80 per cent – often face scepticism from consumers. How do they manage to make profits? Is quality a casualty? Says Prakash Dhamija, a young sales boy at an outlet in a Delhi NCR shopping mall: "The year-round sale is our USP. We thrive on volumes. We have a steady and committed clientele. Once a consumer is convinced of the quality of our garments, he or she keeps returning."

He asserts that the low prices are indeed the biggest draw. He points to the red jacket hanging in the shop window. "Doesn’t it look good enough to be worth Rs 5000? The "50 per cent off" tag makes it a steal. When the price seems far lower than the perceived worth of a product, the equation works perfectly for both buyer and seller," adds Prakash.

The buyer’s perspective isn’t different at all. "Discount sales are a huge boon," says A.P. Sasidharan Nair, a retired school teacher in Angamaly, Kerala. "Most of my branded household appliances were brought during the Onam season sales. I purchased my refrigerator, television set and washing machine when they were on discounts."

The question to be asked is: do we ever ask our physician, interior designer or hairstylist for discounts? The answer is no. Neither do we ever walk into a builder’s site office and demand a cut in the price of a property we are planning to buy. Certain transactions are outside the purview of bargaining procedures.

Contrast that with the scene in Dilli Haat, where craftsmen from around the country sell their wares. Here, haggling over prices is the norm. So the stalls, which sell anything from decorative knick-knacks and ethnic jewellery to furniture and carpets, do not offer any discounts. They don't have to.

But do we ever approach the floor manager of a shopping mall superstore and ask for reductions? We don't. So concessions are granted without the consumers having to ask for them. It is an integral part of the business. Dangle the carrot and draw people into the store and then hope they pick up the high-priced "new arrivals" as well while they look for the bargains.

Jiban Roy, Kolkata-based market analyst, says: "We love to bargain. We cough up Rs 100 for a cup of coffee but we get into a flap if an autorickshaw guy charges us a rupee extra. It is a mindset. That is why offers from the big brands turn us on." In a price-obsessed nation, that is par for the course.

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Catch 'em young: The mantra that drives advertisers to cast a spell on children who, in turn, influence their parents' buying decisions

2011-05-24T09:59:00.000+05:30

IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board

What do you call a consumer who wants to buy everything he fancies, doesn't care what it costs and is less than five feet tall? A marketer's dream? Nope… you call him a child.

In India and across the world, marketers target children as prospective buyers because their influence on a family's decisions is immense. Parents often buy things for their children and themselves at the bidding of the little ones.

So it is easy to see why burger and cola adverts are almost always aimed at children. Today's children are exceptionally receptive to advertorial suggestions. They have been exposed right since birth to colourful shop fronts and attractively packaged products displayed in shopping malls, fast-food restaurants and movie halls.

Television ads and information disseminated through the Internet, too, serve to mould a child's likes and dislikes. And when a movie star like Shah Rukh Khan or a sporting icon such as Sachin Tendulkar endorses a product, a child is sold on it instantly.
With advertisers bombarding children with messages and images day in and day out, even a two-year-old today recognises the logos and signs of prominent brands. As soon as a child begins to speak, he or she is ready to “make decisions”.

“My five-year-old daughter can recognise the McDonald's sign whenever we cross any market. We have to buy her the happy meal every time we go out or every time she sees an advertisement on television,” says Reema Dargan, a mother of two young girls.

Not only do children today have more disposable income at younger ages, but they have significant influence over family purchases. Marketing experts call it "pester power," or the "nag factor". Children have the ability to nag their parents to buy a specific product or take them to a particular restaurant. After all if your child asks you for the latest toy 37 times a day for a week, the odds are that you'll eventually give in and buy it.

Children are often used to sell products that are not even meant for children because the influence eventually pushes their parents to buy these commodities. For instance, ads for washing detergents and powders like Nirma and Surf Excel often bank upon children for impact.

These types of ads are designed to arouse the emotion of prospective customers. Using children in advertisements particularly in India, where many people can’t afford the products being promoted, is aimed at getting younger members of a family to buy those products.

It isn't just in the case of small household provisions like a toothpaste or a soap bar that children play a significant role. Even when it comes to buying capital goods such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) television or a car, parents nowadays often succumb to the exertions of their children.

Take the case of seven-year-old Darpan. When his father recently let it be known that he would be buying a Maruti Suzuki Alto, the little boy put his foot down. He told his father that he would have none of it. Eventually, Darpan's father had to settle for a more expensive car for the sake of his son.

The growing purchasing power of children represents an important element in a marketer's plans. Children not only have money of their own to spare, they also influence their parents' buying decisions. Even more important is the fact that they are the adult consumers of the future.

Parents today are willing to buy more for their children because trends such as smaller family size, dual incomes and postponing children until later in life mean that families have more disposable income. As well, guilt can play a role in spending decisions. Busy parents are unable to give enough quality time to their children, so they seek to make amends by plying the kids with material things.

Marketers have also become increasingly sophisticated these days, using research in developmental psychology to exploit the age-specific vulnerabilities of children and cast their messages in a much more powerful mould.

There is now a whole segment in the marketing industry devoted to figuring out how to sell things to children.

In order to know what makes kids tick, advertisers, with the help of well-paid researchers and psychologists, have access to in-depth knowledge about children's developmental, emotional and social needs at different ages.

Using research that analyses children's behaviour, fantasy lives, art work, and even their dreams, companies are able to craft sophisticated marketing strategies to reach young people.

For very young children up to five, who watch commercials and television programmes with equal attention, commercials aimed at this group often associate the product or brand with fun and happiness, rather than talking about actual product facts.

According to child psychologist Neeta Mehta, “Children don't develop a concept of other people's beliefs, desires and motives until they are at least six years old and it is difficult for children younger than seven or eight years old to understand that the intent of advertising is to get them to buy things. They also tend to take advertised claims about a product literally.”

Six-year-old Aatman buys everything that his favourite cartoon character Buzz Lightyear of Toy Story wears, even the wings which help him fly. Today Aatman has a wish: to be able to fly like Buzz Lightyear. He moves around the house in a Buzz Lightyear costume and the toy wings praying for his wish to get fulfilled.

Marketing aimed at teenagers focus on teens' insecurities. Teens are impressionable and the advertising of today manipulates them, controlling them by controlling their desires. They will embrace the newest trends that the advertising industry tells them they need for their own success and image. These adolescents will buy anything if it makes them look and feel "cool".

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Digital revolution: Gadgets with killer looks and technology never cease to fascinate

2011-05-20T10:04:00.000+05:30

Anna Hazare: My Prime Minister

TSI lists this festive season the most sophisticated of them, ones that have ruled the market for quite some time

Smart Choice
Motorola Milestone
Milestone XT720 by Sony Ericsson is a milestone in itself as it is the first smartphone to be launched in India with Android 2.1 Operating System. Milestone is a smartphone without compromise, delivering a wiser, richer web and messaging experience. As an Android 2.1 device, it does what other smartphones don’t. It has been designed to enhance consumer experiences with its full screen web browsing experience, ability to juggle between multiple applications and suite of Google applications delivery. Along with all this it has the thinnest QWERTY slider (13.7 mm), Multi-Touch with double-tap zoom, 5MP camera with flash and auto-focus and thousands of applications and widgets in Android Market. This offering by Motorola is undoubtedly a boon for tech savvy users.

A Masterpiece
Sony Ericsson Black Diamond
This high-end 4 megapixel phone is cased in a layer of polycarbonate with mirror finish cladding. The OLED technology makes for vivid illumination under the polycarbonate skin and gives it a borderless screen effect. The ultra thin profile, clean lines, and ultra-glossy finish are all qualities which surely provide an exotic look which will attract Sony Ericsson fans and gadget freaks alike. The most amazing feature is that this luxurious mobile is studded with black diamonds. This masterpiece is entailed with touch keypad and comprises of Wi-Fi technology and Bluetooth which makes the connectivity pretty amazing. You can easily capture the best moments of your life with this gadget and surely it will suit your style.

Sony X Series
Sound Revolutionised
This festive season the electronics giant Sony has taken the covers off the X Series of their Walkman players. It's not just the three-inch OLED screen which it boasts about but also its S-Master Digital Amplifier and Clear Audio technologies that make for the best Walkman sound quality so far, and the claim to be the the world's first for an MP3/video player with digital noise cancelling. Apart from the touchscreen, it has support for all popular music and video formats, Hybrid controls (touchscreen plus buttons) & Wi-fi connectivity. All this in one gadget will surely make anyone go for it and at any cost.

Lenovo
The House of Innovation

The all new range of trendy and classy laptops from the house of Lenovo (a company which has been powered by strong innovation). From being just an outstanding computing machine, powered by Intel Core i5-450m processor, the Lenovo IdeaPad Y560 (15") notebook seamlessly transforms into a sleek home theatre or an envious gaming device just at the touch of a button. These sleek Notebooks fascinate the user with artistic cover pattern, the classic orange loop and an elite impression.

Vertu
Elegance Personified
The über swanky segment of Nokia - Vertu is out with yet another class act. The latest from the chic brand is an addition to their Constellation series and is called the Ayxta. This is Vertu's very first attempt at a flip phone clamshell device. The Ayxta is Designed in the UK and made up of stainless steel and aluminum with leather to accentuate certain areas. Its exemplary features include Sapphire crystal display, Ceramic keypad, 3G with EDGE/GPRS, Bluetooth, USB 2.0, 3 megapixel camera with dual LED flash, MicroSD card support (up to 8GB) and much more. It also comes with preloaded ringtones that include those by Grammy-nominated artists, Zero 7.
The other classy product is the Signature Cobra - a luxurious cellphone encrusted with precious rocks by French jeweller Boucheron. It is a ritzy gadget made from the innovative combination of one pear-cut diamond, one round white diamond, two emerald eyes and 439 rubies, thereby making it a luxurious dream, which if you have will make others envy.

MERIDIIST
Redefining Luxury
For those who have the taste and love for the ultimate brands, TAG Heuer, the famous Swiss watch maker and an icon in its own way, has decided to join the mobile bandwagon. In creating a niche for themselves, they have designed and launched the MERIDIIST - an ultimate luxury handset. The MERIDIIST is made from corrosion-resistant steel and has scratch resistant 60.5 carats sapphire crystal dual displays (the main display and the display on the top for the watch). It has a 1.9 inch QVGA display, while the secondary display is a monochrome OLED screen. According to TAG Heuer, the handset can pull off seven hours of talk-time. It also sports a 2 megapixel camera, media player and Bluetooth. So, for all you brand conscious or should we say, brand freaks out there you have lots to cheer about this festive season and TAG Heuer has given you their exclusive offer to grab...

Xbox 360
Gaming Console
The Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system places you at the centre of the experience. Xbox 360 ignites a new era of digital entertainment that is always connected, always personalised, and always in high definition. Xbox 360 gives you access to the games you want to play, the people you want to play with, and the experiences you crave – when and where you want them.

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Much desired hot wheels!: Dazzling cars and powerful bikes

2011-05-16T10:26:00.001+05:30

IIPM Marches Ahead in B-School Rankings...

Dazzling cars and powerful bikes are things that everyone aspires for. tsi brings a pack of products that have been the dream purchase for many in the Indian circuit

Mercedes SLS AMG
Speed at its best...
Words like emotions, design, racing exhilaration, path braking are some of the attributes that one can definitely associate with the SLS AMG. Based on a true sports car design on the exterior, complemented by the puristic, aviation inspired interior designs makes this exclusively made product by AMG in the history of 40 years one of the most popular in the luxury segment. Carrying a price label of Rs 2.5 crore, the SLS AMG demonstrates the highest order of development expertise. With values like passion, performance, design, technology and engineering excellence, the SLS AMG is one of the most exciting sports car brand present today. Sporting a 6.3 litre V8 front mid-engine and the AMG speedshift DCT 7-speed sports transmission, the SLS AMG surely exhilarates automotive enthusiasts across the country. Quality, safety, reliability and exclusiveness are some features that have caught the fancy of the Indian consumer. SLS AMG fulfils the needs of the most elite customers by offering a range of customisation options taking help of the AMG Performance Studios.

