Future of India-Bangladesh relations
by Haroon Habib
An economically strong, secular and democratic Bangladesh is crucial for New Delhi and the rest of the region.
When Ms Hasina became Prime Minister in 1996 (she held office till 2001), her Awami League had a thin majority in Parliament, and her government had many limitations. She came to power after two decades that followed the bloody changeover of 1975. Despite those limitations, her government took some remarkable steps vis-À-vis India. Overall, it tried to reverse certain post-1975 political trends and to rejuvenate the pro-liberation spirit that was needed badly for a secular polity in a country that had seen the planned rehabilitation of the so-called 1947 spirit by a set of military and pseudo-democratic rulers.
During that tenure, the Awami League-led government signed the historic Ganga Water Treaty. It also paved the way for the return to India of thousands of Chakma refugees from Tripura with the signing of a landmark accord that ended decades of tribal insurgency in the border region. Then, it sent a firm signal to insurgents operating all across northeastern India, many of whom, as claimed by India, enjoyed sanctuary in Bangladesh. These steps were not easy to take, and indeed constituted a test of courage and conviction for the government.
This time, too, the government of the grand alliance led by the daughter of the slain founding father of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is not without its limitations. But its leadership is now more experienced. It won a landslide in the December 2008 elections, and secured a two-thirds-plus majority in Parliament. This enabled Ms Hasina’s government to amend the Constitution and bring about certain changes that it felt were needed to initiate a new journey that Bangladesh needs to undertake in order to get back on the right track.
Having achieved independence from Pakistan in the aftermath and as a consequence of the devastating war of 1971, Bangladesh did not get adequate time to consolidate itself and put itself on a firm democratic footing. India helped the Bengali freedom fighters to a great extent, and finally formed a joint military command after Pakistan attacked its soil. But that remarkable and historic achievement failed to deliver the expected outcome fully, probably due to a certain lack of alertness, a premature sense of euphoria or a misreading of the feelings of the forces that were defeated.
At the high-level meetings between Bangladesh and India over the next few days, particularly of the heads of governments, important bilateral aspects that will have a historical resonance are bound to come up. But the domestic context of the visit is unlikely to remain unnoticed.
Bangladesh is now ruled by secular democratic forces, known as the ‘pro-liberation’ forces. But the forces which opposed independence from Pakistan and which developed a solid economic foundation and organisational base over the past few decades, have now become quite alert and aggressive. They have been quickly joined by some elements — who were direct beneficiaries of the 1975 changeover and who ruled the country for 30 out of the 39 years of its political existence — and have unleashed a propaganda war.
The fundamentalists and the local versions of the Taliban do not want Bangladesh to remain friendly with India; to them India is “the enemy state.” But why is the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which is but a mixture of soft Islamists, fundamentalists and former communists, singing a similar tune?
When the national media projected the Prime Minister’s visit to India optimistically — as an opportunity to begin a new era and resolve certain outstanding issues — Begum Khaleda Zia, BNP chairperson and chief of the four-party rightist alliance in which the Jamaat-e-Islami plays a pivotal role, posed an open challenge to the government. She stated publicly that should Ms. Hasina conclude an honourable deal with India, she would be welcomed with garlands on her return. If, on the other hand, she failed to protect the ‘national interest,’ her path would be strewn with thorns.
This is an open challenge posed before the one-year-old government, which has ensured that the war criminals found guilty for their role during the liberation war against Pakistan face trial. The Supreme Court recently upheld the death sentence to the killers of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
There are several issues on the table in the context of Ms Hasina’s visit. It is all right to analyse them ahead of the summit, but it will be wrong to give the impression that any lack of progress in solving them in a single visit will constitute failure. To imply that even a meeting with the Indian leader could somehow lead to an eventual surrender of national interests is equally fallacious.
Post-1975, the definition of patriotism changed in Bangladesh. Originally, it was the Bengali freedom fighters and their local collaborators on the warfront who were called “patriots” along with the vast majority of people who helped to fight the war against the Pakistan Army. But the history of the independence struggle was re-written, rather distorted, by a set of military and pseudo-democratic rulers. Fortunately, Bangladesh now looks forward to removing the distortions as a younger generation of Bangladeshis seeks to know what really happened.
The Khaleda Zia-led combine, which will soon be under the command of her controversial son Tareq Rahman — he is now in London and faces multiple corruption charges — did not perhaps notice the changed national mood. As Ms Hasina prepared to go to New Delhi, the Leader of the Opposition chose to question the patriotism of even the people who belong to the ruling party, forgetting that patriotism is not the monopoly of any single group or party.
Whenever such a top-level meeting takes place, the mainstream media delve into history and recall India’s support to the cause of Bangladesh’s nationhood. It is yet another irritant Begum Zia and her alliance have been destined to suffer. It is a matter of history that India sheltered 100 million refugees from the former East Pakistan when the Pakistan Army began a genocidal war against unarmed civilians, and also extended significant support to Bangladesh’s war that finally culminated in the creation of a new country.
However, the historic relationship did not develop as it was meant to. Bangladesh faced its first shock in August 1975 with the assassination of Mujibur Rahman. With state power vested in the military and pseudo-democratic rulers for two decades, Bangladesh found a new ethos that practically negated the secular spirit of 1971. India, too, underwent transformation on multiple fronts. Therefore, while history provides a vital thrust, India and Bangladesh must practically resolve the issues that have confronted them, and seek to put their relations on a solid foundation.
Since India is a big neighbour, some psychological impact on both sides of the border is inevitable. When the post-1975 situation influenced a section of Bangladeshis to look back at the “spirit of 1947,” which actually ran counter to the spirit of the war of liberation, Dhaka-New Delhi relations faced many obstacles. While this was against the will of many Bangladeshis, the protagonists of the “spirit of 1947” did succeed in influencing a section that would strongly argue that the stumbling blocks were mainly India’s “intransigence, chauvinism and obduracy.”
Bangladesh covers a relatively small territory. But it has enormous potential and considerable strategic significance. Close relations with India to resolve all major irritants should be a key requirement for it to make a new beginning. Despite having been in office only for a year and despite the fact that the adversaries of the pro-liberation spirit are more powerful than ever before, the Sheikh Hasina government has shown considerable courage and conviction to free its soil from anti-India activity. Many would, therefore, hope for suitable reciprocal gestures to strengthen the polity.
An economically strong, secular and democratic Bangladesh is crucial for New Delhi and the rest of the region. A democratic and secular India, and Bangladesh, that has started its renewed march towards a stable democratic polity despite the muscle flexing by some extremists, should work together for a stable South Asia.
(The writer, who was involved in Bangladesh’s freedom struggle, can be reached at: hh1971@gmail.com)
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Tremor of anxiety
FROM THE STATESMAN
The epicentre of recent earthquakes has been traced to Sikkim, Darjeeling and the Bhutan Himalayas. Considering the possibility of great damage to life and property the administration ought to take urgent steps, says Santanu Basu
FROM a gentle ripple to a terrifying and violent movement an earthquake rocks whatever part of the globe it strikes and devastates life, habitat and property. As a matter of fact, no other calamity causes such havoc. The huge loss of life and property at Kutch in Gujarat, the devastation wrought at Latur in Maharastra and that in the Indo-Pak border are still fresh in public memory. The long stretch from Bhutan and Assam to North Bengal felt the vibrations as an earthquake shook this vast geographical zone on 21 September last.
Earthquakes are tremors in the ground, created by sudden convulsions of tectonic plates — huge slabs of rocks that lie at the subterranean parts of the planet. The tremors of 21 September were not only confined to Guwahati and Bhutan; Kolkata, too, experienced it and Malda was no exception.
This quake which had its epicentre at Mongar in Bhutan and shook North Bengal, Assam and the North-eastern states recorded 6.3 in the Richter Scale. Though severe, it, fortunately, didn’t inflict much damage in North Bengal, but wrecked Bhutan badly; some high-rises in Guwahati sustained major cracks.
A majority of buildings in Bhutan were reportedly damaged. Earthquake, however, is not a sporadic feature in this zone, it occurs on and off. In recent years, there occurred a series of such natural aberrations causing great tremor and panic among locals. In the last two months, as many as eight incidents measuring 4.6 to 6.3 in the Richter Scale were reported in North Bengal and the North-eastern states — the epicentre being Myanmar. Hence, Bhutan has become the most earthquake-prone zone in the country.
Although earthquakes occur everywhere, they are a great many “prone” zones. These zones such as Japan and California lie near the moving margins of the tectonic plates called faultlines. The crust of the earth is 40 km thick and its mantle is 1,400 km in diametre. The lithosphere and esthenosphere comprise the whole of the earth’s crust downwards and the upper portion of it measures around 100 km. The planet’s outer layer of rock varies in thickness — beneath the oceans it is about 11 km (four to seven miles) but stretches up to 70 km (43 miles) under mountain ranges. By recording the vibrations of earthquakes scientists have discovered a “yolk” of metal surrounded by an “egg-white” called mantle at the centre.
And this mantle plays an important role in generating earthquakes. The theory of plate- tectonics states that the crust stands on six continental and oceanic plates. Tectonic plates usually slide past each other, but sometimes they get stuck together. The stress on the rock builds up until they fault, that is crack. The tectonic plates then jolt past each other, sending shock waves through the ground.
This movement is usually classified under three heads — convergent when a plate enters into another; divergent when a plate separates from another; and parallel when two plates exist simultaneously. The movements of the tectonic plates in the mantle finally determine the causes and intensity of an earthquake.
The edge of the Indo-Oz plate and the Eurasian plate at the subterranean level come to the northern parts of the Himalayas and North Bengal. Geographically, the Indian territory is north-centric and tilts northwards. Besides, the Himalayas also grows by an inch (on an average scale) every year and friction by the two tectonic plates are but natural events, the impact of resultant energy can be felt at a long distance from its origin. Though on an average an inch of growth is of minuscule significance, this uncommon natural phenomenon makes vast stretches of territory fragile and earthquake-prone.
The geological effects of an earthquake can be imagised as waves in a calm pond created as a result of a stone being thrown. Once a stone is thrown concentric waves are created that approach towards the bank.
The friction originating at the inter plate in the lithosphere and ethensphere zones in the mantle reach the crust. The similarities, between the spread of concentric waves and tremors in a pond with the vibrations reaching in a straight line the crust, are very appropriate. So the straight line — if drawn — from the actual point of friction at subterranean level is how the tremors reach the crust causing damage.
The Indian Met department, depending on the frequency of tremors in the “prone” zones in the North-eastern states or the not-so-vulnerable regions, has prepared a map and classified different areas between one and five in the Richter Scale. According to such classification, the Himalayas and adjacent Kutch, Andaman and Nikobar are the most vulnerable zones in the country. Cooch Behar and the North-east, including Assam, have also been classified and bracketed five on the list. But Jalpaiguri and Sikkim are placed at category four.
In short, North Bengal should be classified as a “prone” zone. The three districts, Malda and North and South Dinajpore, however, have a distinct advantage; earthquakes are less likely to take a heavy toll in these parts. Seismologists in Bangalore believe that the landslips in the Darjeeling-Himalayas were an exception because it is impossible to ascertain whether those were triggered by earth movements or had a natural origin.
According to scientists, a majority of earthquakes with low-intensity tremors — measuring below four in the Scale — often take place that neither stir us because of distance nor inflict much damage on life and property. So the gentle ripple often remains unnoticed. Among the major quakes causing great damage during the last 50 years, some of the grievously destructive were the 30 August 1964 quake measuring 5.2 in the Richter Scale that which occurred on 29 November 1980 measuring six in the Scale and the 27 September 1988, 2 December 2001 and 14 February 2006 measuring 6.7, 5.1 and 5.3 respectively. The epicenter of these quakes has been traced at 27 degree north of latitude and 88 degree longitude. In other words, the epicenter lies at Sikkim, Darjeeling and the Bhutan Himalayas. On the other hand, the epicentre of quakes in Assam and the North- east is at the Indo-Myanmar borderline and adjoining areas.
The writer is lecturer in Political Science, Chanchal College, Malda
FROM THE STATESMAN
The epicentre of recent earthquakes has been traced to Sikkim, Darjeeling and the Bhutan Himalayas. Considering the possibility of great damage to life and property the administration ought to take urgent steps, says Santanu Basu
FROM a gentle ripple to a terrifying and violent movement an earthquake rocks whatever part of the globe it strikes and devastates life, habitat and property. As a matter of fact, no other calamity causes such havoc. The huge loss of life and property at Kutch in Gujarat, the devastation wrought at Latur in Maharastra and that in the Indo-Pak border are still fresh in public memory. The long stretch from Bhutan and Assam to North Bengal felt the vibrations as an earthquake shook this vast geographical zone on 21 September last.
Earthquakes are tremors in the ground, created by sudden convulsions of tectonic plates — huge slabs of rocks that lie at the subterranean parts of the planet. The tremors of 21 September were not only confined to Guwahati and Bhutan; Kolkata, too, experienced it and Malda was no exception.
This quake which had its epicentre at Mongar in Bhutan and shook North Bengal, Assam and the North-eastern states recorded 6.3 in the Richter Scale. Though severe, it, fortunately, didn’t inflict much damage in North Bengal, but wrecked Bhutan badly; some high-rises in Guwahati sustained major cracks.
A majority of buildings in Bhutan were reportedly damaged. Earthquake, however, is not a sporadic feature in this zone, it occurs on and off. In recent years, there occurred a series of such natural aberrations causing great tremor and panic among locals. In the last two months, as many as eight incidents measuring 4.6 to 6.3 in the Richter Scale were reported in North Bengal and the North-eastern states — the epicentre being Myanmar. Hence, Bhutan has become the most earthquake-prone zone in the country.
Although earthquakes occur everywhere, they are a great many “prone” zones. These zones such as Japan and California lie near the moving margins of the tectonic plates called faultlines. The crust of the earth is 40 km thick and its mantle is 1,400 km in diametre. The lithosphere and esthenosphere comprise the whole of the earth’s crust downwards and the upper portion of it measures around 100 km. The planet’s outer layer of rock varies in thickness — beneath the oceans it is about 11 km (four to seven miles) but stretches up to 70 km (43 miles) under mountain ranges. By recording the vibrations of earthquakes scientists have discovered a “yolk” of metal surrounded by an “egg-white” called mantle at the centre.
And this mantle plays an important role in generating earthquakes. The theory of plate- tectonics states that the crust stands on six continental and oceanic plates. Tectonic plates usually slide past each other, but sometimes they get stuck together. The stress on the rock builds up until they fault, that is crack. The tectonic plates then jolt past each other, sending shock waves through the ground.
This movement is usually classified under three heads — convergent when a plate enters into another; divergent when a plate separates from another; and parallel when two plates exist simultaneously. The movements of the tectonic plates in the mantle finally determine the causes and intensity of an earthquake.
The edge of the Indo-Oz plate and the Eurasian plate at the subterranean level come to the northern parts of the Himalayas and North Bengal. Geographically, the Indian territory is north-centric and tilts northwards. Besides, the Himalayas also grows by an inch (on an average scale) every year and friction by the two tectonic plates are but natural events, the impact of resultant energy can be felt at a long distance from its origin. Though on an average an inch of growth is of minuscule significance, this uncommon natural phenomenon makes vast stretches of territory fragile and earthquake-prone.
The geological effects of an earthquake can be imagised as waves in a calm pond created as a result of a stone being thrown. Once a stone is thrown concentric waves are created that approach towards the bank.
The friction originating at the inter plate in the lithosphere and ethensphere zones in the mantle reach the crust. The similarities, between the spread of concentric waves and tremors in a pond with the vibrations reaching in a straight line the crust, are very appropriate. So the straight line — if drawn — from the actual point of friction at subterranean level is how the tremors reach the crust causing damage.
The Indian Met department, depending on the frequency of tremors in the “prone” zones in the North-eastern states or the not-so-vulnerable regions, has prepared a map and classified different areas between one and five in the Richter Scale. According to such classification, the Himalayas and adjacent Kutch, Andaman and Nikobar are the most vulnerable zones in the country. Cooch Behar and the North-east, including Assam, have also been classified and bracketed five on the list. But Jalpaiguri and Sikkim are placed at category four.
In short, North Bengal should be classified as a “prone” zone. The three districts, Malda and North and South Dinajpore, however, have a distinct advantage; earthquakes are less likely to take a heavy toll in these parts. Seismologists in Bangalore believe that the landslips in the Darjeeling-Himalayas were an exception because it is impossible to ascertain whether those were triggered by earth movements or had a natural origin.
According to scientists, a majority of earthquakes with low-intensity tremors — measuring below four in the Scale — often take place that neither stir us because of distance nor inflict much damage on life and property. So the gentle ripple often remains unnoticed. Among the major quakes causing great damage during the last 50 years, some of the grievously destructive were the 30 August 1964 quake measuring 5.2 in the Richter Scale that which occurred on 29 November 1980 measuring six in the Scale and the 27 September 1988, 2 December 2001 and 14 February 2006 measuring 6.7, 5.1 and 5.3 respectively. The epicenter of these quakes has been traced at 27 degree north of latitude and 88 degree longitude. In other words, the epicenter lies at Sikkim, Darjeeling and the Bhutan Himalayas. On the other hand, the epicentre of quakes in Assam and the North- east is at the Indo-Myanmar borderline and adjoining areas.
The writer is lecturer in Political Science, Chanchal College, Malda
BUFFET, GATES TO URGE RICH INDIANS TO DONATE WEALTH
NEW YORK: Philanthropist billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffett will approach rich people in India and China to urge them to donate at least half their wealth.
The move is part of Gates-Buffett initiative, launched in June, that originally aimed at asking American billionaires to pledge that their wealth would be donated either during their lifetime or upon death. The two now plan to take the idea beyond the US borders. "Buffett said he and Gates in coming months will meet with wealthy individuals in China and India to talk about the pledge in the hopes of adding more names from outside the US," The Wall Street Journal said.
On Wednesday, 34 people joined six billionaires, including Gates and Buffett, who have taken the pledge. They included New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, director George Lucas, David Rockefeller, and media mogul Ted Turner. US has 403 billionaires —the most in the world, and New York tops the list within the country. The number two spot is taken by to China, which is followed by Russia. This year, the Forbes list of the richest people features two Indians in the top ten.
Industrialist Mukesh Ambani is at the fourth spot with a networth of $29 billion, followed by steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal who has a networth of $28.7 billion. Although China has larger number of billionaires, ten of Asia's top 25 rich are from Indian, while China has one. These include Ambani and Mittal in the top two positions, along with Azim Premji ($17 billion), Anil Ambani ($13.7 billion), Shashi and Ravi Ruia ($13 billion), Savitri Jindal ($12.2 billion), Kushal Pal Singh ($9 billion), Kumar Birla ($7.9 billion), Sunil Mittal ($7.8 billion) and Anil Agarwal ($6.4 billion).
Gates with a networth of $53 billion is the second richest man in the world. Buffet comes in third with $47 billion and has pledged to donate 99% of his wealth.
NEW YORK: Philanthropist billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffett will approach rich people in India and China to urge them to donate at least half their wealth.
The move is part of Gates-Buffett initiative, launched in June, that originally aimed at asking American billionaires to pledge that their wealth would be donated either during their lifetime or upon death. The two now plan to take the idea beyond the US borders. "Buffett said he and Gates in coming months will meet with wealthy individuals in China and India to talk about the pledge in the hopes of adding more names from outside the US," The Wall Street Journal said.
