|
|
|
|
|
Murder in Goa
Pre-poll sops |
|
|
Social empowerment
Houses for rural poor
Fauji nicknames
Unsavoury underworld recipe
A razzle-dazzle affair
Creative confusion
|
Murder in Goa
A
Nigerian national was killed in a village in Goa. The unfortunate incident has caused a diplomatic row largely because of insensitivity of the state government as well as Nigerian diplomats who should have known better. If on the one hand, the state government is accused of initial inaction and a rather inappropriate statement by its Minister for Art and Culture; on the other, Nigerian diplomats are said to have sent offensive text messages about the case. To top it all, there have been some suggestions that link the fate of Nigerians in India with that of Indians in Nigeria. Obodo Uzoma Simeon was knifed and he died. The apparent delay in action by the police fuelled a situation which led to rioting. Subsequently, a person has been arrested for the murder, even as Nigerian nationals face charges of rioting. The crime, however, took a backseat as various other factors came into play. Some Nigerians, possibly the victim too, are said to have been involved in the drug trade. However, it is absolutely wrong to tarnish everyone with the same brush. There is no doubt, that the overwhelming majority of Nigerian nationals living in India are law-abiding. However, criminals need to be dealt with a firm hand, and people overstaying have to be answerable to the law of the land. Nigerian diplomats too appear to have gone overboard. Reacting to a possible investigation into the immigration status of residents of Nigerian origin, a Nigerian diplomat seems to have talked of repercussions that such an action would have on Indian expatriates in Nigeria. Such talk is uncalled for. Indeed, there have been some tensions between local residents of Goa and Nigerian expatriates. Such situations need to be resolved on a case-to-case basis. Goa has a long tradition of welcoming visitors. Tourists and expatriates who live there for long periods are a vital part of the local economy. The state should be sensitive to the needs of its guests, just as the guests are expected not to abuse the hospitality extended to them. |
|
Pre-poll sops
Since the national leadership of the Congress pursues the politics of entitlement and has resorted to vote-catching measures like hurriedly passing the food and land Bills, the party's state-level leaders cannot be faulted if they follow suit. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has taken upon himself the job of organising the biggest-ever political gathering in the state at Gohana on November 10 regardless of the waste of resources and is expected to announce sops matching the show of strength. Apparently, there is nothing wrong with his government's move to fill vacant class III and IV posts, numbering about 65,000. But why do it now? And why after the state Finance Department had imposed a ban on recruitment? Should he not be faulted for having a government which runs on ad-hoc decisions, having schools without teachers and police stations without policemen? Why are posts, if required, not filled as soon as these fall vacant? Politicians, it seems, have a very low opinion about the voters' intelligence. They think gullible voters can be swayed by liquor, drugs, freebies like power and atta-dal or mere promises of jobs and laptops. An Akali MP actually justified the supply of intoxicants to voters, saying if her party men did not oblige, others would, and grab the votes. The voters, she said, should not ask for or expect cash or drugs. Since short of ideas on how to create employment opportunities in Punjab, the Akali Dal leadership in the last election promised unemployment allowance to youth and the promise has not been kept. Competitive populism reaches its peak in the run-up to elections and depletes the treasury. Planned development takes a hit as impromptu announcements divert limited resources to populist causes. No one, it seems, expects votes on the basis of good governance or performance. The focus is on the appeasement of certain sections of the population, while the state or the country as a whole may suffer. |
|
|
Social empowerment
