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Apr 09, 2007

Eight Maoists killed in Jharkhand

Ranchi, April 9 (IANS) Eight Maoists were killed and six injured in Jharkhand Monday evening following a gun battle between two groups of Leftwing radicals, police said.

The clash took place between communist party of India-Maoist supporters and those of a breakaway faction in Latehar district, Additional Director general of Police G.S. Rath said here.

http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2007/april/09/india_news/eight_maoists_killed_in
_jharkhand.html

Jharkhand Gram Sabhas to decide land prices for industry

JAMSHEDPUR, APR 9: Gram Sabhas will determine prices of the land to be acquired by companies for setting up projects in Jharkhand.

This is one of the 'innovative' clauses that have found place in the much-awaited draft Jharkhand resettlement & rehabilitation (R&R) policy to be declared in April, deputy chief minister Sudhir Mahato told FE.

"I am trying my best to make an early announcement (of the policy)", Mahato said.
The government is likely to call an all-party meet soon to ratify the draft policy.

The minister had on March 22 said that the state's R&R policy would be in place by either the last week of March or the first week of April 2007.

So far it was the government that used to fix prices of land after grading it properly by applying various criteria, including the number of crops grown on it in a year, Mahato said.

"Now there will now be only one flat rate, and that will be decided by Gram Sabhas," said Mahato.

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=160659

Naxals evade 'intelligence' net

PATNA: Outlawed they may be, but Maoists operating in Bihar and Jharkhand appear to be more "intelligent" than the law-enforcing agencies of the two states.

The failure of state intelligence agencies to get even an inkling of the Maoist operations in recent times is a pointer to this grim reality.

Sample this: Of the 40,000-odd police officers and regular forces comprising the Jharkhand police, 1,100 have been posted with its intelligence wing, Special Branch.

And 1,700 of the 80,000-plus forces of the Bihar police work exclusively for intelligence gathering. In both states, the Special Branch is headed by an ADGP-rank officer.

Yet not even a single individual had any information before 1,000 men and women, heavily armed and equipped with walkie-talkies, attacked Madhuban town in Bihar's East Champaran district in June 2005; or when more than 500 Naxalites raided Jehanabad jail in Bihar in November 2005 and freed all the prisoners; or, for that matter, when over 400 descended on the state's Riga town in March this year.

Similarly, the number of Naxalites participating in operations in Jharkhand has also not been less than 100 each time.

They were more than 100 when they hijacked the Barkakana-Barwadih train near Barkakana in March 2006 and kept the passengers hostage for the whole night. As many as 300 of them attacked the CISF camp at Bokaro last Friday.

And not these operations were executed suddenly."They must have been pre-planned and well-coordinated as each operation involved participation of hundreds of armed activists," said a Naxal watcher.

CPI (Maoist) sub-zonal commander Bhagirath Mahto's statement to Jharkhand police also suggests this. Mahto, arrested from Hazaribagh district in February this year, is learnt to have told the police that Maoist squads have been asked for quite sometime by their central committee to"kill" politicians and policemen and"loot arms" in order to boost the morale of its cadres.

"What intelligence? So many people move around with arms and the police come to know about it after the attackers pull their triggers," a retired police officer said. Even Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar was on record having termed"intelligence" as"zero".

As for the arrest of Maoists after the operations, Jharkhand Special Branch ADGP Neyaz Ahmed admitted that Naxalites moving in groups of hundreds are difficult to be identified and trapped."But based on inputs from police sources in villages, we do arrest a few of them," he added.

However, sceptics doubt the police claims. "Don't go by the number of arrest being given by the police... Ask the police how come the sophisticated arms that are used in the Naxal operations are not recovered from the possession of those arrested," said the Naxal watcher.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Naxals_evade_intelligence_net/articleshow/
1876206.cms

Maoists deploying their women to win over disaffected villagers
The non-implementation of labour laws, increase in the number of unorganised labour and the farmers living in poor conditions is providing the Maoists with an ideal opportunity to persuade the masses to join their fold.