Yamaha VMAX
Giving an adrenaline rush
Apart from the fact that the VMAX is the most expensive offering that Yamaha has in India, the astonishing performance and revolutionary muscular styling of the motorbike makes it one of the hottest wheels that one aspires to own. Available in a metallic black colour, the sports cruiser carries a price tag of Rs 20 lakh (Ex-Showroom, Delhi). Launched with an aim to take biking in India to a different echelon, it has rightfully provided new thrill to the bikers. Offering a 1,679cc liquid-cooled 4-stroke DOHC 65 degree V4 engine, the link-type Monocross system of the rear suspension adds on to the comfortable ride of this model. From engine control systems to the aluminium frame and to the radial-mounted 6-piston front brakes, the product is surely one of the finely engineered products available in the country as of today. The smooth acceleration combined with the bodywork and styling of the model is one USP that has attracted a lot of consumers towards this beast since it was introduced to the Indian consumer.

BMW Z4
Witness the roadster experience!
If you are looking to own a vehicle for the sheer driving pleasure, perhaps the BMW Z4 is the one you are hunting. Modern, emotional and authentic are the few values that this product carries and combine classic roadster proportions with a seating position close to the rear axle, rear-wheel drive and a fully-automatic retractable hardtop. The two-seater model offers a refreshing experience of the sunshine and the wind rushing by when driven with the hood open and the product is one of the most sought after in its segment. Available at an ex-showroom price of Rs 59 lakh, the Z4 is one of the popular products in the roadster segment worldwide. Offering a high level of practicality, the Z4 is one of the best buys for the consumers who are looking for an overwhelming experience on the drive.

Rolls Royce Ghost
Elegance on wheels
This tailor-made car has surely taken the Rolls Royce brand into the reach of many who couldn't earlier even dream of owning any product from the stable of this British Luxury carmaker. While it still comes with a hefty price tag of Rs 2.5 crore (estimated), it is undeniably the most affordable product in the portfolio of the company. As the Ghost carries the original Rolls Royce flavour and also broadens the appeal of Rolls-Royce cars, it has become one of the most popular cars under the Rolls Royce umbrella in no time. With an ability to reach 0-100km/hour in just 4.9 seconds, the Ghost has become the talk of the town in the luxury circuit. This four-door super-luxury saloon, despite being smaller in size as compared to the earlier models of the company, has been able to stay true to its luxurious heritage. Using the finest wood and leather materials, Ghost is one of the most sought after products in the domestic luxury circuit.

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Dream Purchases: Fashionably Yours

2011-05-08T10:50:00.002+05:30

INDIA'S BEST COLLEGES, INSTITUTES and UNIVERSITIES

Dress up this carnival with a never-before look and here's a guide to those dazzling desires that will help you to make an ultimate statement during the fashion fiesta....

Wrap up the gucci way

Be it Dussehra or Diwali, a festival means gifting. Or maybe wrapping your precious glares and watches – these awesome cases from Gucci can be the ultimate solution. The watch cases and shoe horns in metal have been crafted with exclusive chocolate Guccissima leather. GG candles in brown and gold are also on offer. Prices on request.

Timelessly yours

Want to tantalise with time? Then you should definitely grab this TAG Heuer Grand Carrera watch, which is inspired by the world’s most prestigious sports cars. Being a leader in the boardroom is one thing and ruling the dance floor is another, but with this silver, brown or black dial and an elegant steel bracelet or an alligator strap, you can cajole anybody on to the dance floor. With diamonds on the bezel and tagged at Rs 4,00,0000, this watch is a must for this festival season.

Fit & fine

Globally acclaimed lifestyle sportswear brand FILA has been known for their 'perfect fit' sports shoes. And for this festival, to help patrons maintain their healthy style of living, this ritzy Italian sports brand has recently launched their all-new range of running shoes. Running is not only about staying fit but it is also important for a positive attitude. What could be a better time to get off your heels than now? FILA’s new range consists of Intercept, Skylite, Hexon, Surge, Alloy and Racer, which do a great job in providing exceptional cushion support and maintaining a perfect posture required for running. Prices on request.

Lords of the ring

They say a ring reflects the eternal. And this ring from Gitanjali is definitely timeless. Christened Nouvelle Bague, the ring epitomises the beauty of ‘black and white’. Classically crafted in 18k pure white gold along with black and white diamonds studded to artistic perfection, this makes you feel like a lord during this fiesta.
Price on request.

Dazzle of the devi

It’s a carnival of spirituality and would be incomplete without the Goddess of power. Exclusively designed around Goddess Durga, who represents a united front of all divine forces against negative forces and for the protection of good, this exquisite Tanishq Durga diamond pendant is ideal as much for possessing as for gifting. Crafted in 18k gold and sparkling certified diamonds, this bon-ton pendant radiates the spirit of prosperity and celebration. Priced at Rs 35,000, it is available at all Tanishq stores.

Colourfully fish fry

Futuristic fashion gets a new address with Reebok commissioning Indian designer Manish Arora to come up with a complete line of high-end accessories under the name Reebok Fish Fry. Highly fashionable and über cool, this latest collection of boots from Reebok Fish Fry has been showcased at many international fashion weeks, including the prestigious Paris Fashion Week. Crafted with bright colours and blending a bit of tradition, these shoes will add colour to the festival but the prices are something that you need to find out.

Equipping office dream!
The office category requires products which are sophisticated and classy & at the same time make you earn that extra buck by saving time

Projection:
The Samsung Way
The super stylish P400 LED Pocket Projector is perfectly suited to be a dream purchase in the office segment as it's high on quality and comes in ultra compact size. It offers unrivaled portability and flexibility of placement, allowing premium images to be viewed anywhere you want. With 20000 hours of the unique LED lamp life and crystal clear brightness, it is a synonym to class and perfection. Based on DLPTM technology, it allows more lights from the LED lamp onto the screen which minimises the loss of light in the projection process and improves efficiency.

Printing :
Pi'x'cs with...
PIXMA MX876 is the complete office solution offering from Canon, which can easily print, scan, copy, fax, and network. With the five-colour individual ink tank system, it can print 4 x 6" (4R) borderless photo in approx. 39secs up to the paper size A4. Its ChromaLife 100+ technology ensures photos that can last up to 300 years. It has 1pl (min.) ink droplets and 9600 x 2400dpi (max.) resolution. The Auto Scan Mode allows automation of scanning and saving procedures in to three short steps and the Auto Document Fix (ADF) technology analyses document characteristics and applies appropriate correction to enhance document readability. It reproduces accurate second generation photos & documents with dual colour. The Speed Dial Utility of MX876 can change settings and register fax recipients. The ADF technology enables the machine to store up to 250 faxed pages when out-of-paper or ink. It has a 2.5" LCD colour display for easy viewing & selection.

The IP Phone Dream
The GenNext Technology
Cisco's Unified IP phone 7941G is a full-featured handset that provides two programmable line and feature buttons along with four interactive soft-keys to help guide users through various call features and functions. With IP phones catching the corporate eye and being one of the most potent technologies in the near future, the 7941G certainly tops the list. With high resolution and a graphical 4 – bit scale display of 320 x 222, the IP phone is all set to shiver the competitors with an added advantage of one of the most trusted technology brands in the world.

Router
New High Definition
Linksys Wireless-N Access Point with Dual-Band (WAP610N) from the house of Cisco is becoming popular in the office space segment with beautiful looks and great embedded technology within. Optimised to stream HD video across the home network, the WAP 610N works on both wireless frequencies, 2.4 and 5 GHz, to provide more reliable streaming and less interference from other products. The WAP610N is also ideal for SOHO applications. Wireless-N can deliver the necessary bandwidth you need for VoIP telephony, high volume data transfers or back-ups, web surfing and e-mailing.

The supreme class!

For all those tech lovers out there, we now unveil a guide to add that extra zing to your home with the lifestyle products that not only make you look ber cool but also pump up your senses....

Visually scintillating
Sony 3D TV
With the world swooning over the 3D technology, this latest innovation from the Japanese Pioneer is not to be missed. The 60-inch 3D BRAVIA TV priced at Rs 4, 49,900 is surely a dire that comes loaded with features like a Full HD 3D, Motionflow 200 hz Pro and OptiContrast Panel. Besides its excellent features, the 3D TV also has a deep black panel that not only gives a picture accuracy but also flaunts a classy look. All in all, a perfect piece to place in your drawing room to make your neighbours envy.

Not an illusion!
Nikon Camera
The market leader of professional cameras, Nikon has a single-lens reflex digital camera especially designed for the photography enthusiasts. Priced at Rs 289,950, the camera is a one hard catcher for sure, but with its extravagant features, it's an image lover's delight. With attributes like retouch menu, info display on LCD monitor, Integrated Dust Reductions System, live view, D-Movie and dual card slots, the Nikon D3S tales on the panache factor well in quotient for its users. And with Nikon's aggressive service network in the country, one need not think twice before purchasing it.

Sheer panache
LG Microwave oven
Being tagged as India's first convection microwave oven with 151 Auto Cook menu options, this one is a must for your kitchen. Its Nutricare Menu, which is apt for health conscious users seeking for low on calorie food, is a boon in disguise for the consumers who look for intelligent features along with style. It comes loaded with an whole host of smart accompaniments like multi rack, steam chef accessory, light disinfect, humidity sensor, auto moving grill and baker’s basket. Moreover, its flawless floral design in striding colours makes it noticed by every passerby. Its pricing starts from Rs 9090 to Rs 27990.

Wash off, but in style!
Samsung washing machine
When you have Priyanka Chopra to endorse a washing machine, who would not want a piece of it? The new line-up of Samsung top loading washing machines with 6.2kg - 7.5kg capacity is one lifestyle product which is a must in any household. The washing machine is loaded with innovative technology like eco-storm and ‘inner care storm,’ which aims at reduction of water up to 28%. This entire range is available in flashy colours like light grey, Caribbean silver, imperial silver and Carmen wine within a price range of Rs 7,000 to 43,999. So now you know, how to bring Piggy Chops to your home this festive season!

Red is the color this time!
Haier Coupe refrigerator
Imagine a refrigerator, especially designed for the Indian climatic conditions. And when this unmatched feature is paired up with its stylish exteriors such as a wine red glass door with glossy finish, electronic controls with LED Display and a Fuzzy Mode, this machine becomes all the more exquisite. The side by side refrigerator by Haier is available in new model HRF-663IRG which is priced at Rs. 74990. But for an eye candy like this, one does not give a second thought to shed those
bucks!

Sip slurp fire
ADDING THE FINAL TOUCH TO THE PICTURE. LET THE CELEBRATION BEGIN

231ZL – Orange Matte.
Burn it up!
The festival season is just around the corner with promising days of fun-filled celebrations and sharing of gifts. From one of the most trusted and recognised brands in the world, comes one of the most apt gift for the die-hard Zippo lovers in the form of a fresh and new range of designs in red and orange to match the festive spirit. The extremely vibrant and stylish Zippo lighter promises to enhance the excitement, as celebrations get bigger and better. This classic lifetime accessory is a great piece of memorabilia which is also sure to strengthen your bond with your loved ones. So, make the most this festive season and celebrate it the Zippo way – with class, style and a touch of ‘cool’! Alongside the cult designs already in the range, this festive season, Zippo presents a plethora of new designs like 304 – Red matte, 24319 – Slim Candy Apple Red and 231ZL – Orange Matte. Go... blaze it up in style. Go... blaze it up with Zippo.

