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| Jamini Roy originals on view at a Delhi gallery NEW DELHI, Dec 21: Delhiites are getting a rare opportunity of viewing the original works of Jamini Roy and even.....more 21st
century should be MYSORE, Dec 21: Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani today asserted that the 21st century should be the "Century of who ....more A good
year for Bollywood with quality films MUMBAI, Dec 21: Indian cinema has seen so many ups and downs that nothing seems to matter any more and films......more Shifting
of trial of riot NEW DELHI, Dec 21: Responding to the Supreme Court’s notice asking why riot cases......more |
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Shameet Mukherjee episode haunted Delhi HC in 2003 NEW DELHI, Dec 21: The long wait for justice for the Uphaar victims and the cry for fair trial...more Union Home
Ministry’s NEW DELHI, Dec 21: Centre’s decision to engage separatist Hurriyat Conference shedding past reservations, the threat of......more LPG
subsidy scheme to NEW DELHI, Dec 21: In a major move having far-reaching effects on the LPG market.....more Telgi
probe, debt-ridden MUMBAI, Dec 21: Skeletons tumbling out of La Affaire Telgi probe, a Government beset with debt-ridden economy......more |
Kidnapping for ransom on the rise in violence-torn Manipur ...... Power aids spectacular ‘Ram Se Raj Tak’ journey in MP ..... |
Jamini Roy originals on view at a Delhi gallery NEW DELHI, Dec 21: Delhiites are getting a rare opportunity of viewing the original works of Jamini Roy and even possessing them with a certificate authenticating their originality. An exhibition of the original works of Jamini Roy was inaugarated on Friday at gallery espace. The collection will be open for public viewing until January 7. "Roy is one of the most renowned painters of the country and a collection of his originals is rare to find. All these paintings are on sale and we will be giving a certificate of authentication of its originality to the buyer," Renu Modi, the propreitor of Gallery Espace said. Jamini Roy’s work was largely inspired by the folk-tribal art and culture and he identified himself with them till the end of his days. He explored the parallel folk traditions of pat painting of rural Bengal and Jagannath pats and Puri paintings of Orissa. During his quest as a painter, he did a lot of experimentation with his work. He adopted the impressionist and post-impressionist techniques and modern asthetics, widely admired by many and which raised his clintele in the Bengali middle class and European community. Pawan Bajoria, an Avid Art Collector for the past 30 years, who has given a major part of his collection of Jamini Roy originals for the exhibition, said, "I have a major collection of his which I had got during a long period of time. It is very hard to part with them. The depth of Roy’s work is amazing. I have kept around five of his work for my own collection and the rest is exhibited here." The Kolkata-based Bajoria added, "many of the works have been collected from his family. There are few paintings which are from Renu’s (Modi) collection." Referring to the confusion over locating an "original" Jamini Roy as the artist himself had made several "copies" of his works, Bajoria said, "no one wants to have a show of Jamini Roy, as there are many look-alikes of his paintings which make it difficult for the collectors to search for the‘originals’. However, most of these paintings have been sourced from his family." Born in 1887 in Beliatore, Bankura district in the pre-partition Bengal, Jamini Roy grew up in the prevailing folk-tribal art. His father, who was a Amateur artist himself, played a vital role in his life. He joined the Government School of Arts and Crafts in Calcutta, where he studied from 1906-1914. At school, he excelled his peers in the use of oil in academic portraiture and landscape painting. He had an exhibition of his works in 1946 in London and then in 1953 in New York. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1955. He passed away in 1972 in Calcutta. Art critic Ela Datta said, "the collection has many of his rare works. From the early European style, his work on Byzantine Mosaic to his Kalighat paintings. I think you can find works of all his styles. The wonderful aspect of his paintings is their simplicity." Paintings such as ‘Three Gopinis’, ‘Vaishnava’or ‘Santhal Mother And Child’ show his use of seven basic colours, prepared from earth and vegetables. Roy softened the ascetic rigour of the Byzantine figures in mosaic with the Patua’s Naivete, when he started trying new forms on themes far removed from the Hindu mindset, basically paintings of Chiristian lores. The enchanting simplicity of his plastic statement often echoes the clay toys made in his village. The toy-maker never gave any emphasis to realistic representation instead he explored its plastic potential of the naural body language of the animals and humans he modelled. This style can be seen in Roy’s paintings as well. Painter Shruti Gupta Chandra, who came to see the paintings said, "Many of us have seen Jamini Roy’s paintings, but seeing so many of them in one show is very rare. The paintings are fabulous." The show includes 29 paintings in tempera on paper and few other works of tempera on cloth and board. One of the paintings of a mother and child is in reality a portrait of his own daughter with a child. Other paintings on display are the santhal drummer, warrior and sitting Buddha. Jamini Roy’s art was his quest for indigenous inspiration for modern art and has its roots in the rich culture and the people around him. (UNI) |