The success of Shalini Agnihotri, IPS, who has received the best trainee award at the National Police Academy, Hyderabad, has once again underlined the role of education in empowering people across the class and gender divide. Universalisation of education has rendered locations irrelevant. Shalini hails from Dhadhal village of Una district of Himachal Pradesh, and her father is a bus conductor. More and more candidates who bag the top ranks in competitive examinations hail from small, nondescript towns. Access to affordable education has opened new possibilities, allowing them choices of vocation, a luxury their parents did not have. Himachal Pradesh, in particular, has done well in this field by providing access to electricity, transport and education even in the remote terrains. Nirish Rajput, who cleared the IAS test this year, hails from a small village, Mau, in Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh. His father, a tailor, raised a large family but saw to it that his son’s dream of becoming an IAS officer was realised. Poverty was a limitation, but not an impediment. Nirish did not go to any coaching institute, nor did he pay a hefty fee. Education has democratised administrative services in the true sense. By liberating the examinations from the clutches of English, the UPSC has opened a flood gate of possibilities for youth from the hinterland, who can now write their exams in their regional languages. Though the merits and demerits of limiting the role of English in the IAS exam can be debated, the fact remains that in a pluralistic society like India, getting representatives from areas in need of maximum attention will benefit the administrative services in the long run. Running the country is not the sole prerogative of people from public school background. As such, the success of Anand Kumar’s “Super 30” programme of Patna has proved that the socio-economic background of a youth is irrelevant. What matters is the will to expand one’s horizon, and education does it better than the privileges of birth and fortune. |
|
|
Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men. —Joseph Conrad |
Houses for rural poor Housing is a basic human right. The right to life with dignity and the right to privacy cannot be exercised without the right to housing (U.N. Declaration articles 12 & 25). The concept of house has undergone a change in India. Earlier, it implied a room or a hut as a shelter. This has undergone a change with the launch of the Total Sanitation Campaign in 1999 which included a provision for toilet facilities, smokeless chullahs and tap water supply. This would require that a house should be pucca with a kitchen and toilet facilities. The construction of such a house can be done if there is the availability of house sites for the shelter-less people. In the rural areas the owners of land do not face the problem of lack of house sites. But the landless poor households do face such problem. Some of them have small kutcha (mud) houses but many do not have their own sites. They have sheds either on common land or land of their employers. Unless they own house sites, they cannot construct their own houses. The Government of India launched in 1985 the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) for helping the poor households (BPL) in house construction. The provision of financial assistance (subsidy) under the IAY was Rs.25,000 in plain areas and Rs.27,500 in the hill/difficult areas. This was raised on April 1, 2008, to Rs.35,000 and Rs.37,500 and then revised on April 1, 2010, to Rs.45,000 and Rs.48,500, respectively. Higher assistance is also provided for the backward and tribal districts covered under the Integrated Action Plan (IAD) in the form of loan up to Rs.20,000 per housing unit at 4 per cent interest rate. There is also a provision for free house sites to those rural BPL families whose names are included in permanent IAY waiting list not having house sites. Currently, the amount of Rs.10,000 per home site is provided and the funding is equally shared by the Centre and states. The states are incentivised to regularise the existing occupied land through an allotment of government land or purchase/acquisition of land. If the amount per beneficiary falls short, the balance is provided by the state government concerned. This scheme has been implemented mainly by Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra. Sikkim and U.P. have shown token participation. But the north-western states of Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh have not participated in the scheme. These states have a number of households in the rural areas which need home sites, especially the BPL families mainly belonging to the SCs and the STs. The major reason for the absence of shelter