Asia through the eyes of cartoonists

NEW DELHI Mar 7: Art requires no language to convey a message. More so if it is a cartoon. An exhibition of cartoons from Asian countries proves the point.

A trendy girl in a chic tee and jeans with folded hands before the ancient guru begs him for the secret of life.Pat comes the reply, "go to www.Secret <http://www.Secret> of life.Com and see ok".

A young boy engrossed playing games on TV, while his father is down on floor literally begging to let him watch news.

"Forget about the oil shortage. Have you noticed the textile shortage." Guys looking at skimpily dressed girls walking by.

These are some of the cartoons from ten Asian cartoonists displayed at the Okakura Tenshin Gallery in the capital by the Japan Foundation from February 27 to March 12.

The cartoonists are from India, Bangladesh, Japan, China, Vietnam, Philippines,Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia.

Director Japan foundation Nao Endo says, "It is a way of experiencing the culture of the countries and connecting together. Japanese traditional theatre might not be so easy to understand by the common person here in India but cartoons are easily understood."

"We have been organising this cartoon exhibition every year since 1995. And it has been improving every year" says Endo.

Almost 85 per cent of the world’s youth lives in developing countries, with approximately 60 per cent in Asia alone according to the UN website. Thus the theme of this year’s cartoons being youth is very appropriate.

The ‘Generation Y’ has a culture of its own which keeps them apart. Their mannerisms, quirks, dressing style, self obsession, technology craze, crass commercialism is all decoded on paper in squiggles and lines by the cartoonists.

The sole Indian cartoonist Jayanto Banerjee says "Since our theme was youth with technology, we have tried to portray youth in today’s times."

Banerjee has been drawing cartoons for the last two decades and works as illustrator in Hindustan Times. He says that working in a paper does not curb his style, It is a great satisfaction to know that you are doing something for the society. Through our cartoons we can get the message across people very quickly."

Joyonto’s cartoons give an glimpse of new India, one has the Indian elephant ready to vroom in 22^{nd century on a Bike. Another shows love through Internet with cupid sulking in a corner.’India Calling’ a take on call centre boom in India among others.}

^{Some of the cartoons are funny, while others want to send across a message. The cartoons aptly bring out the crisis that the youth are facing in Asian countries.}

^{Malaysian cartoonist Tazidi’s cartoon of a mother turning a blind eye on her scantily dressed daughter, but is shocked when she becomes pregnant reminds one of similar situation in India.}

^{Lyndon Gregorio’s cartoon based on the Filipino ritual about offering the first pay check to parents is now passe among youth. Or the Thai cartoon with people sitting on islands with their laptops and computers can define the youth culture of any country including India.}

^{Similarly, all Japanese cartoons are obsessed by computer games, while the Chinese youths are engrossed in fads and fashion. (PTI)}

President greets women on the eve
of International Women’s Day

NEW DELHI, Mar 7: President Pratibha Patil today greeted the women of the country on the eve of International Women’s Day for their relentless effort in shaping the nation’s destiny.

In her message, the President said she was extending her greetings and felicitations to all sisters for their continued role and relentless effort to develop the country.

"Our women, inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, took part in the freedom struggle and were even today making determined efforts to transform the social order in a just manner and fighting evils like female foeticide, infanticide, and dowry, Ms Patil said."

Urging the women to extend a helping hand for hapless and underprivileged people of the nation, she said empowerment of women was the most effective way of bringing about development and alleviating poverty. (UNI)

‘Mayawati should decide if she wants to be with Cong’

KOCHI, Mar 7: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati should make up her mind on whether she wants to fight the Congress or be with it, Congress leader, Sheila Dikshit said.

Asked if the Congress and the BSP would come together for the next parliamentary polls, Dixit said that a decision in this regard has to be taken by the BSP supremo.

On whether the Lok sabha elections would be preponed and held this year, Dixit said: "there are no positive indications in this regard. This is everybody’s guess".

Asked if Rahul Gandhi was being groomed to be the party’s Prime ministerial candidate, she said whole party was behind him. "But this is kite flying by the media," she said.

On the ‘Marathi Manoos’ plank of Shiv sena chief Bal Thackeray and MNS leader Raj Thackeray, she said: "This country belongs to everyone. If they are talking parochial politics, they are not right".

