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| Apr 11, 2007 |
10 engineering colleges coming up in Jharkhand
Of the total engineering graduates in India, the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu produce 66 per cent. Jharkhand produces just one per cent.
The stark contrast could well soon become a data of the past, with as many as 10 new engineering colleges coming up in Jharkhand during the current calendar year. In fact, a few of them are even coming up in the state's worst Naxalite-affected districts like West Singhbhum, Palamu, Garhwa and Hazaribag.
Of the 10, two colleges are being set up by the state government, six by different private parties and one each by the Vinoba Bhave University (VBU) and the management of DAV Schools on public private partnership (PPP) basis.
Construction works of three colleges are progressing at a very fast pace and if things proceed in the right direction, the VBU's proposed engineering college at Hazaribag will admit its first batch from the 2007-08 academic session which will commence from coming September.
"We have already made presentation before the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the latter had issued the letter of intent (LoI) to us. The AICTE has also agreed to do mandatory inspection of our proposed college within a few months. We have planned to start the first batch from the coming session itself," the VBU Vice Chancellor MP Singh told Hindustan Times on Tuesday.
He said, the proposed institute would be known as the University College of Engineering & Technology (UCET) and it would be set up within the VBU's present campus.
The Jharkhand Government is setting up its two engineering colleges at Chaibasa and Ramgarh, while the DAV Group at Daltonganj with the financial support from the state government.
The state government has already released Rs 3 crore to the DAV Group and also promised to release another installment of Rs 3 crore in the next phase.
"Construction works for Chaibasa and Ramgarh engineering colleges will begin from the current month, as the government had already awarded tender for construction jobs to the National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) and the National Project Construction Corporation (NPCC)," the state's science & technology secretary AK Basu told HT.
He said, the government would move to the AICTE for approval of the intake capacity as soon as the buildings and hostels of the two colleges get ready.
The DAV group also has acquired sufficient lands near Daltonganj for its college. It has already erected boundary walls and began construction of buildings, reports reaching Ranchi from Palamu administration suggest.
Besides these, six colleges are being set up by different private parties, educational trusts and political leaders. While the RJD MLA Ramchandra Chandravanshi is setting up an engineering college in his constituency Vishrampur (Palamu), the former BJP MP Ramtahal Choudhary at his hometown Ormanjhi.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=9d6cd9d6-8b15-4cbf-a853
-26c047a628e7&
Now, Naxals take arms delivery from govt factory
NEW DELHI: A large cache of government-issue explosives seized recently from Maoists by the Jharkhand police has unnerved the security establishment.
The explosives were reportedly obtained by the rebels from the defence ministry's ordnance factory in Wardha, Maharashtra.
The revelation has exacerbated security agencies' anxiety, which was initially brought by the discovery that the Maoists had ready access to the government's secret anti-Naxal deliberations.
DNA had reported on March 31 that government forces had recovered classified documents from a guerrilla unit after an encounter in Chhattisgarh.
The documents contained minutes of two meetings held last year in which anti-Maoist operations were discussed. One of the meetings was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The recent seizure of explosives affords more insights into rebel operations. First, the Maoists' supply of arms and explosives is not limited to those looted from police and security forces or procured from mines, or from crusher operators. Security agencies are worried that Maoists seem to have fixed conduits in sensitive government organisations and the defence establishment.
Second, the haul reveals a link with Maharashtra, and a network so efficient that it facilitated untraced procurement and delivery to Jharkhand.
The haul included gelatin sticks, fuse wire, and electronic detonators — in sufficient volumes to produce hundreds of landmines.
The menace from the growing capability of Maoists is exemplified by a string of almost daily attacks in Jharkhand, Bihar, and Chhattisgarh. The most recent incursion was recorded last week. The large number of Maoist cadres involved in these incidents has worried security agencies. The numbers indicate the expansion of Naxal influence and support base as well as the failure of intelligence agencies to obtain information.
