Thursday, April 15, 2010

People build a temple for dog in India



All i can say is IT Happens Only in India.

Read On..

A community in Karnataka has established an unconventional temple to pay respects to the epitome of faithfulness - the dog.

The common dog has been raised to the status of God in Channapatna's Ramanagar district, where the people not only have built a temple for the animal but are also conducting poojas to the dog-God.

Besides idolising the dog for its faithful nature, the worshippers believe that the dog has the capability of donning a far more grave and unplayful avatar, when needed, to stop any wrongdoing or to set things right.

This aggressive animal is believed to work alongside the village deity. There are two idols in the temple representing the two faces of the animal.

Animals are commonly worshipped in Hinduism, the religion followed by the majority in the country. The ancient religion bestows animals such as cows with divinity.

It is also interesting to note that India, which is often known as the land of temples, not only boasts of ancient and historically significant temples but also some peculiar specimens such as the famous temple for south Indian actress Khusboo in Tamil Nadu and the temple built for politician and Dalit leader Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh.

Source: http://news.oneindia.in, 10th April 2010

No toilet, no bride

The war against insanitation is being fought by women in Haryana by placing a simple condition before their daughters get married - her new household should have a toilet.

Suresh Devi, 52, a resident of Shahar Malpur village near Panipat, about 100 km from New Delhi, had been forced to defecate in the open till not so long ago, as there was no toilet in her home. But when her daughter got married, she made sure the bride had a toilet in her new home.

“My in-laws did not have a toilet at home and nor did my parents. Everybody at home used to go to the fields for defecation. We never had a toilet at home until the village panchayat (council) got one made last year.

“When I got my youngest daughter Sonia married off I made sure that there was a toilet in the household. After all one has to look after hygiene,” Suresh, a member of a family that is below the poverty line, told IANS.

In a country where 665 million people still defecate in the open and where killer diseases like diarrhoea, typhoid, jaundice and malaria are all caused by lack of hygeine, the state government’s sanitation campaign has come as a major change.

“Our daughter will be married only to a family that has a toilet at home. This slogan dramatically decreased the percentage of people holding out against the construction of new toilets,” chuckled 70-year-old Satwant Kaur of Khanpur Koliyan, a village in the neighbouring Kurukshetra district, about 150 km from the national capital.

It has been nearly four years since the Haryana government embarked on a campaign to create awareness about sanitation among the masses through radio jingles, television advertisements, posters and banners.

Walls in many villages have been painted with slogans in Hindi reading - “Na byahun beti us ghar mein jismein na ho shauchalaya (Won’t get my daughter married into a household which does not have a toilet).”

Since 2005, 1.41 million toilets have been built across the agriculture-dependent state that surrounds the national capital on three sides. Out of the 1,417,960 toilets constructed from 2005 to Jan 31 this year under the total sanitation campaign, 947,828 units were built by families above the poverty line and 470,132 by those below the poverty line.

Under a scheme, 798 village panchayats have already received nearly Rs.112.9 million (Rs.11.29 crore) as reward from the state government for having a toilet in each household of the village.

Back in Shahar Malpur village, the movement has caught on with several families undertaking the construction of the toilets in their homes on their own, like in the case of 75-year-old Bhaiya Ram Sharma, who believes one has to change according to the demands of time.

“Our belief is that the toilets should not be in the home as the food is also cooked within the premises. Moreover, one also gets fresh air during the walk to the fields. But one has to change with the times,” Sharma said from his four room village house.

This was the belief which has been the reason behind people of this state using open fields for defecation. While men and children can go any time, the women have to do so under cover of darkness.

“Since my marriage and before that in my parents’ home we have always been going out. But with age and all the children getting married it becomes difficult to go out for defecation if there is an emergency and it is also quite unsafe for the women to go out at odd hours,” said Sharma’s wife Jeevani.

Source: www.sindhtoday.net, 13th March 2009

India has more mobile phones than toilets



I have seen people in villages of India using cellphones for each and every small work like calling someone to the farm by giving a missed call, or by checking the price of the food grains in the cities by just calling over mobile. On the other hand, the government should take initiative of building and maintaining more toilets in the cities as well as villages. The toilets are seldom seen and if they are seen, they are very dirty and unhealthy. The government should address this issue asap.

Read On..

