Kolkata, May 9
A large number of functions in Kolkata and other places in the state marked Gurudev Rabindranath’s 150th birthday anniversary here today. Functions were also organised at Shilaidhah (Rajshahi) and Dhaka.

The main function was held at the poet’s birthplace at Jorasanko’s Thakurbari and the adjoining Rabindra Bharati University, where students, teachers and several Tagore-admirers took part in the singing of Tagore song (Rabindra Sangit), reciting of his poems and participating in dance and drama composed by him. Special seminars were also organised on Tagore’s writings and paintings and his other literary activities in which several eminent Tagore scholars participated.

On the occasion of his birthday, the heritage building of the Tagore’s birthday place was kept open for the people for paying respects to the Nobel laureate.

At Santiniketan also, where Tagore built Visva Bharati in 1921 with his Nobel Prize money, his birthday anniversary was observed in a befitting manner although a section of teachers and employees organised a separate function boycotting the main function in protest against the alleged “malfunctioning” of the university administration.

In Kolkata, the state government organised the day-long function at Rabindra Sadan, Nandan Academy and several other state-own auditoriums where several eminent artistes participated in Rabindra Sangit, recitation of his poetry, dance and drama. Several exhibitions were also organised on Tagore’s writings, arts and culture. The Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the CPM tried to utilise the name of Rabindranath in their respective ways in the civic poll campaigns.

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee flagged off a special exhibition train from the Howrah station depicting Rabindranath’s literary activities, works and arts. The five-coach exhibition train, named Sansriti Yatra, will run throughout the year and halt at all major stations with a view to taking Rabindranath to every nook and corner of the country.

The Railway Minister said in August-September, a Rabindranath special train would run between Kolkata and Dhaka in observance of the poet’s 150th birth anniversary.

Lucknow, May 9
With the sudden appearance of the “murdered” boy Ajit along with his girlfriend Anshu at Muzaffarnagar’s Nai Mandi police station today, the Uttar Pradesh Police claim of the honour killing by the girls’ family stands exposed.

Angry members of the girl’s family have gheraoed the police station holding the police responsible for extracting a false confessional statement from the girl’s brother Anuj Tomar on the basis of which he was arrested on charges of Ajit’s murder yesterday.

Trying to wriggle out of an embarrassing situation, ADG (law and order) Brij Lal defended the police by claiming that it was not at fault.

“The missing boy Ajit Saini’s family had identified the decomposed body as that of their son by the clothes. On the basis of a written complaint, the girl’s family was interrogated and her brother had confessed to the killing, he said.”

“However, as the body was highly decomposed, I had directed the police to do the DNA test,” Brij Lal said.

Promptly wrapping up the case, the police yesterday had managed a confessional statement from Anuj Tomar, who admitted to have killed Saini to save the family’s honour. “Try to be in my shoes, you would have done the same”, he told the police.

Hinting at third degree methods through which the police manage statements, a cousin of Anuj Tomar told a local channel that the UP Police could even manage a statement out of a dumb person. Meanwhile, Anuj has now retracted his statement.

Interestingly, Brij Lal had told the media yesterday that on the tip off of the incarcerated brother, a body had been recovered from the Burhana area that in all likelihood was of his sister.

He had even admitted that the girl’s father Narendra Tomar had consumed poison after knowing that Anuj had been arrested. He would be interrogated once he recovered.

Chandigarh, May 9
In a perceptible shift in its ideology and approach to modern-day requirements, the Army is experimenting with the concept of outsourcing the training and orientation programme of officers posted to some branches to private firms.

While the job of training is being offered to ‘reputed firms having a national or international footprint’ to take up such tasks on a turn-key basis, the training programmes would be handled by senior retired officers on their rolls.

Officers posted to some branches in higher headquarters are required to undergo capsule courses to familiarise them with the functioning of the branch. For example, the Master General of Ordnance’s Branch at Army Headquarters, which has initiated this project, conducts a three-day training course for all officers posted to it.

At present, such matters are dealt in-house by the services, with serving officers being deputed for the same. Outsourcing training with senior retired officers at the helm of affairs would, according to the Army’s thinking, ensure availability of skilled advice and conserve military resources and manpower.

The training programme would be designed and approved by the branch concerned and the firms concerned would be required to form a panel of retired officers expert in the required areas for conduct of training. Officers would be of the rank of colonel or brigadier and it would be mandatory for them to have had an instructional tenure at specified military colleges or training establishments as well as a staff posting at the branch concerned during their service career.

Not surprisingly, the move to outsource training and the expected participation of international firms has raised security concerns in some quarters. Screening of firms and personnel associated with training as well as assuring security of information would be mandatory.