After slaying Sunil Mahto, a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MP, and launching other attacks, the Maoists gained enough confidence to issue a threat to Jharkhand Deputy Chief Minister Sudhir Mahto. They warned him against making anti-Maoist speeches "cooked up on the dictates of corporate houses, native and foreign, and the landed gentry to cover the failures of your government".
The rebels' communication says: "How can you justify the wealth amassed by Sunil Mahto? Sunil was born poor family and became a millionaire." Concerned by the intensifying activity, the Union home ministry has called for three meetings in April to take stock of the situation
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1090351
Woman ultra who saved the lives of six CISF men
Six men including two CISF personnel were killed when the extremists attacked a CISF barrack on Saturday, April 6 at Bermo. But the six CISF men, who finally survived, owe their lives to a young woman Maoist, who had pleaded, argued and finally persuaded fellow comrades to let the injured CISF men go injured but alive.
Additional Director General of Police (Special Branch) Gauri Shankar Rath confirmed that this particular woman extremist actually saved these lives.
"When the Maoists barged into the CISF barrack after hours of gunfight, the security personnel had no ammunition left. They were injured and could not have defended them. Killing these men was the next thing expected from the Maoists. But the woman saved them. In fact, the CISF survivors have testified that had this woman not intervened, the Naxalites would have killed them," Rath told HT on Tuesday.
According to Bokaro police officers, few of the Maoists had even cocked up their rifles. "She actually came in between and convinced the fellow comrades that killing these men will serve no purpose. This was unprecedented as Maoists have no history of leaving captured security personnel alive. It seems the women extremist despite wearing the Maoists greens still have some compassion left within," said the Bokaro police officer.
The good news about the women extremist, however, appears to end here, as the recent Maoists attacks, both in Bihar and Jharkhand, have dished out a dangerous trend — that women are plying the lead role in launching attacks against the security forces.
The Maoist squad that had attacked Bermo had several women manning leadership positions. Again on Sunday, it was a group of women Maoists that sprinkled chilly powder in the eyes of five RPF men at Narganjo railway station (Bihar), and looted their weapons. Before moving out, they also shot two RPF men dead.
Similarly, it was a group of women Maoists that had snatched weapons of Sunil Mahto's bodyguards before the other team killed the Member of Parliament from Jharkhand on March 4.
"The women Maoists are almost as skilled and dangerous as their male counterparts. Besides, the Maoists leaders find women more trustworthy, as they seldom desert the organisation," Rath admitted.
Not surprisingly, the number of women extremists is swelling in both Jharkhand and Bihar, officers admit.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=f75e5223-2d1b-4dca-864
2-dcf99caa965c&
Wind of change sweeping Bihar higher education
In Bihar, there is a wind of change sweeping across higher education these days. Reason: The pro-active role of the Chancellor's office.
Ever since he took over last year, Chancellor-cum-Governor of Bihar RS Gavai singled out revamp of higher education as his main priority.
Nine months on, there are many firsts to his credit. The Chancellor's office has made it compulsory for teachers to stay on campus for a minimum of five hours and banned private tuition.
He has taken disciplinary action against the errant teachers, something unheard of earlier. For the first time, a team from Raj Bhawan has so far inspected over 120 colleges in different parts of the state to improve the scenario.
Like schools, colleges are organising parent teachers' meet to improve attendance. The Chancellor office has made it clear that those having less than 75 per cent attendance should not be allowed to take examinations at any cost. To streamline the derailed academic session, there is deadline of July for the universities to set things right. For the first time, all the VCs in Bihar were selected after their interview with the Chancellor.
In an exclusive interview with HT, Gavai said that he would not tolerate if teachers shied away from their duty. "Teachers' primary job is to teach. That is what they are paid for and that is what I want from them. They cannot remain on unauthorised leave and still draw salary. I have asked all the vice chancellors to enforce campus discipline," he added.