As the country’s wealth continues to grow, almost half the population have a hand-held device but less than a third have access to proper sanitation.
The lack of flushing toilets has led to continuing problems of water-borne illness and millions of deaths, according to UN experts who published a nine-point prescription for achieving the world’s Millennium Development Goal for sanitation by 2015.
Their report on India, the world’s second most populous country, shows 600 million people – 54 per cent of the population – defecated in the open in 2008, causing a health disaster.
At the same time, 545 million mobile phones are now connected to networks in the developing nation.
The Indian government has vowed to end open defecation by 2012.
Zafar Adeel, director of UN think-tank the Institute for Water, Environment and Health, called for ‘popular education about the dangers of poor sanitation’.
‘This simple measure could do more to save lives, improve health and help pull India and other countries in similar circumstances out of poverty than any alternative investment,’ he added.

Source: www.metro.co.uk, 14th April 2010

Monday, April 12, 2010

Cops leave accident victim to die on road

Indian police can do anything for money. In this case they took the driver into custody immediately, who killed an elderly person in an accident. But they left the victim to die on road. They could have taken him to the hospital immediately so that he could have been saved. But they didnt do this since they dont have anything to gain from this. Instead they catch hold of the driver and his boss so that they can fetch money from them. This is the reality and Reality Bites.

Read On..

Police apathy touched a new low in the capital on Thursday, when cops allegedly left a senior citizen to die on the road while rushing the occupants of a BMW car, which had knocked down the victim on NH-24, away from the accident site.

Om Dutt Chauhan, 65, a retired DTC employee who was out on his morning walk with his son and neighbours, died after lying for half-an-hour on the road between Nizamuddin and Ghazipur, close to the Akshardham temple.

Eyewitnesses said the speeding BMW, driven by the son of a prominent east Delhi businessman, spun out of control and hit the divider before ramming Chauhan, who fell on stones kept on the pavement for relaying.

According to Chauhan's son Mahesh, a PCR van arrived at the spot within seven minutes of the accident. "They first reached out to the driver — Raman Singla, whose family owns a confectionery chain in east Delhi — his father Baburam Singla and brother Deepak Singla. The cops told us they were to be taken in the PCR van so that they don't escape," Mahesh said.

Minutes after retired DTC employee Om Dutt Chauhan was hit by a BMW car near Akshardham temple, S P Shukla, an eyewitness to the accident, said both he and victim's son Mahesh Chauhan pleaded that Om be shifted to a hospital. "Instead, the cops just drove away in the wrong lane (connecting Mayur Vihar Phase-II with Nizamuddin) and then turned right towards Noida. We kept requesting other policemen and traffic police gathered at the spot to arrange for another vehicle, but they kept saying another PCR would arrive soon and added that the delay was due to the traffic jam caused by the accident," said Shukla.

"We heard a huge noise and tyres screeching. We turned around and saw this out of control blue BMW spinning wildly on the road. It hit the divider, then knocked a man down and twirled a few times in the air before hitting the pavement," said eyewitness Rajesh, a class X student.

The police have ordered a high level inquiry into the incident. "The DCP (PCR) P S Bhusan will investigate the role of the two policemen posted in the PCR," said Dharmendra Kumar, joint commissioner (New Delhi Range).

The incident was reported around 6.05am though the first PCR call in this regard was received at 6.29am.

The police, though, had a different version of the incident. "The PCR cops have told us that they found Om dead when they reached the spot. They decided to remove the driver Raman Singla to the hospital as he too was injured in the accident and was bleeding from his forehead. It was also our duty to protect him from the mob who had already began pelting stones at the car. However, everyone's role in this case will be investigated," said joint CP Kumar.

Added the SHO of the Mandawali police station: "After the first PCR left, we tried to remove the body but were physically stopped from doing so by the kin of the deceased who said that we need to hand over the accused to them." Chauhan's body was finally shifted for postmortem at the LBS Hospital around 9.15 am.

Kumar added that Raman had been arrested for causing death due to rash and negligent driving. He said Raman was driving under the influence of alcohol. "We have so far not been able to establish whether Baburam Singla and Deepak Singla too were in the car as the PCR only found Raman at the accident spot. The accused's family tried to produce one Javed as the driver of the BMW but the claim seems to be untrue," said the JCP. A local court granted Raman interim bail for a single day on a personal bond of Rs 24,000.