in the rural areas is lack of financial resources with the poor. A NSSO survey brings out that in 2010-11 66 per cent financing for house construction was by the rural families through their own resources. Only 9 per cent was through institutional finances and the rest was from non-institutional sources like moneylenders, friends and relatives. In the current scenario schemes like the IAY can be extremely useful. Why are north-western states like Punjab and Haryana not implementing the IAY seriously? One of the reasons, as reported in The Tribune is the grabbing of common property resources by influential persons. One of the reports brings out that "the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats has admitted that 27,000 acres of shamlat land is under illegal possession". This has happened in connivance with the local administration and patronage of politicians. The story is not different in the neighbouring states. The scarcity of land has prompted influential persons to take illegal possession of common (shamlat) land as it gives high returns in the absence of any/proper payment of rent. Administratively and politically connected persons from influential rural families have found this source of income convenient and lucrative. This has created paucity of land for public and social purposes in the rural areas. The IAY can be implemented if land for home is available free of cost or through allotment to the rural poor. An alternative can be the purchase of land for them in the vicinity of the villages. Influential families are not willing to allow the acquisition of land for house construction for BPL families. Given the bias against the rural poor who generally belong to the SCs and STs, politicians in the region have removed the issue of housing from their agenda. Funds for such schemes are rarely released even when budgetary provisions are made. These issues are conveniently buried under the carpet of financial crunch with the government. The beneficiaries are neither aware nor organised to assert their position. In fact, the left parties and their breakaway groups used to take up the cause of such people but they have lost ground among the rural poor. The parties which exercise substantial influence and wield power in the rural areas are dominated by the landed classes. A comprehensive study (2013) based on the village reports of IAS trainees from 23 villages in Punjab has brought out that in nearly half of the villages the IAY is not implemented. Similarly, in the equal number of villages self help groups (SHGs) of the rural poor do not exist. About 30-50 per cent posts of schoolteacher are lying vacant. Schools do not have adequate infrastructure and staff. The quality of education in these government schools is pathetic. The same is the case with primary healthcare. The facts show that there is a neglect of the rural development and serious bias against the wellbeing of the rural poor. Consequently, the problem of shelter-less households is not paid proper attention. The vision of improving the quality of houses cannot be achieved without the availability of pucca houses fitted with smokeless chullahs along with the provision for toilets and tapped water supply. The Census data pertaining to 2011 shows that the percentage of the rural households without toilets was 29.6 per cent in Punjab, 33.4 per cent in Himachal Pradesh, 61.4 per cent in Jammu and Kashmir and 43.9 per cent in Haryana. Although the situation is better than the all-India average of 69.2 per cent, it is quite grim in the relatively advanced states of North-West India. Without the provision of urban facilities in the rural areas (PURA) the quality of life cannot be improved in the villages. It is expected the governments in the states need to be awakened, enlightened and sensitised to the needs of the rural population, especially the weaker sections. The participation in the Centrally sponsored schemes like the purchase of house sites for the shelter-less households can go a long way in achieving the goal of houses for all in the
country. The writer is the Director General, Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID),
Chandigarh |
||||||
Fauji nicknames Tom, what time is your sortie?” I am scheduled for 1030 hrs along with Robert'
