City crime branch arrests notorious criminal Monday, October 29, 2001
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
AHMEDABAD: The city crime branch caught notorious history-sheeter Shaukat Husain Hajibhai Shaikh who is wanted in a kidnapping offence of an Ahmedabad businessman and a double murder case lodged with the Vadodara police.
Acting on a tip-off, PI Tarun Barot and PSIs R B Joshi and H B Gohil kept a watch at the city bus stop near Calico Mills, and arrested him on Saturday. Shaikh was involved in the kidnapping of a linen trader Babubhai Mansuri from Dhalgarwad last year where his accomplice Arun Ramji Gajjar was arrested and Shaikh had fled.
Later Shaikh took cover in Vadodara, and in April this year he was accused of killing the driver and cleaner of a Toyota vehicle along with Rustom Saiyed and Anil Marathi, for which he is wanted by the Vadodara police. Shaikh has been remanded to custody till Sunday.
One nabbed for murder attempt: A shopkeeper and four others were attacked at Dilli Chakla following an argument on Saturday night, and had to be rushed to V S Hospital for treatment. Two inebriated persons, Jaganiyo and his brother, came to buy soda and milk from Haresh Kantilal Modi's shop and were asked to leave when they began abusing the shopkeeper.
After sometime, they collected people from the neighbourhood, and armed with swords, sticks, and pipes the attacked Hareshbhai, Rajeshbhai, Ashwinbhai, Madhukantaben and Hemendrabhai. The Shahpur police booked Rakesh alias Barlakh Bachhubhai Shah and 14 others for attempt to murder and arrested Govind Sitaram Marathe.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
Bt.gene cotton row likely to split farmers Sunday, October 28, 2001
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
AHMEDABAD: Farmers in Gujarat are likely to get split down the middle over the recent controversy on the use of unapproved Bt.gene seeds planted in about 9,000 acres in the state as both the state and Central governments take divergent stands on the issue.
To further complicate the issue, the two largest farmers' organisations in the state have also taken diametrically opposite stances on the issue and are likely to elicit support through representations and public rallies.
The Sharad Joshi-led Shetkari Sangathan, which has support in the central and south Gujarat regions is already preparing for a big rally in Bharuch on Tuesday to canvass for freedom for the farmers to choose the kinds of agricultural inputs they would like to use. The Bharatiya Kisan Sangathan, a RSS-led outfit, will meet Chief Minister Modi in Gandhinagar on the same day to warn against a ploy by multinational organisations to make the farmers dependent on these 'terminator' seeds.
Significantly, while the Union ministry of environment has ordered the destruction of these crops, the Union textiles ministry has supported the cause of the farmers who have used the genetically-engineered seeds. Textiles minister Kashiram Rana had in fact said the seeds are not only producing better quality cotton but have also withstood the onslaught of pests where other varieties have failed.
The Gujarat government, which has taken a stand in support of the Bt.gene seed, will take up the issue at a meeting convened by the Union government in New Delhi on Wednesday. However, Modi, who is close to the RSS, will have to take into account the serious reservations which the BKS has on the issue.
The national secretary of BKS, Jivanbhai Patel has said that the seeds were an attempt by multinational companies to impose terminator seeds on Indian farmers so that every year these farmers are forced to purchase seeds from these companies. A well-known proponent of 'swadeshi', it is yet to be seen what stance Modi finally takes on the issue. On one hand, Kashiram Rana and state agriculture minister Purshottam Rupala are accusing the "pesticides" lobby for opposing the new seed, while BKS is pointing fingers at the "terminator seeds lobby".
However, Sharad Joshi is seeking a wider debate on the issue by inviting farmers' leaders from other states to join the Bharuch rally. Those who are expected to attend include Sardar Bhupender Singh Maan (Punjab), Chaudhari Prem Simha Dahiya (Haryana), P Chengal Reddy (AP) and the president of Kisan Co-ordination Committee, Saroj Kashikar.
Joshi said in a statement that Gujarat's farmers have been able to save their crop of cotton from the attack of bolloworms, thanks to the use of a special seed. The crops from all other seeds have been devastated by the pest. Use of Bt-gene cotton seed in India was blocked by the Central ministry of environment and forests last May, even though other cotton producing countries have gone ahead with the use of transgenic cotton.
And while others are talking of a "pesticides lobby" and a "terminator seeds lobby", Joshi is referring to a "green lobby" in India is going all out to have the crops destroyed. He said the farmers used the seeds that they could procure through normal channels and cannot be faulted if the seed, eventually, turned out to be of transgenic variety.
It was government's duty to ensure that the proscribed seed was not marketed. This year, the cotton crop has failed in Gujarat with the exception of the proscribed variety. "Clearly, the new variety has proved its merit and superiority," Joshi said.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
Bt.gene cotton row likely to split farmers Sunday, October 28, 2001
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
AHMEDABAD: Farmers in Gujarat are likely to get split down the middle over the recent controversy on the use of unapproved Bt.gene seeds planted in about 9,000 acres in the state as both the state and Central governments take divergent stands on the issue.
To further complicate the issue, the two largest farmers' organisations in the state have also taken diametrically opposite stances on the issue and are likely to elicit support through representations and public rallies.
The Sharad Joshi-led Shetkari Sangathan, which has support in the central and south Gujarat regions is already preparing for a big rally in Bharuch on Tuesday to canvass for freedom for the farmers to choose the kinds of agricultural inputs they would like to use. The Bharatiya Kisan Sangathan, a RSS-led outfit, will meet Chief Minister Modi in Gandhinagar on the same day to warn against a ploy by multinational organisations to make the farmers dependent on these 'terminator' seeds.
Significantly, while the Union ministry of environment has ordered the destruction of these crops, the Union textiles ministry has supported the cause of the farmers who have used the genetically-engineered seeds. Textiles minister Kashiram Rana had in fact said the seeds are not only producing better quality cotton but have also withstood the onslaught of pests where other varieties have failed.
The Gujarat government, which has taken a stand in support of the Bt.gene seed, will take up the issue at a meeting convened by the Union government in New Delhi on Wednesday. However, Modi, who is close to the RSS, will have to take into account the serious reservations which the BKS has on the issue.
The national secretary of BKS, Jivanbhai Patel has said that the seeds were an attempt by multinational companies to impose terminator seeds on Indian farmers so that every year these farmers are forced to purchase seeds from these companies. A well-known proponent of 'swadeshi', it is yet to be seen what stance Modi finally takes on the issue. On one hand, Kashiram Rana and state agriculture minister Purshottam Rupala are accusing the "pesticides" lobby for opposing the new seed, while BKS is pointing fingers at the "terminator seeds lobby".
However, Sharad Joshi is seeking a wider debate on the issue by inviting farmers' leaders from other states to join the Bharuch rally. Those who are expected to attend include Sardar Bhupender Singh Maan (Punjab), Chaudhari Prem Simha Dahiya (Haryana), P Chengal Reddy (AP) and the president of Kisan Co-ordination Committee, Saroj Kashikar.
Joshi said in a statement that Gujarat's farmers have been able to save their crop of cotton from the attack of bolloworms, thanks to the use of a special seed. The crops from all other seeds have been devastated by the pest. Use of Bt-gene cotton seed in India was blocked by the Central ministry of environment and forests last May, even though other cotton producing countries have gone ahead with the use of transgenic cotton.
And while others are talking of a "pesticides lobby" and a "terminator seeds lobby", Joshi is referring to a "green lobby" in India is going all out to have the crops destroyed. He said the farmers used the seeds that they could procure through normal channels and cannot be faulted if the seed, eventually, turned out to be of transgenic variety.
It was government's duty to ensure that the proscribed seed was not marketed. This year, the cotton crop has failed in Gujarat with the exception of the proscribed variety. "Clearly, the new variety has proved its merit and superiority," Joshi said.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
Police play a huge success in tribal areas Sunday, October 28, 2001
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
VADODARA: It was police's maiden theatre production, and it has been a runaway hit. What decades of tough policing was perhaps not able to achieve, a simple concept in communication achieved it.
Tribals in Chhota Udepur and surrounding areas are seeing police in a different light now. Thanks to a street play, conceived by senior superintendent of police Keshav Kumar and performed by a group of young MSU students associated with Sankalp group, police are now winning over tribals.
The play, staged for yet another time in Chhota Udepur on Friday, coinciding with Dussehra, met with tremendous success. Titled 'Amaro haath, Tamaro saath' (Our hand your support), the play is identified by tribals as something that happens quite often in their society. Moreover, the use of tribal language for enacting the play, actors dressed up in traditional tribal attire and the local environment has made it more popular among the tribal society.
"We wanted to convey to them that police is friendly and helpful. We wanted to dispel their fears about police, win them over and send out a message about legal literacy," Kumar told TNN. He said the play has received a very good response.
"It is in demand. It has drawn huge crowds wherever it has been staged. The local tribal is very curious and wants to know. Besides the play is in his language, performed by people who he can identify with and situations which he has come across," Kumar said.
He added that he was optimistic about the entire exercise and hoped that communication that the police have been making through the said play will translate into tangible results. "When they go home, they will remember the scenes and its dialogues. It is going to remain in their mind, and at some point in time manifest into positive reaction to the message that we have been sending them," Kumar said.
The play, which fuses elements of street theatre and Gujarati folk drama form 'Bhavai', is about a love affair. Like an action-packed drama, this play too has some 'masala' features like abduction, threats and murder. The narrators, Ranglo and Ranglee, keep reminding citizens about their legal duties and the nature of crime the characters in the play were witness to directly or indirectly.
Hardik Upadhyay, an SYBCOM student who plays a small part in the play, said: "It's is a very good experience for us too. We have come to learn a lot of thing merely by performing a small part in this play. Besides, our own concept of police has changed now. We had this impression of a gun-wielding cop who uses foul language is good for nothing, but now we see police in a completely different light. Our respect for the police has grown tremendously."
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
Film on Parsi heritage screened Sunday, October 28, 2001
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
VADODARA: The National Minorities Board) has embarked on a special UNESCO assisted project on 'Preserving the Paris Zoroastrian Culture and Heritage', said board member A M Sheth who was here on Saturday for a special screening of a 20-minute film 'Glimpses 2001' organised by the Vadodara Parsi Panchayat and NIFT Gandhinagar.
The project aims to preserve and promote Parsi heritage and culture. The film enumerates the Parsis' contribution to the Indian culture and the historic and religious aspects thereof.
Over the past four census, the community has been dwindling by an alarming rate of 10 per cent. The population has sunk so low that it comprises 0.01 per cent of the Indian population.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
