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Devdas sarees take Kolkata by storm

KOLKATA, Oct 10: For all those who wanted to sport the Paro look this puja, but could only dream of being able to afford the ensemble, here’s a chance to grab a Devdas saree at a store near you.

Neeta Lulla’s creations in the film might have ran into some Rs 14 lakh but the city’s boutiques and renowned saree showrooms have stacked their shelves with the six yard wonder without burning a hole in your pocket. More and more women are making a beeline to these outlets for the Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit look.

City-based designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee says the Devdas creations have brought back the art of wearing sarees. "It is the sheer desire for sporting the old world look which is making people aspire for a touch of fantasy. They find virtue in the richness of Devdas," he adds.

A popular saree shop in South Kolkata confirmed the huge popularity of the Devdas creation. The saree here generally comes in white base and scarlet border and textured in luxurious silk, Ikkat and Katan.

"We charge only Rs 840 for the one in silk, Rs 2550 for Ikkat and Rs 3740 for the Katan. These are selling like hot cakes and we strive to meet the demands of some 40 to 50 sarees every day," said shop owner R Das. Designer Chhanda Banerjee, who runs a popular boutique, has used nets and velvets embellished with intricate Zardosi work. The price for the designer sarees here is Rs 2000.

Besides the Devdas sarees, drapes with antique resham borders are in vogue. Embroideries on natural fabrics like cottons, tussars and silks are haute couture.

Designer Rakhi Mukherjee says hand-painted, Ari and tie and die sarees are also a rage this season. Designers have experimented with various images depicting the 9/11 attack and the popular Feng-Shui symbols which have received overwhelming response in the country and abroad.

Those wishing to sport the traditional look without carrying the saree’s weight have gone for the lehengas with net dupattas to add a touch of elegance. Even short kurtas in pastel shades of green, mauve, pink and blue and embellished with beads and sequins are a rage among puja shoppers.

Bandhni in bright colours are in for the casual yet ethnic look. Western wear in retro style with lots of frills, wide sleeves, shine on hipsters is also very much in demand. The tops come in solid colours, stripes and floral patterns.

If women desire to look like Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit, the men aspire the macho look of Shahrukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan. Boutiques have recreated the ‘Kabhi Khusi Kabhi Gham’ line for men’s wear where the kurta, waistcoat and ‘Uttoriyo’ come in tussar and all for Rs 2,000.

Mix and match at peanut price is the shopping advice from the fashion gurus of the city. Designers like Mukherjee and Anamika Khanna feel that a kurta teamed with salwar or trouser is the look of the season. Any old kurta can be transformed into a new one with multi-coloured sticker stones, laces and fringes which would not hit the puja budget. (UNI)

Cinema of the world at IFFI disappoints most

NEW DELHI, Oct 10: As the 33rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) ends here this evening, an oft-heard complaint made by festival regulars is about the "disappointing" selection of films in the "cinema of the world" section.

"This is the most lacklustre IFFI I have attended and the main reason for this, I think, is that the movies in the cinema of the world section were not upto the mark," says film critic Shubhra Gupta.

Pointing out that the cinema of the world is a major draw for viewers at IFFI as it gives a chance to see films not available otherwise, Ms gupta says of the 66 movies in this section, the number of worthwhile ones could be counted on finger tips.

Agrees Director Vinod Sukumaran, whose non-feature film "Diary of a Housewife" was the opening film of the panorama section alongwith Mrinal Sen’s feature film "Aamar Bhuvan".

"The film selection in cinema of the world was not upto the mark. Even privately organised ventures such as the Kerala International Film Festival (KIFF) manage to get better movies,"he adds.

The main reason for this, he feels is that internationally-renowned film makers such as Adoor Gopalakrishnan are associated with the holding of KIFF. "These film makers have a rapport with foreign directors which helps them to bring quality films for their festivals. In IFFI, however, the selection is left to bureaucrats and that shows in the indifferent quality of movies, he adds.

Agrees Anwar Jamal, whose film "Swaraaj", featuring in the Indian Panorama section, has drawn considerable interest, including from foreign buyers.

"There is a need for independent curators to make the film packages. Film makers going to overseas festivals should be given the responsibility of selecting films for IFFI," he adds.