Talking to mediapersons, Deepak Singla, brother of the accused, claimed that Raman was innocent. "Javed was driving the car. My brother was in the backseat and he was headed for the New Delhi railway station to pick up a relative. However, news reached us that the relative had got off at the Ghaziabad station and we were asked to go back to our residence at Dayanand Vihar near Anand Vihar. The driver, thus took a U-turn from Nizamuddin and met with an accident near Akshardham," he said.

Two months ago, another morning walker, a 44-year-old gallantry award awardee, had died after he was hit by an unidentified vehicle on Africa Avenue Marg. The family of the deceased, Major Alok Singh, had alleged that there was a delay of three hours in taking him to the hospital.

Source: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 8th April 2010

Animals fed ice-cream in Coimbatore Zoo to beat the heat



We always feel like eating ice cream and drink cold fruit juice in summer. The people in coimbatore zoo feels the same is felt by animals also. In rising hot temperature, animals also need something cold, they feel. Good Initiative, i say.

Read On..

Animals residing in the Coimbatore zoo being fed ice creams, watermelons, and other citrus fruits to help them beat the heat.

"We are facing so may problems regarding heat stroke...for that...to maintain the animals and also the birds...to keep them cool, we are, instead of giving them regular feed; we are concentrating on giving ice cream as well as watermelon ", said Perumalsamy, the director of the zoo at Voc Park in Coimbatore.

Pelicans are being fed fish with added doses of vitamins; other birds are also getting their meals with vitamins added to them.

The zoo authorities are even spraying water in the cages regularly to make the animals and birds feel more comfortable in the summer.

Visitors find the new initiative intriguing and feel such steps would benefit the animals.

"This is something new and this is for the first time I am witnessing this here. Moreover, the initiative taken by the zoo officials to protect the monkeys and other animals during this hot summer is something great," said Radha, a visitor.

This initiative would continue till the summer ends.

Source: www.dnaindia.com, 9th April 2010

Friday, April 9, 2010

TED India Talks: Harsha Bhogle - The rise of cricket, the rise of India

The tale of a major global cultural phenomenon: Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle describes the spectacular arrival of fast-paced 20-20 cricket as it parallels the rise of modern India. He traces the game from its sleepy English roots to the current world of celebrity owners and million-dollar player contracts.

About Harsha Bhogle

Harsha Bhogle can talk about the business side of cricket, the technicalities of play and the psychology of the players with equal authority.

IIM-A alum and former Rediffusion ad man Harsha Bhogle has been called “the voice of Indian cricket” -- he's India's premier cricket commentator and columnist. Beloved for his insightful patter, he writes a weekly cricket column for Indian Express and interviews top cricketers on ESPNStar's Harsha UnPlugged.
He's been the front man for ESPNStar cricket telecasts from the day they launched in India. Now he has taken to the corporate lecture circuit with his wife and business partner, Anita, applying the wisdom of the game to help companies develop compelling business strategies.
"When Harsha Bhogle begins to talk, you cannot but sit and listen."
K. Pradeep, The Hindu


Here is the Video:

TED India Talks: Shukla Bose - Teaching one child at a time

Educating the poor is more than just a numbers game, says Shukla Bose. She tells the story of her groundbreaking Parikrma Humanity Foundation, which brings hope to India's slums by looking past the daunting statistics and focusing on treating each child as an individual.

About Shukla Bose:

Shukla Bose is the founder and head of the Parikrma Humanity Foundation, a nonprofit that runs four extraordinary schools for poor children.

The word "Parikrma" implies a full revolution, a complete path around -- and Shukla Bose's Parikrma Humanity Foundation offers literally that to kids in poor urban areas around Bangalore. Parikrma's four Schools of Hope teach the full, standard Indian curriculum to children who might not otherwise see the inside of a classroom, with impressive results. Equally important, the schools build an "end-to-end" environment that supports learning -- offering lunch every day, health-care and family support. Beyond these schools, Parikrma has inaugurated several afterschool programs and has plans for setting up a central teacher-training hub.

Bose left behind a corporate career in 1992 to found Parikrma with a small group of friends. The nonprofit holds itself to formal business goals and strict accountability, and has developed some clever fundraising and marketing campaigns. As Bose puts it, the goal of Parikrma is to help build a better India by tapping its greatest strength: the vitality and potential of its people.

"Education of children is at the core of our aim to transform poor communities into self-sustaining, contributing communities. "
Shukla Bose


Here is the video: