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 Sudesh Kumar speaking on behalf of Jharkhand (UK) at BJMA annual reunion 2007 at New Castle, England
Post offices in Jharkhand to extend SBI facilities
Jharkhand has become one of the few states to offer banking facilities at post offices in rural areas in collaboration with the State Bank of India (SBI), officials said Wednesday.
'Under the new scheme, the Jharkhand postal department has entered into a collaboration with the SBI to extend SBI facilities in rural parts of the state,' said Anil Kumar, the director of the department.
'The collaboration has taken place in light of a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directive to extend baking facilities to rural areas. SBI will be linked with post offices in rural areas and it will provide facilities like loans, depositing money and other things,' Kumar added.
Jharkhand is one of the five states of the country where SBI facilities are provided in post offices. The others are Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pardesh and Karnataka.
In Jharkhand, 21 post offices located in rural areas of Bokaro, Dhanbad and Hazaribagh districts have been identified for providing SBI services. While, the banking service began July 2 in six post offices, the facility will be extended to the rest once they have been linked to the SBI.
http://www.indiaprwire.com/businessnews/20070725/23612.htm
Core Projects ties up with IBM for edu services
NEW DELHI: IT solutions provider Core Projects & Technology has joined hands with global giant IBM to provide solutions in multiple areas of education and government spending.
"IBM and Core would jointly give a presentation to HRD ministry for providing IT solutions in education sector and better implementation of government-funded education programme such as Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan (SSA) in India," IBM country manager Satish Kaushal told reporters here.
Both companies will work together to offer products such as grant management, student assessment reporting, administration, reporting of services for children with disabilities, and analysis of education data.
"With the help of our expertise in the domain of education and IBM's technology, governments at Centre and state level can get the exact details of the utilisation of fund earmarked for education sector," Core Projects & Technology CEO Prakash Gupta said.
Gupta said IBM is the preferred IT solutions provider for the governments globally and Core sees value in having its products customised and made available on IBM platform.
Core has bagged one such project from the Jharkhand government, where it has introduced certain innovative IT solutions such as 'Child Tracking System' to put a check on number of school dropouts, and to improve the quality of education in the country.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Software/Core_Projects_ties_up_with_IBM_for_edu
_services_/articleshow/2244427.cms
Agri export zones a failed concept
Agri export zones need to be replaced by a structure capable of pursuing a more pro-active marketing strategy and social organisation to increase agricultural exports and deliver benefits back to farmers.
Since 2003, the central government had sanctioned around 60 AEZs on paper but not one had taken off successfully, said Jairam Ramesh, Union minister of state for commerce & industry.
"AEZ is a discarded concept, it has failed", commented Ramesh.
He urged the eastern states like West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar to prepare a detailed project report on agri exports, to identify anchor products to be exported and the social organisation to bring the producers together, indicate private entrepreneurs keen to invest in the chain, and name export markets that could take the product.
"Once we have the project reports in hand funds can be raised through state and central government resources and also from financial institutions. These are extremely bankable projects," Ramesh added.
Maharashtra has successfully exported table grapes to Europe in a project that involved 40,000 farmers supported with infrastructure by state and central governments, Ramesh stated.
Two farmers' producers companies have been floated in the Karbi Anglong district of Assam to export organic turmeric and ginger, in a JV format, where the farmers held 59 per cent.
Their equity contribution was in the form of land, while the Spices Board and Centre came up with money for equity, said Ramesh.
Eleven projects worth Rs 68 crore (Rs 680 million) had been sanctioned by the Centre in recent years to add value to agricultural produce.
The money would be implemented in the next 12 to 18 months, Ramesh said.
"Agri exports can be the major transforming vehicle for eastern India which definitely needs industrialisation. Singur is the catalyst to that change, and I see agri-exports in the same category," Ramesh commented.
West Bengal lacked a market mechanism to cash in on its agricultural produce, said Budhdhadeb Bhattacharjee, chief minister of the state.
Apart form infrastructure development for the preservation of goods, significant value addition exercises was required, he admitted.
"At present we can add value to only 3 per cent of our produce and this needs to improve," commented Bhattacharjee.
The expected growth in agricultural exports targeted in the Eleventh Plan was around 4. 1 percent, and that would require West Bengal to double the growth attained in the Ninth and Tenth Plans, said Amit Kiran Deb, chief secretary of West Bengal.
Agri exports account for 10 per cent of the total exports of the country currently.
The share had come down significantly since 1990's, when it contributed around 20 per cent to total exports.
http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2007/jul/30aez.htm
Jharkhand Traders To Boycott Politicians
Unhappy with the attitude of the politicians towards rising crime against the business community here, traders in Jharkhand have decided to boycott politicians.
