Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Holy mans amazing feet on children


How can anyone let their child to be treated like this. This is as bizarre as it gets. Heights of superstition.

Read On..



A bizarre holy man has been arrested on child torture charges after horrified parents found him stamping on their youngsters' throats to cure them of colds. Self-proclaimed demi-god Jamun Yadav, 50, told police his holy Hindu powers allowed him to transfer divine energy from the soles of his feet. He said the amazing feets of magic allowed him to fight all illnesses in Katihar, eastern India. "This is scandalous and we have arrested him. The parents didn't know just what his treatment involved when they agreed to it," said police spokesman Santosh Singh. "He claims he needs no defence in court because he speaks for God. So it should be an interesting trial," he added.

Source: www.austriantimes.at, 21st December 2009

Monday, December 28, 2009

Ruchika Molesting Case: Accused get away with only 6 months jail


This is what influential people does in India. The accused get punishment after almost 20 years that too just six month jail and 1000 rupees fine. This is after the girl who has been molested went on to commit suicide after the harassment which she went through. This is the example in misuse of official power by a police officer who used his influence and contacts to escape punishment for nearly two decades for his crime.
This is how safe our girls are in India. And we say it is a democratic country. Bull Shit..

Read On..

Outrage is growing in India over a six-month jail sentence handed out to a former senior police officer convicted for molesting a 14-year-old girl.
Ruchika Girhotra complained in 1990 that she was assaulted by SPS Rathore.
After Mr Rathore used his influence to harass the Girhotra family, Ruchika committed suicide three years later.

Earlier this week, a court found Mr Rathore guilty, but Ruchika's family and activists say he has got away with a "very light punishment".
Mr Rathore sentenced in jail for six months and ordered to pay a fine of 1,000 rupees ($20).
He is currently on bail and has said he would appeal against the order.

"This six-month punishment is not enough, it has hurt us, what kind of justice is this?" Ruchika's father Subhas Chander Girhotra asked reporters in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh on Thursday.
"We want exemplary punishment for him so that Indian children can be safe in future. My daughter is dead, but at least no other girl should meet the same fate," he said, sobbing.
"All these years, we have stayed underground due to harassment. We would got knocks in the middle of the night. He was the director general of police - who could we turn to for help?
"We are still living in fear."

Television footage, showing a laughing and unrepentant Mr Rathore following the court order, has angered many civil rights groups.
Campaigners say he should be tried for "abetment of suicide" which carries a much longer jail sentence.Analysts say Ruchika's case is a classic example of misuse of official power by a police officer who used his influence and contacts to escape punishment for nearly two decades for his crime.

Ruchika was a budding tennis player when she was assaulted by Mr Rathore, a senior police officer and president of Haryana state Lawn Tennis Association.
After her family lodged a complaint with the Haryana chief minister, the state police chief RR Singh was asked to investigate the case.
In his report, Mr Singh said there was credible evidence in the allegations and ordered the police to file a case against Mr Rathore.
This was just the beginning of nightmares for Girhotra family as Mr Rathore used his influence to harass them.

She was thrown out of school for "late fee payment" and her 14-year-old brother Ashu was falsely charged with theft several times until the Punjab and Haryana high court intervened and ordered an end to his harassment.
Unable to deal with the trauma, Ruchika committed suicide in December 1993 and her family went into hiding.

In 1997, the case was handed over to the federal police, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which concluded Mr Rathore was guilty and formally pressed charges in court in 2000.
In the meantime, Mr Rathore was promoted to the head of Haryana police.

In a case that took 19 years to reach a conclusion, Ruchika's family and friends say they are disappointed by the verdict and will continue campaigning to get justice.
A candle-lit march will be held in Delhi on Thursday(24th December 09) in a bid to mobilise support for their campaign.
Aradhana's father, Anand Prakash, says, "We will see to it that justice is done."
Aradhana was Ruchika's close friend. Both of them used to play tennis together, where this incident happened.

Have a look at this video for the detailed report of this case.
Look at the way Mr. Ram Jethmalani(Senior Criminal Lawyer) is speaking as if nothing has happened. He is saying "I am sorry, this is not a serious issue and the law need not be changed for this case."

Have a look at the video:



Source: news.bbc.co.uk, 24th December 2009 and NDTV.com

Thursday, December 24, 2009

TED India Talks: Sunitha Krishnan fights sex slavery

Sunitha Krishnan has dedicated her life to rescuing women and children from sex slavery, a multimilion-dollar global market. In this courageous talk, she tells three powerful stories, as well as her own, and calls for a more humane approach to helping these young victims rebuild their lives.