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21st century should be ‘Century of India’: Advani MYSORE, Dec 21: Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani today asserted that the 21st century should be the "Century of India" with the country fully utilising its knowledge power. India, which used to be frowned upon in the past, was being looked up with respect and this showed the rapid strides the country had made during the last five years, he said inaugurating a health ‘mela’, organised by the Central and Karnataka Governments here. He said the Indian diaspora in the United States stood first in per capita income among the Non-Resident Americans there and 25 per cent of the employees in microsoft were Indians. Referring to the poor health and education conditions in rural India, Mr Advani said the country could not emerge a great super power unless these inadequacies were removed. Noting that it was a mammoth task, he said besides the Central and State Governments, religious institutions should also contribute their mite to ensure that every village in the country had proper drinking water and health facilities, schools and proper roads. "It should be a collective effort of every citizen to make India a superpower," he appealed. Mr Advani made a mention of the Centre’s contribution to improve the roads in the country and pointed to the Golden Quadrilateral Project under which world-class national highways were being built, and the ‘Gram Sadak Yojana’ of the Prime Minister to ensure villages had proper roads and linked to state or national highways. Stating that Karnataka had earned a name in the world for its information technology strides, Mr Advani said still 46 cent of its women population were illiterate and nearly seven per cent of the married girls were under 18 years of age and over 34 per cent of the families had more than two children. Such abberations must be wiped off, he added. Referring to the three-day health ‘mela’, he said it was the 51st camp being conducted since 2000. Such camps were being organised to help those who could not afford super-speciality hospitals. He said Union Health Minister Sushma Swaraj had stated that the Government would set up six more health institutes across the country akin to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. During the camp for which the centre had released Rs ten lakh, doctors and experts in different fields would provide treatment and consultation to the people. Stating that nearly 30,000 patients from Mysore and Chamarajanagar districts would benefit from the camp, he said facilities such as child health care, immunisation, counselling for HIV AIDS and leprosy control and screening for cancer and TB, would be available. (UNI) |
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A good year for Bollywood with
quality films MUMBAI, Dec 21: Indian cinema has seen so many ups and downs that nothing seems to matter any more and films continue to be produced, notwithstanding their box office fate. But after the bad patch of the last two years, the last twelve months saw as many as 12 Hindi films setting the cash registers ringing at the box office. Bollywood also continued its successful foray in the international arena, with many films doing record business overseas and also winning critical acclaim though the film fraternity could find no fit for the Oscars despite Amir Khan’s having won a nomination just two years earlier. Interestingly, two of the biggest hits had their names starting with the letter K : The Hrithik Roshan starrer "Koi Mil Gaya" and Shah Rukh Khan s "Kal Ho Na Ho". So it is not only on television that the alphabet ‘K’ rules. Rakesh Roshan’s sci-fi ‘Koi Mil Gaya’, apart from resurrecting the career of lead star Hrithik Roshan who appeared to have become a fluke success following series of flops after his initial Kaho Na Pyaar Hai , did business in excess of Rs 55 crore world-wide according to trade reports. It marked a departure from the standard Bollywood fare in terms of cinematic execution, marketing and promotion despite being inspired by et . (interestingly, Hrithik’s only other film starting with the letter ‘K‘. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham by Karan Johar had also proved a success though it was not made under the home banner like the other two.) karan Johar’ s ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’, released in November, collected a record Rs 10 crore in the very first week from the overseas market. "King Khan" Shah Rukh proved that he could still weave magic at the box office, giving two hits with his superlative performance in ‘Chalte Chalte’ and ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’. But the biggest megastar of them all, ‘big B’ Amitabh Bachchan, showed that he cannot be written off even at the age of 61, not only remaining the busiest star of the year but also coming up with the surprise hit ‘Baghban’, a family drama on an oft-repeated story where he was paired opposite "Dream Girl" Hema Malini. The latter made a come-back after remaining away from tinseltown for a few years. The year also saw the emergence of a new breed of directors including Rohan Sippy in ‘Kuch Naa Kaho’, Anurag Basu in ‘Saaya’, Apoorva Lakhiya in ‘Mumbai Se Aya Mera Dost’, Sujoy Ghosh in ‘Waisa Bhi Hota Hai’, Chandan Arora in ‘Main Madhuri Dixit Banana Chahti Hoon’, Nikhil Advani in ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’ and veteran script-writer money Irani who made her debut as director with ‘Armaan’. There was a sad footnote to 2003, too, with Big B ‘s literatteur father Dr Harivanshrai Bachchan, comedians Johnny Walker and Tun Tun, music composer Anil Biswas, yesteryears actresses Leela Chitnis, noted director Bhisham Sahni, character actor Ajit Vachchani, and lyricist Qumar Jalalabadi passing away. With the success of Baghban and the revamp of ‘A B corp’, big B even managed to silence critics who had bombarded him with brickbats for being part of a film like ‘Boom’. On the re-launch of AB corp on his birthday, Amitabh announced the film ‘Ranveer’ starring himself with son Abhishek. The Rs 12 crore ‘Baghban’ has already grossed Rs 35 crore worldwide. Though slow to get off the block, the family drama did exceedingly well in the overseas market with over Rs 10 crore in collections in a nine-week run. ‘Chalte Chalte’, the first Shah Rukh Khan release of the year after the blockbuster success of ‘Devdas’ in 2002 has grossed around Rs 28 crore at the box office in domestic and overseas territories. What helped the distribution and exhibition trade was that though the Rs 10 crore-movie was hyped and marketed as any Shah Rukh starrer is, it was sold at a modest price of around Rs 1.75 crore per territory, a far cry from the Rs 2.25 crore to Rs 2.75 crore charged generally "perhaps because the distributors had written off the Khan." For Shah Rukh, this was another good year. His starrer with Kajol in 1995, ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, became the longest-running Indian film this year. It completed 425 weeks at Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir theatre, beating Ramesh Sippy’s ‘Sholay’ which had run at the same theatre for five years. But the actor also suffered pain this year, when he underwent a risky spinal surgery for his spine pain at London this year after which he completed ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’. His next release is ‘Main Hoon Na’ directed by choreograher Farah Khan. Indian cinema also suffered some spine chilling moments. No, not from low collections at the box office. If it was Rraaz from the Mahesh Bhatt household last year, it was Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘Bhoot’ this year which marked the revival of the ghost movie genre. The Rs 8 crore film did business in excess of Rs 16 crore worldwide, more so in urban centres. Ajay Devgan’s good run at the box office continued with Rs 10-crore ‘Qayamat’ that grossed around Rs 16 crore at the box office. The Lara Dutta, Priyanka Chopra and Akshay Kumar starrer ‘Andaaz’ grossed in excess of Rs 17 crore world-wide. Bipasha Basu’s ‘Jism’, another one from the Bhatt family, was declared the first hit of 2003 when it grossed over Rs 10 crore at the box office followed by ‘Bhoot’ and ‘Chalte Chalte’. Another modest hit of the year which came as a surprise was the teeny-bopper love story, ‘Ishq Vishk’ starring debutant Shahid Kapoor. A host of movies did above average business this year including ‘Hungama’, ‘Tere Naam’ and Prakash Jha s ‘Gangaajal’. Ritesh Deshmukh, son of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in ‘Tujhe Meri Kasam’, Kajol’s kid sister Tanisha in ‘Ssshhhh’, Amisha Patel’s brother Ashmit in ‘Inteha’, Sanjay Khan’s son Zayed in ‘Chura Liya Hai Tumne’, Irfan Hashmi in ‘footpath’, beauty Queens Lara Dutta in ‘Mumbai Se Aya Mera Dost’, Priyanka Chopra in ‘The Hero’, Gul Panag in ‘Dhoop’, Diana Hayden in ‘Tehzeeb’, Bhoomika Chawla in ‘Tere Naam’, Shyam Munshi in ‘Jhankar Beats’ were among those who made their bow on silver screen this year. Rani Mukherjee and Preity Zinta were 2003’s most successful actresses. Rani with ‘Chalte Chalte’ where critics said she even outshone Shah Rukh in performance and Preity in this year’s biggest blockbusters ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ and ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’ where the Petite actress came out with outstanding performances. According to film trade analysts, 250 films, including 130 made in Hindi were released in 2003 as