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UK
Indians Flaunt riches, corner classy London
area
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Britain's
super-rich Indians now have a new destination
- Northwood. They are transforming the quiet
west London suburb into the country's first
'millionaires' row' for a single ethnic
minority. Homes worth over £1 million (Rs
8.5 crore) on Astons Road in Northwood are
being snapped up, and then pulled down to
make way for mansions worth up to £5 million
- complete with indoor pools, sweeping marble
staircases and extravagant landscaped gardens,
reported the Sunday Times. The latest invasion
of Northwood is a natural corollary of British
Indians becoming truly rich, with increasing
political, economic and social worth. Wealthy
Indians have been "infiltrating" many of
London's exclusive upmarket areas, which
even till the late 1970s did not have a
single Indian owning property there. According
to an estimate, Indians now own properties
worth around £1 trillion in Britain. Northwood
residents claim nine out of 10 new buyers
on Astons Road are Indians, eager to take
advantage of the area's classy private schools,
and some of the best golf courses within
the motorway. Keith Vaz, chairman of the
National Ethnic Minority Task Force and
MP for Leicester East, said: "What the Moor
Park community shows us is the real nature
of what happens to first-generation immigration.
They have shown through hard work, dedication
and enterprise that they are first-class
contributors to our country (Britain)."
Lord Bikhu Parekh, who has studied Asians
in Britain extensively, told HT: "The trend
of developing a suburb of their own is typical
of many minorities. They live close to one
another for reasons of security. This was
true of the Jews. Such areas gradually acquire
an Indian ambiance that leads to the building
up of a community. Worship places, communal
halls and associations also crop up." Raj
Loomba, who owns a sprawling house today,
with a foyer resembling a courtyard in a
Rajasthan palace, on Astons Road, had started
off as an ice-cream van driver. He later
made it big in the garment export business.
Rami Ranger, who made his money shipping
cargo, owns a designer house with a manicured
lawn in Moor Park. Kulwinder Dhadwal, a
management consultant and property developer,
has been looking at houses on Astons Road.
"The Indian community is still fairly conservative
about displaying its wealth, but that's
changing," he said.
Courtesy:
www.hindustantimes.com, October 30, 2006
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Full
SC Bench to Review 9th Schedule Scope
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For
the first time in the recent past Supreme
Court is expected to sit in a constitutional
Bench for five days in a row to decide the
scope of judicial review of laws placed
under the Ninth Schedule. As a norm, specially
designated Bench hears matters of constitutional
importance on days except Monday and Friday,
when fresh matters are admitted in court.
The nine-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice
YK Sabharwal will hear and reserve judgement
on the question of law on Ninth Schedule
beginning on Monday. The Bench will also
comprise Justices Ashok Bhan, Arijit Pasayat,
BP Singh, SH Kapadia, CK Thakker, PK Balasubramanyan,
Altamas Kabir, and DK Jain. The hearing
on the bunch of petitions by the nine-judge
Bench assumes significance as the Centre
already submitted its reply suggesting there
is limited scope for judicial review against
legislation placed under the Ninth Schedule.
The Supreme Court's verdict will have a
fallout on several acts passed by the Parliament
and State Legislatures, including one by
Tamil Nadu providing 69 per cent quota for
weaker sections of society in educational
institutions. Already the debate is on to
place all reservation legislation under
Ninth Schedule. The Centre would keenly
watch the final outcome of the nine-judge
Bench hearing to take a decision on this
issue. Parliament had added that the Ninth
Schedule to the Constitution through the
very first constitutional amendment in 1951
as a means of immunising certain laws against
judicial review. Under the provisions of
Article 31, which themselves were amended
several times later, laws placed in the
Ninth Schedule could not be challenged in
a court of law on the ground that they violated
the fundamental rights of citizens.
This
protective umbrella covered more than 250
laws passed by State Legislatures with the
aim of regulating the size of land holdings
and abolishing various tenancy systems.
The Ninth Schedule was created with the
primary objective of preventing the judiciary
which upheld the citizens' right to property
on several occasions. According to previous
judgements delivered by Supreme Court, the
principle of judicial review is well settled.