Gavai said that he would not hesitate to take action against "habitually truant" teachers. "Majority of the teachers and students are happy. There are a few, however, who are finding the changes difficult to digest. But they will have to fall in line. They cannot enjoy life like they did earlier at the cost of students," he added.
The Chancellor said that he had already initiated a number of measures. "I, as a Governor, have involved myself and accepted the challenge to set higher education right. I take actions accordingly. I am doing it with my heart. Whatever I am doing is within my rights as the Chancellor," he added.
Gavai said that efforts were already on to streamline the academic session. "There will be a uniform academic calendar and holiday calendar in all the universities. I have asked my OSD (Education) Krishna Kumar to work out a detailed plan to revive inter-university sports and culture meets in the state," he added.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=f305e8e4-7e44-4439-81b
3-47fc31e88ba1&
Hand pump promises brides for unmarried villagers
Badwan (Bihar), April 10 (IANS) Dry summers have for long been the cruellest months for bachelors in a Bihar village - non-availability of drinking water had meant no brides. But a simple hand pump has changed all that.
The increasing number of young and middle-aged unmarried men of Badwan, a hilly village in Kaimur district about 250 km from here, are finally hopeful of tying the knot this year. All thanks to a hand pump installed ahead of 'lagan', the traditional marriage season in summer across rural Bihar.
The middle-aged unmarried men as well as their parents in Badwan village are cheerfully looking forward to marriage negotiations from families of prospective brides as the marriage season begins in the second week of April.
On several occasions in the last few years, marriage negotiations had failed to mature due to shortage of drinking water that discouraged girls' families from marrying off their daughters to men of this village.
Like dozens of unmarried men in Badwan village, Birendra Yadav and his friend Shyam Chandra Yadav, both in their late 30s, are happy as never before. 'We are sure that now girls' families will turn up at our village in search of grooms. We hope not to die unmarried thanks to the hand pump,' said Birendra.
'No girl's father was ready to give his daughter to a boy from this village due to the water problem,' agreed Madan Mishra, a village priest. Mishra's own family reflects this social reality. Three of his five brothers are unmarried.
The local administration installed a hand pump in the village some time back under the rural development programme scheme to provide safe drinking water. Earlier, the villagers, mostly women, had to trek four-five km every day to fetch potable water.
According to former village body head Ram Dayal Kharwar, around 35 to 40 men in the village over the age of 30-35 were unmarried because of the water problem.
Dozens of old men here are unmarried too because of this reason. 'Water scarcity is to be blamed for their unmarried status,' affirmed other villagers.
'Finally, the government has installed a hand pump in our village. It has ended the century-old drinking water problem for us,' said a smiling Mahesh Kharwar, an old villager.
Hundreds of villages in central Bihar spread over a dozen districts - known as Maoist-affected areas - have been facing acute scarcity of drinking water during summer for years.
A senior government official from the department of rural development admitted that water scarcity is a hard reality not only in rural but in urban areas here.
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/india/features/article_1289351.php/Hand_pump_
promises_brides_for_unmarried_villagers
Not just a status symbol
The political scientist, Rajni Kothari, observed that one way to think about India is as a people and a land made up of a series of minorities. He was right. In the first all-India census in 1881, the enumerators found that Muslims numbered only 19.7 per cent of the population. They uncovered a geographically dispersed aggregate of Muslims forming neither a collectivity nor a distinct society for any purpose, political, economic and social. Out of a total population of about 50 million, the Muslims in Bengal spoke Bengali and those in Punjab used largely Punjabi as their language. Those living in Tamil Nadu spoke Tamil; those settled on the Malabar coast spoke Malayalam.
The enumerators found Muslims whose religious rituals had a very strong tinge of Hinduism and who retained caste and observed Hindu festivals and ceremonies. In Bengal, between the 15th and the 18th centuries, many Muslim cultural mediators wrote in Bengali. They expressed Islam in the local cultural medium, an idiom greatly enriched in the same period by translations of the great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, into Bengali, and the expression of Nath and Vaishnava teachings.
