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Apr 19, 2007

Jharkhand tribals find poultry farming profitable

Gumla: Hundreds of tribals helped by support groups, have taken up self-help poultry farming as their main source of livelihood in Jharkhard's Gumla District

The quiet revolution has occurred in Seelam village of Gumla district. Tribal people, who had otherwise been going places in search of earning a livelihood, have found that they could stay at their villages and earn their livelihood by taking up poultry farming.

In Gumla District, which has a low irrigation, farming was not a viable means of livelihood.

Local tribals either took to brewing of country liquor or collecting and selling of firewood. But the poultry business has changed their lives.

"Initially, we had no money for seeds or fertilizer and so we could not till land. But now the poultry manure we get from hen droppings is so nutrient rich for the land's fertility that we get good crop harvests. This has also curtailed the exodus in our village," said Sarita Devi, a poultry pioneer.

The liquor menace has changed ever since the women folk engaged themselves in poultry farming. The poultries also created employment opportunities for local men.

"Now that there are so many poultry units in our village, it has altered people's lifestyles. I earn, like most other women, an average of rupees 2,500 to 3,000 a month. This has improved our financial capability. I send my child to a good school. My family has a more comfortable lifestyle and we eat differently too," said Sunita Devi, a woman poultry farmer.

We had introduced poultry farming amongst tribals in 2002. Tribals used to migrate to neighbouring and far away states to seek livelihood. Till then, the main occupation of the people was to extract 'hariya' (a-country-made rice liquor) and sell it locally as well consume it or selling firewood. I am so glad that ever since poultries have flourished people have given it all up," said Pankaj Das, coordinator of 'Pradhan Sanstha', the voluntary organisation, which helped the tribals.

The voluntary organisation helped village women to come together under the aegis of one umbrella group called 'Mahila Jagruti Mandal' or Women's Enlightenment Society, which is a sort of awareness generating group.

'Pradhan Sanstha' also set up schools in the area. While newspapers and television sets were unheard of before, every household in the village has television sets now.

http://www.dailyindia.com/show/133264.php/Jharkhand-tribals-find-poultry-farming-profitable

Probe team detects sale deed fraud

Ranchi, April 19: Registration of buildings at the Ranchi registration office has come under a serious clout following detection of serious anomalies by a three-member probe team set up by deputy commissioner K.K. Soan.

A preliminary investigation report filed this evening by the probe team revealed that of the 2,000 sale deeds examined, many records are found missing, plot numbers and registration numbers found altered while in one case a power of attorney for one acre has been changed to seven acres. "This is only the tip of the iceberg," a source told The Telegraph.

There are reports that hundreds of sales deeds duly registered by sellers and buyers of land and buildings with the registration office are missing. "After the land scam worth crores, we might soon be faced with another registration scam," a source confided.

Officials said a number of complaints have been received by Ranchi deputy commissioner alleging widespread irregularities in the Ranchi land registration office. They added that these complaints ranged from mysterious disappearances of sale records to alterations and even over writings in sale deeds.

Following the receipt of a large number of complaints, the Ranchi DC had set up a three-member probe team, headed by Ranchi additional collector, Sunil Kumar Singh. Other members comprise Rajesh Kumar, executive magistrate and 11 clerks of the land revenue office.

"We will be checking all sale records from the year 2000 to 2006. So far we have examined 2,000 sale deeds. In one case, a seller had executed a power of attorney in favour of a particular person to sell one acre that was found altered to seven," an insider told The Telegraph.

In another case one P.K. Chandra had bought a flat at Ma Tara apartment in the Kantatoli area of Ranchi from one Raj Shekhar. The sale was duly registered with the Ranchi registry office with the buyer paying Rs 40,000 as stamp duty. The sale deed has now been found to be missing, the sources revealed.

The report further points out that according to land revenue rules, all sale deeds registered are to be kept serially according to the registration numbers. A separate register is also to be maintained denoting serial numbers of each registered sale deed. However, in course of inspection, the probe team confirmed that sale deeds are haphazardly kept making it difficult for the investigating team to conduct the probe.

"Going through thousands of sale deeds will take some time. We will be in a position to comment on the implications of the overwritings, changes in serial numbers and plot numbers and the missing sale deeds only after concluding our probe," a source said.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070420/asp/jamshedpur/story_7671786.asp

Warnings ignored in Dhanbad underground fire

They are sitting over a 'volcano' and perhaps awaiting the disaster to strike in a big way.