Patchi
Yummily yours
With a variety of dark and white chocolates, Patchi's trump card during the festive season is its specially designed festive special chocolates. Patchi, a well known name in the chocolate industry has many joyous and tempting shapes. But, what is unique is the shapes of Laxmi and Ganesh that is craftily embedded in the chocolates for the festive season every year. The other attractive features about these chocolates are that they are egg-less.

Besides this, there is also a variety of menus which have been customised to meet the requirements of the customers. They are also offering packaging that comes in designer packages of gold and silverware. Shower love this season. Gift Patchi.

Heirloom
On the rocks
Created to reflect the style of whiskies in the early 19th century Johnnie Walker Blue Label is the epitome of blending. “Heirloom” by Johnnie Walker Blue Label is truly a unique and exquisite masterpiece designed by well-known designer Tarun Tahiliani. Ensconced in a beautifully handcrafted case made with exquisite leather and embellished with blue sapphire Swarovski and 18k gold electroplating, the case comes in very limited numbers making it a gift that stands out.

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Dream Purchases: Streets of desire

2011-05-04T13:01:00.003+05:30

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting

These are the streets where the hustle and bustle of buying and selling are at their noisiest best, where the biggest bargains are struck, where India goes to shop

Even a decade back, Lindsay Street, in Esplanade, the heart of Kolkata, was more a hit with movie buffs. Opera houses, dating back to the British days like Lighthouse, New Empire, Tiger and Chaplin were the hotspots. Middle and upper middle class Bengalis and Anglo-Indians would throng the adjacent New Market or Stuart Hogg Market for shopping. Today, on the eve of the Durga Puja, the same Lindsay Street reverberates since morning till late evening as lakhs and lakhs of shoppers jostle for their share of Puja marketing.

To keep pace with change, Tiger has metamorphosed into ‘Mega Shop’ and Lighthouse rechristened ‘City Mart’. These multi-storey shopping malls with glossy exteriors stock products of a variety of brands. Even the Left-controlled Kolkata Municipal Corporation has joined the 'change' bandwagon. Its parking space has been converted into the bustling Anarkali Market where more than 70 shops do business. Avid readers of English novels used to visit this street, just beside the Oberoi Grand, to buy old books at throwaway prices. The book shops are no more there. They had to vacate the place for Shree Ram Arcade, a garment mall, the first to usher in the change.

About a decade back, Lindsay Street witnessed the first change of façade with ‘Sree Leathers’, the biggest shoe shop of Kolkata, offering latest designs at nearly half the rate of Bata products. Earlier, choosy garment buyers used to visit the New Market and get their garments tailored by Muslim ostagars. The changed times have elbowed them out. New Market shop owners today stock ready-made branded garments. And with this change, Maidan Market, the first shopping complex of Kolkata, built by the then chief minister Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy to assimilate East Bengal refugees into the mainstream, has lost its glory before the glittering Lindsay Street complex.

Today's Kolkata has all the known brands – Peter England, Van Heusen, Koutons, Levi's, Allen Solly, Louis Philippe, Turtle and what not. But tailor-made personally fitted outfits have nearly vanished. Middle-aged Amal feels, “Somewhere we are missing that personal touch. Earlier we used to bargain. Today, bargain is out.”

If one wants to catch a glimpse of Chennai's shopping spirit, he has to come to Ranganathan Street of T. Nagar. A place where you shop till you drop, this small street is less than half a kilometre connecting Mambalam railway station with North Usman Road.

With the biggest multi-storey to the smallest shop on the platform, you can buy everything here, from pins to voluminous household articles. People from all over Tamil Nadu come here to shop for marriages and festivals.

Stephen, who has come all the way from Madurai, tells TSI, ''This is the ideal place to shop when a newly-wed couple is starting out. From furniture to a child's cradle, one can buy everything here. I think one can save at least Rs 75,000, if one shops here for marriages.”

At Jayachandran Textiles, one of the biggest retail shops, the floors are choc-a-bloc with women. Owner J. Sundaralingam says, ''From October till Deepavali, we see very heavy rush here. This crowd will continue till Pongal in January. Saturdays and Sundays are totally full here. On an average, 50,000 people throng this street every day. During the festive season, it swells to over 2,00,000. Even breathing becomes a problem then.”

A view of the street from the top of the building seems like an endless sea of men and women moving at the slowest possible speed. There are about 300 shops which sell branded goods to local products.

Essentially, the shoppers come here as a family. Women dictate the terms. Many eateries line the street. The big multi-storeyed shops have their own food joints. The tailor shops in the basements do brisk business. Manjula, who runs a tailoring shop, says, ''We make a churidar in one hour. This is a catchy prospect. So this place is always abuzz with activity. But sometimes when the number of orders is high and there are frequent power cuts, we face trouble in meeting the deadline.”

Essentially a shopping street for the middle class, this street has been popular since the 1970s. But today the crowd has become unmanageable. The street, too, cannot grow more than it already has, parking woes are mounting. Space is scarce. So to meet the needs, most shops have grown upwards as they can't expand horizontally. The biggest shops have a minimum of eight floors. There is a flip side to this street about scores of salesmen employed at ridiculously low salaries. "Angadi Theru," a Tamil film on life on this street and the struggle of sales employees, was an instant hit with the Tamil people.

Twenty years back, there existed small retail stores at Linking Road in Khar, Mumbai, which would sell footwear, apparels and basic necessities. However, with increase in purchasing power, customers prefer to shop at premium stores like Tommy Hilfiger, Benetton, Espirit, Portico among others which have sprung up post liberalisation.

Earlier, customers preferred to buy shoes from Carona and Bata. But due to rising rentals and with changing consumer aspiration for premium branded products and lifestyle, brands such as Tremode, Mochi, Regal, Metro have now become the choices for footwear and accessories as these stores provide different varieties and styles. As a result, Carona and Bata slowly started fading away. Currently, rental for a retail store here ranges between Rs 500 and Rs 700 per square feet.

According to Monesh Bhojwani, assistant vice president – retail services, Jones Lang LaSalle India, “Still, there are retailers which cater to the value segment that stretch between National College and Gazebo restaurant in Linking Road locality. They include New World of Titan Showroom, Manzoni from the Raymond Group, food and beverage store such as Only Parathas, KFC. High Streets always look at enhancing, by providing visibility to the advertising value of a branded store, vis-à-vis a store which would exist in one corner of a mall.” However, parking is a huge problem here.

Strangely, MG Road and Brigade road, shopping hubs of Bangalore, have seen a downturn in retail business. These streets, once busy with tourists, travellers and high class customers, hardly find customers these days. Shopkeepers attribute this to a decline in number of visitors and the changed buying attitude of settlers from outside the state. “For the last couple of years, we are facing a decline in business. This year has been worst. The economy is down. People have no money to spend. We sell ornaments, jewels and embroidery materials. Earlier foreign customers used to buy these materials without hesitating to spend money. But, nowadays Indian customers are ready to pay but not the foreigners. Just now four Americans were here. They liked something and enquired about its price. When I said it was for Rs 2000, they found it to be very costly and left,” says Lathif of Highway Stores.

But branded shops are finding customers regularly and most of them are young Indians. Adidas, Puma, Soles, Pizza Hut, Cafe Coffee Day, etc are the places where Bangalore youth shop and hang out. Pubs and discotheques like Brigade Garden, Sticks, Zeus Sports Bar, Fusion Lounge, Fuga, Zero G, Club Nero and Hard Rock Cafe are making good money.

Sector 17 of Chandigarh has become the face of an affluent Punjab. It is a throbbing, vibrant shopping centre, a dream venue for shoppers with all major international brands vying for their attention. The chic showrooms are of international standards with their attractive display windows and state-of-the-art interiors.

Sunil Kapoor, manager of Pepe Jeans, says, “In spite of the rents being on the higher side, we are always doing good business. Our clientele mainly includes the young generation, especially students of educational institutions. In addition, tourists going to Himachal also stop here to do their shopping.”

Sector 17 is also a favourite joint of the foodies with many good restaurants and pubs situated here. While Neelam Cinema caters to the cinema goers, Nukkad nataks or street plays are regularly staged with some social message, helping the shoppers to be connected to the real pulse of the country.

Renu Sharma shops at Sector 17 every month. She hails from the nearby town of Kharar. Working with a multinational company in Mohali, she says, “I have seen lots of changes here. There was a time when you could not find the big brands like Nautica, Color plus, Espirit etc but now all those are available. If one can't afford these brands, there are Koutons and Cotton County to pick your ware from. Every time we come here in the evening, and go back home after having dinner.

A three-km stroll from Abids to Koti through Troop Bazar, Begum Bazaar and Sultan Bazar gives you a glimpse of the bustling retail heart of Hyderabad. It has always remained unfazed, business is always brisk despite the recession, inflation, the Satyam scam and IT sector retrenchments.

If the promenade starts with Abids, one must pass through the swanky malls flanked by small shops. Troop Bazar starts next to the multi-theatre Ramakrishna Cinema, owned by the NTR clan. With about 200 shops dealing in electrical goods and an equal number in sanitary ware, Troop Bazar is considered the biggest such bazaar in the country. The narrow roads, resembling that of a labyrinth, hardly allow vehicular traffic. Even pedestrian movement at times becomes difficult. Customers queue up to get their goods through a phased self-service method being followed for centuries.

“Since bargaining is not entertained, shopping at Troop Bazaar saves time. Cut-throat competition saves money. There is usually a discount of 10 to 15 per cent and even more depending on how much you are purchasing,” Narpat Singh of Ritu Lites told TSI. Traders from all major commercial corners of the state throng the Begum Bazaar, a major market for gold, silver, commodities, dry fruits, besides household accessories. The trails shrink further on to Koti’s Sultan Bazaar, a big shopping area of myriad varieties of goods ranging from the biggest chic brands to the relatively obscure ones. “I often find myself loitering in the street as I am a long-time buyer here,” Sree Vidya Chintada, a software professional and a model, told TSI.

Recession and inflation has taken the city by a storm. Amidst recession blues, corporates have gone on a budgeting mode. The elitist uplands of the city, Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills, learnt serious lessons from the recession roadblock, as the main patrons of the commercial activity of these areas, IT professionals, lost their jobs in the ‘cost cutting and rightsizing’ exercise. But business continues unabated on the age-old Abids-Koti road where nothing seems to change.

But change is the over-riding story in the Park Street-Camac Street area of Kolkata, which has always attracted high-end buyers, foodies and pub hoppers. Branded garments, imported cosmetics and fashion items fill up the shelves, glamorous mannequins lure customers in. Nearly every Calcuttan has his or her share of nostalgia about Park Street. But Generation Next does not care about sentimentality. Three-piece suits have made way for knee-torn jeans and shimmering party wear. What is gone is gone. Welcome to New India which promises to get newer with every passing year.

