India Together: Orissa villagers press for work benefits, RTI is helping - 27 February 2007

India Together: Orissa villagers press for work benefits, RTI is helping - 27 February 2007

22% of India is poor: NSS

22% of India is poor: NSS

22% of India is poor: NSS

March 21, 2007 14:30 IST
Last Updated: March 21, 2007 19:41 IST

Fewer Indians were living in poverty in 2004-05 than in 1999-2000, with official data showing poverty declined by 4.3 per cent during the period but there were still 238.5 million people living in less than desirable conditions.

Poverty in India has declined to 21.8 per cent in 2004-05 from 26.1 per cent in 1999-2000, a report of the National Sample Survey (NSS) released by the Planning Commission said on Wednesday.

The decline in poverty was comparatively much steep in rural areas where the percentage of people living below poverty line fell to 21.8 per cent (2004-05) from 27.1 per cent (1999-00).

In urban areas, percentage of people living below poverty line fell to 21.7 per cent (2004-05) from 23.6 per cent (1999-00), according to the NSS estimates based on the Mixed Recall Period-consumption distribution data.

The number of people living below poverty was estimated at 238.5 million -- 170.3 million in rural areas and 68.2 million in urban areas -- out of the over one billion population.

The level of poverty, based on the Uniform Recall Period-consumption distribution data, declined to 27.5 per cent in 2004-05 from 36.0 per cent in 1993-94.

The level of poverty under the URP method in rural areas fell to 28.3 per cent in 2004-05 from 37.3 per cent in 1993-94 and in urban areas to 25.7 per cent from 32.4 per cent during the corresponding period.

Under URP methodology, data is collected using 30-day recall period for all items of consumption, while under MRP, consumption expenditure data is collected using 365-day recall period for five infrequently purchased items (clothing, footwear, durable goods, education and institutional medical expenses) and 30-day recall period for the remaining items.

Based on the MRP consumption data, Orissa was the poorest state with 39.9 per cent of people living below poverty line followed by Jharkhand (34.8 per cent) and Bihar (32.5 per cent).

In absolute terms, the number of people living below poverty line was 45.8 million in Uttar Pradesh followed by Bihar (29 million) and Maharashtra (26 million).

Poverty levels were low in Chandigarh (3.8 per cent people living below poverty line), Jammu and Kashmir (4.2 per cent) and Punjab (5.2 per cent).

In Delhi, 1.6 million people were living below poverty line accounting for 10.2 per cent of the national capital's population.

Among the other major states, percentage of people living below poverty line was 15 per cent in Assam, 12.5 per cent in Gujarat, 9.9 per cent in Haryana, 17.4 per cent in Karnataka, 11.4 per cent in Kerala, 32.4 per cent in Madhya Pradesh, 17.5 per cent in Rajasthan, 17.8 per cent in Tamil Nadu and 20.6 per cent in West Bengal.

Based on the URP consumption data, 301.7 million people were living below poverty line -- 229 million in rural areas and 80.8 million in urban areas.

My letter to CMO on January 19 on - NISER

Gmail - NISER and NITER

Dear Chief minister:
Happy New Year.
We are delighted to read in newspapers a report of Dr. Kakodkar's visit to meet you in regards to the NISER. The reports mention that now the NISER budget has increased to 750 crores and that NISER will start classes in July 2007. They also mention that NISER may expand into a science city. We really appreciate the state governments supporting role to all this.

It is an urgent concern to us that the land for NISER has not been finalized. We would request that the Orissa government to finalize the land for NISER as soon as possible, preferably in the next 30 days. We really want you to give this task top priority, and grant NISER's choice of land, first preference.

We hear that same land has been shown to Sri Sri Ravishankar.

However granting NISER their first preference is very important because NISER, being centrally funded will be there for ever ( i.e., as longs an entity called India exists) and its reputation will keep growing.

In contrast the existence and reputation of a private entity may not transcend beyond the life of the person heading that entity; especially in the Indian context where there has not been many private higher educational institutions. Therefore we urge that NISER be given priority and preference, over any private entity that may have eyed the same land.

There is another very important reason to keep NISER and DAE happy by granting them their first choice of land location immediately.

As you know Orissa has lost out in the recent allocations of the new IITs which were allocated to Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan.
We are also shocked that the branch campus plan of IIT Kharagpur in Bhubaneswar has been shelved.

Under those circumstances, it would be a great and wise move on Orissa's part to immediately grant the land for NISER, and push it ahead, to fruition.

Thus the expeditious land allocation has become urgent. We need to seal the deal and move ahead, asap.

Dear Chief Minister: We earnestly request that you immediately grant NISER and DAE its first choice of land.
We can then move on to the other issues and projects.

Sincerely and with best regards

Sandip K. Dasverma
Richland,
WA -99354
USA

First Look: Guru Lalu bowls US MBA students over

First Look: Guru Lalu bowls US MBA students over

First Look: Guru Lalu bowls US MBA students over

March 16, 2007

They bowled googlies and bouncers, but the master batsman in Railway Minister Lalu Prasad knocked out a group of MBA students from America on Friday with his rustic 'humbleness' and an offer to join a resurgent Indian Railways.

The students from the Universities of Texas and Virginia came to know about the 'fairytale turnaround' of the behemoth Indian Railways from a loss-making entity to a profit-making one and 'guru' Lalu certainly did not disappoint them.