The court can limit the Parliament's power
to amend if it violates the basic structure
of the Constitution. The affidavit filed
by Centre further illustrates that the court's
review power is to be found on the touchstone
of Article 13 of Constitution, which speaks
of laws inconsistent with or in derogation
of fundamental rights. The Bench will also
examine the issue of whether the Centre
can bypass the courts by placing any act
found to be totally or partly violative
of the Fundamental Rights guaranteed under
Articles 14, 19 and 21 as held by a court
of law, under the Ninth Schedule. Besides,
the Supreme court on Monday will also hear
an application in the multi-crore Bofors
gun deal where two public interest litigations
have been filed challenging a Delhi High
Court order giving a clean chit to the Hinduja
brothers in May 2005. Towards the latter
part of the day, the matter pertaining to
sealing is likely to be mentioned in the
Supreme Court. The Centre is expected to
pray for relief to the 44,000 odd traders
who are facing sealing action from November
1 for failing to honour their undertakings
to shift business out of residential areas
latest by July this year.
Courtesy:
www.dailypioneer.com, October 30, 2006
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'Caring'
NRI Woman Wins British Award
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A
British Indian woman who took on the responsibility
of caring for her two severely disabled
nieces in India has won a national carer's
award. Pratibha Singh, who lives in Town
Moor, Doncaster, has been given the Carer
of the Year award at the Daily Mail Carer
of the Year Awards, set up with carers'
charity organisation, Crossroads. In 1993,
Singh's India-based father-in-law died and
weeks later her sister-in-law Satwant, 44,
was murdered by a burglar at her home. Together,
they were looking after Singh's adult nieces
Ashwant and Tejinder, both mentally and
physically disabled due to cerebral palsy.
After the two deaths in the family, Singh
took on the responsibility of the two nieces
and dedicated her time to caring for the
wheelchair-bound girls, who were both unable
to sit unaided or speak. Singh's family
includes husband Parminder, an engineer,
and daughter Jaswinder, 17, and son Parmajit,
8. Singh, a part-time project worker at
Doncaster's Women's Centre, moved to Doncaster
from New Delhi in 1988. Every year she spent
two months in India helping her sister-in-law
Satwant to care for Ashwant and Tejinder
whose father had long vanished due to their
condition. Singh told the Daily Mail: "My
first thought was for the girls and their
well-being. Both my husband and I had hoped
we could arrange something for them in India
but that proved impossible. "Those first
four months, were very, very hard. And my
own daughter became jealous. She'd had all
my attention until that point and found
it difficult to adjust. I believe we should
all try to love someone who no-one else
loves, especially when we've been blessed
with a body and a brain that works, a marriage
and a family of our own." Tejinder died
last year, aged 35, as a result of a blood
clot but Singh still looks after Ashwant,
now 36, who will require round-the-clock
care the rest of her life.
Courtesy:
www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, October
29, 2006
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'Crushed
Pill has Reduced Efficacy'
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Former
professor of medicine Dr Anoop Mishra said
crushing a pill could alter its pharmocokinetics
how a drug gets absorbed by the body and
takes effect. "Crushing the pill would result
in its absorption in the body faster, thereby
shortening the drugs' duration of action.
Some pills have special coatings that affect
how the medication is released in the body.
If the coating is crushed, the drug release
pattern is disturbed. Patients may receive
their dose too quickly," Dr Mishra said.
Among common medicines that should never
be crushed are the antibiotic Amplicillin,
blood pressure drug Lisinoprill and pain
killer Ibuprofen. Dr Mishra added another
word of caution: "Crushing some pills known
to be very bitter, like Ciprofloxacin and
Chloroquine, could result in nausea and
vomiting."
Courtesy:
www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, October
28, 2006
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New
Study to Pinpoint link Between Mobile Usage
and Infertility
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An
Indian American scientist who suggested
that men who use mobile phone face increased
risk of infertility is undertaking a new
prospective study to find out its cause
and effect. While the cause and effect has
not been proved yet, the first observational
study indicated a strong relationship between
mobile phone usage and the quantity and
quality of semen, Ashok Agarwal, director
of the Reproductive Research Centre at the
Cleveland Clinic, Ohio said. It would thus
be prudent for men looking forward to start
a family to avoid long exposure by limiting
call times and switching to wireless devices,
he said, noting that almost a billion people
are using cell phones around the world almost
like a toothbrush. The new study that would
take another 3-4 months to complete would
take a look at other suggested co-factors
like possible interference from other electronic
devices like the PDAs and laptops besides
family history and lifestyles. Agarwal,
who is just back after presenting the results
of the first study at the American Society
for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting
in New Orleans, said the new study would
take into account observations made by his
peers. Although the results of the first
study were "statistically very robust",
the new one would cover factors like obesity,
use of junk food, type and model used, where
it was kept and for how long and the use
of quiet and silent mode. His clinic had
already registered 50 patients for the study
after approval from the institutional review
board and was looking for a sample size
of about 200.
Asked
if the first study was not alarmist as in
his own words they had still a long way
to go to prove the link, Agarwal told IANS
on phone from Cleveland: "Not really. We
are only reporting observations". In the
first study Agarwal's team looked at more
than 361 men undergoing checks at his fertility
clinic who were classified into three groups
according to their sperm count. They were
then split into four groups, with 40 never
using a mobile, 107 men using them for less
than two hours a day, 100 men using them
for two-four hours daily and 114 making
calls for four or more hours a day. Men
who used a mobile for more than four hours
a day had a 25 per cent lower sperm count
than men who never used a mobile. Those
with highest usage also had greater problems
with sperm quality, with the swimming ability
of sperm - a crucial factor in conception
- down by a third. They had a 50 percent
drop in the number of properly formed sperm,
with just one-fifth looking normal under
a microscope. The main finding was that
on four measures of sperm potency - count,
motility, viability and morphology, or appearance
- there were significant differences between
the groups. The greater the use of mobile
phones, the greater the reduction in each
measure, Agarwal said. The damage, Agarwal
said may be due to electromagnetic radiation
emitted by handsets or the heat they generate,
but the cause and effect has not been proved
yet.
Courtesy:
www.hindustantimes.com, October 27, 2006
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An
Indian Among Rolex Enterprise Award Winners
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Chanda
Shroff, a crafts teacher from India, is
among the five "laureates" that Rolex, a
corporate leader, has selected as the winners
of its Awards for Enterprise for year 2006.
These awards will be presented here on Thursday
at a function to be graced by the Singapore
President, S. R. Nathan. The list of winners,
each of whom would receive $ 100,000 and
an inscribed gold Rolex chronometer, was
announced by Rebecca Irvin, awards director,
at a press conference here on Wednesday.
The principal criteria for selection as
a "laureate" were the person's spirit of
enterprise; the feasibility of the plan
for which the award amount would serve as
seed money; the ground-breaking originality
of the endeavour being so supported; and
an assessment of the project's positive
impact on the community being served. The
73-year-old Ms. Shroff was named for pioneering
a movement in the Kutch region of Gujarat
to revive its skills at hand embroidery
and create sustainable means of income for
the poor dependent on this avocation. As
the voluntary manager of `Shrujan,' a charitable
trust, she was cited in appreciation for
"preserving this unique heritage [of embroidery],
while promoting an exquisite art form and
empowering women in conservative societies."
The other 2006 laureates are Alexandra Lavrillier
for work among nomadic group in Siberia;
Brad Norman for whale shark conservation
globally; Pilai Poonswad for saving the
threatened hornbill species by drafting
rural communities in Thailand; and Rory
Wilson for developing an electronic logging
device to track animals worldwide.
Courtesy:
www. hindu.com, October 26, 2006
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Gates
Pledges $23 mn to Fight AIDS in India
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The
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged
$23 million to help fight HIV/AIDS in India,
which has the world's highest number of
people living with the disease, the Health
Ministry said. The funds, to be disbursed
over the next three years, will enhance
the capacity of the government's HIV prevention
response and will target high-risk groups
such as homosexuals, prostitutes and drug
users, a statement said. The money is part
of an additional $58 million committed to
the foundation's 'Avahan' project - a $258
million five-year prevention programme launched
in 2003. According to the United Nations,
5.7 million Indians are living with the
virus. But activists say the true figure
may be far higher as social stigma forces
many of those infected with the virus to
keep their status a secret.
Courtesy:
www.hindustantimes.com, October 26, 2006
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Eat
your Veggies, not Fruits, to Stay Young
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Vegetables
are brain food, according to new study which
found that eating veggies can help prevent
cognitive decline in the elderly. "Compared
to people who consumed less than one serving
of vegetables a day, people who ate at least
2.8 servings of vegetables a day saw their
rate of cognitive change slow by roughly
40 per cent," study author Martha Clare
Morris of Rush University Medical Centre
in Chicago said. "This decrease is equivalent
to about five years of younger age." Researchers
followed the eating habits of 3,718 senior
citizens over a six-year period and found
that consumption especially of green leafy
vegetables were linked to a slowing of cognitive
decline. They also found that the older
the person, the greater the impact of eating
more than two servings of vegetables a day.