Underlining the need for experts to choose films, internationally-acclaimed Assamese Director Jahnu Barua says most international film festivals have dedicated prgorammers whose job is to track the work of various directors. Every now and then, these people write to you asking about your latest work and what stage it is at. They take so much interest in your work and that helps to build a rapport between the director and the festival . No such practice is followed by the IFFI organisers,’’ he adds.

However, veteran film festival regular and vice-president of the Federation of Film Societies of India Gautam Kaul disagrees that the DFF can be blamed for not getting good films for IFFI.

He notes that almost all of the 66 films in this section have been shown in at least one or two other international festivals earlier.

If the standard of films being made is changing, the DFF can hardly do anything about it. It is true that these films have not shown any flashy sparks of creativity, but at least they are talking about their societies and are relevant to their environment. That is more than what you can say about Indian films,’’ he adds.

Disputing that better foreign films could not be shown at IFFI, the critics however agree that the blame lies more at the door of the Government rather than the DFF.

There is constant Government interference in day-to-day decisions also. For instance, I know for a fact that for the current IFFI, the budget sanction came as late as September 20 for a festival due to start on October 1. Then also, the DFF was told to clear with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry every time they were offering a business class ticket to a film delegate. All this limits the DFF’s ability to choose films, says a senior film journalist.

A better way out would be for the Government to sanction a specific amount for the DFF to organise IFFI, which the Directorate should be free to utilise the way it wants instead of running to the Ministry for every small and big thing, he adds.

Agreeing with this observation, critic Shubhra Gupta says it is surprising that IFFI, the second oldest film festival does not have a permanent Director who is cinema literate . There is a need to cut down on the multiplicity of organisations handling IFFI and have a nodal agency to coordinate all the work, she adds. (UNI)

Ballia women show the way in health care

NEW DELHI, Oct 10: Nearly 95 per cent of women go for tetanus immunisation and ante natal check-ups during pregnancy overcoming superstition and age-old unhygienic practices associated with health care of pregnant women and new-borns in 17 blocks of Ballia district in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

"I had to almost fight with the elders, particularly the mother-in-law, to allow the pregnant women listen to me about how to take care of their health and the new- born child" said the Gram Swasthya Sevika (village health worker) Chattiya Devi.

In fact, the Sevikas, with their mobilisation of local women into self-help groups, have emerged as crucial carriers of the objectives of the Ballia Rural Integrated Child Survival (BRICS) project, a release said.

"The important point was that the villagers initially did not have the confidence or even the power to take their own decision," recalled the 27-year old enthusiastic Sevika from Kaithali village in Beruarbari block.

World Vision India (WVI) ran the project under their regular Area Development Program (ADP) directly only in Beruarbari block. At present, they are associated with such projects in 107 blocks throughout the country.

Brics in other blocks is being implemented through partner NGOs and local government machinery in association with the donors agency, the release said. WVI associate director Victor Chandran said that Ballia was selected because it is one of the most backward regions of the State.

The strategy was to strengthen capacity, starting from grassroots level to help Government and non-government partners in a programme scheduled to run for 15 years.

Even if the donor does not provide the funding, he ADP would ensure that the gains of this project would be sustained continuously, conserved and expanded in times to come, he said.

A team of evaluators led by professor of public health, John Hopkins University, US, visited the project area in September. His evaluation report will be submitted to the donors agency USAID, which had donated the entire sum of Rs four crore.

"I have seen many child survival projects, but do not remember seeing any other, which have such a strong community component as this program," he said.

Dr Burnhim was also impressed with the community registers, which tracked the health of pregnant women and immunisation of new-born children, maintained by the Sevikas.

WVI associated director (health) Dr Vijay Edward said BRICS has set in motion a range of far reaching changes beneficial to the health of women and children through a unique example of partnership.

The same is being sustained by a dedicated team staff of WVI and district health authorities since its inception four year ago. The project belongs to the Sevikas, the grass root workers and the responsibility they have taken upon themselves, he added.

The NGO partner is working out methods replicating individual components of this project in the rest of ADPS in the country in collaboration with the Government and network of the NGOs to institutionalise the delivery system, he added.

World Vision US program officer Dr David Grosz said they were pleased with the outcome of the four-year old project and the utilisation of USAID funds.

"The evaluation of BRICS will not only used to find out what we did in the past but also map out the future," he said. (UNI)

What keeps Kiran Bedi in the pink of health ?

NOIDA, Oct 10: Ms Kiran Bedi, the supercop best-known for her prison reforms and stint with the Delhi traffic police, is not only a tough officer but also follows a strict health regimen that keeps her going.

