Gandhi Sena protests against Cong demo Thursday, October 25, 2001
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
AHMEDABAD: The Gandhi Sena has objected to the desecration of Mahatma Gandhi's statue at the Income-Tax circle by Congress workers last week and demanded they tender an apology against their action in public.
Workers of the state Congress in a demonstration staged last Thursday had pasted posters of Prime Minister Vajpayee all over the statue, while protesting against the re-induction of George Fernandes as Union defence minister.
President of the Sena, Dhimant Badhia, submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Narendra Modi, police commissioner P C Pande, director general of police K Chakravarthi and other authorities stating that the Congress had misused the name of Gandhi and desecrated his memorial.
The Sena also demanded that steps be taken to ensure that such things do not happen in future. Badhia quoted reports published in the freedom movement periodical 'Harijan Bandhu' where Gandhiji had talked about disbanding the Congress in 1948.
"But the Congress has been using the name of Gandhi and now desecrates his memorial in this manner," Badhia added.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
Admission hurdles that Kashmiri students face Thursday, October 25, 2001
BY ROBIN DAVID, TIMES NEWS NETWORK
AHMEDABAD: A noble gesture can fall flat on its face if not backed by firm commitment. The Central government has tripped over one such gesture to Kashmiri migrants who have fled the valley and its trigger-happy terrorists. It has asked state governments to reserve seats for migrants in engineering colleges but has not given guidelines on how to conduct such admissions.
As state governments like Gujarat grope in the dark to implement the policy, the migrants say their agony has been compounded. They have not yet got admission though academic year has begun.
The state implemented the GR on the reservation only this year, and has landed in a web of technical hitches. There is no clarity on who can be defined a migrant or who could certify that a person is truly a victim of terrorism. Can a person, who fled the valley 10 years back, still be considered a migrant and given the benefit of reservation? There are no clear answers.
Hoping to make matters clear, the state government came up with its own GR asking students from the valley to provide proof that they were migrants who had suffered terrorists. Proof could be in the form certificates from collectors in Jammu and Kashmir or a copy of the special ration cards that Delhi issued when the migrants first came over.
Besides creating an additional seat in each college, they stretched the deadline for such students by 30 days and brought down the minimum eligibility marks by 10 per cent. However, there was still no clarity on who is eligible; those who have left the valley recently, or just any migrant.
The Centralised Degree Admissions Committee (CDAC) has received 88 applications and will issue call letters after scrutiny. Apart from the definition of a migrant, education officials are also worried about the low percentage of applicants. Nearly 30 of them have less than 50 per cent marks, many even below 40 per cent.
Normal admission for open seats in the free category in Gujarat on the other hand have stopped at 65 per cent. Also, such students have applied to universities elsewhere and may have got admission in Maharashtra or Karnataka, while Gujarat may be going out of the way to give them admission.
State higher and technical education secretary Gauri Kumar insists they will soon remove the ambiguity to resume the admission process. "The call letters will be issued soon," she says. Many of the migrants, however, have their doubts. "I am hoping this is not another whitewash in the name of assistance," says a vocal R K Dhar from Vadodara whose daughter has applied to the Committee. "I have made numerous representations but received no answers. They have not even called my daughter while many colleges have already started their academic year." Dhar, working with the Gujarat Electricity Board, left the valley nearly 10 years back.
Rajneesh Chatta's cousin Anshita Ganjoo on the other hand, is still in Jammu and has applied in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, too. "We would have preferred a centralised system in Delhi itself," Chatta, based in Ahmedabad, says. "Anshita has not heard from anywhere despite all the right sounds being made initially."
Having completed his school education in the valley, Chatta confirms that higher education in Jammu and Kashmir is in a pathetic state, not leaving bright students with any option but to leave the state even if they do not perceive terrorist threat.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
Dandia for kids a big draw Thursday, October 25, 2001
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
AHMEDABAD: It was a children's show all the way at Rajpath Club on the Sarkhej highway on Monday evening with an exclusive 'Children's Dandia' drawing a huge crowd of toddlers to teen-agers.
Not only were the singers and dancers children, even the orchestra was handled by children who had been rehearsing for this day for weeks. The food stalls were also managed by children and so was the security.
Club manager Shyam Mehta, who conceived the idea, said "this had never been tried before, this was a dandia for the children, by the children and of the children". Looking to the kids' needs, the timings of the dandia, organised by Rushi Culture Group, was from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. instead of the regular ones that begin only after 10 p.m.
There were gifts for all the participants and prizes for winners selected by a jury comprising child artistes.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
Rs 7268-cr annual plan outlay for Gujarat finalised Thursday, October 25, 2001
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
AHMEDABAD: The 2001-02 annual plan for Gujarat was finalised at Rs 7,267.85 crore at a meeting between Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission K C Pant in New Delhi on Monday. The annual plan will have the highest allocation of 41 per cent for social sector which includes primary education, primary health, drinking water supply etc.
Pant agreed to provide Rs 115 crores crore, under Accelerated Power Development Programme (APDP), for strengthening distribution network in the state. To expedite the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Project, Pant agreed to provide Rs 480 crore under Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP).