During the 50-minute interaction at the Railway Museum in New Delhi, he shared the 'success story' of the Railways and told the guests, many of them Indians, in a mix of Hindi, English and Bhojpuri that there is no 'magic wand' in his hand and it all happened because of the hard work of his employees.

He faced questions ranging from steps to check pollution, sustainability of the success saga, his vision and plans for the future, cleanliness in Indian trains, role of private players and, above all, his message to management students.

"He put it all on the employees. He said he does not deserve all the credit and it was the effort of around 14 lakh (1.4 million) employees that saved the Railways from breaking down," Texas University student Omar Ghalayini said.

"I told them that when Lord Krishna lifted Govardhan, he got the help of thousands of villagers. The Railways is like a family. If it is reaping profits now, it is because of the hard work of employees," Lalu later told reporters.

But what really floored the students, who were in Delhi as part of their course, apart from the Indian hospitality and culture was Lalu's offer to them to join the Railways, prompting many of them, especially Indians, to think about the option.

"We asked him how can we support him as we wanted to do something for India after our studies and his reply was come and join the Railways and help to take it to new heights," Priyanka Malhotra, an Indian student, said.

They asked him about the steps taken by the Railways to cut down emission and his reply was 'electrification,' switch over from coal engines to bio-diesel ones and planting of Jatropa saplings and on the role of private investment -- a strict 'no, no' in core sector.

"He said private investment was possible in non-core areas: like in making world class railway stations, dedicated freight corridors and for upgrading catering, warehousing and parcel services," Shweta Pillai said.

When Lalu went hammer and tongs about the hard work put in by employees, the students had another doubt -- what have you done for them?

The railway minister told them about the 65 days bonus given to railway employees, special Holi allowance of Rs 400 distributed to Grade D workers and facilities given to field workers.

Many of the foreign students, who are visiting India for the first time, found the Bihari politician a 'humble man' and an 'inspiration' to students, especially from the lower strata of the society.

"He is a perfect model of Indian democracy. Hailing from a small village he rose to the ranks of the government with his entrepreneurial skills," said Katherine Mary Houlihan, a student of Texas University. -- PTI

(Above) A group of MBA students from the University of Texas and University of Virginia met Railway Minister Laloo Yadav in New Delhi on Friday.

Photograph: Dijeshwar Singh/Saab Pictures

Big-Name U.S. Investors Back Brazilian Ethanol

Big-Name U.S. Investors Back Brazilian Ethanol Start-Up

Antonio Regalado. Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Mar 15, 2007. pg. C.5

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Author(s):	Antonio Regalado
Publication title:	Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Mar 15, 2007. pg. C.5
Source type:	Newspaper
ISSN:	00999660
ProQuest document ID:	1233150981
Text Word Count	393
Document URL:	http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1233150981&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=22168&RQT=309&VName=PQD

Abstract (Document Summary)

Politically, ethanol is turning Brazil and the U.S. into closer allies, and President Bush signed an ethanol pact during a visit here last week. Though short on specific measures, the agreement was a sign to investors that global trade of ethanol could grow quickly. Mr. Bush has called for the U.S. to replace 20% of the gasoline it uses with renewable fuels within 10 years. The new company will join other private-equity groups looking to expand Brazil's ethanol output. Brazil produced 4.5 billion gallons of ethanol last year, and exported about 20% of that, mostly to the U.S. However, exports are widely expected to boom as global-warming and energy-security concerns speed a shift to alternative fuels.

Full Text (393 words)

(c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Some big-name U.S. investors are behind a new company that plans to produce as much as a billion gallons of ethanol a year in Brazil, about a fifth of the country's current total production of the renewable fuel. Backers of the new company, Brazilian Renewable Energy Co., include venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, American supermarket magnate Ron Burkle and AOL founder Steve Case, according to an investor in the company. The deal is expected to be formally announced today, people involved in the deal said yesterday. Brazil's ethanol industry, which uses sugar cane to make the fuel more cheaply than in the U.S., where ethanol is made from corn, is drawing growing interest from private-equity investors. Amid concerns about growing energy demand, renewable energy of all kinds -- including solar and wind energy -- has seen investment levels soar recently. Politically, ethanol is turning Brazil and the U.S. into closer allies, and President Bush signed an ethanol pact during a visit here last week. Though short on specific measures, the agreement was a sign to investors that global trade of ethanol could grow quickly. Mr. Bush has called for the U.S. to replace 20% of the gasoline it uses with renewable fuels within 10 years. The new company -- known as Brenco -- closed an initial financing round of $200 million this week, said Ana Fernandes Kertesz, a vice president of Goldman Sachs in Brazil, which is acting as Brenco's placement agent. "It's the first equity raised, but there is more to come," she said. Brenco, based in Bermuda, will be run by Philippe Reichstul, formerly chief executive of Petrobras, Brazil's state oil concern. Petrobras said on Tuesday that it would begin work on an ethanol pipeline this year. The new company will join other private-equity groups looking to expand Brazil's ethanol output. Brazil produced 4.5 billion gallons of ethanol last year, and exported about 20% of that, mostly to the U.S. However, exports are widely expected to boom as global-warming and energy-security concerns speed a shift to alternative fuels. Samir Kaul, a partner at Khosla Ventures, couldn't be reached yesterday, but he previously confirmed Mr. Khosla's involvement in the venture. Gerry McConnell, an executive with Mr. Burkle's Yucaipa Cos, didn't return a phone message. A spokesman for Mr. Case declined to comment.