On Wednesday, 34 people joined six billionaires, including Gates and Buffett, who have taken the pledge. They included New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, director George Lucas, David Rockefeller, and media mogul Ted Turner. US has 403 billionaires —the most in the world, and New York tops the list within the country. The number two spot is taken by to China, which is followed by Russia. This year, the Forbes list of the richest people features two Indians in the top ten.
Industrialist Mukesh Ambani is at the fourth spot with a networth of $29 billion, followed by steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal who has a networth of $28.7 billion. Although China has larger number of billionaires, ten of Asia's top 25 rich are from Indian, while China has one. These include Ambani and Mittal in the top two positions, along with Azim Premji ($17 billion), Anil Ambani ($13.7 billion), Shashi and Ravi Ruia ($13 billion), Savitri Jindal ($12.2 billion), Kushal Pal Singh ($9 billion), Kumar Birla ($7.9 billion), Sunil Mittal ($7.8 billion) and Anil Agarwal ($6.4 billion).
Gates with a networth of $53 billion is the second richest man in the world. Buffet comes in third with $47 billion and has pledged to donate 99% of his wealth.
NCM thanks CM for ‘Residential Certificate’ announcement, terms the decision historic
Sikkim Express Correspondent
RANGPO, August 6: Thanking Chief Minister Pawan Chamling for the decision to accord ‘Residential Certificates’ to non-Sikkimese residing in Sikkim prior to Sikkim’s Merger with India, Nagrik Chetna Manch today said that the issue of ‘residential problem’ has been totally solved.
In a press statement issued today, NCM joint coordinator Suren Tamang said that the problem of residential problem faced in the country has been solved in Sikkim due to the better decision of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front and its president.
“For the left outs, the decision made by the Chief Minister is historic,” Tamang said adding “Pink Cards to the Sikkim Subjects and Residential Certificate to the left outs preserve the rights of all categories of people in Sikkim”.
Sikkim Express Correspondent
RANGPO, August 6: Thanking Chief Minister Pawan Chamling for the decision to accord ‘Residential Certificates’ to non-Sikkimese residing in Sikkim prior to Sikkim’s Merger with India, Nagrik Chetna Manch today said that the issue of ‘residential problem’ has been totally solved.
In a press statement issued today, NCM joint coordinator Suren Tamang said that the problem of residential problem faced in the country has been solved in Sikkim due to the better decision of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front and its president.
“For the left outs, the decision made by the Chief Minister is historic,” Tamang said adding “Pink Cards to the Sikkim Subjects and Residential Certificate to the left outs preserve the rights of all categories of people in Sikkim”.
National freedom fighter Helen Lepcha origins traced to South Sikkim
BGP team meets surviving family members, finds vintage memories of Helen Lepcha
t
GANGTOK, August 6: The Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh (BGP), which is working hard to bring out the contributions of Sikkimese people in the national freedom movement into public knowledge, has found the birth place of freedom fighter Helen Lepcha at a remote corner in South Sikkim.
The discovery of the birth place of Lepcha who is also known as Sabitri Devi has proved the role of the Sikkimese people towards the national freedom movement, BGP said.
Lepcha was associated with Mahatma Gandhi in the freedom struggle and had led the coal mine workers agitation in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. She had passed away on August 18, 1980. Her Sikkimese origins were a matter of speculations till the BGP launched a mission to trace her antecedents.
On the basis of documents published in 1990s, a Sikkim BGP team consisting of its president Dr Kamal Gurung, working president Narayan Bhattarai, general secretary S Pandey, BGP national executive member CP Giri and Pravin Khaling had on August 1 toured South Sikkim to find the birth place of the freedom fighter.
The trail led to Sangmo village, near Assangthang and some 15 kms away from Namchi,
the South district headquarters where the remains of Lepcha’s ancestral house was found by the Sikkim BGP team.
Members of the second generation of the freedom fighter’s family-Lako Tshering Lepcha (65) and Aki Lepcha (68) and Narmit Lepcha were interviewed by the Sikkim BGP team to collect more credible information on Helen Lepcha.
The remains of a Chorten at Gumpa Dara in the village were shown to the Sikkim BGP team by the family members. They pointed out that their aunt, Helen Lepcha used to annual send money till 1980 for the maintenance of the Chorten.
The Chorten is now in dilapidated conditions.
Lako Tshering Lepcha recollected that their grandfathers used to stay in a cluster of four-five big houses and in one such house, the family of Helen Lepcha used to reside.
Only eroding history of the ancestral house of Helen Lepcha today remain.
A framed black and white picture of Helen Lepcha clutching a medal conferred by the Prime Minister remains as memories for her few surviving family members whose economic conditions are weak.
The BGP has acknowledged the support of Pemcho Lepcha, the grandson of the freedom fighter, in the mission which took three years. He was raised in Kurseong where Helen Lepcha had settled and had provided valuable inputs to the BGP.
After finding the ancestral house of Helen Lepcha and collecting more information from her family members, the BGP has claimed that the role of Sikkim in the national freedom movement is now proved beyond doubt. A research report on the freedom fighter from Sikkim will be published in the Sikkim BGP mouthpiece which will be released on August 24 during the ‘Balidan Diwas’ celebrations at Rhenock.
The family members of Helen Lepcha will also be introduced to the public during the function.
The BGP will also be working to erect a statue of Helen Lepcha and submit memorandums to the State government for naming roads in Sikkim in her name.
It may be recalled that Helen Lepcha was born at Sangmo village in 1902 and for some reasons; her family had shifted to Kurseong in Darjeeling district.
Though Helen Lepcha received her education at Kurseong, her love for Sikkim still existed and she used to annually send money for the maintenance of the Chorten in her village, the family members said.
However, Helen Lepcha could not return to Sikkim even once and the people in her village slowly lost touch with her.
Helen Lepcha had joined the national freedom movement with full vigour in 1920 and was given the name of ‘Sabitri Devi’ by Mahatma Gandhi, BGP said. She had also played an important role in the escape of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose from his confinement at Giddha Pahar in Kurseong subdivision in 1940.
source;sikkim express
BGP team meets surviving family members, finds vintage memories of Helen Lepcha
t
GANGTOK, August 6: The Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh (BGP), which is working hard to bring out the contributions of Sikkimese people in the national freedom movement into public knowledge, has found the birth place of freedom fighter Helen Lepcha at a remote corner in South Sikkim.
The discovery of the birth place of Lepcha who is also known as Sabitri Devi has proved the role of the Sikkimese people towards the national freedom movement, BGP said.
Lepcha was associated with Mahatma Gandhi in the freedom struggle and had led the coal mine workers agitation in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. She had passed away on August 18, 1980. Her Sikkimese origins were a matter of speculations till the BGP launched a mission to trace her antecedents.
On the basis of documents published in 1990s, a Sikkim BGP team consisting of its president Dr Kamal Gurung, working president Narayan Bhattarai, general secretary S Pandey, BGP national executive member CP Giri and Pravin Khaling had on August 1 toured South Sikkim to find the birth place of the freedom fighter.
The trail led to Sangmo village, near Assangthang and some 15 kms away from Namchi,
the South district headquarters where the remains of Lepcha’s ancestral house was found by the Sikkim BGP team.
Members of the second generation of the freedom fighter’s family-Lako Tshering Lepcha (65) and Aki Lepcha (68) and Narmit Lepcha were interviewed by the Sikkim BGP team to collect more credible information on Helen Lepcha.
The remains of a Chorten at Gumpa Dara in the village were shown to the Sikkim BGP team by the family members. They pointed out that their aunt, Helen Lepcha used to annual send money till 1980 for the maintenance of the Chorten.
The Chorten is now in dilapidated conditions.
Lako Tshering Lepcha recollected that their grandfathers used to stay in a cluster of four-five big houses and in one such house, the family of Helen Lepcha used to reside.
Only eroding history of the ancestral house of Helen Lepcha today remain.
A framed black and white picture of Helen Lepcha clutching a medal conferred by the Prime Minister remains as memories for her few surviving family members whose economic conditions are weak.
The BGP has acknowledged the support of Pemcho Lepcha, the grandson of the freedom fighter, in the mission which took three years. He was raised in Kurseong where Helen Lepcha had settled and had provided valuable inputs to the BGP.
After finding the ancestral house of Helen Lepcha and collecting more information from her family members, the BGP has claimed that the role of Sikkim in the national freedom movement is now proved beyond doubt. A research report on the freedom fighter from Sikkim will be published in the Sikkim BGP mouthpiece which will be released on August 24 during the ‘Balidan Diwas’ celebrations at Rhenock.
The family members of Helen Lepcha will also be introduced to the public during the function.
The BGP will also be working to erect a statue of Helen Lepcha and submit memorandums to the State government for naming roads in Sikkim in her name.
It may be recalled that Helen Lepcha was born at Sangmo village in 1902 and for some reasons; her family had shifted to Kurseong in Darjeeling district.
Though Helen Lepcha received her education at Kurseong, her love for Sikkim still existed and she used to annually send money for the maintenance of the Chorten in her village, the family members said.
However, Helen Lepcha could not return to Sikkim even once and the people in her village slowly lost touch with her.
Helen Lepcha had joined the national freedom movement with full vigour in 1920 and was given the name of ‘Sabitri Devi’ by Mahatma Gandhi, BGP said. She had also played an important role in the escape of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose from his confinement at Giddha Pahar in Kurseong subdivision in 1940.
source;sikkim express
1/3rd of the world to seek jobs in India
The Indian Central government imposes over 55 labour laws and the States another 150 or more. These could be the biggest challenge to an economy set to house one third of the world's workforce over the next decade.
Yes, you read that right! As today's chart shows (as per the International Labour Organisation), the number of Indians in the workforce will increase by almost 80 m over the next decade. But if more women join the workforce, this figure could also swell to 110 m. Then, three out of every ten extra workers in the world will be Indian by 2020.
40 m of the incremental workforce in India may be absorbed by its service sector. But, what about the rest? India's manufacturing contributed 16% of the GDP in FY10. For the first time ever it outdid the share of agriculture. However, its contribution to employment is least impressive at 12% of total workforce.
Extensive labour laws that discourage hiring temporary workers have forced manufacturers to opt for technology. Thus rendering thousands jobless. Even the most labour intensive sectors such as textile and jewelry making have halved their labour requirement.
China's workforce is becoming older and more expensive. The outsourcing contracts from the developed economies will soon look to exit the dragon nation. Only India has the numbers to match it. However, this opportunity can turn into a catastrophe unless the labour laws are modified to accommodate more employment.
Sikkim also seems to move on the same path. Many of the entreprenurs here have stopped expanding their businesses for this simple reason.
The Indian Central government imposes over 55 labour laws and the States another 150 or more. These could be the biggest challenge to an economy set to house one third of the world's workforce over the next decade.
Yes, you read that right! As today's chart shows (as per the International Labour Organisation), the number of Indians in the workforce will increase by almost 80 m over the next decade. But if more women join the workforce, this figure could also swell to 110 m. Then, three out of every ten extra workers in the world will be Indian by 2020.
40 m of the incremental workforce in India may be absorbed by its service sector. But, what about the rest? India's manufacturing contributed 16% of the GDP in FY10. For the first time ever it outdid the share of agriculture. However, its contribution to employment is least impressive at 12% of total workforce.
Extensive labour laws that discourage hiring temporary workers have forced manufacturers to opt for technology. Thus rendering thousands jobless. Even the most labour intensive sectors such as textile and jewelry making have halved their labour requirement.
China's workforce is becoming older and more expensive. The outsourcing contracts from the developed economies will soon look to exit the dragon nation. Only India has the numbers to match it. However, this opportunity can turn into a catastrophe unless the labour laws are modified to accommodate more employment.
Sikkim also seems to move on the same path. Many of the entreprenurs here have stopped expanding their businesses for this simple reason.
Ahead of GST, govt moots service tax at invoice level
B Y SURABHI AGARWAL
Clearing the decks for the proposed goods and services tax (GST), the Central Board of Customs and Excise (CBEC) has proposed altering the point of collecting service tax.
CBEC comes under the department of revenue in the finance ministry. Its draft rules, put up for public debate till 1 September, propose that service tax should be payable at the point of issuing the invoice rather than after the payment is made, which is the case now.
Pratik Jain, executive director of consultancy firm KPMG, said the proposed point is industry-friendly and a positive step, considering the government's push to impose GST by 1 April. “Through these new rules, the government is testing the ground for GST,“ Jain said.
Harishanker Subramaniam, tax partner at consultancy Ernst and Young, said the draft rules are based on the normal concept of accrual rather than payment.
“Central excise and the value-added tax follow this approach and getting service tax on the same model is in line with the preparation with GST, as all taxes will be subsumed into one when the GST is imposed,“ he said.
The change in policy, when it happens, could have an impact on firms in some sectors, especially those in telecom as these are heavy payers of service tax. There could be some cash flow issues for companies as they would have to pay tax when they issue an invoice against the practice of paying tax only after payment for the service is made. The draft rules also aim to provide clarity on how service tax would be levied and collected if there is a change in the rate of service tax or the tax is imposed on new services. CBEC has issued several clarifications for many instances that could arise in case of changes in the rate of service tax or additions or deletions to the list of taxable services.
EMAIL
B Y SURABHI AGARWAL
Clearing the decks for the proposed goods and services tax (GST), the Central Board of Customs and Excise (CBEC) has proposed altering the point of collecting service tax.
CBEC comes under the department of revenue in the finance ministry. Its draft rules, put up for public debate till 1 September, propose that service tax should be payable at the point of issuing the invoice rather than after the payment is made, which is the case now.
Pratik Jain, executive director of consultancy firm KPMG, said the proposed point is industry-friendly and a positive step, considering the government's push to impose GST by 1 April. “Through these new rules, the government is testing the ground for GST,“ Jain said.
Harishanker Subramaniam, tax partner at consultancy Ernst and Young, said the draft rules are based on the normal concept of accrual rather than payment.
“Central excise and the value-added tax follow this approach and getting service tax on the same model is in line with the preparation with GST, as all taxes will be subsumed into one when the GST is imposed,“ he said.
The change in policy, when it happens, could have an impact on firms in some sectors, especially those in telecom as these are heavy payers of service tax. There could be some cash flow issues for companies as they would have to pay tax when they issue an invoice against the practice of paying tax only after payment for the service is made. The draft rules also aim to provide clarity on how service tax would be levied and collected if there is a change in the rate of service tax or the tax is imposed on new services. CBEC has issued several clarifications for many instances that could arise in case of changes in the rate of service tax or additions or deletions to the list of taxable services.
A divine connect
By Namita Niwas
Amol Palekar is back, this time with an English film. Titled And Once Again it has been shot, for the first time ever, in the magnificient monasteries of Sikkim
How did you manage to obtain permission to shoot inside the monasteries of Sikkim, a sacred place where no one except the inmates are allowed entry?
It was wonderful that we had no problems shooting all over Sikkim especially inside the holy place. This was possible because Pawan Kumar Chamling, the Chief Minister of Sikkim was so helpful. Surprisingly anyone can just pick up the phone and talk to him, he is that accessible. Shooting inside the monastery is strictly not allowed but since my script demanded it, the Sikkim government heeded to my request and supported my film.
Even the monks helped us a lot. Since this is the first film to be shot inside the monastery, we promised them that we would not disturb their rituals or disrupt their daily lives.
What were the scenes that you shot inside?
The monks perform a beautiful prayer early every morning. We went there the previous evening one day to set up things and came back the next morning to shoot it very quietly, without disturbing them. It’s very authentic and we are proud of it.
Another breathtaking thing about their life in the monastery is a dance that they perform. The costumes are so regal. I had seen the dance in one of the documentaries on the state. When I asked them about it, they actually performed it for us and I have incorporated it in the film. Also there are some more relevant sequences.
Was there any special reason to shoot inside the monastery?
That was the demand of the script. Antara Mali plays a female monk based there and to show authenticity, the rituals, the prayers, their way of living, we thought of this place.
Why do you think the local authorities went out of their way to accommodate your film? Was it because you were the film’s director?
I think it was primarily because of two factors. Firstly, since I was the director and secondly the script was very strong. They realised that authenticity was deeply ingrained in the script and the film had a definite meaning and a purpose that we wanted to depict.
What is the film all about?
It’s about the violence that affects Antara’s life without any reason. And how an innocent has to pay for the crime committed by someone else thus affecting her life. For this my wife, writer Sandhya Gokhale and I thought of shooting the film in a very peaceful place with a serene background.
How did you think of shooting in Sikkim?
Actually Sandhya and I were holidaying there about a year and a half ago and enjoying ourselves. Looking at the surroundings, she suddenly remembered a story that she had penned many years ago.
When she narrated it to me, I told her that this is the place where it has to be shot. Then she starting writing the script.
How would you describe Sikkim since you stayed there for a longer period of time while shooting for the film?
The rotating prayer bells, the holy flags around the monasteries, the overwhelming peace in the valleys, the silence of the snow peaks, everything about Sikkim is so beautiful. I genuinely think that it is one of the most serene and peaceful states in our country. We shot there for an entire month but before that Sandhya and I went scouting locations. But during my five trips, I saw the police personnel only twice. That’s because it is such a peace loving place that there is no need of the police. I am so overwhelmed with the people of Sikkim for their simplicity and loving nature. They not only opened their doors but also their hearts to us. I hope it remains like that forever.
Was it tough shooting there?
I shot the entire film in Sikkim. And yes, it was quite tough shooting there for two major reasons. One was the difficult terrain. For the first few days, we never realised how far the location was. We would be guided by the locals who would point out and say it is just here but it would take us one-and-a-half hours to reach there, the narrow roads went up and down the hills. Then we got smart and started asking people how long would it take us to reach a certain place.
Secondly the climate was quite different. For the first six days, we did not see the sun. As it is, the sun rises very early in the North East. So we would start shooting at 6 am but to reach the location we had to start from the hotel at 4 am and reach the location and get ready. We could shoot only latest till 2 pm. But it was all worth it.
Why did you select Antara to play the role of a monk?
When Sandhya and I had seen Antara in Naach, we not only loved her performance but we also felt that there is so much to this girl which is not explored. We had then decided to cast her in one of our future films. So when we thought of making And Once Again, we called her up and she agreed. I admire her for two things. Firstly, when I told her that she would have to shave her hair, she agreed immediately. Secondly, I told her that she has very few lines in the film and the challenge would be to perform through her gestures. That really excited her. She has given a very fine performance.
Before we started shooting, Antara stayed there for about four days and picked up their ways of living. There were five female monks who taught her everything right from kneeling down and bowing before the Lord to draping the outfit. She spent a lot of time with them. That was very touching.
What about Rajat Kapoor and Rituparna Sengupta, the other actors in the film?
Rajat is a lovely actor and has performed well. As for Rituparna, very few people have actually seen her work. She is a well-known actor in West Bengal. I have known her for a very long time. Gerson D’Cunha who plays her father, a psychiatrist, too has given a good performance. The surprise package is the little girl Yudene Zongtenpa, who is a local. We needed a girl like her. We had auditioned many girls. During one of our trips, we found her after screen testing her. This is her debut. But she stands up equally tall with the other performers.
What do you think is the USP of the film?
