22 killed as cruiser van falls into Godavari river

RNI No. GUJENG/2014/57876
GARVI GUJARAT
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GARVI GUJARAT
(Published Daily from Ahmedabad)
EDITOR: ASHVINKUMAR KESHAVLAL RAMI
Regd. Office: 131, Dharmnagar Society, Highway Road, Sabarmati, Ahmedabad-380 005. Gujarat, India. (M) 93283 33307, 94266 33307, 98253 33307
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Volume-01
Issue-311
•
Email : [email protected]
Dt. 14-06-2015 Sunday
V.S. 2071
•
Website : www.garvigujarat.co.in
Adhik Ashad-12
Page-04
problem due to inhaling of the
gas. The residents came out
of their houses when the gas
from the leaking tanker spread
in and around Doraha, police
said. The affected people have
been admitted to different
hospitals in Doraha, Khanna
and Ludhiana, the SHO said.
Rs. 00.50 paisa
6 dead in ammonia gas tanker leak in Punjab
AAP leaders
take part in
‘cleanliness
drive’ in capital
LUDHIANA: At least six
persons were killed and
around 100 others were injured when an ammonia gas
tanker leaked on Saturday in
the district, police said. The
leak occurred when the tanker
got stuck under a flyover on
the Doraha Bypass Road along
a canal, about 25 kms from
here, they said. Six persons
died due to inhaling of the gas,
Doraha Police Station's SHO
Rajnish Kumar Sood said, adding, the bodies have been
shifted to a hospital in
Ludhiana. He said that around
100 other persons complained
of breathing problem due to
inhaling of the gas. The residents came out of their houses
when the gas from the leaking
tanker spread in and around
Doraha, police said. The affected people have been admitted to different hospitals in
Doraha, Khanna and Ludhiana,
the SHO said. The tanker,
bearing registration number
of Gujarat was going from
Ludhiana side, the police said.
Details are still awaited and
identities of the victims are yet
to be ascertained, police said,
adding, senior civil and police
officers have rushed to the
spot to take stock of the situation. Six people died after
inhaling the gas, Doraha Police Station’s SHO Rajnish
Kumar Sood said, adding, the
bodies have been shifted to a
hospital in Ludhiana. He said
that around 100 other persons complained of breathing
(TCS), for alleged violations of
rules for visas for foreign technology workers under contracts they held with Southern
California Edison, an electric
utility. As in the case of
Disneyworld, the power company is said to have laid off
hundreds of US tech workers
after they were forced to train
workers from India under the
H1-B visa program for guest
workers. But while antioutsourcing groups were trying to shut down - or at least
narrow — the H1-B gates, the
Obama administration began
the process to open another
avenue to retain more highskilled immigrant work force
that many US corporations and
experts say is needed in a
country that simply does not
graduate enough native-born
STEM (Science Technology
Engineering Math) workers.
According to new regulations
proposed by the administration
and submitted before the Senate Judiciary Committee, students with STEM degrees can
stay on in the US for a total of
six years under the Optional
Training Program (OPT) three years after finishing an
undergraduate program, and
then if need be, another three
years after a graduate program. This would give them as
much work time in the US as
foreign guest workers get under the H1-B program. At
present, OPT for international
students who finish either an
undergraduate or graduate
program from a governmentcertified educational institution
in the US is 12 months to 29
months depending on whether
their degree is non-STEM or
STEM. Typically, graduating
students, a large number (upwards of 300,000) from China
and India, use the OPT
timeframe to land jobs, or internships leading to jobs, during which period employers
usually sponsor them for an
H1-B visa if their performance
is good. But with the increasing demand for H1-B visas, partly
because many are cornered by
outsourcing bodyshops, many
foreign graduates who don't
make the cut in the lottery system are forced to return to
their home countries, much to
the dismay of free-traders who
believe the US is best served
when the students it educates
are retained in the country. So
the new proposal will essentially expand that window of opportunity to land a job and get
an H1-B visa for up to six years,
ensuring that a student who
comes to the US to study is not
under pressure to return.The
new proposals, already under
fire from lawmakers such as
Chuck Grassley, comes on the
heels of another Obama administration initiative to grant work
permits to H-4 visa holders
(spouses of H1-B) who meet
certain eligibility requirements.
"The proposed new regulations,
while still being internally discussed, are irresponsible and
dangerous considering the Government Accountability Office
report issued in March 2014
finding that the (OPT) program
was full of inefficiencies, susceptible to fraud, and that the
Department was not adequately
overseeing it," Grassley complained a letter to Department of Homeland Security
Secretary Jeh Johnson.
The Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Independent Charge), Shri Prakash Javadekar
participating in a training session on Yoga ahead of the Celebration of International Yoga Day being held on 21st
June, at Paryavaran Bhawan, in New Delhi on June 12, 2015. The Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and
Climate Change, Shri Ashok Lavasa and other officials of the Ministry are also seen. Photo: PIB
Govt thinks Army
killed 83 rebels in
Myanmar op
WASHINGTON: If American corporations can't hire H1Bs, they can hire H1wannabes. That in essence
will be the outcome of the
Obama administration's move
to allow tens of thousands international students to stay on
in the United States for up to six
years after they finish their
college degree. The far-reaching proposal, which will be of
interests to a large body of students from India who come to
the US for higher education,
comes amid continuing resentment in some American quarters about "low-wage" foreigners taking up jobs as illustrated in the fracas at
Disneyworld, where nativeborn US workers, seen as opponents of free trade, are fuming about being displaced by
guest workers from India in a
trend broadly known as
outsourcing, leading to tension
in the world's best-known
amusement park and an icon
of Americana. On Thursday,
the anti-outsourcing brigade,
gathering steam in an election
season and supported by US
lawmakers who back their protectionist stand, persuaded
the US Labor Department to
open an investigation into two
India-based firms, Infosys and
Tata Consultancy Services
BAREILLY: Someone must
have been shooting the video
when Jagendra Singh, scalded
and dying in a hospital bed,
every inch of his flesh peeling
from the fire that ravaged his
frail body, asks, barely able to
cry, "Why did they have to
burn me? If the minister and
his goons had a grudge, they
could have beaten me instead
of pouring kerosene and burning me." The magistrate, who
is there to record his final
statement, doesn't have anything to say. The video, a most
horrific and damning indictment of the lawlessness in
Uttar Pradesh and the power
wielded by the state's influential men, was shot on June 8,
a
week
after
the
Shahjahanpur-based journalist was set on fire allegedly by
a group of raiding policemen
who had come to investigate
why he was writing on social
media against the minister for
dairy development, Ram Murti
Verma. The gut-wrenching
video has sent shockwaves
across the country, with indication coming from Lucknow
that UP chief minister Akhilesh
Yadav, after a closed-door
meeting with the Samajwadi
Party top brass, is likely to
dismiss the senior minister in
his cabinet. Verma has already been charged with murder, along with nine others,
among them four policemen.
Governor Ram Naik has also
sought action against Verma
and met Prime Minister
Narendra Modi as well as home
minister Rajnath Singh to apprise them of the incident.
The journalist, who had written relentlessly against Verma,
is also heard saying in the
chilling video that the "police
team, led by inspector Sri
Prakash Rai, barged into the
house and started assaulting
me. They could have arrested
me." Shiv Kumar, secretary of
the Shahjahanpur Press Club,
said, "We are shaken to the
core by the brutality of this
act, which occurred in broad
daylight even as Singh's family was present nearby. We
will not rest until an impartial
probe is conducted and action
taken against the guilty. The
district administration has
shown great apathy in this
case." Circle officer (city) Gopal
Krishna said Shyam Bihari
Upadhyaya, director of the
state Forensic Science Laboratory, led a team of his
staff on Friday to the house
of the slain journalist in an
attempt to understand the
sequence of events that
occurred on June 1.
NEW DELHI: A day after
Delhi's sanitation workers
called off their strike over
payment of salaries, AAP
leaders took part in a
cleanliness drive in
various parts of the
national capital on
Saturday. Delhi deputy
chief minister Manish
Sisodia and AAP leaders
Sanjay Singh, Ashutosh
and Alka Lamba took part
in the cleanliness drive on
Saturday morning. "When
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi started the Swachch
Bharat Abhiyan, we all
became a part of it. I
would like to appeal to all
municipal corporation
mayors to not make the
people of Delhi suffer,"
said Sanjay Singh. "Rahul
Gandhi, mayors and CM
of Delhi should all go
together to PM and talk
about the MCD issue,"
Sanjay Singh said. "One
needs to wonder why
MCD is considered so
corrupt, permanent
solution needs to be
found for its workers," he
said. Meanwhile, Congress vice-president
Rahul Gandhi will meet
MCD workers at 4:30pm
this evening.
NEW DELHI: Even as
there is no official confirmation yet on the casualties suffered by NSCN(K)
and other insurgent
outfits in Tuesday's Army
crackdown on their camps
in Myanmar, intelligence
reports with the home
ministry indicate that at
least 19 insurgents killed
on Tuesday were given a
soldier's farewell on
Thursday, with a burial in
the presence of a Buddhist religious leader.
The information regarding
the burial of insurgents'
bodies in the presence of
a Lama came from
intelligence assets both
on Indian and Myanmar
side of the border, said a
home ministry official.
The ministry has also
learnt from multiple
sources, including those
based in villages dotting
the Myanmar-Manipur
border and trusted aides
in touch with Myanmar
authorities, that around
49 bodies were removed
from the site where the
camps stood after the
Army raid flattened them.