The Texas Wind Powers A Big Energy Gamble; Shell, Others, Pile In

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Breezy Talk: The Texas Wind Powers A Big Energy Gamble; Shell, Others, Pile In Despite Regulatory Risk; Poke Arnold's 'Rib Eye'

Jeffrey Ball. Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Mar 12, 2007. pg. A.1

For those who can't access the original.

Author(s):	Jeffrey Ball
Publication title:	Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Mar 12, 2007. pg. A.1
Source type:	Newspaper
ISSN:	00999660
ProQuest document ID:	1230764021
Text Word Count	1985
Document URL:	http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1230764021&sid=1&Fmt=4&clientId=22168&RQT=309&VName=PQD

Abstract (Document Summary)

"People are still going to need a hell of a lot of oil and gas" in the future, "and that's what we're good at," says Rex Tillerson, Exxon's chairman and chief executive. "I prefer to stay with what we know." On a recent afternoon, a computer in Brazos's office showed that the project's 160 towering white turbines were generating just 5.5 megawatts, a fraction of their 160-megawatt capacity. Tom Schroeder, the site's supervisor, said a weather front was approaching, calming the air. The wind had been "screaming" that morning," said Mr. Schroeder, whose last job was on an oil rig off Nigeria. And "it's going to be probably screaming tonight." Meanwhile, Mr. [Arnold], the Briscoe County rancher, is relishing the battle for his land. He hasn't signed a lease with any of his suitors. "They think there's big bucks in this, or they wouldn't be playing," Mr. Arnold says. "Them folks don't play for cheese and crackers."

Full Text (1985 words)