Patna, May 9
All is not well in the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC). The ongoing cold war between BPCC president Anil Sharma and AICC leader and in-charge of Bihar affairs, Jagdish Tytler has now turned into an open rift between the two top leaders of the party.

With both Sharma and Tytler trying to undermine each other’s authority and overruling the decisions taken by one another, it has become difficult for the other officer bearers of the BPCC and party leaders to comply with their respective decisions. While the Sharma camp has been charged with disobeying the decisions taken by the members of the coordination committee (constituted by Tytler) to hold a meeting of district and block presidents on April 28 by not only abstaining from the meeting but also issuing press release to all newspapers regarding cancellation of the said meeting, the BPCC Chief feigned ignorance about the April 28 meeting.

Despite all this, the Tytler loyalists held their meeting as scheduled on April 28. The BPCC president and his followers were conspicuous by their absence in that meeting. Now that the Sharma lobby convened a similar meeting of district and block chiefs of the party, it was the turn of Tytler camp to abstain from this meeting. To make the matters worse, three office bearers of the BPCC -Ashok Chaudhary (vice-president), Kaukab Qadri (general secretary) and HK Verma (spokesman) have been issued a show cause notice by the AICC secretary Sagar Raika regarding cancellation /rescheduling of the April 28 meeting. On the other hand the Sharma loyalists have charged Tytler with encouraging indiscipline in the Bihar Congress by promoting the turncoats like Sadhu Yadav (Lalu’s brother in law) and Pappu Yadav. If corrective steps were not taken on time, these elements who had joined the party on being denied tickets from the Lalu led RJD on the eve of Lok Sabha would promote the RJD culture in the Congress, said a Sharma loyalist and vice-president of the BPCC.

With both sides accusing each other of going against the protocol and encouraging indiscipline, it seems that the AICC leadership will have to intervene and replace either Sharma or Tytler in the affairs of Bihar lest the party’s bickerings would cost it dearly in the forthcoming Assembly elections due in October-November this year. 

While a coy government decided last week to defer a decision to increase the salaries and perks of MPs, the latter are becoming increasingly vocal in demanding a raise, admitting that they make compromises and “arrange” money from somewhere, anywhere, to survive in politics and do their job. The disappointment among the 790 MPs on Friday was, therefore, palpable.

The joint committee of both Houses of Parliament on salaries and allowances of MPs, chaired by Lok Sabha member Mahant Charan Das, had submitted its report to Speaker Meira Kumar only a few days ago. BJP’s SS Ahluwalia, who heads the five-member Rajya Sabha contingent in this panel, handed over the other copy to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari. There are 15 members on this panel, formed specially to deliberate on the salaries and allowances awarded to the MPs. Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is to decide on the matter, sought more time to study the recommendations before making a commitment. The Minister, too, might have felt a bit uncomfortable with the MPs’ proposal to give themselves a five-fold hike in their salary at one go. At present an MP draws a salary of Rs 16,000 only and the committee has recommended that this be hiked straight away to Rs 80,000.

Along with the salary, the MP gets Rs 20,000 as constituency allowance. Another Rs 14,000 is paid to him for maintaining two secretarial staff members, one in his constituency and the other here in Delhi. In addition Rs 4,000 per month is given to him for buying stationery and Rs 2,000 for faxing, postal services and such other sundry needs. So at the end of the day he takes home Rs 56,000. “Whether we maintain two or 20 people in our staff or whether we go once or every other day to our constituency is no concern of Parliament,” commented an MP wryly.

“In the USA, a member of the House of Representatives is paid to maintain a staff of 25 personnel. A member of the Senate is given the allowance to maintain a staff of 75 persons. That is why they can concentrate on research and study. Here, an MP leads the life of a beggar. That is why they don’t work. You can’t expect them to work when they are paid pittance of a paltry sum for doing all the work,” remarked senior BJP MP Yashwant Sinha.

Another JD-U MP, reluctant to be identified for fear of his supporters getting alienated, bemoaned what he had to go through to maintain his contact and popularity in his constituency. He said, “It costs at least Rs 2,000 a day for hiring a car to go to our constituency. So that means we cannot go to our constituency for more than 10 days. But more than that we have to maintain a virtual guest house in our houses for people from our constituencies. We feed them, aid them in getting medical or any other aid they want and often they tell us they have no money to buy a ticket back home, so we have to buy them a rail ticket back home too.

“Rice costs at least Rs 25 a kg and you should come to our kitchens to see how much rice is cooked in our homes every day, whether we are here or back home. How do we meet all these expenses?”