Researchers said they were surprised that
eating fruit showed no link to reducing
memory loss. "It may be due to vegetables
containing high amounts of vitamin E, which
helps lowers the risk of cognitive decline.
Vegetables, but not fruits, are also consumed
with added fats such as salad dressings,
and fats increase the absorption of vitamin
E," Morris said.
Courtesy:
www.asianage.com, October 24, 2006
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by
Suman Dubey
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The
first time anyone saw Nanda Devi-which at
7,816 m is the highest mountain in the Indian
Himalaya outside of Sikkim-from close up
was in 1934 when two British explorers,
Eric Shipton and H.W. Tilman, accompanied
by three sherpas, found a way to its base.
They inched their way through the precipitous
gorge of the Rishi Ganga, a tributary of
the Dhauli Ganga in Uttaranchal's Chamoli
district. And at the end of their arduous
journey, they were astonished to find themselves
in a vast amphitheatre of grassland, its
gentle slopes a stark contrast to the vertical
cliffs that had hindered their way at every
step. Their exploration still ranks as one
of the finest ever. It takes eight to nine
days of strenuous walk to reach the sanctuary-the
Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. Everything
that goes with trekking must be carried
and although there is a rudimentary trail,
traversing the Rishi Ganga gorge is still
a Herculean task. The route appears to defy
logic as it ascends cliffs, cuts across
pastures, skirts birch forests and alternates
between steep ascents and abrupt descents.
All around the way lie the summits of a
protective ring of mountains with glacial
rivers tumbling into the Rishi Ganga, and
finally an inner gorge which can be brutal
and spectacular. The sanctuary has been
closed to regular trekking since 1982; however,
organised treks are permitted up to Dibrughetta.
Courtesy:
India Today 23 October, 2006
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| by
Parvin Dabas |
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Primitive,
pure and pristine, Havelock island is one
of the world's best island getaways. For
starters, this island-a three-hour boat
ride over 30 km east of Port Blair, the
capital of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago-has
some of the world's most stunning beaches
and dense forests. One of only 36 inhabited
islands in the archipelago, it is far removed
from civilisation but yet close enough for
you to not really miss it. Two years ago,
I spent an exhilarating week at the Wild
Orchid Resort on the island and was frankly
impressed by the quality of food-you don't
expect Thai and Burmese cuisine on a tiny
island. Most tourists head for Havelock's
central attraction, Radhanagar beach, but
I decided to act on a whispered tip from
a foreign tourist and headed for Elephant
beach, a tiny foliage-framed silver sand
strip away from the beaten path. Foreign
tourists have this knack of discovering
places where Indian tourists wouldn't venture
because a car won't take them there. So,
there I was, trudging on the 45-minute trail
of Elephant beach, lugging my snorkeling
equipment. There was a coral reef with clear
water right outside the beach. The experience
was out of this world.
Courtesy:
India Today 23 October, 2006
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Indian
Immigrants, a Fast-Growing Community
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Local
travel agents promise the best airfares
from New York to Mumbai. Shagun Fashions
is selling dazzling Indian saris. And DirecTV
offers "the six top Indian channels direct
to you." Roughly every third person who
lives in Edison, a New York suburb, is of
Asian Indian ancestry. Many are new immigrants
who have come to work as physicians, engineers
and high-tech experts and are drawn to "Little
India" by convenience-it's near the commuter
train-and familiarity. Here they can "get
their groceries and goods from home," says
Aruna Rao, a mental health counselor who
lives in the town. Although a steady stream
of Indians have settled in the US since
the 1960s, immigrants positively poured
into the country between 2000 and 2005-arriving
at a higher rate than any other group. Not
only is the Indian community burgeoning,
it's maturing. Increasingly, after decades
of quietly establishing themselves, Indians
are becoming more vocal in the American
conversation-about politics, ethnicity and
many more topics.
"I've
been studying the community for 20 years
and in the last four or five years something
different has been happening," said Madhulika
Khandelwal, president of the Asian American
Center at Queens College in New York. "Indian-Americans
are finally out there speaking for themselves."
Roughly 2.3 million people of Indian ancestry,
including immigrants and the American-born,
now call the US home, according to the 2005
Census data. And so when Virginia Senator
George Allen was caught on video in August
calling an Indian American man "macaca"-a
type of monkey and an offensive term-the
community quickly responded. Within days
after the reports emerged, Sanjay Puri,
founder of the US Indian Political Action
Committee, and other Indian leaders in the
Washington, DC, area requested and got a
lengthy meeting with Allen, Puri said. The
senator publicly apologized.