Indians to gain: US may allow foreign
students to stay for 6 yrs after degree
UP scribe burned to death:
Watch his last words
The Union Minister for Defence, Shri Manohar Parrikar presenting a memento to the Vice Chairman of the House
of Indonesian Representative, Mr. Fadli Zon, in New Delhi on June 12, 2015. Photo: PIB
22 killed as cruiser van
falls into Godavari river
The tanker, bearing registration
number of Gujarat was going
from Ludhiana side, the police
said. Details were still awaited
and identities of the victims yet to
be ascertained, police said, adding, senior civil and police officers have rushed to the spot
to take stock of the situation.
Tomar episode a body
blow to AAP’s diminishing credibility
RAJAHMUNDRY: In a
ghastly road accident 22
people including nine women
and seven children were killed
as a cruiser van fell into the
river
Godavari
at
Dowlaiswaram barrage near
Rajahmundry in East Godavari
district of Andhra Pradesh in
the early hours of Saturday.
The victims, all relatives, were
returning to their native
Atchutapuram village in
Visakhapatnam district after
offering prayers at Lord Sri
Venkateswara temple in
Tirumala and Goddess Sri
Kanakadurga in Vijayawada
when the mishap occurred.
According to police, the driver
lost control over the wheel
due to over speeding. The
vehicle hit the road divider
and fell into the river from the
bridge. Police said 22 people
died on the spot while a girl,
who was rescued and shifted
to Rajahmundry hospital, died
a few hours later. The lone
survivor, Kiran, 13, is undergoing treatment in hospital.
His condition is said to be
critical. There were 23
people in the vehicle when
it met with the accident.
Scores of villagers rushed
to the spot to take up rescue operation, but the occupants had died by then. The
victims included six men, nine
women and seven children. A
pall of gloom descended on
Atchutapuram as the news of
the tragic incident reached the
village. Major accident near
Rajamundhry Devaleshwaram
barrage. 21 suspected dead.
First pictures from scene.
pic.twitter.com/bSQ6T9Xd4f
The vehicle was mangled into
a piece of metal due to the
heavy impact of the fall. The
police and rescue teams had
to use a crane to lift the vehicle and cut open the doors to
retrieve the bodies. Chief
minister N Chandrababu
Naidu and leader of opposition YS Jaganmohan Reddy
expressed shock over the
mishap and conveyed condolences to the members
of the bereaved families.
NEW DELHI: On Tuesday,
AAP had aggressively reacted
to arrest of Arvind Kejriwal's
law minister Jitendra Tomar
by questioning the justification of Delhi Police's action
and screaming political vendetta. Is he a criminal? went
their chorus. On Friday, city
police chief B S Bassi emphatically said he "indeed" was one.
With Faizabad University denying that Tomar ever studied
there and police stumbling
upon records which showed
that he had unsuccessfully
pursued graduation from Delhi
University precisely during the
period he claimed to have
earned the B.Sc degree from
the UP university, Bassi, in
fact, said that former law minister could be part of a fake
degree racket which hurts
meritorious students
NEW DELHI: The battle
lines between the judiciary and
government over how to recruit Supreme Court and high
court continue to get sharper
with the apex court on Friday
dismissing the Centre's argument that the collegium system was gone for good and
wouldn't be revived even if the
National Judicial Appointment
Commission (NJAC) Act is
struck down. A five-judge
Constitution bench headed by
Justice JS Khehar said the collegium system would be re-
vived automatically if the 99th
Constitutional Amendment —
which ended judicial monopoly
over appointments to higher
judiciary — and the NJAC Act
fail to pass the test of law. he
bench, which also comprises
justices J Chelameswar,
Madan B Lokur, Kurian Joseph
and Adarsh Kumar Goel, hit
back at attorney general Mukul
Rohatgi for alleging that the
collegium appointed inefficient
judges. It pointed out that the
allegedly inefficient judges got
important assignments post-
retirement, courtesy the government. Seeking to substantiate its pitch that the collegium system would be back,
the bench recalled the cases
of constitutional provisions
which were changed through
the 39th and 42nd constitutional amendments. The old
provisions came into force
soon as the twin amendments
were struck down. "Striking
down an amendment would
mean that it never existed and
old system is revived," the
bench said. This was an em-
phatic riposte to the statement the AG made on May 12
when he said that the collegium system in which the
judiciary conferred upon itself
the prerogative to appoint
judges of SC and HCs cannot
be revived even if NJAC is
declared unconstitutional.
"Even if NJAC is quashed what
is dead cannot be revived. You
cannot go back to the old system. There is no question of
automatic revival of the old system and Parliament will sit again
to re-legislate," Rohatgi had said.
delusion. They don't rule out
the possibility of incest or that
Partha may have somehow
been responsible for the death
of his sister, but they'd rather
wait a few weeks to assess his
mental state to sift truth from
hallucination. In some of the
jottings, it is clear that Partha
had sensed his mother's growing concern over his physical
closeness with his elder sister and expressed his dislike for his mother, the police said.
Psychiatrist
Sabyasachi Mitra who examined Partha at Pavlov
Mental Hospital on Friday
said the 44-year-old engineer may have necrophilia
— a condition that triggers
sexual attraction towards
corpses. "Rather than what
he has mentioned in his diaries, Partha De might have
been in a physical relationship
with the dead bodies he has
been living with. It is not yet
established, but such behavior is not unusual on the part
of psychosis patients," he told
TOI. Investigators have decided to take the help of a
psychiatrist when they
question Partha in hospital
on Saturday. Among the bizarre things police have
noticed is that Partha, his
father Arabindo De and sister Debjani conversed with
each other through handwritten notes. There are
just so many of them that the
police are confused who wrote
what to whom. Experts are
being roped in to sort the writings and establish lines of 'conversation'. In one set of writings, someone wonders: "Ei
pothei ki jibon cholar chilo?
(Was this the way my life was
to shape up?)." Another person replies that "God would
save him". A third person
writes that the one who asked
the question is "heading in the
right direction". Said an investigator: "We are yet to ascertain which family member fitted into which character. But it
is certain that they spoke less
and wrote to each other more."
The ones accepted as Partha's
writings are a mixed pack of
conflicting comments about his
mother, graphic descriptions
of sex and mysterious references to a maid. In one, he
writes "All men and women
are dancing. Either to (the)
tune or out of tune..." before
going on to describe a physically explicit scene. Sometimes
he eulogizes his mother and
then speaks of how "jealous"
she was of Debjani, who was
three years older to him.
Sometimes Partha mixes up
his mother with his grandmother and he talks endearingly of both on these occasions. He narrates how his
mother fought against breast
cancer till her death in 2007
and claims he could not attend
his mother's last rites. "The
enemy tried to take my mother
but failed. It lost — the biggest
loser. The devil got (f*****)
royally. My mother had a very
powerful will. She fought with
all her weight." Partha didn't
always finish one exercise
book before picking up another. "Some had 20 pages
filled, some 10 and some even
five. While some described
sexual acts in uncomfortable
detail, others dwell on the state
of the family," said a source.
Collegium will be back if NJAC is quashed, Supreme Court says
Bizarre ‘sex tales’ found in Kolkata’s House of Horror
New Delhi: These lines
were scribbled by Partha De in
about 10 exercise books that
he called his "autobiography".
Partha's father, 77-year-old
Arabindo De, burnt himself to
death at his house in Kolkata's
Robinson Street, leading the
police to the gory discovery on
Thursday morning that Partha
had been living with the skeleton of his sister and carcasses of his two pet dogs.
The sexual overtone in several notes that the police found
scattered all over the bungalow on Friday and the lurid
description of bizarre sexual
acts in Partha's writings have
led the cops to suspect a complex relationship among family members. Psychiatrists,
however, advise caution and
say that Partha may have written the notes in a state of
2
Garvi Gujarat
Ahmedabad. Dt. 14-06-2015 Sunday
Editorial
Lift the fog on
the operation
The fog is still to lift on the operation the Indian forces
undertook against militant camps inside Myanmar territory
bordering Manipur as the Narendra Modi government finds
itself dealing with the fallout of certain comments made by
one of its Ministers. Minister of State for Information and
Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore’s statement that
the operation was a message to all countries inimical to
India, predictably set off a furore in Pakistan. At a time when
India-Pakistan relations are at a standstill with no sign of a
dialogue in sight, levels of rhetoric have risen, much of it
coming from Pakistan. Traditionally, “hot pursuit” is a term
that has raised Pakistan’s hackles. After the nuclear tests in
1998, senior Minister L.K. Advani’s remarks on “hot pursuit”
elicited a high-decibel response from Pakistan. This time,
besides a resolution in the Pakistan Senate, the Prime
Minister, the Interior Minister and the Chief of the Army Staff
have all gone hammer and tongs at India. It is unfortunate
that the action in Myanmar has triggered a fresh slide in
relations with Pakistan on account of breast-beating and
credit-hunting by the Modi government. A robust response
to the killing of 20 soldiers in Manipur on June 4 was called
for, but safeguarding the space to conduct such operations
in the future is also critical for India’s long-term strategy. As
military analysts have pointed out, the June 9 operation is not
the first of its kind undertaken by the Indian Army — which
as a force will continue to need the support of the Myanmar
authorities. So, while guarding the sanctity of India’s borders
and the lives of its soldiers and citizens, the long-term
strategy must be to erode the militant strength. In fact, that
must be the single-point strategic agenda. India’s national
interest must be kept paramount. Short-term political gains
coming from loud statements of the kind made by Mr.
Rathore can only damage India’s image and risk antagonising
a neighbour like Myanmar. Interestingly, the Minister used
the hashtag #ManipurRevenge while sending out Twitter
messages about the operation. Such sentiments, even when
they come from a junior Minister, cannot be condoned. At all
times the necessary distinction between the actions of a
state and those of a terror organisation must be kept in mind.
Reports in the Manipur media suggest that so far the local
police have not received any report on the Army operation;
nor have any bodies of militants been handed over to them.