(c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. SILVERTON, Texas -- Deep in the heart of Texas, multinational giants are gambling on a new supply of energy. The prize isn't oil. It's wind. In this pancake-flat country, where the wind blows so relentlessly that the sagebrush and mesquite are permanently bent, Royal Dutch Shell Group, BP PLC and a wind-development company owned by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are racing to lease vast expanses of ranchland. In a bet on wind power's long-term viability, they're planning to erect what would be some of the biggest wind farms in the world, with thousands of wind turbines costing some $2 million apiece. But generating power from wind isn't profitable without government tax breaks, which in the past have been offered and taken away. The big proposed projects in Texas, like those elsewhere in the country, are dependent on regulators approving transmission lines to connect remote and windy regions to major power markets. If the new lines aren't built, the projects are doomed. Such uncertainty has dashed hopes for fossil-fuel alternatives before, creating a boom-and-bust cycle not unlike the one that typifies the oil industry itself. Energy companies investing in wind power are expecting governments to toughen rules relating to traditional energy sources, part of long- term efforts to reduce global-warming emissions and reliance on Middle East oil. As a result, they're hoping renewable energy will become a profitable niche, not merely one that allows them to burnish their green credentials. Few places exemplify the gamble as vividly as Briscoe County, a 900- square-mile patch of ranchland in the Texas Panhandle with more cows than people. It's one of the windiest spots in Texas, which already cranks out more wind power than any other state. Texas regulators won't decide for months whether to authorize a new line to connect this isolated county to Texas's network of high-voltage power lines. But in Austin, the state capital, energy companies are lobbying hard, and on the ground they're scrambling to lock up acreage. What happens here is being watched closely in other states trying to promote wind development, such as California, Colorado, Kansas and New Mexico. It's "a land rush," says Mark Wilby, a petroleum engineer who once developed natural-gas power plants for Enron Corp., and now develops wind projects for Shell. In Shell's storefront office in the largely abandoned courthouse square of Silverton, the county seat, Mr. Wilby pulls out a color map showing how the Texas wind blows. The windiest areas are in red, and Briscoe County is bloody. Shell hopes to build an approximately 120-square-mile wind farm here, which would be several times larger than any in the world today. Local landowners who grew up cursing the wind can't believe their new luck. The county's windiest stretch is a curving ridgeline where the flat terrain of the Texas high plains ends and suddenly drops as much as 1,000 feet into the rocky, rugged Tule Canyon and onto the lower plains. The topography causes the wind to accelerate as it approaches the edge. The land at that edge was once good only for grazing cows, but now residents liken the ridgeline to a good steak, calling it "the rib eye." Poke Arnold's land includes a piece of it, and the rancher has hired a lawyer to negotiate with energy companies. "They started getting in a dog fight," he says, "and the leases started going up tremendously." Wind power accounted for 0.5% of global electricity production in 2004, the most recent data available, according to the International Energy Agency. Although that contribution is expected to grow fast in coming years, by 2030 wind is projected to account for only 3.4% of the total. If governments adopted more-aggressive policies to promote renewable energy, the IEA predicts, wind's share of total energy in 2030 could rise to 4.8%. The wind doesn't always blow, and when it does, the amount of land required to catch meaningful amounts of it is vast. Shell's planned wind farm here would cover an area about five times the size of Manhattan, yet it would crank out, on average, only about as much electricity as a single coal-fired power plant. Even with subsidies, the return from wind projects tends to be lower than that from oil and gas. But the risks are lower, too. Putting up antennae to measure wind speed is vastly cheaper than drilling a well to look for oil. Turbine manufacturers often will essentially guarantee that their machines will produce a certain amount of power. Moreover, unlike most other green-energy options, wind power doesn't require any technological breakthroughs. The soaring pinwheel turbines that turn wind into electricity are manufactured by a growing cadre of mainstream companies, including General Electric Co. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., and are getting more reliable and efficient. So far, wind power has taken off in states with favorable regulatory environments, in particular those with rules requiring utilities to generate a certain percentage of their electricity from renewable sources. Capital spending on new wind projects in the U.S. rose to $3.65 billion last year, up from $3.19 billion in 2005 and just $420 million in 2004, according to a study being prepared for the Department of Energy by its Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Steve Westwell, head of the alternative-energy unit at BP, expects governments to toughen rules governing energy production, especially those relating to emissions of carbon dioxide, a gas linked to global warming. That will boost viability of alternative sources such as wind. "In the future, there will probably be a very different discussion of the economics of these technologies," he says. BP has announced plans to start building five wind farms in the U.S. this year. Exxon Mobil Corp., the biggest publicly traded oil company in the world, remains unconvinced. Exxon is bankrolling research on clean- energy technologies, but says renewable energy isn't yet viable on a large enough scale. In addition, the company says, it doesn't want to get into a business that depends on subsidies. "People are still going to need a hell of a lot of oil and gas" in the future, "and that's what we're good at," says Rex Tillerson, Exxon's chairman and chief executive. "I prefer to stay with what we know." Texas, the heart of the oil patch, shows how far wind energy has come and how far it has to go. One of the state's first big wind- energy projects began producing electricity in 1995, three years after a federal tax break came into effect. Under that provision, the company that owns a wind project can reduce its tax bill by 1.9 cents for every kilowatt-hour of electricity that the project produces during its first 10 years of operation. That's often the bump that makes a project viable. Congress has authorized the credit only for short bursts. Wind development tends to screech to a halt when the credit is about to expire and ramp up when it's renewed. The early Texas wind project has a generating capacity of 35 megawatts, a tiny fraction of a coal-fired power plant. Because of the wind's unpredictability, the Texas project produces on average only about one-third of its capacity, a typical rate. It produces enough power for about 7,800 households. Even with the federal tax credit, wind development didn't really pick up until after 1999, when Texas passed a requirement that utilities buy a certain amount of renewable power. And even then, it took off only in a part of the state served by a grid fueled mostly with natural gas, where power prices are relatively high. Surrounding the tiny town of Fluvanna, on the western edge of the grid, is the Brazos wind project, which sprawls across 30 square miles. Brazos is the second-biggest working wind farm in Shell's portfolio. It sells its power to TXU Corp., the Dallas-based utility that's under pressure to curb emissions from coal plants. Last month, a private-equity group agreed to buy TXU for $32 billion, and promised to more than double the utility's wind investments to get environmentalists' backing for the buyout. On a recent afternoon, a computer in Brazos's office showed that the project's 160 towering white turbines were generating just 5.5 megawatts, a fraction of their 160-megawatt capacity. Tom Schroeder, the site's supervisor, said a weather front was approaching, calming the air. The wind had been "screaming" that morning," said Mr. Schroeder, whose last job was on an oil rig off Nigeria. And "it's going to be probably screaming tonight." In Texas, some of the strongest wind is in the Panhandle, which lies to the north of Brazos. But the Panhandle has few high-voltage lines and it sits in a multistate power grid that commands relatively low power prices because it gets much of its power from coal, a cheap fuel. State officials are talking seriously about building new power lines to expand wind production. If one were built to Briscoe County, this massive wind resource would be unlocked. Eddie Rhoderick, a rancher and farmer in Briscoe County, used to hate the wind. When it whips in after a heavy rain, it "sandblasts the cotton plants," he says. But a few months ago, he leased 1,900 acres to Shell. He won't divulge the terms of the deal. "Shell bought me a root canal," he said one recent morning as he headed to the dentist. Shell rolled into Briscoe last summer as the talk of new transmission lines heated up in Austin. So did Horizon Wind Energy, a Houston company that Goldman Sachs bought in 2005 and has now put up for sale. Wind developers in the U.S. have typically offered landowners one- time signing payments of about $3 an acre and annual royalties totaling 3% of revenue. Within months in Briscoe, energy companies were offering signing payments of between $50 and $80 an acre and royalty payments of about 6% annually, according to Mr. Arnold and several other local landowners. If the Briscoe project is built, a local rancher could expect to collect some $80,000 a year for each "section" of land, a parcel equal to 640 acres. Laquetta Schott , the local manager of a title company, has leased about 1,900 acres to Shell. Though Ms. Schott won't discuss the terms of her contract, she says wind deals are offering signing bonuses that "could be more profitable than oil and gas." In December, BP bought a wind-development company that had been scouting in Briscoe. But skyrocketing prices persuaded BP to retreat to a county farther south. "With Shell and Horizon bidding up the properties to what we think may be unsustainable levels, we have stepped away," says Robert Lukefahr, head of BP's North American alternative-energy business. Horizon hopes to build a wind project in Briscoe County with a capacity of about 600 megawatts, says Michael Skelly, Horizon's chief development officer. That would make the Horizon project one of the biggest in the world. It would still be less than one-third the size of the 2,000-megawatt project that Shell's Mr. Wilby says his company hopes to build. More than a dozen companies that want power lines in various parts of the state have submitted proposals to the Texas Public Utility Commission, the state agency that oversees electricity issues. Shell's proposal calls for a 290-mile line to Briscoe that it estimates would cost $480 million. Ultimately, that cost would likely be paid by Texas customers. The state is scheduled to signal its intentions in July. The companies won't disclose how much they've spent so far on preparatory work such as land leases. Their spending is a tiny fraction of what they would ultimately invest if the power lines were approved. Meanwhile, Mr. Arnold, the Briscoe County rancher, is relishing the battle for his land. He hasn't signed a lease with any of his suitors. "They think there's big bucks in this, or they wouldn't be playing," Mr. Arnold says. "Them folks don't play for cheese and crackers." Enlarge 200% Enlarge 400% Enlarge 200% Enlarge 400% Enlarge 200% Enlarge 400% Enlarge 200% Enlarge 400%