Definitely, Sandhya’s script. It is very emotional and touches the heart. Secondly it is the performances by all the artistes. And thirdly every frame of the film is beautiful. My cinematographer Asim Bose has captured the scenic view of Sikkim wonderfully.
Aren’t you apprehensive that your film And Once Again is releasing with Aamir Khan Productions’ Peepli [Live]?
No. I have no apprehensions. Any film that has Aamir’s involvement in it has to do wonders at the box-office. Aamir is known to go all out to promote his movies. Promotion generally depends on the budget of the film and my movies are mostly small-budget that leave no scope for wide-scale advertisement. My films are generally watched by my fans, those who have followed my work all along. That is my strength. I am confident of my film.
Why did you make this film in English?
The film’s subject demanded that it should be made in English. Rajat plays an Indian based in Yugoslavia and is constantly communicating in English. Ritu is an architect who speaks the language at work. And since it is in Sikkim, the language that one would use there is English. Moreover, I consider English as one of the regional languages of India as everyone is communicating in this language.
By Namita Niwas
Amol Palekar is back, this time with an English film. Titled And Once Again it has been shot, for the first time ever, in the magnificient monasteries of Sikkim
How did you manage to obtain permission to shoot inside the monasteries of Sikkim, a sacred place where no one except the inmates are allowed entry?
It was wonderful that we had no problems shooting all over Sikkim especially inside the holy place. This was possible because Pawan Kumar Chamling, the Chief Minister of Sikkim was so helpful. Surprisingly anyone can just pick up the phone and talk to him, he is that accessible. Shooting inside the monastery is strictly not allowed but since my script demanded it, the Sikkim government heeded to my request and supported my film.
Even the monks helped us a lot. Since this is the first film to be shot inside the monastery, we promised them that we would not disturb their rituals or disrupt their daily lives.
What were the scenes that you shot inside?
The monks perform a beautiful prayer early every morning. We went there the previous evening one day to set up things and came back the next morning to shoot it very quietly, without disturbing them. It’s very authentic and we are proud of it.
Another breathtaking thing about their life in the monastery is a dance that they perform. The costumes are so regal. I had seen the dance in one of the documentaries on the state. When I asked them about it, they actually performed it for us and I have incorporated it in the film. Also there are some more relevant sequences.
Was there any special reason to shoot inside the monastery?
That was the demand of the script. Antara Mali plays a female monk based there and to show authenticity, the rituals, the prayers, their way of living, we thought of this place.
Why do you think the local authorities went out of their way to accommodate your film? Was it because you were the film’s director?
I think it was primarily because of two factors. Firstly, since I was the director and secondly the script was very strong. They realised that authenticity was deeply ingrained in the script and the film had a definite meaning and a purpose that we wanted to depict.
What is the film all about?
It’s about the violence that affects Antara’s life without any reason. And how an innocent has to pay for the crime committed by someone else thus affecting her life. For this my wife, writer Sandhya Gokhale and I thought of shooting the film in a very peaceful place with a serene background.
How did you think of shooting in Sikkim?
Actually Sandhya and I were holidaying there about a year and a half ago and enjoying ourselves. Looking at the surroundings, she suddenly remembered a story that she had penned many years ago.
When she narrated it to me, I told her that this is the place where it has to be shot. Then she starting writing the script.
How would you describe Sikkim since you stayed there for a longer period of time while shooting for the film?
The rotating prayer bells, the holy flags around the monasteries, the overwhelming peace in the valleys, the silence of the snow peaks, everything about Sikkim is so beautiful. I genuinely think that it is one of the most serene and peaceful states in our country. We shot there for an entire month but before that Sandhya and I went scouting locations. But during my five trips, I saw the police personnel only twice. That’s because it is such a peace loving place that there is no need of the police. I am so overwhelmed with the people of Sikkim for their simplicity and loving nature. They not only opened their doors but also their hearts to us. I hope it remains like that forever.
Was it tough shooting there?
I shot the entire film in Sikkim. And yes, it was quite tough shooting there for two major reasons. One was the difficult terrain. For the first few days, we never realised how far the location was. We would be guided by the locals who would point out and say it is just here but it would take us one-and-a-half hours to reach there, the narrow roads went up and down the hills. Then we got smart and started asking people how long would it take us to reach a certain place.
Secondly the climate was quite different. For the first six days, we did not see the sun. As it is, the sun rises very early in the North East. So we would start shooting at 6 am but to reach the location we had to start from the hotel at 4 am and reach the location and get ready. We could shoot only latest till 2 pm. But it was all worth it.
Why did you select Antara to play the role of a monk?
When Sandhya and I had seen Antara in Naach, we not only loved her performance but we also felt that there is so much to this girl which is not explored. We had then decided to cast her in one of our future films. So when we thought of making And Once Again, we called her up and she agreed. I admire her for two things. Firstly, when I told her that she would have to shave her hair, she agreed immediately. Secondly, I told her that she has very few lines in the film and the challenge would be to perform through her gestures. That really excited her. She has given a very fine performance.
Before we started shooting, Antara stayed there for about four days and picked up their ways of living. There were five female monks who taught her everything right from kneeling down and bowing before the Lord to draping the outfit. She spent a lot of time with them. That was very touching.
What about Rajat Kapoor and Rituparna Sengupta, the other actors in the film?
Rajat is a lovely actor and has performed well. As for Rituparna, very few people have actually seen her work. She is a well-known actor in West Bengal. I have known her for a very long time. Gerson D’Cunha who plays her father, a psychiatrist, too has given a good performance. The surprise package is the little girl Yudene Zongtenpa, who is a local. We needed a girl like her. We had auditioned many girls. During one of our trips, we found her after screen testing her. This is her debut. But she stands up equally tall with the other performers.
What do you think is the USP of the film?
Definitely, Sandhya’s script. It is very emotional and touches the heart. Secondly it is the performances by all the artistes. And thirdly every frame of the film is beautiful. My cinematographer Asim Bose has captured the scenic view of Sikkim wonderfully.
Aren’t you apprehensive that your film And Once Again is releasing with Aamir Khan Productions’ Peepli [Live]?
No. I have no apprehensions. Any film that has Aamir’s involvement in it has to do wonders at the box-office. Aamir is known to go all out to promote his movies. Promotion generally depends on the budget of the film and my movies are mostly small-budget that leave no scope for wide-scale advertisement. My films are generally watched by my fans, those who have followed my work all along. That is my strength. I am confident of my film.
Why did you make this film in English?
The film’s subject demanded that it should be made in English. Rajat plays an Indian based in Yugoslavia and is constantly communicating in English. Ritu is an architect who speaks the language at work. And since it is in Sikkim, the language that one would use there is English. Moreover, I consider English as one of the regional languages of India as everyone is communicating in this language.
Livelihood school for Organic Farming launched
Gangtok, Aug 6 (PTI) Nearly half of Sikkim's farmland has regained organic nutrients, state agriculture minister D N Thakarpa said."Nearly half of the land available for farming in the state has regained organic nutrients. Only five per cent of the available land is to be helped by organic farming," he said after inaugurating Livelihood School on Organic Farming here to train the field-level supervisors at Supervisors Training Institute at Tadong last evening.He said no chemical pesticides and fertilisers is being used in these patches of lands since 2003.National certifying agencies would be invited thrice a year here to study the ongoing organic farming and to give organic certification after due tests, sources said.
Gangtok, Aug 6 (PTI) Nearly half of Sikkim's farmland has regained organic nutrients, state agriculture minister D N Thakarpa said."Nearly half of the land available for farming in the state has regained organic nutrients. Only five per cent of the available land is to be helped by organic farming," he said after inaugurating Livelihood School on Organic Farming here to train the field-level supervisors at Supervisors Training Institute at Tadong last evening.He said no chemical pesticides and fertilisers is being used in these patches of lands since 2003.National certifying agencies would be invited thrice a year here to study the ongoing organic farming and to give organic certification after due tests, sources said.
Friday, August 6, 2010
CM announces Residential Certificates for others without Sikkim Subjects
by NIRMAL MANGAR
GANGTOK, August 4: Chief Minister Pawan Chamling today claimed that Pink Card drive of the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) government was chiefly aimed to free the Sikkimese people from the burden of income tax for eternity and to prevent a repeat of 1984.
“Sikkimese Janta were enjoying income tax exemption before 1984 but due to the wrong policy of the then government led to burden of income tax on the people. The industrialists and businessmen from outside reaped maximum benefits meant for the Sikkimese people. We were successfully in removing the income tax burden by convincing the Centre. Now, to prevent a repeat of the 1984 incident, we have come up with the concept of Pink Cards”, explained the Chief Minister during the State level Panchayat Sammelan here at indoor gymnasium hall of the Paljor Stadium.
Speaking for the first time on the concept of the ongoing Pink Card process which has already created a furore among the opposition camps, Chamling said that the Pink Card initiative will be implemented only after the end of this financial year.
We will take opinion from the people before implementing the Pink Card initiative after March 31, next year, said the Chief Minister directing the Panchayats to sensitize the people on the rationale behind the Pink Cards.
One of the major aims of the Pink Card initiative was to arrest the influx in Sikkim, according to the Chief Minister.
“Influx has risen in Sikkim in present times and Pink Cards will help to stop this. Those opposing the Pink Card initiative have to understand the objectives of this initiative to clear their doubts”, said Chamling pointing out that developed nations have also implemented such schemes to protect the local interests.
Chamling also announced that the State government will be issuing residential certificates to those people without Sikkim Subject certificates and had settled in the State before 1975. These certificates will help these people to get trade licenses, taxi licenses and employment in the State, he said.
A ‘Chief Minister’s Literacy Mission’ was also announced on the occasion with the aim to make Sikkim a fully literate State in the next three years. As per the mission, teenagers and aged persons will be given education by the State government.
“Sikkim must be made a fully literate State by 2013”, said Chamling. He said that additional infrastructure amounting to Rs. 25000 will be provided to each school for the mission where the target groups will be taught elementary English, Nepali and mathematics under the charge of the concerned panchayat.
Highlighting the need of quality education, the Chief Minister said the State government is spending Rs. 40,000 annually on each student while an astronomical amount of Rs. 378 crores is spent annually on salaries of the government teachers.
The Chief Minister also took the occasion to take a swipe against the opposition political parties, whom he said, were attacking the State government as they cannot digest the development of the State.
“The opposition parties do not love Sikkim and they are skilled in making allegations of every type just to defame Sikkim”, said Chamling.
The Chief Minister also announced to set up Block Administrative Centre at Parka-Machong, Chumbung-Chakung, Nandu Gaon and Martam.
The Chief Minister also presented the ‘Panchayat Shree’ awards to panchayat members-Meena Kumari Subba (West), Sarad Pradhan (South), Thinley Uzer Bhutia (North) and Deepak Pakhrin (East). The award consists of a citation, shawl and Rs 50,000.
by NIRMAL MANGAR
GANGTOK, August 4: Chief Minister Pawan Chamling today claimed that Pink Card drive of the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) government was chiefly aimed to free the Sikkimese people from the burden of income tax for eternity and to prevent a repeat of 1984.
“Sikkimese Janta were enjoying income tax exemption before 1984 but due to the wrong policy of the then government led to burden of income tax on the people. The industrialists and businessmen from outside reaped maximum benefits meant for the Sikkimese people. We were successfully in removing the income tax burden by convincing the Centre. Now, to prevent a repeat of the 1984 incident, we have come up with the concept of Pink Cards”, explained the Chief Minister during the State level Panchayat Sammelan here at indoor gymnasium hall of the Paljor Stadium.
Speaking for the first time on the concept of the ongoing Pink Card process which has already created a furore among the opposition camps, Chamling said that the Pink Card initiative will be implemented only after the end of this financial year.
We will take opinion from the people before implementing the Pink Card initiative after March 31, next year, said the Chief Minister directing the Panchayats to sensitize the people on the rationale behind the Pink Cards.
One of the major aims of the Pink Card initiative was to arrest the influx in Sikkim, according to the Chief Minister.
“Influx has risen in Sikkim in present times and Pink Cards will help to stop this. Those opposing the Pink Card initiative have to understand the objectives of this initiative to clear their doubts”, said Chamling pointing out that developed nations have also implemented such schemes to protect the local interests.
Chamling also announced that the State government will be issuing residential certificates to those people without Sikkim Subject certificates and had settled in the State before 1975. These certificates will help these people to get trade licenses, taxi licenses and employment in the State, he said.
A ‘Chief Minister’s Literacy Mission’ was also announced on the occasion with the aim to make Sikkim a fully literate State in the next three years. As per the mission, teenagers and aged persons will be given education by the State government.
“Sikkim must be made a fully literate State by 2013”, said Chamling. He said that additional infrastructure amounting to Rs. 25000 will be provided to each school for the mission where the target groups will be taught elementary English, Nepali and mathematics under the charge of the concerned panchayat.
Highlighting the need of quality education, the Chief Minister said the State government is spending Rs. 40,000 annually on each student while an astronomical amount of Rs. 378 crores is spent annually on salaries of the government teachers.
The Chief Minister also took the occasion to take a swipe against the opposition political parties, whom he said, were attacking the State government as they cannot digest the development of the State.
“The opposition parties do not love Sikkim and they are skilled in making allegations of every type just to defame Sikkim”, said Chamling.
The Chief Minister also announced to set up Block Administrative Centre at Parka-Machong, Chumbung-Chakung, Nandu Gaon and Martam.
The Chief Minister also presented the ‘Panchayat Shree’ awards to panchayat members-Meena Kumari Subba (West), Sarad Pradhan (South), Thinley Uzer Bhutia (North) and Deepak Pakhrin (East). The award consists of a citation, shawl and Rs 50,000.
JAC formed to pursue status for old settlers at par with Sikkim Subject holders
source;sikkim express
GANGTOK, August 4: A Joint Action Committee headed by Nagarik Sangrash Samiti president Prem Goyal has been constituted to pursue key issues pertaining to Indian citizens who have settled in Sikkim before the merger.
The JAC was set up during a meeting of ‘original Indian residents in Sikkim before April 26, 1975’ held yesterday at Gangtok. The meeting was to chalk out future course of action to get ‘status and rights’ at par with the Sikkim Subject certificate holders for those individuals and their families who had settled in Sikkim before the merger and do not have the Sikkim Subject Certificates.
Representatives from Sikkim Chamber of Commerce, Association of Old Settlers of Sikkim, Sikkim Bihari Jagaran Manch, Nagarik Sangrash Samiti and other citizens who fall under such category numbering around 200 had attended the meeting.
Satyanarayan Periwal had chaired the meeting which unanimously decided to form the JAC headed by Prem Goyal.
Goyal apprised the meeting that he has already filed a prayer petition in the Rajya Sabha last year requesting the intervention of the Union Government for ‘equal rights and status’ to those people in Sikkim who had settled in the State before the merger.
Goyal’s petition was supported by the meeting.
It was decided that the JAC will henceforth, will also work on the issue of income tax exemption for old settlers in Sikkim.
source;sikkim express
GANGTOK, August 4: A Joint Action Committee headed by Nagarik Sangrash Samiti president Prem Goyal has been constituted to pursue key issues pertaining to Indian citizens who have settled in Sikkim before the merger.
The JAC was set up during a meeting of ‘original Indian residents in Sikkim before April 26, 1975’ held yesterday at Gangtok. The meeting was to chalk out future course of action to get ‘status and rights’ at par with the Sikkim Subject certificate holders for those individuals and their families who had settled in Sikkim before the merger and do not have the Sikkim Subject Certificates.
Representatives from Sikkim Chamber of Commerce, Association of Old Settlers of Sikkim, Sikkim Bihari Jagaran Manch, Nagarik Sangrash Samiti and other citizens who fall under such category numbering around 200 had attended the meeting.
Satyanarayan Periwal had chaired the meeting which unanimously decided to form the JAC headed by Prem Goyal.
Goyal apprised the meeting that he has already filed a prayer petition in the Rajya Sabha last year requesting the intervention of the Union Government for ‘equal rights and status’ to those people in Sikkim who had settled in the State before the merger.
Goyal’s petition was supported by the meeting.
It was decided that the JAC will henceforth, will also work on the issue of income tax exemption for old settlers in Sikkim.
Waste-pickers oppose U.N. plan
by John Vidal
Pickers say waste-to-energy incineration plants increase emissions and take away their only means of survival.
The waste-pickers who scour the world's rubbish dumps and daily recycle thousands of tonnes of metal, paper and plastics are up in arms against the U.N., which they claim is forcing them out of work and increasing climate change emissions.
Their complaint, heard on Wednesday in Bonn where the U.N. global climate change talks have resumed. The pickers say the clean development mechanism (CDM), an ambitious climate finance scheme designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries, has led to dozens of giant waste-to-energy incinerators being built to burn municipal rubbish, as well as hundreds of new landfill schemes designed to collect methane gas.
“Waste-pickers, who are some of the poorest people on earth, recover recyclable materials. They are invisible entrepreneurs on the frontline of climate change, earning a living from recovery and recycling, reducing demand for natural resources,” says Neil Tangri, director of Gaia, an alliance of 500 anti-incinerator groups in 80 countries.
“But they are being undermined by CDM projects, which deny them entry to dumps. This is leading to further stress and hardship for some of the poorest people in the world and is increasing emissions,” he said.
Waste-pickers handle much of the growing mountains of rubbish in developing countries. Nearly 60 per cent of all Delhi's waste, for example, is recycled by an army of tens of thousands of pickers who scavenge for recyclable materials on the city's dumps.
“These workers are providing a public service — for free. Building incinerators robs the poorest of the poor,” said Bharati Chaturvedi, director of Indian NGO Chintan which works with waste-pickers and has been opposing a giant incinerator being built in Delhi with CDM money.
On Wednesday, Gaia called for the CDM to stop approving incinerator waste to energy projects and to start investing climate funds in the informal recycling sector. This, it said, would increase employment and labour conditions while dramatically reducing emissions.
Gaia also argues that the U.N.'s methodology for assessing whether projects should be granted CDM credits does not take into account the emissions saved by recycling.
Recycling and composting, it says, are nearly 25 times more effective at reducing greenhouse gas emissions than waste-to-energy incinerators.
“CDM funding for incineration and landfills represents a lost opportunity to reduce pollution and help improve the welfare of some of the poorest people on earth. This funding incentivises the destruction of valuable resources that would otherwise have been recovered with significant climate benefits.” But a spokeswoman for the CDM said on Thursday that waste-to-energy incinerators saved emissions and provided new employment. “These projects would not have taken place without the CDM”.
But she said the CDM would welcome groups of waste-pickers who wanted to apply for U.N. climate credits. “If they can show, with the correct methodology, that they are saving emissions, they would be eligible, too,” she said.
The CDM, set up in 2001, allows rich countries to offset their emissions by investing in projects that reduce emissions in poor countries. In nearly 10 years' operation it claims to have reduced emissions significantly worldwide but has been accused of allowing fraud by unscrupulous industrialists who have found ways to register projects that would have been built anyway.
Incinerator plants are some of the largest sources of urban protests in both rich and poor countries, with people living near them, or downwind of them, concerned over cancers and other illnesses. These concerns are strongly denied by incinerator and city authorities who have invested billions of dollars in new plants. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2010
by John Vidal
Pickers say waste-to-energy incineration plants increase emissions and take away their only means of survival.
The waste-pickers who scour the world's rubbish dumps and daily recycle thousands of tonnes of metal, paper and plastics are up in arms against the U.N., which they claim is forcing them out of work and increasing climate change emissions.