If
this had happened 10 years ago?
"It would have been a lot harder," Puri
said. "But this is a prosperous and fast-growing
community. People are beginning to understand
that we are contributing politically, so
that made a big difference." Many Indian
immigrants arrived in the US focused almost
entirely on individual success-getting a
top-notch job, making good money and pushing
their children do the same. But things are
changing. After the September 11 attacks,
many Indian Sikhs, who wear turbans as part
of their faith, were mistaken for Muslims-and
terrorists. Hundreds were harassed or worse:
In Mesa, Arizona, a Sikh gas station owner
was shot and killed on September 15, 2001,
by a man who told the police "all Arabs
had to be shot." Few knew their rights because
few had been engaged politically, said Amardeep
Singh, executive director of The Sikh Coalition
in New York. The group now has two bills
pending in the New York city council-one
would allow city employees to wear turbans
and the other would make city officials
craft plans to prevent hate crimes if another
terrorist attack happened. The community
recently saw three Sikhs elected to low-level
offices around the city. "It's a good first
step," Singh said. The push extends beyond
Sikhs, Puri said. "The question that every
Indian-American is asking lately: Is the
American dream-making a lot of money and
having fancy cars-enough?" he said. "Giving
back and being active is also happening."
In New Jersey, Ready to Run, a Rutgers University-based
project that helps women seek public office,
will next year for the first time court
Asian women, said Reema Desai, an immigration
lawyer who is helping organise the outreach.
Indians
also are working outside politics to influence
the broader society. They are overrepresented
among college professors, engineers and
technology workers. Between 10 per cent
and 12 per cent of all medical school students
are Indians, according to the American Association
of Physicians of Indian Origin, the biggest
physicians' group in the nation after the
American Medical Association. Half of all
motel rooms in the US are owned by Indians,
according to the Asian American Hotel Owners
Association. In New York City, Basement
Banghra, a popular Indian music event that
blends hip-hop rhythms with Indian melodies,
attracts hundreds of partygoers to Sounds
of Brazil nightclub each month.
Courtesy:
www.hindustantimes.com, October 23, 2006
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Indians
are Now More Visible Faces in US
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The
train station billboards tell it all. Local
travel agents promise the best airfares
from New York to Mumbai. Shagun Fashions
is selling dazzling Indian saris. And DirecTV
offers "the six top Indian channels direct
to you." Roughly every third person who
lives Edison, a New York suburb, is of Asian
Indian ancestry. Many are new immigrants
who have come to work as physicians, engineers
and high-tech experts and are drawn to "Little
India" by convenience - it's near the commuter
train - and familiarity. Here they can "get
their groceries and goods from home," says
Aruna Rao, a mental health counselor who
lives in town. Although a steady stream
of Indians have settled in the US since
the 1960s, immigrants positively poured
into the country between 2000 and 2005 -
arriving at a higher rate than any other
group. Not only is the Indian community
burgeoning, it's maturing. Increasingly,
after decades of quietly establishing themselves,
Indians are becoming more vocal in the American
conversation - about politics, ethnicity
and many more topics. "I've been studying
the community for 20 years and in the last
four or five years something different has
been happening," said Madhulika Khandelwal,
president of the Asian American Center at
Queens College in New York. "Indian-Americans
are finally out there speaking for themselves."
Roughly 2.3 million people of Indian ancestry,
including immigrants and the American-born,
now call the US home, according to 2005
Census data. That's up from 1.7 million
in 2000. They have big communities in New
Jersey, New York, California and Texas,
and their average yearly household income
is more than USD 60,000 - 35 per cent higher
than the nation overall. Indian Americans,
along with Indian expatriates worldwide,
sent about USD 23 billion back to India
in 2005, World Bank data show.
And
so when Virginia Senator George Allen was
caught on video in August calling an Indian
American man "macaca" - a type of monkey
and an offensive term - the community quickly
responded. Within days after the reports
emerged, Sanjay Puri, founder of the US
Indian Political Action Committee, and other
Indian leaders in the Washington, D.C.,
area requested and got a lengthy meeting
with Allen, Puri said. The senator publicly
apologized. If this had happened 10 years
ago? "It would have been a lot harder,"
Puri said. "But this is a prosperous and
fast-growing community. People are beginning
to understand that we are contributing politically,
so that made a big difference." Many Indian
immigrants arrived in the US focused almost
entirely on individual success - getting
a top-notch job, making good money and pushing
their children to do the same. But things
are changing. After the September 11 attacks,
many Indian Sikhs, who wear turbans as part
of their faith, were mistaken for Muslims
- and terrorists. Hundreds were harassed
or worse: In Mesa, Arizona, a Sikh gas station
owner was shot and killed on September 15,
2001, by a man who told police "all Arabs
had to be shot." Few knew their rights because
few had been engaged "We were caught with
our pants down," he said. "September 11
created a confrontation. We realized we
now need to actively involve ourselves in
the policy-making process. Otherwise policies
will be made that exclude us." The group
now has two bills pending in the New York
city council - one would allow city employees
to wear turbans and the other would make
city officials craft plans to prevent hate
crimes if another terrorist attack happened.