About Sunitha Krishnan:

Sunitha Krishnan is galvanizing India’s battle against sexual slavery by uniting government, corporations and NGOs to end human trafficking.

Each year, some two million women and children, many younger than 10 years old, are bought and sold around the globe. Impassioned by the silence surrounding the sex-trafficking epidemic, Sunitha Krishnan co-founded Prajwala, or "eternal flame," a group in Hyderabad that rescues women from brothels and educates their children to prevent second-generation prostitution. Prajwala runs 17 schools throughout Hyderabad for 5,000 children and has rescued more than 2,500 women from prostitution, 1,500 of whom Krishnan personally liberated. At its Asha Niketan center, Prajwala helps young victims prepare for a self-sufficient future.

Krishnan has sparked India's anti-trafficking movement by coordinating government, corporations and NGOs. She forged NGO-corporate partnerships with companies like Amul India, Taj Group of Hotels and Heritage Hospitals to find jobs for rehabilitated women. In collaboration with UN agencies and other NGOs, she established printing and furniture shops that have rehabilitated some 300 survivors. Krishnan works closely with the government to define anti-trafficking policy, and her recommendations for rehabilitating sex victims have been passed into state legislation.

"The sense that thousands and millions of children and young people are being sexually violated and that there’s this huge silence about it around me angers me."
Sunitha Krishnan

Here is the Video:

Police and thief having fun together in India

A gangster in Uttar Pradesh was having fun with few policemen. This is how few of the gangsters are treated by policemen in India.

Read On..

A jailed gangster who audaciously checked into a government guest house with the connivance of policemen and was javascript:void(0)having a good time has been caught in the act. Gangster Ateeq Khan is headed back to prison while four guilty policemen have been suspended.
Charged with murders, abductions and other heinous crimes, Khan was brought from Uttar Pradesh’s Siddhartnagar district jail to Kanpur Dec 17 to attend a court case.

Later, instead of going back to prison, Khan quietly moved into the railway guest house in Lucknow with the connivance of the policemen, said police officials.

There, Khan and the policemen, joined by the former’s associates, every day enjoyed the “best of food and luxuries”, Additional Director General of Police Brij Lal told reporters here.

The guest house belonged to the North-Eastern Railway and was located in the Charbagh locality, near the Lucknow railway station.

Someone decided to expose the farce by tipping off the authorities.

On Monday, the Special Task Force (STF) raided the guest house and nabbed the notorious gangster, his accomplices and the policemen.

An inspector and three constables have been suspended. Criminal proceedings have also been initiated against those caught at the guest house.

Asked if railway officials too were involved in the scam, Lal said: “It needs to be probed.”

Source: www.thaindian.com, 22nd December 2009

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

TED India Talks-Ryan Lobo: Photographing the hidden story

Ryan Lobo has traveled the world, taking photographs that tell stories of unusual human lives. In this haunting talk, he reframes controversial subjects with empathy, so that we see the pain of a Liberian war criminal, the quiet strength of UN women peacekeepers and the perseverance of Delhi's underappreciated firefighters.

About Ryan Lobo:
As a photographer and filmmaker, Ryan Lobo uses his exquisite lens to capture humanity and nature at their most open and vulnerable moments.
During a recent shoot on the streets and beaches of Chennai, Ryan Lobo turned his lens on men and women in relaxed, after-work poses. His starkly beautiful black-and-white photos, Lobo writes, reveal what it's like “to be young, employed and alive in Chennai today, regardless of one's language, economic class or social skills.” This follows the theme of Lobo's career: breaking down stereotypes while reframing the landscape.

Since 2001, Lobo has been taking haunting stills of everything from Yakuza tattoos and the illegal organ trade to the Indian middle class. He's worked as a field producer on many nature-oriented shows for National Geographic and founded Mad Monitor Productions, a production company based in Bangalore and Washington, D.C. There's no scientific, economic or sociopolitical boundary Lobo isn't willing to cross. His intense fieldwork continues to illuminate his traveling (you can read about his journeys and see photographs on his blog) and a forthcoming book project.

"I have attempted to delve beneath clichés and with photographs tell stories about the secrets, trials and ethos of urban Chennai."
Ryan Lobo

Here is the Video:

Monday, December 21, 2009

TED India Talks-Thulasiraj Ravilla: How low-cost eye care can be world-class

India's revolutionary Aravind Eye Care System has given sight to millions. Thulasiraj Ravilla looks at the ingenious approach that drives its treatment costs down and quality up, and why its methods should trigger a re-think of all human services.

