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Centre to ask Haryana NEW DELHI, Oct 21: Centre would ask Haryana Government to probe the killing of five Dalits in Jhajjar area of the State and punish those guilty of ......more ‘TV
ratings should NEW DELHI, Oct 21: Information and Broadcasting Secretary Pawan Chopra today said a public service broadcaster should not be guided by audience...more Neglect
of psychiatric INDORE, Oct 21: Psychiatrists and the voluntary organisations in the field of mental health have expressed concern over the neglect of psychiatric diseases and the mentally challenged .....more |
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Lord Paul visits ancestral JALANDHAR, Oct 21: It was an emotional homecoming for Lord Swraj Paul visiting his ancestral home today after 44 years during which he has .....more State
Govts to be allowed MUMBAI, Oct 21: The country’s nuclear power programme is all set to receive a big boost with the State Governments to be allowed to invest in nuclear projects in the near future. .......more Conversions
will destroy MADURAI, Oct 21: Describing conversions as a political activity and not a religious one, VHP international general secretary Praveen Togadia today said it would destroy Hindu society and the Indian nation. .......more |
Centre to ask Haryana Govt to probe Dalit killings NEW DELHI, Oct 21: Centre would ask Haryana Government to probe the killing of five Dalits in Jhajjar area of the State and punish those guilty of committing the crime, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani said today. "We will urge the State Government to institute an inquiry into the incident so that stringent punishment is given to those responsible for committing the crime," he told a public meeting called in his residence on the occasion of Valmiki Jayanti here. He said the Indian social ethos was idenfitied with Lord Rama, whose life and times were made known to the people only by Lord Valmiki to begin with. Stating that even the common daily greetings were exchanged in the name of Rama, Advani said while the vast canvass of the ancient Indian society was made known to the masses by Valmiki, Babasaheb Ambedkar was a prominent maker of modern India. "Both these tall figures came from one community which has made tremendous contribution to the nation from the ancient times", Advani said. Advani said when he was the Information and Broadcasting Minister in the Morarji Desai Government, a delegation of top film makers and producers had come to meet him. He said he had then told them that given the country’s social ethos, they should make films on Ramayana which would not only be in national interests but serve commercial interests as well. "And we saw how the TV serial became a raging hit across the country". Speaking on the occasion, Delhi BJP chief Madan Lal Khurana urged the Government to bring out a stamp on Valmiki and declare his birth anniversary a public holiday. He said those worshipping Rama should also worship Valmiki who gave Rama a place in the Indian psyche. Others present included Delhi BJP MPs Anita Arya and Lal Bihari Tewari. The meeting was organised by the Delhi BJP’s Scheduled Caste unit. (PTI) |
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‘TV ratings should not guide public service broadcaster’ NEW DELHI, Oct 21: Information and Broadcasting Secretary Pawan Chopra today said a public service broadcaster should not be guided by audience research meters as it has to be free from commercial as well as political pressures. Delivering the keynote address at the opening of the first national level training of audience research units of Doordarshan, Mr Chopra said the guiding factor for a public service broadcaster like Prasar Bharati should be to produce quality programmes aimed at informing and educating the people. He said the important aim was to ensure that the public service broadcaster had greater geographical reach, had diverse programming for all segments and age-groups, and was free of any pressures. Television Audience Meters (TAM) were good for private commercial channels which had to depend on sponsorships and advertising revenue. In fact, he said the Prasar Bharati should work as a regulator to ensure healthy programming in the country. Audience research should not be conducted for getting greater commercial revenue but to reach the target audience with the right kind of programming. Prasar Bharati Chief Executive Officer K S Sarma and Doordarshan Director General S Y Quraishi in their speeches said tam could be manipulated by TV channels and were therefore not a foolproof methodology. Indian Institute of Mass Communications Director B P Sanjay was also present on the occasion. Mr Sarma said installing tam and getting comprehensive surveys was very expensive and not very reliable since these could be manipulated by any