(P. Sankararama Subramanian, Jatinder Kaur, Mona Mehta, Chandrasekhar Bhattacharjee, Naresh Nunna and Suprabha Naik contributed to this article)

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Kashmir: People want to move on

2011-04-21T10:25:00.000+05:30

After Irom Sharmila last year, Anna Hazare wins IIPM's 2011 Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize of Rs. 1cr. To be handed over on 9th May

As the Indian state grapples with the Kashmir issue, a recent poll shows that peace is possible

Yashwant Deshmukh

CVoter Foundation

Dr. Colin Irwin

Department of politics, University of Liverpool

Politicians spin realities to create myths about their people and their country in order to take them forward to a better life. This is called leadership, and when done with compassion and wisdom, peoples and nations can achieve great advances. But when such myths are spun out of self-interest, then, tragically, the result can be misery and death. Kashmir falls into the second category. The reality, according to the people of Kashmir, is that they want an end to the corruption that has blighted their society. They want to live in harmony with their fellow countrymen and women, they want a secular state, they want their children from different communities and faiths to go to school together, they want an end to all forms of discrimination, they want an end to the abuse of human rights and killings, they want India and Pakistan to stop using them for their own selfish reasons, they want to be masters of their own destinies and to this end they want negotiations in good faith. These were the major findings of the most extensive poll ever done in J & K two years ago to find out what solutions the people envisage as the way forward for Kashmir. And it stood in sharp contrast to the myths spun by their political leaders, then seemingly living in the past. Now, two years on, following months of renewed violence and bloodshed, have the views of the people changed and do their leaders speak for them? To this end the most critical constitutional questions asked in May 2008 were repeated again in the latest poll run in August this year.

'We see the continuation of the trends from our last peace poll. This one is, though much smaller in sample size (1200 altogether; while in 2008 we did 3000 plus), but the sentiments are crisp and clear. The overwhelming sentiment in the Valley is of 'full independence' and in 'Jammu and Ladakh of 'join India'. Even though the anti India campaign is in full swing in the Valley, somehow it has not grown into 'pro- Pakistan' sentiment. It is interesting to note here that the current unrest was piloted mostly by the hawkish section of Hurriyat led by Geelani who has clear stand of Kashmir's merger with Pakistan. The softer side of Hurriyat is 'pro-independence'. So, even though the current wave of protests are being led by pro-pakistani leaders, the Valley's sentiment is not pro-pakistan' it remains 'pro-azadi'. No one wanted to 'join Pakistan' in May 2008. Even 69 per cent of those living in the Kashmir Valley considered this option 'unacceptable' then (the result was the same for Muslims) and there is no significant change now at 71 per cent. Although Hindus and Buddhists go for the 'join India' option, 64 per cent of those living in the Valley in 2008 and 58 per cent in 2010 would not. So, this option does not seem to work either as a solution to the Kashmir problem. The UN resolutions for a plebiscite are limited to these two options ' India or Pakistan. Clearly, the people in the Valley who want this plebiscite either do not understand this issue or have been seriously misled. What they want is 'full independence' at 63 per cent 'essential' in 2008 and 65 per cent in 2010, but that is not presently on offer.

'A plebiscite, even if Pakistan, India and the UN agreed to it, would leave Kashmir divided and the people did not want that with 53 per cent terming the 'disintegration' as 'unacceptable' in 2008. However, there has been a significant change. Only 34 per cent reject 'disintegration' now as 'unacceptable'. Similarly, 'regional integration and devolution' at 44 per cent now as compared to 20 per cent in 2008 is far more popular.

The 'no change' option is still strongly rejected in the Kashmir Valley at 58 per cent and 50 per cent 'unacceptable' in 2008 and 2010 respectively. 'Autonomy' was 'unacceptable' to 61 per cent of Buddhists in 2008 and remains so. But the option of 'full implementation of Article 370 and return to the status existing in J and K before 1953 with a parliament and prime minister leaving only defence, foreign policy and communications to India' was by far the 'lesser of all the evils' at only 23 per cent 'unacceptable' over all in 2008. Resistance to this option has also dropped significantly in the Kashmir Valley down from 35 per cent in 2008 to only 24 per cent. So, providing that the Buddhists can be persuaded that their minority rights and culture will be protected in an autonomous state, this option just might work. This can be done by leaving the responsibility for the rights of minorities with India and by implementing far reaching devolution to all levels of government. Coupled with all the other measures for reform dealt with in the 2008 poll, peace might be possible at the negotiating table. Critically all the compromise options are far more acceptable to the people of the Kashmir Valley now in 2010 than they were in 2008. The people of the Kashmir Valley want to move on.

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GUJARAT REFORM: New lease of life to dropouts

2011-04-17T10:13:00.000+05:30

After Irom Sharmila last year, Anna Hazare wins IIPM's 2011 Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize of Rs. 1cr. To be handed over on 9th May

Open School Board to make education accessible to all

Rahul, an impoverished worker at the roadside tea stall in Ahmedabad and a school dropout, was elated when he came to know that the Gujarat government plans to start the Gujarat Open School Board (GOSB). Under this visionary project, the GOSB aims at providing an opportunity to many children, who dropped out of schools or left education for jobs, to complete their studies.

Students, who failed or left schools at the primary or secondary level, will benefit the most from this scheme. Besides, students will also be allowed to sit for the board exams. There are some three lakh dropouts in the state. Most of the students give up their studies before the primary school. Some among them are not even able to reach the high school.

Official sources said the newly-formed GOSB to be functional from 2011-12 would provide dropouts the chance to take admissions in 10 and 12th standard. From next year onwards these students can avail of the facility through distance learning. External students will get the option to enroll themselves for weekend classes that will be started in schools all over the state soon. In these weekend classes, teachers are expected to guide them and work with students to solve their problems. The good thing is that students will not have to pay for the service. It is understood that honorary teachers will get remuneration for their services from the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB), which itself will appoint teachers to help external students keep their motivational levels high.

Once the enrollment in 10th and 12th standards in 2011'12 begins, the GOSB will gradually take in students for standard 9th to 11th for open schooling. Enrolled students will be affiliated with the GSHSEB.

GSHSEB vice chairman H.K. Patel said: 'The GOSB rules are still being framed. We are making provisions to make books and other reading material available to the external students. We will allow them to use school libraries also. The aim is to encourage more and more students who have left their education to join in. We plan to educate as many students as possible.'

Also, there is a move to ensure that external students are eligible to apply for certain professional courses.

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RTI IMPLEMENTATION: An issue of grave concern

2011-04-13T18:05:00.000+05:30

After Irom Sharmila last year, Anna Hazare wins IIPM's 2011 Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize of Rs. 1cr. To be handed over on 9th May

How highest government offices are denying RTI implementation

Right to information, or RTI ' being touted as one of the revolutionary achievements of the UPA ' has virtually become a dormant volcano. With an aim to address issues of rampant corruption, fight injustice, lack of accountability and transparency among ministers and bureaucracy, the UPA regime implemented the amended version of RTI in 2005. Information disclosure in India was hitherto restricted by the Official Secrets Act 1923 and various other special laws, which the new RTI Act now relaxes.

The Centre's move to amend sections of the RTI Act negates the very purpose for which the Act had been passed. The Chief Information Commission (CIC), an autonomous body that ensures the implementation of RTI Act, expressed dissatisfaction over non-cooperation of some important state agencies.

Recently, an RTI activist Subash Chandra Agrawal requested the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Wajahat Habibullah to issue a notice to the Prime Minister Office (PMO) for non-compliance with RTI in providing information about personal assets of Union ministers. But responding to CIC's request, the PMO said that it needs to take a call from both houses of Parliament. But despite clearance from both the Houses, the PMO is purportedly not declaring it ' meaning denial of the RTI.

In another case, P.D. Bunker, an appellant and an accountant with the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), demanded a copy of the CBI report under RTI in the case of M/s Govind Rubber. But the Public Information Office (PIO) of the EPFO denied citing it is confidential. The RTI Act does not recognise 'confidential' as being a ground for denial in Section 8(1). The Sikkim Bhutia Lepcha Apex Committee sought clarification from the Chief Minister Office (CMO) on CM Pawan Chamling's controversial statement during the Jorethang Maghey Mela on a road accident, where three of his adversaries died. But the committee didn't get a desirable response from the CMO.

The UPA government may also bring an amendment which allows rejection of request for information, which is considered 'frivolous and vexatious.' This merits serious concern as it makes non-compliance easier. Information can be withheld or refused whimsically based on this exemption. The proposed amendment favours the information provider who would be only too happy to reject many of the requests on flimsy grounds. For the RTI Act to manifest its benefits, information should be viewed from both the information-seeker and the providers' angle. The amendment would demean the interests of the information seeker. The spirit of this citizen-centric legislation that brought in a paradigm shift in the citizen-government relationship is being dampened.

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PIRACY TERROR FUNDING: The silicon terrorism

2011-04-08T17:59:00.003+05:30

After Irom Sharmila last year, Anna Hazare wins IIPM's 2011 Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize of Rs. 1cr. To be handed over on 9th May

How piracy is funding the global terrorism?

The Hurt Locker, a story on Iraq war and winner of six Academy Awards, may be just another movie in the line of terrorism, but it took war on piracy to an interesting turn. One of the scenes in the movie, where Christopher Sayegh (as Beckham) sells pirated DVDs and various electronic items outside the Jeremy Renner's military base, may not be the climax, but has a significant role in the theme of the film. The pirated DVDs, which are sold for about $1 each, are not only a major source of terror funding in the Middle-East, but are sources of minting money for global terror groups.

On May 2010, Voltage Pictures, the production company of The Hurt Locker, sued thousands of computer users who downloaded pirated copies of the film and filed complaints against 5,000 unidentified BitTorrent users with the US District Court (largest lawsuit of its kind). In addition, it demanded $1,500 from each defendant to release them from the suit. This case, however, may be one-of-its-kind, but it would surely go a long way in influencing production companies to take such steps to reduce piracy. According to a report, counterfeiting and piracy cost around $250 billion annually from the movie industry. Terrorists and organised criminal groups are exploiting this huge market in order to fund their evil plans ' for instance, the highly active D-Company that spearheads the major syndicate involved with film piracy in India and sub-continent for the past 25 years. In 2004, an Interpol report revealed that intellectual property crimes (illegal CDs manufacturing) are a growing resource for terrorist groups from Northern Ireland to the Arab world, including Al-Qaida and Hezbollah. This mode of terror funding is not only present and practised in Asia and the UK, but also found in Latin American countries like Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. According to a report by Rand Corporation, Hezbollah receives $20 million annually from proceeds of pirated films in the tri-border area. Moreover, restrictions on release of international movies in countries like China (allows only 20 foreign movies per year) have cost its industry a whopping $2.5 billion in 2005 (the last available data), due to influx of pirated DVDs. Studies say that developing a pirated DVD in South Asian countries costs less than 70 cents and these can be sold in developed countries for around $10 each. Not only is developing a pirated DVD relatively safer and cheaper, the transfer is equally easy. For example, in France, transacting counterfeit products, including pirated DVDs, is punishable by a fine up to $0.19 million and imprisonment up to two years (whereas selling drugs is punishable with 10 years imprisonment along with a fine up to $9.5 million). However, the pirating gets more lucrative not just because of the returns it offers, but also because of the low risk factor. The rate of conviction for piracy is lower compared to that of smuggling drugs. In 2002-03, merely 134 criminals were convicted of piracy while smuggling of drugs pushed around 1.5 million criminals behind the bars in the US alone.

It is just not about saving millions of dollars that finds its way into the terror industry, but actually about several innocent human lives that are eventually hit. While anti-piracy laws will take its own time to stop piracy, a move like Voltage Picture's will certainly deter internet users from downloading pirated movies.

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Can India ever match China

2011-02-14T14:47:00.000+05:30

INDIA'S BEST COLLEGES, INSTITUTES and UNIVERSITIES

Even horses that have been flogged to death by pundits can be resurrected if you express a point of view that is factual and yet startling. The India-China horse has been flogged many times to death. But new insights or a new way of presenting old and buried facts keep reviving this great debate of the 21st century. Put quite simply, academics, nationalists, strategists, CEOs, politicians, media professionals, think tanks and sundry others keep asking that one question: Can India ever match China? Recent news about China 'officially' overtaking Japan as the second largest economy in the world will once again convulse, confound and titillate all those who have a passion for comparing India with China.