Besides, there is also the issue of protocol and an MP who is naturally on a higher pedestal in respect of the protocol feels even worse after the Sixth Pay Commission, where the salary of the secretary of Government of India has gone up to Rs 80,000. The committee has, therefore, asked for at least a rupee more than the secretary’s salary.

But there are some like the Left MPs and even some others who are not happy with this business. For one they point out that the last increase came only six years ago in 2004 and so it is too early to ask for another raise. Besides, as CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury said on record, “We don’t like MPs giving themselves a hike.” He instead felt that there should be some other body which should deliberate on this issue and decide. “That is why we sent no members from our parties in this committee.”

There are still others, again not willing to be quoted, who mentioned even other reasons opposing the proposal. A Congress MP from Punjab said, “Instead of getting a salary hike what we need more is the support system for doing our work, more secretarial staff, an office building could be built to house the MPs’ offices and all the necessary paraphernalia should be maintained by the state.

But some others from the Left feel, “It’s not just a question of propriety of giving ourselves a hike. We should not compare with a secretary’s salary. We are here to serve the people and so why should we hanker after salaries. We should be able to make some sacrifices.

He, however, admitted that there is a difference between a Left MP or MLA and others. On the one hand, a Left MP has to hand over the larger portion of his salary to the party. And over the years parties like the CPM have had it so good also because of sending so many MPs to Parliament and MLAs to assemblies. On the other, as for constituency expenses or entertaining visitors from constituencies are concerned, this too is largely taken care of by the party at its headquarters.

But then the counter argument came remarkably from a senior bureaucrat. “The secretary,” he pointed out, “gets Rs 80,000 salary, plus DA, plus HRA plus transport allowance and a whole lot of perks, which do not go to a MP. And for all that the secretary draws from the Government of India, he is largely not accountable to anyone. In fact, hardly anyone can enter the hallowed precincts of his room. On the other hand, the MP has to entertain at least a few hundreds every day, offering them at least a cup of tea, if not food to all, and then getting their work done. So, an MP deserves much more than a secretary and not just one rupee,” he felt.

Hyderabad, May 9
For several weeks now, viewers of a prime-time reality dance show on a local popular television channel are being “bombarded” with images of scantily-clad tiny tots gyrating to raunchy film songs. ‘Aata (Dance)’, a controversial children’s talent hunt programme, has evoked widespread public outrage for “promoting obscenity”.

Such was the sense of revulsion against the show that several social organisations, women and child right groups approached the State Human Rights Commission seeking a ban on it for violating child rights.

“This reality show has crossed all limits of decency and is a clear violation of child rights. Such programmes are the result of the greed of TRP-hungry channels,” said PA Devi, a social worker, who filed a petition with the AP State Human Rights Commission (APSHRC), along with other organisations, including the Progressive Organisation for Women (POW) and the MV Foundation.

The provocative dances and lewd gestures by the child participants would leave a deep negative impact on viewers, particularly those of the impressionable age, the activists argued.

However, the organisers of the show claimed that it was meant to spot and nurture dancing skills among children in the age group of 6 to 14 years. “It is the most popular children’s reality dance show and will test their performances in both Indian and Western dance forms. The participants, selected from all over the state, are divided into three groups, each named after a region of the state,” the producers of the show claimed on their website.

After going through the complaints from several NGOs and watching a CD of the show, State Human Rights Commission chairman Justice Subhashan Reddy said he was “disturbed” over the way children were being portrayed in the programme. Agreeing with the petitioners’ contention, Justice Reddy found fault with the parents for encouraging their wards to participate in such reality shows. “It is the responsibility of the parents to protect their children,” he said.

The chairman warned the show’s producers that the programme would be taken off air if necessary changes in its format were not carried out.

The children participating in the show were made to practice for 14 hours a day and were being subjected to physical and mental abuse, POW leader P Sandhya alleged.

The organisers are also flouting the Supreme Court’s directive that children below 8 years should not participate in reality shows.

“We want the Commission to issue suitable guidelines to the government to evolve rules for monitoring the content and production processes of children’s participation in TV shows,” said K Venkat Reddy, national coordinator of the MV Foundation.

“These shows totally demean children’s dignity and freedom. Further, they put tremendous pressure on children participating and competing in front of a studio audience and millions of television viewers at home. They face elimination rounds and the judges’ harsh and adverse comments are harmful for their tender minds. The negative psychological impact of such shows on children is tremendous,” said student counsellor PS Sharada.

On their part, the parents of the participants in the show defended its format saying that everything on the show was a matter of personal choice. They said they were simply encouraging their children’s interest of participating in the competition.

The MV Foundation urged the State Human Rights Commission to set up an independent mechanism to monitor the content and production processes of children’s participation in TV shows. “Until then, all such reality involving children should be withdrawn,” it demanded. 