"For me, health is religion. It is the most important thing because health is wealth," the country’s first woman Indian police service officer told UNI.

"I exercise for one-and-a-half hours every morning that keeps me fresh throughout the day. These are a combination of mind and body exercises and include yoga, meditation and walk," said the fifty something IPS officer after inaugurating health food shop whole foods here.

The Magsaysay awardee said she takes "meditative walks" in the Talkatora Stadium, focussing on fresh air, greenery and peace. "The mind also needs oxygen, which is aplenty in the morning and the yogic exercises add to it," she said.

Ranked first among the "ten most admired women" in a nation-wide TN Sofres mode poll, published in "The Week", Ms Bedi is well known for meditation and Vipassana camps in the Tihar prison and said she practices them as they enhance self-control, improve inter-personal relationships and increase harmony.

As for the diet, the former Asian tennis champion said: "I is a ‘milkeaterian’. I am very fond of milk and it forms a major part of my diet. Second comes oil-free food. She prefers meals without fat and when it is unavoidable, "I make up by exercising more."

Sweets also do not have a place in her life. "I do not believe in the concept of sugar-free because I take sugar in tea and coffee. But I definitely do not go in for sweets, chocolates and the like," she added.

The trend-setter for Indian women believes that each individual has own body metabolic system and the diet that suits one may not be suitable to the other. "There is no such thing as a fitness schedule applicable to all. We all have to work out our own routine," Ms Bedi said. (UNI)

Monica maintains she was miraculously
cured by Mother Teresa

KOLKATA, Oct 10: Monica Besra, the tribal woman claiming to have been healed of abdominal tumour at the intercession of Mother Teresa, continues to maintain it was a miracle, oblivious of the controversy over her contention.

Her reiteration came when a Government official spoke to her at her residence in Nakore village in South Dinajpur district.

Joint BDO of Harirampur block in North Bengal Arun Kumar Sengupta told PTI that during the interview, Monica said her husband Selku Murmu took her to a local doctor in 1988, a year after mother’s death, when she complained of persistent headaches and stomach aches.

As her problems continued, she was admitted for a month to the Balurghat hospital the same year. This was followed by treatment at the Malda Sadar hospital and a subsequent three-day stay at a nearby nursing home.

The cost of treatment at Malda, including nursing home charges, worked upto around Rs 7000, Monica told Sengupta on Tuesday.

With the vatican accepting the cure as a miracle, easing mother’s movement towards beatification, doctors who treated monica at balurghat maintained that her tumour was cured by medical treatment.

Though Sengupta interviewed Monica over the issue under orders from south Dinajpur additional district magistrate-i Goutam Ghosh, he refrained from giving its purpose.

Monica told Sengupta that after returning home from Malda, her problems resurfaced and she was then taken to the MC Hospital at Potiram near the district headquarter of Balurghat.

MC doctors later took her to Balurghat hospital where an ultra sonography spotted a tumour in her abdomen. At this, the doctors at the MC mission advised her to undergo surgery at either the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH), Siliguri, or at Kolkata.

She was accordingly examined by five doctors at NBMCH and though her tumour had become as large as a "football", she could not be operated upon as she was physically weak. The doctors advised her to have nutritious food and come back after three months for surgery, Monica told the Joint-BDO.

According to Monica, on September five 1998, the first anniversary of mother’s death, she was taken by the MC Sisters to a prayer hall at the Potiram Mission Centre where a locket bearing mother’s picture was placed on her neck and a black string tied around her swollen abdomen.

Monica claimed that at the hall, she was ‘pierced’ by a dazzling ray of light emanating from a picture of mother, though others present at the hall failed to see it.

That night, she slept soundly after a long time and felt a deep sense of relief. Next morning, she found the swelling had disappeared, Monica told the officer.

Questioned by Sengupta on her decision to stay on at the MC’s Potiram Centre for months even after knowing that she was cured, Monica said "it was to enable the mission doctors to conduct regular check-ups on her".

Documents in her possession include photocopies of her discharge certificate from the Balurghat hospital after being admitted there from June 11 to June 19, 1998, when she was under treatment of Dr Tarun Kumar Biswas for tubercular meningitis, Sengupta said.

There was also a money receipt of an ultra sonography test from the municipal pathological laboratory, Balurghat dated August eight, 1998, when the abdominal tumour was diagnosed by gynaecologist Dr Ranjan Mustafi of Balurghat hospital.