Let us start with a fact that most Indians are either unaware of, or prefer to ignore since our sense of history is as strong as our performance at the Olympic Games. Professor Emeritus of London School of Economics Meghnad Desai has written a new book called The Rediscovery of India. Right at the beginning, this is how Desai tries to put the India-China comparison in perspective in his own words: ' India, unlike China, was never a unitary or even a single federal state through much of its history. In his fascinating one volume history of India, John Keay has a diagram showing how much of India's territory was controlled , over the last three millennia, by any ruling dynasty. The contrast with China is striking. For China, once you leave a turbulent period during 300-200 BC, there is a continuity in state formation. For India, the reverse is true. After the Maurya period of 400-300 BC, you have to fast forward (almost 2,000 years) to the Mughal rule which controlled a similar percentage of territory'India is at once a young polity and a very old culture.'

Says Shi Yinhong, professor of international relations and director of Centre on American Studies at Renmin University of China, 'China's current leaders and, through them, the majority of the Chinese people have a strong belief in Chineseness and its overwhelming importance to national reform and development. This belief in Chineseness is not like the traditional Confucian one, which treated it as a universally applicable value. It is more particular, not assuming that what is best for China is necessarily best for the world.' Can India ever match China ? Quite clearly, that will raise the hackles of ultra and pseudo nationalists who keep telling us that India was the defining and leading nation state of the world throughout much of history. But the fact is that China has always been bigger than India and will arguably remain bigger even in the future. A large number of analysts and pundits commit the cardinal sin of presuming that India was bigger or superior in some numerically measurable way than China. It never was. Once you acquire that perspective, it leads to much less hand wringing and self-flagellation about how China has raced ahead of India in the last three decades and how it is already an economic superpower even as Indians quibble and argue about the number of citizens still living below the poverty line.

In any case, it would be obscene to be obsessed with facile India-China comparisons when more than 600 million Indians earn less than $ 2 a day and when more than 500 million Indians cannot even write their own name in any language. It would be instructive for Indians who obsess with China to learn a few lessons from the trajectory taken by Pakistan as a nation state in the last 60 odd years. Ever since it became a nation state, Pakistan has defined itself against India and remains obsessed with it. And look where the obsession has taken and is still taking Pakistan. And yet, comparisons - facile or serious - have been the staple of academics, the media and even the world at large. You keep listening to, watching or reading endless debates whether Ricky Ponting is a better batsman than Sachin Tendulkar and whether Rafael Nadal will become a greater tennis player than Roger Federer.

Shorn of the hype, a comparison between India and China serves at least two key purposes. First, it helps us focus more effectively on what needs to be done to even match and catch up with China; forget about racing ahead of it. Second, it helps us seek and identify national strategies that will enable India to do what even now looks improbable, that is catch up with China. Most readers are familiar that China is ahead of India when it comes to economic, human development and military parameters. And yet, it is important to recount and highlight some of the more glaring ways in which China - which was always bigger than India anyway - today outstrips and outperforms India. Can India ever match China ? Both in terms of absolute and per capita GDP, China is today four times bigger and richer than India.

Despite an unthinkable decline of more than 10 per cent, thanks to the recession after the global financial meltdown, the value of exports from China to the United States was about $ 300 billion in 2009. This is almost double the total exports of India to all nations of the world.

China is sitting on more than $ 3,000 billion of foreign exchange reserves. That is 10 times the size of the foreign exchange reserve of India.

China is now the largest automobile market in the world with projected sales of 13 million automobiles in 2010. India remains content with automobile sales of less than 2 million.

China manufactures 10 tons of steel for every ton of steel manufactured by India. This should be a sobering thought for those gloating ever since L. N. Mittal took over Arcelor and Tata Steel acquired Corus!

The average Chinese farmer produces more than 4,500 tons of wheat for every hectare cultivated. The average Indian farmer manages to produce less than 2,500 tons despite the Green Revolution.

More than 95% of China is literate while India can boast of a figure of less than 65%.

China won 100 medals at the Beijing Olympics. Indians were ecstatic with joy when our athletes came back with three medals.

The military budget of India in 2009 was about $ 22 billion; that of China was close to $ 80 billion. Most analysts are convinced that the actual military and strategic budget of China is far more than that.

Indians are very proud of Bollywood and prouder of our democracy. There is a perception that the authoritarian regime of China denies citizens any freedom, including that to be entertained. Well, the total value of business generated by the entertainment industry in India in 2009 was less than $ 23 billion. The size of the entertainment industry in China was more than $ 175 billion in the same period! Can India ever match China ? Any which way you look, a comparison between China and India can be a depressing pastime for Indians. It is no consolation to be told by historians and academics that the difference between China and India was as stark and as glaring even during the 17th century when Imperialism started making serious inroads into Asia. The obvious question is: Why is this so? From a historical perspective, perhaps the fact that China has been a unitary nation state far longer than India makes it easier for the rulers of China to remain focussed on the big picture. It also helps that the ethnic group and language called Han accounts for almost 90% of the population of China while India is a bewildering cocktail of ethnic identities, religions, languages, castes and what not. Says Dani Rodrik, a professor of Political Economy at John F. Kennedy School of Governance, 'The Chinese and their administration are committed to a different idea of the social order and polity: Community-based rather than individualist, state-centric rather than liberal, controlling rather than democratic. China has more than two millennia of history as a diverse society from which to draw potency. It will not merely fold under Anglo-Saxon values and institutions. The best part is that a Chinese Global order will exhibit greater reverence for national sovereignty and more forbearance for national multiplicity. There will be larger room for trailing with various economic models.'

But most people who want to get a sense of what makes China so consistently outperform India are more interested in recent history and also a peep into the future rather than going back to the days of Marco Polo or Huein Tsang.

When you look at things from a more recent historical perspective, two key reasons for China's unquestionably superior performance emerge clearly. The first is the superior ability of the rulers of China to think long term and pursue strategic national interests cold bloodedly and ruthlessly. Amongst all major nation states, India displays a baffling lack of strategic clarity and long-term vision. The second is the superior ability of the Chinese state to deliver clearly defined results in pursuit of strategic national interests. The comparative performance of the Indian state has been abject and pathetic, to say the least. Can India ever match China ? Lets analyse the first reason more closely. China remerged as a nation state after a civil war in 1948 as a Marxist regime. But those who ruled China, starting with Mao Ze Dong, had a clear agenda and a long-term vision that would not be accurately defined as Marxist or Communist. They wanted the Middle Kingdom to re-emerge as the most formidable nation state and country of the world. After 1947, when India emerged as a nation state, our long-term vision was a more idealistic (many would say wooly-headed) desire to be a leading moral force in the world. Look at the last 60 odd years and you will realise that India's foreign policy and approach towards the world has gone through numerous contortions. First, America was a friend; then it became the bad Imperialist and Pakistan backer; now it is being embraced again as a strategic partner. Just one example will suffice to contrast India with China in this context. Even when the Shah of Iran of Iran ruled the nation as an American ally during the 1960s and 70s, China was consistently building bridges with Iran as it recognised the strategic importance of oil. China continues to do that even with the Islamic regime. India actually voted with America and her allies against Iran. It is still paying the price as China walks away with all lucrative oil, gas and construction contracts. Even today, ask the elite of India based in Delhi where and how they see India in the next 30 years and most will have no clue except a few clich's about India 'emerging as an economic powerhouse'. The Chinese are not infected with such strategic confusion.

This lack of strategic posture among the ruling elite of India is something that a majority of common Indians don't understand or would even bother to understand. But what they do understand very painfully is the performance of the Indian state vis a vis the Chinese state. There is no doubt that the Chinese state has spectacularly outperformed the Indian state in delivering 'concrete and measurable' results to its citizens. Says Bob Wheil, an acknowledged China expert working at the US-based China Study Group, 'Some Indians, especially in the upper and middle classes, look to the current policies in China with unrestrained capitalist development tide to a still fairly high degree of state control, as an example to be followed. What they in most cases forget however is that though the rapid Chinese rise in recent years results from many causes, it was the head start provided by the socialist revolution - in better health, education, infrastructure development, and social egalitarianism -that laid the basis for this advance. Lacking a similar revolutionary transformation, India lacked in most key economic and demographic indicators by the late 1970s. Many in the Indian working classes and amongst oppressed communities have not forgotten this lesson. For them, the Chinese model is not its current capitalist market system but the socialist revolution that preceded it under Mao's leadership. In India today, as well as in Nepal, The Philippines and elsewhere, Maoist revolutionaries are a growing force as they try to carry out the social transformation that was never done after 1947.' Can India ever match China ? Quite simply and very starkly, the only effective strategy that the rulers of India can adopt if it can ever match China is to deliver better education, healthcare, sanitation and infrastructure to the aam aadmi. And it is here that the growing failure of the state becomes even more glaring and dangerous. The terrible truth is that even desperately poor parents in Indian cities try very hard not to send their children to government schools. Even if they are tottering on the edges of the poverty line, Indians prefer to go to private clinics and hospitals for treatment. So all those who argue that India needs less state are plain wrong. The Indian state largely works to further enrich the already rich; it simply doesn't work for the poor and the marginalised. That is the reason why despite corruption in both countries being equally rampant, China has moved so far ahead of India in key human development indicators. The truth is: Indians have ended up getting the 'wrong' state.

The solution is simple and India has the unique ability to harness both its imminent demographic dividend and democracy to deliver the goods to citizens. Some years ago, this magazine argued in favour of a United States of India; a new political and administrative system that would replace the colonial legacy left behind by the British. Even Manmohan Singh, in his early days as Prime Minister in 2004, had singled out administrative and bureaucracy reforms as the most important ones in his agenda. The plain fact is that the Indian bureaucracy - used as it is to complete lack of accountability and transparency - will always sabotage and destroy any plan to reform the bureaucracy. This magazine had argued a few years ago that India could be better served if, like in the United States, judges, collectors, police chiefs and district magistrates were 'elected' by voters rather than 'appointed' by the state. That is a revolution that Indians are still awaiting. Till that happens, let us keep agonising over how China beats India and will keep beating India.

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KOSOVO CONFLICT: Breathless in Belgrade

2011-02-11T10:43:00.000+05:30

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ICJ's decision on Kosovo will help both Belgrade and Pristina to move ahead, says Saurabh Kumar Shahi

'If it is ok for the Kosovar Albanians, why isn't it for the Karabakh Armenians' seems to be the new rhetoric around the world. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague has cast off Serbia's case that the assertion of independence of Kosovo had no legal base. In a landmark' and surprisingly unambiguous' judgment, the judges of the UN's top legal body have held with a majority of 10 to 4 that the declaration of independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008 did not violate international law.

The judgment has yet again brought forth the division in the international community. The UN Security Council is deeply fractured over the Western-backed international recognition of Kosovo wherein three of its five members with veto power (the US, UK and France) have accepted the declaration of independence, while China has expressed apprehension, urging the continuance of earlier conciliation agenda. Russia, on the other hand, considers it illegal.

As things stand today, 69 out of 192 sovereign UN member states have officially recognised Kosovo. Majority of the EU (22 out of 27) and NATO (24 out of 28) members have also recognised Kosovo. Among its immediate neighbours, only Serbia refuses to recognise it. Fourteen nations have set up their embassies till now. If recognition touches 100, it will offer fresh impetus for Kosovo's progress and integration with the world.