Their complaint, heard on Wednesday in Bonn where the U.N. global climate change talks have resumed. The pickers say the clean development mechanism (CDM), an ambitious climate finance scheme designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries, has led to dozens of giant waste-to-energy incinerators being built to burn municipal rubbish, as well as hundreds of new landfill schemes designed to collect methane gas.
“Waste-pickers, who are some of the poorest people on earth, recover recyclable materials. They are invisible entrepreneurs on the frontline of climate change, earning a living from recovery and recycling, reducing demand for natural resources,” says Neil Tangri, director of Gaia, an alliance of 500 anti-incinerator groups in 80 countries.
“But they are being undermined by CDM projects, which deny them entry to dumps. This is leading to further stress and hardship for some of the poorest people in the world and is increasing emissions,” he said.
Waste-pickers handle much of the growing mountains of rubbish in developing countries. Nearly 60 per cent of all Delhi's waste, for example, is recycled by an army of tens of thousands of pickers who scavenge for recyclable materials on the city's dumps.
“These workers are providing a public service — for free. Building incinerators robs the poorest of the poor,” said Bharati Chaturvedi, director of Indian NGO Chintan which works with waste-pickers and has been opposing a giant incinerator being built in Delhi with CDM money.
On Wednesday, Gaia called for the CDM to stop approving incinerator waste to energy projects and to start investing climate funds in the informal recycling sector. This, it said, would increase employment and labour conditions while dramatically reducing emissions.
Gaia also argues that the U.N.'s methodology for assessing whether projects should be granted CDM credits does not take into account the emissions saved by recycling.
Recycling and composting, it says, are nearly 25 times more effective at reducing greenhouse gas emissions than waste-to-energy incinerators.
“CDM funding for incineration and landfills represents a lost opportunity to reduce pollution and help improve the welfare of some of the poorest people on earth. This funding incentivises the destruction of valuable resources that would otherwise have been recovered with significant climate benefits.” But a spokeswoman for the CDM said on Thursday that waste-to-energy incinerators saved emissions and provided new employment. “These projects would not have taken place without the CDM”.
But she said the CDM would welcome groups of waste-pickers who wanted to apply for U.N. climate credits. “If they can show, with the correct methodology, that they are saving emissions, they would be eligible, too,” she said.
The CDM, set up in 2001, allows rich countries to offset their emissions by investing in projects that reduce emissions in poor countries. In nearly 10 years' operation it claims to have reduced emissions significantly worldwide but has been accused of allowing fraud by unscrupulous industrialists who have found ways to register projects that would have been built anyway.
Incinerator plants are some of the largest sources of urban protests in both rich and poor countries, with people living near them, or downwind of them, concerned over cancers and other illnesses. These concerns are strongly denied by incinerator and city authorities who have invested billions of dollars in new plants. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
THINK IT OVER
by Swami Avdhutananda, Gangtok,India
( Ex Chinmaya Mission Achraya)
1. When the snake is alive, it eats ants.
When the snake is injured or dead, ants eat snake.
Time changes, therefore situation can turn at any time.
Don't neglect anyone in your life............
2. Never make the same mistake twice.
There are so many new ones.
Try a different one each day.
3. A good way to change someone's attitude is to change your own, because, the same sun that melts butter, also hardens clay!
Life is as we think, so think always positively.
4. Life is just like a sea, we are moving without an end. Nothing stays with us.
What remains is just the memories of some people who touched us as waves.
5. Whenever you want to know how rich you are never count your currency.
Just try to Drop a Tear and count how many hands reach out to WIPE that--
THAT IS TRUE RICHNESS.
6. Heart said to the eyes, "See less, because you see and I suffer a lot."
Eyes replied, "Feel less because you feel and I cry a lot."
7. Never change your originality for the sake of others, because no one can play your role better than you.
So be yourself, because whatever you are, YOU ARE THE BEST.
8. Baby mosquito came back after flying for the 1st time.
His dad asked him, "How do you feel?"
He replied, "It was wonderful, everyone was clapping for me!"
Now that’s called
POSITIVE ATTITUDE.
by Swami Avdhutananda, Gangtok,India
( Ex Chinmaya Mission Achraya)
1. When the snake is alive, it eats ants.
When the snake is injured or dead, ants eat snake.
Time changes, therefore situation can turn at any time.
Don't neglect anyone in your life............
2. Never make the same mistake twice.
There are so many new ones.
Try a different one each day.
3. A good way to change someone's attitude is to change your own, because, the same sun that melts butter, also hardens clay!
Life is as we think, so think always positively.
4. Life is just like a sea, we are moving without an end. Nothing stays with us.
What remains is just the memories of some people who touched us as waves.
5. Whenever you want to know how rich you are never count your currency.
Just try to Drop a Tear and count how many hands reach out to WIPE that--
THAT IS TRUE RICHNESS.
6. Heart said to the eyes, "See less, because you see and I suffer a lot."
Eyes replied, "Feel less because you feel and I cry a lot."
7. Never change your originality for the sake of others, because no one can play your role better than you.
So be yourself, because whatever you are, YOU ARE THE BEST.
8. Baby mosquito came back after flying for the 1st time.
His dad asked him, "How do you feel?"
He replied, "It was wonderful, everyone was clapping for me!"
Now that’s called
POSITIVE ATTITUDE.
Malaysia plans new visa system for Indian, Chinese tourists
by P. S. Suryanarayana
Malaysia is planning to introduce a Visa Facilitation System (VFS) for tourists from India and China. This follows a decision to revoke the Visa on Arrival (VOA) scheme for visitors to Malaysia from several countries. The VOA scheme was discontinued in respect of Indian nationals in 2008.
The reason cited by the authorities, including Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, was that thousands among those who arrived from India under the VOA scheme later went “missing.” Chennai was identified as the embarkation point.
The VFS “pilot project,” to be implemented by commissioning travel agencies with branches in select countries, would be an “alternative” to the VOA scheme, according to Malaysian Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen.
For a start, the services of a Hong Kong-based travel agency would be utilised for the VFS pilot project in India, said Dr. Ng.
She was also quoted by Malaysia's national news agency as saying that the project would thereafter be extended to China by the end of the month. Details are not immediately available.
The latest decision not to revive the issuance of visas on arrival was announced on Monday by Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Workers and Illegal Immigrants.
“In the past, we [showed] flexibility … [But] we notice that this VOA was being abused… We [now] agreed that VOA be revoked or discontinued,” Mr. Muhyiddin said.
by P. S. Suryanarayana
Malaysia is planning to introduce a Visa Facilitation System (VFS) for tourists from India and China. This follows a decision to revoke the Visa on Arrival (VOA) scheme for visitors to Malaysia from several countries. The VOA scheme was discontinued in respect of Indian nationals in 2008.
The reason cited by the authorities, including Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, was that thousands among those who arrived from India under the VOA scheme later went “missing.” Chennai was identified as the embarkation point.
The VFS “pilot project,” to be implemented by commissioning travel agencies with branches in select countries, would be an “alternative” to the VOA scheme, according to Malaysian Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen.
For a start, the services of a Hong Kong-based travel agency would be utilised for the VFS pilot project in India, said Dr. Ng.
She was also quoted by Malaysia's national news agency as saying that the project would thereafter be extended to China by the end of the month. Details are not immediately available.
The latest decision not to revive the issuance of visas on arrival was announced on Monday by Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Workers and Illegal Immigrants.
“In the past, we [showed] flexibility … [But] we notice that this VOA was being abused… We [now] agreed that VOA be revoked or discontinued,” Mr. Muhyiddin said.
The only package Kashmir needs is justice
by Siddharth Varadarajan
If the Prime Minister does not take bold steps to address the grievances of the Kashmiris, there's no telling where the next eruption will take us.
Whatever his other failings, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah deserves praise for acknowledging that the protests which have rocked the Kashmir valley these past few weeks are ‘leaderless' and not the product of manipulation by some hidden individual or group.
This admission has been difficult for the authorities to make because its implications are unpleasant, perhaps even frightening. In security terms, the absence of a central nervous system means the expanding body of protest cannot be controlled by arresting individual leaders. And in political terms, the spectre of leaderless revolt makes the offer of ‘dialogue' or the naming of a ‘special envoy' for Kashmir — proposals which might have made sense last year or even last month — seem completely and utterly pointless today.
Ever since the current phase of disturbances began, intelligence officials have been wasting precious time convincing the leadership and public of India that the protests are solely or mostly the handiwork of agent provocateurs. So we have been told of the role of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and ISI, of the ‘daily wage of Rs. 200' — and even narcotics — being given to stone pelters. A few weeks back, an audio recording of a supposedly incriminating telephone call was leaked to the media along with a misleading transcript suggesting the Geelani faction of the Hurriyat was behind the upsurge. Now, our TV channels have “learned” from their “sources” that the protests will continue till President Obama's visit in November.
Central to this delusional narrative of manipulated protest is the idea that the disturbances are confined to just a few pockets in the valley. Last week, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters the problem was limited to Srinagar and two other towns. No doubt, some areas like downtown Srinagar, Sopore and Baramulla were in the ‘vanguard' but one of the reasons the protests spread was popular frustration over the way in which the authenticity of mass sentiment was being dismissed by the government. For the women who came on to the streets with their pots and pans and even stones, or the youths who set up spontaneous blood donation camps to help those injured in the demonstrations, this attempt to strip their protest of both legitimacy and agency was yet another provocation.
In the face of this mass upsurge, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has two options. He can declare, like the party apparatchiks in Brecht's poem, that since the people have thrown away the confidence of the government, it is time for the government to dissolve the people and elect another. Or he can admit, without prevarication or equivocation, that his government has thrown away the confidence of the ordinary Kashmiri.
This was not the way things looked in January 2009, when Omar Abdullah became chief minister. Assembly elections had gone off well. And though turnout in Srinagar and other towns was low, there was goodwill for the young leader. Of course, those who knew the state well had warned the Centre not to treat the election as an end in itself. The ‘masla-e-Kashmir' remained on the table and the people wanted it resolved. Unfortunately, the Centre failed to recognise this.
It is too early to gauge the reaction to Mr. Abdullah's promise of a “political package” once normalcy is restored. But the people have thronged the streets are likely to ask why this package — which the chief minister himself admitted was “long in the pipeline” — was never delivered for all the months normalcy prevailed. What came in the way of amending the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act? Of ensuring there was zero tolerance for human rights violations? Of strengthening the “ongoing peace process both internally and externally”, as the all-party meeting in Srinagar earlier this month reminded the Centre to do?
At the heart of this missing package is the Centre's failure to craft a new security and political strategy for a situation where militancy no longer poses the threat it once did. The security forces in the valley continue to operate with an expansive mandate that is not commensurate with military necessity. Even if civilian deaths are less than before, the public's capacity to tolerate ‘collateral damage' when it is officially said that militancy has ended and normalcy has returned is also much less than before.
The immediate trigger for the current phase of protests was the death of 17-year-old Tufail Mattoo, who was killed by a tear gas canister which struck his head during a protest in Srinagar in June against the Machhil fake encounter of April 30. Many observers have blamed his death — and the deaths of other young men since then — on the security forces lacking the training and means for non-lethal crowd control. Tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon are used all over the world in situations where protests turn violent but in India, live ammunition seems to be the first and only line of defence. Even tear gas canisters are so poorly designed here that they lead to fatalities.
Whatever the immediate cause, however, it is also safe to say that young Tufail died as a direct result of Machhil. Though the Army has arrested the soldiers responsible for the fake encounter, the only reason they had the nerve to commit such a heinous crime was because they were confident they would get away with it. And at the root of that confidence is Pathribal, the notorious fake encounter of 2000. The army officers involved in the kidnapping and murder of five Kashmiri civilians there continue to be at liberty despite being charge-sheeted by the CBI. The Ministry of Defence has refused to grant sanction for their prosecution and has taken the matter all the way to the Supreme Court in an effort to ensure its men do not face trial. What was the message that went out as a result?
Had the Centre made an example of the rotten apples that have spoiled the reputation of the Army instead of protecting them all these years, the Machhil encounter might never have happened. Tufail would not be dead and angry mobs would not be attacking police stations and government buildings. Impunity for the few has directly endangered the lives of all policemen and paramilitary personnel stationed in Kashmir. There is a lesson in this, surely, for those who say punishing the guilty will lower the morale of the security forces.
Mr. Abdullah may not be the best administrator but his biggest handicap as chief minister has been the Centre's refusal to address the ordinary Kashmiri's concerns about the over-securitsation of the state. Today, when he is being forced to induct an even greater number of troops into the valley, the Chief Minister's ability to push for a political package built around demilitarisation is close to zero.
At the Centre's urging, Mr. Abdullah made a televised speech to his people. His words do not appear to have made any difference. Nor could they, when the crisis staring us in the face is of national and international proportions. Today, the burden of our past sins in Kashmir has come crashing down like hailstones. Precious time is being frittered in thinking of ways to turn the clock back. Sending in more forces to shoot more protesters, changing the chief minister, imposing Governor's Rule — all of these are part of the reliquary of failed statecraft. We are where we are because these policies never worked.
The Prime Minister can forget about the Commonwealth Games, AfPak and other issues. Kashmir is where his leadership is urgently required. The Indian state successfully overcame the challenge posed by terrorism and militancy. But a people in ferment cannot be dealt with the same way. Manmohan Singh must take bold steps to demonstrate his willingness to address the grievances of ordinary Kashmiris. He should not insult their sentiments by talking of economic packages, roundtable conferences and all-party talks. He should unreservedly express regret for the deaths that have occurred these past few weeks. He should admit, in frankness and humility, the Indian state's failure to deliver justice all these years. And he should ask the people of Kashmir for a chance to make amends. There is still no guarantee the lava of public anger which is flowing will cool. But if he doesn't make an all-out effort to create some political space today, there is no telling where the next eruption in the valley will take us.
by Siddharth Varadarajan
If the Prime Minister does not take bold steps to address the grievances of the Kashmiris, there's no telling where the next eruption will take us.
Whatever his other failings, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah deserves praise for acknowledging that the protests which have rocked the Kashmir valley these past few weeks are ‘leaderless' and not the product of manipulation by some hidden individual or group.
This admission has been difficult for the authorities to make because its implications are unpleasant, perhaps even frightening. In security terms, the absence of a central nervous system means the expanding body of protest cannot be controlled by arresting individual leaders. And in political terms, the spectre of leaderless revolt makes the offer of ‘dialogue' or the naming of a ‘special envoy' for Kashmir — proposals which might have made sense last year or even last month — seem completely and utterly pointless today.
Ever since the current phase of disturbances began, intelligence officials have been wasting precious time convincing the leadership and public of India that the protests are solely or mostly the handiwork of agent provocateurs. So we have been told of the role of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and ISI, of the ‘daily wage of Rs. 200' — and even narcotics — being given to stone pelters. A few weeks back, an audio recording of a supposedly incriminating telephone call was leaked to the media along with a misleading transcript suggesting the Geelani faction of the Hurriyat was behind the upsurge. Now, our TV channels have “learned” from their “sources” that the protests will continue till President Obama's visit in November.
Central to this delusional narrative of manipulated protest is the idea that the disturbances are confined to just a few pockets in the valley. Last week, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters the problem was limited to Srinagar and two other towns. No doubt, some areas like downtown Srinagar, Sopore and Baramulla were in the ‘vanguard' but one of the reasons the protests spread was popular frustration over the way in which the authenticity of mass sentiment was being dismissed by the government. For the women who came on to the streets with their pots and pans and even stones, or the youths who set up spontaneous blood donation camps to help those injured in the demonstrations, this attempt to strip their protest of both legitimacy and agency was yet another provocation.
In the face of this mass upsurge, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has two options. He can declare, like the party apparatchiks in Brecht's poem, that since the people have thrown away the confidence of the government, it is time for the government to dissolve the people and elect another. Or he can admit, without prevarication or equivocation, that his government has thrown away the confidence of the ordinary Kashmiri.
This was not the way things looked in January 2009, when Omar Abdullah became chief minister. Assembly elections had gone off well. And though turnout in Srinagar and other towns was low, there was goodwill for the young leader. Of course, those who knew the state well had warned the Centre not to treat the election as an end in itself. The ‘masla-e-Kashmir' remained on the table and the people wanted it resolved. Unfortunately, the Centre failed to recognise this.
It is too early to gauge the reaction to Mr. Abdullah's promise of a “political package” once normalcy is restored. But the people have thronged the streets are likely to ask why this package — which the chief minister himself admitted was “long in the pipeline” — was never delivered for all the months normalcy prevailed. What came in the way of amending the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act? Of ensuring there was zero tolerance for human rights violations? Of strengthening the “ongoing peace process both internally and externally”, as the all-party meeting in Srinagar earlier this month reminded the Centre to do?
At the heart of this missing package is the Centre's failure to craft a new security and political strategy for a situation where militancy no longer poses the threat it once did. The security forces in the valley continue to operate with an expansive mandate that is not commensurate with military necessity. Even if civilian deaths are less than before, the public's capacity to tolerate ‘collateral damage' when it is officially said that militancy has ended and normalcy has returned is also much less than before.
The immediate trigger for the current phase of protests was the death of 17-year-old Tufail Mattoo, who was killed by a tear gas canister which struck his head during a protest in Srinagar in June against the Machhil fake encounter of April 30. Many observers have blamed his death — and the deaths of other young men since then — on the security forces lacking the training and means for non-lethal crowd control. Tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon are used all over the world in situations where protests turn violent but in India, live ammunition seems to be the first and only line of defence. Even tear gas canisters are so poorly designed here that they lead to fatalities.
Whatever the immediate cause, however, it is also safe to say that young Tufail died as a direct result of Machhil. Though the Army has arrested the soldiers responsible for the fake encounter, the only reason they had the nerve to commit such a heinous crime was because they were confident they would get away with it. And at the root of that confidence is Pathribal, the notorious fake encounter of 2000. The army officers involved in the kidnapping and murder of five Kashmiri civilians there continue to be at liberty despite being charge-sheeted by the CBI. The Ministry of Defence has refused to grant sanction for their prosecution and has taken the matter all the way to the Supreme Court in an effort to ensure its men do not face trial. What was the message that went out as a result?
Had the Centre made an example of the rotten apples that have spoiled the reputation of the Army instead of protecting them all these years, the Machhil encounter might never have happened. Tufail would not be dead and angry mobs would not be attacking police stations and government buildings. Impunity for the few has directly endangered the lives of all policemen and paramilitary personnel stationed in Kashmir. There is a lesson in this, surely, for those who say punishing the guilty will lower the morale of the security forces.
Mr. Abdullah may not be the best administrator but his biggest handicap as chief minister has been the Centre's refusal to address the ordinary Kashmiri's concerns about the over-securitsation of the state. Today, when he is being forced to induct an even greater number of troops into the valley, the Chief Minister's ability to push for a political package built around demilitarisation is close to zero.
At the Centre's urging, Mr. Abdullah made a televised speech to his people. His words do not appear to have made any difference. Nor could they, when the crisis staring us in the face is of national and international proportions. Today, the burden of our past sins in Kashmir has come crashing down like hailstones. Precious time is being frittered in thinking of ways to turn the clock back. Sending in more forces to shoot more protesters, changing the chief minister, imposing Governor's Rule — all of these are part of the reliquary of failed statecraft. We are where we are because these policies never worked.