The entry of Muslims in South Asia through so many and such separate doorways, their spread over the subcontinent by so many different routes, and the diffusion of Islam in different forms from one area to the other, ensured that this religion would present itself in those different forms. Neither to its own adherents nor to non-Muslims did Islam seem monochromatic, monolithic or indeed mono-anything.
The notion of 'majority' and 'minority' is a colonial invention. It did not exist under the Mughals: the lines of division then were regional and ethnic (in the way they are in the United States today) rather than religious. Under colonial rule, however, the introduction of representative institutions in late 19th century raised fears of minorities being swamped by the majority. They were echoed by Syed Ahmad Khan of Aligarh and, importantly enough, by the Hindu Sabha and the Akalis in Punjab where the Hindus and the Sikhs were in a minority. In December 1916, the Congress concluded the Lucknow Pact with the League on the principle that the Muslims were a religious minority. The Nehru Committee Report in 1928 lent its approval to the notion of a Muslim minority in need of constitutional safeguards.
The Muslim spokesmen had a three-fold aim: to trace the historical evolution of an imaginary community as an antithesis to the Congress theory of 'Unity in Diversity'; to emphasise its distinct identity in order to extract concessions from the government; and to invoke Islamic symbols in defence of 'Muslim aspirations'. This is how 'Muslim nationalism' gained legitimacy in the eyes of the Muslim landed and urban-based professional classes who were apprehensive about their position in the newly-created power structures. Hence every single step from 1909 to 1935 towards the devolution of authority to Indian hands lent weight to notions of majority and minority rights.
The British government had created a Muslim identity in Indian politics through the Acts of 1909 and 1919. Now, in the 1940s, they could draw comfort from M.A. Jinnah repeating much the same arguments in support of a formal minority status through separate electorates, weightages, and reservation in the councils and public services. Later, they backed his Pakistan project as a reward for his supporting the war effort.
After Independence and Partition, leaders like Maulana Azad questioned the standard definition of a minority, arguing that "their heads are held so high that to consider them a minority deserving special concessions makes no sense". Nobody heeded such advice. Muslims regard themselves as a minority and there is nothing one can do to change that self-perception. This perception is grounded in history and, what is more, it draws legitimation from the constitutional provisions guaranteeing minority rights. These cannot be taken away by an executive fiat or a judicial judgment. Let us remember that the issue at hand was not the minority status of Muslims but to find ways and means of integrating them into the nation-building project.
How does one draw up the balance sheet on Indian democracy? It is generally agreed that the Constitution balances well the commitment of a democratic and liberal State to provide equal status for all and the need to take account of weaker and backward groups. The Muslims, on the other hand, have been economically marginalised and are disproportionately located towards the lower end of the socio-economic hierarchy. They lag behind the majority in income, in education, in participation in the major institutions of the country.
In June 1983, the Gopal Singh Committee had stated in no uncertain terms that the Muslims were "the hewers of wood and drawers of water". Now, in November 2007, the Sachar Committee's findings point to the "deficits and deprivation in practically all dimensions of development", and to the absence of any great schemes that would stir the Muslims from a long sleep and beckon them to a prosperous future.
Why do the Muslims lag behind the majority? What does one do to mitigate the effects of those factors that make so many of them so much more poorer and backward than other Indians? Somebody must have the answers. The Manmohan Singh government, proceeding on the right assumption that the Muslims constituted a minority and recognising their uneasiness over their economic status, has initiated certain administrative measures. They deserve unqualified support.