The nations that contest recognition of Kosovo suggest that such an act in the Balkans, a powder-keg, will further the ethnic claim for greater autonomy and will have severe implications for separatist activities around the globe. Russia, that spent two gory decades to squash a separatist rebellion in Chechnya, has recognised both insurgent Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as sovereign states but few have followed its lead. Spain, which has its own problems in Catalonia and Basque regions, has expectedly refused to recognize an independent Kosovo. The ruling will also provide momentum to the separatist movement in the Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh. International experts are closely watching the implications of the judgment. Dr. Bibi van Ginkel, an expert on separatist militant movement at Clingendael Security and Conflict Programme, believes that since the judgment is not legally binding, individual states can interpret it as they wish. 'Although the judgment is provocative, it will present an outline for diplomats to attempt and launch a functioning relationship between Belgrade and Pristina,' she said while talking to TSI from The Hague. Very slyly, the court appears to have evaded the prickly question of the right of people to self-determination over the right of a sovereign state to territorial integrity. It has instead maintained that Pristina's legitimacy will be decided by the sovereign nations that recognise it and not by the ICJ.

Among other things, the judgment has also reinforced that whether a rebel region can legitimize itself amidst the international community is essentially a political rather than a legal question at the root. The Armenian dominated enclave of Karabakh declared independence from Azerbaijan but it was not recognised by any other sovereign nations, not even Armenia. In case of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Russia, with all the resources at its disposal, could not muster even a little recognition. As far as Serbia is concerned, it is understandable that the decision has not gone down well with them and they feel cheated.

However, the judgment has also, in its own way, will set the wheel rolling for Belgrade. Serbia has quietly understood that Kosovo has gone forever and it's time to move on. With Russia on its back, Serbia will continue to fight diplomatic battle at international forums, but those will be futile. Belgrade's future lies as a full member of the EU and its amiable relationship with its neighbours. A serious political and economic reform will follow.

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Shahid Husain travels to Baltimore, bonds with a three-and-a-half-year old, and moves on to Alexandria with fond memories

2011-02-07T14:38:00.003+05:30

INDIA'S BEST COLLEGES, INSTITUTES and UNIVERSITIES

Since long, my son Taha Ali had been insisting that I should go to Baltimore and meet Haider bhai. Haider is a family friend, a young civil engineer from the prestigious NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi and has established a small firm in Baltimore. He had offered Taha a job in his firm so that he might be able to bear his expenses while he studied in Maryland.

One fine morning I set out for Baltimore. Haider had advised me to ring him from Baltimore station so that he could pick me up. Having reached Baltimore, however, I decided to go to his home on a cab on my own. I took a cab from the Baltimore station and showed the black taxi driver Haider's address. I had been warned to be careful while dealing with blacks. On the contrary, the driver whose name was Yaseen turned out to be a nice person. He was a Muslim. It was all green on our way to Haider's apartment. I started talking to Yaseen and asked him if he felt the pinch of recession. He said George W Bush was responsible for the recession. Yaseen told me I might face security check in the apartment building and that he would stay there until I went inside.

Haider was amazed that I succeeded in reaching his apartment on my own.

Haider's wife Saima is an electrical engineer and a position holder throughout her career. A very simple woman. They also have a beautiful three-and-a half-year old daughter named Batool.

Life is busy in Baltimore as elsewhere in the United States. Haider's wife Saima remarked, 'Aap ko dekh kar mujhe apne taya yaad aatey hain.' (You remind me of my elder uncle). I didn't react immediately. Next day I asked Saima who her taya was. She said his name was Shabbar Azmi. Shabbar and I had been at the university and we were also distant relatives.

He was a full time worker of the pro-Chinese faction of the party and an activist of National Students Federation (Rashid group). He was a student of journalism at the university. He got a job in Daily Musawaat in early 1970s, an organ of Pakistan People's Party. Things were in bad shape in Musawaat and employees wouldn't get salaries for months altogether, but I don't remember if he ever complained.

When Musawaat was closed down due to financial problems, he joined daily Aman and is now its news editor. He used to live in Korangi, a lower-middle class locality in the suburbs of Karachi.

On Saturday, Haider showed me the heritage of Baltimore. Pearl Harbour is here and it has been preserved. There are wonderful, multi-storey bookshops. Batool became very familiar with me. She would not allow anybody to watch anything on television except cartoons.

I would ask Batool, 'Are you an artist?' she would say: 'Ya!' I would ask if she wanted to become a doctor. She would say 'ya!' If I asked if she wanted to become a scientist? She would again say: 'ya.'

The locality where I lived at Baltimore had Muslims, Jews and other people but everybody would cooperate with each other. However, everybody was worried. 'It's a shit world you know,' remarked a gentleman who had a puppy. I asked him what his profession was. He said he raised puppies to sell them.

Brenda Hurford, the property manager at WillowBrook where Haider lived, was always cooperative. I would tell her time and again that I couldn't unlock the door and she would unlock it for me. Once I said, 'Brenda, I am leaving shortly. Would you like to have coffee with me.' She said: 'Bring coffee for me tomorrow.' Strange world! I remained there for a week. Haider called me when I reached Alexandria and said, 'Batool is missing you. She is asking where uncle is.'

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Inundated by corruption

2011-01-08T11:55:00.001+05:30

Prof Rajita Chaudhuri follow some off-beat trends like organizing make up sessions

Karnataka is a state where corruption runs rampant. even the hapless victims of last September's flash floods haven't been spared, reports BS Narayanaswamy

First the deluge, then a gigantic wave of a scam ' the woes of the flood victims of North Karnataka seem unending. Crores of rupees sanctioned for flood relief have been siphoned off over the past few months even as the illegal mining lobby continues to hold sway over the Karnataka government.

Fourteen districts of North Karnataka were lashed by heavy rains last September. The floods that ensued left 221 people dead and rendered 3.68 lakh families in over 4,000 villages homeless. According to government estimates, property worth Rs 4,602 crore was lost.

But much worse was to follow as the government machinery moved in with what was purported to be a massive relief operation. Nine months on, the victims of nature's fury find themselves up against something far more intractable ' the insatiable greed of officialdom and the ruling class who will stop at nothing in the pursuit of easy gains.

Justice Santosh Hegde's resignation as Karnataka Lokayukta did not come a day too soon. The anti-corruption crusader found his hands tied as chief minister BS Yeddyurappa and his ministers chose to turn a blind eye, if not actively participate in, the nefarious activities of the mining lobby and the men behind the multi-crore-rupee flood relief scam. Amid charges and counter-charges traded by the government and the Opposition, it became increasingly clear that something was rotten in the corridors of power in the state of Karnataka.

Justice Hegde may have withdrawn his resignation following an assurance from BJP leader LK Advani that his demands would be met, but political pundits in the state believe that we haven't seen the last of this sordid saga.

While Advani and the BJP high command know the value of clean governance and the continuance of Justice Hegde, the CM and many of his cabinet colleagues want to govern the state according to their own will. The unseemly developments that forced the Lokayukta to step down are a direct fallout of the power tha mining mafia wields. No Karnataka officer can utter a word or take action against the wrong-doers. The Bangalore-Bellary-Karwar nexus is strong on both the political and economic fronts.

"Seventy per cent of iron ore exported from Karnataka is sent out done without valid permits. In 2009-10, 35 lakh tonnes of iron ore was exported without permits. The cost of this is around Rs 2,500 crore," says Opposition leader Siddaramaiah.

The CM himself has pleaded helplessness. The mining lobby is bigger than him and it is alleged that this lobby controls the Karnataka government. Yeddyurappa, on his part, has put the ball in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's court. He has written a letter to the PM calling for a ban on iron ore exports.

The revenue secretary has officially declared that up to March 31, 2010, the state government spent Rs 1878 crore on flood relief. Did that money actually reach the victims? After the flood, the government decided to permanently shift 308 villages from the low-lying areas. Corporate giants, religious institutions and a few individuals came forward to help. A new housing project named 'Aasare' was launched and Rajya Sabha member Rajiv Chandrashekhar was made the head of that project. According to him, under the 'Aasare' scheme's plan of building 69,500 houses, only 844 houses have been built so far. Not a single house has been officially handed over to the victims.

Housing minister Katta Subramanya Naidu claims that "all is well in North Karnataka now". Speaking to TSI, he said: "The people are happy there and flood relief projects are going on in a phased manner. By September we will construct 15,000 to 20,000 houses." What about the remaining 50,000 houses?

Four TSI reporters recently toured six flood-affected districts and found that the ground reality was pathetic. There were clear cases of deep-rooted corruption. The Lokayukta himself told us, "I know what is happening in the flood-affected areas and I have submitted a report about the corruption that is happening in the name of rehabilitation of flood victims."

Both government and private institutions have poured crores of rupees into the flood-affected area. But this fact isn't evident on the ground and the woes of the flood victims haven't ended. The TSI team visited more than 50 villages in a span of seven days and the situation was grim everywhere. In many cases the relief distribution was erratic; lakhs of people are still living in temporary sheds built nine months back on an emergency basis.

In our week-long exercise we couldn't find a single village that has been spared the ill-effects of corruption in distribution of compensation, building of temporary sheds and erection of permanent colonies for shifting the most affected villages. From Kotyal village in Bijapur to Shakhavaadi village in Rayachur, every villager has a litany of complaints against their village accountants. In Raichur taluk, the tehsildar issued blank cheques to his subordinate village accountants for distributing among the flood affected but the money has been siphoned off.

In Kotyal village, a compensation cheque of Rs. 4.6 lakh, released for onion farmers, has lapsed thanks to local politics. In Kolur village of Devadurga taluk, the government distributed compensation cheques to the farmers six months back but they have not been encashed yet as there is insufficient funds in the government's account. The tehsildar of Badami released huge sums against false bills for rehabilitation that remained on paper.

The temporary sheds that have been set up are a complete sham. These 10X10 structures do not have proper bathrooms or toilets. Some of the sheds don't have electricity. Many sheds in Pattadkal and Hiremaagi villages of Bagalkot are unfit for habitation and people have refused to move in. House construction is the worst in villages like Holealur, Kuruvinakoppa of Gadag district, Ukumnaala of Bijapur and Allur sub-post of Badami taluk. Villagers here have decided not to occupy these houses as they feel the roofs could collapse anytime.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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IIPM Prof Rajita Chaudhuri: The New Age Woman

Why should I carry on if I can’t wield any power

2011-01-06T10:50:00.001+05:30

IIPM Prof Rajita Chaudhuri's Snaps

Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde has been in the news for his principled stand against corruption in public life. He stepped down from his post and then took back the resignation following an appeal by veteran BJP leader LK advani. BUT in the course of an hourlong chat with TSI's Satish Chapparike and K Divyadarshini, Justice Hegde made no bones about his feelings.

Do you see this is as a happy ending to an unnecessary imbroglio?

For me it was not unnecessary. It may have been unnecessary for the government. Outwardly, they put up a bold front, saying they would not talk to me. One of the ministers said sarcastically, “He is too big a man and who am I to ask him to take back his resignation?” The day I resigned the reaction was interesting. Everybody said, “He is an honest man and works very hard.” The next day the tenor changed and they started saying “I don’t know why he suddenly resigned.” By day three they started attacking me directly.

Do you mean the ministers and the CM?

Yes, the ministers. The CM didn’t say anything. His attitude was “if he is going let him go”. The ministers obviously reflected the views of the CM or the party. Ramachandre Gowda (minister for medical education) said: “From where will we give him power? He is asking for powers that even the government doesn't have. Should we give him everything that he asks for?” Mr BN Bache Gowda (minister for labour) was equally aggressive. They were going too far, so I hit back. I usually do not hit below the belt, but I realised that in this scenario offence was the best form of defence. It was a planned attack on me. Even VS Acharya (home minister) said I'd been given everything I sought and there was no end to my demands.

You eventually decided to withdraw your resignation. What did Mr Advani tell you?

Advaniji did not speak to me for these ten days. At the end he told me, “Santosh, if you are ready to listen to me, I am ready to go to the press and make a public appeal and also ask the government of Karnataka to consider your demands. But you should not go back.”