channel. He said the system adopted by Doordarshan was fairly foolproof and comprehensive but did not cover other channels. It was aimed more at the broadcaster than at delivering an ‘eyeball-to-eyeball’ count for the advertiser. It is therefore necessary to ensure there is a foolproof system that cannot be tampered with and also gives accurate ratings. He said no system working at present could accurately give details of the personality profile or preferences of the viewer. The tam metres cost around Rs 7,000 and the newer versions with video cameras may cost up to Rs 25,000. He said it was necessary to take audience research more seriously and improve existing systems. The surveys should also reach rural areas and not merely viewers in large cities. Dr Quraishi regretted that tam surveys covering just over three thousand people were used to manipulate advertising worth Rs 8000 crore. It was therefore important to find ways to counter this through detailed research. The research at present was mostly quantitative and not qualitative. The six-day programme will familiarise the personnel with the role of research vis-a-vis broadcaster and marketing to stress that public loyalty is presently more to specific programmes than to channels. Subjects include preparation of reports, and show the latest tools including computers which can be used for audience research. Those taking part include two personnel from each audience research unit, apart from people from marketing, sales and channel managers. (UNI) |
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Neglect of psychiatric diseases and patients continue INDORE, Oct 21: Psychiatrists and the voluntary organisations in the field of mental health have expressed concern over the neglect of psychiatric diseases and the mentally challenged patients, and stressed on the need to revise the mental health act 1987. Different studies on mental health point out that ten million people in the country have been suffering from schizophrenia, the disease characterised by proclivity towards violence and hypothetical suspicions. Mental health problems plagues every fourth person of the world, studies have shown. Indore Psychiatric Society secretary Dr Manish Jain said ten per cent population of the country suffered from one or other mental disease and required regular treatment. He said unfortunately there were only 3000 psychiatrists for more than one billion people. Ms Reena Khot of Samarpan, voluntary organisation running day care and rehabilitation centre, said the psychiatric patients have been ignored at medical, rehabilitation and care taking levels. Ms Khot said there were other major problems suchas the outdated mental health act 1987 and the lack of treatment facilities. The hospitals are also ill-equipped to treat the patients, she observed. Dr Manish Jain alleged that the mental health act 1987 had not been implemented in several states, including Madhya Pradesh. Ms Khot emphasized the need on updating the act according to the needs of the day. Outlining the differences between mental illness and mental retardation, Ms Khot said the former could be treated if timely treatment was provided. Referring to studies, she said one in every ten schizophrenic patients commits suicide. Also fifty per cent of the persons who fail in their attempt to suicide try again to commit suicide and of them ten per cent succeed. There was no provision for mental checkup of the persons who had such suicidal tendencies, she lamented. Dr Shiv Gautam, who has detected 15000 mentally ill people in camps organised at Sikar district of Rajasthan, said ten per cent of country’s population suffer from mental illness. Dr Gautam said schizophrenia patients could be freed of the disease if they were treated continuously for six months. There are only 42 mental hospitals of total 30000 beds in the country for more than one billion people that is 3.25 lakh persons per bed. In Madhya Pradesh, there are two mental hospitals and 30 psychiatrists for six crore population. Ms Khot emphasized the need to create awareness among people towards mental illness, educating the family of the ill person and updating the mental health act 1987. (UNI) |