On CPI leader A B Bardhan’s views that the US was "blackmailing" India on the Indo-US deal, Dixit said: "I do not think US is trying to blackmail India. None can oppose the Congress saying it was ‘bowing’ to pressure from the US".

She said Congress leaders were the architects of the Non Aligned movement and that it was this party which withstood all forces that have tried to take advantage of India.

Asked why the Left parties were against the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, she shot back "ask them". They have to answer to the people.

"I do not know their intention. Is there an intention to bring the communal forces back?, she asked.

Asked if the Congress was weakening as BJP had triumphed in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, Dikshit said the party would fight elections to win. "But if we do not succeed, it does not mean we are out. For 55 years Congress has ruled this country", she said.

When it was pointed out that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had come out in flying colours in the polls, despite being labelled "communal" by the Congress, Dikshit said "Modi turned out to be smarter. But that does not mean he is not communal or he is good for India".

Admitting that there was factionalism in the Congress in Delhi and Kerala, she said the Congress is a large party and the "only one" which has stuck to its basic principles.

On whether she expected the Congress to give more seats for women in the coming parliamentary elections, Dixit said seats are normally given, keeping in mind the winnablity factor of the candidates.

Her personal view was that all major political parties must give women representation in two third of the seats in various posts. "Then they can get trained. Women should be given more roles."

With Kochi awaiting clearance for the Metro rail project, she said metros are required in all cities of India. The sooner it is implemented, the better. The Metro is doing a lot to Delhi. It is clean, non-polluting and a solution to the ever increasing demand for public transport, she added. (PTI)

Srinagar Municipal Corporation to kill one lakh stray dogs

SRINAGAR, Mar 7: Concerned over the increasing population of stray dogs in the city, Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) will launch a drive to kill more than one lakh such dogs at the end of this month.

"We have set a target of killing more than one lakh stray dogs in Srinagar city. The drive is likely to begin in a fortnight’s time," health officer of SMC, Riyaz Ahmad Dar, said.

Dar said the corporation was in the process of procuring the poison used to kill the dogs and as soon as we get it, the drive will be launched.

He said the drive to eliminate the dogs from the city could not be carried out for past several years due to varied reasons but the situation was now getting out of hand.

"We have to carry out this measure in order to make this city safe for human beings ... At the moment, it looks like the dogs are ruling the roost," he said.

Dar said there had a large number of dog bite cases over the past couple of years in the city. It has become difficult for the children to move around without fear. They are scared to go to schools even ... Even the grown ups are scared of moving out of their homes for pre-dawn and post-dusk prayers, he said.

The municipal authorities had chalked out a similar drive few years back but had to back off following hue and cry raised by several animal rights groups and activists, including former union minister Maneka Gandhi.

Asked about the opposition of the animal rights groups, the health officer said these groups will only make noises. We are not targetting harmless pets but stray dogs who have made life miserable for human beings.

There has been an alarming increase in dog-bite cases in the city over the past four or five years.

According to the statistics available at the SMHS hospital alone, there were more than 1,000 cases of dog bites in last four years.

Official sources said although there were no deaths reported in such cases, the situation was grave as people have to buy expensive anti-rabies vaccines from market.

"We do not have sufficient stocks of such vaccines in all the hospitals of the Valley which has sometimes led to unruly scenes by the attendants of the victims in the hospitals," they added.

The municipal authorities used to undertake dog-killing drives every year but the practice was stopped following eruption of militancy in the state in early 1990s. (PTI)

Delhi listed among top 25 dirtiest cities
by Forbes magazine

NEW DELHI, Mar 7: The Delhi Government’s resolve to make the Capital a "world class city" in the run up to the 2010 Commonwealth Games notwithstanding, the city ranks as among the top 25 dirtiest cities in the world in a recent survey by the US-based Forbes magazine.