The traders have decided not to invite politicians to any programme or marriage ceremony. They will not garland or felicitate them either. The business community will also not attend functions organised by the political leaders.
The Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce (FJCC) in a meeting Wednesday condemned the rising incidents of crime against the businessmen of the state and decided to boycott the politicians to lodge their protest.
'Nobody is able to understand what is happening in the state. Jharkhand has lost its direction for which it was carved out from Bihar seven years ago. Criminals are ruling the roost and police inaction is promoting their courage,' said Arjun Jalan, a member of FJCC.
Criminals brutally beat up businessman Harendra Agrawal in the upper bazaar locality here Tuesday.
A doctor from Ranchi was abducted in New Delhi Sunday. Last week, one local businessman was shot and another abducted from Jamshedpur. There is no trace of the abducted businessman and those who shot the trader are absconding.
As a mark of protest, the traders tried to stop Chief minister Madhu Koda from going to New Delhi Tuesday. 'People are disappointed and the officials are making money', 'Criminals are active and the government is inactive' were the slogans shouted by hundreds of traders who gathered at the Birsa Munda airport here.
The entire state cabinet has gone to New Delhi to attend the oath taking ceremony of the first woman president Pratibha Patil. They will stay in the national capital for five days.
Official figures indicate that the number of abduction cases for ransom has risen in Jharkhand. In 2006, 34 cases of abduction for ransom were registered in the state, while the number was 22 and 41 in 2005 and 2004 respectively.
The total number of abduction cases registered in 2006 was 633 while it was 574 and 576 in 2005 and 2004 respectively.
http://newspostindia.com/report-8717
SC/ST role in economy? India Inc in dark
While the United Progressive Alliance government wants to spread the spectacular gains made by India Inc in the last few years to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, there are no reliable data on their participation in business, either as employees or as employers.
The government, industry and civil society groups agree they have no data, which they admit are the building blocks for any action for inclusive growth.
They, however, agree on one thing -- that the participation of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in business is low, zero in large enterprises, and slightly more in small enterprises. The representation in states like Jharkhand, where their population is high, could be slightly higher.
According to Economic Census, 1998, enterprise distribution under the social group of 'Owner' is 7.7 per cent for scheduled castes, 4 per cent for scheduled tribes and 33.1 per cent for other backward castes. Not only is the data almost a decade old, it is hotly contested by social activists.
"We completely disagree with these numbers. Dalits are being denied ownership in all fields. Even in kirana stores, their proportion is absolutely nil," said Paul Diwakar, convenor, National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights.
Rosemary Vishwanath, a Bangalore-based consultant who works on issues confronting the socially weaker sections, said, "I do not understand what they mean by an entrepreneur. I don't know whether we can term a roadside cobbler an entrepreneur."
Ashok Bharati, convenor, National Conference of Dalit Organisations, said, "Their entrepreneurship is almost negligible."
Milind Kamble of Pune-based 125-member Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, "If the proportion of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in business was so high, what was the need for us to protest the economic imbalance all this while?"
However, Diwakar conceded there had been an improvement in the last three decades. "Some pockets of South India have seen a positive change, with Dalits entering fields like tourist services and prawn culture," he said.
There are other indications too. The Confederation of Indian Industry has been running an entrepreneurship development programme for young people from the economically weaker sections for several years.
"We now realise that most of them belong to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Several of them have done well and employ a large number of people," said a functionary of the industry association.
The situation is not so good when it comes to estimating the number of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe employees in the private sector. While members of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry are averse to doing such a count, only 96 of CII's over 7,000 members have given such figures.
"The spread of such employees is between 5 per cent and 82 per cent. There are no trends in the data, except that their participation is more in areas where their population proportion is higher," said a CII functionary.
http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2007/jul/19st.htm
Victims of trafficking await justice
Friday, July,27 2007 : It has been over a year now but justice continues to elude Khushi, Reshmi and Sati, (names changed), aged 7, 9 and 14.
Viciously abused and even shot at by their employer, a well-to-do architect in Faridabad, Haryana, the three girls are now living in a shelter in Rai, close to Delhi.
After three years of abject slavery, when they were forced to sleep naked on the bathroom floor on cold winter nights after a 20-hour grueling work-day and made to eat rice off the toilet bowl, life is slowly seeping back into the children.
But even though there's no fear, the past simply refuses to fade away. Khushi, who will be eight soon, spends her time staring out of their grilled windows, the sunlight blinding her.
She was abused the most, her vacant eyes reflect the intense trauma that still hovers around her like a shroud.