About Thulasiraj Ravilla:

Thulasiraj Ravilla is the executive director of the Lions Aravind Institute of Community Ophthalmology, helping eye-care hospitals around the world build capacity to prevent blindness.
As director of the Lions Aravind Institute of Community Opthalmology, Thulasiraj Ravilla is helping to promulgate the Aravind Eye Care System's exam, diagnosis and treatment model to find culturally relevant solutions to the problem of avoidable blindness throughout India, and throughout the world.
Ravilla serves as chair of the Southeast Asian arm of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, and is head of Vision 2020: The Right to Sight, a global initiative for the elimination of blindness. He developed the LAICO-Aravind Eye Hospital Care System, and continues to lead it.
"When you grow in spiritual consciousness, we identify with all that is in the world so there is no exploitation. It is ourselves we are helping. It is ourselves we are healing."
Dr. G. Venkataswamy, founder, Aravind Eye Care System

Here is the Video:

Kasab says he never saw a AK-47 in his life :)


This is how the terrorists are trained. The person who earlier had admitted to his crimes and made a passionate plea to be "hanged" is now telling that he has not seen AK-47 in his life. He thinks that people of India will believe whatever he say. He should be hanged soon otherwise, he will start doing such naatak's everyday.

Read On..

In a dramatic turn around, the lone captured Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir alias Kasab Friday retracted his confession made earlier saying that he had come to Mumbai to work in Bollywood films and had never seen an AK-47 rifle in his life.

Retracting the confession made before a magistrate Feb 20 this year, Kasab told a special court that he had come to Mumbai at least 20 days before the 26/11 terror attacks.

"I was arrested three days before the 26/11 attacks, when I was going around Juhu area with some friends. I was in police custody at the time of the attacks," he told the stunned courtroom.

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said that he had always anticipated that Kasab would retract his confessional statement.

"He has been trained by the terror organisations how to handle these things. But it (the retraction) will not affect the merits of the case in any manner. We have built up a solid evidence of 610 witnesses against him," Nikam told reporters during the lunch recess.

Kasab said that he had come to India on valid travel documents, but it is missing since his alleged arrest by police. He claimed that he had also lost his mobile phone and he did not know the whereabouts of his friends.

To a query from Special Judge M.L. Tahilyani, Kasab claimed that he was nabbed by the police since he was a Pakistani, three days before the attacks took place in Mumbai.

Kasab added that he closely resembled one of the terrorists killed in the 26/11 attacks and therefore was forced to take his place by police.

Kasab's surprise retraction of his confession came during the recording of his statement at the start of the second phase of the terror attacks trial.

He had earlier gone back on the confession July 20 in the court and later admitted to his crimes and made a passionate plea to be "hanged".

Kasab also claimed that he was forced to make and sign a confession before the magistrate.

"I was not present in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) and I did not open firing inside the railway station. I have never seen an AK-47 in my life, or even a rubber dingy," he claimed.

He said that he had been interrogated by four white men of whom one was David Coleman Headley, one of the terror accused who is now in custody in US.

Reacting to this, Nikam said the accused had made only "a passing reference" to Headley and T. Rana, both arrested in the US, and not a detailed statement on the issue.

Source: news.in.msn.com, 18th December 2009

Thursday, December 17, 2009

In Tamil Nadu, even bypoll brings in freebies for people to vote


Even today, votes in India are earned in exchange of money, goodies and freebies like liquor, biriyani, etc. Such things are happening even in bypolls. This is one of the reason why India is still a developing country, not a developed country.

Read On..

Despite Election Commission’s hawk eye, it’s raining freebies in Vandavasi. With just three days left for an assembly by-election here, voters have been forming furtive queues in nondescript street corners to collect gifts, including biryani packets, envelopes with money, dhotis, sarees and booze bottles. The December 19 byelection is proving to be a big bonanza for voters.

‘‘While one political party offered Rs 500 per vote, another gave us Rs 200. People say there will be a second round of disbursement of cash just before the polling day,’’ said a gleeful Chinnadurai, a resident of Thellar, 15 km from Vandavasi town. A family with five voters in Vandavasi reserved constituency will pocket anywhere between Rs 6,000 and Rs 8,000 this month, besides goodies, pointed out Chinnadurai.