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State wide picketing CHENNAI, Oct 21: More than 25,000 DMK youth wing members, including their leader and former Chennai Mayor M K Stalin, courted arrest after trying to picket collectorates, as part of their state-wide agitation to highlight the anti-people policies of the AIADMK Government. Party sources claimed that about 7000 youth wing cadres led by Mr Stalin were arrested when they assembled in front of the district collectorate office here. The agitation was to highlight the "anti-people" policies of the Jayalalithaa Government, including price hike of essential commodities, proposed withdrawal of free power supply to farmers, dismissal of thousands of public welfare assistants and sweepers. The stir also protested the promulgation of the anti-conversion ordinance. About 3000 people were taken into custody in Tiruvarur when they attempted to picket the district collectorate, over 3000 in Dindigul, about 3000 in Madurai, 3500 in Coimbatore, 2000 in Villupuram, 1000 each in Namakkal, Ramanathapuram and Tirunelveli. Besides Mr Stalin, the other prominent leaders who were arrested were former ministers K N Nehru, Jennifer Chandran, Pongalur Palanisamy, Jayaseelan, MP and Legislators Anbil Poyyamozhi, Ashokan and K K S S R Ramachandran. Meanwhile, the FMK claimed that over 10,000 workers of the party youth wing were detained under preventive custody yesterday, in view of the agitation. (UNI) |
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Efforts on for one to one fight in Gujrat: CPI GUWAHATI, Oct 21: Efforts are on to have a one to one fight with the BJP by a combined opposition in the forthcoming Gujarat poll, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan said here today. Addressing a press conference, the CPI leader said in principle the opposition parties had all agreed to have such a fight. "We have asked all political parties to place reasonable demands for seats so that the fight can be minimised to a direct one. Our sole aim is to defeat the communal BJP," he said. He also said that the Congress had agreed to the proposal but much was left to the party for making it a reality. Mr Bardhan castigated the BJP for preparing the new school syllabi without consulting the State Governments. "Education is a concurrent subject. Besides, the central advisory board for education has never been called to formalise the syllabi. The BJP in fact never bothered to call a meeting of the Education Minister," he said. He alleged that the constitution had been violated by preparing the new school books arbitrarily and added that historically wrong facts had been added in the books. "Even the dates are wrong. The Mahatma’s role has been diminished while that of RSS in the freedom struggle has been glorified despite the fact it has always stayed away from the freedom struggle," he remarked. The CPI will hold a national convention on November 16 inviting top educationists and policy makers to discuss threadbare the restoration of federal structure in the education system. On the Kashmir election, he took a dig at the BJP saying whichever regional party had allied with it in the Assembly polls had lost power and the National Conference was the ‘latest victim’. "We are grateful to the Election Commission for holding a free and fair poll and the Kashmiri people for braving bullets. We also must not forget that the BJP and RSS are advocating trifurcation of J&K on regional line," he said. Lambasting Union Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie, he said, "this gentlemen is hell bent on selling national assets at any price. This has to be stopped." Regarding the Cauvery water dispute, he said the Prime Minister must call an all party meeting and a solution has to be found above regional chauvinism. Mr Bardhan is here in connection with a series of CPI State committee meetings. He inaugurated a library in the State CPI office. (UNI) Punjab tractors, 4 other PSUs cleared for sale NEW DELHI, Oct 21: The Punjab Government has given its nod for disinvestment in five Public Sector Undertakings, including Bluechip Punjab Tractors and Punjab Communications, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said today. Speaking to newspersons here, Mr Singh said of the 29 PSUs cleared by the Vaishnav Committee set up by the erstwhile Badal Government, five had been given the go-ahead. "Apart from Punjab Tractors and Punjab Communications, the other three PSUs to be disinvested are Punjab Alkalis and Chemicals Ltd (PACL), Punjab Tourism and Development Corporation (PTDC) and Punjab Container and Warehousing Corporation Limited (CONWARE)," he said. Punjab tractors, one of the largest tractor maunfacturer of the country, posted a net profit of Rs 140 million in the first quarter of this fiscal as against the Rs 254 million in the corresponding period last year. Both Punjab Tractors and PACL are promoted by Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation, which holds a 23.49 per cent stake (worth approximately Rs 225 crore) in PTL and around Rs 25 crore in PACL. Several tractor companies in the country, including Mahindra Mahindra, Eicher and Escorts, have evinced interest in buying stakes in Punjab tractors. PACL has been incurring losses for the last four years: it lost around Rs 70 crore in this period. The State Disinvestment Commission had suggested the sale of 43.96 per cent stake in Punjab Communications Ltd, held by Punjab State Electronics Development and Production Corporation (PSEDPC), to a strategic partner with