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Wednesday, August 29, 2007

The Telegraph - Calcutta : Jharkhand- Hockey players leave to play in Clubs in Holland

The Telegraph - Calcutta : Jharkhand

Women Hockey players leave to play in Clubs in Holland

IIM and IITs' class-less future(Distant Education)

IIM and IITs' class-less future

Distant education.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

HindustanTimes ePaper - Rain wather Harvesting...

HindustanTimes ePaper

Friday, August 24, 2007

Strong Re slows down IT hiring - Jobs - Careers - Tech News - Indiatimes Infotech

Strong Re slows down IT hiring - Jobs - Careers - Tech News - Indiatimes Infotech

The Hindu : Other States / Orissa News : solar lamps in tribal villages

The Hindu : Other States / Orissa News : Many takers for solar lamps in tribal villages

Thursday, August 23, 2007

15th August as India Day in Washington State -Gmail - indiaday.jpg

Gmail - indiaday.jpg

Pradeep Baishakh - India Together: Adivasi women turn turmeric traders - 23 August 2007

India Together: Adivasi women turn turmeric traders - 23 August 2007 By Pradeep Baisakh

Anil Agrawal - Tested mettle | Economist.com -

Face value | Tested mettle | Economist.com

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Richa Mishra case(Oriya)

20070820a_003101010.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Ambassador to US: 'We will have zero credibility'

Ambassador to US: 'We will have zero credibility'

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

The Statesman - Opposition demands all party probe

The Statesman
News paper report:

Opp demands all party probe

Statesman News Service
BHUBANESWAR, Aug 20: The spate of scandals relating to foeticide, fake medicine, manipulation of mark sheet of a minister’s son and now the alleged misuse of NREGA funds to the tune of Rs 500 crore need to be probed by an all party committee of the assembly demanded the Opposition political parties here today.
The Orissa Gana Parishad, CPI, CPI(M), in their joint statement demanded that a special session of the assembly should be summoned to discuss the NREGA scam unearthed by a Delhi based NGO.
At a press conference held a couple of days ago in Delhi, the Centre for Environment and Food Security said it had conducted a survey on implementation of NREGA in Orissa and found that at least Rs 500 crore had been misused.
Referring to findings of the survey, the Opposition said it exposes the corrupt practices adopted by the Naveen Patnaik government. Till date the Opposition has been raising issues of rampant corruption in the state but now even non-political organizations are finding Orissa on top of the corruption list, they charged.
The survey says that not a single person has got 100 days work in the state under the NREGA scheme and of the 100 villages surveyed by the NGO , 18 had not received job cards, over 36 villages had not been provided with any work and in 23 villages the job cards were deposited with the junior engineer.
It has also found instances of fake job cards and non payment for over 4 to 8 months.
Such shocking facts call for an immediate probe at the highest level and since the government is involved an all party committee of the assembly should conduct the inquiry said the Opposition leaders.
The Opposition also pointed out that central teams probing into the foeticide issue should be followed by teams which would investigate the fake medicine and the NREGA scam.

CM review
Chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik reviewed the progress in National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) and stressed on creation of permanent assets in rural areas.
The review, as per official sources, found that the implementation was successful to a great extent. It also noted that the rural development ministry had commended the efforts of the state and described it as a role-model for other states. The review pointed out that social audit regular verification of muster rolls made this scheme transparent and accountable.