Given the claims made by the government, it is essential that
evidence of the “success” of such an operation be shared
appropriately. Also, Delhi must reflect on why on such
occasions tact and silence may help more than seeking credit
and political capital publicly.
The Ukraine imbroglio
The G-7 nations put on a brave face against Russia at a
summit held this week in the Bavarian Alps and decided to
continue their sanctions against President Vladimir Putin for
what they called his war in Ukraine. U.S. President Barack
Obama in fact accused Mr. Putin of “wrecking his country in
pursuit of a wrong-headed desire to recreate the glories of
the Soviet empire”. Russia countered by warning that it
would prolong its own counter-sanctions, indicating there
would not be any change in its Ukraine policy. While all this
is happening, a fresh outbreak of violence between government troops and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine
is threatening to derail a tenuous ceasefire. Ukraine is paying
a heavy price for this stand-off. It has lost Crimea to Russia,
is fighting a deadly civil war in the east, and its economy is
in a state of collapse, it having contracted by nearly 18 per
cent in the first quarter of 2015. The real crisis of Ukraine is
that it is caught in a game of one-upmanship between the
West and Russia. The West wants to punish Russia for its
annexation of Crimea and for helping separatists in eastern
Ukraine. Moscow, on the other hand, sees Western involvement in the ouster of Ukraine’s pro-Moscow President Viktor
Yanukovych, and seems determined to resist the North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s outreach to its backyard. If the
West’s real intention is to get Russia to change its policy
towards Ukraine, it should rethink its sanctions regime,
which has been demonstrably ineffective over the past 15
months. Supporters of the sanctions might argue that those
worked in the case of Iran and might work in Russia’s case
as well. But Russia is not Iran. It is a geopolitical giant, a
former superpower and a huge country that still has substantial leveraging power in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Given the way policy-making works in the Kremlin, it is
illogical to believe that any kind of coercion would work
against Mr. Putin. Besides, there is little to suggest that the
Western policy of isolating Russia is working at all. More than
a year after Russia was suspended from the G-8 following its
annexation of Crimea, the leading powers still need Russia
to deal with pressing global issues ranging from the Iranian
nuclear talks to the Syrian civil war. So a more pragmatic
approach would be to start a diplomatic engagement in a
mutually conducive environment. The inept handling by both
sides of what was a domestic issue in Ukraine has turned it
into a regional problem. Left unchecked, the problem could
well turn into a war. It is high time the West and Moscow set
aside rhetoric and started addressing the problem directly.
Railway unions dub report
a privatization move
NEW DELHI: The Debroy panel report on Friday faced flak
from railway employees unions who termed it as a clear
roadmap for privatization of railways that could endanger
safety and increase transporter's financial burden. However,
the high-powered committee, in its over 300 page report, has
several times clarified that it does not recommend privatization
of railways. "It does, however, endorse private entry, which is
not ab initio but ab hinc — as this is already part of the Indian
Railway policy — with the proviso of an independent regulator.
This committee prefers use of the word liberalization and not
privatization or deregulation, as both the latter are apt to
misinterpretation," it said in its report quoted by TOI on Friday.
Noting that role of private sector was already part of government policy, Debroy said the panel has only endorsed it and it
was not a new recommendation. But the railway unions seem
unimpressed with assurances given by the panel and has given
a call for observing a black day on June 30. The privatization
issue was raked up railway unions even after Modi dispensation
allowed FDI in railways sector, aiming to ensure both domestic
and foreign investment in national transporter reeling under
financial stress. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's persuasive
pitch to the unions has cleared the decks for more FDI inflows
and private capital in national transporter that may be reflected
in the rail budget. The unions softened their stand after Modi
said that there would be no privatization of railways. The PM
has said that he had a "deep connection" with the railways. "I
love railways. My life is what it is because of railways," Modi
said. "The government will not go in the direction of railway
privatization ... People are spreading rumours about privatization
of railways. It is not true," Modi had said. Railway minister
Suresh Prabhu had also ruled out the possibility of privatization
on several occasions. He had assured that FDI or public-private
partnership (PPP) will not affect the ownership of railways. "We
want to get private participation but that does not mean we
want to privatize railways' operations," the minister had said.
2
For a smart city with a heart
The ffor
or
ces and demands that press against the Indian city daily are fformed
ormed out of enorces
tirely rudimentar
ore, the plans ffor
or Narendra Modi’s hundred
rudimentaryy considerations. Theref
Therefore,
cities and industrial corridor
oge
ther dif
corridorss must look in an alt
altoge
ogether
diffferent direction.
The smart city is an urban
means to enhance the use of
municipal utilities and public
services. Its reliance on computerised data and digitisation
allows for an efficient allocation of resources and a more
equitable distribution to city
consumers. Is such a description an adequate foundation
for the new Indian city? For
the most part, the Western
definition of the smart city is
spineless, if not altogether redundant in India — a mere
glossing over of civic services
and infrastructure. The urban
migrant, seeking city employment, is marginalised in ways
that go much beyond just
needing improved transport,
roads or utilities. Without any
cultural affinity to the place,
he is a rudderless atom with
little or no attachment. For
him, the city is an unformed
rough frontier, a temporary
market place where everyone
lives in a semi-hard rubble of
makeshift houses and tenements, extracting favours,
exchanging livelihoods. His
city’s incompleteness and visible ineptness subsume everything into a neutral brown
haze — a torturous human
and material composition of
habitation, excrement, movement ... The formal city alongside, grows with different considerations. Given the desperate demand for space, only its
constantly changing and unmade character is apparent.
Behind grimy, monsoonstained walls and dust-laden,
glass facades, people build
according to antiquated regulations and half-baked formulas, adding rooms, breaking
walls, enclosing balconies.
Like the tenements, the city
they make appears as a shifting, unfocussed transformation of masonry — irregular,
disjointed, even illegal — an
urban landscape on which the
paint never dries. Without social connections or public life,
the place too only has an air of
purposelessness and futility,
with each man for himself.
Such unstructured physical
blight also reflects in a daily
atmosphere of urban despair.
Wherever you go, you come
face to face with the sad consequence of a degenerate,
defeated city. Tired faces greet
you behind bank computers,
broken bricks and garbage
float on roads, shabby government departments operate with officials “not in their
chair”; on the street, people’s
movement is sluggish and
shambling, expressions sour,
even depraved. Unquenched
demands for water supply,
sic, sports, art, recreation and
social life assume secondary
importance. The freshness of
Danish parks, the thrill of a Los
Angeles clover leaf exchange,
the sidewalk cafés of Paris or
Istanbul, and the museums of
New York — cultural, engineering, visual and sensory
familiarity rarely play a role in
Indian city routines. The forces
and demands that press
against the Indian city daily
places is a painful, unanswered question. Their security, their social and cultural
life, their state of well-being,
remain an unasked question.
However bleak this scenario,
the pessimism need not translate into future planning. If
anything, the plans for Mr.
Modi’s hundred cities and industrial corridors must look in
an altogether different direction. Unlike its medieval con-
electricity, rations, school admissions, licences and sanctions, make life a daily battle.
Without museums, walking
space, gardens, shaded parks
or any public engagement, the
rougher strains of urban living
take centre stage: rape, molestation, road rage are the
symptoms of general urban
indifference and the dislocation that comes from migration and disparity. With an
implicit mistrust of everyone
around, is it a wonder that
people shoot each other over
a wrongly parked car, or a
servant kills an elderly couple
for a pocket full of change?
When daily survival is the primary focus of Indian urbanity,
the cultural life of the city becomes a laughable ideal. Mu-
are formed out of entirely rudimentary considerations.
Shrinking homes, deteriorating air, poor sanitation and
overstretched transport have
left the city resident with low
expectations. In the next decade, 35 towns will grow into
mega cities, each with a population above 10 million. Within
these monuments to third
world urbanism, life will grind
to a halt: the current 60 per
cent of slums will rise to a
whopping 90 per cent, traffic
movement will decrease to
cycle speed of five kmph, and
family occupancy space will
shrink from the present 200
square feet to a mere 80
square feet. What this foretells for the provision of basic
civic necessities of these
ception as a place bounded by
walls and gates, the new city,
once built, will stretch beyond
visibility and physical comprehension. It will house people,
places, incidents and ideals
that may never intersect with
each other. But within the vast
agglomeration will be the existence of smaller cities, places
with personal boundaries with
constant engagements for its
local residents. In many ways,
these smaller, localised cities
must enthral and engage in
the traditional way. Such a
traditional intent can only be
achieved through a radical
reversal of property rights,
zoning, bylaws and civic design. Nowhere in the new
scheme should the government extend any form of home
or commercial ownership to
private parties. Even if places
are built in partnership with
builders or developers, the
ideals of leased and rental
building would allow for
greater mobility of city residents. In the absence of gated
communities, people would
not just live, work and recreate without unnecessary commutes, but the freedom of
mixed-use living would additionally create a more engaging social life. The privatisation
of social life in the Indian city
— pool, movies, libraries, play
areas — has made the city
insular and protected. By returning the facilities to the
public realm, the city would
gain a more vibrant collective
life.Moreover, the Indian city
has so far been an entirely
one-dimensional surface experience. Homes, offices, cars,
pedestrians all inhabit the
ground, despite conflicting
conditions of ecology or occupancy. The mismatch between
pedestrians and vehicles, landscape and road is itself enough
reason to consider serious
separations for each condition; and to rethink the possibilities of making places away
from the ground — up in the
air, or underground, as in
the sky bridges of Chicago,
the underground commerce
of Minneapolis. The idea
would be to provoke the
users into a more comprehensive realisation of the
third dimension. In cities
short of usable ground
space, the earth below and
the rarefied sky would offer
numerous architectural possibilities. The best cities are
ironically built on undemocratic ideals. Even when innovating and providing opportunity, they enforce severe restrictions on daily
life. London would not have
some of the world’s most
natural urban parks without
ordinances controlling the
building around them, and
the imposition of a congestion tax that restricts polluting cars from entering the
centre of town. Singapore’s
auction of a limited number
of vehicle registrations
achieves a similar purpose.