Despite repeated warnings by the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), the Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) has still initiated no steps to vacate the Ena colliery officers Colony beneath which the underground inferno can play havoc any moment.

"The officers and the management of the BCCL should realize the magnitude of the impending danger and initiate immediate steps to ensure the safety of not only their officers but also of their thousands of the coal workers living in endangered areas," the Director General of the DGMS, Mr Man Mohan Sharma said.

"We have identified at least 69 most sensitive places in the command areas of the BCCL and ECL and even apprised the coal companies of the unstable mines in the areas. It is now up to the BCCL to rise to the occasion and ensure serious steps to meet the challenge of the underground inferno," he said.

It is worth mentioning that the DGMS has already sent the list of the most vulnerable pockets under the command areas of the BCCL and the ECL, to the union ministry of labour. The BCCL's Ena officer's colony also figures in the list prominently.

The DGMS, after the disaster at the Nayadih Kusunda basti in which at least six persons were buried alive had again warned against repeat of the tragedy in other areas including at the Ena officers colony. "Where should we go now? It is entirely up to the BCCL top brass to decide on the evacuation and subsequent shifting of the colony to safer areas," the officers residing at the Ena colliery project told the HT.

The BCCL Director (project and Planning), Mr SN Katiyar, however, said, "We are assessing the situation in accordance with the guidelines of the DGMS and evolving measures to counter the situation."

"But, the steps will be taken only after the disaster and on the bodies of the officers and the workers," pointed out a senior functionary of the Coal Mines Officers' Association of India (CMOAI). "Unless the much-awaited Jharia Action Plan gets underway the underground fire and the unstable mines will continue to send alarm signals across the affected pockets," the national president of the CMOAI, Sukhdev Narayan said.

As per the DGMS report at least three coal seams including numbers 10, 11, and 12 are unstable due to underground fire. The areas are most vulnerable to the land subsidence and are posing serious threat to the dwellings, District Board roads and other vital installations in the Ena colliery the report of the DGMS said.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=faa4474f-93cb-416d-b283-2be600d2c3ea&

Bihar ministers complain of unheeding babus

PATNA: Guess who is complaining about the highhandedness of Bihar bureaucrats? Not the common man, but the ministers and legislators.

The latest to complain against the officials is state environment and forests minister Ramchandra Sahni, who says Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has given a free hand to them. So much so that Sahni expressed helplessness in running his ministry as officials were ignoring his orders.

"I have issued several directives to my officers asking them to check pollution at the Burhi Gandak river caused by effluents routinely discharged by sugar mills and distilleries of the area. Unfortunately, my officers have done nothing about it so far. As a result, aquatic life in the river is under serious threat there," Sahni said at a function to release the State of the Environment Report of Bihar.

Early this month, Water Resources and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ramashray Prasad Singh, known as the grand old man of the Nitish Kumar Government, had lodged a protest against departmental secretaries for not following his orders. Singh had reportedly told Nitish Kumar to take note of the style of functioning of the bureaucrats.

Before that, Registration and Excise Minister Sudha Srivastava had lodged a protest in this connection with the chief minister.

In the 17 months that the Nitish Kumar government has been in power, several ruling Janata Dal-United and Bharatiya Janata Party legislators have openly raised the issue of bureaucratic highhandedness. Following directives from Nitish Kumar, the state chief secretary had issued a circular to officials to respect and behave properly with legislators, MPs and other people's representatives.

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1091913

Urban polls sans teachers in Bihar

For the first time in Bihar, an election will be held minus the participation of school teachers, which is a departure from the existing practice of putting teachers in poll related work. The new rule will be implemented in the ensuing urban polls for 2,900 posts in local bodies, scheduled in May.

The State Election Commission( SEC) on Thursday categorically directed all the District magistrates (DMs) and Divisional Commissioners( DCs) to ensure that primary teachers were not put in any election work. If need be, services of teachers of high school and colleges could be taken, secretary, SEC, Raghuvansh Kumar Sinha informed.

Over 30,000 school teachers will thus be off from election work in the urban polls. In last few decades, Bihar's education standard especially in government schools have taken a beating due to the preoccupation of teachers in non-academic work like preparing electoral rolls, census work and pulse polio drive.

But last year the Nitish Kumar government took a policy decision to keep off teachers from non- academic work so that they could concentrate on teaching in schools. An estimated 50,000 teachers were deployed in election work in the last assembly polls in 2005.

Other directives issued by the SEC to DMs were to start a drive to arrest anti-social elements and habitual offenders in urban areas as well as execute all pending warrants.