Pant complimented the state for an expected growth rate of more than 7 per cent during the Ninth Plan period, in spite of two successive droughts and devastating earthquake.
Pant also complimented the state for making rapid strides in elementary education, by providing primary school in every revenue village and thereby, achieving the national norm of access to primary school, within one km distance of a village. He also complimented the state for the growth in enrolment of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students in the schools.
Pant also noted with great satisfaction the consistently good performance of the state in the industrial sector, making second highest contribution to the net value addition in the country.
Focusing on various developmental programmes implemented in state, Modi said that besides social sectors, the state was giving priority to agriculture and provision of drinking water. He requested the Planning Commission to support accelerated irrigation benefit programme, check dams construction, Gokul Gram Yojana, Accelerated Power Development Programme and Adult Literacy programme.
Discussing Sardar Sarovar Project, Narendra Modi said it was a project which would save millions of people from hunger and thirst. This project would benefit all the participating states in increasing agricultural production and provide drinking water and power. The state is keen to complete the project implementation without any further delay. The state therefore sought the Planning Commission's support for this lifeline project of the region, he urged.
Modi said Gujarat envisaged a new focus on bio-technology. This meant creating institutions, encouraging fundamental and applied research and widening the use of bio-technolgy in mass areas.
Narendra Modi emphasised the need for border areas development including, coastal areas. An important measure in this direction was to establish Sainik schools in the border areas and make suitable curricula changes in the existing schools to instil a spirit of discipline and nationalistic feeling among children.
Modi said the state government had taken up the plan for development of Dwarka, including Bet Dwarka, Somnath and other places of pilgrimage. He sought special assistance from Planning Commission for the overall development of Dwarka and Bet Dwarka. Responding to his request, Pant agreed to make a special allocation of Rs 2 crore for Bet Dwarka and additional Rs 7 crore will be provided by Government of India for face-lift of Dwarka through Archaeological Survey of India.
Modi also apprised the commission of the several measures taken by the state government on e-governance. All district headquarters of the state had been linked through an optical-fibre network. This network would cover all the taluka headquarters by December 2001.
Considering the excellent work done by the state under Gokul Gram Yojana (GGY), Pant agreed to make a provision of Rs 30 crore as additional central assistance for GGY.
Modi said that due to droughts and the earthquake, elections to some of the local bodies were not held till now, which will be completed very soon. In this context, the felt that Gram Panchayat elections should as far as be held unanimously and should be above the party politics. He has, therefore, taken an initiative to give cash incentive to those Gram Panchayat, which will elect their representatives unanimously under the new scheme called 'Samras Gram Yojana', for undertaking development works and by giving them a certificate of 'Samras Gram Panchayat'. This new concept of the chief minister was appreciated by Pant.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
A postman with a difference Thursday, October 25, 2001
BY JAHNAVI CONTRACTOR, TIMES NEWS NETWORK
VADODARA: Sorting mail and delivering letters in the city by the day and writing 'garba' songs and poems by the night have become a part of life for Ramesh Makwana, a commerce graduate from M S University. Makwana is a postman with the Fatehgunj post office for the past 12 years.
But he is a postman with a difference -- not only is he a budding poet and singer, but he also has to his credit an audio cassette, 'Mataji na Garba', with the lyrics penned by him. Many of his poems have been published in Gujarati magazines and newspapers.
While his colleagues return home to relax after a hard day's work of delivering mails throughout the city, Makwana's literary and artistic side comes to fore after his duty hours.
He first goes to the MSU faculty of performing arts for his diploma classes in Indian classical vocal singing and thereafter returns home to embark on his next passion -- writing poems and songs -- as and when inspiration dawns.
"Being a postman is my profession which keeps me physically active and healthy. It also earns me a livelihood. But writing poems, 'Mataji na garbas' and songs keeps me mentally fit. I enjoy writing and singing. If I am able to earn enough to produce my own audio cassette (where he sings as well as writes the songs), I would definitely do so one day," he said.
"I was always interested in literature and writing since childhood. Though nobody in my family is a writer, my uncle used to sing. I used to stay in Salatwada where as a child I studied at Sharda Mandir. I started writing a few childish poems that I used to show to Harshad Trivedi (a poet and the then school principal). He used to encourage me, correct me and that's how I developed this passion," said Makwana.
Though Gujarati literature and music beckoned him, Makwana was forced to seek admission in the MSU department of commerce. "Everyone told me the only way to find work was to study commerce. I was not interested. I wanted to take up arts and specialise in Gujarati literature. But had to choose BCom instead. I did manage to get the job of a postman," he said.
"But I have now sought admission in Ambedkar Open University where I have registered for BA in Gujarati literature. Though I am not sure when I would get the degree. It is difficult to find that much time to study," he said.
Makwana, however, said earning a diploma in Indian classical vocal from the faculty of performing arts and a BA in Gujarati literature would not help him financially. "There is no commercial objective. I am doing this because I enjoy it," he said.
"I also love my work and look forward to it daily. As a postman I do not get the same kind of respect that I get as a literary person. People look at a postman as just another common man. But once they come to know that I also write poems and 'garba' songs their attitude change. They look amazed and respect me," he said.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