Along the East Coast of the
U.S., many small towns are
designated for pedestrians
only. Such restrictions have
been designed for the larger
common good, and clearly
state preferences for better
public health, green space,
and enriching the experience
of surrounding heritage. Similar restrictive practices in future civic design will be necessary if the problems of the
current city are to be avoided.
Of the many threats to urban
life, nothing is more repressive and mind-numbing than
daily living without spontaneity, imagination and a ready
dose of the unfamiliar. A radical move away from current
city conventions would allow
greater densities and more
fluid approaches to design.
Hong Kong’s elevated sidewalks and street escalators
allow people to cross into
buildings without descending
to street level. Houses in traditional Italian towns connect
with each other above the
streets. In some of the new
towns in Spain, train stations
are incorporated in municipal
and commercial structures.
The importance of innovative
combinations of public uses
lends a civic uniqueness to
utilitarian places. What would
it take to combine Mumbai’s
Victoria Terminus with a
cricket stadium or a public
club? Or retrofitting Delhi’s
main Metro stations with
swimming pools or libraries?
Could cycle tracks in Bengaluru
have benefited from an alignment along the city park system? Like the public
chaikhannas of Uzbekistan or
the baths of Turkey, wouldn’t
the Indian public too gain from
the insertion of innovative social uses inserted into its daily
movement through the city?At
this stage in the life of
India’s older cities, perhaps
that is too much to ask. But
the designs for India’s hundred new cities cannot be
allowed to emerge from a
mere business model; without an innovative, cultural
and social blueprint, the
plans might as well be shelved.
The Dalit moment of truth
Only time will tell if the leading Dalit party’s bold proposal to form a
new front will bear fruit in Tamil Nadu’s sharply bipolar politics.
In May, the most
popular Dalit political
leader in Tamil Nadu,
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal
Katchi (VCK) leader Thol.
Thirumavalavan, took a
decision that could herald a turning point for
Dalit politics in the State.
At a public meeting
organised to confer the
‘Ambedkar Sudar’ award
on Arundhati Roy in
Chennai,
Mr.
Thirumavalavan made it
clear that his party was
no longer willing to play
second fiddle to the two
Dravidian parties in the
electoral arena. Emerging from the bitter negotiations that took place in
the run-up to the Lok
Sabha elections, when
his party was offered
merely two seats despite
the absence of any major
player in the Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam
camp,
Mr.
Thirumavalavan declared
that the VCK now wants a
share of power if others
want to benefit from its
support base. His backing for any formation will
now be solely on the condition that after the 2016
Assembly elections, his
party would be part of
the government. In articulating this stance, he
sought the support of all
the smaller political parties in the State, saying
that the majority governments of the past five decades have managed to
sideline emerging political forces by taking advantage of electoral compulsions. The VCK’s
emergence brought an
alternative discourse to
Dravidian politics in the
1990s. For a long time,
there had been simmering discontent among the
Dalits of Tamil Nadu
about their exclusion
from existing power
structures and the continued discrimination
they faced in the social
sphere — despite the
prevalent anti-caste
rhetoric in the State. This
was largely due to the
mechanics
of
the
Dravidian movement itself, which many scholars have accused of being centred around other
backward classes and exclusive of the Dalits in its
functioning. In the early
1990s, members of the
VCK, a social organisation
then, were bold enough
to
question
even
Dravidian icon E.V.
Ramasamy’s method of
social engineering. While
no aspersions were
thrown on Periyar’s intentions, writers such as
D. Ravikumar raised apprehensions about the
caste-majoritarian strain
visible in the Dravidian
movement. This form of
politics essentially targeted the Brahmin
caste’s dominance in the
pre-independence era,
when the community’s
overwhelming influence
on administration and
society was contrasted to
its relatively small population size. However, the
narrative, in the process,
also became detrimental
to the Dalits, whose suffering now continued at
the hands of the increasingly powerful intermediate castes. The other
backward classes (OBC)
became the biggest beneficiaries of Dravidian
politics. In other words,
despite the years of
rhetoric, the fundamental hierarchical structure
of the caste system con-
tinued to remain strong,
with only the central players being replaced. Even
among the intermediate
castes, there was dissatisfaction when specific
groups gained immense
political power through
the Dravidian outfits. This
led to the emergence of
other
caste-based
organisations such as the
Pattali Makkal Katchi,
clout as much a factor as
political presence, the financially weaker Dalit
parties have been forced
to depend on the two
principal players for
electoral success. These
parties were also affected by internal divisions, escalated by
strong personalities who
lead them. They also
faced severe criticism for
egy and provide regional
players with ministerial
berths at the Centre, thus
breaking the single-party
domination. Even if one
of the two Dravidian parties could be coerced to
accept the power sharing formula, the idea is
that the other would also
come around eventually
due to pressures of electoral arithmetic. Partici-
which espoused the cause
of the numerically strong
but economically backward Vanniyar community. The Dalit movement,
therefore, started as a
counter-narrative that
posed serious questions
to the Dravidian parties.
But it lost track of some
of its original objectives
when the Dalit parties
decided to experiment
with elections and, in the
process, were sucked into
the bipolar political game
between the All India
Anna Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam (AIADMK) and
the DMK. Given how elections are fought in Tamil
Nadu, with economic
focussing on larger issues of Tamil identity
than on the travails of
the community, even
though the shift to larger
issues could have originally been a tactic to
transcend narrow, limited,
caste-based
mobilisation. It is against
this background that Mr.
Thirumavalavan’s concept of power-sharing is
significant. The VCK is
hoping for a repeat in
Tamil Nadu of what transpired at the national
level in the late 1990s.
The success of the National Democratic Alliance forced the Congress
to adopt the same strat-
pation in government
would also mean access
to power, which would
enable Dalit parties to
take populist welfare
measures that are to their
benefit, which would, in
turn, improve their own
visibility and base. But
will the attempt to unite
all the smaller parties for
this project be successful? For starters, the situation in Tamil Nadu, with
the DMK at its weakest
and the AIADMK facing legal uncertainties, seems
to be conducive for the
emergence of an alternative arrangement to
single-party majority
rule. However, after the
VCK mooted the concept
of power sharing, no
party it has reached out
to has thus far provided
any serious commitment
to remaining loyal to the
project, though representatives
of
the
Marumalarchi Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam
(MDMK), the Tamil Manila Congress, the Left
parties, and the Congress
have participated in discussions. Quite significantly, despite the
mounting criticism on
majority governments led
by the two Dravidian parties, Mr. Thirumavalavan
has not openly delinked
himself from the DMK
camp, which somewhat
undermines the seriousness of his campaign. His
arguments tilt more towards electoral strategies rather than articulating serious ideological
questions from the platform and point of view of
Dalit politics. There are
also contradictions between the parties the VCK
is trying to unite. While
the Left has already ruled
out holding hands with
the DMK or the AIADMK
for the Assembly polls,
others such as the MDMK
seem to be gravitating
towards the DMK. Also,
what these smaller parties could achieve with a
front of their own, given
the limited vote share
they command, is a question. If the project fails,
the VCK could be staring
at a serious situation
where it would be forced
to go back to negotiating
with the DMK or AIADMK
for a few seats. In that
happens, its credibility
would take a massive
beating and this could
further harm Dalit politics.
Garvi Gujarat
3
Ahmedabad. Dt. 14-06-2015 Sunday
LOL while you learn All smiles
Evelyn Sharma,
A new Mumbai-based start-up has developed
a website to make education fun for children for Santhanam small town girl
a
3
N. Santhanam speaks before the
release of "Inime Ippadithan" in Evelyn Sharma, the lead in V.K. Prakash’s
Ishqedarriyan, says she is looking forward to
which he plays the hero.
“There has been no revolution in how we teach; change
has only crept in with the reach
of education and use of technology,” says Vaibhav
Devanathan, an ex-student of
IIT-Mumbai. He, along with
alumni from his alma mater
and St. Xavier’s College, have
set out to initiate this change.
“I was very interested in the
non-conventional uses of
humour, because in India,
especially, it is uniquely positioned to solve many problems,” says Vaibhav, CEO of
the start-up LaughGuru. Their
website, laughguru.com, introduces humour into education with an aim to take content, and how it is consumed,
to the next level. “During a
discussion, we realised that
those of us from an arts background had forgotten many
mathematics and science concepts from middle school,
while the engineers in the
team couldn’t remember the
rules that govern grammar,”
explains Antara Telang, head
of content. Three years of research, reading published academic papers on the subject
and ideating, helped develop
an interactive curriculum, rife
with humour, to help children
understand and retain information. The recently-launched
web portal already has around
2500 users, and offers English, Mathematics and Science lessons, besides games,
for students from classes 1 to
8, customised according to
boards — ICIC, CBSE, SSC,
IGCSE and ID. “Lots of kids are
intimidated by books and
spend a lot of time with gadgets. So we realised that if we
created interactive content on
a digital platform, the kid is
likely to approach it with less
intimidation,” explains Antara.
Basically, they weave a story
around a concept and use
animated characters with
quirky characteristics to help
understand a subject. For example, for a lesson on perimeter and area, they introduce
a penguin on an ice-berg and
give him the problem of having to figure out how many
friends he can fit on it for a
party. “We show them the
logic behind the formula as
opposed to just giving it to
them to memorise,” says
Antara, adding that punctuat-
ing the story with humour,
through pop culture and daily
life references and dialogues,
also helps commit it to
memory. “The biggest challenge,” explains Vaibhav, “is
to find out what would be both
funny and educative for a
child.” As many as 2,500 children from Mumbai, from diverse backgrounds, were
tested in different settings —
alone, in the classroom, with
a teacher — to determine the
best way for a child to learn
and retain concepts. “The default mode of usage is letting
children handle it themselves,
with the parent directing lesson plans,” he says, adding
that the programme comes
with worksheets and score
cards to keep track of progress.