The State Election Commissioner, JK Datta, who chaired the meeting, also directed the DCs and DMs to send the requirement of security force of their respective districts, constitute polling parties in a random manner and issue identity cards to polling personnel so that chances to curb electoral malpractices.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=1ab2d2ee-5df8-4463-b988
-9a4143bc92f2&

Bihar tops list of blacklisted NGOs

Bihar tops the list of states with the highest number of blacklisted non-government organisations (NGOs) which allegedly mis-utilised funds to the tune of Rs 4.87 crore, according to Council for Advancement of Rural Technology (CAPART).

Of the 362 NGOs blacklisted by CAPART for mis-utilisation of funds in the last 15 years, 113 are in Bihar. Uttar Pradesh has 57, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 15. Ten NGOs of the national capital are in the list.

States like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan with strong NGO sectors are the best states in implementing the projects by the council, CAPART's Director General Veena S Rao said on Thursday.

The blacklisted organisations had mis-utilised Rs 4.87 crore from the total fund amounting to Rs 12.34 crore released to them, she said adding following such instances, CAPART has made it compulsory to monitor the NGOs which implement the projects.

"Every project we undertake will be concurrently monitored by independent agencies and we have streamlined our guidelines and tightened the process for blacklisting by making them more stringent," Rao said.

On the new projects taken up by CAPART, she said, "we are redefining our strategies with an approach to address the current gaps in rural programmes."

The council would partner with a leading established NGO with proven track record in each state to implement its programmes in most backward pockets of the states, she said.

The programmes include, life-skill development, rain- water harvesting, sanitation awareness in rural areas, primary food and vegetable processing and establishment of Village Knowledge Centres.

The first of such Knowledge Centres to provide information about agriculture, health and nutrition, would come up in Vaishali in Bihar by the end of July, Rao said.

Under its Rural Young Professional programme, one boy and one girl between the age of 16 and 20 years would be selected from each backward village and they would undergo training in skill development and basic computer skills.

"These young professionals would act as a resource person for spreading awareness and information at the grassroot level," she said.

The council would also launch radio programmes targeting the most backward areas, she added.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=cad4fc84-0ee6-4697-97f6
-64dd5e9697ce&ParentID=d10b8634-3070-4c44-85f3-356e7f97ede2 &

The Daughters of Bihar

The little girls had fought a battle of their own. Fighting for something many children take for granted -- the chance to go to school.

Born into poor families where generations before them had never been to school, these girls had lied, stolen and fought against the tyranny of an unlettered tradition to make their way to school.

They belonged to the poorest of the poor, the lowest of India's wretched caste system and came from the country's poorest and most illiterate state -- Bihar.

A state reeling under a baggage of hopelessness and ridicule borne out of misrule, Bihar is turning a corner, at least it is trying to. In January, it launched a programme to bring over 23 lakh ( 2.3 million) out-of-school children to educational institutions. And by organising a festival to celebrate these girls, it couldn't have taken a nobler initiative.

Eighty per cent of the girls at the festival had not used a toilet. They had not seen buffet tables laden with a variety of food that their minders suspected would give them upset tummies due to overeating.

For many among the 2,200 girls assembled at the historic Gandhi Maidan in Patna -- the ground where Mahatma Gandhi and other leaders of the freedom movement gave rallying calls against the British Raj -- the two-day festival provided experiences they had never had before.

"I've never travelled this far, when I got into the bus to come here, on the way I saw a train. I was seeing a train for the first time!" exclaimed Mintu Kumari, 11, who only began going to the Kasturba Gandhi Vidyalaya, a residential school for poor Dalit girls, a year ago.

80% of the girls had not used a toilet before

The children had come from Bihar's 37 districts. Some had travelled seven, eight hours in mini buses with teachers and fellow students making the trip to the festival that was inaugurated -- surprisingly, dot on time -- by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The next morning 18 girls had breakfast with Nitish Kumar at his home; 13 other girls had breakfast with the state education minister.

"The chief minister served us in our plates and gave us a wrist watch each. We were so excited that we could hardly eat," said girls from the Islampur Middle School near Hajipur. "But we asked him to upgrade our school to a high school, so that we don't have to walk to the high school which is very far."

Nitish Kumar had made another promise to each of the 2,200 participants the previous evening. Something very basic, but nothing short of a luxury for many. He said that each one of them would have a toilet in their homes by the end of 2007.