Money and liquor are flowing freely. One political party generously distributed quarter bottles of whisky, supplementing it with sumptuous biryani feasts. The women folk were mollified too. Uncomplainingly, they took rides in trucks to receive free sarees and dhotis.

Said chief electoral officer, Naresh Gupta: ‘‘Whenever we get complaints or alerts, we direct the district election officers concerned to send squads to the spot to check.’’ But, the party always breaks up before the election officials get to them, pointed out sources.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 16th December 2009

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Haagen Dazs - Sorry, Indians not allowed


It looks like the Danish Ice cream Haagen Dazs has tried to bring in the Era of the British Raj where Indians are not allowed into a ice-cream parlor inside India.
This is a direct reminder of the Raj period when Indians and dogs weren't allowed into clubs and other 'white' places.

The City Walk Mall in Delhi recently opened up to Haagen Dazs ice cream parlor & they had a poster where they claim that only international passport holders are allowed for the preview. In India, Indian's are not allowed !!!!!!!! This is sick and disgusting.

Read On..

My friend Ramit (name changed on request) called me late Friday night. He sounded quite agitated. “You know, Haagen Dazs has opened its Delhi outlet”. I reacted with a joke. “Good, now you can spend a lot more on an ice cream than you normally would. But why are you agitated?”

“Because I am not allowed to enter”, he said. Now, Ramit is not like one of the politician’s son or into drugs, the sort who are often in news in India’s capital for all the wrong reasons, nor is he the kind who will shoot someone down because she refused to serve him a cone of ice cream.

He did not waste much time and said he has taken a picture and is mailing me the reason. I switched on my mail, and clicked on the attachment. I couldn’t believe what I saw. Was I in India, 62 years after gaining independence, and years after South Africa officially ended apartheid?

The banners outside the outlet said: Exclusive Preview for International Travellers. And under that, in an even finer print, the real bombshell: Access restricted only to holders of international passports.

I immediately called Ramit. “You are an international traveler, and you have a passport, so you can go in”, I said. Ramit’s response was instant: I tried to enter but they said you are not allowed for you don’t have an international passport.

I am normally not given to immediate emotional reactions, but I couldn’t resist this time. I was, to be honest, upset. How can they do this to an Indian, in India? Do a story on TOI or NBT? Do it for print or Online? Call other media friends and colleagues? I simply didn’t know how to react. Print would have a better impact, but should I wait that long?

Then I felt, why not use the power of the social media? Next thing I knew was that I had put up a few pictures on facebook, added a caption and also sent out a tweet with a request it be retweeted. In a few hours, it had turned into a viral and I started getting messages from angry Indians all over. Why just Indians, even friends in international media wrote to say “this is the stupidest thing they have seen in a long time”.

I didn’t stop at that. I ended up calling a few MPs I knew I could speak to bluntly and told them about it, taunting them about it.

I don’t know what finally worked, but it seems word did get around to the outlet’s franchisee and they started claiming there never was any restriction on anybody entering the outlet.

While this may be considered a victory for people power, I am still unable to figure out who in his right senses would have advised the dessert company to do something so stupid. Was it a way to generate controversy for free publicity? Did they think it will work subliminally on Indians mind that now that it has been ‘certified’ by international travelers it would be good for them too?

Whatever it is, it is idiotic. I checked later and found that the franchisee is an Indian company based in Delhi and the man incharge is also an Indian.

I have often maintained that we ourselves are our biggest enemies. Our mentality is that of slaves and we think anything is good only if its approved by foreigners, or the “holders of international passport”.

Perhaps the Indian franchisee had this in mind. And a comment on the picture I put up on the facebook by an Indian who migrated to Australia decades ago sums it up: Most international travellers don't want HD in India when they can get it in their own backyard. Its a commodity not a special thing for them. They would also see this as pure cashing in and thinking they are idiots - 'India taking them for a ride.' Have to remember not every international traveler is American; makes an average salary of squillion dollars; can often be allergic to dairy (yes); is in India to have an 'authentic Indian' experience and by golly even enjoy kulfi, falooda, lassi, dosa! This is all about how India and Indians see themselves. Foreigners have nothing to do with it.

Source: blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 15th December 2009

Thieves caught emptying house, owner feeds them rosogollas

Heights of Gandhigiri. This guy looks like totally impressed by munnabhai series of movies. Instead of complaining to the police against the thieves who tried to loot his house, he gave them sweets and let them go. :)

Read On..