Instead of involving them in violent activities, the female cadres reportedly take up jobs as labourers and influence the masses by mingling with them.

The female cadres are active in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.According to a study by S Narain of the AN Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, "Social interaction between the successive Governments from pre-independence era and the tribals did not exist, and the local people got attracted towards Maoists ideology, as they accepted them as their benefactors".

Home Minister officials are finding it difficult to accept their annual report, which claims Maoist violence has reduced.

"Decrease in violence does not mean reduction in their strength," a local daily quoted a senior Home Ministry official as saying."They often use the tactics to reduce the violent activities to create an atmosphere of ease in the establishment and they make surprise attacks to get maximum benefit in terms of looting guns and ammunition from the police," he added citing the Bijapur incident in Chhatisgarh.

Ministry's annual report said that in 2006, the Maoist violence reduced by over six per cent compared to the previous year.

While, 1,608 incidents related to Maoists were reported in 2005, the number came down to 1,509 last year.

The report further said that out of total 8,252 police stations in the country, Maoists are present in at least 508 with considerable strength.

According to Home Ministry, 76 districts in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are 'badly affected by Maoist violence'.

Maoists operate in 13 of 29 states along what is called a "red corridor" stretching from the border with Nepal to Andhra Pradesh.

The Maoists have pitted their campaign against landlords and the state administration whom they accuse of exploiting the poor.

In 2006, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called them the biggest internal security challenge facing India since independence.

http://www.dailyindia.com/show/132024.php/Maoists-deploying-their-women-to-win-over
-disaffected-villagers

A Historic Injustice Perpetrated on Jharkhand Adivasis

After series of village meetings and local demonstrations, an adivasi delegation from Jharkhand consisting of Prakash Toppo, Suresh Oroan and Suresh Munda, led by the state secretary of the Party, met the union minister for Defence A.K.Antony on April 2 at New Delhi and submitted a joint petition signed by 552 affected adivasis from seven villages around Ranchi airport demanding the return of 1200 acres of adivasi lands occupied by the defence establishment. In response to an earlier memorandum of the state committee of the Party, the Defence minister wrote back to Brinda Karat, MP that the lands belong to Defence establishment and that some of the adivasis, who are cultivating a small portion of the lands, were encroachers. This joint petition of the adivasis exposed, with documentary evidences from British period, the hollowness of the claim of the Defence establishment.

This is a story of historic injustice done to the adivasis in British India which continued even in independent India. During Second World War, the headquarters of Eastern Command was shifted temporarily from Kolkata to Ranchi. Under Defence of India rule, using extraordinary power, thousands of acres of adivasi lands were requisitioned by the British government for this purpose. Adivasi houses were demolished, trees were cut and an airstrip was constructed for Defence aircraft landing. Since the lands were requisitioned, there was neither any rehabilitation of adivasis nor any compensation was given to them. The lands were never acquired under Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The lands continued to remain in the name of adivasis, but occupied by the Defence even after the war ended, India became independent and a republic. In 1962, the temporarily constructed airstrip of the Defence at Ranchi was handed over to civil aviation ministry where present Ranchi Airport is situated.

This led to an abnormal situation which was continuously ignored by the Defence and Civil Aviation ministries of the central government. The adivasis are having khatiyans (land records) and, with the hope that their lands would be returned to them some day, have been paying land taxes, earlier to Bihar government and at present to Jharkhand government, of the lands which are in occupation of Defence and even of the lands where present Ranchi Airport is situated and where aircrafts are landing! State governments issued receipts to them on regular basis. Copies of these documents were submitted to the Defence minister.

Defence personnel are regularly preventing the adivasis, who are cultivating some portion of their vacant lands, preventing their entry in the villages, preventing them from repairing their houses and performing religious functions. Against such high handed actions of the Defence, regular demonstrations and protests are taking place.