a provison that the remaining 26 per cent equity be purchased by the strategic partner after two years at a negotiated rate which is not less than the one offered earlier. Also, the strategic partner would have to retain the employees of Punjab Communications for at least one year and a voluntary retirement package, if offered after one year, should not be less than the one offered by the state on the date of disinvestment, it said. PTDC, incorporated in 1979, has been running into losses for quite sometime now. Of the 18 tourist complexes running under it, 13 are running under losses and in 2000-01, their operating income was Rs 6.17 crore as against the expenditure of Rs 6.22 crore. It has 514 employees on its roll with an annual wage bill of Rs 3.75 crore, which is around 35 per cent of its expenditure as against that of 15-20 per cent in the tourism industry. (UNI) Walong revisited by war veteran MUMBAI, Oct 20: A loud deafening roar of battle guns, hurried thuds of footsteps moving forward unceasingly, the quick ambush, the splurt of fresh blood and a series of vivid images tinged by emotion ..... That is all that remains of the 1962 Indo-China war at Walong, in the far North-Eastern corner of the country. The long forgotten Pristine white marble memorial erected at the spot with a sweet epitaph ‘asleep in the Mishmi hills ... The sentinel hills that round stand, bear witness that we loved our land’, however, never fails to bring tears to the eyes of Lt Col (retd) Shyam Chavan whenever he visits the 1962 Walong war memorial. Forty years later, sitting here in Mumbai, Lt Col (retd) Shyam Chavan remembers the battle he fought, and survived to tell about it, as a young lieutenant, in the erstwhile NEFA (North East Frontier Agency - the area today known as Arunachal Pradesh). The Chinese opened two fronts in NEFA - on October 20, 1962 at Dhola in the Western part and on October 22, 1962 at Kibithoo in Lohit district in the Eastern part. The Indian soldiers, less than a 1,000 when the war broke out, bravely fought and killed many a Chinese, who came in large numbers, nearly a division, equipped with modern weapons before many of them were taken as Prisoners of War (PoW). "The Chinese also had the experience of Korea war. In contrast our men and officers had not fought any war after independence. Moreover, walong, Kibithoo and other places were not even connected with a road - for replenishing ration and ammunition supply," Chavan observes. "I’ll say the ’62 war was a real eye-opener for us," Chavan says even as he is unable to hide the overwhelming emotion of anger for the "faulty execution, skin-saving mentality of politicians and also of the senior army officers". However, without wanting to delve deep into the reasons -political or otherwise - for the ’62 debacle, he says the experience helped the Indian soldiers in all subsequent wars. Chavan, who was posted at NEFA immediately after passing out from IMA, Dehra Doon, was the youngest officer in the 6-Kumaon hosted at Walong then. He was among the 20-odd officers, who along with more than 150 jawans from their battalion and others, were retained as pows in the Chinese territory for nearly six months after walong fell to the Chinese ambush. Remembering the time in Chinese land, on the banks of Lohit (known as Brahmaputra after it enters Assam), Chavan says "leave apart the hardships, the worst feeling is - you are alive and you are not able to convey it to your family members". Chavan later penned his experiences in a book "Walong -Ek Yuddha Kaidyachi Bakhar" (diary of a PoW), which won him a Maharashtra state award besides wide acclaim. "In a way, my book tries to document an important part of history and also can help generate interest in the younger generation", the soldier-turned-writer says. Walong was not much in reckoning then and unfortunately even Nautiful place in the Mishmi hills in Arunachal Pradesh. Very thinly populated even today, Walong, on the banks of Lohit river, reminds visitors of the ’62 war at every nook and corner. A war memorial was later built for the soldiers who laid down their lives in the harsh winter four decades ago. "Just like today you know Kargil and Drass and Tiger Hill, it was the yellow pimple, Dacota hill, 100 hill in those days for us in Walong/Kibithoo area," Chavan recalls with a twinkle in his eyes. After spending nearly six months as a PoW, Chavan returned to Indian land in April 1963. He later fought in the ’65 and ’71 wars too. "Even after this, I have a great personal satisfaction. As an ideal soldier, I fought .. I know I fought well ...", Chavan adds as he lives a contented retired life. Nevertheless, the war memorial at walong, presently taken care of by the men of 11 Gorkha Rifles, keeps reminding the young soldiers of the heroic deeds of the then jawans. (PTI) |
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