In an example of Gandhigiri, a man fed sandesh and rosogollas to two petty thieves who were caught red-handed while stealing valuable items from his house at Kamardanga village in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district.

The two teenage thieves, Bablu Mistry and Tapas Das, had sneaked into Jayanta Gutpa's house by breaking open a rear window Monday. Gupta was away in Kolkata where he works at the NSC Bose International Airport.

As the duo got busy picking up utensils, watches, clothes and electronic items from the house, their movements alerted neighbour Renuka Pal who was bathing in the pond in the rear of the house.

Pal gathered the villagers and caught the two thieves with the booty. The villagers beat the two miscreants black and blue and tied them up before informing Gupta.

But the situation changed when Gupta rushed home from Kolkata Monday evening.

'I felt very sympathetic to them because of their age. And they claimed that it was their first crime, which they had committed because they do not get two square meals a day,' Gupta said.

He untied the teenagers and treated them to sandesh, rosogolla, banana and bread before setting them free.

'But before that, I also told them about the perils of going the wrong way. They listened to me intently,' he said.

Source: sify.com, 15 December 2009

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Indian women forced to have 5 abortions because in-laws did not want female child

Even after bringing the rule of not letting know the gender of the child before its birth, people are getting to know about the same. Worse, they are forcing to abort the child if its a girl.

Read On..

A pale Amisha Bhatt, 33, stood out in the crowd of rural women from over 15 districts of Gujarat who had gathered at Town Hall to participate in a public hearing of cases of violence against women. The public hearing was organized by Mahila Adhikar Abhiyan.

As women narrated their tales of rape, domestic abuse, Amisha's body shook as she relived the horror of repeated abortions and physical abuse she was subjected to by her in-laws in their obsession for a male heir.

Currently residing with her parents in Vastrapur, Amisha says that she was subjected to six abortions over eight years, the last being early this year. In between, she gave birth to a girl Kamya, who was saved because Amisha went to her parents' house because she took ill.

Amisha is currently fighting a legal battle with her husband and in-laws for forcible termination of pregnancies, physical and mental abuse and has claimed maintenance.

Amisha was married to Priyavadan Bhatt from Anand in year 2000. She says her torture began the day she conceived her first child. "My in-laws were obsessed with a male child. My elder brother-in-law has two daughters and the family wanted me to give them a male heir. My first pregnancy was terminated in August 2001 after sonography tests revealed it was a girl," says Amisha.

"When I was pregnant the third time, I had gone for a wedding where I fell ill and was packed off to my parents' place. This is how I gave birth to a girl child Kamya," says Amisha.

The pressure only increased after Kamya's birth. "After that, I was forced to undergo three more abortions, two in Vadodara and one in Godhra," says Amisha.

Early this year, she was thrown out of her house. "My mother-in-law said she would get another daughter-in-law who would give birth to a male child," says Amisha.

She is now under the care of Yogakshem, an NGO providing legal assistance, and is currently taking computer classes to stand on her feet. "The government has created lot of awareness about saving the girl child but the guilty need to be punished to serve an example. We have filed complaint under PC-PNDT Act against the doctors with district health officers but they have not been arrested yet," says RR Shukla of Yogakshem.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 9 December 2009

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Baby dipped into boiling water as part of ritual


One more act of superstition in rural India.

A three-month-old infant was dunked into a vessel full of boiling water and lifted out, in a mysterious religious ritual by a couple at Jumalapur village in Bijapur district, Karnataka.

The horrifying act drew shocked gasps from the public and media persons gathered, but not as much as a whimper from the baby. She appeared fine.

The parents looked unafraid, and in fact, were happy that they were carrying out the ritual, held during the festival of Balabhim near Talikot town on Friday.

The story goes like this: Prabhavati and Sanganagouda of Navadagi village near Talikot town married a few years ago, but had no children. Fed up, the disappointed couple prayed that their wish be fulfilled.

Hanumantray Hugar, priest of Balabhim (Anjaneya) temple of Jumalapur village had uttered to them, presumably speaking on behalf of the Almighty: "I will give two issues to you, out of which one will be taken by self. Another should be dipped in boiling water as a religious ritual".

In due course, the first baby was born, but died early. The second one was born within a year, and the ritual was performed. Whether this is blind belief or a challenge to science is not known. But the baby is safe and healthy, even after its appalling experience.