Fortunately, her injuries are healing well. The bullet scar on her thigh is no longer raw and her tiny, weathered hands, which were rotting when she was rescued, are back in shape.
But she no longer remembers anything. Her father, her village and the life she led before she was stolen by her uncle and sold into domestic labour through a placement agency.
It was through a session of music that some of her roots began to emerge. After much cajoling, she began to sing and it was clear she was an adivasi.
She sang beautifully and with each song, her confidence grew. After a moment of surprised silence that greeted her performance since few knew she could sing, she began to open up.
She belonged to Chhattisgarh and now wanted to return home. She used to go to school and was her father's favourite. She misses him the most.
Khushi rarely spoke, so this was the only opportunity to locate her family. But after some time, she turned away and the moment was lost. It would be some time before she trusted anyone again.
Sati and Reshmi were peppy and full of life. They had somehow managed to put the incident behind them. Sati, with her beautiful face and long hair, had faced sexual harassment as well.
But she had fought back, yelling and screaming, which warned neighbours that something was not quite right in the three-storied plush building.
It was obvious her spirit helped her recover faster but the memory brought angry tears to her eyes.
The time spent at the shelter had somewhat reawakened their childhood. They wanted new clothes - pink and red and were eager to watch films.
Both of them sang popular Bangla songs that used to blare outside paan shops in their villages in Midnapore district in Bengal. They too had been picked up by traffickers and brought to Delhi.
Girls like these go missing from villages across Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, Assam and Andhra Pradesh routinely.
Some put the figure at one million but those who work in the field say that is a conservative estimate. Intense poverty drives the business of trafficking. Children, after narcotics, have emerged the most lucrative commodity globally.
Trafficking has also brought the world closer. There are no borders here. Bangladeshi children can be found in Saudi Arabia , Nepali girls in Mumbai's brothels and adolescents from Andhra in Delhi's red light districts. Hundreds of girls from Jharkhand run homes in the capital.
All this, despite stringent laws. Law enforcers often say their hands are tied. The biggest reason for poor arrests and convictions is jurisdiction. Most trafficking cases get stuck because they need coordination between police forces of different states.
But it isn't that simple. As seen in the Faridabad case, it is clear that the police force is still ignorant of laws related to trafficking but above all policemen were corrupt and were plaint to pressure. Big names with political connections get away scot-free.
Despite breaking child labour laws, which clearly states that employing children below 14 is a crime, the architect in question was not arrested. The children were rescued in a raid, yet the accused walked away.
At the police station, despite the presence of the media and NGOs, no case was registered. In fact, the media was intimidated. A few telephone calls and the police wilted. In cases related to children, the crime somehow diminishes in the eyes of the police. Clearly, the problem is more attitudinal than functional.
The National Commission for Women, that took up the issue has written several times to police authorities, adding several more charges against the accused. But there has been no response so far.
Minster of Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury says criminals who abuse children must not get away. Clearly, the time has come to set an example.
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/showcolumns.aspx?id=COLEN20070020525
Court ruling lost in transit
Jamshedpur/Ranchi, July 28: Commercial vehicles, especially trucks, found guilty of overloading cannot proceed after simply paying a fine.
A Supreme Court ruling dating back to 2003, claimed BJP legislator Sarayu Roy in Jamshedpur today, clearly laid down that the extra materials, in all such cases, should first be unloaded, confiscated and a fine imposed before allowing the vehicles to proceed.
But the direction is being flouted by transporters and reputed private and public companies, said Roy, putting the state exchequer to huge losses. The violation is continuing with the connivance of the authorities, he alleged, demanding a CBI inquiry.
Roy named companies such as Tata Steel, Central Coalfields Ltd and Bharat Coking Coal Ltd, among others, and claimed he had sufficient proof to support his contention. A large number of violators in the state, he declared, happen to be from the iron and steel sector.
While Supreme Court had interpreted and expanded the provision of "compounding" under section 200 of the Motor Vehicles Act, a communiqué issued by the Union ministry of road transport and highways in November 2005 had also laid down the law.
To his knowledge, said the legislator, the provision is being strictly complied with in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. But while it is being violated in many other states, in Jharkhand the violation is both brazen and rampant, he claimed.
Referring to the poor maintenance of NH-33, which links Jharkhand to Bihar as well as the Delhi and Mumbai highways, the legislator circulated a copy of a letter from National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to the Jamshedpur Truck Owners' Association.
On NH-33, says the letter, trucks are allowed to carry up to 30 tonnes of material. But most of the trucks, it alleges, carry 65 to 80 tonnes. The issue is snowballing after NH-33 was virtually shut down for over 48 hours this week between Ranchi and Jamshedpur following breakdown of two trucks, which blocked the width of the road. Thousands of vehicles were stranded.