"We want to recognise, encourage and motivate the girls. It is an exposure for them. We have also organised eminent women IPS/IAS officers and doctors etc to speak to the children," says Anjani Kumar Singh, director of the Bihar Education Project, and the mastermind behind the festival for girls attending government schools.

Many girls saw a computer for the first time

Many of the girls were seeing a computer for the first time. In the tented enclosure housing PCs and laptops, 4 to 6 girls were bunched around each machine, egging each other on, tentatively pressing the keys -- typing the one thing that came most naturally to them, their names.

A group of Muslim girls with veils who looked around 10 years old said they had just enrolled into school two years ago and were in Class I and II when children their age are usually in Class IV or V. They went to an all girls' Muslim school in their area.

"We have to bring the school to the children in a conservative minority community, instead of the other way round," says teacher Sultan Ahmad.

With dreams as diverse as being Miss India to a pilot, the festival also released a calendar showcasing 12 girls who had battled against deeply entrenched social stereotypes in their small, unheard of villages.

Apart from the 12 calendar girls, the festival ground had many other stories of similar courage. Their struggle, a documentation of how underprivileged girl children have fought tremendous odds to change their own lives with the power that only education can bring.

These are the stories of their battles. They deserve to be noticed and admired.

I am from the musahar caste (a community of rat-eaters, considered one of the lowest castes in India), where our people usually do not study. Musahars don't eat rats so much now as they did before.

Since I was a child I wanted to study. My parents did not allow me or want me to study. So I went to this didi at the Mahila Samkhya (an all woman project run by the government aimed at assisting the most disadvantaged women in areas with lowest literacy rates ). I didn't know how to hold a pen and she taught me how to start writing.

I did not have a pen or a note book, so I stole Rs 5 from my home and bought a pen for Rs 2 and copy for Rs 2. I used to tell my parents that I was going to my elder sister's house but I went to the Mahila Samkhya didi instead.

One day I just left home in the clothes I was wearing for the government-run residential school for girls which is from Class I to V. I stayed at the school for two months without telling my parents or going back to them.

Then one day my parents came to that didi and asked her if she had sold me. On hearing that I had been enrolled in school, they came to see me. I think they are now happy that I am in school.

I have three brothers who dropped out of school very early on. They are labourers at a road construction site. I am the youngest, so no one in my family has had an education.

My brothers tell my parents that you have allowed your daughter to go to school, we'll see what she achieves. It's not as if she'll become get a BA degree, just because she has started going to school. Now I am determined to pass my BA exam and show them that I can do it.

'I tell village women if they don't educate their daughters, they will die as they were born -- unknown, unheard'

Apart from my studies, I visit 10 villages every month. I have to make two trips to every village. I walk to the villages with my brother. Sometimes we walk through most of the day. I have been doing this since September 2006.

I go to the villages, gather the women and tell them to send their children to school. I tell them if their daughters do not study they will not be able to know their own selves. They will die as they were born -- unknown, unheard.

I tell them that even I would have had a life of no worth had I not studied. I tell the mothers to learn to write their name, at least. The mothers sometimes ask me what will they get by educating their daughters, so I give them my example. Some listen, some don't.

No one in my family has ever got to class XII, I am the youngest of three brothers and three sisters, I am the only one who has got so far. I want to do a BA and become a police officer.

I don't get paid anything for the work I do in the villages (she works as a volunteer and is likely to be absorbed in the Mahila Samkhya programme). The reason I make the trips and listen to my brother's complaints when he accompanies me is because I want poor girls -- whose families had no education till now -- I want them to come to school.

'I stay hungry in school till I get back home for dinner'

My father is a labourer, I live in a small thatched hut but I've represented Bihar in many swimming competitions and won several medals.

Seeing my interest in swimming, my father saved Rs 350 so that I could get a swimsuit. The person who trains us, bought the swimsuit from Patna.

On seeing the swimsuits of me and my two friends -- Savitri and Payal, who are also champion swimmers too -- people in the village said: 'What is this?' But now we've participated in many competitions, so it doesn't matter.

We went to Goa for a swimming meet early this year but they put us in the 19-year category. Still I stood 6th.

We began swimming in the village pond when we were very young and people began telling us we were good. We trained in our village against the wishes of many villagers and try to be our best with whatever resources we have.

We wake up at 3 am every day and go to the pond to swim. We run and swim to build our stamina and swim for two-and-a-half hours every day. Then we come home, eat vegetable and roti and walk to school. It takes us an hour to reach school.

I don't eat anything during lunch because I am not eligible for the mid day meal scheme (the free lunch given to children up to Class V), so I stay hungry till I get back for dinner.