Though it is intended as a selfstudy software, Vaibhav says
schools and teachers can also
adopt it to make traditionally
dry topics fun. The
programme, for one academic
year, costs anything between
Rs. 800 and Rs. 3,500. Signing up for free on the website
offers a demo of the breadth
of content available, which can
be unlocked after payment.
From an actor in spoofs
on television to a tinsel town
hero, Santhanam has journeyed a long way. What
next? He smiles, “Obviously
direction. I have worked
hard to come to this stage
and now I want to wield the
megaphone. I have a script
ready but it will take another year to finalise everything else,” he says. ,
“Right now I am busy acting and producing movies
and havea good fan base. I
don’t want to miss them,”
he adds. Santhanam knows
how to make his presence
felt. “I don’t believe in separate comedy tracks and
prefer to do humour that is
inclusive and travels along
with the main plot. Even
horror films need a comic
treatment now, going by
the recent success of such
films,” he says. Spontaneous to the core, his wit has
a big fan following in
Kollywood. “Lot of work
goes behind every dialogue
though I improvise certain
portions depending on the
circumstance and body language of the character I
play. I have a team of eight
members working overnight to fix the dialogues,”
he says. His work was much
appreciated in Rajesh’s trilogy Siva Manasula Sakthi,
Boss Engira Baskaran and
Oru Kal Oru Kannadi.
S a n t h a n a m is a t e a m
player and never thrusts
himself in front. It is this
quality that endears him
to many heroes who want
him in their films. “I
never overshoot myself.
I just try to do what best
will enhance the story,”
he says. He says he likes
taking risks too. “It is part
of life. When I came from
television to cinema, many
discouraged me. Again, I
was warned about the risks
when I decided to don the
hero’s role and produce
films. But I followed my in-
stincts,”
he
says.
Santhanam clearly recalls
the day he got a call from
Simbu
to
act
in
Manmadhan. Simbu believed in his ability and gave
him a chance. Even now
Simbhu advises him,
Udhayanidhi teaches him
the business of film production and marketing and
Arya guides him to keep in
good
shape,
says
S a n t h a n a m ,
whosetechnical knowledge
in filmmaking is also sound.
He believes a hero has to
be in tune with different
departments of filmmaking
be cinematography, music
or editing. Music has been
a big plus in his movies. Be
it Kanna Laddu Thinna
Aasaiya or Vallavanukku
Pullum Ayudham, the songs
and background score in
his movies have earned
good reviews. In his latest
movie Inime Ippadithan,
scheduled for release on
June 12, Santhanam has
introduced a new music
director
Santhosh
Dayanidhi to the industry.
“Santhosh from A.R.
Rahman’s stable has done
a perfect job,” says
Santhanam. “Music is a
highly technical field and a
music composer’s cooperation is must if you want to
communicate your wishes
and Santhosh was very cooperative,” he says of the
newcomer.
Inime
Ippadithan is a sentimental
rom-com. “It is a feel-good
film on taking life as it
comes ,” he says. Murugan
and Anand, the directors of
Lollu Sabha direct this
movie. Playing the female
lead are Vallavanukku
Pullum Ayutham - fame
Ashna Zaveri, and Akhila
Kishore who won over audiences with her act in
Kathai
Thiraikathai
Vasanam Iyakkam. Thambi
Ramaiah plays a stellar role
in the movie.
Epic dreams,
remaking Baahubali Indians now live longer, but
With the Tamil-dubbed version of Telugu mythological epic Baahubali getting sold for a record
sum, is remaking such films practical?
It is very rare in Tamil
Nadu for the audience to be
more excited about a dubbed
film than a Rajini or a Kamal
film. But such has been the
euphoria that has surrounded
S.S Rajamouli’s magnum opus
Baahubali, a two-part mythological film starring Prabhas,
Anushka and Rana Daggubati.
Despite the absence of a saleable star in Tamil Nadu, the
dubbed version has been
lapped up for a huge sum of
Rs. 11 crore. But will films
with similar grandeur make
economic sense in Tamil? “We
often overlook the fact that
the Telugu market is bigger
than ours,” says veteran producer P.L. Thenappan, who
has made films such as
Padayappa
and
Panchathanthiram. “If a
Rajamouli film is bought for Rs.
11 crore in TN, a Shankar film
gets over Rs. 30 crore from the
Telugu market. So, the scale
isn’t even comparable,” he
says, stating that much of the
asking price has come from
the super success of the
director’s previous film, Naan
Ee. Actor and film historian
Mohan Raman believes there
is always a market for mythological films in Tamil. He says,
“The dubbed version of
Mahabharata on TV is very
popular. So it’s clear that
mythological subjects have a
strong market. After the era
of mythological films in the
1950s, there were still directors such as A.P. Nagarajan
and K. Shankar who proved
that such films worked. By factoring in certain changes to
suit a larger market, these
films can work even today.”
However, producer Hitesh Jabak
(Anjathe, Meaghamann) feels
that the very nature of the Tamil
industry makes such a large
film logistically impossible.
“Remuneration of even the
biggest Telugu stars do not go
beyond 12 per cent of the
film’s overall cost. That's not
the case here. If we need a
star or star director to work in
our film, the remuneration itself will change a film’s costs.
When we talk about making a
film on such a grand scale and
with expensive graphics, these
salaries would make it almost
impossible.” Mohan Raman
says a bi-lingual or tri-lingual
format would prove effective.
“A unique feature about South
Indian films is that most of the
technicians and actors work in
all four languages. Our own
Sathyaraj and Nasser are a
part of Baahubali, making the
film identifiable with the Tamil
audience. At a time when the
global market is open to us,
why rely on the Tamil Nadu
market alone to make a big
film?” he asks. setting high
standards Hitesh feels that
epic films, when made here,
have to match Hollywood standards. He says, “Gone are the
days of MGR and Sivaji when
the audience would believe
everything given to them as
being the best. Technology
has made it possible for us to
watch foreign and Hollywood
films in minutes. If one makes
an expensive film and it looks
tacky or unreal, then it won’t
work. Even with our limited
budgets, we are expected to
compete with Hollywood.”
However, despite the huge investments, it’s these extrava-
gant films that take the industry to the next level. “Every
time a film such as Baahubali
gets made, it becomes a trendsetter. Other directors from
the industry take note of the
technological possibilities and
it pushes the envelope for all
of us. Such a film also brings
to India several experienced
foreign technicians who invariably employ Indian assistants. In the course of time,
there is a technology transfer
which allows us to attempt
films of similar scale with our
own people. That’s why we
need a Baahubali.” leaving a
legacy Contrary to what one
perceives, these films aren’t
just dream projects of directors alone. “People often credit
just the director when such
films get made. But it is also
every producer’s dream to
make a film that will be remembered for generations,”
says producer Thenappan. “I
began my career as an office
boy. Cinema has given me
everything. And it is by making
films like Baahubali happen
that I feel I'm giving
something back to cinema.”
spend more time with illness
NEW DELHI: While people
across the globe are living
longer, they are spending
more time recovering from
sickness. The reasons are nonfatal illnesses and injuries such
as diabetes and hearing loss
which pose the next major
threat in terms of disease burden, says the latest study by a
consortium of international
researchers. In India, diabetes and other musculoskeletal
disorders have replaced diarrheal diseases and vision problems as leading causes of
years lived with disability
(YLDs) - a measure of overall
disease burden, expressed as
the number of years lost due
to ill-health. Between 1990
and 2013, years lived with
disability among women with
diabetes increased by 109%,
whereas from other musculoskeletal disorders increased
by 110% in India. However,
iron-deficiency anemia decreased by 12%. Diabetes
YLDs also increased for men
in India between 1990 and
2013, climbing 136%. Among
men, YLDs from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD) increased by 76%, and
iron-deficiency anemia YLDs
decreased by 32%.The study
says countries around the
world may have made significant progress in addressing
fatal diseases, but globally the
years lived by people with disability increased from 537.6
million in 1990 to 764.8 million
in 2013, for both sexes. The
study was conducted by researchers working on the Global Burden of Disease project
and led by the Institute for
Health Metrics and Evaluation
(IHME) at the University of
Washington. It was published
in The Lancet on June 8. "With
success in delaying death, the
years of life lived with ill-health
are increasing. For example,
this has more than doubled in
India for diabetes over the
past two decades. Accurate
understanding of the causes
of ill-health is crucial for planning of appropriate health services," Lalit Dandona, study
co-author and professor at
Public Health Foundation of
India said. Apart from diabetes, migraines, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD), neck pain, anxiety
disorder and hearing loss
were among the 10 leading
causes of YLDs in 2013.
playing more varied roles.
Move over Katrina Kaif,
Amy Jackson and Sunny Leone,
there is a new NRI in town and
she plans to go places. From
the bombshell in Yaariyan to
the ditzy girl in Yeh Jawani Hai
Diwani, Evelyn Sharma, the
actress who made her debut
playing the role of Lubaina,
the girl next door in the film
From Sydney With Love, has
come a long way. She is slowly,
but surely, creating ripples in
Bollywood. The seven-film-old
actress, who has been playing
supporting roles till now, is
the female lead in V.K.