The Prime Minister can forget about the Commonwealth Games, AfPak and other issues. Kashmir is where his leadership is urgently required. The Indian state successfully overcame the challenge posed by terrorism and militancy. But a people in ferment cannot be dealt with the same way. Manmohan Singh must take bold steps to demonstrate his willingness to address the grievances of ordinary Kashmiris. He should not insult their sentiments by talking of economic packages, roundtable conferences and all-party talks. He should unreservedly express regret for the deaths that have occurred these past few weeks. He should admit, in frankness and humility, the Indian state's failure to deliver justice all these years. And he should ask the people of Kashmir for a chance to make amends. There is still no guarantee the lava of public anger which is flowing will cool. But if he doesn't make an all-out effort to create some political space today, there is no telling where the next eruption in the valley will take us.
30 billionaires pledge half their fortunes
by Andrew Clark
JOY OF GIVING: Bill Gates, left, Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett pose for a picture after a press conference
The world of philanthropy got a huge financial boost on Wednesday as more than 30 American billionaires pledged to give away at least half of their fortunes to charitable causes.
The world of philanthropy got a huge financial boost on Wednesday as more than 30 American billionaires pledged to give away at least half of their fortunes to charitable causes, signing up to a campaign launched by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.
In an unprecedented mass commitment, top figures including New York's mayor Michael Bloomberg, the hotel heir Barron Hilton, CNN media mogul Ted Turner and the Star Wars director George Lucas lent their names to the “giving pledge”, an initiative founded last month to encourage America's richest families to commit money to “society's most pressing problems”.
The pledge is not a legally binding contract but is described as a moral commitment. Mr. Buffett, the legendary Nebraska-based financier known as the “sage of Omaha”, welcomed the influx of support: “At its core, the giving pledge is about asking wealthy families to have important conversations about their wealth and how it will be used. We're delighted that so many people are doing that.” He added that many of those involved were committing sums far greater than the 50 per cent minimum. Mr. Buffett himself is handing the vast bulk of his $47 billion fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is largely orientated towards tackling disease in developing countries.
Among those committing to give away money are the Oracle software tycoon Larry Ellison, the banker David Rockefeller and oilman T. Boone Pickens. The media entrepreneur Barry Diller is on the list along with his wife, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg.
There are also names from Wall Street and the hedge fund industry including David Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle private equity group, and the financier Julian Robertson, plus a former Citigroup boss, Sandy Weill.
The pledge does not define any specific causes that the billionaires will target with their fortunes, and it does not involve all the individuals pooling their money. Instead, it will be left up to each individual to determine which endeavours they wish to fund.
The Hollywood director George Lucas said his chosen cause would be education: “My pledge is to the process; as long as I have the resources at my disposal, I will seek to raise the bar for future generations of students of all ages.” New York's Mayor, who made his fortune in Bloomberg financial information terminals, said: “By giving, we inspire others to give of themselves, whether their money or their time.”— © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2010
by Andrew Clark
JOY OF GIVING: Bill Gates, left, Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett pose for a picture after a press conference
The world of philanthropy got a huge financial boost on Wednesday as more than 30 American billionaires pledged to give away at least half of their fortunes to charitable causes.
The world of philanthropy got a huge financial boost on Wednesday as more than 30 American billionaires pledged to give away at least half of their fortunes to charitable causes, signing up to a campaign launched by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.
In an unprecedented mass commitment, top figures including New York's mayor Michael Bloomberg, the hotel heir Barron Hilton, CNN media mogul Ted Turner and the Star Wars director George Lucas lent their names to the “giving pledge”, an initiative founded last month to encourage America's richest families to commit money to “society's most pressing problems”.
The pledge is not a legally binding contract but is described as a moral commitment. Mr. Buffett, the legendary Nebraska-based financier known as the “sage of Omaha”, welcomed the influx of support: “At its core, the giving pledge is about asking wealthy families to have important conversations about their wealth and how it will be used. We're delighted that so many people are doing that.” He added that many of those involved were committing sums far greater than the 50 per cent minimum. Mr. Buffett himself is handing the vast bulk of his $47 billion fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is largely orientated towards tackling disease in developing countries.
Among those committing to give away money are the Oracle software tycoon Larry Ellison, the banker David Rockefeller and oilman T. Boone Pickens. The media entrepreneur Barry Diller is on the list along with his wife, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg.
There are also names from Wall Street and the hedge fund industry including David Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle private equity group, and the financier Julian Robertson, plus a former Citigroup boss, Sandy Weill.
The pledge does not define any specific causes that the billionaires will target with their fortunes, and it does not involve all the individuals pooling their money. Instead, it will be left up to each individual to determine which endeavours they wish to fund.
The Hollywood director George Lucas said his chosen cause would be education: “My pledge is to the process; as long as I have the resources at my disposal, I will seek to raise the bar for future generations of students of all ages.” New York's Mayor, who made his fortune in Bloomberg financial information terminals, said: “By giving, we inspire others to give of themselves, whether their money or their time.”— © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2010
Blockade back in Manipur
by Iboyaima Laithangbam
The United Naga Council (UNC), ignoring an appeal from the Manipur government, reimposed its blockade from Wednesday morning.
The UNC and the All Naga Students' Association Manipur (ANSAM) also spurned the Union Home Ministry's call for talks to address their grievances.
Owing to the blockade, no vehicle plied on Highway 39 that passes through Nagaland. However, over 400 trucks that left Jiribam, bordering Assam along Highway 53, on Tuesday moved towards Imphal after several days of being stranded. Manipur witnessed a 68-day blockade that was “temporarily suspended” on June 18 at the intervention of the Union government. Normality is yet to be restored since the drivers had been boycotting Highway 39, while Highway 53 is practically impassable due to landslips and bad road condition. The drivers are demanding compensation for the 14 trucks torched by tribal miscreants during the blockade and a commitment to check extortion of illegal taxes from Manipur's vehicles in Nagaland.
No participation
The UNC and the ANSAM leaders refused to participate in a meeting chaired by Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh on Tuesday. It was convened to discuss the proposed amendment to the Manipur Hill Areas District Council Act, 1971.
The two Naga bodies imposed the blockade saying that the Act curtailed the tribals' rights. They demanded that the results of the Autonomous District Council elections held under this Act be nullified.
A spokesman of the UNC said they decided not to take part in the talks since it was a government ploy to arrest the presidents of the UNC and the ANSAM.
It may be recalled that the two presidents were declared “wanted” by a court order for having sponsored the blockade against Manipur. Other Kuki tribal bodies also did not attend the meeting.
The blockade was reimposed demanding the cancellation of the arrest warrants against the presidents, institution of a judicial inquiry into the firing on May 5 in which two activists were killed at Mao gate, the withdrawal of the prohibitory orders in the hills and recalling the State forces from the “Naga areas”.
M.C. Mehanathan, Director of the Union Home Ministry (North east), Hrushikesh Panda, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, and Surendra Kumar, Director of the Development of North Eastern Region (Doner) represented the Union government in the meeting, which also saw the participation of top State officials and people from all walks of life.
Meanwhile, the Manipur government, on instructions from the Union Home Ministry, decided to requisition trucks, oil tankers and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) bullet tankers for lifting fuel and essential commodities along Highway 39 from Thursday.
Mr. Ibobi Singh and Health Minister Pheiroijam Parijat said the State government would not remain a silent spectator to the reimposition of the blockade and that everything would be done to ensure uninterrupted passage of trucks.
by Iboyaima Laithangbam
The United Naga Council (UNC), ignoring an appeal from the Manipur government, reimposed its blockade from Wednesday morning.
The UNC and the All Naga Students' Association Manipur (ANSAM) also spurned the Union Home Ministry's call for talks to address their grievances.
Owing to the blockade, no vehicle plied on Highway 39 that passes through Nagaland. However, over 400 trucks that left Jiribam, bordering Assam along Highway 53, on Tuesday moved towards Imphal after several days of being stranded. Manipur witnessed a 68-day blockade that was “temporarily suspended” on June 18 at the intervention of the Union government. Normality is yet to be restored since the drivers had been boycotting Highway 39, while Highway 53 is practically impassable due to landslips and bad road condition. The drivers are demanding compensation for the 14 trucks torched by tribal miscreants during the blockade and a commitment to check extortion of illegal taxes from Manipur's vehicles in Nagaland.
No participation
The UNC and the ANSAM leaders refused to participate in a meeting chaired by Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh on Tuesday. It was convened to discuss the proposed amendment to the Manipur Hill Areas District Council Act, 1971.
The two Naga bodies imposed the blockade saying that the Act curtailed the tribals' rights. They demanded that the results of the Autonomous District Council elections held under this Act be nullified.
A spokesman of the UNC said they decided not to take part in the talks since it was a government ploy to arrest the presidents of the UNC and the ANSAM.
It may be recalled that the two presidents were declared “wanted” by a court order for having sponsored the blockade against Manipur. Other Kuki tribal bodies also did not attend the meeting.
The blockade was reimposed demanding the cancellation of the arrest warrants against the presidents, institution of a judicial inquiry into the firing on May 5 in which two activists were killed at Mao gate, the withdrawal of the prohibitory orders in the hills and recalling the State forces from the “Naga areas”.
M.C. Mehanathan, Director of the Union Home Ministry (North east), Hrushikesh Panda, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, and Surendra Kumar, Director of the Development of North Eastern Region (Doner) represented the Union government in the meeting, which also saw the participation of top State officials and people from all walks of life.
Meanwhile, the Manipur government, on instructions from the Union Home Ministry, decided to requisition trucks, oil tankers and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) bullet tankers for lifting fuel and essential commodities along Highway 39 from Thursday.
Mr. Ibobi Singh and Health Minister Pheiroijam Parijat said the State government would not remain a silent spectator to the reimposition of the blockade and that everything would be done to ensure uninterrupted passage of trucks.
NEPAL: Maoists may replace Prachanda with Dr. Bhattarai in PM race
FROM THE HIMALAYAN TIMES
KATHMANDU: A senior Maoist leader on Tuesday opined that his party should withdraw its candidate from the prime ministerial race and take initiatives to forge political consensus among parties as the election based on majority vote has failed to choose the country’s new executive head despite three rounds of voting.
UCPN-Maoist politburo member Ram Karki said the parties should discontinue practicing the majority system and should opt for the consensus instead. He was speaking at an interaction organised by the Reporters Club in Kathmandu today.
Dubbing the present election as a sordid exercise to form a majority government, Karki opined that the Friday’s runoff should be put off at the earliest. “This (election) process should be halted and new initiatives should be taken to forge consensus. Else, the country will not see a solution.”
Pitching an idea of fielding new candidates in the election, Karki said the Maoists are ready to substitute Prachanda with Dr. Baburam Bhattarai to garner support from other parties and build the consensus.
Speaking at the same programme, Rastriya Prajatantra Party chairman Pashupati Shumsher Rana stressed on finding the alternatives got the formation of national unity government.
As both the candidates failed to be elected as the new prime minister even after the third rounds of voting, he said, the existing House regulations should be amended to find a way out.
Nepali Congress leader Narayan Khadka of Nepali Congress and CPN-UML leader Karna Bahadur Thapa also spoke at the programme.
FROM THE HIMALAYAN TIMES
KATHMANDU: A senior Maoist leader on Tuesday opined that his party should withdraw its candidate from the prime ministerial race and take initiatives to forge political consensus among parties as the election based on majority vote has failed to choose the country’s new executive head despite three rounds of voting.
UCPN-Maoist politburo member Ram Karki said the parties should discontinue practicing the majority system and should opt for the consensus instead. He was speaking at an interaction organised by the Reporters Club in Kathmandu today.
Dubbing the present election as a sordid exercise to form a majority government, Karki opined that the Friday’s runoff should be put off at the earliest. “This (election) process should be halted and new initiatives should be taken to forge consensus. Else, the country will not see a solution.”
Pitching an idea of fielding new candidates in the election, Karki said the Maoists are ready to substitute Prachanda with Dr. Baburam Bhattarai to garner support from other parties and build the consensus.
Speaking at the same programme, Rastriya Prajatantra Party chairman Pashupati Shumsher Rana stressed on finding the alternatives got the formation of national unity government.
As both the candidates failed to be elected as the new prime minister even after the third rounds of voting, he said, the existing House regulations should be amended to find a way out.
Nepali Congress leader Narayan Khadka of Nepali Congress and CPN-UML leader Karna Bahadur Thapa also spoke at the programme.
TENTATIVE DRAFT (DISCUSSION PAPER) PROPOSAL: Gorkhaland Autonomous Authority (GAA)
source: Barun Roy
August 4th, 2010
DRAFT DISCUSSION PAPER (GAA)
SHARED BY ZYX
1.An autonomous self-governing body to be known as Gorkhaland Autonomous Authority (GAA) could be established within the State of West Bengal.
2.This would be an interim authority valid upto 31.12.2011 and could be extended if all the parties to the agreement agree to do so.
3.It is agreed that election to the Gram Panchayats and Panchayat Samities in the GAA are to be held within the next 6 months.
4.The initial composition of the 20 member GAA would be 20 members of which 15 would be nominated by the political parties in proportion to the number of seats won by the respective parties in the Gram Panchayat and Panchayat Samity. 5 members would be nominated by the Governor of West Bengal from the unprepresented communities of the GAA area. The nominated members would have the same rights and privileges as other members, including voting rights.
5.Formal elections to the GAA would be held thereafter within 12 months of the coming into force of the GAA.
6.The term of the elected members of the GAA shall be for five years.
7.The GAA shall have legislative powers in respect of the subjects transferred to it enumerated in Annexure II-A.
8.The area of the GAA would be the area of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council
9.All laws made by the GAA in respect of the subjects enumerated in Annexure-II shall be submitted to the Governor of West Bengal and on his assent the same shall come into effect.
10.The GAA shall have executive, administrative and financial powers in respect of subjects transferred to it.11.The GAA shall have control over the officers and staff connected with the delegated subjects working in the GAA area and shall be competent to transfer these officers and staff within the GAA area.
12.ACRs of these officers would be written by the appropriate officers in the GAA.
13.The offices of the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police would be outside the superintendence and control of the GAA.
14.The Government of West Bengal would provide an amount, to be decided eery year on a population ratio basis as grant-in-aid in two equal installments to the GAA for executing development works. In addition, the GAA would be paid a suitable amount of plan and non-plan fund to cover the office expenses and the salaries of the staff working under their control. The GAA shall have full authority in selecting the activities and choosing the amount for the investment under the same in any year. The plan prepared by the GAA would be a sub-set of the State Plan and would be treated as an integral part.
15.The State Government shall not divert the funds allocated to the GAA to other funds and also ensure its timely release.
16.The executive functions of the GAA shall be exercised through its Principal Secretary who shall be an officer of the rank not below the Principal Secretary / Commissioner of the Government of West Bengal. The Principal Secretary once deputed to the GAA shall not be transferred for a period of at least 2 year without the consent of the GAA.
17.Governor of West Bengal shall, through an appropriate agency, obtain a report on the functioning of the GAA and cause that Report with his recommendation to be laid on the Table of the West Bengal Assembly on an annual basis. The Governor of West Bengal shall also be authorized to call for and obtain any report either from the GAA or the State Government in respect of either the allocation of funds, its timely release and its utilization and give such directions as the Governor may deem fit so that the provisions of the agreement constituting the GAA are fully met.
18.In order to accelerate the development of the region and to meet the aspirations of the people, the Government of India will provide a financial assistance of Rs_______________ crore per annum to GAA for three years for specific projects identified by the GAA to develop the socio-economic infrastructure in the GAA area. This amount would be provided as grant-in-aid and would be over and above the normal plan assistance to the State of West Bengal.
19.Gorkhaland personnel (GLP) would be considered for recruitment in the Police, Army and Para-Military Forces.
source: Barun Roy
August 4th, 2010
DRAFT DISCUSSION PAPER (GAA)
SHARED BY ZYX
1.An autonomous self-governing body to be known as Gorkhaland Autonomous Authority (GAA) could be established within the State of West Bengal.
2.This would be an interim authority valid upto 31.12.2011 and could be extended if all the parties to the agreement agree to do so.
3.It is agreed that election to the Gram Panchayats and Panchayat Samities in the GAA are to be held within the next 6 months.
4.The initial composition of the 20 member GAA would be 20 members of which 15 would be nominated by the political parties in proportion to the number of seats won by the respective parties in the Gram Panchayat and Panchayat Samity. 5 members would be nominated by the Governor of West Bengal from the unprepresented communities of the GAA area. The nominated members would have the same rights and privileges as other members, including voting rights.
5.Formal elections to the GAA would be held thereafter within 12 months of the coming into force of the GAA.
6.The term of the elected members of the GAA shall be for five years.
7.The GAA shall have legislative powers in respect of the subjects transferred to it enumerated in Annexure II-A.
8.The area of the GAA would be the area of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council
9.All laws made by the GAA in respect of the subjects enumerated in Annexure-II shall be submitted to the Governor of West Bengal and on his assent the same shall come into effect.
10.The GAA shall have executive, administrative and financial powers in respect of subjects transferred to it.11.The GAA shall have control over the officers and staff connected with the delegated subjects working in the GAA area and shall be competent to transfer these officers and staff within the GAA area.
12.ACRs of these officers would be written by the appropriate officers in the GAA.
13.The offices of the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police would be outside the superintendence and control of the GAA.
14.The Government of West Bengal would provide an amount, to be decided eery year on a population ratio basis as grant-in-aid in two equal installments to the GAA for executing development works. In addition, the GAA would be paid a suitable amount of plan and non-plan fund to cover the office expenses and the salaries of the staff working under their control. The GAA shall have full authority in selecting the activities and choosing the amount for the investment under the same in any year. The plan prepared by the GAA would be a sub-set of the State Plan and would be treated as an integral part.
15.The State Government shall not divert the funds allocated to the GAA to other funds and also ensure its timely release.
16.The executive functions of the GAA shall be exercised through its Principal Secretary who shall be an officer of the rank not below the Principal Secretary / Commissioner of the Government of West Bengal. The Principal Secretary once deputed to the GAA shall not be transferred for a period of at least 2 year without the consent of the GAA.
17.Governor of West Bengal shall, through an appropriate agency, obtain a report on the functioning of the GAA and cause that Report with his recommendation to be laid on the Table of the West Bengal Assembly on an annual basis. The Governor of West Bengal shall also be authorized to call for and obtain any report either from the GAA or the State Government in respect of either the allocation of funds, its timely release and its utilization and give such directions as the Governor may deem fit so that the provisions of the agreement constituting the GAA are fully met.
18.In order to accelerate the development of the region and to meet the aspirations of the people, the Government of India will provide a financial assistance of Rs_______________ crore per annum to GAA for three years for specific projects identified by the GAA to develop the socio-economic infrastructure in the GAA area. This amount would be provided as grant-in-aid and would be over and above the normal plan assistance to the State of West Bengal.
19.Gorkhaland personnel (GLP) would be considered for recruitment in the Police, Army and Para-Military Forces.
Solving insurance problems just got easier
BY DEEPTI B HASKARAN
In what could be seen as a message to the insurance companies to pull up their socks in terms of being custom- er-friendly, the insurance regu- lator is flashing a message for the customers. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) has been re- cently capturing prime space in newspapers and news channels to circulate a toll-free number that promises to quick-fix your grievance if the insurance com- pany turns a blind eye.