Let me draw your attention to another compelling need. One of the crucial functions of most Constitutions is to protect minorities against the tyranny of the majority. This protection ensures equal respect for each and every citizen, a value at risk in any organisation run by majority votes. Therefore, the need is to preserve the idea that all citizens deserve to enter public space on equal terms and conditions. Indeed, as Malini Parthasarathy, the former editor of Hindu, pointed out, "It is time that those Indians who pride themselves on being part of the global community yet have bought unquestioningly the notion that the minorities are responsible for some imagined economic deprivation, ask some hard questions. By driving the minorities to the margins of a civil society of which they are equal inheritors and thereby polarising Indian society, rendering it more vulnerable to bitter internal conflicts, how can the dream of a modernising India becoming part of a wider global community, sharing a vision of faster economic growth and greater prosperity, really materialise?"
Minorities do not expect miracles to transform their lives, but they expect the State to guarantee them their right to observe and practise their religion, and provide them the opportunity, regardless of their faith, to lead a dignified and self-respecting existence. "A majoritarian democracy is no democracy at all," declared Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah. "It is only a participatory, representative and inclusive democracy that can take a pluralistic society further and make it conflict-free."
Whether Indian secularism can survive in any meaningful sense in the 21st century will depend on how religious minorities can share power and privilege and, at the same time, preserve and safeguard their religious and cultural interests that are enshrined in our Constitution. Jawaharlal Nehru had proclaimed in September 1950, "People should learn the great lesson that the inscriptions on Asoka's pillars teach that a man respecting the religion and culture of others increases the value of one's own. If the religion or culture of others is run down, to that extent the value of one's religion and culture is lowered."
The author is the Vice Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=bf1d8650-95e5-4b48-b
ad2-491677bea574&
Hindustan Motors slams brakes at Uttarpara
KOLKATA: Hindustan Motors, the GP-CK Birla group automobile firm, on Wednesday announced the suspension of work at the Uttarpara (West Bengal) manufacturing facility, amid apprehensions that a sustained production shutdown could impact the company's bottomline.
HM manufactures the Ambassador and the multi-utility vehicle Trekker, spread over 743 acres, one of the largest automobile facilities in South Asia. The facility also supplies components to Tata Motors and Ford.
About 300-odd cars are now piled up inside the plant premises since there is a complete blockage of entry and exit of material at Uttarpara.
"There is no estimate of losses (on account of the suspension of operations) but this will have some effect on the bottomline," company spokesperson Soni Srivastava said.
Before labour trouble disrupted production, HM was making between 13,000-15,000 Ambassadors at Uttarpara annually. The company's second plant near Chennai makes Mitsubishi Lancer cars.
What led to this situation?
Tension between labour and management had been brewing since March 13 with Sangram Shramik Yukta Manch (SSYM), an umbrella organisation of different trade unions affiliated to Congress, Trinamul Congress and Naxalites, picketing the factory gates and preventing willing workers to enter the premises.
The company management had secured court orders from the administration to ensure willing workers were not obstructed from joining duties.
This triggered a series of clashes between rival factions of workers.
Tension reached a boiling point on Tuesday morning when police used lathi charge to break up clashing workers, resulting in injury to 10 workers.
Srivastava said the management has been constrained to issue the work suspension notice because of prolonged tension and lawlessness in the factory premises.
"We cannot risk lives of any individual and property. Since the start of agitation, we had impressed upon the unions that there should not be any obstruction to entry of willing workers and raw materials," she said.
Of the 4,000 total employees at Uttarpara, about 200-300 have been agitating for some time over payment of dearness allowance and revocation of suspension of some 15 workers, Srivastava said.
Sunil Sarkar, general secretary of the CITU-led workers' union in Uttarpara, told DNA Money: "SSYM supporters resorted to total hooliganism. They used coercion to prevent willing workers from entering the factory. Even workers of our union were intimidated and beaten up."
SSYM convenor Ajit Chakraborty told DNA Money the work suspension issued by the HM management "is illegal".
"We will challenge this and also step up our agitation to prevent the management from depriving workers' dues," Chakraborty said.