The community recently saw three Sikhs elected
to low-level offices around the city. "It's
a good first step," Singh said. The push
extends beyond Sikhs, Puri said. "The question
that every Indian-American is asking lately:
Is the American dream - making a lot of
money and having fancy cars - enough?" he
said. "Giving back and being active is also
happening." In New Jersey, Ready to Run,
a Rutgers University-based project that
helps women seek public office, will next
year for the first time court Asian women,
said Reema Desai, an immigration lawyer
who is helping organize the outreach. Indians
also are working outside politics to influence
broader society. They are overrepresented
among college professors, engineers and
technology workers. Between 10 per cent
and 12 per cent of all medical school students
are Indians, according to the American Association
of Physicians of Indian Origin, the biggest
physicians' group in the nation after the
American Medical Association. Half of all
motel rooms in the US are owned by Indians,
according to the Asian American Hotel Owners
Association. In New York City, Basement
Banghra, a popular Indian music event that
blends hip-hop rhythms with Indian melodies,
attracts hundreds of partygoers to Sounds
of Brazil nightclub each month. It will
mark its 10th anniversary next year.
Corutesy:
www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, October
23, 2006
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to Index
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Global
Warming a Threat to Rice Production in India:
Expert
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Rising
temperature due to global warming is a serious
threat to rice production in the country.
Field trials across the world predict that
we may be worse, with increased level of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, experts
believe. "Experiments found that we had
over-estimated the benefits of climate change
to rice production. In fact, field studies
show that climate change will negatively
affect rice yield," said Kazuhiko Kobayashi,
eminent rice expert with University of Tokyo.
Increased carbon dioxide interferes with
the pollination process of rice and leads
to poor seed and lower yield, he said at
the International Rice Research Congress
held last week. Even a small increase in
average temperature in lower latitudes,
as in paddy growing parts of India, will
challenge the plant's threshold to withstand
high temperatures. "Beyond a threshold,
the decline (in crop productivity) will
be quick and significant," Kobayashi added.
"Indian studies on climate change impact
on rice are going on, but our preliminary
analysis shows that production could decline.
We are looking for varieties that will withstand
higher temperature and increased levels
of carbon dioxide," said Magla Rai, director-general
of Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
The meet discussed as length to what extent
man-made atmospheric changes will affect
rice production in Indian and across the
world. Carbon dioxide, emitted from burning
fossil fuel by industries, is largely blamed
for causing global warming and large-scale
changes in weather pattern. Climate changes
could also affect rainfall pattern, which
is crucial to Indian agriculture. Paddy
grown in parts of Bihar and West Bengal
are entirely dependent on rains.
While
in southern India, where the crop is irrigated,
water level in major rivers is dependent
on rainfall. Besides temperature stress,
paddy depend on availability of water. Rice
cultivation is prime occupation of a majority
of agrarian community, who stand to lose
from decreased production. The international
rice meet ended on a sombre warning: "The
large-scale experiments in Japan and China
have shown that the beneficial effects of
higher carbon dioxide may actually be smaller
than we had expected before on the basis
of small-scale experiments. "Deleterious
effects have also been identified. These
include exacerbated heat damages to rice
flower and increased leaf blast epidemics
under higher carbon dioxide concentration."
Studies also found that higher temperatures
will adversely affect grain quality, such
as appearance and aroma. In Asia, the increase
in energy production via fossil fuel burning
has increased the amount of nitrogen oxide
released in atmosphere, and has raised surface
ozone concentration. The increase in ozone
concentration will continue in coming decades
to the production of crops like wheat and
soyabean. "This year, India lost a significant
wheat yield due to higher than average temperature
during the grain filling period in February.
Scientist called for developing agronomic
practices and new varieties that are better
adapted to the climate change and atmosphere.