Monica also had in her possession an ultra sonography report of may 1999 when doctors at the Balurghat Hospital, finding that the tumour had disappeared, declared her medically cured.

Her original medical documents were with an MC sister at the Alampur mission in Malda district, Monica told Sengupta. (PTI)

Orissa Govt plans to bring administrative reform

BHUBANESWAR, Oct 10: With a debt burden of more than Rs 25,000 crore, the Orissa Government has come out with a white paper on public expenditure management and administrative reforms to take resolute action to put the finances on a sound footing.

Realising an urgent need to streamline the budgeting system and bring an administrative and civil service reform, the State Government has decided to continue the recruitment freeze indefinitely, keep the retirement age to 58, abolish appointments under rehabilitation, identify surplus staff in each department and bring legislation to disengage casual workers and curb unauthorised appointments.

Orissa had the highest proportion of employees to the population in the whole country at 1.6 per cent of the population in comparison to an all India average of 0.8 per cent. The State Government is looked upon as a benevolent employer rather than service provider and the role has come to such a stage that the government could no longer be a job agency or employer of the last resort.

These were the few observations figuring in the white paper on public expenditure management and administrative reform prepared by the State’s adminstrative reform cell. The white paper was laid in the ongoing Assembly session yesterday.

According to the white paper, the Government had previously abolished 50 per cent of the vacant base level posts in 2001 and now it had decided to continue the recruitment freeze indefinitely which would be closely monitored and vigorously enforced.

To achieve the binding commitment with the Government the State Government has to decide an appropriate strategy to reduce the staff strength by 50,000 by the end of 2005 and to remedy the current inequity of treatment the retirement age of 58 years would be applied to all groups of employees recruited after September 2002. The practice of appointments under the existing orders for rehabilitation assistance would be terminated and replaced by cash compensation limited to the legal heirs of the deceased employees in penurious circumstances.

Similarly the provision of premature retirement of Government employees at the age of 50 or 55 years would be henceforth rigorously enforced and applied to the all India services.

The white paper stated that relevant rules would be ammended to enable the disengagement of all workers in the NMR and dlr groups while legislation would be proposed to curb the unauthorised appointments at various levels.

A cap on grant-in-aid post would be set and appropriate legal provisions would be made to set a cap on salary-related grants to the grant-in-aid institutions, including assumption of pension liability.

The Government would issue an order notifying surplus status of the identified staff starting from those with the shortest period of service and transfer them to a retraining and redeployment unit set up for the purpose, the white paper said.

The identified employees would be redeployed in the unreserved districts while giving them additional four months time to relocate. If the employees did not accept the redeployment option within the prescribed 60 days time, they would be eligible for immediate voluntary retirement with the terms and condition applied to public sector undertakings.

If the employee neither exercised the option of the VRS nor joined the new posting within the prescribed periods, he would be terminated with normal terminal benefits. The entire responsibility of the redeployment process would be with the redeployment unit acting under the guidance of an empowered committee under the chairmanship of the State Chief Secretary. The white paper mentioned that there was an urgent need to reduce the existing staff strength by 20 per cent and so each department should be given the task of identifying the surplus staff of not less than one per cent.

The identification of surplus staff would be applicable to all type of employees and not merely for the base level post. Each department should also produce an administrative reform report every year indicating the target and acheivement of a number of disciplinary proceedings started and disposed of and also the punishment awarded.

The State Government had also decided not to create any new posts for any new schemes of cent per cent funded central sponsored projects beneficial to the overall development of the state. Similarly, no new schemes under the state sector plan would be taken up until the schemes already under implementation were completed.

On the mechanism for implementation of reforms, the white paper said there was an immediate need to establish a unit responsible for guiding coordinating and monitoring civil service reform. The State Government had already established a new administrative reform cell (ARC) in the general administration department headed by a Special Secretary.

The ARC, the white paper, said would include a small core motivated civil servants and would act on the basis of streamlines procedures setting up a more flexible and dynamic model for the entire adminstration.

It would work in close coordination with the fiscal reforms cell in the finance department to ensure that the implementation of the fiscal and governance reforms were linked effectively.

The white paper said "the irony of bureaucracy is that it is especially bloated where it should not be and too slender where it ought to be robust," especially in the backward areas of the State where there is concentration of the underprivileged section of the society. (UNI)