Goa best e-governed state in India: IDC

Goa best e-governed state in India

Goa has emerged as the best e-governed state in the country followed by Karnataka in a study conducted by research firm IDC India for leading IT industry magazine, Dataquest. Delhi stands third in the ranking while the fourth and fifth place is taken by Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
The state having the poorest record in e-governance is Uttar Pradesh. Other laggards are Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab and Rajasthan, which is at the second last place.
Assam, Goa, Delhi, Karnataka are the best four regional e-Governed states. The ranking is a part of the e-Governance Satisfaction Study 2006 conducted in 20 states and carried by the CyberMedia publication in its March 15 issue.
A survey of the key IT functionaries in 20 Indian states was conducted by IDC India to assess their ICT policy and vision and to understand their priorities for e-Governance. An evaluation of the effectiveness of IT departments was done through a survey of 3,033 citizens and business users, with rural and urban areas contributing an equal number.
The states were ranked on citizen satisfaction and e-Readiness of individual states. The ranking took into account three criteria – level of satisfaction of citizens and industry and e-readiness of the government. The satisfaction of citizens was measured on the ease of interaction, availability and quality of services. The three-phase study did not take into account states like Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura and the Union Territories.
Commenting on the Dataquest-IDC study, Pradeep Gupta, Publisher and Chairman of CyberMedia said, "This survey of over 3,000 citizens shows that businesses show higher satisfaction with e-Governance initiatives than individual citizens. The track record of successful government-to-business projects is steadily improving, but most states have a very long way to go in citizen services."
Karnataka tops in citizen scorecard Not surprisingly, residents of the IT nerve center of India – Karnataka - were the most satisfied with the e-governance services provided by the state government, followed by Goa and Gujarat. Maharashtra and Assam took the fourth and fifth place.
Citizens in Orissa, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh (at the bottom) were the least satisfied with the e-governance service in their respective states, the Dataquest study revealed. Citizens gave the lowest satisfaction score to Punjab for police and security, followed again by Punjab for power utilities. Businesses also gave thumbs up to Karnataka by ranking it at the top for e-governance services. Goa and Gujarat took the second and third place followed by Andhra Pradesh, and Assam.
The study found that corporations were least satisfied with the e-governance services and initiatives taken by Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. In services for business organizations, the maximum score has been bagged by Assam for passport services, followed by Gujarat, for power utilities.
Goa, Delhi and AP top in e-readiness E-readiness scores are generally low across the board; clearly indicating that significantly more works needs to be done. The study exhorts states to put in more e-Governance initiatives in place and to ensure that those initiatives reach the intended beneficiaries.
Delivery of benefits to citizens is identified as the key result area for the states. The top five states in terms of e-readiness are Goa, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab while the bottom five are Haryana, Jharkhand, UP, Rajasthan and Orissa.
According to the study business and individuals are also satisfied with way IT has made services like education, power utilities, income tax department, passport services, Supplies, provisions and business registration more accessible and easier to use.
However, state governments have not used IT to improve services like police, security, agriculture and licenses and permits, which are pain areas, states the study. Overall, businesses show higher satisfaction with e-Governance initiatives than individual citizens, states the Dataquest study. This is attributed to businesses interacting directly with governments oftener than individuals. The state governments are also more focused towards businesses when it comes to e-Governance.

http://www.dqchannels.com/content/reselleralert/107031205.asp

India tops remittance recipients' list

India tops remittance recipients' list: "India tops remittance recipients' list
Tuesday, March 13, 2007

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New Delhi: Last year India received $23.4 billion in funds, making it the largest recipient of remittances. The inflow was growing at around 20 percent every year Western Union South Asia Managing Director Anil Kapur said at the prelude to The Economist's business roundtable with the government.

Global remittance business, he added, was worth $269 billion and was growing at eight percent per annum reported a national daily. Over the last five years, remittances into India have doubled and Kapur added that remittances, which now account for three percent of India's GDP, are more than FDI and FII inflow put together.

According to the Economic Survey, FDI flows into India stood at $4.7 billion and FII inflows were $12.5 billion n 2005-06.Kapur said there were 111 million migrants from India worldwide and by 2050 the number would reach 280 million.

'Most importantly, remittances are fuelling consumption and promoting literacy and economic development in rural India. Fifty-four percent remittances are being spent on family, 20 percent put in bank accounts and 13 percent invested in land and property,' added Kapur.

Therefore, there is a need to build more financial institutions in rural India. 'Lackof financial institutions in rural India is a major drawback. India has only 65,000 bank branches and 300 million bank accounts. We should create more financial outlet in rural India. We have 155,000 post offices all over the country and we should tap their potential to connect to rural India," Kapur said.

The Hindu : Other States / Orissa News : VAL asked to stop construction

The Hindu : Other States / Orissa News : VAL asked to stop construction

Hinduism Today Receives McDonalds Settlement

Hinduism Today Receives McDonalds Settlement

Where Indian Women Lead, a Better Life Follows - New York Times

Where Indian Women Lead, a Better Life Follows - New York Times

KANAIPUR, India (Reuters) - Every morning 10-year-old Indian villager Nipa Haldar crosses a canal in a small boat and trudges along a mud road for 20 minutes to reach school, pursuing her dream of becoming a nurse.