In a judgement related to these lands, occupied by Defence, the Ranchi Bench of Patna High Court stated, " According to the State (State of Bihar) the lands in dispute and other plots which belong to Scheduled Tribes as was shown in annexure-3, were never acquired nor possession of the same was given for Air Field/Aerodrome" and ordered the Station Commander of Defence at Ranchi, " not to interfere with the petitioner and other similarly situated persons, whoever having right, title and possession over the land, except by obtaining an order of the court of competent jurisdiction."In this land dispute between the adivasis and the Defence, three member bench of Supreme Court in 1989 directed, "Status quo as on today regarding possession shall be maintained."

Yet Defence minister of India writes that the lands belong to Defence establishment and that the adivasis were the encroachers! Though to the delegation, Defence minister assured to re-look into the entire issue, adivasis under the banner of CPI(M) are preparing for continuous agitation till historic injustice to them is corrected. A massive meeting of the adivasis is scheduled to be held shortly.

http://pd.cpim.org/2007/0408/04082007_jharkhand.htm

Maoists strike again in Bihar

Patna, April 8: After storming Bokaro in Jharkhand on Friday killing six persons, armed Maoist rebels today organised simultaneous attacks at two places in Bihar killing two security personnel and injuring three others.

Two railway protection force (RPF) jawans were killed and three others wounded in a daring strike by ultras on the Howrah-Mokama passenger train in Jamui district of Bihar this morning.

And even before the Bihar government could tackle the Maoist assault on train, the extremists attacked a contingent of the CRPF in Gaya district this afternoon.

Both Jamui and Gaya are among the 23 Naxal affected districts of Bihar of the total 38.

SP of Jamui Amarendra Kumar Amar said at 8.00 am today over 50 Maoists boarded the train near the Ghorparan railway station on Jhajha-Jasidih section in a dramatic way. They threw chilly powder in the eyes of the RPF personnel and seized their arms and shot them.

While no passengers was harmed by the ultras, the injured security personnel were admitted in a nearby hospital in Jhaja.

The Maoists looted five arms from the the security personnel. A massive manhunt has been launched to nab the extremists.

After this, in a separate incident the Naxalites attacked the CRPF contingent near Hassanpur village under the Aati police station area of Gaya district around 3 pm when it was returning after conducting a routine raid in villages falling under the Konch police station to flush out the extremists.

CRPF assistant commandant S.K. Savita said the Maoists escaped after the encounter that lasted for half an hour in which no one was injured.

One self loading rifle (SLR), three rifles looted from the police, two country made guns, live wire used for detonating land mine blasts, 200 live cartridges of different bores, Naxalite literature and police uniform used by the commandos were recovered from the encounter site.

Today's simultaneous attacks by the Maoists was third in a row in less than 10 days after they had stormed the Riga police station in Sitamari near Nepal border in north Bihar on March 31 night. At that time the Special Auxiliary Force (SAP) jawans comprising ex-Army men formed by the Bihar government foiled the attempt by ultras to loot a nationalised bank there. Meanwhile, Chief minister Nitish Kumar asked senior police officers to rush to the spot and seal the nearby border with Jharkhand.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070409/main3.htm

Russian firm taps Ruias for Orissa alumina plant

MUMBAI: It was in 2002 when the world's second largest aluminium company, Rusal, expressed an interest in the bidding for state-owned Nalco, Asia's largest alumina company. Although that didn't progress further as the government stopped the privatisation process for Nalco, the Russian company hasn't given up hope.

It has now been reliably learnt that Rusal has approached the Ruias of Essar to jointly build a 1 million-tonne alumina refinery plant in Orissa as part of its larger strategy to own alumina capacities across the world. The cost of building such a project is about $1 billion.