compared to 226 last year. According to Amod Mehra, ‘Armaan’, ‘Boom’, ‘Chura Liya Hai Tum Ne’, ‘Dum’, ‘Footpath’, ‘Jaal-The Trap’, ‘Khel’, ‘Kuch Na Kaho’, ‘Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon’, ‘Mumbai Se Aya Mera Dost’, ‘Pinjar’, ‘Talaash’ and ‘The Hero’ were the major flops of 2003. Apart from the mega re-launch of ‘A B corp’, another film event that made news was showman Subhash Ghai celebrating 25 years of his movie banner ‘Mukta Arts’ with the launch of two movies, ‘Aitraaz,’ starring Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, to be directed by Abbas-Mustan and ‘Kisna’ starring Vivek Oberoi to be directed by Ghai himself. There was a lot of off-screen activity too this year. The stork visited Madhuri Dixit, Kajol, both of whom became first-time mothers this year, while Juhi Chawla had a second child - a son - in London. Former actress Shilpa Shirodkar who is settled in New Zealand, delivered a baby girl. Actress Twinkle Khanna, married to Akshay Kumar, also delivered a baby boy. Hearthrob of many, Karisma Kapoor, tied the knot with Delhi-based businessman Sunjay Kapur. The wedding in Mumbai was held away from media arclights (perhaps because of her break-up with Abhishek earlier), but managed to hog the limelight. The blue-eyed "Lolo", as the actress is fondly called, made her television debut with ‘Karishma - the miracles of destiny’ on Sahara TV (a serial that was clearly a legal battle) and also faced the camera with Amitabh for the climax scene of "Zamanat" in Chennai. Karisma’s contemporary Raveena Tandon, who turned producer this year with ‘stumped’, got engaged to distributor Anil Thadani and the marriage is expected in February next year. She also had some good fortune when her role in Satta was appreciated, and later when she was appointed chairperson of the children’s film society, India, a post held earlier by veterans like Sai Paranjpye, Jaya Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Amol Palekar, and the late V Shantaram among others. Actor Anupam Kher was appointed chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification. Evergreen star Dev Anand, now in his eighties, saw the fruition of a career lasting over half a century having commenced with the black and while era when he was named for the Dada Saheb Phalke Award , the nation’s highest honour in cinema. (UNI) |
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LPG subsidy scheme to include private players NEW DELHI, Dec 21: In a major move having far-reaching effects on the LPG market, the Finance Ministry has given its consent to modify the existing domestic LPG marketing scheme under which subsidy will be extended to private players to provide a level playing field. Considered as a major step towards bringing more population under the LPG marketing cover ahead of the 2004 general elections, senior Finance Ministry officials said a condition will be imposed on new players to sell the LPG at not more than the existing four public sector oil marketing companies’ retail price. The Government has been providing a part of subsidy on domestic LPG in the post-administered price mechanism era beginning April 2002. A subsidy of Rs 67 per cylinder was given in 2002-03, which was reduced to around Rs 45 in the current financial year. The subsidy in the next financial year will be slashed to around Rs 22 and will end in March 2005. As per the existing scheme, IOC, HPCL, BPCL and IBP were allowed to sell domestic LPG to the consumers and the Government is providing fixed rate subsidy. Private players are not being given subsidy at present. While it was not clear whether the subsidy element would be provided to bulk LPG importers also, it will definitely benefit Reliance industries, which is the biggest producers of LPG in the country. Reliance is producing around 2.1 million tonnes of LPG and selling to the oil marketing companies. Reliance expressed its intention to market domestic LPG but shelved its plan as the Government had made it clear that it would not provide any subsidy to it under the existing scheme. Both ONGC and GAIL were also keen to enter the marketing of domestic LPG and their cases are pending with the Government. After the finalisation of modified LPG subsidy scheme, ONGC and GAIL may also enter the field of LPG marketing. The Finance Ministry has decided to allow subsidy on the request of the Petroleum Ministry, which said subsidy should be given to private LPG players also as the oil marketing companies were unable to meet the Government targets of providing LPG to around 50 per cent of the population. At present, 39 per cent population is under the LPG cover. However, four years ago, only 15 per cent population was under the cover of LPG, with a heavy wait-list for new connection seekers. The BJP-led Government is planning to make the higher availability of LPG a poll issue in the forthcoming general elections. Petroleum Ministry officials said they have written to the Finance Ministry for modifying the existing scheme of LPG marketing as it was not benefiting the consumers. While oil marketing companies have been showing under-recoveries and incurring losses, they are actually cross-subsidising the losses with other fast moving products like petrol and diesel. The new scheme is intended to check the under-recoveries and reduce the burden on other petro products consumers. The oil companies have claimed they have been incurring a loss of Rs 105 per cylinder but their profits rose in the first year post-APM. (UNI) |