Prakash’s Ishqedarriyan. And
although her reel image till
now may have been that of a
diva, at heart, Evelyn calls
herself a small town girl. “I
grew up in a small town in
Germany where I learnt to
enjoy the simple things in life,”
says the half German-half Indian. And that could be a reason why she could identify
with Luvleen, her character in
Ishqedarriyan. Luvleen is from
a small town in Himachal
Pradesh. Calling Ishqedarriyan
her debut as it is for the first
time that she is playing a solo
lead actress, Evelyn says: “Although I have enjoyed playing
an NRI in the past, I want
variety in my work; I want to
experiment with roles till I discover my niche. This is the
time when I can experiment
the most, when I am new to
the field. Once I am established as an actor, trying out
different roles and genres is a
bit risky as the audience might
not accept me in such roles.
Although I feel comedy is my
forte and would love to go the
Jennifer Anniston and Salma
Hayek way, I want to push
myself to see if there are other
genres I am good at.
Ishqedarriyan will show me in
a different light. I get to portray a gamut of emotions –
right from being happy-golucky to heartbroken and vulnerable. I have gone totally
de-glam in the movie and don’t
sport any make-up. This is to
keep the role as realistic as
possible.” Ishqedarriyan, she
says, is a romantic drama. A
simple, musical love story, she
stars opposite Mahaakshay
[actor Mithun Chakraborty’s
son] in the film. “Mahaakshay
plays a rich boy who realises
money can’t buy everything.
He also sacrifices his love for
someone else.” Luvleen runs
her grandfather’s school for
the less privileged. Evelyn admits she had to work hard for
the role of Luvleen. “I had to
work with a diction teacher to
get the Punjabi accent right,”
says the actor who is proud to
have dubbed all her films her-
self. “I have a flair for languages and although I didn’t
know Hindi, with hard work, I
can now speak the language
reasonably well.” Her stint in
theatre while in Germany has
stood her in good stead in
Bollywood. “It has helped me
emote and get into the skin of
the character, easier,” says
the die-hard Shah Rukh Khan
fan. “My favourite movie of his
is Dilwale Dulhani Le Jayange.
I would love to work with him
one day.” A talented singer,
Evelyn has sung in an album in
collaboration with Indo-American artiste Brooklyn Shanti.
She enjoys penning her
thoughts and ‘Something
Beautiful’, her song in Shanti’s
album, is a reflection of a
time when she did not feel
too good about herself. She
plans to release an album
comprising her songs
shortly. The kind of person
who believes in seizing the
moment, she grabbed the
chance when offered the
opportunity to be part of
Life Mein Ek Baar, a reality
dr ama-cum-travel show.
“Who wouldn’t? You are
handed the chance to see the
world and paid for it. The only
problem is that one tends to
face one’s fears on the show
as we discover the adventurous side of life. I am dead
scared of heights but have
managed to conquer it – I
flew a helicopter and it was
exhilarating,” says Evelyn
who has a couple of new
films lined up. “I can’t announce them yet, but yes,
the audience can look forward to seeing me in new,
interesting roles.”
NEW DELHI: The Centre
has decided to drop 'Surya
Namaskar' from 'asanas' to
be performed by people
across the country to commemorate 'International Day
of Yoga' on June 21. The
trimming of the drill is aimed
at catering to the sensibilities
of the minorities in the wake
of opposition from Muslim
groups.Launching a nationwide campaign against making what it dubbed "Hindu
religious practices" compulsory in educational institutions, the All India Muslim
Personal Board (AIMPLB) had
demanded that the order
making Surya Namaskar
compulsory in schools be also
cancelled.Surya Namaskar, a
yogic practice for comprehensive development of the
body, is considered a crucial
component for improvement
of holistic health.Earlier in
April, the government had
come under attack on the
use of "Aum", a chant, while
issuing a common protocol
for celebration of the International Yoga Day.Meanwhile,
preparations are on in full
swing for the mega event on
June 21, which is expected to
witness almost 40,000
people from across the country performing 'asanas' at
Delhi's Rajpath. Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi will address the gathering, minister
of state for AYUSH Shripad
Naik said.The programme,
which will be conducted between 7 am and 7:35 am in
the entire country simultaneously, is likely to be attended
by celebrities like Amitabh
Bachchan, Shilpa Shetty and
Indian Test skipper Virat
Kohli."Our ministry is also trying to register the mega event
in the Guinness Book of World
Records," Naik said. He said
free yoga camps are being
organized in 651 districts while
100 such camps will be held in
Delhi to observe the day. External affairs minister Sushma
Swaraj, along with Naik, will
launch a special portal for the
event on June 9.In December last
year, the United Nations General
Assembly adopted June 21 as
International Yoga Day after PM
Modi urged the world community
to celebrate the ancient discipline
on a global scale. With over 175
nations supporting Modi's proposal, the move was seen as
major diplomatic win for
India.Besides the function at
Rajpath, the capital will also
celebrate 'Yoga Parv' with art
exhibitions, dance and music
performances, as well as theatre shows and events like
talks, meditation sessions and
yoga workshops held across
venues between June 21 and
27. According to official
sources, the Lalit Kala
Akademi, Sahitya Akademi,
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and National
Museum have joined hands
for the event. Over 300 selected works of art, dance
and music performances, and
other presentations by 150
plus artists from across India
and overseas will be showcased to depict the importance of yoga.Various yoga
schools and centres like Isha
Foundation, Patanjali and
Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga are also collaborating to conduct workshops
and yoga sessions along with
showcasing different kinds of
ayurvedic, herbal and organic
products to visitors at the
organic and wellness haat in
the capital.The AYUSH ministry will also organize an
international conference on
yoga which will focus on holistic health. The theme includes traditional basis of
yoga and its role in prevention of diseases along with
therapeutic potentials of
yoga. The conference will also
discuss the importance of
yoga for global peace.The
railways has urged its over
13 lakh employees to celebrate the day in a big way.
After Muslim protests, Surya
Namaskar out of Yoga Day drill
Consumer court orders 12%
Large Hadron Collider resumes atom compensation for flat delivery delay
smashing after two-year pause
Physicists hope the new run might lead
to discoveries that could help "explain remaining mysteries such as dark matter".
Scientists say they have successfully restarted the world’s biggest particle collider
after a two-year shutdown and upgrade and
it’s now producing almost double the collision energy of its first run. The European
Organisation for Nuclear Research, or CERN,
said on Wednesday the Large Hadron
Collider will now run around the clock for
the next three years. The collider underwent a $150 million-upgrade after its first
run, which produced results that helped
confirm the existence of an elusive subatomic particle, the Higgs boson. CERN’s
director, Rolf Heuer, says physicists hope
the new run might lead to discoveries
that could help “explain remaining mysteries such as dark matter”. The LHC,
located in a 27-km tunnel beneath the
Swiss-French border, is now smashing together protons at 13 trillion electronvolts.
GURGAON: In a landmark
ruling, the National Consumer
Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) on Monday
asked real estate major
Unitech to pay buyers compensation at the rate of 12%
per annum for delay in delivery of flats, overruling the
builder-buyer agreement that
had set the rate at 1.8% per
annum. The order came in a
case filed by 24 buyers of a
housing project, Vistas, in
Sector 70 of Gurgaon. The
buyers alleged that they had
booked the flats in 2009-10
and delivery was promised in
36 months. In his order, Justice V K Jain directed the company to pay compensation at
the rate of 12% per annum on
the amount paid for the period
from the date of delivery originally promised to the new
date. The new delivery dates
promised by the company are
between February 2016 and
February 2018. The NCDRC
also ruled that any delay beyond the new deadline promised would draw a compensation of 18% per annum. "In
order to ensure that the opposite parties honour the revised date of delivery of possession, compensation in the
form of interest at a rate higher
than 12% per annum should
be paid by the developer if the
revised date of delivery of
possession is not honoured,"
the judge said. A Unitech
spokesperson told TOI the
company hadn't seen the order yet and would respond
only after it went through it. In
its last hearing in the case on
June 1, the apex consumer
court had rejected Unitech
counsel Sunil Goel's contention that it did not have the
jurisdiction to surpass the
builder-buyer agreement. The
NCDRC had said any unfair
trade practice can be challenged by it, even if there is a
prior agreement between the
parties. "When the buyer is
made to pay 18% penalty for
default, is it fair on the
developer's part to pay a mere
1.8%?" Justice Jain had said.
The lawyer who represented
the buyers, Sushil Kaushik,
said, "When the buyers are
made to pay a penalty at 18%
(for default), the same rule
should apply to the developer
also." Prasoon Dubey, one of
the buyers, said, "The court
has given a positive judgment
for the original allottees, who
stand to get a handsome
amount as compensation. By
March 2013, I have already
paid Rs 50 lakh out of the total
cost of Rs 54 lakh for a flat
of 1,560sqft. Now, I am
hoping that the developer
honours the new deadline."
4
Garvi Gujarat
Ahmedabad. Dt. 14-06-2015 Sunday
Students enrolled under
RTE accuse schools of bias
Vadodara: Parents of students, who were enrolled in a
school under the Right to Education (RTE) Act 2009, have
accused the management of
discrimination. They have alleged that their children were
being kept in separate classes
away from other students who
were not admitted under the
RTE Act. The schools, however, have denied the allegation and said that since the
children enrolled under RTE
were weak in studies they
were being taught in separate
classes. The Vadodara district education officer (DEO),
based on complaints from
parents of 22 students of a
school located on the VIP road,
has initiated inquiry into the
matter. Similar allegations
have been made against other
schools on the VIP Road and
A women enjoys a zip-line ride at Sabarmati Riverfront.
Rain pounds Amreli,
check dams overflow
Rajkot: Three persons
have died after being struck
by lightning in Amreli district
in the past 24 hours, even as
the region witnessed heavy
down pour from the sky with
water entering houses in low
lying areas of Dhari and
Chalala towns of the district.