Nipa has not missed classes once in three years, just one of hundreds of young children in Kanaipur village in the eastern state of West Bengal to have benefited from a law that promotes the involvement of women in local politics.

``I want to become a nurse and help all the poor and ailing people when I grow up,'' she says as she heads for classes about 70 km (40 miles) from the state capital, Kolkata.

In 2004, a newly elected village council, or panchayat, in Kanaipur included for the first time a representative number of women -- and resulted in a mini social revolution.

In addition to their new clout in village affairs, the move also sprouted a number of self-help groups.

Together they have improved the provision of healthcare and education for women and children, according to a study by UNICEF of 165 villages in West Bengal.

``The number of visits by health workers in these villages was significantly higher and the desire to do good work by women leaders had a ripple effect on everyone else,'' Priyanka Khanna, a UNICEF spokeswoman, told Reuters in Kolkata.

That may not be radical -- micro-credit pioneers have been saying for years that one of the best ways to chip away at rural poverty is too give women control of project purse strings -- but in India it marks a milestone.

With 70 percent of a billion-plus population living in a patchwork of poor villages and small towns in India, these grass-roots changes have a significant impact.

FEMALE TOUCH

In 1993, India amended its constitution to accommodate the concept of panchayati raj -- effectively village self-governance -- and make laws out of its previously non-binding rules.

Among the changes was the reservation of one-third of seats on every village council for women.

In West Bengal, ruled by the world's longest-serving elected communist government, moves to boost the role of women began in the 1970s. The constitution change added impetus and by the time the UNICEF study was completed the results were there to be seen.

``Women come out of the shell once they see that someone from the same gender is fighting for them and that impacts the entire household and the village,'' says Kolkata-based sociologist Prasanta Roy.

The survey revealed that in areas where women had taken up their allocated places on councils, investment in clean drinking water had doubled compared to those still run solely by men.

Roads were twice as likely to be in a good condition.

A similar UNICEF study in the western state of Rajasthan found that a child living in a village where the council was headed by a woman had a better chance of being vaccinated against common diseases.

And there was only 13 percent fewer girls than boys sitting behind school desks, a significant improvement in the conservative desert region.

UNSHACKLED?

Less likely to study fully or follow a career, many women in India's rural and small-town heartlands still have to ask permission from a father or husband to step out of the home.

Here an intensely patriarchal society largely untouched by the mood of emancipation makes for a hard life.

Boys get an education and grow up to take most of the decisions; women do as they are told -- largely work and raise the kids.

But in Kanaipur, Soma Dey, the village's first female council chief, was busy examining dozens of new solar-energy panels that will provide electricity to 400 people.

``At least 90 percent of the village is covered with conventional electricity, but in remote places we have installed solar energy,'' said a beaming Soma, wearing an orange shawl to beat the cold wind blowing across the Hooghly river.

Eight years ago, the village did not have a single school and access to medicines was a luxury beyond the reach of most people.

Today it has 15 schools and several healthcare centers stacked with medicines -- all funded by the state government.

Since the 2004 election, Soma and her 12 women colleagues on the 30-member council have successfully wooed the state government for money and roped in experts to improve lives.

``I found women shy to talk about their health problems and domestic violence, but now they come everyday,'' Soma says.

Affordable loans are now available in a country where debt lurks in most rural homes.

``We used to live on coconut water, and farm marshy lands eight years ago, but now I have a new boat to go fishing in,'' said 70-year-old Nirmal Gharani.

Nipa clings to her 95-year-old grandmother Phulphuli, who settled here after leaving Bangladesh 10 years ago.

``It's an oasis here, I'm not going back,'' the old woman says.

STATE LEVEL ACCREDITED CORRESPONDENT LIST.pdf (application/pdf Object)

STATE LEVEL ACCREDITED CORRESPONDENT LIST.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Education Orissa

Education Orissa: "Education is the principal instrument of developing human capabilities. In India it is in the concurrent list. It is the main part of the government to provide education to its citizens. By which it will help to shape the destiny of the nation.

But in recent times there is a sea change in the tools, technology and mode of education. In the post-independence era, the mode & method of education has continually evolved in Orissa and India. In the modern times to cater the needs of specific groups the need for differentiation in education method has also changed in Orissa. After independence Orissa is improving & competing with other states of India to become a prosperous state in the field of education.

The literacy percentage of Orissa is improving highly. Now it has a number of Universities, General colleges, Medical, Engineering , Management, Ayurvedic, Homeopathic, Law, Dance & Music Colleges, B.E.D training Centers, C.T. and Hindi training Centers. Due to the high standard of education in Orissa Students from all over India are coming to Orissa for higher studies. With the increase of public-private participation, now the students of Orissa enjoying most modern facilities in education. With the change of time educational institutions like Xavier Institute of Business Management, Institute of Physics, Utkal Univrsity, National Institute of Technology-Rourkela, Biju Pattnaik University of Technology, IIMC-Dhenkanal, Kalinga Institute of Technology, S C B Medical College, Cuttack, V S S Medical College & Hospital, Burla and so on dazzles Orissa’s name nationally and internationally in the filed of education.
Orissa has always made concerted efforts to provide quality education to all. Prospects of a brighter future is evidently in the offing in view of certain major initiatives of the Government of Orissa, the Government of India and private parties.

| Fact of Orissa Education |............