Source: Times Of India, 28th December, 2008

Monday, December 7, 2009

TED India Talks: Anupam Mishra - The ancient ingenuity of water harvesting

With wisdom and wit, Anupam Mishra talks about the amazing feats of engineering built centuries ago by the people of India's Golden Desert to harvest water. These structures are still used today -- and are often superior to modern water mega projects.

About Anupam Mishra:

To promote smart water management, Anupam Mishra works to preserve rural India’s traditional rainwater harvesting techniques.

Anupam Mishra travels across water-challenged India studying rainwater harvesting methods and learning from the people behind them. He presents his findings to NGOs, development agencies and environmental groups, pulling from centuries of indigenous wisdom that has found water for drinking and irrigation even in extremely arid landscapes through wells, filter ponds and other catchment systems.

A founding member of the Gandhi Peace Foundation, Mishra is working to bridge the gap between modern water management technology and india's heritage of water harvesting, so that every community is self-sustainable and efficiently safekeeping an increasingly scarce and precious resource.

Listen to his entire speech, initially you will feel that what this man is talking is full of crap but at the end u feel its worth watching this entire talk.

Here is th Video:

Friday, December 4, 2009

Indian farmers selling their wives


Poverty in rural India is increasing day by day. The farmers one and only source of income is growing crops. And in case of heavy rains or drought all the crops get damaged, making farmers more poor. This is leading to farmers committing suicide. And in few cases like these, some reckless farmers selling their wife for money.

Read On..

North Indian farmers are selling their wives to survive.

Left without money due to failing crops, debt-ridden farmers in Bundelkhand, Uttar Pradesh, have reportedly been selling their wives to money lenders for 4,000-12,000 rupees.

The more beautiful the woman, the higher the price that she fetches, it was claimed.

The deals are allegedly being settled on a legal stamp paper under the heading “Vivaha Anubandh” meaning Marriage Contract. Once the new “husband” is tired of the woman, she is allegedly sold to another man.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) is now sending a team to investigate the reports.Girija Vyas, chief of the NCW, said: “It is awful and unbelievable that it still happens in the country, and that too in Uttar Pradesh where the chief minister is a woman.“We are sending a team to find out the details and have asked for the report within 24 hours.”

She added that the commission had also written a letter to the state's chief minister. One of the victims said: “My husband sold me to another man for Rs 8,000 only.“My buyer took me to the court to make our wedding look legal. During the trip I got the chance to escape.”In most cases, the women are illiterate and cannot read what is written in the “contract”.

A farmer who helped expose the situation to the Indian media said he is now being harassed.“I was summoned to the police station and questioned,” the man who is known only as Kalicharan said.“I told them I had spoken to the media because no one was listening to us. But they threatened me and said I was lying. My wife was also called to the police station.”

With reports suggesting that thousands of farmers in the region are involved, the situation has spiralled into a major political crisis.

Opposition parties are blaming the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government led by chief minister Mayawati for the problem.

The state Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi said: “It is a painful situation.
“I am sending a team of Congress workers to help these women.” A spokesman for leading opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party, said: “Both the BSP-led state government and the Congress at the centre are responsible for this.“The centre has been talking of creating a separate authority for Bundelkhand while some factions want a state. Nobody is helping these farmers.”

Erratic rainfall in the region this year is one of the main causes of failing crops.

Source: www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk, 8th Sep 09

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Bhopal gas disaster's legacy lives on 25 years later



Today is December 3rd 2009. Exactly 25 years ago on this day, one of the worst industrial disaster in Indian history happened in Bhopal. Thousands of people died, lakhs of people are still affected by this disaster. At least now the government should take some immediate measures and provide some proper medical attention to all the people affected in that area.

Read On..

The Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical) disaster in Bhopal, Bhopal disaster or Bhopal gas tragedy was an industrial disaster that took place at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in the Indian city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. At midnight on 3 December 1984, the plant accidentally released methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas, exposing more than 500,000 people to MIC and other chemicals. The first official immediate death toll was 2,259. The government of Madhya Pradesh has confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas release.Others estimate 8,000-10,000 died within 72 hours and 25,000 have since died from gas-related diseases.

Some 25 years after the gas leak, 390 tonnes of toxic chemicals abandoned at the Union Carbide plant continue to pollute the ground water in the region and affects thousands residents of Bhopal who depend on it. There are currently civil and criminal cases related to the disaster ongoing in the United States District Court, Manhattan and the District Court of Bhopal, India against Union Carbide, now owned by Dow Chemical Company, with arrest warrants pending against Warren Anderson, CEO of Union Carbide at the time of the disaster.