The steel-to-telecom Essar group had earlier announced a steel project in Orissa. Sources in the group said though there were informal talks with Rusal for an alumina plant, but "nothing has taken off." A spokesman for the group said: "There were informal discussions but nothing has been concluded." The group currently makes about 5 million tonnes of steel a year at its plant in Hazira, Gujarat.

Although the $15-billion Indian conglomerate hasn't publicly evinced interest of entering the non-ferrous sector, it has formed a business development team to explore "all" options, the sources added.

Interestingly, last year the Essar group formed a joint venture with metals maker Hindalco Industries to mine coal, a vital raw material in metal making. The coal mines are scheduled to be developed at the Mahan block in the Sidhi-Singrauli coalfields in Madhya Pradesh. Coal production is scheduled to start after 2009.

Orissa is home to one of India's largest bauxite deposits and has attracted global majors — Canada-based Alcan has teamed up with Hindalco under Utkal Alumina to build an alumina refinery in that state.

Rusal, which makes 4.1 million tonnes of alumina annually, is planning to double that production in the next five years. Access to cheap power is important in this sector as alumina, which is extracted from the mineral bauxite, is refined electrolytically to make the metal aluminium.

Companies that have access to cheap electricity can convert alumina into aluminium, while high energy cost regions have seen large-scale plant closures. Aluminium companies in North America and Europe are either closing plants or shifting manufacturing activities to areas with access to alumina and power.

Some of the large companies that had shut down units recently include Alcoa, Hydro, Pechiney and Mexico's Almexa Aluminio. Rusal had evinced interest in Nalco mainly because of its large alumina capacity, 1.6 million tonnes, which is made at a low cost

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Indl_Goods__Svs/Metals
__Mining/Russian_firm_taps_Ruias_for_Orissa_alumina_plant/articleshow/1876117.cms

Irrawaddy dolphins swim easier

Chilika Lagoon - Hope is rising that the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin can be saved in India after a survey showed more of the animals than before in a vast, brackish lagoon in the east of the country.

Environmentalists say much more needs to be done to preserve the dolphins in Chilika Lagoon in India's eastern Orissa state, the largest lagoon population of the animals in the world.

But fears of their imminent disappearance appear to have diminished after a 2007 survey showed 135 of the little-known species of short-beaked dolphins in Chilika.

Hope lies in the involvement of local communities

"It's an ideal habitat for the species, which prefers medium salinity," said Sudarshan Panda, head of the Chilika Development Authority. "We have done a lot of things for the dolphins and our activities are now showing results."

The Irrawaddy, or Orcaella brevirostris, lives in estuaries, rivers and shallow coastal marine waters in south and southeastern Asia and is a smaller relative of the Orca.

In 2004, the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species voted to prohibit commercial trade in the Irrawaddy dolphin and placed it on Appendix I where it joined big cats and great apes.

The move was intended to prevent the easily-trained dolphin being removed from the wild for use in Asian water parks.

The light-grey mammals, which grow to just over 2m in length rarely show themselves fully above the water - a fin, flipper and nose all that usually emerges.

'We are very concerned'

Experts say there is not even enough data about the shy mammals to give a reliable estimate of their global population. But lagoon populations in other places are falling, including in the Ayeyarwady River in Myanmar which gave the species its name.

That makes preserving the Chilika group especially important.

Hope lies in the involvement of local communities in dolphin conservation. People around Chilika Lake on India's east coast have long considered the dolphins a blessing, and even today cast their nets near where dolphins are sighted.

They have also woken up to their financial value, after a group of foreign tourists got excited after spotting dolphins during a birdwatching trip in the late 1980s.

Tourism took off, and today more than 400 boats ply the southern section of the lake chasing the dolphins.

Scientists came too. A marine assessment in 1992 found around 20 dolphins in the lake, but the first systematic survey conducted in 2002 showed a population of 98.

Panda says surveys since then have shown the numbers steadily rising, but others are not so sure. Direct count surveys are not considered reliable, and trends difficult to extrapolate.