The region received 90mm
rainfall within three hours,
according to the weather department. There was a flash
flood-like situation in Khari river
located between Amreli and
Chalala. According district
flood control room officials,
rainfall recorded in Lathi was
30 mm, Bagasara 25 mm and
Savarkundla 20 mm.Bhesan
in Junagadh also received 55
mm rainfall in just three hours
on Thursday . Ajay Jiliya, 25,
an agricultural labourer in
Galkotdi village of Babra taluka
in Amreli died after he was
struck by lightning while working in the field. Earlier, on
Wednesday night, two people
lost their lives due to lightning.
They were identified as
Sangita Adivasi (35) in
Khevariya village of Morbi district and Dadubhai Rathod
of Dhakaniya village of
Botad district. On Thursday
, many parts of Saurahstra
received rainfall.These include Kalavad (25 mm) and
Lalpur (25 mm) of
Jamnagar, Jamkandorna (20
mm) and Jasdan (20 mm) of
Rajkot and Bhavnagar received
20 mm rainfall. While, spo-
radic rains were recorded in
occurred in many parts of the
region. Meanwhile, India Meteorological Department (IMD)
officials have issued rainfall
warning for the next four days.
“Light to moderate rainfall
would occur at isolated places
in the region in the next four
days,“ said an official. Farmers in the region have already
started sowing. Farmers who
have irrigation facility have
begun soing their fields. Such
activities were reported from
Rajkot, Morbi, Jamnagar,
Dwarka, Amreli, Junagadh
and Surendranagar districts. The sowing has been
reported on nearly 21,000
hecatres land, of which
large chunk is cotton farming.
Vasna Road, but they have not
registered a formal complaint
with the DEO. “I have received
complaints from the parents
of 22 children from a school
and have ordered an inquiry
into the matter. If found guilty
, we will take necessary action,“ said DEO Navneet Mehta.
“My child is enrolled in a separate class meant for children
from low income backgrounds.
Our children have all the right
to study in a regular class with
other students,“ claimed Abdul
Haji, a parent. However,
school authorities denied the
allegations.“The students who
are enrolled in a separate
classroom are weak students.
We are providing them with
remedial teaching to
strengthen their basics to prepare them for class one,“ said
director of one of the schools.
PGVCL staffer commits
suicide, engineer booked
Rajkot: A deputy engineer
with of Paschim Gujarat Vij
Company Ltd (PGVCL), a state
owned power distribu tion
company , has been book ed
for abetting suicide of a helper.
J C Raiyani is posted at
Mendarda sub-division in Ju
nagadh. Police said that Bipin
Son darva (32), a helper (electric assistant) at PGVCL, con
sumed a poisonous substance
on Tuesday in Mendarda. He
was rushed to a private hospi
tal in Junagadh where he died.
His family members al leged
that Bipin took this ex treme
step due to harassment by
Raiyani. The family mem bers
protested outside the po lice
station and demanded that
Raiyani be booked. Family
members also pro duced an
audio clip and an SMS which
Bipin had sent to his friends
before he commit ted suicide.
Bipin had talked to his mother
about the ha rassment he was
subjected to by Raiyani.
“Raiyani mentally tortures me
and forces me to work over 12
hours. He also says he will
remove all dalit workers from
this office. He does not allow
me to go to take lunch in the
afternoon. I am being tortured.
Therefore, I am taking this
step. Please take care of my
wife and children. Give a job
to my wife,“ said the suicide
note-cumSMS sent to his
friends. A 20-year-old boy allegedly killed himself on Tuesday at his Gotri residence. A
student of M S University's
Polytechnic College, Yogesh
Mahavre committed suicide
using his mother's dupatta
to hang himself from the
ceiling in his room.
Profitability a priority for Gujarat
Special brigade to
clear traffic mess in farmers: Cash crops being favoured
Surat's textile markets
Surat: At a time when
traffic police are running short
of staff to manage the ever
increasing traffic problems
in the Diamond City , textile
traders from more than 40
textile markets at Moti
Begumwadi on Ring Road
have decided to recruit
trained traffic brigade personnel to manage traffic in
the market area. Initially, 15
personnel will be hired with
the help of Surat Traffic Education Trust (STET) to manage traffic at Moti Begumwadi
under the guidance of traffic
police. Moti Begumwadi is
one of the most congested
market areas on Ring Road,
housing the biggest RKT and
the NTM textile markets.
There are a total of 25,000
shops in the 40 textile markets here and over 1.5 lakh
people visit them daily . The
roads inside the markets are
less than 20 feet wide, which
result in traffic chaos during
the peak hours in the com
munally sensitive area.
Around 80 per cent of retail
customers visiting the markets are women. The textile
traders have formed Moti
Begumwadi Welfare Committee to take up the traffic management project. The committee consists of one representative from each of the 40
markets. The committee has
already finalized the traffic
points where the traffic brigade personnel will be deployed, their monthly wages,
uniform etc. Jay Lal, chairman of traffic committee, Federation of Surat Textile Traders' Association, told TOI,
“Traffic congestion is a burning issue in the textile market
hub on Ring Road. Moti
Begumwadi is a pilot project
to launch the traffic brigade
service. If it succeeds, it will
be emulated in other markets as well.“ M J Pathan,
assistant commissioner of
police (traffic), told TOI,
“Textile traders have
shown interest in hiring
traffic brigade personnel.
We are ready to provide
them the personnel. We
have just 348 traffic brigade personnel and the trust
is likely to recruit another 200
personnel.All the costs, including wages, will be borne
by the traders.“
Gujarat helpline uniting
families across India
Vadodara: Thirty-year-old
Priya (name changed) from
Howrah never thought that the
promise of ajob and marriage
could turn into a nightmare in
less than 48 hours.Priya took
a leap of faith when she
boarded
a
train
to
Ahmedabad.Her lover and boss
for over three years had convinced her that Ahmedabad
would be the start of a new life
for them. Within two days of
reaching Ahmedabad, Priya
found herself abandoned on
the road in an alien city where
she found it difficult to even
communicate. When 181
Abhayam found her she was
extremely traumatized and
could hardly contain her sobs.
The statewide women grievance redressal service has
come as an effective help to
many such women who lost
their way into the state. The
year-old service already has
numerous success stories of
tracing families in various
other states and reuniting
them -Priya being one of many
success sto ries. Along with
helping women i from across
the state, 181 Abhayam has
rescued over 2,000 from other
states too. “Most of these
women are from Maharashtra,
Madhya Pradesh and
Rajasthan. But we have rescued women from Bihar, Uttar
Pradesh and West Bengal too.
After seeing them around for
months and noticing that they
do not speak the local language, locals inform us,“ said
181 Abhayam project head
Narendrasinh Gohil. “The most
common factor that we see
among these rescued women
is mental illness. Many of them
had boarded the train on an
impulse and got down at a
railway station again on an
impulse. And once they are in
an unfamiliar place, they
would develop a state of
paranoia,“ Gohil added.
Ahmedabad, Vadodara and
Surat report the highest
number of such cases.
Ahmedabad: Maharash tra
has pipped Gujarat in production of banana, pushing the
state to the third position with
Tamil Nadu bagging the top
hon ours. The production of
banana in the state was 42.25
lakh metric tonnes in 201314. The area of banana farming was 6.65 lakh metric
tonnes (MT).This is a yield of
63.54 MT per hectare. In 201112 Gujarat had the highest
banana yield with 62.50 MT
per hectare. Today, Madhya
Pradesh dominates this slot
with a yield of 66.04 MT per
hectare. The state's agriculture is taking the money
trail.Cash crops are ruling
the roost, while other traditional farm produce are falling
by the wayside. The drop in
banana produce is owing to
farmers' inclination for more
profitable produce like grapes
and pomegranate. Agriculture
College Bharuch principal K G
Patel said: “We've noticed that
due to changes in climate,
Gujarat farmers are moving
away from banana production. They've instead chosen
pomegranate and grape
crops because these are
more cash-generating produce.“ A state agriculture
department official said,
“Farming of pomegranate
is increasing in the state. In
2011-12 pomegranate
farming was in 6,200 hectares, but now it has increased to 9,380 hectares.
Owing to change in climatic
conditions yield per hectare
for tradi tional crops has
shown a steady decline
since the last four years. This
has forced the farmers to look
for cash-rich alterna tives.“
Data released by the Union
ministry of agricul ture shows
that Gujarat still is the top
producer o spices in the country, yet the per hectare yield is
dropping steadily here too
Average production has
touched a new low 1.57 MT.
Dean of College of agri culture, Junagadh Agri culture
University, A V Ba rad, said:
“Decrease in production is
because farmers now prefer cash crops. Even if climate doesn't favour spices
farmers are opting for it in
the hope of making more
profits. This is pushing the
production down.“ Gujarat
has the highest per hectare
yield, yet the state is ranked
fourth in terms of production.
In po tato too per hectare
pro duction is the highest in
the country, but when it
comes to overall produc tion,
the state is ranked sixth.
Sea level rises, floods
three villages in Khambhat
Ahmedabad: Few days
ago, three villages located
on the coast of Gulf of
Khambat experienced an unusual phenomenon. The sea
level here rose abnormally ,
flowing six km inside the villages. This has surprised residents here for the past five
days.These villages include
Vadgam, Dhuvaran and
Talatalav .A few elderly here
claim that they had observed
this phenomenon almost six
decades ago. Anand district
collector Dhaval Kumar Patel
has already barricaded the
coastal area of these villages
and has restricted people
from going close to the shore.
Patel has now approached
Bhaskaracharya Institute for
Space Applications and Geoinformatics (BISAG) in
Gandhinagar to provide satellite maps over a period of few
years to understand the phenomenon. “Right now we've
restricted people from approaching the coasts. We've
approached BISAG for some
explanation.This is a natural phenomenon and has periodicity . This will last for
few days and the sea will
recede then,“ Patel said.