Summary of background and causes:

During the night of December 2–3, 1984, large amounts of water entered tank 610, containing 42 tonnes of methyl isocyanate. The resulting reaction increased the temperature inside the tank to reach over 200 °C (392 °F), raising the pressure to a level the tank was not designed to withstand. This forced the emergency venting of pressure from the MIC holding tank, releasing a large volume of toxic gases. The reaction sped up because of the presence of iron in corroding non-stainless steel pipelines. A mixture of poisonous gases flooded the city of Bhopal, causing great panic as people woke up with a burning sensation in their lungs. Thousands died immediately from the effects of the gas and many were trampled in the panic.

Hundreds of children are still being born with birth defects as a result of the world's worst industrial disaster 25 years ago. They are demanding that the Indian government provide immediate medical care and research the "hidden" health impacts.

The true legacy of the disaster is only now coming to light. The Indian government stopped all research on the medical effects of the gas cloud 14 years ago, without explanation. Despite the country's supreme court ordering that the children of victims receive insurance, more than 100,000 remain without cover.

Satinath Sarangi of the Sambhavna Trust, which helps to rehabilitate victims, said that the Bhopal victims' penury and low social status meant few are prepared to help. No one, he says, has taken responsibility for cleaning up the site and paying the high cost of medical bills."Because these people are poor or from a minority or lower caste no one seems to care. Their lives and their children are being sacrificed for the cause of industrial progress," Sarangi said.

One of the mothers, Kesar Bhai, held her 12-year-old son Suraj in her arms. She had inhaled the noxious fumes in 1984 and was hospitalised but recovered. Her son, Suraj, was born brain damaged and cannot sit or talk. "My husband is a labourer. We have no money to spend on our son. He cannot even eat on his own. I get free medical care for my breathing difficulties because I am a gas victim. My child does not get any help but he has been affected," she said.

Other children's growth had been stunted, said campaigners, because there has been still no clean-up of the Bhopal plant despite a promise from the prime minister in 2006. So far, less than 20% of the funds set aside to dismantle and make safe the plant have been spent. The disused Union Carbide factory contains about 8,000 tonnes of carcinogenic chemicals which continue to leach out and contaminate water supplies used by 30,000 local people. The clean-up has been stalled by a mixture of bureaucratic indifference, legal actions and rows over corporate responsibility.

Source: Wikipedia.org, www.guardian.co.uk

Woman walks 110 km in 15 days for medical help in Chhattisgarh


As the population of India is keep on increasing, the medical facilities in rural areas are becoming bad to worse. The governments negligence towards rural people's health is also to be blamed. If this keep on increasing, the life expectancy and death ratio will increase exponentially.

Read On..

Such is the state of medical care in Chhattisgarh that a woman had to walk 110 km for 15 days to reach a government-run hospital to get her burnt hands treated.

In September, Phoolwati, 25, and her husband Roop Singh were burnt when the kerosene stove burst in their hut in Bakalo village within the jurisdiction of the Kapu police station in Raigarh district. Sans any medical treatment, Roop Singh battled his burn injuries for a week and then died.

Phoolwati then found insects crawling inside her burnt hands and realised she had no option but to go to the district headquarters here and seek medical treatment. There was no government-run health facility nearby that could tackle her problem.

‘I did not have a single paisa to get treatment from any private doctor or to get into a bus so that I could come here. So I had no option but to walk the 110 km to get admitted to Raigarh hospital. I had found several insects in my burn wounds and the problem was getting worse every day,’ Phoolwati told IANS at the hospital.
Raigarh is 240 km northeast of state capital Raipur.

‘During the entire 15-day journey I begged for food from local people alongside the road. Here a worker in a medicine shop brought me to the district government hospital. The doctor here removed all the insects. Now I feel my injuries have healed a little,’ the childless widow said in between sobs.

A. Tirki, the doctor who operated upon Phoolwati, said: ‘Her wound was filled with dozens of insects when she came to me last week. I have cleaned up her wounds and hopefully within a fortnight she will recover. But she would surely have lost both her hands if she had reached the hospital even a week later.’

Source: trak.in, 20 Nov 2009

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

You are Dead Sir, hence you cannot vote in this election


False voting are on a rise these days after election voting cards have become a mandatory for voting in any elections. Not only this, I have observed name and other detials are not properly mentioned/spelled in the Election ID Cards because of the carelessness and negligence of the government officials.
For example, one of my friends name is akash bhatia and his fathers name is Captain Bhatia. But in the Election ID Card akash's father name is displayed as Captix Jhatia. How can anybody's name be Captix Jhatia? This is how negligent our government officials are.