According to the report, published in the February 22 issue of the Forbes magazine, Delhi holds 24^{th position amongst the list of 200 dirtiest cities across the World.}

^{Though Delhi was rated much higher than Mumbai, which was ranked as the seventh dirtiest city by the Forbes, the Capital’s inclusion in the Forbes list is a reflection of the inadequacy of efforts by the authorities in Delhi to spruce up the city ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.}

^{Among the prime reasons cited by the magazine for listing national Capital as the 24th dirtiest city in the world is the worsening levels of pollution in the river Yamuna over the years.}

^{"Garbage and sewage flow freely, creating a rich environment for the growth of water-borne diseases contributing to extremely high rates of infant morbidity,"the report by the Forbes magazine quoted as saying.}

^{In drawing up the list of top 200 dirtiest cities, the Forbes magazine consulted Mercer’s Health and Sanitation Rankings, 2007.}

^{As per their " Quality of Life report, 2007", Mercer ranks cities based on levels of air pollution, waste management, water portability, hospital supplies, medical services and the presence of infectious diseases.}

^{For example, in the report, Delhi scored 46.6 on the health and sanitation index while the most polluted city, Baku in Azerbaijan, scored 27.6.}

^{The report hits at a time when a host of environmentalists, in recent months, dwelt at length on the deterioration of the Yamuna river, with some even describing it as a "acid pond" and "a drain".}

^{Though an ambitious scheme for cleaning the river Yamuna, based on interceptor sewer concept, was recently mooted by the Delhi Jal Board, environmentalists like Bhure Lal feel no measure or scheme can bring about an improvement in the quality of the Yamuna river unless a way was found for the recycling of sewage from the river.}

^{The Interceptor sewer plan, the implementation of which has been awarded to the Engineers India Limited, works on preventing pollution in the Yamuna by preventing dumping of untreated sewage into the river.}

^{The CEO of the Delhi Jal Board Arun Mathur has expressed optimism that once the scheme is implemented, 80 per cent of the pollution problems of the river by way of sewage will be resolved.}

^{However, for this to happen, Mr mathur said the support of all stakeholders, namely the MCD, the Irrigation department and others, needed.}

^{Reacting to the report, Delhi Mayor Aarti Mehra said, We will write to the magazine and ascertain what criteria they have based their report on and then determine its authenticity."}

^{Mr Mehra said considering the Capital’s huge population, a large proportion of which lived in unauthorised colnies and jhuggi clusters, the work of sanitising such areas was a mammoth task.}

^{"We are dealing with huge zones here and it takes time,"she said. (UNI)}

Large number of women work with low salaries: Report

NEW DELHI, Mar 7: A large number of women work with low salaries and without any social protection, says a new report of International Labour Organisation.

"More women are working than ever before, but they are also more likely than men to get low-productivity, low-paid and vulnerable jobs, with no social protection, basic rights or voice at work," the ILO report issued for International Womens Day says.

"Global employment trends for women - March 2008", says that the number of employed women grew by almost 200 million over the last decade, to reach 1.2 billion in 2007 compared to 1.8 billion men. However, the number of unemployed women also grew from 70.2 to 81.6 million over the same period.

"Women continue to enter the world’s workforce in great numbers. This progress must not obscure the glaring inequities that still exist in workplaces throughout the world," said ILO Director General Juan Somavia.

"The workplace and the world of work are at the centre of global solutions to address gender equality and the advancement of women in society. By promoting decent work for women, we are empowering societies and advancing the cause of economic and social development for all," said Somavia.

The report also shows improvement in the status of women in labour markets throughout the world but they have not substantially narrowed gender gap in the workplace. (PTI)

India, China not ‘rivals’ but ‘partners’:
Chinese Ambassador

NEW DELHI, Mar 7: China and India are not ‘rivals’ but partners in development, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yan has said, insisting that there was enough space for the two Asian giants to co-exist and prosper together.

"China and India are partners of development instead of rivals. There is enough space for the two countries to grow and prosper together," Zhang said at a reception in his honour by Unity International Foundation here last evening.

"Maybe, there are people who are not quite happy about the current development of our bilateral relations. However, the growth of friendship and cooperation between our two peoples and two countries is a trend of time," he said without mentioning any one in particular.

Evaluating Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent visit to Beijing, Zhang, who took charge of China’s mission here three months back, described it as "another milestone" for the two countries.

"It has injected new impetus to the development of our bilateral relations and provided a historical opportunity for our two countries to work together for the betterment of our people and the world as a whole," he said.

China has always attached great importance to the development of Sino-Indian relations, he said adding "we hold that the two countries have more consensus than differences".

"The relationship between China and India has gone well beyond the bilateral context and acquired global and strategic dimension in importance," Zhang said.

He said Beijing is ready to work with New Delhi to create "favourable political conditions, increase mutual trust and seek new ways to expand economic and trade cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual benefits." (PTI)