All-women
channel a hit in Bihar village
MUZAFFARPUR, Jan 2: In a state
where beating up and killing of women
after branding them as witches is common,
an all-women "news channel" is
creating waves in the rural backwaters of
Bihar.
"Appan
Samachar" (Our News), an all-women
weekly news programme, is a hit in
Ramlila Gachhi and its adjoining villages
in Paru Block of Muzaffarpur District
ever since its launch last month.
Unlike
flashy studios of private news channels,
its rural cousin works from an
asbestos-roofed room having a wooden
table, two chairs and a portable TV.
Its
reporters, Ruby Kumari and Anita Kumari
(both 20), move around Ramlila Gachhi and
its adjoining villages six days a week
carrying a Sony handycam, a tripod and a
microphone in hand to gather news. Later,
they show a 45-minute bulletin on the TV
using a video cassette player powered by
a battery, at the weekly fair in the
village.
"In
our channel, we cover activities relating
to development, women empowerment and
human rights," says 18-year-old
Khushbu Singh, a eleventh standard
student.
The
village has no electricity, no landline
phone connections and the mobile phone
service reached it only last year.
"We
have so far been funding the channel
through our own resources, but now hope
to get some revenue from the local
traders whose activities we report,"
says Ruby, who along with Anita, is
studying in BA first year from a college
in Sahebganj here.
Asked
whether they had ambition to make it to a
national TV news channel some day, both
Ruby and Khushbu said "yes" in
unison.
"We
don’t have any formal training so we
are learning it on the job. We hope, our
faces will be on a national TV channel
some day," the two, who report and
anchor for "Appan Samachar"
said.
The fourth
member of the team, Ruma Devi (35), a
housewife, moves with the reporters in
the interiors of the villages and carries
their tripod.
Santosh
Sarang, director of ‘Mission I
International Service’, an NGO, came
up with the idea to highlight the
problems of women residents in the
interior of the villages where national
media seldom reaches.
Moreover,
with women reporters the communication
becomes easier with the females in the
villages, the reporters said. (PTI)
Govt
mulling proposal to set up water training
centre
NEW DELHI, Jan 2: The
Government is mulling a proposal to set
up a water training centre with French
help for imparting training to personnel
involved in water and sanitation sector.
The Urban
Development Ministry is finalising a
proposal for setting up a Training Centre
for Water Service and Technologies in
cooperation with the French Ministry of
Equipment.
Proposed
to be set up at an estimated cost of Rs
26 crores, the centre is likely to come
up in 14 acres of land in Ghaziabad.
"The
purpose of the water training centre is
to train staff from various ministries,
administrations, organisations at the
Central, state and municipal levels,
responsible for the water and environment
management," said a senior Urban
Development Ministry official.
There is a
need for such a centre in the wake of new
emerging technologies and regulation
framework in the field of water and waste
water utilities.
"Currently
we do not have such professional training
facilities for the staff dealing with
water. So it was decided to have a
training centre with the help of French
experts as we have an Indo-French Joint
working group in Urban Development,"
the official said.
Besides
imparting professional training, the
water institute will also carry out
studies and research on water related
issues.
"Even
the staff working in the irrigation
system, or industries generating
pollution or using water for their
manufacturing processes can be trained to
improve their professional skill,"
said the official.
As per the
proposal, the water training centre will
be set up in the national capital region
first and later on a second unit will
come up in a state, most probably in
Karnataka.
The water
training centre will comprise an
administrative block, hostel, auditorium,
residential quarters and a canteen.
"The
UD Ministry is working out the details of
the proposed centre and a final decision
is likely to be taken soon," said
the official. (PTI)
Rane
rattles Deshmukh
MUMBAI, Jan 2: Barely a month
after the Maharashtra Chief Minister
Vilasrao Deshmukh celebrated completion
of his three year tenure as chief
minister of this state, his own cabinet
colleague Narayan Rane gave him a massive
jolt when he publicly revolted against
him.
Though the
epicentre of this revolt was in New Delhi
where Rane held a press conference
questioning Deshmukh’s ability to
lead the state, its tremors rattled his
throne in Maharashtra.
Rane while
addressing a press conference in New
Delhi without naming Deshmukh after
meeting Margaret Alva, AICC general
secretary in-charge of Maharashtra said
the government was not working for the 10
crore people of the state but only for
‘one person’.
While it
is an open secret that Rane, a former
Shiv Sena Chief Minister had quit the
party in 2005 following his differences
with the Sena and joined the Congress was
nursing an ambition to become the chief
minister, his open revolt was surprising
if not shocking to political observers.
After Rane
was expelled from Sena he joined the
Congress with a one point agenda of
reoccupying the chair of Chief Minister.