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Telgi probe, debt-ridden economy
sum up MUMBAI, Dec 21: Skeletons tumbling out of La Affaire Telgi probe, a Government beset with debt-ridden economy, recurring drought and unceasing demand for granting statehood to Vidarbha sum up the events in Maharashtra’s polity for year 2003. Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare’s stir against alleged graft by DF ministers, internecine differences among main ruling partners—Congress and NCP—over Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin and humbling of Congress in the Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s home turf in the Lok Sabha by-poll marked the year, which also saw Shiv Sena-BJP opposition’s state-wide agitations against the Government evoking good response. The year began with Congress high command effecting a change of guard in the state on January 18 replacing Vilasrao Deshmukh with Shinde. The much-expected move came in the backdrop of plummeting image of the DF due to widespread resentment against the ruling coalition’s handling of the drought and acute electricity shortage and June 2001 political crisis. Shinde who has presented the state budget for nine consecutive times, was saddled with the Chief Ministership to revive the sagging image of the ruling coalition at a time when the state’s debt had reached a staggering Rs 93,000 crore. Unravelling of the counterfeit stamp-paper racket, in which two IPS officers, including former Mumbai Police Commissioner, were arrested, and grilling of former DGP and Additional Chief Secretary (Home) provided grist to the mills of the opposition, which mounted an offensive against the Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal who also holds home portfolio. The opposition strongly blamed the DF regime for its "failure" to nip in bud the multi-crore stamp-paper scam and alleged that a prominent DF minister has received a sum of Rs 20 crore from Abdul Karim Telgi, the kingpin of the racket. A letter purportedly written by tainted Police Inspector Dilip Kamath, incarcerated for his alleged involvement in the scam, alleged Bhujbal and his nephew of interfering in the probe providing ammunition to the saffron combine opposition. Bhujbal’s act of giving a clean chit to former Mumbai Police Chief R S Sharma, who was arrested for his alleged complicity in the stamp-paper racket, also found the home minister in the tight spot. At the time when Sena-BJP was pressurising the Government to hand over the stamp scam probe to the CBI, Fazal, much to the discomfiture of the ruling front, also suggested the need for the Government to hand over the investigations to the central agency. And after much dilly-dallying the Government agreed to hand over the probe into the stamp-paper scam to the CBI. (PTI) Kidnapping for ransom on the
rise in IMPHAL, Dec 21: Manipur witnessed a series of kidnapping of people for ransom by militants as insurgents of different outfits intensified violent activities throughout the year that is coming to close. The most shocking incident in the year was the kidnapping and killing of eight-year old Lungnila Elizabeth, daughter of State General Administration Minister Francis Ngajokpa, by unknown militants. The militants who abducted the standard three student after school at airport area on November 4 had demanded a ransom of Rs 15 lakhs out of which Rs 10 lakhs had been paid, sources said adding that hundreds of social organisations and students bodies had demanded safe release of the girl. However, the girl was killed by the kidnappers and her body was found in a sack inside a pond at Sangaiporou area near her school on November 12. Different organisations had launched protests against the gruesome killing for several weeks but police are yet to arrest the killers or get any clue, sources said. Elizabeth was the second victim of kidnapping incident in the state in 2003. Underground Kanglei Yawol Kann Lup (KYKL), a militant outfit, had kidnapped businessman Manoj Sethi on April 19 and demanded Rs 10 crores for his safe release, sources said adding that the amount was later reduced to Rs 1 crore. In spite of several protests by different social organisations and appeal for safe release, sethi was killed on May 27 at Waikhong area in interior thoubal district. Later in a statement, the KYKL owned the killing of Sethi for non-payment of the ransom amount. Militants of Kuki Liberation Army (KLA) had abducted German National Heinrich Wolfgang from Maphou area in Senapati district on March 23 and reportedly demanded ransom of Rs 1 crore, sources said. Wolfgang came to Manipur