Corutesy:
www. dailypioneer.com, October 23, 2006
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India
has created a new Guinness record and Madhya
Pradesh has become the single region across
the world where the largest number of people
- a whopping 3.3 million - joined the "Stand
Up Against Poverty" event earlier this week.
The event was aimed at raising mass awareness
about the promise of 189 nations to eradicate
poverty and diseases such as HIV/AIDS by
2015.
Courtesy:
www.hindu.com, October 19, 2006
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Study:
BPL Population up in Delhi, Maha and Haryana
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A
National Sample Survey Organisation's study
suggests that while economic growth is trickling
down very slowly, poverty has declined the
sharpest in the poorer states. Leading them
were Assam and the north-eastern states,
where people below the poverty line decreased
by nearly 4% annually, followed by Jharkhand
(2.51% a year during the five-year period),
Chhattisgarh (2.15% a year) and Bihar (1.69%).
Apart from the slow reduction of poverty,
government also seems worried about a lower
decrease in poverty ratios in urban areas,
compared to rural areas. BPL population
in rural areas decreased 4.68% between 1999-2000
and 2004-05, which was over twice the pace
of the decrease in urban centres, estimated
at 2.12%. The trend of slower poverty reduction
in urban areas, say economists, could be
due to migration of the poor from rural
areas. But they wonder whether if that is
indeed the case, then the rate of actual
decline of poverty in rural areas could
be over estimated. The NSSO findings also
reveal an increase in BPL population in
Haryana, Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan and
Goa. This is possibly because migrant labour
is moving out of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and
Jharkhand to these states in search of jobs.
There
are also fears that dipping state growth
rates, as witnessed in the case of Maharashtra,
have added to the increase in the BPL population.
Among the poorer states, Orissa has the
highest proportion of poor - nearly 40%
of its population is below the poverty line.
The population of poor in Orissa's villages
decreased 8.36% during the five-year period
while the urban BPL population fell 1.2%.
Next in line is Jharkhand, which had a marginally
higher BPL population of 47.40% compared
to Orissa's 47.15% in 1999-2000. At the
end of June 2005, Jharkhand's poor constituted
34.83% of the state's population. Bihar
remained in the third spot with 32.57% population
under BPL. The estimates were prepared using
monthly consumption expenditure of individuals
during 365 days on clothing, footwear, education,
durables in addition to their medical expenses.
This method is called the Mixed Reference
Period Method (MRPM). Going by the other
measure used by NSSO - Uniform Reference
Period which measures poverty based on every
consumption for the last 30 days of the
survey - BPL population accounted for 27.81%
in 2004-05, compared with 35.97% in 1993-94.
Economists, however, believe that the methodology
is suspect as consumption during 30 days
is not the right measure and the government,
too, prefers MRPM.
Courtesy:
www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, October
19, 2006
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BJP
Defends George, Finally
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For
the first time since CBI lodged an FIR against
JD(U) leader George Fernandes in the Barak
missile deal over a week ago, BJP on Tuesday
came out in full-throated support of the
NDA convenor, considered closer to the saffron
party than many of his partymates. Blasting
the Congress-led government for going after
the former defence minister, BJP spokesperson
Arun Jaitley opened the party's regular
press briefing by backing Fernandes, following
Navy chief Arun Prakash's admission that
the Barak missiles were a good procurement
and their quality could not be questioned.
Hitting out at the government for targeting
Fernandes, Jaitley said: "Political leaders
or CBI and other police agencies cannot
be deciding what is a good missile for India
to acquire." Stating that even defence minister
Pranab Mukherjee had admitted that there
was no complain about the quality of Barak
missiles, Jaitley pointed out that the present
establishment has gone ahead with a second
Barak-II deal with Israel. "The government
will not be able to get any evidence against
Fernandes to prove corruption charges against
him," Jaitley said, adding that such allegations
would act as a deterrent against responsible
decision making in the defence sector. "If
baseless cases are registered against former
admirals and defence ministers, the entire
process of defence procurement and hence
defence preparedness in the country will
suffer," Jaitley said. Surprisingly, it
took the BJP more than a week to back the
NDA convenor, who held two hour-long meetings
with L K Advani in the past week. The two
are believed to have discussed issues concerning
the senior JD(U) leader, who has been sidelined
by the younger lot in his party. The issues
ranged from the Barak issue to Fernandes's
troubles with partymates Sharad Yadav and
Nitish Kumar to his hobnobbing with Samajwadi
Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Courtesy:
www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, October
18, 2006
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Living
Statues Of Liberty
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by
Pavan K. Varma
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Liberalisation
has made the middle class assertive. Now
shed cynicism, and it can produce model
citizens.