"The fact that monitoring is continuing is good but I wouldn't say the population is increasing or decreasing," said Dipani Sutaria, a marine biologist who has been studying the dolphins in Chilika since 2004 and says her own analysis suggests there may be 95 to 110 individuals.

In some years up to 15 dolphins have been killed in a single year by becoming entangled in fishing nets or being hit by the propellers of tourist boats.

Panda says the CDA is working hard to protect the animals. Boatmen have been asked to remain at least 50m from the animals, always stay behind a group to reduce the risk of collision and employ propeller guards.

Only three were found dead last year, but it's too early to declare victory, they say. Dolphins typically give birth to just one calf every three years and Sutaria says the small population in the lake can only absorb one or two deaths a year.

"We are very concerned," said Biswajit Mohanty of the Wildlife Society of Orissa. "We have to be careful to avoid even a single death since the population is so low."

There are no laws in place to enforce the guidelines. On a trip to the lake in mid-March, the rules were widely ignored.

Panda hopes for legislation soon, but says he also needs to consider the livelihoods of 200 000 people who depend on the lake, and cannot ban propeller boats as Mohanty would like.

Nevertheless the CDA is promoting alternative income generating activities to reduce the pressures of over-fishing.

Trees are being planted upstream in an attempt to reduce sedimentation, channels have been dredged and a fresh mouth opened to the sea to prevent siltation and shrinkage of the lake.

There are bigger problems too.

Widespread commercial aquaculture - shrimp farming along the lake shores - promoted by the World Bank in the 1960s is disrupting water flows, encouraging siltation and taking up valuable fish hatching sites, scientists say.

Beside the lake, a sign boldly declares "No Plastic Beyond This Point". It stands beside a row of shops selling water bottles and snacks for the tourists who flock to see the dolphins.

A pile of garbage in the lake mud just a few metres further on provides a graphic reminder of the challenges ahead.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?tet_id=14&click_id=143&art_id=nw200703290512
35863C577232

Hungry Bengal: 71.6 lakh lack enough food, says survey

Economists say rapid industrialisation and job creation can cut poverty

Kolkata: WITH a whopping 71.6 lakh people going daily without sufficient food, West Bengal tops the country's hunger list according to the latest report of National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO).

The survey says 8.8 lakh people out of these 71.6 lakh do not get two square meals a day throughout the year.

The survey finds at least 10.6% of the state's rural population, and 0.7% of its urban residents, not getting adequate food in some months of the year.

The NSSO survey, carried out in the 2004-05 fiscal year, notes that "getting enough food every day" means that a person gets, by and large, "sufficient food to eat" daily.

The survey states: "This question is asked to record the subjective perception of households regarding sufficiency of food. While putting this question to the informant, it is thus presumed that the informant has a clear understanding of its meaning."

Economists say West Bengal's poor land-man ratio has caused pseudo-employment, or disguised employment, in rural areas and has thereby raised the poverty level. The only way out, they say, is a higher level of industrialisation to ease pressure on land, reduce urban poverty and migration to urban centres.

Prof Abhirup Sarkar of the Indian Statistical Institute, says though Bengal comes third in land-productivity ratio, after Punjab and Haryana, the state's "man-to-land ratio is three times the all-India average".

The survey says 9.1 per cent households in Bengal do not get sufficient food for between one and three months, making it the worst performing state. In contrast, Assam reported 3.6 per cent households going "half-fed" throughout the year.

Sarkar says the increasing pressure on land, due to post-independence migration, is not commensurate with productivity.

Significantly, 29.9 per cent of the people who are part of Antyodaya Anna Yojana and 20.3 per cent Below Poverty Line-card holders have reported food shortage in Bengal, the survey says.

The Antyodaya scheme identifies poorest of the poor and offers them foodgrain at heavily subsidised rates.

Noted economist Dipankar Dasgupta, however, says food shortage is not the biggest problem. Creation of jobs, he says, would help cut the level of poverty by reducing pressure on land and.