to inspect the activities of an NGO funded by a German farm, sources said adding that there was a strong protest against the kidnapping by several social organisations who also demanded immediate and safe release of the foreigner. (PTI) Power aids spectacular ‘Ram Se Raj Tak’ journey in MP BHOPAL, Dec 21: ‘Ram Se Raj Tak’ would be an apt description of a ‘Sadhvi’s journey’, who banished the ‘Raja of Raghogarh’ to political exile, aided by an acute power crisis that altered the state’s ‘power’ equation and brought to an end the decade-long Congress regime in a rout that become the dominating event of 2003. It all began when senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Uma Bharti quit as Union Coal Minister in January and became the party’s star campaigner. She was projected as the Chief Ministerial candidate, sidelining BJP stalwarts such as former Chief Ministers Sunderlal Patwa and Kailash Joshi. Initially, emotive issues such as cow slaughter and Dhar’s disputed Bhojshala came into prominence and the latter seemed to be snowballing into Madhya Pradesh’s ‘Ayodhya’. Three people died during riots in the wake of Hindu Jagran Manch activists trying to storm the monument in vain. The ‘Kasba’ of Ganjbasoda erupted into arson and violence after animal carcasses were found. A communal conflagration was avoided as the township’s residents did not join the miscreants. However, the party that championed Hindutva, this time preferred to harp more on the power crunch, pathetic roads and potable water paucity. An eminent Supreme Court lawyer had a crucial role in converting the issue of infrastructure development into a subject of raging debate during the campaigning. Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley played a fine innings on behalf of Ms Bharti, who is a co-accused in the infamous Ayodhya demolition case. The advocate proved that he was just as good on ‘battlefield bundelkhand’ and in television debates as he was at defending the nation’s interests on the World Trade Organisation front at Cancun. It was certainly no easy task for the saffron brigade to oust Chief Minister Digvijay Singh who had said, "I don’t have to campaign in Raghogarh because its masses are the real people contesting these hustings." The BJP tried to surround the Chief Minister in his very citadel and, in a surprise move, fielded general secretary and MP Shivrajsinh Chauhan from that constituency. An example of Mr Singh’s popularity there can be gauged by the following incident. Purushottam, a resident of Ramnagar village within Raghogarh, was slightly taken back when asked who would emerge victorious. Then he pointed to a cutout of Mr Singh and said the solitary word, "Raja." In 1998, poll surveys predicted a BJP win but it was the wry-smiling diggy Raja who assumed the throne for a second consecutive time thanks to his so-called ‘manouvering skills’. India’s best-loved game became a part of thrusts and parries as Mr Singh’s talk of "bowling a googly" to complete a hat-trick was effectively countered by Mr Jaitley’s repartee, "we shall strike a sixer" incidentally, the minister also presides over the Delhi District Cricket Association. The electricity issue remains at the numero uno slot. In fact, the very day Ms Bharti donned the Chief Minister’s Mantle, Union Minister of State for Power Jayawantiben Mehta tried to paint a rosy picture by stating, "power generated from the Indira Sagar Project will be available at Rs 2.24 per unit. The first commercial 125-mw plant is going to start from January, 2004 and two other units of like capacity in February and March." There was a gubernatorial change of guard as Bhai Mahavir bowed out in favour of Mr Ramprakash Gupta, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister. Social tensions over distribution of ‘Charnoi’ (pasture) land to ‘Dalits’ led to violent clashes and the clamping of a massive collective fine, which the present Government aims to revoke. Reservation peaked to 63 per cent when the Digvijay Singh regime granted an additional 27 per cent to other Backward Classes. Among the defence personnel honoured on Independence Day was late Bhopal-based Capt Shreyans Kumar Gandhi who sacrificed his life on the Indo-Pak border. The year also witnessed the city of lakes boasting of a master control facility centre associated with the Indian Space Research Organisation. (UNI) Punjabi use on decline: Dhindsa NEW DELHI, Dec 21: The Punjabi language is fast losing users even in Punjab, its cradle, because of increasing dominance of Hindi and English in day-to-day life, speakers said at a seminar on Punjabi journalism. "Despite Punjabi being an official language of Punjab, most of work at Government departments is done in English," Union Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa said at the seminar held here over the weekend by the Punjabi thinkers’ forum in association with Delhi’s Punjabi Academy. He regretted that Punjabi was least used even at the community gatherings, saying English and Hindi were "invariably" used in conversations there. "The need of