Monday, August 20, 2007

The Statesman

The Statesman

CBI probe into deals demanded

Statesman News Service
BHUBANESWAR, Aug 19: For the second time in less than a fortnight, former Union minister and national vice president of the BJP Mr Juel Oram has demanded a CBI probe into deals and MoUs signed by the Orissa government. Mr Oram has ordered a CBI probe into the matter and asked the government to come clean.
In a statement issued yesterday Mr Oram claimed that the agents working for the MNCs which have signed the MoUs should be exposed. Reacting to ruling BJD MLA Mr Kishore Mohanty’s allegations against him at a meeting in Bonai, Mr Oram said: “If Mr Mohanty says I am working as the agent of Tata and Birla, let the BJD accept my challenge for a CBI probe into all deals/MoUs.”
Mr Oram requested the Opposition to lease out Khandadhar mines to Posco and said people are opposed to this and he would stand by them.
The government, instead of being adamant should respect public interest and opinion, he observed.
Earlier Mr Oram had lashed out at chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik and described him as an agent of Posco and Vedanta.
His attack made the leader of Opposition Mr JB Patnaik admit that Mr Oram had outdone the entire Opposition. Shocked by such criticism from Mr Oram, the CM took up the matter with BJP president Mr Rajnath Singh and Orissa-in-charge Mr Vinay Katiyar.
Mr Katiyar directed Mr Oram to exercise restrain and remain within his limits laxman-rekha. Mr Oram had responded saying he will maintain coalition dharma and will not cross the his limits but at the same time he was not ready to tolerate the Opposition’s interference. He said Ravana should not cross the laxman rekha as well. The CM was reportedly livid at the reference to Ravana.
Mr Kishore Mohanty and other BJD leaders had a go at Oram at the meeting held in Bonei providing him the chance to hit back yesterday.
Mr Oram confronted top leaders of the BJP pointing out that the BJD was gunning for him. He obtained permission to “return fire” before issuing the statement yesterday, said sources.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

The Hindu : New Delhi News : Claims galore as Buddhist history claims new territory

The Hindu : New Delhi News : Claims galore as Buddhist history claims new territory

Sunday, August 12, 2007

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Partitioning India over lunch

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Partitioning India over lunch

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Sixty bitter years after Partition

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Sixty bitter years after Partition

The Telegraph - Calcutta : Nation

The Telegraph - Calcutta : Nation

Taslima booked, not tormentor MLA

Hyderabad, Aug. 11: City police have registered a case against Taslima Nasreen but none against those who have threatened to kill her.

The case, for promoting ill-will between religious groups, was registered on a complaint by an MLA who has said the Bangladeshi writer would be assassinated if she ever set foot in Hyderabad again.

Majlis-e-Itahadul-Musalmeen MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi had made the threat on Thursday, hours after three other MLAs of his party had led a mob to a book release and attacked Taslima, pelting her with books, bags and bouquets.

Although cases have been registered against the three MLAs, who got bail the same day, none has been filed yet against Akbaruddin, the son of Musalmeen founder Sultan Salauddin Owaisi.

The police said they had approached a court for permission to register a case against Akbaruddin. But they admitted that none had been registered against the Majlis Bachao Tehreek, which has said it would have murdered Taslima on Thursday had its plans not been upset by the Musalmeen’s “amateurish” attack.

A senior police officer justified filing the case against the writer.

“Taslima is a controversial personality and her writings have always provoked the religious-minded,” said the deputy commissioner of police, N. Madhusudhan Reddy.

The first information report, registered last night at Punjagutta police station, says Taslima has a habit of slinging mud on Islam and making heinous charges against the religion.

The organisers of the book release, the Centre for Inquiry headed by N. Innaiah, have also been charged with holding the programme without informing the police or taking their permission.

“Who would have been responsible if the Musalmeen MLAs or Tehreek activists had succeeded in harming her” was the logic provided by an officer.

Asked about the death threat he had issued, Akbaruddin said he had only sought to implement the fatwa issued by Bangladeshi clerics against Taslima.

Another outfit, the Dasgah-e-Jehad-Shaheed, today held a march, with the protesters chanting: “Taslima go away from India.”

The marchers, who included many burqa-clad women, burnt an effigy of the writer.

“Taslima is a bad apple in the Islamic community. Throw her out of the country,” said Rehanussia Begum, schoolteacher and Dasgah activist.

Rights groups have criticised the police for their failure to protect Taslima and the delay in action against the Musalmeen MLAs and activists.

N. Saida Rao of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties said the attack by the MLAs amounted to a violation of the Representation of the People Act and undermined the country’s secular character.

A few Maoist groups, too, condemned the “cowardly” attack by “misguided religious and Rightist groups”.

After the incident at the press club, where the translation of one of Taslima’s books was released, the police never let Taslima out of their sight till she caught a Calcutta flight the same evening. She was confined within the airport restaurant for over three hours under police security.

“She wanted to do some shopping at Charminar and Pathergatti but could not,” one of the organisers said.

The Telegraph - Calcutta : Frontpage - Bishnu Charan Das's son's marks jacked up

The Telegraph - Calcutta : Frontpage

Probe into marks malady

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 11: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today asked chief secretary Ajit Tripathy to probe into the alleged jacking up of numbers in the matriculation mark-sheet of the son of school and mass education minister Bishnu Charan Das.