Earlier, at times, it took months before you could get even a small mistake rectified.
But not anymore. If your insurer hasn't addressed your problem despite repeated reminders, you now have a direct recourse with Irda--call up toll-free number 155255 or email at com- plaints@irda.gov.in. And this comes only later in the chain.
Grievance redressal Perhaps, you may not need to approach Irda at all. Before you knock at Irda's doors, you would need to take up the mat- ter with the insurer first. But here, too, you have assistance.
At the insurer level: To fur- ther facilitate the settlement at the insurer level itself, Irda has put in place fresh guidelines, effective 1 August, which man- date a separate grievance poli- cy for every insurer.
The grievance cell will be presided by the chief executive officer or the compliance offi- cer of the company. Also, the insurer will now have systems that will enable you to register a complaint online, through call centres and even accept postal complaints. According to Irda guide- lines, it is mandatory for the insurers to apprise all policy- holders --existing and new--of their grievance policy.
In a move that could prove re- ally helpful for customers, Irda has come up with a list of com- mon problems faced by policy- holders. These pertain to servic- ing and claim-related issues.
With each of these prob- lems, the insurer has men- tioned a turnaround time, which could be as low as a few hours. For instance, the insur- er needs to address the prob- lem of a wrong policy issue in 10 days, while the turnaround time on the issue of non-pay- ment of death claim is 30 days.
To see full list, go to www.irdaindia.org/grievance/ classifications_final.xls.
The insurer may choose to set- tle the claim earlier than the stip- ulated time, but not after that. If the insurer fails to meet the deadline in servicing your com- plaint, you can take your grouse once again to the insurer's door- step, but through a separate win- dow--grievance cell.
At this level, too, Irda has a help mechanism in place. As per the new guidelines, the company will need to acknowl- edge your complaint within three working days and re- spond within 14 days.
If you are dissatisfied with the settlement, you get about eight weeks to reply to your in- surance company. In the ab- sence of any such objection, the insurer will consider the complaint settled.
“The new guidelines have standardized the whole process of tending to and settling com- plaints and problems. Earlier, despite having a grievance re- dressal policy, the process was not effective, but now the regu- lator has mapped the turn- around time for each category of service and has also put in place a time limit to settle griev- ances. The regulator will now be able to tap into our database to see how many complaints are settled leading to transparency.
For the consumer, this only means speedy redressal,“ says Anand Pejawar, executive direc- tor and marketing head, SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
At the regulator level: If you are not satisfied with the set- tlement, you can approach your insurer again or can di- rectly go to Irda. You can also approach the regulator if your insurer refuses to entertain your complaint. “The grievance mechanism we have in place is only for complaints that do not need le- gal intervention. We are step two after the policyholder is not satisfied with the settlement done by the insurance compa- ny or has not heard from them,“ says an Irda official in the consumer affairs depart- ment, who did not want to be quoted.
The regulator will ask for your complaint reference number and then will follow up with the insurer on your be- half. But does this mean a sure shot settlement? Yes. “We will look into the matter immedi- ately. Also, we may take regu- latory action in case we find the insurance company is not settling the claim or is being unfair,“ says the Irda official.
Last resort: With Irda's new redressal mechanism in place, chances of a rift would be min- imal. But if you are still not sat- isfied and the sum assured on your policy is less than Rs20 lakh, you can approach the in- surance ombudsman.
Every area has a separate ombudsman and your insurer will have information about who is your ombudsman. The verdict of an ombudsman, which needs to be issued with- in three months of a complaint, is binding on insurers. But the policyholder can challenge the verdict at consumer forums or take the matter to the court.
Now that Irda has put in place a redressal mechanism, the onus is on you to get your problems solved.
BY DEEPTI B HASKARAN
In what could be seen as a message to the insurance companies to pull up their socks in terms of being custom- er-friendly, the insurance regu- lator is flashing a message for the customers. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) has been re- cently capturing prime space in newspapers and news channels to circulate a toll-free number that promises to quick-fix your grievance if the insurance com- pany turns a blind eye.
Earlier, at times, it took months before you could get even a small mistake rectified.
But not anymore. If your insurer hasn't addressed your problem despite repeated reminders, you now have a direct recourse with Irda--call up toll-free number 155255 or email at com- plaints@irda.gov.in. And this comes only later in the chain.
Grievance redressal Perhaps, you may not need to approach Irda at all. Before you knock at Irda's doors, you would need to take up the mat- ter with the insurer first. But here, too, you have assistance.
At the insurer level: To fur- ther facilitate the settlement at the insurer level itself, Irda has put in place fresh guidelines, effective 1 August, which man- date a separate grievance poli- cy for every insurer.
The grievance cell will be presided by the chief executive officer or the compliance offi- cer of the company. Also, the insurer will now have systems that will enable you to register a complaint online, through call centres and even accept postal complaints. According to Irda guide- lines, it is mandatory for the insurers to apprise all policy- holders --existing and new--of their grievance policy.
In a move that could prove re- ally helpful for customers, Irda has come up with a list of com- mon problems faced by policy- holders. These pertain to servic- ing and claim-related issues.
With each of these prob- lems, the insurer has men- tioned a turnaround time, which could be as low as a few hours. For instance, the insur- er needs to address the prob- lem of a wrong policy issue in 10 days, while the turnaround time on the issue of non-pay- ment of death claim is 30 days.
To see full list, go to www.irdaindia.org/grievance/ classifications_final.xls.
The insurer may choose to set- tle the claim earlier than the stip- ulated time, but not after that. If the insurer fails to meet the deadline in servicing your com- plaint, you can take your grouse once again to the insurer's door- step, but through a separate win- dow--grievance cell.
At this level, too, Irda has a help mechanism in place. As per the new guidelines, the company will need to acknowl- edge your complaint within three working days and re- spond within 14 days.
If you are dissatisfied with the settlement, you get about eight weeks to reply to your in- surance company. In the ab- sence of any such objection, the insurer will consider the complaint settled.
“The new guidelines have standardized the whole process of tending to and settling com- plaints and problems. Earlier, despite having a grievance re- dressal policy, the process was not effective, but now the regu- lator has mapped the turn- around time for each category of service and has also put in place a time limit to settle griev- ances. The regulator will now be able to tap into our database to see how many complaints are settled leading to transparency.
For the consumer, this only means speedy redressal,“ says Anand Pejawar, executive direc- tor and marketing head, SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
At the regulator level: If you are not satisfied with the set- tlement, you can approach your insurer again or can di- rectly go to Irda. You can also approach the regulator if your insurer refuses to entertain your complaint. “The grievance mechanism we have in place is only for complaints that do not need le- gal intervention. We are step two after the policyholder is not satisfied with the settlement done by the insurance compa- ny or has not heard from them,“ says an Irda official in the consumer affairs depart- ment, who did not want to be quoted.
The regulator will ask for your complaint reference number and then will follow up with the insurer on your be- half. But does this mean a sure shot settlement? Yes. “We will look into the matter immedi- ately. Also, we may take regu- latory action in case we find the insurance company is not settling the claim or is being unfair,“ says the Irda official.
Last resort: With Irda's new redressal mechanism in place, chances of a rift would be min- imal. But if you are still not sat- isfied and the sum assured on your policy is less than Rs20 lakh, you can approach the in- surance ombudsman.
Every area has a separate ombudsman and your insurer will have information about who is your ombudsman. The verdict of an ombudsman, which needs to be issued with- in three months of a complaint, is binding on insurers. But the policyholder can challenge the verdict at consumer forums or take the matter to the court.
Now that Irda has put in place a redressal mechanism, the onus is on you to get your problems solved.
Residential certificates to those in Sikkim prior to '75
Gangtok, Aug 4 Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling today announced that residential certificate would be issued to those residing in the state prior to 1975.
The residential certificate would provide the benefits to the left out communities which the bonafide Sikkimese have been getting, which included issuance of trade licences, Chamling announced at a state-level sammelan of panchayat and urban bodies members here.
He asserted that the state government is also working towards providing income tax exemption to the residential certificate holders.
The chief minister said panchayats should ensure that all children get education under the Right to Education Act.
He also announced non-formal schools in every ward for uneducated elders.
- (Agencies)
Aug 04, 2010
Gangtok, Aug 4 Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling today announced that residential certificate would be issued to those residing in the state prior to 1975.
The residential certificate would provide the benefits to the left out communities which the bonafide Sikkimese have been getting, which included issuance of trade licences, Chamling announced at a state-level sammelan of panchayat and urban bodies members here.
He asserted that the state government is also working towards providing income tax exemption to the residential certificate holders.
The chief minister said panchayats should ensure that all children get education under the Right to Education Act.
He also announced non-formal schools in every ward for uneducated elders.
- (Agencies)
Aug 04, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
SDF business & trade affairs body reconstituted
RANGPO, August 3: The Sikkim Democratic Front Business and Trade Affairs Wing has been reconstituted today.
As per reports, nine-member State level Committee has been formed under the presidentship of party president cum Chief Minister Pawan Chamling.
The new committee has Tulsi Prasad Pradhan as vice president, Sankar Agarwal as general secretary, Satish Chandra Rai as general secretary, Jenu Agarwal as convenor (West District), Bharat Prasad as convenor (South District), Naresh Agarwal as convenor (East District), Sri Nath Prasad as convenor (North District), Manoj Gupta as publicity secretary (South/West) and Mohammad Khalid as publicity secretary (North/East).
source; sikkim express
RANGPO, August 3: The Sikkim Democratic Front Business and Trade Affairs Wing has been reconstituted today.
As per reports, nine-member State level Committee has been formed under the presidentship of party president cum Chief Minister Pawan Chamling.
The new committee has Tulsi Prasad Pradhan as vice president, Sankar Agarwal as general secretary, Satish Chandra Rai as general secretary, Jenu Agarwal as convenor (West District), Bharat Prasad as convenor (South District), Naresh Agarwal as convenor (East District), Sri Nath Prasad as convenor (North District), Manoj Gupta as publicity secretary (South/West) and Mohammad Khalid as publicity secretary (North/East).
source; sikkim express
Junk food causing surge in illnesses and allergies in UK: Study
ANI
A new study says that Britain is facing a spike in allergies and illnesses across the country.
Britain is facing a spike in allergies and illnesses across the country -- courtesy junk food, says a new study.
Evidence suggests, according to experts, that “industrialised” Western diets high in red meat, sugar and fat lowered the numbers of healthy bacteria in our guts. Absence of these microbes harms the immune system, causing asthma, eczema and other allergies in children.
They found that African children who were eating food similar to the diet of the earliest farmers thousands of years ago had a far lower proportion of microbes associated with obesity in adults and far more fatty acids known to protect against inflammation. “The diet of Burkina Faso children is low in fat and animal protein and rich in starch, fibre and plant polysaccharides, and predominantly vegetarian,” The Daily Mail quoted Dr Paolo Lionetti as saying.
“All food resources are completely produced locally, cultivated and harvested nearby the village by women. Although the intake of animal protein is very low, sometimes they eat a small amount of chicken and termites,” he added.
Lindsey McManus, of Allergy U.K., said, “There is some evidence that probiotics in the gut are effective at boosting the immune system, especially in children with eczema and that they can protect against allergies
ANI
A new study says that Britain is facing a spike in allergies and illnesses across the country.
Britain is facing a spike in allergies and illnesses across the country -- courtesy junk food, says a new study.
Evidence suggests, according to experts, that “industrialised” Western diets high in red meat, sugar and fat lowered the numbers of healthy bacteria in our guts. Absence of these microbes harms the immune system, causing asthma, eczema and other allergies in children.
They found that African children who were eating food similar to the diet of the earliest farmers thousands of years ago had a far lower proportion of microbes associated with obesity in adults and far more fatty acids known to protect against inflammation. “The diet of Burkina Faso children is low in fat and animal protein and rich in starch, fibre and plant polysaccharides, and predominantly vegetarian,” The Daily Mail quoted Dr Paolo Lionetti as saying.
“All food resources are completely produced locally, cultivated and harvested nearby the village by women. Although the intake of animal protein is very low, sometimes they eat a small amount of chicken and termites,” he added.
Lindsey McManus, of Allergy U.K., said, “There is some evidence that probiotics in the gut are effective at boosting the immune system, especially in children with eczema and that they can protect against allergies
Understanding Kashmir's stone pelters
Malini Parthasarathy
It is not hard to see where the frustration of the educated Kashmiri youth comes from. On the one hand, they are told that they are Indian citizens but they are shut out of the narrative of India as an emerging economic power.
As tensions escalate in Srinagar between angry mobs led by stone pelting teenagers and the security forces, there is a real fear that the situation in Kashmir is fast spinning out of control. Heartrending spectacles of teenage boys defiantly hurling rocks at the police and paramilitary personnel and of mothers weeping besides the bodies of loved ones killed in the indiscriminate firing by the security forces, playing out daily on television screens nationwide, have jolted us out of our collective complacence as regards Kashmir.
Since end-April, quiet rage has been building up in the Valley. It has taken several weeks to explode into full scale violence. That is why it is all the more inexplicable why there has been an inertia and a curious passivity in the responses of the Centre and the Omar Abdullah administration to the events as they have been building up these last two months.
While stone pelting has become a routine feature of street protests in Srinagar since the summer of 2008, it had revived with particular intensity after April, when three youths were alleged to have been killed in a fake encounter in Machhil. The accidental death of a schoolboy, Tufail Mattoo, as a result of teargas shelling on June 11 was the apparent flashpoint setting the Valley afire as mass protests erupted all over. Waves of stone pelting protesters descended on the streets of Srinagar, defying curfew orders. As security forces retaliated by firing on these teenagers armed only with rocks, those killed in the firing were immediately appropriated and anointed as shaheed or martyrs to the separatist cause, thereby infusing fresh dynamism into the separatist agitation.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in his press conference in New Delhi on Monday appeared to be at pains to balance the two imperatives of the situation he is now confronted with. He stressed that the cycle of violence would have to be broken and was clear that law-breakers would have to face the consequences. At the same time, the Chief Minister was careful to underscore that the problem of Kashmir was “a political one” and the state needed a “political package”. But with the ground situation worsening by the day, it may be a case of “too little too late” if Mr. Abdullah is seen as relying primarily on a law and order approach to the protests instead of moving swiftly to address what is essentially a crisis of confidence in the political system.
Yet it is also clear that alarmist descriptions of the street protests in Srinagar as the beginning of an intifada as in Palestine protesting Israeli rule or a new tehreek (movement) akin to the movement of the early ‘90s when the movement for self determination began in the Valley, do not convey the true picture of what is happening in Srinagar today. From many accounts, the situation in Kashmir is manifestly retrievable.
According to experienced observers such as Wajahat Habibullah, the street protests today have very little of the sting of the protests of the ‘90s which had a strong undercurrent of intense anti-India sentiment. Today's protesters might shout anti-India slogans such as azadi, but their anger is specifically directed at the security forces in the context of the brutal killings of innocent boys. Unlike the ‘90s, the street protests are spontaneous gatherings reacting to events. If this latest manifestation of popular outrage is suppressed by force, there is a danger that these protests will become currents merging in the larger separatist movement.
The protesters on the streets, apart from the teenagers, are educated doctors and MBAs, frustrated at the lack of employment and economic opportunities. It is not hard to see where the frustration of the educated Kashmiri youth comes from. On the one hand, they are told that they are Indian citizens but they are shut out of the narrative of India as an emerging economic power. With mobile phones and internet communication being restricted, their sense of participation in the larger Indian discourse is sharply reduced.
Film maker Sanjay Kak has pointed out in a perceptive analysis in the August issue of the South Asian journal Himal that Kashmir's new generation of protesters are “children of the tehreek, born and brought up in the turmoil of the last two decades”. They “have not and probably will not become armed mujahedeen”. Yet by adroit use of social media such as Facebook, as Kak has observed, the educated youth of Kashmir are setting up new sites and new ways of confronting the Indian state which needs far greater ingenuity in dealing with the current situation.
It is not as though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh does not have the requisite ingenuity and experience to deal with this present crisis. In his first term as Prime Minister, he had held three Round Tables on the issue in 2006 and 2007. Five working groups which were set up as a result of the round table initiative, including one on centre-state relations, have presented their reports. These reports might not have been particularly imaginative in their potential but signalled the government's willingness to address the concerns of the average Kashmiri, alienated by decades of New Delhi's indifference.
Dr. Singh, who visited Srinagar in early June, has held back from picking up the threads of his earlier parleys with the parties and leaders of the Valley, presumably to allow the newly elected Omar Abdullah state administration the political space to formulate its own policies. In retrospect, to have allowed the momentum to peter out of the peace process that had been set in motion during Dr. Singh's first term might have been a costly mistake. New Delhi should have underlined that its commitment to the pursuit of a political solution remained intact regardless of the change of regime in Srinagar.
The earlier power sharing arrangement that the Congress had with the PDP when it won the Assembly elections in 2002 had enabled the Manmohan Singh dispensation after 2004 to seize the high ground on Kashmir. The perception that New Delhi was willing to reach out to the separatists in the Hurriyat and was simultaneously restarting talks with Pakistan to resolve the long standing dispute over Kashmir's status had brightened the mood in the Valley considerably.
The PDP while still being seen as a party owing substantively to its connections with Delhi, by asserting its relatively local roots and acknowledging the serious deprivations arising from the State's alienation, had appeared to gain credibility and salience. The PDP-Congress coalition made some headway in its launching of a reconciliatory process in the Valley, thereby undercutting into the base of the separatist agitation.
But in recent years, the series of opportunistic moves on the Amarnath yatra and the Shopian episode designed to mobilise communal and separatist sentiments have damaged the PDP's image as a responsible interlocutor. Thus if the National Conference carries the burden of a daunting historical baggage, the PDP stands considerably discredited by its dalliance with separatism.
Yet both these parties at heart recognise that it is essential to keep Kashmir anchored to the Indian union, albeit with loosened ties. It is their duty at this historically crucial moment to step back from the brinkmanship that is a perennial feature of their competitive politics and work together to find a solution in the state's and the national interest.
The reality is that these parties are yielding critical space to Islamist fundamentalist groups such as the Tehreek-i-Hurriyat and the Duktaran-e-Millat. It is not too late for the mainstream parties to reach out to the moderate elements of the Hurriyat such as Mirwaiz Moulvi Farooq and Yasin Malik, co-opting them in the project of bringing peace back to the streets of Srinagar.
Otherwise they would only be making it easier for the Islamist separatists to take control of this youth-driven agitation, described by the Chief Minister as a “leaderless” protest, and turn it into a deadlier force, more aggressively hostile to the Indian union. Now is the time for the Manmohan Singh government to work with the Omar Abdullah administration and other political forces such as the PDP and the Hurriyat on a framework for autonomy for the State. The second imperative for the Prime Minister is to make clear to the nation that a resumption of the composite dialogue with Pakistan on the gamut of issues including Kashmir is inevitable and unavoidable.
The moral authority of India's actions in the Kashmir valley will be strengthened by a demonstrable willingness to work with Pakistan to find a permanent solution to the dispute over its status. It will help in large measure to heal the wounds and the angst of the Kashmiri people who feel they are hostages to a larger geopolitical wrangling.
Malini Parthasarathy
It is not hard to see where the frustration of the educated Kashmiri youth comes from. On the one hand, they are told that they are Indian citizens but they are shut out of the narrative of India as an emerging economic power.