NH-33 stretches from Bahragora to Barhi for around 350km. While NHAI maintains NH-2, that is the Grand Trunk Road, the NH division of the road construction department is entrusted with the maintenance of 1,652 km of National Highways in the state.
The division is manned by an army of 90 engineers, which, in other words means that each of these engineers has to look after a stretch of less than 20 km. But, strangely, the department still claims to be ignorant of bad road conditions and is in the process of launching a public helpline to enable people to provide information about potholes.
NHAI's liaison officer in the state B.K. Sahay claims that the Centre has provided the NH division in the state Rs 220cr under the plan head and Rs 120cr under the non-plan head between 2001 and 2007. Out of this central allocation, the NH division is said to have spent Rs 280cr during the past six years.
But the amount is inadequate, claims engineer-in-chief H.N. Chatterjee. The central grant, he says, is just one-fourth of the annual requirement and hence the entire length of NH never gets repaired.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070729/asp/frontpage/story_8120421.asp
Floodwaters cut off road links to Godda
Dumka, July 24: Embankments gave way and rivers overflowed while floodwaters washed away a bridge, cutting off Godda from the rest of the state.
The marooned district's road links to both Jharkhand and Bihar were snapped.
The government, ironically, had assured in May this year that rivers would be desilted and embankments of the Triveni project repaired before the monsoon. The assurance had followed an indefinite fast by the first chief minister of the state.
But floods wreaked havoc in Godda, where coal mining at Lalmatia coalfield came to a grinding halt with Eastern Coalfields Ltd sources claiming a loss of Rs 2 crore. Open-cast pits of Rajmahal coalfields have become waterlogged, confirmed ECL officials.
While no loss of life was reported from Godda, cattle have drowned and houses damaged. Godda deputy commissioner told The Telegraph that the extent of loss is still being assessed.
Water level at the Massanjore dam, meanwhile, rose alarmingly, causing panic in Dumka. Sullen residents complained that the sluice gates on the Bengal side are not being opened to save land and people in the neighbouring state. But the water level now threatens to inundate large parts of Dumka and damage the paddy crop extensively, they claimed.
Local trains on the Mokama-Kiul section were cancelled and several trains diverted because of the floods. Heavy rain has been predicted over the next 48 hours,
The public works department is being blamed for the collapse of the bridge over the Kazhia on the Godda-Sundarpahari-Sahebganj road.
The pillars of the bridge were apparently meshed with steel and iron nets to protect them from floodwater and boulders. But PWD removed the nets, complained people, for allegedly carrying out repair works but the nets were never replaced.
Besides Godda town, road transport to Poraiyahat and Lalmatia too have been disrupted and people there are grappling with shortages and rising prices.
Extensive damage has been reported to standing crops of paddy from Pathargama, Poraiyahat and Mahagama.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070725/asp/frontpage/story_8100839.asp
Dhobi and editor
Gauri Shanker Rajak of Dumka in Jharkhand irons clothes, but what he really likes doing is bringing out a newspaper. His weekly newspaper is called Din Dalit, which he has been writing by hand for the last 21 years. Over a hundred copies are photocopied and pasted on walls across the city, with reports on corruption, human right violations, and Dalit issues. "This paper goes to every nook and corner of Dumka. That's how the paper's circulation is growing," the washerman says. The little money that Rajak earns from his washing, he spends on his newspaper. Like any good journalist, he has his sources who give him enough information for his four-page weekly. "I write everything myself, but it costs money to make photocopies. I give 50 of these copies to government officials and intellectuals," he says.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/This_week_in_real_India/articleshow/2185169.cms
Ekal Dallas Enchants Patrons with Bollywood
Hits While Working at its Noble Goal of Eradicating Illiteracy in India
Dallas, TX (PRWEB) July 26, 2007 -- Ekal of Dallas, a 501(c3) charity dedicated to helping illiterate children in India have a hope in life, successfully organized a fund raising banquet event on Sunday, July 22, at Irving, Texas. An Indian music band composed of singers and musicians from Chicago, Houston and from India thrilled the crowd with Bollywood hits and patriotic numbers that brought nostalgic memories to those that grew up in India. Young and old alike could not help but take to the stage when popular Bollywood numbers like 'Kajra-re Kajra-re' started pouring out of this heart warming musical group.