BJP used Advani as a weapon...

Yes, I agree.

Advaniji’s party is ruling the state, so would you ask him to help you curb corruption in the state?

I need not ask because Advaniji has understood it. And I am sure he knows about the ministers who are involved in mining and other scams. I told Advaniji that if you are asking me to withdraw my resignation I will do it but they must assure me that they will give me the power. He said he will see to it. Shouldn't you have set a deadline for your demands to be met?

I do not think state leaders have approached Advaniji. As far as I know Advaniji is not a person who will make use of me. Because of Advaniji and Gadkari, the CM came to my house. It was very evident that he came because he was asked to and he was not very happy. I didn’t set a deadline because of two issues: I want suo moto power and I want authority to investigate higher officers and political leaders without complaints.

Can't you make use of Advaniji to crack down on scams?

Yes I can. I know what is happening in the flood-affected areas and I have submitted a report about the corruption that is happening in the name of rehabilitation work. I know not a single house has been built.

But didn't Advani use you to save his government’s face?

Yes I think so. Even today (July 4, 2010) Advaniji called me to thank me for accepting his advice. I told him unless it is necessary I won’t bother you but if I have anything I will approach Mr Gadkari. He has assured me that he will see to it that my demands are considered. If he doesn’t listen to me, I will approach Advaniji.

Do you think Advani will agree to act if you approach him?

Yes, he has got a moral obligation to do that and he will do that. He asked me to withdraw my resignation. I have no doubt that he wants me to continue in a proper and effective manner. I do not think he wants me to become a tool in the hands of the BJP government.

Do you think the Karnataka government will change its mindset?

Well, I don’t know whether they will change or not. Wherever I find that they have committed a mistake I will not spare them. The war will certainly continue. I have withdrawn my resignation for a reason. I am not working for drawing salary and the perks of office. I'll not continue for a day if my conscience does not let me. I will expose everything and go.

Everyone knows what is happening in Bellary and who all are behind it...

Yes there is illegal mining in Bellary. There is a big political lobby behind it. But we have to have definite material to prove whether it is purely political or something done by mining groups in Bellary. In your four-year stint as Lokayukta you must have learned many lessons. But this particular incident seems to have taught you much more than what you learned earlier. Has it toughened you?

Yes, of course. I will utilise what is left of my tenure , which is technically about 12 months, to expose administrative malpractices and corruption to the extent possible. I have not spared anybody or I have not sought any help from anybody, even Mr Advaniji. I respect him for many other reasons. It was he who approached me, I didn’t approach him.

What will you do if your demands are not met in the coming months?

I will quit without raising any hue and cry. I will go quietly, won't let even the media get wind of my move. I was not very happy with the way political parties took advantage of my departure. But I was really, really surprised by the public opinion and the media reaction not only in the state but all across the nation.

So you have to fight with the same people and a ‘father figure’...

Yes, if nothing happens I will approach him and tell him what has been happening and I will quit. But before that I will prepare a detailed report on corruption. Huge fraud is happening in mining, there are frauds in drug purchase, and there is a huge fraud in government land being given in grant to various powerful people. But there are powerful people involved in it and they want to stop any investigation. I can point out many other areas. For example, take flood relief. I am inquiring into it. But if I can’t do anything why should I be in power?

So you believe that politics is a mafia operation?

Yes it is. Today you can call it a business too. One spends crores to get into power. Invest money and get it back!

How can we curb this trend?

What you allowed to grow in 60 years cannot be cleaned in six years. But taking into consideration the disaster that may fall upon this country I think we have to get the people to understand what we are really going through and where the 85 paise out of 1 rupee which is meant to be given to the people go.

What will be your immediate steps at this point?

I will continue as the Lokayukta, I have a lot of ongoing inquiries on my hands against individuals and against the system. I have to first complete all those investigations. And if the government gives me suo moto power, I will certainly go after all those powerful people whom I presume to be corrupt.

Mohammad Shahabuddin

2011-01-03T13:46:00.002+05:30

IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board

Siwan, once home to luminaries like Dr Rajendra Prasad and Maulana Mazharul Haq, suddenly came to light one again in the 90s. Mohammad Shahabuddin or Saheb, as people preferred to call him, made headlines for the next two decades like none other. In the absence of any administration during the Lalu-Rabri rule, the city used to follow his dictum. Such was his fear that apart from CPI (ML) Liberation, all other political parties had closed their offices for good. Political activities, other than Shahabuddin's RJD, were unheard of. Banners were absent. Call it his fear or his charisma, it was omnipresent. But as Saheb cools his heels inside jails, things have changed tremendously. The same Saheb, whom the combined opposition had never been able to defeat in the past, saw his wife Heena vanquished by an independent Om Prakash Yadav.

Shahabuddin started his career in 1990. He became an independent MLA from Ziradei while sitting inside the Siwan jail. Lalu saw a future leader in him and grabbed the opportunity and brought him into the RJD fold. He was not wrong. He went on to win four consecutive Lok Sabha elections. The journey from a nondescript politician to Saheb is as fascinating as the man himself.

His rise was succored by the upper caste hate of Communist parties. Wary of the radical designs of Indian People Front and CPI (ML) Liberation, the upper castes saw a rallying force in Shahabuddin. He did not disappoint. His name appeared in the daylight murder of JNU Students' Union leader Chandrashekhar, an upcoming icon of CPI (ML) Liberation. Saheb remained unperturbed. His political demise came with the fall of the RJD regime. The subsequent President's Rule saw the tightening of noose. On April 24, 2005, the then DM C. K. Anil and SP Ratan Sanjay stormed into his impregnable citadel of Pratap Pur and recovered a large cache of illegal arms. Six new cases were filed against him. The winds started to change. Prior to that, in the Assembly elections, many of his close aides and relatives like Azazul Haq, Awadh Bihari Chaudhary, Shiv Shanker Yadav and Vikram Kunwar lost their respective seats on RJD tickets. The Nitish government transferred all his cases to Fast Track courts. He has been variously sentenced to two to ten years in eight different cases. He has also been awarded life sentence in the Chotelal Gupta murder case.

For all practical purposes, the Siwan Jail has become his address now. Every other day he has to appear in one case or other. In the spare time, he indulgences himself in going through magazines, in exercising and in lonesome contemplation. His father, an erstwhile stamp vendor, had left his job following his son's rise. He takes care of his affairs in his absence. People still line up at his court but the pomp is missing. His father tries to offer some hollow hopes but in vein. His wife takes care of the household. Although she fought the last election, she prefers to remain away from public eye. His kids study somewhere outside Bihar. His die hard supporter Awadh Bihari Chaudhary says, 'The Nitish government is trying to undermine Saheb's power. But Nitish will fail.' But the statement lacks confidence.

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TSI EXCLUSIVE: Sham of a Lab

2010-12-27T13:15:00.003+05:30

IIPM Prof Arindam Chaudhuri on Our Parliament and Parliamentarians' Work

Unqualified appointees run Delhi's forensic facility, investigates Umesh Patil

From the Amar Singh phone tapping incident to the BMW hit and run case, from the Jessica Lal murder case to Shivani Bhatnagar murder, forensic findings have played a key role in nailing culprits in hundreds of such cases. Courts consider forensic evidence vital to the fate of a case. And courts take these evidences into consideration while delivering judgments. Needless to say, forensic reports can seriously change the fate of a case. In BMW case, accused Sanjeev Nanda got the breather when a forensic expert, an important witness to the case, maintained that the finger marks found on the steering wheel were not matching those of the accused. In the same way, Rahul Mahajan was let off because forensic experts recorded the statement claiming that the toxic substance recovered from Rahul's house was heroin and not anything else that would have increased the quantum of the punishment. These examples are enough to show how important forensic evidences are.

But today we raise a vital question. Are these so-called experts qualified to handle such sensitive cases?

Now imagine a scenario where the forensic expert conducting a DNA test has never known how a DNA strand looks like. Or the man doing the lie detector test has no expertise in conducting such tests. It might sound stupid or outright scary: anything but true. But the scariest part is that it is true. This is the story of the Delhi-based Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).

Few weeks back, FSL had published an advertisement inviting applications for appointment of 36 senior scientific officers (SSOs) through the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

These openings were in different departments including biology, physics, chemistry, document and lie detection. The UPSC, in this regard, had published the advertisements in Employment News from February 28 to March 6. Under the qualification section, it was mentioned that an applicant must possess a Master's degree in the concerned subject with relevant experience of three to five years in the field.

However, TSI has found out that most of the appointees did not have the required experience where as a few of them went to the length of furnishing false certificates. The proof regarding the same is with TSI. The question arises that why doesn't the agency concerned conduct a thorough background check of the applicants for such important positions. And this is when none other than the UPSC conducts the examination. The interesting part is that the Delhi government's home department had categorically said in its communique that two of the applicants were not qualified for the post. However, the UPSC chose to ignore the communication and appointed them following interviews. They continue to work at FSL. In another case, some of the applicants had previously worked on daily or contract basis whereas FSL awarded them full employee certificates. Naturally, the role of FSL comes into question as well. According to documents in possession of TSI, it becomes evident how corrupt and irresponsible the appointment process has been for this Rohini-based lab. FSL was established in 1995. In the beginning, it was under Delhi Police. Later, it was shifted under the purview of the home department of Delhi government. It has seven divisions, namely ballistics, biology, chemistry, document, lie detection, physics and a photo unit.

The ballistics division takes care of investigations related to weapons of crime such as firearms, cartridges, explosives etc. The biology division takes care of liquids, skeletons, DNA and crimes such as rape and murder and helps in zeroing on the culprit. The chemistry division is responsible for all sorts of drug-related investigations and the study of viscera. The physics division comes handy in investigating hit and run cases, road accidents and investigating materials such as cement, sand, bricks, mortar and plastics. The document division investigates handwriting, typewriting, printed matter, seals, stamps, overwriting, age of documents, bank drafts, cheques, receipts, wills, affidavits, bail bonds, lottery tickets, agreement, passport, currency etc. Apart from this, cyber crimes are also investigated here. The lie detection division similarly takes care of polygraphy tests which help in corroborating statements of witnesses, plaintiffs and the accused. The photo unit division takes care of photographic evidences in general and photographic evidences of the scene of crime in particular.

In such a sensitive institution, a small mistake can turn an innocent into guilty and a criminal into innocent. But in complete disregard to the sensitivity of the matter, this institution has become an epitome of corruption and mismanagement. We are talking about a few candidates who not only submitted fake certificates but were singularly underqualified for the posts. However, these candidates were appointed in utmost disregard of the laid-out norms. Imrana applied for the post of SSO in biology division. Her experience certificate was accompanied by a certificate from Perfect Analytical Lab situated at Manish Twin Plaza, Sector 9, Plot No 8, Dwarka which vouched that Imrana has worked there for close to three years. The background check was done and she was appointed. However the reply to an application filed under the Right To Information Act (RTI) filed in this regard states that the Perfect Analytical Lab that issued the experience certificate to Imrana does not exist. MCD, in its reply, has said that there is an apartment complex at the address mentioned. Similarly, another applicant, Loktongbai Babito Devi, also applied for the post of senior scientific officer in the biology division. She submitted an experience certificate from FSL, Manipur, where she claimed she worked from the year 2002 to 2004. She was promptly interviewed and appointed for the post. However, an RTI application filed in Manipur, FSL, found that no such individual has ever worked there.

In the same division, Sunita Suman was also selected as a senior scientific officer. According to the documents submitted by her, she claimed she worked in the chemistry division of the same FSL as scientific associate on a contract basis. In her application, she said she worked as scientific assistant. FSL on its part issued two experience certificates and both of them were issued on the same day. Both of them had the signature of director V. K. Goyal and both of them had the initials of investigating officers. Now the million dollar question is why did the UPSC ignore these facts.