As tensions escalate in Srinagar between angry mobs led by stone pelting teenagers and the security forces, there is a real fear that the situation in Kashmir is fast spinning out of control. Heartrending spectacles of teenage boys defiantly hurling rocks at the police and paramilitary personnel and of mothers weeping besides the bodies of loved ones killed in the indiscriminate firing by the security forces, playing out daily on television screens nationwide, have jolted us out of our collective complacence as regards Kashmir.
Since end-April, quiet rage has been building up in the Valley. It has taken several weeks to explode into full scale violence. That is why it is all the more inexplicable why there has been an inertia and a curious passivity in the responses of the Centre and the Omar Abdullah administration to the events as they have been building up these last two months.
While stone pelting has become a routine feature of street protests in Srinagar since the summer of 2008, it had revived with particular intensity after April, when three youths were alleged to have been killed in a fake encounter in Machhil. The accidental death of a schoolboy, Tufail Mattoo, as a result of teargas shelling on June 11 was the apparent flashpoint setting the Valley afire as mass protests erupted all over. Waves of stone pelting protesters descended on the streets of Srinagar, defying curfew orders. As security forces retaliated by firing on these teenagers armed only with rocks, those killed in the firing were immediately appropriated and anointed as shaheed or martyrs to the separatist cause, thereby infusing fresh dynamism into the separatist agitation.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in his press conference in New Delhi on Monday appeared to be at pains to balance the two imperatives of the situation he is now confronted with. He stressed that the cycle of violence would have to be broken and was clear that law-breakers would have to face the consequences. At the same time, the Chief Minister was careful to underscore that the problem of Kashmir was “a political one” and the state needed a “political package”. But with the ground situation worsening by the day, it may be a case of “too little too late” if Mr. Abdullah is seen as relying primarily on a law and order approach to the protests instead of moving swiftly to address what is essentially a crisis of confidence in the political system.
Yet it is also clear that alarmist descriptions of the street protests in Srinagar as the beginning of an intifada as in Palestine protesting Israeli rule or a new tehreek (movement) akin to the movement of the early ‘90s when the movement for self determination began in the Valley, do not convey the true picture of what is happening in Srinagar today. From many accounts, the situation in Kashmir is manifestly retrievable.
According to experienced observers such as Wajahat Habibullah, the street protests today have very little of the sting of the protests of the ‘90s which had a strong undercurrent of intense anti-India sentiment. Today's protesters might shout anti-India slogans such as azadi, but their anger is specifically directed at the security forces in the context of the brutal killings of innocent boys. Unlike the ‘90s, the street protests are spontaneous gatherings reacting to events. If this latest manifestation of popular outrage is suppressed by force, there is a danger that these protests will become currents merging in the larger separatist movement.
The protesters on the streets, apart from the teenagers, are educated doctors and MBAs, frustrated at the lack of employment and economic opportunities. It is not hard to see where the frustration of the educated Kashmiri youth comes from. On the one hand, they are told that they are Indian citizens but they are shut out of the narrative of India as an emerging economic power. With mobile phones and internet communication being restricted, their sense of participation in the larger Indian discourse is sharply reduced.
Film maker Sanjay Kak has pointed out in a perceptive analysis in the August issue of the South Asian journal Himal that Kashmir's new generation of protesters are “children of the tehreek, born and brought up in the turmoil of the last two decades”. They “have not and probably will not become armed mujahedeen”. Yet by adroit use of social media such as Facebook, as Kak has observed, the educated youth of Kashmir are setting up new sites and new ways of confronting the Indian state which needs far greater ingenuity in dealing with the current situation.
It is not as though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh does not have the requisite ingenuity and experience to deal with this present crisis. In his first term as Prime Minister, he had held three Round Tables on the issue in 2006 and 2007. Five working groups which were set up as a result of the round table initiative, including one on centre-state relations, have presented their reports. These reports might not have been particularly imaginative in their potential but signalled the government's willingness to address the concerns of the average Kashmiri, alienated by decades of New Delhi's indifference.
Dr. Singh, who visited Srinagar in early June, has held back from picking up the threads of his earlier parleys with the parties and leaders of the Valley, presumably to allow the newly elected Omar Abdullah state administration the political space to formulate its own policies. In retrospect, to have allowed the momentum to peter out of the peace process that had been set in motion during Dr. Singh's first term might have been a costly mistake. New Delhi should have underlined that its commitment to the pursuit of a political solution remained intact regardless of the change of regime in Srinagar.
The earlier power sharing arrangement that the Congress had with the PDP when it won the Assembly elections in 2002 had enabled the Manmohan Singh dispensation after 2004 to seize the high ground on Kashmir. The perception that New Delhi was willing to reach out to the separatists in the Hurriyat and was simultaneously restarting talks with Pakistan to resolve the long standing dispute over Kashmir's status had brightened the mood in the Valley considerably.
The PDP while still being seen as a party owing substantively to its connections with Delhi, by asserting its relatively local roots and acknowledging the serious deprivations arising from the State's alienation, had appeared to gain credibility and salience. The PDP-Congress coalition made some headway in its launching of a reconciliatory process in the Valley, thereby undercutting into the base of the separatist agitation.
But in recent years, the series of opportunistic moves on the Amarnath yatra and the Shopian episode designed to mobilise communal and separatist sentiments have damaged the PDP's image as a responsible interlocutor. Thus if the National Conference carries the burden of a daunting historical baggage, the PDP stands considerably discredited by its dalliance with separatism.
Yet both these parties at heart recognise that it is essential to keep Kashmir anchored to the Indian union, albeit with loosened ties. It is their duty at this historically crucial moment to step back from the brinkmanship that is a perennial feature of their competitive politics and work together to find a solution in the state's and the national interest.
The reality is that these parties are yielding critical space to Islamist fundamentalist groups such as the Tehreek-i-Hurriyat and the Duktaran-e-Millat. It is not too late for the mainstream parties to reach out to the moderate elements of the Hurriyat such as Mirwaiz Moulvi Farooq and Yasin Malik, co-opting them in the project of bringing peace back to the streets of Srinagar.
Otherwise they would only be making it easier for the Islamist separatists to take control of this youth-driven agitation, described by the Chief Minister as a “leaderless” protest, and turn it into a deadlier force, more aggressively hostile to the Indian union. Now is the time for the Manmohan Singh government to work with the Omar Abdullah administration and other political forces such as the PDP and the Hurriyat on a framework for autonomy for the State. The second imperative for the Prime Minister is to make clear to the nation that a resumption of the composite dialogue with Pakistan on the gamut of issues including Kashmir is inevitable and unavoidable.
The moral authority of India's actions in the Kashmir valley will be strengthened by a demonstrable willingness to work with Pakistan to find a permanent solution to the dispute over its status. It will help in large measure to heal the wounds and the angst of the Kashmiri people who feel they are hostages to a larger geopolitical wrangling.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Alternative Siliguri-Sikkim route on the anvil
FROM THE STATESMAN
BY PRANESH SARKAR
KOLKATA, 1 AUG: In a bid to ensure that Sikkim remains connected with Siliguri throughout the year, the state government has taken up an initiative to establish an alternative route avoiding the heartlands of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM).
The state government has handed over a 95 kilometre long road, which passes through the Dooars, to the Border Road Organisation (BRO) so that it could be converted into an alternative road to Sikkim.
Right now, the National Highway-31 (and a portion of NH-31A) is the only road that connects to Sikkim from Siliguri.
Senior officials at the Writers’ Buildings in Kolkata said the steps have been initiated as the state government faces problems in keeping NH-31 (which becomes NH-31A after crossing the coronation bridge near Sevoke) open amidst the GJMM’s movement for a separate Gorkhaland.
“As per an order from the Supreme Court, we need to keep the road to Sikkim open throughout the year. When the GJMM movement started, it was difficult to keep the road open as the protesters blocked the road while agitating against the state. Three companies of Central paramilitary forces had to be posted on site only to keep the road open as per the court’s orders,” said an official.
The new road will help alleviate the situation by providing an alternative route to Sikkim without the state having to face problems in keeping Sikkim connected even if the NH-31 is blocked, added the official.
According to officials at Writers’ Buildings, the state public works department (PWD) has handed over a narrow road from Khuniamore in Dooars to Rachela on the Sikkim border over to the BRO to convert it to a full fledged road.
The 95-kilometre stretch of road all along avoids the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha’s stronghold areas and passes through the Dooars where the movement does not have a strong foothold.
An official said: “So far the road has been maintained partly by the PWD and partly by the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. The road is very narrow and could not be maintained on a regular basis and that is the reason why it could not be used as an alternative route to NH-31. The DGHC handed over its portion of the road to the PWD first following which the PWD handed over the entire road to the BRO to make it a viable alternative to NH-31.”
It was learnt that the BRO has already applied for permission to widen the road. An official said that the BRO would require permission from the state forest department as well because the land through which the road passes is forest land.
FROM THE STATESMAN
BY PRANESH SARKAR
KOLKATA, 1 AUG: In a bid to ensure that Sikkim remains connected with Siliguri throughout the year, the state government has taken up an initiative to establish an alternative route avoiding the heartlands of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM).
The state government has handed over a 95 kilometre long road, which passes through the Dooars, to the Border Road Organisation (BRO) so that it could be converted into an alternative road to Sikkim.
Right now, the National Highway-31 (and a portion of NH-31A) is the only road that connects to Sikkim from Siliguri.
Senior officials at the Writers’ Buildings in Kolkata said the steps have been initiated as the state government faces problems in keeping NH-31 (which becomes NH-31A after crossing the coronation bridge near Sevoke) open amidst the GJMM’s movement for a separate Gorkhaland.
“As per an order from the Supreme Court, we need to keep the road to Sikkim open throughout the year. When the GJMM movement started, it was difficult to keep the road open as the protesters blocked the road while agitating against the state. Three companies of Central paramilitary forces had to be posted on site only to keep the road open as per the court’s orders,” said an official.
The new road will help alleviate the situation by providing an alternative route to Sikkim without the state having to face problems in keeping Sikkim connected even if the NH-31 is blocked, added the official.
According to officials at Writers’ Buildings, the state public works department (PWD) has handed over a narrow road from Khuniamore in Dooars to Rachela on the Sikkim border over to the BRO to convert it to a full fledged road.
The 95-kilometre stretch of road all along avoids the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha’s stronghold areas and passes through the Dooars where the movement does not have a strong foothold.
An official said: “So far the road has been maintained partly by the PWD and partly by the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. The road is very narrow and could not be maintained on a regular basis and that is the reason why it could not be used as an alternative route to NH-31. The DGHC handed over its portion of the road to the PWD first following which the PWD handed over the entire road to the BRO to make it a viable alternative to NH-31.”
It was learnt that the BRO has already applied for permission to widen the road. An official said that the BRO would require permission from the state forest department as well because the land through which the road passes is forest land.
Natural beauty of Sikkim inspire music: Pandit Bhatt
PTI
Gangtok, Aug 2 (PTI) Creator of Mohan Veena Pandit Viswa Mohan Bhatt said the rich natural beauty of Sikkim inspire his music and he would create new compositions along with local musicians."Sikkim's beauty inspired music. If I could spend a week here, I would have definitely create new music along with local musicians," Bhatt said sharing feelings after a performance at Sikkim University's third foundation day last evening."The weather is cold, but the people are warm here," he said to a thunderous applause during the performance along with Pandit Ram Kumar Mishra on the tabla at TNA auditorium here.The Padmashree awardee Bhatt collaborated with Ry Cooder to put out 'A Meeting by the River' to win Grammy in 1994.
PTI
Gangtok, Aug 2 (PTI) Creator of Mohan Veena Pandit Viswa Mohan Bhatt said the rich natural beauty of Sikkim inspire his music and he would create new compositions along with local musicians."Sikkim's beauty inspired music. If I could spend a week here, I would have definitely create new music along with local musicians," Bhatt said sharing feelings after a performance at Sikkim University's third foundation day last evening."The weather is cold, but the people are warm here," he said to a thunderous applause during the performance along with Pandit Ram Kumar Mishra on the tabla at TNA auditorium here.The Padmashree awardee Bhatt collaborated with Ry Cooder to put out 'A Meeting by the River' to win Grammy in 1994.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Amit Patro to participate in ‘Edward Murrow Program for Journalists’ in US
Sikkim Express | www.sikkimexpress.com
GANGTOK, August 1: Amit Patro, the editor of popular English daily, Sikkim Express has been selected for the prestigious ‘Edward Murrow Program for Journalists’, an international visitors’ programme of the US government slated later this year.
The programme is scheduled to start from October 25 and conclude in November 12. The US government will be funding all travel, stay, visa and other expenses.
Patro, who is also the working president of Press Club of Sikkim, will be joined by over 150 international journalists from 100 countries to participate in this prestigious US event. The journalists selected to participate in this program are nominated by the US Embassies in their home countries.
The ‘Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists’ is a specialized International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) for emerging leaders in the field of journalism that relies on an innovative public-private partnership between the US Department of State, the Aspen Institute, and leading schools of journalism for its support.
Since its inception in 2006, the US Department of State’s Murrow Program has brought more than 600 journalists from around the world to examine journalistic principles and practices in the United States. Each year, leading journalists are nominated for participation by the US Embassies in their home countries.
This year ‘Edward Murrow Program for Journalists’ will be having over 150 international journalists from 100 countries to participate in this prestigious program.
After initial briefing in Washington DC, the participants will be traveling in smaller groups for academic seminars and field activities with faculty and students at one of the partner schools of journalism. The partner journalism schools design specialized curriculum for their international counterparts and generously contribute their resources, time and talent to make this program possible.
The visitors also travel to contrasting American cities to gain an understanding of media coverage of State politics and government and to observe American civic life and grassroots involvement in political affairs in smaller towns. The program concludes in New York City, with visits to major media outlets and a symposium to highlight current trends and challenges facing the media in the United States and around the world.
For the ‘Edward Murrow Program for Journalists’, the US State Department has partnered with outstanding schools of journalism that generously contribute their resources, time and talent to make this program possible.
For the 2010 event, the partner schools includes Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication (University of Georgia), Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Arizona State University), Reynolds School of Journalism (University of Nevada, Reno), Department of Journalism and Media Studies (University of South Florida), Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication (University of Oklahoma), School of Journalism & Mass Communication (University of Minnesota), School of Journalism and Mass Communication (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs (Syracuse University), SI Newhouse School of Public Communications (Syracuse University), Phillip Merrill College of Journalism (University of Maryland) and College of Communication and Information (University of Tennessee).
Sikkim Express | www.sikkimexpress.com
GANGTOK, August 1: Amit Patro, the editor of popular English daily, Sikkim Express has been selected for the prestigious ‘Edward Murrow Program for Journalists’, an international visitors’ programme of the US government slated later this year.
The programme is scheduled to start from October 25 and conclude in November 12. The US government will be funding all travel, stay, visa and other expenses.
Patro, who is also the working president of Press Club of Sikkim, will be joined by over 150 international journalists from 100 countries to participate in this prestigious US event. The journalists selected to participate in this program are nominated by the US Embassies in their home countries.
The ‘Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists’ is a specialized International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) for emerging leaders in the field of journalism that relies on an innovative public-private partnership between the US Department of State, the Aspen Institute, and leading schools of journalism for its support.
Since its inception in 2006, the US Department of State’s Murrow Program has brought more than 600 journalists from around the world to examine journalistic principles and practices in the United States. Each year, leading journalists are nominated for participation by the US Embassies in their home countries.
This year ‘Edward Murrow Program for Journalists’ will be having over 150 international journalists from 100 countries to participate in this prestigious program.
After initial briefing in Washington DC, the participants will be traveling in smaller groups for academic seminars and field activities with faculty and students at one of the partner schools of journalism. The partner journalism schools design specialized curriculum for their international counterparts and generously contribute their resources, time and talent to make this program possible.
The visitors also travel to contrasting American cities to gain an understanding of media coverage of State politics and government and to observe American civic life and grassroots involvement in political affairs in smaller towns. The program concludes in New York City, with visits to major media outlets and a symposium to highlight current trends and challenges facing the media in the United States and around the world.
For the ‘Edward Murrow Program for Journalists’, the US State Department has partnered with outstanding schools of journalism that generously contribute their resources, time and talent to make this program possible.
For the 2010 event, the partner schools includes Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication (University of Georgia), Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Arizona State University), Reynolds School of Journalism (University of Nevada, Reno), Department of Journalism and Media Studies (University of South Florida), Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication (University of Oklahoma), School of Journalism & Mass Communication (University of Minnesota), School of Journalism and Mass Communication (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs (Syracuse University), SI Newhouse School of Public Communications (Syracuse University), Phillip Merrill College of Journalism (University of Maryland) and College of Communication and Information (University of Tennessee).
Iran attack plan ready: Mullen
AFP
The top U.S. military officer says he has a plan to attack Iran if needed to prevent it from getting nuclear weapons, but is “extremely concerned” about the possible repercussions of such a strike. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said military action against Iran could have “unintended consequences that are difficult to predict in what is an incredibly unstable part of the world”.
But, speaking on Sunday's “Meet the Press” programme on NBC, Admiral Mullen said allowing Iran to develop a nuclear weapon was also unacceptable.
“Quite frankly, I am extremely concerned about both of those outcomes,” he said. Admiral Mullen held out hope that a combination of international diplomatic efforts and sanctions against Iran would lead Tehran to suspend a nuclear enrichment programme that many believe is a clandestine bid to develop nuclear arms.
Options
“I am hopeful [it] works,” he said. At the same time, though, he said “the military options have been on the table, and remain on the table”.
“I hope we don't get to that, but it's an important option and it's one that's well understood,” he added.
Asked if the military has a plan to strike Iran, Admiral Mullen replied, “We do”.He did not elaborate
source; the hindu
AFP
The top U.S. military officer says he has a plan to attack Iran if needed to prevent it from getting nuclear weapons, but is “extremely concerned” about the possible repercussions of such a strike. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said military action against Iran could have “unintended consequences that are difficult to predict in what is an incredibly unstable part of the world”.
But, speaking on Sunday's “Meet the Press” programme on NBC, Admiral Mullen said allowing Iran to develop a nuclear weapon was also unacceptable.
“Quite frankly, I am extremely concerned about both of those outcomes,” he said. Admiral Mullen held out hope that a combination of international diplomatic efforts and sanctions against Iran would lead Tehran to suspend a nuclear enrichment programme that many believe is a clandestine bid to develop nuclear arms.
Options
“I am hopeful [it] works,” he said. At the same time, though, he said “the military options have been on the table, and remain on the table”.
“I hope we don't get to that, but it's an important option and it's one that's well understood,” he added.
Asked if the military has a plan to strike Iran, Admiral Mullen replied, “We do”.He did not elaborate
source; the hindu
SIKKIM: SG Lepcha voiced to incorporate Lepcha Language in 8th Schedule
FROM HAALKHABAR.COM
Gangtok, August 01: In order to include Lepcha Language in the 8thschedule of the Indian constitution the Lepcha Society had been taking necessary steps at present, informed Sonam Gyatso Lepcha, State Cultural Minister, who also holds the post of president of organizing committee of Tendong-Lho-Rum-Faat, a Lepcha Festival scheduled to be celebrated on 8th August.