I like the freestyle best but do the breast stroke too and am learning the butterfly stroke. The three of us want to grow up and be able to study and swim. We hope we can become very good swimmers one day.

'What's the use of studying? Are you going to become a collector you think?'

My father was murdered. The tragedy turned my mother almost mad with grief and it was left to my grandmother to look after my four brothers and sisters. She worked as a labourer so that we could get some money to eat.

I started attending school regularly after I turned 14. I used to finish the house work and go to the government school. My family and elders did not allow me to come to school. My family used to say -- 'What's the use of studying? Are you going to become a collector you think?'

They would say that girls would get spoiled if they were sent to school and their place was in the house. But I managed to get myself to school with the help of the didi from the welfare programme and I now stay in a hostel.

I want to become a graduate. I also teach screen painting and karate. I earn Rs 2,000 every month for teaching screen painting and Rs 1,000 for karate.

I look after my siblings, send some money to my grandmother and even manage to save. I want to be independent and tell everyone in my village that all children should go to school.

I always wanted to go to school but my mother told me I had to go sweep leaves and gather them for building a fire for cooking at home. So everyday I had to go and collect dry leaves instead of going to school.

My brother -- I don't know his age -- but he didn't go to school either and works in a bangle factory. My father works as a labourer in Punjab. He has lost sight in one eye (starts crying ). He came to see us last year, I don't know when he will come again.

I begged and begged my mother to get admission in the Kasturba Gandhi School (a school for Dalit girls run by the government). We don't have to pay any school fee. It has a hostel, so I can stay there. It is near my house, in the same village. I can go home and see my mother but I go home during holidays. I have been home thrice in the one year that I have been in this school.

This is the first time I have travelled to Patna. It took us almost the entire day to reach here by bus. There are no railway tracks in my village. I saw a train for the first time from the window of my bus yesterday. I even saw a computer for the first time, you know?

I want to become a teacher. I want to teach others who haven't had a chance to go to school.

http://specials.rediff.com/news/2007/apr/19sl1.htm

Cola to provide water in MP

Mumbai, Apr 19: Cold drink giant Coca-Cola has announced its partnership with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) to improve community access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation in West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Nepal.

At the signing ceremony which took place at the 21st Session of the Governing Council, in Nairobi, Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director, UN-Habitat said: "Clean water and sanitation can make or break human development. These basic needs are fundamental to improving the living conditions of the urban poor."

"Our partnership with Coca-Cola, India, is an innovative example of how public-private community partnerships can help meet the challenge of the millennium development goals, especially those committed to halving the number of people not having access to clean water and adequate sanitation by the year 2015," said Anna.

There are various projects that will be undertaken in this partnership. The first one is increasing water supply through rainwater harvesting and other techniques to store and conserve water in Madhya Pradesh, India.

This project aims at setting up urban and rural Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) systems in 15 locations. This includes the construction of roof top RWH structures in 10 schools, including three government-run schools and construction/revival of five rural RWH structures.

Another project focuses on providing safe drinking water and sanitation for urban poor in West Bengal. The target is to provide potable water to 150 schools.

The next project aims at improving water management and sanitation in selected urban slums and rural areas of Nepal. This project aims to provide access to potable water through WHO-approved household level purification methods as well as increase awareness on sanitation.

The project will work in five or six urban areas in Nepal with a total population of about three million people.

There will be many programmes launched to enhance awareness on water usage, sanitation and conservation, including capacity building and mobilisation of political will with legislators and political leaders.

Coca-Cola, in the past year, has made sustained attempts to be seen seriously in taking up its corporate social responsibility. Before this, the company had honoured Indian achievers in the fields of sports, music and medicine.

UN-Habitat is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It was established in 1978 and has its headquarters at the UN office in Nairobi, Kenya.

According to its 2006 annual report, sometime in the middle of 2007, a majority of people worldwide will be living in towns and cities for the first time in history.

This is referred to as the arrival of the "urban millennium." The year 2007 will also see the number of slum dwellers hit 1 billion.

In terms of future trends, it is estimated that 93 per cent of urban growth will occur in Asia and Africa, and to a lesser extent Latin America and the Caribbean. By 2050, over 6 billion people, nearly two-thirds of humanity, will be living in towns and cities.

http://www.centralchronicle.com/20070420/2004142.htm

Beligum delegation happy over educational programme for tribal kids in Orissa

Koraput (Orissa), April 19: A delegation of the Belgium government, which is sponsoring a UNICEF run educational programme for the uplift of Orissa's tribal children, recently visited State's Koraput District to check the effectiveness of the programme.