Read On..

Writer and theatre personality Deepak Ranjan Chatterjee was shocked when officials at a polling booth in Jharkhand told him that he could not vote because he was dead -- in their records!

A day after the first round of assembly elections in the state Wednesday, Chatterjee related what he underwent in Jamshedpur city.

'My wife and my sons' names were there, but the officials at the booth told me that Deepak Ranjan Chatterjee was dead. I wanted to know how this was possible since I was listed as their father and I am active socially. They insisted the boys' father had died long ago,' Chatterjee told IANS.

Several others also complained that their names were missing from the voters' list. Balloting took place in 26 of the 81 assembly constituencies Wednesday amid a boycott call by Maoists.

Lakshmi Devi, 70, a Yadav voter in Hatia town, was not sure if her name was on the voters' list till the last moment.

'I migrated from Bihar to Jharkhand nine years ago. I was told a week ago that my name was not on the voters' list and I would not be able to vote. Today I found it. There was no coordination,' she said.

Also in Jamshedpur, lawyer Arun Sanyal was in for a surprise when he walked into his polling booth.

'I was born in this city and have voted for the last 40 years. But my name was missing from the rolls this time although my entire family was listed,' Sanyal said.

Tilak Mahto, a 55-year-old in Jugsalai assembly segment, said none of his family members was on the voter list along with 40 other Mahto voters. 'I suspect a conspiracy,' Mahto said.

Source: www.khabarexpress.com, 26 Nov 2009

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

This is where the tax money goes in India



We pay hefty tax and our tax money is being robbed by government officers cheating the Indian government by creating fake employees and robbing the tax money on their behalf. Reports say that this has been happening for years. If all our money goes into the government officials account in one or the other way, where will the development happen ?

Read On..

In a startling disclosure, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Wednesday said it has found 22,853 'ghost employees' on its payrolls, an administration lapse that has been costing the civic body a whopping Rs 17 crore (Rs 170 million) every month.

An inquiry by Municipal Commissioner K S Mehra, the report of which was submitted to Delhi Mayor Kanwar Sain, has revealed the extent of irregularity that both ruling BJP and opposition Congress in MCD said has been going on 'for years'.

"The probe has found that MCD has 22,853 employees who are missing -- in other words, they can be called as fake employees," Sain said.

"This necessitate further investigation to ascertain the fate of 22,853 employees supposed to be drawing salary from MCD treasury which is estimated to the tune of Rs 17 crore per month," he said.

Sain said the MCD will 'go into the full depth of the matter' by conducting a vigilance inquiry and 'take strict disciplinary action against defaulting officials'.

The probe was ordered after the biometric system of attendance, introduced by the civic body in August 2008 and later extended to all MCD zones, brought out a gap in the data given by drawing and disbursing officers and the number of employees enrolled for biometric attendance.

The report said while the total employees are 127,094, only 1,04,241 have been accounted for, which indicates that there is a gap of 22,853 employees.

The report said as per the information provided by the DDOs and HODs of various Departments, the total number of sanctioned posts of various categories in MCD is 119,706.

Against these, total number of employees and officers working is 98,013. As such, 21,695 vacant posts in the regular category exist in the MCD.

In addition, 29,081 employees of miscellaneous categories which include daily wagers, safai karamcharies, and part time domestic breeding checkers are working in the MCD in various departments. As such, the total number of employees of both the above categories working in the MCD comes to 127,094.

The Mayor said biometric system of attendance has been a grand success in the MCD and could be termed as a key reformist measure in good governance.

Leader of House Subhash Arya said the ruling BJP has to be credited for bringing in the biometric system. "This has helped in bringing out the irregularities. This has been going on for years and was also there during the Congress tenure but they did not do anything."

"We will find out the names of all these employees, who appointed them at whose recommendation and any official found guilty will face criminal cases," he said.

Leader of Opposition J K Sharma demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter, claiming that the corporation suffered a loss of Rs 2,000 to 2,500 crore (Rs 20-25 billion) due to the 'scam'.

"We congratulate the commissioner for bringing out the facts and we want a CBI probe. Those found guilty should be dismissed. This has been going on for 20 to 25 years. We will also raise the issue politically," he said.

Source: Rediff.com, November 25, 2009