Interestingly Rane fired his salvo
against Deshmukh after meeting the AICC
incharge of Maharashtra, Margaret Alva, a
strong Deshmukh baiter. This is being
interpreted in the political circles that
Rane had her tacit support though neither
of them admitted it.
What seems
to have made things difficult for
Deshmukh is the fact that even after such
an outburst against Deshmukh, Rane
managed to get an audience with the
Congress President Sonia Gandhi. This has
given grist to the rumour mills that
Deshmukh’s days as Chief Minister of
Maharashtra are numbered and that there
could be a change of guard.
The
incident also has a cascading effect on
the other parties which was evident from
the fact that within days of this
incident the Union Minister and NCP chief
Sharad Pawar had an hour long closed door
meeting with the Shiv Sena supremo Bal
Thackrey at the latter’s residence
at ‘Matoshree’ in Bandra.
Though the
Shiv Sena chief tried to downplay the
meeting in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece
Samana as a ‘courtesy visit’ of
Pawar who was a friend of Thackeray, the
timing of the meeting fuelled speculation
that it was meant to thwart the ambitions
of Rane who is a common foe of both
Thackeray as well as Pawar.
Thackeray’s
aversion stems from the fact that Rane
had quit Sena in 2005 when he began to
feel that he was being marginalised while
Thackeray’s son Uddhav Thackeray was
becoming stronger in the party. On 3rd
July 2005 Naryan Rane announced his
resignation from the Shiv Sena and
subsequently from the Maharashtra
Legislative Assembly twenty days later
and then joined the Congress.
The
Nationalist Congress Party dislikes him
because he has strengthened the Congress
Rane had enabled the Congress to score
over the NCP in numbers in Maharashtra
legislative Assembly.
He was the
one who engineered the defections of
seven Sena MLAs, six of whom got
reelected on Congress tickets.
Consequently NCP which had emerged as the
single largest party in the 2004 assembly
polls with 71 seats is now in second
position as the strength of Congress has
shot up from 68 to 75-thanks to Rane.
The
problem for Deshmukh is not just Rane, it
is his own detractors in the Congress who
are actively campaigning against him.
Among them two prominent Congress leaders
Margaret Alva and the Maharashtra Pradesh
Congress Chief Prabha Rau.
The MPCC
had constituted a fact finding team to
examine burning issues in the state
including farmers suicides, sugar cane
glut, power crisis , malnutrition deaths
and other issues. The report of the team
especially relating to malnutrition
deaths had caused considerable
discomfiture to Deshmukh.
Meanwhile
in an interesting political twist, Rau in
her speech on the occassion of Congress
foundation day said that the party must
be wary of the entrants " not all of
whom might have joined the party with
selfless motives."
Her
statement is seen as an effort to
distance herself from Rane’s
controversial press conference
criticising the chief minister.
But will
the Congress High Command replace
Vilasrao Deshmukh with Rane? This seems
improbable because it will give wrong
signals to the loyal rank and file of the
Congress and it could trigger series of
revolts elsewhere. (PTI)
Cong
MLAs move petition for Bhajan Lal’s
disqualification
CHANDIGARH, Jan 2: Congress MLAs today
petitioned the Haryana Speaker seeking
disqualification of rebels Bhajan Lal and
two of his close aides on the ground that
they have severed ties with the party.
The
MLAs-Shadi Lal Batra, Jitender Mallik and
Ramesh Gupta-in separate petitions filed
before Speaker Raghubir Singh Kadian
sought the disqualification of former
Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, Dharampal
Mallik and Rakesh Kamboj on the ground
that these MLAs had severed ties with the
ruling Congress and floated a new
political outfit.
The three
had attended the Rohtak rally of
‘Haryana Janhit Congress’,
floated by Lal’s son and suspended
MP Kuldeep Bishnoi.
When
contacted, Kadian said he would look into
the merits and de-merits of the petitions
filed by the legislators.
He,
however, said "any member of the
House can move a petition against another
member if he or she finds that the
legislator had severed ties with the
party on the symbol on which he or she
had contested polls and created an
atmosphere of expulsion".
The
90-member Haryana assembly has 67
Congress MLAs, nine MLAs of Indian
National Lok Dal headed by former Chief
Minister Om Parkash Chautala, two BJP,
one each from the NCP and the BSP and ten
independents.
The
Speaker said he would go through the
petitions.
Bhajan Lal
and his MP son Kuldeep Bishnoi took on
the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government on
its various policies and programmes,
including setting up of Special Economic
zones in the state, much to the
embarrassment of ruling Congress.
Lal had
become vocal against the Congress after
Hooda was preferred over him for the
Chief Minister’s post when the
Congress won the assembly election three
years back.
Dharampal
Mallik is also chairman of Haryana
Agriculture and Marketing Board. (PTI)
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