• The average literacy rate in Orissa is 63.08% during 2001, as against all India average of 64.8%. Male literacy rate is 75.95% and female literacy rate is 50.51% during 2001.

• 44,416 Primary Schools with 52.54 lakh enrolment and 97 lakh teachers in the State as on 2003-2004. There is one Primary School for every 3.5 Sq.Km area.

• Mid day Meal Programme has been operational since 1995. In 2003-04, 46.32 lakh children in 51,931 schools were brought under this scheme.

• 14.233 Upper Primary Schools as on 2003-04. There is one Upper Primary School for each 10.94 km area in the State.

• Overall dropout rate at the primary stage was 33.6%, the dropout rate for girls was 35.4% and for boys 31.9% during 2003-04.

• Dropout rate at upper primary stage has decreased from 59% in 2002-03 & 57.5% in 2003-04. 56.5% boys dropped out inupper primary stage in 2003-04 while 58.6% girls dropped out in the same year.

• Secondary stage of education from Classes VIII to X is under the academic control of the Board of Secondary Education. During 2003-04, 7,011 high schools were functioning in the State which 3,556 were Government High Schools and 657 were aided schools. During 2003-04, there was one High School for every 22.2 sq. km.

• The dropout rate in high school has decreased from 69.5% in 2001-02 to 64.4% in 2003-04. 62.5% boys dropped out while 66.7% girls dropped out of high school in 2003-2004.

• 1,112 General Colleges to provide facilities for higher secondary education in the State including 48 Government Colleges. The Council of Higher Secondary Education regulates higher secondary education, conducts examination and co-ordinate University Education.

• During 2003-2004, 1,679 General Colleges were functioning, out of which 96 were Government and 601 were aided colleges.

• There are 4 Government Training Colleges, six Colleges of Teachers Education and three Institutes of Advanced Study in Education, in the State.

• The State has nine Universities.

• Computer Education has been included as on optional subject in the secondary level by the Board of Secondary Education.

Pink papers of Indian Railway budget

Untitled Document

Railway Electrification- KGP-BBSR-Paradeep Talcher

re_assets.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Rail Wheel Factory

rwf_summ.pdf (application/pdf Object)

South Eastern Railway - Barbil line

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South East Central Railway - Jharsugda

secr_assets.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Eastern Railway

er_assets.pdf (application/pdf Object)

East Central Railway(Bihar)

ecr_asset.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Northern Railway

nr_assets.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Northeast Frontier Railway

nf_assets.pdf (application/pdf Object)

East Coast Railway

ecor_assets.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Lalu no to funds for rail projects - SHANKAR MUKHERJEE

Lalu no to funds for rail projects


An all-party delegation, led by transport minister Subhas Chakraborty, has failed in its attempt to persuade the Centre to release funds for a string of railway projects in the city.

The railway ministry has conveyed to the 25-member Assembly delegation, which has been camping in Delhi since Wednesday, that the state would have to pump in half the cost if it wants the projects to be executed immediately. The state has thrown up its hands at the offer, citing a funds crunch.

For the Centre to bear the entire cost, the schemes would have to wait for the clearance of the railway board, which fixes its priority after going through requests from all states.

The delegation met railway minister Lalu Prasad on Thursday and submitted a memorandum, demanding a host of railway-linked urban transport projects.

The wishlist includes East-West Metro, extension of the existing Metro Railway to Barrackpore, an underground link between the airport and Dum Dum station, construction of 15 railway overbridges in the northern and southern suburbs and remodelling of the passenger dispersal system at Howrah and Sealdah stations. The total project cost has been pegged at Rs 8,000 crore.

Chakraborty tried to convince the railway minister about the importance of the projects in clearing Calcutta’s infrastructure bottlenecks. According to officials accompanying Chakraborty, the railway minister agreed to take up the projects if the state came up with 50 per cent of the cost.

But Chakraborty expressed inability to provide as much. “I told the railway minister that we are ready to share one-third of the cost of the Rs 4,000-crore East-West Metro, but he insisted on equal sharing,” Chakraborty said.

Railway officials cited the ministry’s policy that if any state wants to implement a railway-linked project on a priority basis, it has to share half the cost. “States like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have taken up several projects complying with the policy. We cannot make an exception for Bengal,” an official told the delegation.

The transport minister said he would discuss the matter with the chief minister.

The delegation also met civil aviation minister Praful Patel and urged him to take steps to renovate the Cooch Behar, Malda and Basudebpur (Purulia) airports.

"First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist.

Martin Niemöller: The Resistance (1892-1984)

"First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me."

Martin Niemöller had been a World War I hero as a German naval lieutenant and U-boat commander. He was ordained as a Lutheran pastor in 1924. One of the earliest Protestant critics of Nazism, he and a few brave Lutherans formed a resistance movement called the "Confessional Church" of about 3,000 pastors. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, author of The Cost of Discipleship, came into contact with Niemöller when he joined the "Pastor's Emergency League," which was formed under Niemöller.

In The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William L. Shirer describes the spiritual pattern that led to the mass slaughter of human beings. In the chapter entitled "The Persecution of the Christian Churches," Shirer points to a sterilization law passed in 1933 as the event which began the persecution of Christians and Jews throughout Germany.

"On July 25 [1933], ... the German government promulgated a sterilization law, which particularly offended the Catholic Church. Five days later the first steps were taken to dissolve the Catholic Youth League. During the next years, thousands of Catholic priests, nuns and lay leaders were arrested, many of them on trumped up charges of 'immorality' or of 'smuggling foreign currency.'"