Giving an indication of where West Bengal stands vis-à-vis other states, the report states 2 per cent of Bihar's rural population reported not getting enough food in some months of the year, while 0.8 per cent said they face shortage throughout.

In Uttar Pradesh, 1.4% of rural population reported food inadequacy for some months and 0.3% for the entire year.

The figure for the rural populace in Orissa, the survey states, is 4.8 per cent.

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=230609

A little help needed but...

KOLKATA, April 9: The conch shell industry, which traces it's origin to the days immediately after Independence, was set in the North 24-Parganas by a group of small businessmen from Bangladesh, is now on the brink of extinction courtesy an apathetic government.

The Sankha Baniks (conch shell businessmen) came to India from the erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and established their colony here in 1950. They settled in different parts of West Bengal mostly in Baghbazar and Amherst Street in Kolkata, Barrackpur in North 24-Parganas and Chandannagar in Hooghly district. There are at least 18,000 to 20,000 people involved with conch craft in the Barrackpore Sankha Banik Colony. Considering their professional approach in making conch ornaments including shells, bangles and finger rings, nearly 250 artists were provided with two cottas of land each by the West Bengal Government free of cost to set up their units. They found appreciation from all quarters including the Tamil Nadu government and things for these businessmen had never looked brighter. But slowly this industry witnessed its downslide with the passage of time and now it has nearly come to the brink of extinction.

Conch artist Mr Sudha Krishna Dhar of Barrackpore, North 24-Parganas said: "In the beginning we purchased raw material and got five per cent discount on the purchase of conch worth Rs 50,000 from West Bengal Handicraft Development Corporation Ltd. But now the discount is no longer available. Consequently we are compelled to purchase the raw materials from open markets at higher rates. This has raised our production cost and as a result the prices of conch products have also increased".

In 2002 Ms Maneka Gandhi and Mr TR Balu of Tamil Nadu stopped the haul of the conch for environmental reasons. West Bengal Conch Craft Association subsequently raised a protest. With the intervention of minister Mr Banshogopal Chowdhury the matter was resolved, said Mr Dhar.

Another conch artist Mr Subrato Kumar Nag said, the conches are of eight to ten species. Their life span generally ranges from six months and most of them are acquired from the sea adjoining the coast of Tamilnadu, Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gujarat and Srilanka.

The rate of conch ornament (a pair of bangles) ranges from Rs 40 to Rs 300 and the profit on these ornaments ranges from Rs 8 to Rs 10. A conch artist can make a profit of Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 per month.

These ornaments are generally dispatched to Delhi, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Gujarat.

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=23&theme=&usrsess=1&id=152981

SREI to set up 5000 Common Service Centres (CSCs) in partnership with West Bengal Government

SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd has announced that in a unique move to bridge the digital divide between the rural and urban areas and in the process ensuring prompt delivery of government and other services, the West Bengal government has entered into a Master Service Agreement with the Company, the leading private sector infrastructure equipment, infrastructure projects and renewable energy products financing Company to set up nearly 5,000 common service centres (CSCs) in rural Bengal. The program has been drawn up under the aegis of the increasingly popular public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

The agreement signed between the Company and the Government of West Bengal, Panchayat and Rural Development Department on April 05, 2007, encompasses 14 districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Uttar Dinajpur and Dakhin Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad, Nadia and South 24 Parganas, Purba Midnapore, Bankura, Birbhum, Howrah and Hooghly in Public Private Partnership (PPP) Mode. The agreement was signed by Shri. M N Roy - Hon'ble Principal Secretary, Panchayat & Rural Development Department, Govt of West Bengal and Dr. Sabahat Azim - Vice-President, Strategic Initiatives, of the Company. Mr. Hemant Kanoria, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, of the Company was also present on the occasion.