The Minister while addressing a press meet here today at the capital emphasized on the teaching of Lepcha language at the University level and which had been teaching to the college level at present and which will prove a beneficial step regarding it’s incorporation at the 8thschedule.
Further it is informed that the joint collaboration work had been commencing at the present with Bharatya Bhasa Pragik Pratishthan of Mysore for the same.
However talking over the festival, he further stated that it is set to be organized at the community hall of Mangan, North Sikkim and also informed of observing the same at different district of the state furthered.
The first day of the festival will witness the prayer offering ceremony at the Tendong hill of the south district whereas the talks and delivering of lectures on the Lepcha language and tradition will take place on the second day of the festival. The final day of the festival will include the felicitation for the littérateur of the Lepcha literature. The GB Mangwaring Literary Award for the year 2010 will be conferred to Dendup Lepcha whereas Songmit Lepcha will be honoured with late Kuntsosung Memorial Award for scoring highest marks in Lepcha Language in state level. The Chief Minister of the state, Pawan Chamling will grace the occasion, it is informed.
FROM HAALKHABAR.COM
Gangtok, August 01: In order to include Lepcha Language in the 8thschedule of the Indian constitution the Lepcha Society had been taking necessary steps at present, informed Sonam Gyatso Lepcha, State Cultural Minister, who also holds the post of president of organizing committee of Tendong-Lho-Rum-Faat, a Lepcha Festival scheduled to be celebrated on 8th August.
The Minister while addressing a press meet here today at the capital emphasized on the teaching of Lepcha language at the University level and which had been teaching to the college level at present and which will prove a beneficial step regarding it’s incorporation at the 8thschedule.
Further it is informed that the joint collaboration work had been commencing at the present with Bharatya Bhasa Pragik Pratishthan of Mysore for the same.
However talking over the festival, he further stated that it is set to be organized at the community hall of Mangan, North Sikkim and also informed of observing the same at different district of the state furthered.
The first day of the festival will witness the prayer offering ceremony at the Tendong hill of the south district whereas the talks and delivering of lectures on the Lepcha language and tradition will take place on the second day of the festival. The final day of the festival will include the felicitation for the littérateur of the Lepcha literature. The GB Mangwaring Literary Award for the year 2010 will be conferred to Dendup Lepcha whereas Songmit Lepcha will be honoured with late Kuntsosung Memorial Award for scoring highest marks in Lepcha Language in state level. The Chief Minister of the state, Pawan Chamling will grace the occasion, it is informed.
Bihar sees reverse brain drain
BY PALLAVI SINGH
It was perhaps the worst of times. With the fall of night, Patna would blanket itself in a pall of darkness, interrupted occasionally by traffic thinning rapidly with each passing hour.
Downed shutters in shops would signal fearful business, rickshaws would accept no late evening passengers and women and chil- dren would be home before sun- set. It was, for all practical pur- poses, a self-willed curfew.
As a painful memory of his growing up days, Sumit Prakash still has this vivid remembrance of his home town: notorious, lawless and hopeless about the status quo like a defeated war- rior. “Six-seven years ago when I would go visit my parents in Pat- na, I wouldn't be moving around without a bodyguard; I wouldn't even be allowed to walk up to an ATM alone!“ he recalls.
One fine morning in 2007, he realized this was changing.
While Prakash and wife Smita Choudhary were driving back from a holiday to Sydney, where they both worked as business managers for different firms, his Patna-based father, who had just been denied visa from the Aus- tralian government on account of his old age, called up. “He ask- ed us to return home. We had ev- erything going for us, but we had no close family in Australia. Our option was Bombay or the Unit- ed States where my brothers live but that day, out of the next 5 hours of the drive, we spent three hours talking about Patna,“ he says.
The recurring leitmotif of the conversation centred around the improving law and order situa- tion and infrastructure in Bihar and the record number of con- victions in the state since the new regime under chief minister Nitish Kumar took over in 2005.
That is why, in February 2008, Prakash and Smita, homesick and looking for purpose in their state of birth, came back to settle down and run the family-owned school Prarambhika in Patna's upmarket Boring Road. And just like them, there are many--engi- neers, doctors, management consultants, students and busi- nessmen born and brought up in Bihar, but away for better educa- tion and employment during the previous regime led by Lalu Pra- sad of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)--who are returning to the state driven by emerging oppor- tunities.
“For the first time in the last 60 years, there is a concerted effort to build the state. I wouldn't say rebuild because there was no such thing as role of the state in Bihar earlier. Now, the place of the bahubalis (musclemen) has been usurped by the state. Con- victions took place across all castes and classes unlike before when only people from the dis- advantaged sections would suf- fer. Because of this, respect for the state and faith that police will act against lawbreakers has re- markably increased,“ says Saibal Gupta, director of Asian Devel- opment Research Institute, a non-profit research organization based in Patna. There have been convictions of 49,000 people since 2005 including charge sheeted politicians such as Sha- habuddin, a former member of Parliament from the RJD.
The unprecedented reverse brain drain to Bihar is being led by people who never imagined they would return. Prakash, 42, has been in Patna for two years now, but on the day he had left the city in the early 1990s for Australia, he hadn't at least thought so.
Neither had Anjay Thakur, a commercial pilot trained from California and a professional photographer who returned in late 2008 to look after the family- run hospital Shushruta Surgical Clinic. Not very long ago, Anjay's father Rajeshwar Thakur, Patna's leading laparoscopic surgeon, would close his hugely popular clinic in Patna city locality at dusk. “Earlier, doctors travelled with bodyguards. One doctor was shot down and we also know several doctors who got threat calls for extortion,“ he says, add- ing that kidnapping and ransom were industry here.
Thakur's family hospital is now in expansion mode with him at the helm of affairs, which is unusual for his accomplish- ments. In Thakur's return lies abandonment of two promising careers in India's metros.
After various stints of flying and dabbling in photography with stalwarts such as Farrokh Chothia and Atul Kasbekar in Mumbai and running a studio of his own in Delhi, Thakur's inter- est in family's hospital projects sparked owing to various rea- sons. “I had offers from IndiGo for flying, but when recession set in, it was withdrawn. Around that time, my family was plan- ning to set up a hospital in Noida close to Delhi. My father suggest- ed that it should be built in Pat- na,“ he remembers.
From the gloomy flashback of the city in the 1990s, Thakur now mulls on the present. His voice lifts up as he describes his morn- ings at the Patna Golf Club, his impromptu road trips across the state and outside and most of all, the night life quickening to met- ropolitan tastes.
That Bihar is indeed becoming a state where aspirations and en- terprise have replaced sense of insecurity and scepticism is evi- dent from the newly opened res- taurants and bars that serve till midnight, social gatherings in its clubs where young people have replaced the older members and lavish weddings. “Earlier, people were scared to show off wealth.
At the club where I go, there would only be old people my father's age but now, I see many of my generation and even young- er, which goes on to show that people are indeed returning and that homes no longer have just old parents,“ Prakash says.
Anjay, while dusting off his Mamiya, Nikon D2X and F100 cameras which he says he used for shooting stills of Bollywood movies such as Ek Ajnabee and Pyare Mohan, particularly re- members the use of Jimmy Jib cranes, mostly used in film shootings, at a marriage in Patna recently. “Can you beat that?
How many people do you think can afford to shoot weddings with a Jimmy Jib?“ Apart from Prakash and Tha- kur, who have family ventures to manage and run, there are many who have returned to start from the scratch.
Bibhuti Bikramaditya worked with nSYStech Co. Ltd, an infor- mation technology firm in South Korea, as a project manager be- fore setting up Tech Brains Pvt.
Ltd, probably the first electronics design company in Bihar, in 2008. “I come from a small vil- lage and when I started doing decent abroad, I felt I should do something for the state,“ he says.
Bikramaditya, while in South Korea, formed Bihar Brains De- velopment Society (BBDS) in 2004, a forum for non-resident Biharis, which eventually shifted to Patna with him three years lat- er. At the Society, he organizes scientists, entrepreneurs and students to brainstorm on op- portunities that can be created in Bihar apart from promoting local talent.
For his electronics design company, Bikramaditya has also hired engineers from engineer- ing colleges in the state such as National Institute of Technology (NIT) and Maulana Azad College of Engineering and Technology, Patna. “We are also helping NIT to set up a chip design lab. Then, there are several student ex- change programmes we facilitate for colleges in Bihar with univer- sities in Seoul,“ he says.
The state government, too, is trying to reach out to people and exhorting them to return. Chief minister Nitish Kumar has a weekly jan sunwai (public hear- ing) at his residence. Police sta- tions across the state have been freshly painted and refurbished and emphasis is being laid on faster registration of complaints.
For the Global Bihar Meet in 2006, Kumar's government also roped in Bikramaditya, who was then in South Korea, as interna- tional coordinator for the event.
But even Bikramaditya admits that the next step for the govern- ment, after fixing law and order, should be encouraging entrepre- neurship, which will create jobs and bring in investment. “People right now are driven by the feel good factor,“ he says. “Now, we need more dynamism from the chief minister; he needs to be the Narendra Modi of Bihar.“
Yet, at the Bihar Chamber of Commerce, where until a few years ago angry businessmen would lash out at the state's top police officers for failing to check crime spiral, the topics for dis- cussion have moved to traffic snarls in the city, frequent power cuts, public denial for paying for parking and lack of civic man- ners in people.
For those returning from the metros, it's adjusting to this change in lifestyle and attitude that is bringing in the conflict in their happy vision of getting back to their roots.
“As a society which hangs out together, there is little of it. All my friends still remain outside the state, which is why I get to share my father's friends,“ says Prakash.
During his golf practice ses- sions, he eventually made a few friends, but wife Smita, who han- dled mergers and acquisitions at an Australian firm and now is the vice-principal of Prarambhika, says she continues to be con- strained by a society, which is in- tensely patriarchal. “When I walk into a bank, it's my husband people address even if I have asked the question. At 31, people refuse to believe that I can get work done. But I know it would be foolish to expect a drastic change overnight,“ she says.
“Since I have decided to live here, I have also decided that I am going to do everything and enjoy it too.“
Next in the four-part series on Bihar, read “The growing tribe of migrants“. The changing face: 1. The newly constructed Dariapur bridge in Bihar. The topics for discussion in Bihar have moved to traffic snarls in the city, frequent power cuts, public denial for paying for park ing and lack of civic manners in people.
2. Sumit Prakash with wife Smita Chowdhary, viceprincipal Prarambhika school. Homesick and looking for purpose in their state of birth, the couple came back to settle down and run the familyowned school Prarambhika on Patna's upmarket Boring Road in February 2008. During his golf practice sessions, Prakash eventually made a few friends, but wife Smita, who handled mergers and acquisitions at an Australian firm, says she continues to be constrained by a society, which is intensely patri archal.
3. Asian Development Research Institute director Saibal Gupta says for the first time in the last 60 years, there is a concerted effort to build the state. Now, the place of the musclemen has been usurped by the state and because of this, respect for the state and faith that the police will act against lawbreakers has remark ably increased.
BY PALLAVI SINGH
It was perhaps the worst of times. With the fall of night, Patna would blanket itself in a pall of darkness, interrupted occasionally by traffic thinning rapidly with each passing hour.
Downed shutters in shops would signal fearful business, rickshaws would accept no late evening passengers and women and chil- dren would be home before sun- set. It was, for all practical pur- poses, a self-willed curfew.
As a painful memory of his growing up days, Sumit Prakash still has this vivid remembrance of his home town: notorious, lawless and hopeless about the status quo like a defeated war- rior. “Six-seven years ago when I would go visit my parents in Pat- na, I wouldn't be moving around without a bodyguard; I wouldn't even be allowed to walk up to an ATM alone!“ he recalls.
One fine morning in 2007, he realized this was changing.
While Prakash and wife Smita Choudhary were driving back from a holiday to Sydney, where they both worked as business managers for different firms, his Patna-based father, who had just been denied visa from the Aus- tralian government on account of his old age, called up. “He ask- ed us to return home. We had ev- erything going for us, but we had no close family in Australia. Our option was Bombay or the Unit- ed States where my brothers live but that day, out of the next 5 hours of the drive, we spent three hours talking about Patna,“ he says.
The recurring leitmotif of the conversation centred around the improving law and order situa- tion and infrastructure in Bihar and the record number of con- victions in the state since the new regime under chief minister Nitish Kumar took over in 2005.
That is why, in February 2008, Prakash and Smita, homesick and looking for purpose in their state of birth, came back to settle down and run the family-owned school Prarambhika in Patna's upmarket Boring Road. And just like them, there are many--engi- neers, doctors, management consultants, students and busi- nessmen born and brought up in Bihar, but away for better educa- tion and employment during the previous regime led by Lalu Pra- sad of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)--who are returning to the state driven by emerging oppor- tunities.
“For the first time in the last 60 years, there is a concerted effort to build the state. I wouldn't say rebuild because there was no such thing as role of the state in Bihar earlier. Now, the place of the bahubalis (musclemen) has been usurped by the state. Con- victions took place across all castes and classes unlike before when only people from the dis- advantaged sections would suf- fer. Because of this, respect for the state and faith that police will act against lawbreakers has re- markably increased,“ says Saibal Gupta, director of Asian Devel- opment Research Institute, a non-profit research organization based in Patna. There have been convictions of 49,000 people since 2005 including charge sheeted politicians such as Sha- habuddin, a former member of Parliament from the RJD.
The unprecedented reverse brain drain to Bihar is being led by people who never imagined they would return. Prakash, 42, has been in Patna for two years now, but on the day he had left the city in the early 1990s for Australia, he hadn't at least thought so.
Neither had Anjay Thakur, a commercial pilot trained from California and a professional photographer who returned in late 2008 to look after the family- run hospital Shushruta Surgical Clinic. Not very long ago, Anjay's father Rajeshwar Thakur, Patna's leading laparoscopic surgeon, would close his hugely popular clinic in Patna city locality at dusk. “Earlier, doctors travelled with bodyguards. One doctor was shot down and we also know several doctors who got threat calls for extortion,“ he says, add- ing that kidnapping and ransom were industry here.
Thakur's family hospital is now in expansion mode with him at the helm of affairs, which is unusual for his accomplish- ments. In Thakur's return lies abandonment of two promising careers in India's metros.
After various stints of flying and dabbling in photography with stalwarts such as Farrokh Chothia and Atul Kasbekar in Mumbai and running a studio of his own in Delhi, Thakur's inter- est in family's hospital projects sparked owing to various rea- sons. “I had offers from IndiGo for flying, but when recession set in, it was withdrawn. Around that time, my family was plan- ning to set up a hospital in Noida close to Delhi. My father suggest- ed that it should be built in Pat- na,“ he remembers.
From the gloomy flashback of the city in the 1990s, Thakur now mulls on the present. His voice lifts up as he describes his morn- ings at the Patna Golf Club, his impromptu road trips across the state and outside and most of all, the night life quickening to met- ropolitan tastes.
That Bihar is indeed becoming a state where aspirations and en- terprise have replaced sense of insecurity and scepticism is evi- dent from the newly opened res- taurants and bars that serve till midnight, social gatherings in its clubs where young people have replaced the older members and lavish weddings. “Earlier, people were scared to show off wealth.
At the club where I go, there would only be old people my father's age but now, I see many of my generation and even young- er, which goes on to show that people are indeed returning and that homes no longer have just old parents,“ Prakash says.
Anjay, while dusting off his Mamiya, Nikon D2X and F100 cameras which he says he used for shooting stills of Bollywood movies such as Ek Ajnabee and Pyare Mohan, particularly re- members the use of Jimmy Jib cranes, mostly used in film shootings, at a marriage in Patna recently. “Can you beat that?
How many people do you think can afford to shoot weddings with a Jimmy Jib?“ Apart from Prakash and Tha- kur, who have family ventures to manage and run, there are many who have returned to start from the scratch.
Bibhuti Bikramaditya worked with nSYStech Co. Ltd, an infor- mation technology firm in South Korea, as a project manager be- fore setting up Tech Brains Pvt.
Ltd, probably the first electronics design company in Bihar, in 2008. “I come from a small vil- lage and when I started doing decent abroad, I felt I should do something for the state,“ he says.
Bikramaditya, while in South Korea, formed Bihar Brains De- velopment Society (BBDS) in 2004, a forum for non-resident Biharis, which eventually shifted to Patna with him three years lat- er. At the Society, he organizes scientists, entrepreneurs and students to brainstorm on op- portunities that can be created in Bihar apart from promoting local talent.
For his electronics design company, Bikramaditya has also hired engineers from engineer- ing colleges in the state such as National Institute of Technology (NIT) and Maulana Azad College of Engineering and Technology, Patna. “We are also helping NIT to set up a chip design lab. Then, there are several student ex- change programmes we facilitate for colleges in Bihar with univer- sities in Seoul,“ he says.
The state government, too, is trying to reach out to people and exhorting them to return. Chief minister Nitish Kumar has a weekly jan sunwai (public hear- ing) at his residence. Police sta- tions across the state have been freshly painted and refurbished and emphasis is being laid on faster registration of complaints.
For the Global Bihar Meet in 2006, Kumar's government also roped in Bikramaditya, who was then in South Korea, as interna- tional coordinator for the event.
But even Bikramaditya admits that the next step for the govern- ment, after fixing law and order, should be encouraging entrepre- neurship, which will create jobs and bring in investment. “People right now are driven by the feel good factor,“ he says. “Now, we need more dynamism from the chief minister; he needs to be the Narendra Modi of Bihar.“
Yet, at the Bihar Chamber of Commerce, where until a few years ago angry businessmen would lash out at the state's top police officers for failing to check crime spiral, the topics for dis- cussion have moved to traffic snarls in the city, frequent power cuts, public denial for paying for parking and lack of civic man- ners in people.
For those returning from the metros, it's adjusting to this change in lifestyle and attitude that is bringing in the conflict in their happy vision of getting back to their roots.
“As a society which hangs out together, there is little of it. All my friends still remain outside the state, which is why I get to share my father's friends,“ says Prakash.
During his golf practice ses- sions, he eventually made a few friends, but wife Smita, who han- dled mergers and acquisitions at an Australian firm and now is the vice-principal of Prarambhika, says she continues to be con- strained by a society, which is in- tensely patriarchal. “When I walk into a bank, it's my husband people address even if I have asked the question. At 31, people refuse to believe that I can get work done. But I know it would be foolish to expect a drastic change overnight,“ she says.
“Since I have decided to live here, I have also decided that I am going to do everything and enjoy it too.“
Next in the four-part series on Bihar, read “The growing tribe of migrants“. The changing face: 1. The newly constructed Dariapur bridge in Bihar. The topics for discussion in Bihar have moved to traffic snarls in the city, frequent power cuts, public denial for paying for park ing and lack of civic manners in people.
2. Sumit Prakash with wife Smita Chowdhary, viceprincipal Prarambhika school. Homesick and looking for purpose in their state of birth, the couple came back to settle down and run the familyowned school Prarambhika on Patna's upmarket Boring Road in February 2008. During his golf practice sessions, Prakash eventually made a few friends, but wife Smita, who handled mergers and acquisitions at an Australian firm, says she continues to be constrained by a society, which is intensely patri archal.
3. Asian Development Research Institute director Saibal Gupta says for the first time in the last 60 years, there is a concerted effort to build the state. Now, the place of the musclemen has been usurped by the state and because of this, respect for the state and faith that the police will act against lawbreakers has remark ably increased.
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