the hour is to arrest this trend and make efforts to grant the Punjabi language a presitigious status in daily usage," the minister, also secretary-general of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), said. He feared that against such a backdrop Punjabi journalism had a bleak future. Echoing his views, National Commission for Minorities (NCM) chief Tarlochan Singh said both Punjabi and Urdu were now being associated with religion. "While Urdu is perceived as a language of Muslims, Punjabi is linked only to the Sikhs. This is a bitter reality," Mr Singh added. Mr Tarlochan Singh, however, drew a contrast between users of Urdu and Punjabi, regretting that even half of the Sikh population could not read, write or speak Punjabi. "While 99 per cent of the 16 crore Muslim population learn Urdu both formally and informally and the NCM receives maximum requests for Urdu teachers from the community." He also underlined what he called stagnation in Punjab journalism unlike other language newspapers which he said had witnessed tremendous growth in circulation over the last decade. Veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar pointed out "the hard reality" that Punjabi had largely become a Sikh language, saying barely five per cent members of other communities from Punjab associated themselves with it. "A big chunk of Punjabi-speaking people are in Pakistan’s Punjab, who unlike Indian Punjabis prefer to speak in their mother tongue at their social gatherings and other ceremonies." In his address, columnist Maheep Singh said Punjabi journalism had no independent existence and personality because it carried translations from English and other language writings. "It has failed to create any original writer or writings and carries mostly syndicated articles from other languages," Dr Singh said. Eminent Punjabi author Surinder Noor, however, regretted what he called low standards of Punjabi journalism. "Punjabi journalism is far lagging behind journalism in other languages despite advancement on the technological front. This is mainly because of low spending on news gathering and unprofessionalism," Dr Noor said. The scholar flayed the former Akali Government in Punjab for introducing English from class I at school, saying the move went a step ahead of public schools in inflicting damage on the Punjabi language. "Most public schools in Punjab today emphasise on teaching English and Hindi from class I." (UNI) BSF plane takes Kashmiri children on a joy ride SRINAGAR, Dec 21: If venturing out of Valley for the first time was an unbelievable experience for 30-odd Kashmiri children, border security force made the trip all the more memorable by flying them from Jammu to Srinagar — another first for the kids from remote parts of Jammu and Kashmir. "The happiest moment of my life was boarding an aircraft. It was my biggest dream and it has materialised," said Mohammad Akbar Dar, a resident of Rajpora village in south Kashmir Pulwama district, after alighting from the special BSF aircraft at Srinagar airport yesterday. Dar said he was the first in his family to board an aircraft. No one from my village has ever taken an air journey, he added. As part of the goodwill gesture, BSF has so far sent 200 Kashmiri children from remote and poor families on "Bharat Darshan", BSF sources said adding this was the fifth group of children sent by the BSF on the tour. Describing his experience of flying in the "beast-like" machine, Abdul Rashid, the youngest of the group at 11 years, said he was scared at first but his fears were gone once the plane took off. "Life outside the Valley is fast and they are far too developed. I would like to visit again, see how the country has developed and implement it in my own state," he said. Though 13-year-old Raja Riyaz has stepped out of Kashmir previously, but he was candid in his admission that flying was never in his plans as he belonged to a lower middle class family from Chadoora in central Kashmir Budgam district. Excited with the trip and impressed by the functioning of BSF, Naveed Aijaz Khan of Keran village near Line of Control in Kupwara district said he wanted to join the security force and serve the country. The kids said they were thankful to BSF for the 17-day trip during which they visited tourist places like Jammu, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Ajmer Sharief. Officiating Inspector General of BSF Veerendra K, who was at the airport to receive the kids, said besides visiting places of historical importance, the boys had an opportunity to witness the retreat ceremony at Wagah border. The BSF officer said the children interacted with their counter-parts from other parts of the country. The officer expressed surprise over the talent of the kids from remote villages, saying they performed cultural programmes at various places and drew a lot of praise for that. He said the BSF bore all the expenses of the kids including clothing, lodging, boarding, transportation and pocket money during the tour. (PTI) |
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