The initiative envisages setting up one CSC for each cluster of six villages with one being set up within each Gram Panchayat and Panchayat Samiti office premises. To start with, 4,937 such CSCs to be known as 'Sahaj Tathya Mitra' will be set up with Internet connectivity and will offer e-Governance Services and other commercial services to the rural populace.

The Company will manage these CSCs in collaboration with Wipro Infotech Ltd. While Wipro will be responsible for the technological inputs, the Company will chalk out the various services these CSCs will provide to the rural masses.

Under this program, a number of village level entrepreneurs (VLEs) preferably from women self-help groups (SHGs) will get direct livelihood while rest of the population will get access to e-Governance and Internet related services at its doorstep at a very nominal rate. The program is aimed at improving the standard of living in rural Bengal.

The feather in the cap undoubtedly goes to West Bengal, which has become the first state off the bloc in signing this Master Agreement, which is a part of the National e-Governance Plan. These CSCs will become operational in less than twelve months.

These CSCs have the potential of developing as revenue neutral tools in the hands of other Companies and service providers keen to access rural markets. The IT-enabled e-kiosks will also be developed to provide information and services for meeting rural needs in relation to agriculture, education, vocational training, health and hygiene.

Incidentally, the Company bid for all eight zones in the State comprising 18 districts for a total of 6797 CSCs and bagged six of those against stiff competition from Companies like Reliance Communication, 3i-Infotech and Wire & Wireless India Ltd.

http://www.equitybulls.com/admin/news2006/news_det.asp?id=10483

Prisoners take jailors hostage in Chhattisgarh

NEW DELHI: A group of more than 145 prisoners took 20 jail officials hostage at Katghora jail in Korba, Chhattisgarh, on Monday evening, sending the entire police set up into a tizzy.

The incident occurred when the jail authorities were conducting a raid on the prisoners, checking for mobile phones in lock-ups. The prisoners snatched the rifles from the officials and took them hostage. The prisoners took full control of the jail, but made no attempt to escape.

The district administration and senior officers rushed to the spot and tried to work out a compromise formula.

When reports last came in, the district authorities were trying to negotiate with the prisoners for the release of the 20-25 sub-jail officials, who are in the custody for over two hours now. Earlier in the day, there was a surprise check by prison officials to recover mobile phones being used in the jail. There were reports that some prisoners with criminal record were making extortion calls from the jail. Chhattisgarh IG (Intelligence) Girdhari Naik, however, claimed the situation is under control.

"The jail officials were conducting a routine check when the around 145 criminals ganged up and snatched the arms of the jail official. They also tried to take the officials hostage. The situation is under control now," Naik said. Similar incidents have occurred in the state in the past when rowdy criminals have overpowered jail officials and even managed to flee. The police officials at the Katghora jail said there was "enough security at the jail' and the incident was just an isolated one. "This is only a number-game. We maintain law and order and make sure that things don't slip put of control,"

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1089874

Finding Sirpur, a village, a great heritage

Sirpur was a happening place 1,300 years ago. After centuries of remaining in oblivion, today it has captured its rightful place on the tourist map of Chhattisgarh. And all thanks to the excavations undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India, which has unearthed important Buddhist sites, the 6th-century Laxman temple and a host of idols belonging to that period.

Standing on the banks of the Mahanadi in Mahasamund district, Sirpur or Shreepur was once the capital of Dakshin Kosala (as Chhattisgarh was then known).

We travelled through picturesque landscape on NH6 to reach Sirpur, about 80 km from Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh. The wooded expanse and the pristine air made the hour-and-a-half drive exhilarating. Our sojourn assumed a more purposeful air as a professor of History from Raipur, Shampa Choube accompanied us on the trip.

Merchants' halt

As we entered the hamlet of Sirpur, there was absolutely no sign that this was once a bustling and flourishing centre of trade that witnessed a constant stream of merchants from China! But yes, it was quite evident that the region was once home to astounding monuments and structures that had become buried under the sands of time. New temples have mushroomed everywhere, almost in clusters, on the shores of the Mahanadi. But our adrenaline levels peaked as we came within sight of the ruins that lay spread over a large area.