This conversation would probably be situated in England or some other English-speaking country like Australia or New Zealand. Actually, this was happening in the Bagdogra air base located in North Bengal. So were these guys Anglo Indians or Christians? In reality they were both Sikh Army aviators. ‘Tom’ was the nick name of Malkiat Singh and ‘Robert’ was the nick name of Rajinder Pal Singh. Similarily, Subhash was called ‘Harry’ and Ashok was called ‘Droopy’. Almost everyone in the Squadron had a nickname which had no connection to their actual name. So, what was the methodology followed while coining these names which all had a Western tenor to them? Well, in some cases the name came up because of the person’s behaviour, habits or appearance. PS Ghuha, who liked to put on his sun glasses in the office or crew room and had perfected the art of disappearing from the work place at the crucial moment, earned the nick name of ‘Phantom’ (the ghost who walks). There was M S Dattawho , though thin and lanky, liked to stand in front of mirrors flexing his muscles, earned the name ‘Flash Gordon’. Ashok was called 'Droopy' because he was said to nod off while flying. Subhash was blessed with a very hairy body. So he was given the nick name of ‘Hairy’ which, on his request, was changed to ‘Harry’. Malkiat Singh Dullat was called ‘Dulli’ during his flying course. From there it got changed to ‘Tom Dooly’ (Remember the song?) and finally only ‘Tom’ remained. That is the name he goes by even today some 45 years later. R P Singh, God bless his soul, cut his hair in 1972 and became a modified Sardar. So, he was given the name of ‘Robert Singh’ in line with his changed status. There was Khushwant Singh who had a long bushy beard. So he was affectionately called ‘Khush the Bush’. There were so many other such nick names in the other Squadrons at our base. Other than this almost everyone in the Services has a nickname which is a shortened version of his last name. So, a Chowdhry will become a ‘Chow’, Garewal will always be ‘Gary’, Sandhu will be ‘Sandy’, Aggarwal will be ‘Aggy’, Natrajan will be ‘Nat’and so on. After leaving the Army I worked as a pilot with a number of corporate houses. I found the situation very different there. No nicknames! Almost all seniors get the addition of ‘Jee’ to their names. So Gupta is ‘Guptajee’, Sahu is ‘Sahujee’, Sharma is ‘Sharmajee’ and so on and so forth. The juniors are just called by their name. It makes you think as to why things are so different in the military and the civil world. I would attribute it to the tremendous sense of comradeship and the fun factor that exists in the armed forces. Since you cannot call Garewal as ‘Garewaljee’, ‘Gary’ seems a better proposition. The civil sector in India is more formal and as such nicknames are a no-no. As far as the forces are concerned nicknames are great fun and handy tools. They stay with you for all your life. Oh, I forgot to tell you my nickname. It is ‘Bully’, rather inappropriate for a peaceful guy like me! But since it is all fun and games, I gladly accept
it. |
||||||
CINEMA: NEW Releases RATINGS: *****Excellent ****Very Good
***Good **Average * Poor Nonika Singh
Underworld is Ram Gopal Varma's familiar terrain. It was on this ground that he gave us the iconic and masterly Satya, which also cemented the arrival of one of the most gifted actors of Bollywood Manoj Bajpai. In all these years, RGV's affair de amour with the underworld has continued uninterrupted. Over the years he has delivered many more films in the same genre: few good, few passable and some outright bad. Yet, one so hoped that with the sequel to his most significant film, the master story-teller of dark grimy world of crime would regain his lost touch. Alas! No such luck! On the contrary, the script and the film is not only flawed but riddled with the most fatal flaw — an overwrought justification of the ways of underworld's new lord and master, Satya. For a while you are interested in the seemingly good guy Satya's reasons for killing (sorry getting killed) people left, right and centre. But by the time the movie ends you couldn't care less. And RGV doesn't seem to bother either for there is a wafer thin rationale, some veiled talk of naxalism to explain the bloody methods of Satya. Actually, the film that begins with a mini-sermon on the rich-poor divide and climaxes on a monologue on all that's wrong with our system, hence the need for a new one, doesn't stir you even fleetingly. The fact that voice over fills in time and again to take the narrative forward implies that even RGV believed viewers need to be prompted about the direction in which the movie was going. That it is only moving towards directionless