When
I wrote The Great Indian Middle Class almost
10 years ago, this class was emerging from
the shadows of the socialist era, and beginning
to revel in the new consumerism to which
the reforms of 1991 gave both legitimacy
and opportunity. Most middle-class Indians
had only paid lip service to notions of
Gandhian austerity and had little faith
in the efficacy of Nehruvian socialism.
In those early days after liberalisation,
their self-assertive materialism was spontaneous
but tentative. There was still a reticence
in completely disowning the ideological
imperatives of the past.
The
middle class sensed that its time had come,
but was not quite sure whether it should
say so emphatically. Its members were adjusting
very well to plastic money but a little
less well to the ballot box which had empowered
so many of the unwashed masses below them.
What
has changed in the last 11 years? Firstly,
the class has grown in numbers. If a decade
ago it was in the vicinity of over 200 million,
today I reckon it is closer to the half-billion
mark. Secondly, it is a more confident class,
more assured about its ability to swim in
the waters of a more globalised and commercially
competitive India. Thirdly, there is no
longer the slightest tentativeness in its
aspiration for the good things of life,
and certainly, to satiate that thirst, there
is much, much more on offer. And lastly,
it is a more proud class: proud about the
fact that India is perceived to be an emerging
global power, proud of the country's nuclear
prowess, proud about the respect that certain
sectors of the economy now command in the
world, and proud that Indians have done
so well abroad.
In
addition, there are two specific areas where
I think there has been noticeable change
in the way this class now reacts. The first
is to communal provocation. When the agitation
against the Babri Masjid was at its peak
in the early 1990s, a great many middle-class
Indians were effortless recruits to communal
forces. Secularism was the official credo,
but under its rhetoric was a great deal
of angst against the perceived appeasement
of the minorities, and this made for a great
deal of private belligerence about religion.
Today, Gujarat notwithstanding, this class
seems to have largely seen through the use
of religion by political parties. Most of
its members want to swim away from the islands
of religious exclusiveness towards the dividends
of the secular mainstream, and just get
on with their lives. The difference in the
way the middle class reacted in Bombay to
the bomb blasts in 1993 and in 2003 illustrates
my point. Less middle-class Hindus are joining
the RSS or the Bajrang Dal; and more Muslims
at the conservative Darul Uloom at Deoband
are studying computers and English than
ever before. Instability caused by religious
strife militates against the middle classes'
unwavering focus on upward mobility. Political
parties have been forced to contest the
secular ground to woo middle-class Indians,
and this is all for the good.
The
second area relates to civic engagement.
Undoubtedly, the middle class is still very
insular, oblivious to any interests outside
its turf. It remains, as in the past, socially
insensitive to issues of poverty and deprivation.
But, there is, however faint, the first
glimmerings of hope that educated Indians
are willing to break from their individualistic
insularity towards conscious and collective
action in the public sphere. Signs of this
can be seen in the new activism of some
Resident Welfare Associations in the capital
and the bigger cities. The Jessica Lall
murder case showed the willingness of middle-class
Indians to organise themselves for a larger
public good. The new technologies for communication-mobile
phones and television-have become potent
tools for mobilisation.These are still early
days, and, certainly, the motivation is
self-interest, but the trend is visible.
The question is whether this civic consciousness,
and the ability to follow up on it through
concrete action, will strengthen or get
submerged by cynicism. If it is the former,
India will benefit; if it is the latter,
middle-class Indians will continue to prosper,
but remain poor citizens.
Courtesy:
OutLook India, October 16, 2006
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Govt
Okays Wage Negotiations for PSU Workers
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The
government on Monday empowered the managements
of central PSUs to negotiate the wage structure
with unionised workers from January next
year. While the validity of the sixth round
of negotiated wages expires on December
31 this year, the settlement that would
be reached under the seventh round would
be good for 10 years with 100 per cent Dearness
Allowance neutralisation, Information and
Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi told
reporters after the Cabinet meeting. Permission
has been granted for negotiations on the
condition that no burden would be borne
by the government and the companies would
have to generate funds from their internal
resources by improving productivity and
profitability. Further, the wage revision
must not result in any increase in labour
cost per physical unit of output. However,
the PSUs running on full capacity could
be exempted. Public sector companies, which
enjoy monopoly or operate under administered
price structure, must ensure that the wage
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