The excavations at Sirpur, spread over a 6-km radius of the village, continue to generate excitement in the world of history and archaeology. A mutilated idol here, some broken sculptures there—there's something surfacing every once in a while, adding to the treasure trove of archaeological finds.

Temple town

An intriguing aspect of the findings relates to the presence of statues belonging to Vaishnavite, Shaivite, Buddhist and Jain religions at one place. This is believed to be one of the biggest temple towns of the sixth and seventh centuries discovered anywhere so far. According to archaeological sources, another unique feature here is the stone carvings depicting sexual activity among animals that are not seen even at Khajuraho or Ellora.

Having heard so much about the ruins of the Laxman temple, we proceeded there first. We were awestruck by its sheer size and structure and wondered how such a magnificent work could lay buried for so long a time! The temple is believed to be among the earliest in India built solely of bricks. It is also believed to be the only temple dedicated to Laxman, brother of Sri Rama.

The temple stands on a six-feet-high platform and its entrance is adorned with several figures carved in stone. The doorframe is of stone and a figure of the reclining Vishnu on Sheshnag is seen on the lintel. The panels of the doorway are embellished with statues depicting the incarnations of Vishnu and his devotees. The high brick roof ends in an imposing shikhar or temple dome, the passage of time clearly writ on it.

A caretaker at the complex guided us to a shed-like structure at the back of the temple, which functions as a 'museum'. The place stacks rare statues, many of whom badly mutilated, belonging to Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. One headless piece in particular caught our attention as our guide explained that it was the Buddha. He informed us that the head would be plastered to the body in due course of time.

Remains of a Shiva temple

Renovation works are on at the Gandheshwar temple dedicated to Shiva, and the Buddha Vihara, even as more idols continued to be unearthed at these sites. A metre-high statue of Buddha in the lotus position, belonging to the 6th century, is one of the largest finds at this site. Close by is the Ram temple, which is completely in ruins. A few stone foundation structures are all that remain of it. The Gandeshwar temple has today become the centre of an annual religious fair coinciding with Shivratri.

Historical evidence

The Laxman temple is believed to have been built in the 8th century by Vasata, the daughter of King Suryavarma of Magadh. Vasata was an ardent devotee of Vishnu and she built the temple in memory of her husband Harsha Gupta. Her son Mahashivagupta Balarjun, however, was Shaivite ruler credited with building the city of Shreepur—the city of wealth—as the capital of the Mahakosala kingdom. Every religion, especially Buddhism, flourished under the royal patronage of Harsha Gupta and Balarjun. The latter also promoted architectural styles of every religion and several Buddhist monasteries with their intricate motifs sprung up during his reign.

Copperplate inscriptions and a Chinese coin unearthed at Sirpur indicate that trade was buoyant under Balarjun's rule and this brought with it exchanges of learning from neighbouring countries as well. Sirpur became an established centre of Buddhism between the 6th and 10th centuries and the Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang is believed to have visited the city.

Tsang's travelogue mentions Shreepur as having over a hundred Buddhist monasteries inhabited by over 10,000 monks belonging to the Mahayana sect. The present-day excavations have discovered some conch bangles, giving rise to the surmise that the monasteries were possibly inhabited by bhikshunis or female monks as well.

Theories abound on the subsequent downfall of the thriving town—a civil war between Buddhists and Shaivites, invasions, declining trade and even floods.

Many rare idols are believed to have been stolen from Sirpur due to lack of proper security. One such piece, an idol of Goddess Tara, is believed to have been stolen in the mid-1960s and is currently housed in a US museum.

Once a flourishing centre of trade, today a veritable tourists' delight, a historians' palette, Sirpur however still remains a village that lacks proper communication and other infrastructure.

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