The district administration
is also trying to prevent ru-
mor mongering that may
fuel panic in the area. Anand
collectorate officials claim that
the actual coast was six km
away . They also claim that
the current weather disturbances ahead of the monsoons may be one of the rea
sons for the sudden rise in
the water levels. Other local
villagers pointed towards excessive sand mining in Vatrak
and Mahi rivers to be one of
the main reasons. “There is
an ONGC well almost a half a
km inside the coast. It now
lies completely inundated,“
says a senior official of the
Anand collectorate.
4
Medical care for these
doctors means compassion
Ahmedabad: About twenty
policemen stand outside the
office of assistant commissioner of police (Traffic) Dr
Raj deepsinh Zala, with their
medical files. The peon calls
their names out one by one
and they go in for consultation. Inside the office, Dr
Rajdeepsinh Zala, who holds
a BAMS degree and was a
doctor before joining the police force in 2011 as DSP
(deputy superintendent of police), is busy checking medical
files of policemen and prescribing them medicine. “During a traffic selection parade I
noticed some policemen sitting on the sidelines. When I
asked them why , they told me
they were suffering from various illnesses.That was the
point when I decided to check
on whether they are getting
proper medical care,“ said
Zala. About then, head constable Sakta Jakshi entered
his office and handed his medical file to ACP Zala. “Sir, I have
an injury in the ligament on
my right leg. The injury was
sustained at the time of the
2008 hooch tragedy while raiding a liquor den,“ says head
constable Jakshi to ACP
Zala.After attending to him,
ACP Zala turns to constable
Praveenkumar Chaganlal,
posted with Kalupur police station who has a problem with
his eyesight due to uncontrolled diabetes. ACP Zala prescribed him a few medicines
and referred him to a specialist at VS Hospital. ACP Zala
told TOI that as a doctor, it is
his moral duty to treat and
inspect his staffers who are ill.
“I arrange such inspection pro
grammes periodically to ensure that police personnel are
getting proper medical attention,“ added ACP Zala. Constable Ashok Rai Bahadur said
ACP Zala is an officer in a
double role for them. “He is as
good a doctor as he is a police
officer. For small illnesses like
fever, cold we don't have to go
the doctor. ACP sir always
prescribes us the proper medicine,“ added constable Ashok.
ACP Zala, who is the son of
teacher from Halvad in
Saurashtra, said diabetes, cardiac disease, stress and arthritis are the illnesses found
commonly in policemen, due
to the nature of their duty . As
young couples bubble with
excitement at the prospect of
setting off on their honeymoon
after wedding celebrations, a
newly-wed couple NRG couple
has cancelled their romantic
getaway to fulfil one additional
wed ding vow -to serve the
poor and needy . Cupid struck
Ahmedabadborn dentists Dr
Rini Bavishi and Dr Rushabh
Doshi while they were working in the US. Dr Rini excelled
at the prestigious New York
University and Dr Rushabh at
Boston University .After their
studies, they both of them
started practicing in Boston.
After consulting and convincing their parents, the couple
married on June 6. The couple
had plans to wind down in
Greece after their wedding
here, but chose to serve the
less fortunate sections in their
home town. They organized a
free dental diagnostic camp
for residents of the
Chandrabhaga slum in Vadaj
as part of their wedding celebrations. The couple
screened more than 100 patients, including 57 kids, for
dental health in one hour. Rini's
inspiration was none other
than her parents and gynecologists Dr Mukesh Bavishi
and Dr Vidula Bavishi. They
have been organizing charity
health camps every year for
more than two decades. Talking to TOI, she said: “Charity
is predominant in our family. I
also wanted to send out the
message that doctors are not
just about making money . They
also have a social obligation.“
Vadodara’s old city on boil
again, mishap sparks violence
Vadodara: A minor accident between a car and a
twowheeler led to rioting and
heavy stone pelting in
Fatehpura-Bhandwada area
late on Tuesday night. As
many as 33 people from both
the communities were arrested soon after the incident. A State Reserve Police
(SRP) personnel was injured
and some vehicles were damaged in the rioting that started
at about 11 pm. The police
had to lob three teargas shells
to quell the rioters who went
berserk. Some rioters even
tried to set ablaze a twostoreyed house in Marwadi
Mohalla in the locality but the
cops reached on spot in
time.The family staying in the
house claimed that their
neighbours sprayed kerosene
on the walls of their home.
The cops have arrested 33
persons from both communities. Many more are expected
to be arrested, police sources
said. Four days ago, riots had
occurred in Fatehpura over
desecration of an idol in a
temple. The mob had set a
house on fire and ransacked
bank ATMs during the rioting. “A minor accident on
Tuesday night led to the rioting in Fatehpura-Bhandwada
area. The police rushed to
the spot and controlled the
situation. We have stepped
up security in the communal
ly sensitive areas,“ said city
police commissioner, E
Radhakrishana. As heavy
stone pelting began in
Fatehpura, a house occupied
by Mehmoodkhan Pathan in
Marwadi Mohalla came under attack. Pathan's daugh-
ter Shaina said that the
neighbours entered their
house and tried to set it on
fire by dousing kerosene on
the walls. “We called the police that saved us in the nick
of time,“ Shaina said. However, her neighbour Amrutdas
Marwadi said that stones
were pelted at them from
Pathan's house. “They are in
business of liquor and we
have been opposing it. So
were attacked,“ Marwadi
claimed. The police said that
when they reached the spot
they saw the walls drenched
in kerosene.“We have arrested members of both families from the area,“ said a
police official. The police
haven't been able to track
down drivers of the car and
two-wheeler fight between
whom led to the rioting.
Dharmaj village earns Rs 25L
per annum from wasteland
Ahmedabad: Dharmaj vil age
in Anand district seems to have
developed the Midas touch.
Villagers here have transformed
a barren piece of Gauchar land
into a fertile and productive
patch with more than 3,000
fruit-bearing trees and grass
which generate Rs 25 lakh income per annum. The village,
which was known for its NRI
linkages as a sizeable chunk of
its population is now settled
abroad, is now being hailed as a
trendsetter. Impressed by its
experiment with the barren
Gauchar land, the state government is planning to replicate
good practices of Dharmaj in
other parts of Gujarat. The
Gujarat government has set up
Dharmaj Gauchar Sudharna
Yojna and allocated Rs 100 crore
for similar barren-land rejuvenation in 100 villages across the
state. Raju Patel, a resident of
Dharmaj, says: “Grass grown on
barren and helps provide fodder for cattle in respective
villages.Then the fruit-bearing
trees bring in additional income.“
Patel has been appointed by
the state government as the
vice-president of Gau Seva and
Gauchar Sudharna Samiti.
Dharmaj's panchayat secretary
Nainesh Patel says: “Of the 142
acre gauchar land in Dharmaj,
we've developed 65 acres as
grassland and 50 for fruit tree
plantations. Grassland doesn't
need much expenditure. Fertilizers are not needed while we
have diverted our gutter water
into this patch. We've employed
60 persons to cut grass and
deliver to 400 houses in Dharmaj
every day for Rs 16 per 20 kg,
while the same 20 kg grass
bundle would cost Rs 50 in
other markets.“ Central government too is scrutinizing the
Dharmaj model. Dharmaj
sarpanch Vijay Patel said: “Several teams of central government have inspected our village which has 12 banks, RCC
roads, an RO plant for drinking water and all other civic
amenities that even a big
town can't boast of. Dharmaj
gram panchayat has a corpus
of Rs 1.75 crore.“
Three more arrested for
rioting in Vadodara
Vadodara: Three more persons were arrested on Tuesday
in connection with the rioting that broke out in Fatehpura area
on Sunday night. This is in addition to the 13 who were arrested
on Monday evening. The riots had broken out after an idol in a
temple in Fatehpura was desecrated by unidentified persons.
However, families of the accused gathered outside the court
and claimed that their kin are innocent. “We are tracking down
other accused involved in the rioting. We have identified fixed
points in the Fatehpura area and are conducting heavy patrolling,“ said joint police commissioner, D J Patel. He added
that they are yet to ascertain the exact cause of riots.
More crop per drop through
‘injection well’ in pond
Surat: For Arvind Patel, a
farmer in Dinod Village of Mangrol
Taluka in Surat district, it was a
dream to take two or more
crops in a year. His land on a hilly
terrain meant water flowing
away even if the rain was good.
But last year he was able to
take three crops of wheat,
sesame and lady finger. The
quality and quantity of crop
increased. This miracle was possible because of setting up an
injection well in a village pond.
Today the farmers of eight vil-
lages around Dinod are reaping
the benefits. Arvind Patel said,
“We have not suffered shortage of water in our bore wells
since last year. The water levels
have not gone down.“ The
farmers with the help of experts from district watershed
development unit (DWDU) have
been able to raise ground water levels by two feet in one
year and increase their crop out
by 15% to 20% by using additional stored water and stopping soil erosion.This technique
is also being replicated in Patan
and Junagadh. It was in 201314 that the injection well was
set up. While digging up this
well with a three meter diameter in the center of the pond,
an inlet that was two feet higher
than high flood level (HFL) was
kept. A filter was placed to
clean the water it percolates in
the soil. A DWDU civil engineer
Mayur Kapadia said, “The intention was to get the excess water
underground which can improve
the water levels in the whole area.
Children enjoying a ride on the cycle zone at Sabarmati Riverfont.
RNI No. GUJENG/2014/57876 Printed, Published & Owned by AJAYKUMAR RAMANLAL PRAJAPATI and Printed at Vansh Corporation, A/8, Shayona Golden Estate, Shahibag, Ahmedabad - 380 004
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