But there was also enough time dedicated to update the audience on the great work Ekal has done in India ever since 1986, when it first started schools in the Gumla area of Jharkand state in India. What started as a small personal experiment for the founders, a scientist couple from the US, started showing amazing results right away. Ever since that small but successful experiment with a handful of schools, the project has grown to an astounding 23,189 schools today. When asked what is unique about Ekal, Srinivas Reddy, President of Ekal Dallas region, said, "Ekal works exclusively in remote villages and tribal areas of India. These areas are often hard to reach, and most of them are not served by electricity and running water." Ekal aims to eradicate illiteracy from villages in India by the year 2012, a noble goal in itself.
Ekal works exclusively in remote villages and tribal areas of India . These areas are often hard to reach, and most of them are not served by electricity and running water.
Patrons attending the concert were generous enough to buy tickets to attend the show, and on top of that showed their generosity when asked to donate funds to support an Ekal school. In fact the chief guest for the event, the Honorable Mr. Herbert Gears, the Mayor of Irving, Texas, was so impressed with Ekal's credentials, that he made a generous personal donation to Ekal. His attendance, in spite of it being a rainy Sunday evening, provided a big moral boost to all volunteers.
"Ekal prides itself in being one of the largest NGO's (Non Governmental Organization) and yet has one of the lowest overhead of charities its size," said Raj Sobhani, Vice President - Corporate Marketing for Ekal Dallas. After hearing of the numerous instances of friends and acquaintances having witnessed Ekal schools in India "I was sold," says Sobhani with passion. Ekal is able to run a tribal school, usually about 35 students strong, for a cost equivalent of just a Dollar a day.
Rekha Gajria, a first year volunteer and Master of Ceremonies for the event was moved by the show of generosity from the patrons. "Even though the patrons were invited to help the cause by donating at least $365 which is enough for one Ekal school, many patrons were so moved that they donated multiple schools" reported Ms. Gajria. There were numerous pledges of 5 through 22 schools by individuals. "It made all our efforts worthwhile when we saw that we would be able to raise enough funds to educate over ten thousand kids, in just a matter of hours," said Purnima Kara, a long time volunteer and Vice President of Event Management for Ekal Dallas.
Vigyan Gotewal, a volunteer for Ekal Dallas, was very impressed with the outpouring of support. "Even after the event, we had people calling and pledging to support schools. We hope to keep getting pledges for weeks and months" says an enthused Gotewal. The whole community pitched in for the event. "Volunteers donated resources, Indya Fusion, the food vendor, charged a nominal price for the wonderful food, and the whole event came together for a minimal cost to Ekal" was the response from Naresh Shahani, who worked hard with the volunteer group from the Gujarati Cultural Society, and the UT-Dallas and UT-Arlington Indian Students Associations to keep costs down.
All Ekal Dallas officers are unpaid volunteers, and 100% of the funds raised in Dallas are dedicated to the cause of eradicating illiteracy amongst tribal children in India.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/07/prweb542431.htm
Mahabharata's 'Ghatotkacha', the offspring of 'Bhim' and 'Hidimba' of the epic ,
is a security guard with the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Bokaro. Call it an irony of fate or falling on bad times, but the fact is that the national-level wrestler turned short-time TV artiste of repute, Uday Bhan Singh (40) is now living an obscure life in Bokaro for the past 10 years.
Uday had represented India in the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Popular tele-serial Mahabharata's 'Ghatotkacha', the offspring of 'Bhim' and 'Hidimba' of the epic, is a security guard with the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Bokaro.
Despite earning 14 medals in different national wrestling events, the 6 feet 11 inch tall and 130 kg heavy wrestler, has faded into oblivion with the passage of time.
SAIL, Bokaro gave him a job but only as a security personnel. "I earn just enough to make ends meet for my family. I have now forgotten about the diet that I used to take when I was an active wrestler," said Uday.
He was in the state capital to coach boys in a camp organised by Jharkhand Wrestling Association. The normal daily diet chart of vegetarian Uday included 10 lts of milk, two kg vegetables, 40 chapattis, 10 eggs and 250 gm ghee.
The story as to how he bagged a role in the popular serial is an interesting one. Singh had gone to Mumbai to his relatives' house. He met Gufi Paintal, the 'Sakuni mama' of the serial.
Impressed by his physique, Paintal introduced Singh to the producer of the serial. His physique earned him the role. "I worked for about 15 days for the serial and was paid Rs 40,000," said Uday.
He wanted to pursue a career in Bollywood much in the line of renowned wrestler-actor Dara Singh, but the same 'physique', which had earned him a place there, now became his enemy.
"Afraid of my physique, heroines refused to give shots with me. The directors often found it difficult to find a suitable place in the film to fit me. Thus, my dreams to become an actor shattered soon," said Uday.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Redir.aspx?ID=4e5aa4cb-472b-49ef-8d1f-ef372f232fba
F I R S T & F R E S H
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