According to the sources in FSL, Sunita Suman was in contact with Professor O. P. Ahuja of Punjabi University, Patiala, who was a member of the interview board. She apparently knew Ahuja from her student days in Punjabi University and was fully aware that he was in the interview panel. It is necessary to mention here that the names of members in the selection board is kept secret.

Similarly, in the chemistry division, there are applicants who provided wrong information and furnished fake certificates of experience. One Subodh Kumar Pol does not even posses a Master's degree in the relevant subject and neither has he any experience in forensic science. But he was selected as senior scientific officer in the chemistry division. Amit Rawat was also appointed as SSO in the chemistry division but his experience certificate says he was working as a scientific assistant in the biology division. Similarly, Bharti and Kanaklata were appointed as SSOs in the chemistry division even though both of them have no experience in forensic sciences. And they are not alone. There are several SSOs who have no prior experience in forensic sciences but are employed at FSL.

Hilariously, one applicant for the post of SSO in the lie detection division, Aruna Misra, showed experience of working at five separate places. But she attached merely three certificates one of which is from FSL, Rohini. According to the document, she worked at FSL from January 12, 2007 to February, 19, 2009. But according to RTI, the division was closed in that time period. Naturally, it appears that these applicants were appointed without doing any background check whatsoever and that their documents were never authenticated.

The document division is no exception. One Vijender Singh was appointed as SSO in the division whereas his experience certificate states that he previously worked at Rohini FSL as scientific assistant in the physics division.

In another revelation, it was found out that in 2009, Mukul Koranga, deputy secretary of the home department of Delhi government, sent a letter to the deputy secretary of UPSC, P. P. Haldar, stating that two SSOs in the physics division, Shanker Singh Badwal and V. Lakshmi had no experience in the concerned fields as they had previously worked in the ballistics division. However, even after such clear communiques, both these officers continue on their posts.

In a reply to an RTI application, the Delhi laboratory stood its ground and said that there has been no discrepancy in the selection process and that documents of all the candidates were thoroughly checked. However, this can not be true as withholding information or providing wrong information leads to automatic disqualification of a candidate. Such cases are referred to the Central Administrative Tribunal but nothing of that sort was ever done. Horse's mouth

A K Gupta, former director, FSL Delhi

In any kind of investigation, what is the importance of a scientific expert's findings in the court?
A court counts report of an expert as a very strong evidence.

You have worked as a document expert. Can an expert in physics work as a document expert?
No, how is it possible? Both departments are different and they have different functions.

Whose role is most important in appointment of an SSO?
The UPSC's role is most important because only the UPSC selects candidates and then the home department of Delhi government and FSL regularise them.

Who is responsible for checking the documents submitted by applicants before recruitment?
The UPSC and the home department are both responsible because the UPSC is responsible for selection of candidates and the documents are verified by the home department officials.

Does an FSL director know who all are working there, which posts they hold and which department they belong to?
It is obvious that the FSL director will know about the employees working in his facility.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Castaway: An island's plight

2010-12-23T17:26:00.002+05:30

IIPM Prof Arindam Chaudhuri on Our Parliament and Parliamentarians' Work

The river island of Majuli in Assam is buckling under the recurring onslaught of floods and erosion. Would it be too late before we wake up to revive this pristine hub of nature, wonders Pranab Deka'

It's the same old story. As the monsoons come to Assam, there resurfaces news and concern for the world's largest river island Majuli (which has now reportedly lost its 'largest' status to Brazil's Amazon island). Regarded as a holy centre of Baishnavite movement founded by Srimanta Sankardev, one of the leading exponents of Assamese culture and literature, Majuli is famous for its Satras or centres for spiritual and cultural learning. There are 22 such centres in Majuli now. But Majuli is not devoid of its woes. Geographically, its situation is such that every year floods and erosion caused by the mighty Brahmaputra eat away a remarkable portion of its land. Now Majuli is reduced to half of what it used to be. It even failed to get the world heritage status owing to the state government's apathetic attitude. To top it, the government of Assam and the Brahmaputra Board are still busy passing the buck of responsibility to save Majuli from the yearly ordeal.

It is the people who love Majuli and wish to preserve its unique heritage who are passionately working away for its conservation. 'The Brahmaputra Board is merely taking some temporary protection measures to save Majuli,' says Manoj Bora, a local social activist. 'We demand the construction of permanent rock spurs round Majuli, but the Board wants to get away by constructing some wooden pickets in some places. Besides, the board plans to start its work in the rainy season which is not workable,' he added.

The people of Majuli are losing their agricultural land every year and are forced to live on the streets and by the dams temporarily. The Satras of Majuli had also to be relocated following threats of erosion. 'The government is arranging land for the Satras in other places in the state. But what about the local people' wonders Demi Gum, a renowned poet and local resident of Majuli.

Though Majuli remains synonymous with Satra sanskriti ' as centres for practice of classical arts such as Borgeet, Ankia Bhawona, Satria dance, mask making etc. ' there is more to Majuli beyond the Satras. It is also home to many unique tribes of Assam like Mishing and Deuries, who are known for their closeness to nature and traditional lifestyle. 'Majuli can become a major tourist attraction if we showcase the unique tribal culture of this area to the rest of the world. With its natural beauty and geographical uniqueness we have so much to offer,' says Haren Narah, a local entrepreneur who runs a Mishing heritage cottage in Majuli named Mepo Okum. Ravaged by annual flood, backwardness and government indifference, Majuli might find recourse in tourism, but the conflict between development and conservation is likely to stay. 'We are opposing a government plan to build a bridge over Brahmaputra to Majuli from Jorhat. We fear that it will open up Majuli for other activities and Majuli will lose its uniqueness and tranquility. People visiting Majuli are excited by the boat journey to reach here. The government should thus take steps to develop the boat and ferry service instead of constructing a bridge,' say Demi Gum and Haren Naharh.

'We want government to give us geographical security, without which we cannot survive. People of Majuli are used to annual floods; our lifestyle is adjusted to it, but our biggest threat is erosion. The river is changing its course and Majuli is a delicate eco-system. Everybody should look for a conservation effort sustainable over long term,' says Manoj Bora.

There are notable efforts including petitions, seminars, demonstrations and delegations in process for Majuli's future. Arun Sarma, an ex-MP from Assam raised the issue in Parliament too. Eco-tourism can prove to be saviour for a region that is nature's very own lair. Whether Majuli gets World Heritage status or not, the onus to preserve this fragile eco-system is a matter of survival, and not of choice.

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CHENNAI REHABILITATION: No more begging bowls

2010-12-11T16:27:00.002+05:30

Prof Rajita Chaudhuri follow some off-beat trends like organizing make up sessions

Chennai launches drive to rehabilitate beggars

Chennai has unrolled a visionary programme for the rehabilitation of beggars. From June 6, those begging in common places in the city will be caught and sent to rehabilitation and protection centres with the help of NGOS. Last month Chennai corporation identified some 451 beggars. Out of them 179 persons were mentally challenged. Then they were admitted in hospitals for treatments. Chennai Mayor M. Subramanian is spearheading the campaign.

Commissioner of Chennai corporation Rajesh Lakhoni told TSI that they are identifying beggars in main places of Chennai. 'Till now we have identified thousand beggars. They have been categorised into five groups: old aged, physically challenged, mentally challenged, healthy but socially deprived women and mothers begging with children. They will be rehabilitated soon.' According to the drive, old-age persons will be admitted in government homes for old aged and will be given food and medical help. Those who are healthy will be given employment opportunities. There are plans to give education to children also. The homes run by social welfare department will be used for this purpose.

Some eighteen NGOs are girding up to take part in this programme. Also, Lakhoni said the corporation will rope in police to stop beggary in the city. Of late the city has been swarmed with beggars. Begging rackets were also busted. Cases have been reported of women administering sleeping pills to children. That is why the government this time is serious to address the issue.

Kakkum Karangal, an NGO, that supports the drive of Chennai corporation is ready to help the old aged and women. 'We told the corporation that we will provide food, medicine and housing to old aged and women,' said Gnanaraj, founder of Karangal. John Milton, co-ordinator of Karunalaya, another NGO told TSI that they are also willing to assist the corporation in their drive by giving children education free of cost.

But some members of the civil society are not happy with the corporation's move. A Chennai-based writer and social sceintist, A. Marx, is opposing the move. Marx, who was part of a fact-finding team that studied the conditions of beggars in the city, criticised the corporation for its drive against beggars. 'First, Chennai corporation Mayor talked about a beggar-free city. Then he said that mentally challenged beggars will be rehabilitated. But only professionals can handle them. Is the corporation prepared for it?' he asked.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Extreme action zone ahead

2010-11-22T16:49:00.003+05:30

IIPM Prof Rajita Chaudhuri: The New Age Woman

Chris ‘CP’ Pfeiffer is a gladiator on wheels. The World Champion (2003, 2007, 2008, 2009) Stunt Rider plays out on asphalt every leather-loving guy’s wildest bike fantasy. Recently back home in Germany, after an India tour, the ace biker reminisces about the experience, among other things to Indira Parthasarathy...
INDIRA PARTHASARATHY

You had the Indian audience eating out of your hands – and not just when you did the no-hands wheelies... How do you sum up the experience?
The crowd response was amazing! I’ll never forget these shows!

Was that the BMW F800 R Chris Pfeiffer Special Edition bike you were performing on? Which is/are your favourite machine(s) to stunt-ride on?
Yes, it was. And it is also my favourite.

MotoGP legend Wayne Gardner had mentioned something like what you maintain: the “united with the bike” experience. Can you elaborate on the ‘one with the bike’ feeling?
If a bike really fits your riding style, you’ll do best to be united with the bike while riding it on the edge. Difficult to explain… all controls have to be in perfect position and work exactly like you want it. Then you are not just sitting/standing on a bike – you sit/stand on it and feel good because the bike is perfectly controllable.

On a normal traffic jaunt with the bike, how do you resist the temptation to break into stunts?
It is no problem. Riding is riding and stunting is stunting. All in its proper time…

What specialised modifications are required for freestyle biking?
A handbrake for the rear wheel, maybe some mods on the engine to make sure that it gets oil in long wheelies. The rest are details that every rider individually builds.

Which was your toughest Championship win?
The last (Indoor Streetbike Freestyle) World Championship in 2009. I had diarrhoea and felt weak. But somehow I made it.

You are real survivor material, as was evinced by the way you made your comeback after the horrible accident in the 90s during the Guinness Record shoot. How did you fight off the jitters to get back on asphalt after an incident like that?
I was very motivated to get back on the bike, also a bit scared that I’ll lose my trust in brakes because the cause for this accident was a brake problem. But I had no mental problem. I check the brakes very often now.

Bunny hops (long jumps) involve other people. How do you bring yourself around the idea of risking other lives, and how do you prepare for it?
Well, the jump does sound crazy but it (the record long jump without a ramp over 33 people lying next to each other) was safe after all the preparations for more than six months. But still I’d not do it again.

Which stunts are Chris Pfeiffer inventions?
Touch ground wheelie circles, Side stand off, The CP Jump, 360 Ground (360° turning during the ride). Extreme action zone ahead Very briefly, your thoughts on

The underground (illegal) status of drag/street racing: Racing and Freestyle (stunting) has to be done on special areas (tracks)

Cars : Four-wheels move the body, two-wheels move the soul, ha ha!

Motocross (MX), enduro or trials: I love stunting most, second Hard Enduro, third Trial, fourth MX.

Don’t mind riding pillion with : Definitely prefer to ride myself on bikes.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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