Abortion was also made legal during this time. This was the spiritual impetus which brought a revival of human sacrifices being offered to ancient pagan deities - complete with Nazi rituals - to the forefront. The Holocaust was preceded by vast pageants which Hitler used to promote neo-Paganism. Among the various sects of Protestants (most of which had adopted liberal theology and had apostatized in the late 1800s), a new "German Church" was instituted:

"Dr. Reinholdt Krause, the Berlin district leader of the sect, proposed the abandonment of the Old Testament, 'with its tales of cattle merchants and pimps' and the revision of the New Testament with the teaching of Jesus corresponding entirely with the demands of National Socialism. Resolutions were drawn up demanding 'One People, One Reich, One Faith,' requiring all pastors to take an oath of allegiance to Hitler and insisting that all churches institute the Aryan paragraph and exclude converted Jews."

Pastors who resisted the neo-Pagan religion of the Nazis were jailed. Many were eventually led to the gas ovens of the concentration camps. Millions of Jews and Christians were executed. The sad state of the liberal Protestant churches led Germany to this holocaust. Although there were enough evangelical Christian leaders strategically positioned throughout Germany in the 1930s to resist Hitler; only a few stood against him.

"Not many Germans lost much sleep over the arrests of a few thousand pastors and priests or over the quarreling of Protestant sects. And even fewer paused to reflect that under the leadership of Rosenberg, Borman and Himmler, who were backed by Hitler, the Nazi regime intended to destroy Christianity in Germany, if it could, and substitute the old paganism of the early tribal Germanic gods and the new paganism of the Nazi extremists. As Bormann, one of the men closest to Hitler, said in 1941, 'National Socialism and Christianity are irreconcilable.'"

As the methods of oppression by the Nazis grew worse, the resistance movement justified previously unimagined types of disobedience. For Niemöller and the resistance, the plan to assassinate a tyrant was a matter of obedience to God. They reasoned that Hitler was anti-Christ, therefore they decided to join the underground plan to eliminate him. Niemöller remained a key figure in the resistance movement until his arrest and imprisonment. In 1937, Niemöller preached his last sermon in the Third Reich knowing that he was soon to be arrested:

"We have no more thought of using our own powers to escape the arm of authorities than had the Apostles of old. No more are we ready to keep silent at man's behest when God commands us to speak. For it is, and must remain, the case that we must obey God rather than man."

Under orders from Hitler, he was imprisoned and finally transferred to the infamous Dachau concentration camp until the end of the war in 1945. He emerged from his years of detention as a towering symbol of the Church's struggle. In his travels to America, he addressed over two hundred audiences, sometimes with the concluding words that have become famous:

"First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me."

Niemöller did much more than speak out, however, as did his friend Dietrich Bonhoeffer. As a consequence, Bonhoeffer lost his life and Niemöller lost eight years of his freedom.

William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall the Third Reich (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1960) p.234-239.
Christian History, "Dietrich Bonhoeffer," Issue 32 (Vol. X, No.4), p.20.

Tathya.in :: Informing People

Bhubaneswar:1/March/2007
Receiving a copy of the first information report (FIR) from the police station will be instant with the click of the mouse.

Sitting in his office, Director General of Police Amarananda Pattnayak can keep track of the status of any case in any of the 45 police stations of the state online.

He can as well sit in his chambers and at the click of the computer mouse can go through the filed FIR and pass on necessary instructions to the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the police station.

All this will be a reality on March 5, when the Common Integrated Police Application (CIPA) will be in place in the 45 police stations of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Angul and Ganjam police districts.

As a pilot project these police stations have been identified and accordingly the four day’s training program for the police officers has been launched on February 28.

Inaugurating the program Tarun Kanti Mishra, Principal Secretary Home department said that “It will bring transparency and availability of authenticated information at the click of the mouse”.

Mr. Mishra said a police station is the primary unit for public interface for law and order and improving the efficiency of police stations was therefore vital for enhancing the image of the police in the minds of citizens.

Mr.Mishra has been instrumental is computerizing the Land Records system in Revenue department.

DGP Mr.Pattnayak , Crime Branch Chief B K Sharma, Superintendent of Police of the concerned police districts and other senior police officials were present.

Orissa will be the fifth state in implementing CIPA as the Rajasthan, Himchal Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi have already implemented the program.

CIPA is a mission mode project under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), aims at automating the workflow at the police station and reducing paper work substantially.

Each police station will be provided with requisite hardware and software. A technical holding support will be provided for 6 months, said Ambarish Kumar, Director Technical of NIC.

The computer will be hooked to the main server in the State Crime Record Bureau (SCRB), said Dr.Kumar.

And SCRB will be connected to National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), said an official.

This will result in receiving authenticated data on criminals at a faster pace.

From the FIR to the charge-sheet in a case, everything will be fed into the computer for easy access and reference.

Every crime record will be available online which makes file monitoring easy.

Each case requires seven FIR copies and the subsequent stages also involve heavy paper work.

With computerization, the paper work will not only be reduced but also helps in cost-cutting, pointed out an official..

He said 135 police personnel, including constables, are being trained for the operation.

In 2007-08, 130 more police stations will be included in CIPA and rest will be covered in 2008-09, said sources.

Orissa have 467 police stations.

However all out support for the computerization will be provided, said B K Goirola, Director General of the National Informatics Centre (NIC), while replying to queries over video conferencing.