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav may have lost power but he has certainly not lost his sense of humour. He was quick off the mark when his attention was recently drawn to reports that his one-time-friend and now arch political rival, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, had been bitten by a rat. 

 Lalu's reply: "This is a clear indication that even Lord Ganesha is unhappy with Nitish Kumar's administration ....this was his way of conveying his disillusionment."

Bangalore, May 9
It is all about timing.Two scorned women in Karnataka have turned the heat against their estranged husbands when it will matter most.Had Sumitra, a middle aged woman living in a village in Shimoga district of Karnataka, bared her heart to the media 14 years back when her husband Venkatesh Murthy deserted her, the story, even if it had appeared in the papers, would have made little impact.

However, it is quite different now. Murthy, a businessman, has come under the spotlight after he and his wife Chandravati accused Karnataka minister Hartal Halappa of raping the latter. Sumitra, whom Murthy deserted after having two children with her, to marry Chandravati, has assured that her estranged husband also gets his share of bad publicity, now that he has become a well-known character as a result of the scandal involving the minister.

Halappa, who has resigned from the cabinet in the wake of the scandal, has gone into hiding fearing arrest and has applied for anticipatory bail. The Shimoga police has been widely accused of not making any serious effort to nab the former minister. However, the same police has already interviewed the scorned Sumitra. The first wife, who has not been formally divorced by Murthy, has also filed a complaint with the police against her estranged husband and the latter may soon find him behind the bars and his marriage with Chandravati, who according to Sumitra was his younger brother’s sweetheart, declared invalid.

While the case of Sumitra has helped the government to discredit the complainant against one of its ministers, it has own share of problem too, coming from another scorned woman.

Vijayalakshmi, a resident of Tumkur district, has complained to the State Human Rights Commission that BJ Puttaswamy, political secretary of Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, cheated her after marrying her in 1980s.

Vijayalakshmi, 55, in her petition to the commission, said Puttaswamy married her at a temple. She was not told that Puttaswamy was already married by then. She lived with him for few years in Mysore and then returned to her village. For a couple of years Puttaswamy paid her maintenance and then stopped it.

Bangalore, May 9
Faced with allegations about soft-pedalling to the issue of rape charge made against former Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Minister Hartal Halappa, the state police today arrested him. 

Halappa, who has been accused of raping his friend’s wife, was arrested after he appeared before the CID today at Shimoga following a notice served by the investigative agency on May 6. He was held following questioning that went on for about three hours. 

CID DIG Charan Reddy said Halappa would be kept at the Shimoga prison today and produced before the court tomorrow. He denied the allegation during interrogation by the CID.

The CID, which has been assigned the case by the state, had pasted a notice at Halappa’s residences in Shimoga and Bangalore, asking him to appear before it tomorrow.

Halappa had filed a plea for anticipatory bail in a Shimoga court on May 6. The case was to come up for hearing on May 11. Halappa had quit his post as the minister on May 2. — TNS

New Delhi, May 9
At a time when the world celebrates Mother's Day, it turns out that India scores poorly among the middle-income countries when it comes to health care and well-being of mothers.

The country is ranked 73 in the list of 77 nations rated for the “best place to be a mother”, according to a report by child rights organisation Save the Children. What is more shocking in the “State of the World's Mothers 2010” report is that India is rated much lower than a host of conflict-ridden African countries like Kenya and Congo.

Cuba tops the Mother's Index ranking followed by Israel, Argentina, Barbados, South Korea, Cyprus, Uruguay, Kazakhstan, Bahamas and Mongolia. Among the neighbours, China is at 18th place, Sri Lanka at 40, while Pakistan lags behind India at 75th place. Bangladesh, featured in the list of 40 least developed countries, is ranked 14.

The report analysed a total of 166 countries, among which Sweden is placed at the top while Afghanistan is at the bottom.

The report has highlighted the shortage of trained health workers, mostly in the semi-urban and rural villages that house majority of Indian population, as the main reason behind the country's sorry state of health care system.

Shireen Vakil Miller, Director of Advocacy, Save the Children, pointed out that though the India's flagship National Rural Health Mission (NHRM) has prioritised female health workers from the communities, there still remains an acute shortage and training requirement.

The report also placed India at number one in the list of 12 countries that account for two-thirds of under five and maternal deaths in the world. According to a latest UNICEF report, the country accounts for 1.95 million child deaths (under five years of age) every year, which translates into 5,000 deaths every day, or one in every 20 seconds -- the highest in the world. The complications related to pregnancy and childbirth also kill 67,000 women annually.

The report also emphasised the need for more investments, especially for the child and women, to further improve the health care system in the country.— PTI