mayhem sans energy and rhythm is another matter. In fact, the film has no pluses, not even in the histrionics department. The simple belle (Anaika Soti) playing Satya's sweetheart keeps biting her lips to show her naivety, in the process looking more silly than innocent. The attempts to make her appear sensuous in a few songs don't work either. Once RGV breathed life into even the last man standing in his frames, but here even major cameos fall flat and have no substance or flesh what to talk of layers. As for the leading man Ratn he has screen presence but fails to impress in a role that neither evokes sympathy nor looks menacing. Same goes for the film as you are left wondering what the fuss that lasts a good two hours nineteen minutes was all about. Stay clear from this one. Unless you want to know how great storytellers can transform into yawn experts. RGV promises (or is it a threat) that he will tell you another tale. God forbid! Or pray to God that by then RGV would have learnt his lesson. |
|
A razzle-dazzle affair
Set after the events of Marvel's The Avengers, this big-budget comic book(Stan Lee) showboat adventure has Thor(Chris Hemsworth) returning to battle with Malekith(Christopher Eccleston) — the vengeful leader of a primordial race that seeks to destroy the nine realms. Even Odin(Anthony Hopkins) is unable to protect Asgard from the fast approaching darkness linked to the alignment of worlds and the deadly Aether. The story has Thor, the God of Thunder, reuniting with his earthling ladylove Jane Foster(Natalie Portman). Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgard, Rene Russu, Idris Elba reprise their roles from the first edition while Tadanobu Asano makes a debut entry. The backstory has the Dark Elves from Alfheim, who date back to before the beginning of time and claim a black, gaseous substance called Aether as their all-powerful weapon of mass destruction — shown as being vanquished by Thor's grandfather. Thereafter, the story picks up with Loki in manacles back on Thor's "realm," Asgard, after trying to take over earth and trashing New York in the process. Thor's tryst with ladylove scientist Jane Foster, also doesn't offer much drama because there's just a little too much slap and dash techno-tricks ruining the emotional drama of forced separation. Thor is the titular character yet he doesn't have the overwhelming positioning that he deserves in this enterprise. He is just a little too good and uniformly plain in attitude to standout amongst all the evil that threatens his world. There are just too many characters and an overdose of CGI to make his presence look less than significant. The momentum towards the final battle is built up well enough by director Alan Taylor and the visual fireworks thereof are appropriately stunning. The entire run is fashioned as a fervently amusing elaborately designed forgettable entertainer in 3D. The overwhelming CGI heaviness is balanced by an effective Brian Tyler score. The resultant experience is unpretentious but has enough excitement to draw you into the theatres for a one-time watch! |
|
Creative confusion
Free Birds starts off as an interesting idea — in fact a very plucky one, but eventually because of lack of proper creative energy it meanders into major confusion. The ordinariness of this enterprise is also quite galling. Why would anyone want to dish out hard-earned bucks for something so pretentious and unsatisfactory — is a question that begs an answer from the filmmakers! Quite a few puns and pop-cultural references abound but it's not really high on entertainment or wit. The innumerable characters and the many subplots put a gag on the over-ambitious ideology. Borrowed ideas from 'far superior inspirations' also make the experience less than what it could have been. The colour and animation are not bad, but the 3D is certainly not one that adds value to the experience. This one is definitely avoidable! |
||
|
Movies on tv