The delegation comprising Education Minister of Flemish government (Belgium), Frank Ubenbroni, and select officials were greeted with a warm welcome by the tribal school children the villagers and district officials.

Despite a blazing sun, the Belgian delegation walked the dusty lanes of the Orissa's remotest areas. The member of the group had personal interaction with many tribal people and school children.

Belgian Minister expressed satisfaction over the education programme after interacting with various school kids.

"My feeling is that we should continue this collaboration. For us, it was a first exercise in working together with UNICEF, in sponsoring UNICEF; it was the first time we did it. It is also the first time we did it in Orissa, in India," said Frank Ubenbroni, the Belgium Education Minister.

Meanwhile, the delegation was given a warm welcome by the local tribals. The drumbeats led the delegation to the children's exhibition, where many children had an opportunity to interact with delegation members.

The tribal elder women, who welcomed the delegation showering petals, danced with Belgian women delegates joining them.

"We, the Paraja tribe people had always thought that it would be of little use to us if we sent the children to school. So we ended up not sending our children to school, just the way our parents too deprived us of any formal education. The loss was ours and we remained in darkness. Now we realise the value of education," said Saribari Muduli, a tribal woman.

The benefited tribal children were delighted to meet the visitors in their village.

"I studied in standard five. I also did domestic chores and worked in the village. I do not wish to discontinue my studies. I have sworn that I will work very hard," said Kumari Jena, a middle school student.

The Belgian government is spending about 250,000 Euros(about rupees 1. 43 crore) to improve primary education of tribal children Orissa.

In 2005, about 288 schools had been selected for the special aid, which will last till 2008.

The funds are spent on imparting training to teachers, developing training materials and empowering the community so the education system gains strength.

Orissa occupies a unique position in the ethnographic map of India with the largest number of tribal communities.

In Orissa, the literacy level stands at 63.61 per cent as compared to the all-India average of 65.38 per cent. However, there are considerable regional disparities between areas and communities.

http://www.dailyindia.com/show/134760.php/Beligum-delegation-happy-over-educational-programme-for-tribal-kids-in-Orissa

Intel to train Chhattisgarh school teachers

Teachers in Chhattisgarh will be trained by Intel Corporation, which has entered into a pact with the state government to impart free Information and Communications Technology (ICT) training to them under its World Ahead Programme.

Intel recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government to teach the teachers IT basics.

Chhattisgarh will be the fourteenth state in the country where the company has launched the programme. It claimed to have trained about 700,000 teachers by now.

The secretary of the school education department C K Khetan said about 7000 teachers would be trained in the state under the programme which would take 60 days. Refresher course besides workshops and seminars would be organised for teachers.

"Information Technology is important in 21st century learning. It will provide access to a world of information, and improve learning outcomes," state education minister Megharam Sahu said.

The training will help teachers gain ICT skills for education of students, he claimed .

The manager of Intel Technology Limited in India, Anshul Sonal, said the programme was launched in February 2000 and had covered 35 cities.

http://www.business-standard.com/iceworld/storypage.php?leftnm=8&subLeft=1&chklo
gin=N&autono=281738&tab=r

Tata Steel plant faces obstinate tribals

LOHANDIGUDA (CHHATTISGARH): A proposed Tata steel project in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region has run into rough weather, with farmers refusing to sell their ancestral farmland.

"Earlier we had sought a hike in compensation for surrendering our prime farmland to the Tatas. Now we have decided not to give up the land at any cost," thundered Banga Ram, 52, of Badeparoba village. "Tata Steel," Ram told news agency, "can get the land (only) over our dead bodies."

Badeparoba is one of the 10 villages of Lohandiguda block in Bastar district where officials say Tata Steel plans to acquire about 5,098 acres of land. Of this, 3,500 acres are private land.

The company signed a deal with the Chhattisgarh government in June 2005 for investing Rs.100 billion for a five million tonne per annum (mta) steel plant in a region home to large stocks of the world's finest quality iron ore.

The government sent a recommendation to the central government in February to grant a prospecting license for the 2,500-hectare stretch in Bastar's Bailadila deposit no-1 to Tata Steel to fulfil its iron ore requirements.

Local legislator Lachhuram Kashyap of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who was till January welcoming Tata Steel's decision for choosing Lohandiguda block for a mega plant, has now started opposing the project.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Tata_Steel_plant_faces_obstinate_tribals/
articleshow/1922978.cms

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