Srivastava said HM was open to negotiations with agitating employees, provided there is no violence and the agitators allow free movement of goods from and to the factory.
Company insiders said a prolonged work suspension at Uttarpara could jeopardise HM's plans to turn around its production base in West Bengal, which has been incurring a loss of about Rs 40 crore per year.
At heart of the revival plan for Uttarpara is the 314 acres of surplus land identified by the company.
The state government has approved HM's proposal for re-using this surplus land.
And even though HM has not yet officially unveiled its plans, sources said that the company intends to convert this surplus into a automotive component hub that would house some of HM's own engineering services and solution divisions apart from production base for other vendors.
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1090267
Globsyn shifts IT wing to Chennai
Globsyn Technologies is shifting its software business to Chennai while the education and training operations will continue to be headquartered in Kolkata.
Last year the company acquired Synergy Log-in which operates out of Chennai and Mumbai. Bikram Dasgupta, chairman and chief executive officer, Globsyn Technologies said, Synergy already had 100 people in Chennai and it made more sense to grow the software operations in Chennai.
He said, in Kolkata there was dearth of mid-sized companies, which led in turn led to dearth of mid-level managers. "Kolkata has either an IBM, TCS, Cognizant or nobody."
Globsyn would make fresh investments in its software business in Chennai. The group was eyeing another acquisition and on completion the software operations in Chennai would have 500-600 people."
Globsyn, whose marketing headquarters are in Mumbai has transferred its entire technical base of operations to Chennai by reallocating its software development facilities as well as 80 per cent of its production support capability to the south Indian city.
Globsyn management also feels that that Chennai possesses a better infrastructure for software development than most other Indian cities.
The company has also started recruiting local talent on a large scale. Dasgupta said, the group was restructuring and software business would be consolidated in a single company, which would have the "Globsyn" tag and it would be listed. Synergy happens to be a listed company.
Globsyn's education and training business comprises the Globsyn Business School, the Globsyn BPO academy and the Globsyn IBM competency centre. Asked about the company's decision, State IT secretary Siddharth said, "It's their business decision."
However, he countered Globsyn's claim that in Kolkata there was dearth of mid-sized companies, which led in turn led to dearth of mid-level managers. He said a lot of mid sized companies like Rolta are setting up base in the state and many are also operating.
On Globsyn's feeling that that Chennai possesses a better infrastructure for software development than most other Indian cities, he said Bengal is also not lagging behind in infrastructure and this can be explained from the fact that companies like TCS are expanding capacity and Wipro is also asking for land for expansion.
"This shows the presence of good infrastructure in the state," he said. He said the company has not intimated the state government about its decision
http://www.business-standard.com/iceworld/storypage.php?leftnm=8&subLeft1&chklogin
=N&autono=280663&tab=r
US trade team to explore new business goals
A 12-member US trade delegation will be in the city this weekend to explore newer opportunities of business co-operation with West Bengal.
Headed by Susan Schwab, US trade representative, the delegation will be in the city to discuss bilateral trade issues. "The delegation will also meet the chief minister on Saturday," Henry V Jardine, US consul-general, told Newsline. Schwab, a Cabinet-level official, will be accompanied by other representatives associated with the US industry.
While this delegation may explore areas of common and mutual interests, things are already under process between the US and the Indian companies, including ones in West Bengal. Last month, representatives of the USINDIA Business Council had met chief minister and the state industry minister, extending an invitation for a US visit and expressing eagerness for participation in the regional business.
Ron Somers, president of the USINDIA Business Council, had then said that American delegates have "left (the city) with open eyes to come back soon again". Bhattacharjee had then suggested that American delegates can participate in the development of Siliguri as a logistic hub. The other areas of interest between the two sides include food-processing and petrochemicals.