The minister’s son, Bijay Shankar, had scored 602 (80.26 per cent) out of 750 in this year’s high school certificate examination, the results of which were declared in May.

The president of board of secondary education (the organisation that conducts the annual examination) then, Debendra Mishra, was tipped by someone about the alleged jacking up of numbers during tabulation. Mishra, who initiated a departmental probe into the case on his own last week, was removed unceremoniously early this week and replaced by Kishore Mohanty.

Tripathy said that Naveen has asked him to find out the truth behind the allegations. “I have asked the present board of secondary education president, secretary and controller of examination to submit the probe report as soon as possible. If convinced, I will send it to the chief minister. Otherwise, I will initiate an independent probe.”

Das could not be reached despite repeated attempts.

The case of alleged favouritism hogged limelight following the arrest of two persons for allegedly running a fake certificate racket in the state. The accused allegedly sold fake matriculation and higher secondary certificates. They also used to supply fake bachelor’s degree certificates of Fakir Mohan University and Utkal University. Higher education minister Samir Dey has directed the officers at various levels, including the varsity heads, to initiate a probe.

The Telegraph - Calcutta : Nation- Jean Dreze

The Telegraph - Calcutta : Nation

Demolish drive at Amartya aide door

New Delhi, April 30: The hut of Jean Dreze, Amartya Sen’s co-author who used to advise Sonia Gandhi on development issues, has come in the line of the Delhi demolition drive.

Dreze’s dwelling is among the 10,000 shortlisted for demolition in a slum near Delhi University, on the northern fringes of the capital.

Citing a court order, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has pasted eviction notices on the doors of the huts at Sanjay Basti, named, ironically, after the late Nehru-Gandhi blamed for the infamous drive against slums during Emergency.

“As per the directive of Delhi High Court… this land has to be vacated by 27/04/07. If not vacated by the said date, the houses will be demolished on 4/5/2007,” the MCD notice said.

Dreze, recognised as the spearhead of the grassroots movement that resulted in the Right to Information Act, has now turned to that law to find out if the government has a fall-back plan for the homeless.

The visiting professor at Allahabad’s G.B. Pant Social Science Institute could not be reached for comment, but his wife Bela Bhatia confirmed they had put in an application under the RTI Act.

Bhatia, a researcher at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, said they had asked for a copy of a joint survey by the MCD and the Central Public Works Department to identify “illegal bastis” and whether there was a relocation plan under the capital’s new urban development blueprint.

“There is no word so far,” she said.

Dreze or John bhai — as the Basti that has been his home for several years knows him — and Bela live in a one-room hut with an asbestos roof and use the community toilet and bath. The hut does have electricity and water connection though.

Originally meant to house Type I quarters for Class IV government employees, this little hub of concrete was overtaken by the slums that proliferated around it and has serviced political parties lusting after “vote banks”. Some of these flats still exist, though dilpaidated, and are occupied by goverment employees.

Dreze is famous as the co-author of at least half-a-dozen books on the politics of hunger, development and social opportunity with Nobel-winner Sen.

But turned out in khadi kurta-pyjama and usually seen riding a bike, he fits the mould of activist better than academic. The Belgian-origin Dreze led the right to food and the right to information campaigns with Aruna Roy, the Magsaysay award winner from Rajasthan.

Brought into the National Advisory Council by Sonia, the duo pushed the national rural employment guarantee and information laws — but Dreze resigned soon after the jobs bill was introduced in Parliament because he thought it diluted the provisions in the first draft. Aruna also put in her papers later.

A student of mathematical economics at the Essex University and a Ph.D in economics from the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi, Dreze has taught at the London School of Economics and the Delhi School of Economics. He is now an Indian citizen.

Barring Dreze and a few political activists, most residents of the Basti had no clue about the high court’s directive and thought the demolition was meant to pave the way for a “big mall” for the rich.

“We don’t know how this happened. We have lived here since 1978 and now where can we go?” said Naresh, a shop hand.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

'Most Indians earn less than Rs 20/day in India'

'Most Indians earn less than Rs 20/day in India'

CBI raids police station, cops run for cover

CBI raids police station, cops run for cover