Saturday november 9 Baby's Day Out is a family comedy film, written by John Hughes, produced by Richard Vane and John Hughes, and directed by Patrick Read Johnson. The film stars Joe Mantegna, Joe Pantoliano and Brian Haley, as well as twins Adam and Jacob Worton as Baby Bink. The plot centers on a wealthy baby's kidnapping by three incompetent persons, his escape and adventure through a big city while being pursued by the three kidnappers. ZEE CINEMA 8:39AM Fool N Final 11:38AM Awara Paagal Deewana 2:36PM Aakhri Baazi 5:47PM Phool Aur Kaante 9:00PM Commando – A One Man Army MOVIES NOW 9:20AM X-Men: The Last Stand 11:25AM Knight and Day 1:35PM Blade II 3:55PM Into the Blue 6:15PM Terra Nova 9:00PM Baby's Day Out ZEE CLASSIC 9:12AM Pyara Dushman 12:10PM Ankhen 3:42PM Brahmachari 7:00PM Heena 10:44PM Ponga Pandit ZEE STUDIO 8:00AM Girl, Interrupted 10:25AM Definitely, Maybe 1:00PM Uninhabited 3:00PM Cinderella Man 6:00PM X-men (Season 1) 7:00PM Stealth 9:30PM The Tudors (Season 1) 10:30PM Charlie Wilson's War STAR GOLD 9:00AM International Khiladi 11:50AM Sapoot 2:35PM Qayamat: City Under Threat 5:25PM Rascals 8:00PM Dangerous Khiladi 10:40PM Zameen FILMY 9:00AM Shor In The City 11:30AM Infomercial 12:00PM Chachi 420 3:00PM Dil Maange More 6:00PM Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam 9:00PM Devdas ZEE ACTION 7:00AM Sainik: The Love Story of a Soldier 10:30AM Tahkhana 1:30PM Mera Dharam 5:30PM Keemat Roti Ki 8:30PM Saathi SONY PIX 8:06AM The International 10:12AM True Legend 12:37PM Spider-Man 2:49PM The Expendables 4:40PM The Terminator 6:52PM Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London 9:00PM Skyfall SET MAX 7:00AM Veerana 10:30AM Aabra Ka Daabra 1:00PM Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum 5:30PM Ek Thi Daayan 9:00PM Godzilla INDIA TALKIES 12:00AM Aulad (Old) 3:00PM Rangeela 6:00PM Mela 9:30PM China Gate Sunday november 10 Aashiqui 2 is a romantic musical drama film directed by Mohit Suri. Starring Aditya Roy Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor in the lead roles, it was produced by Bhushan Kumar and Mukesh Bhatt under the T-Series and Vishesh Films banners. Set in the early 2010s, Aashiqui 2 is a love story centering around the turbulent relationship between musicians Rahul and Arohi, a relationship which is affected by Rahul's issues with alcohol abuse and temperament. ZEE CINEMA 8:25AM Maa Durga Divya Haathi 11:13AM The Real Tiger 2:18PM Ram Teri Ganga Maili 5:43PM Players 9:00PM Teri Meri Kahaani ZEE STUDIO 8:00AM Armored 9:45AM Backdraft 1:00PM Fright Night 3:00PM Problem Child 4:40PM The Game 7:10PM Back to the Future 9:30PM The Tudors (Season 1) 10:30PM 21 Grams ZEE CLASSIC 8:51AM Andaz 12:04PM Sansar 3:15PM Sangam 7:00PM Padosan 9:40PM Jwalamukhi STAR GOLD 9:25AM Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi! 12:00PM Ghar Ho To Aisa 2:45PM Deewar: Man of Power 5:00PM Duplicate 8:00PM Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahani 10:55PM Hukumat Ki Jung ZEE ACTION 7:00AM Saugandh 10:30AM Vishwasghaat 1:30PM Allah Rakha 5:30PM Mera Lahoo 8:30PM Betaaj Badshah FILMY 9:00AM Vaastu Shastra 11:30AM Infomercial 12:00PM No Entry 3:00PM Raaj Tilak 6:00PM Malamaal Weekly 9:00PM Gair SET MAX 7:00AM Mere Dad Ki Maruti 10:30AM Godzilla 1:00PM Krrish 9:00PM Aashiqui 2 |
||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Just as the inscrutable expression of the lead protagonist Satya (Puneet Singh Ratn) gives away little, one keeps speculating what RGV was thinking while making the film? Clearly he was as clueless as we are for the most part of the film. So here goes the convoluted plot. A small town (or is it a village) boy, no less but an engineer (or so he claims), comes to big bad Mumbai. Presto ! He not only lands up a job with a real estate developer in a jiffy but soon hatches a master mind conspiracy to get rid of his master's enemies. From there on while he and his nameless, faceless Company, in which he recruits anybody and everybody, goes from strength to strength, the film continues to fall and fall right into an abyss of boredom. 
The most interesting and magnetic character in the series is obviously Loki, whose shape-shifting and magic add to his bad boy persona, making him a strong and wily opponent against Thor's wholesome athleticism and do-goodness. Unfortunately though Loki is cataclysmic to this adventure, he doesn't have much screen-time, leaving Thor to face Malekith in a contest of un-equals even with the convergence and it's unleashing of deadly annihilation making the atmosphere conveniently ominous. 
The film has a holiday setting—Thanksgiving. Directed and co-written by Jimmy Howard from an original story idea by David L Stern and John J Strauss, this film has a sort of company of co-collaborators in the script department. The story concerns itself with Reggie (Wilson), an unusually self-aware turkey who secures a pardon from the president of the United States — thanks to his esteemed status as the first daughter's pampered pet. 
Baby's Day Out
Aashiqui 2