Now, other than the Schwab-led delegation scheduled to be in the city on Saturday, another important US trade delegation is also expected to be in the city this summer. Lesa Forbes, international trade specialist with US Commercial Service, Miami, Florida, told Newsline that a delegation will be in the city representing Florida. Forbes, currently in the city for exploring local markets, said: "Agriculture, machinery, metal/ steel are the sectors we may be looking at. But, specific industries may be taken up first. The delegation will comprise Florida-based companies," Forbes said. Florida, the fourth largest US market comprising 18 million people, has proficiency in numerous industries, including high-tech opportunities, research and development, information technology, aviation and aerospace.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=231309
Orissa villagers protest against POSCO
The people in Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Garh-Kujang panchayats in Kujang in Orissa's Jagtsinghpur district seem ready for the big fight.
They have erected check-gates at nine entry points to the area and it's women and children who are at the forefront. They are opposing to land acquisition for POSCO's $12 billion steel plant, port project and SEZ.
The proposed SEZ requires over 4000 acres of land near the sea and that would mean at least 600 families across eight villages would be displaced.
The seaside land is rich in cash crops like betel-vines and cashew and the village paddy fields are quite fertile. As a result, everyone in the village is an earning member.
"Agricultural economy should be given primacy and industrialization on barren lands are welcome but industrialization at the cost of agricultural lands will be resisted," said Avay Sahoo, President, POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti.
But the state government, which is under pressure both from POSCO and the Central government to acquire land for the project is treading carefully.
Nearly 20 platoons of armed police have been deployed in Kujang town but they have not yet ventured into the troubled zone .
http://www.ndtvprofit.com/homepage/storybusinessnew.asp?id=37511&template=&cache=4/
11/2007%202:34:18%20PM
Residential girls' schools in scheduled areas in Orissa
Bhubaneswar, April 11: The Orissa government will set up residential girls' schools in ten blocks located in scheduled areas every year, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said Tuesday.
"This will result in all blocks in the scheduled areas of the state having a residential girls' school within the next three years," he said while presiding over the tribal advisory council meeting here.
The undivided districts of Koraput, Kandhamal and Gajapati would be accorded priority where the female literacy rate was the lowest, he said.
Reiterating the government decision to establish 1,000 hostels for tribal girls in Orissa, he said the measure would benefit over one lakh girls.
Patnaik said that 557 such hostels had been constructed during 2006-07 while work on the other hostels would be completed by June this year.
Besides, 110 hostels would be constructed in the KBK region during the current financial year under the Biju KBK Yojana of the state government.
The government also planned to provide improved looms to weavers belonging to scheduled tribes and train them in weaving. Three such training centres would be set up at Saintala in Balangir district, Sohela in Bargarh district and Bangiriposhi in Mayurbhanj district, Patnaik said.
A resolution was adopted at the meeting opposing the Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh on the ground that it would affect the livelihood of tribals.
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=365094&sid=REG
Maoists kill three members of civil militia
Maoists have killed three senior members of a civil militia movement who they had abducted last week from a government-run relief camp in Chhattisgarh, police said on Wednesday.
The dead men were members of the Salwa Judum, a government-backed movement meant to counter the Maoists.
Their bodies were found in a forested part of the southern Dantewada district, 515 km south of Raipur, with multiple knife wounds on their necks.
"We found three dead bodies lying on a road in Dantewada district late last night," a senior police officer told Reuters by telephone. "The bodies were identified on Wednesday as senior cadres of the Salwa Judum movement."
Around 50,000 people have left their homes to live in relief camps run by the Salwa Judum in southern Chhattisgarh, the worst affected state by the Maoist insurgency.
Last month, rebels carried out one of their deadliest attacks in four decades of insurgency when they attacked a police base in Chhattisgarh and killed 55 policemen.
http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-04-
11T142649Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-293841-1.xml
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| Hot issues of Today |
- Apr 10, 2007
- Apr 09, 2007
- Apr 08, 2007
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- Apr 04, 2007
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- Apr 02, 2007
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