MONTH THAT WAS
Development gone haywire- School for mall
Mumbai: Parents and teachers of the Marathi-medium MG School in Bandra (east) are up in arms against a government order, asking the school to shift its premises and to make way for a plush shopping mall.
Teachers from the school say that the redevelopment plan, which the school got from the collector’s office, shows a mall in place of the school. According to sources in the school, the matter came to light when the school authorities approached the education department regarding the grant it was stated to receive. The school authorities were told that since the school was to be shifted, they would not get any additional grant until the shifting took place.
The source added that the school has been allotted a land near Mithi River in the Bandra-Kurla Complex that is about two kilometers away from the existing location and is in contravention of the norms laid down by the high court.
No drinking water in 31% of
Maharashtra schools: Survey
A shocking 31% of schools in Maharashtra, a state that calls itself fifth prosperous in India, have to do without drinking water. This is just one of the many shocking findings, revealed by the NGO Pratham’s Annual Survey of Education Report 2010 (ASER). The survey also says that 45% of schools in the state do not have toilets, whereas 55.8% of schools do not have separate toilet for girls.
While Mumbaikars were shaken by 15% of water cuts, the recent survey found that a large numbers of schools in rural Maharashtra do not have access to safe and clean drinking water, one of the basic rights of students, under the Right to Education act. The report based on a study of 902 schools in Maharashtra states that only 69% of schools have running water facilities and other provisions such as storage facilities like water tanks, water coolers or even earthen pots.
“Water crunch is faced by most of the schools in rural India. There is no hand pump or tap water available in these schools. Some schools have other storage facilities like a matka (earthen pot) where water can be accessed by students. These schools are in the hinterland, they do not have electricity and cannot install water coolers and purifiers,” said Nandakumar, state project head, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. He added that the state education department along with the rural development authorities, is working on projects to make water available in schools.
Moreover, the report brings to light the poor sanitary and hygienic conditions across schools in state. According to Unicef reports, lack of availability of toilets is one of the major reasons for girls dropping out of schools after standard VIII. Echoing this point, ASER report states that only 45.2% schools have a separate toilet for girls, which are hygienic and usable. “We have already started many infrastructure building projects to create more toilets in schools. Most of these projects will be implemented in three or four years,” added Nandakumar.
Man kills daughter recruited as al-Qaida bomber
Baghdad: Iraqi police say a man has killed his 19-year-old daughter after discovering al-Qaida had recruited her as a suicide bomber. Diyala province police spokesman Maj Ghalib al-Karkhi says security forces raided the man’s house in the former Sunni-insurgent stronghold of Baquoba north of Baghdad in search of the girl on suspicion she had ties to al-Qaida. Police did not find her. Al-Karkhi says the father, Najim al-Anbaky, told police he killed his daughter a month earlier because he found out she intended to blow herself up in a suicide attack for al-Qaida. Al-Karkhi said al-Anbaky showed police what he said was the woman’s grave. Al-Qaida recruits women for suicide attacks because they can pass police checkpoints easier than men.
TISS finds few takers for course on elderly care
Mumbai: In a world with growing apathy towards senior citizens, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has conceptualised an altogether new course that teaches students about the process of aging. A one-year part-time course, the Diploma in Gerontology aims at educating students on how the elderly in our society perceive social changes, while analysing the impact of a change of role in their life and health. No matter how contemporary the course may sound, it has found few takers, or rather the course is yet to reach its intended target group.
Students are also taken through the policies and programs, their status, social stratification and dimensioning, skill building, development intervention and psychological requirement of the elderly. “It is interesting to note how psychology behind aging changes from one place to another, said Prof. Pallavi Kumari in the Department of Gerontology, adding that the TISS course specifically concentrates on the issue involving elderly women and their problems with age.
The word gerontology originated from the Greek word “geron” implying the elderly. The concept came about after western nations realised that the ratio of aging in the population was higher as compared to other countries around the world, thus paving the way for the origin of gerontology. Since then the Western countries have been researching on the concept of aging as well as presenting a comparative study and debate to the world.
The TISS course deals with two components of gerontology, namely bio-gerontology and social gerontology. While bio-gerontology concentrates on the biological process of aging, social gerontology concentrates on the demographic aspect of the subject. Also, social gerontology studies the psychological aspect of aging, as to how the elderly react to changes taking place in their lives. “Though the subject is newly introduced in India, a statistical analysis by medical professionals on social dimensions show that by 2015, over 17 to 19 per cent population will grow old. Gerontologists aim to cut down this age growth percentage while studying the reasons behind this fast process of aging.” added Kumari.
Many students studying at the institute are part of NGOs and are into social activities for the elderly people. The elderly people need to be kept engaged in one or the other task so as to keep them away from getting depressed.
Vietnamese cops roughed up US envoy
Hanoi: Police roughed up an American diplomat in Vietnam and reportedly slammed a car door on his legs when he went to visit a prominent dissident, an official in Washington, detailing an encounter that prompted a strong US protest. Christian Marchant, a political officer at the US Embassy in Hanoi, was expected to make a full recovery after being roughed up while trying to visit the detained dissident, said the US official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to disclose details. Neither the US Embassy in Hanoi nor outgoing Ambassador Michael Michalak would describe the incident, but he said the US had protested what occurred in the central city of Hue.
CR facilitators net Rs 32,925 in 5 days
Mumbai: Facilitators appointed by the Central Railway (CR) who have been issuing tickets from Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) at railway stations in the New Year have already sold tickets worth Rs 32,925. A facilitator is a railway employee authorised to sell tickets before and after office hours on the ATVM at a station most convenient to them. Over 200 employees had applied for the job of which 129 have been selected for 129 ATVMs. They must purchase their own smart card and are given Rs 5 on every sale of Rs 100. Each facilitator has been provided with a large identity cards so that passengers standing in the queue can spot and approach them easily. Precautions have been taken to avoid manipulation, as all the ATVMs are connected to a database, which is continuously monitored. In six days (January 1 to 6, 2011), the facilitators have sold a total of 2423 tickets through ATVM. Santosh Kambli of Ulhasnagar topped the list, having issued 624 tickets worth Rs 9670 alone.
Drunken driving fine, measure in pegs!
New Delhi: The Motor Vehicles Act is being made more stringent for drunken driving. Those driving after consuming liquor will be checked and fined as per the quantity of alcohol in the blood.
The present law provided for just a fine of Rs 2,000 or simple imprisonment up to six months if the alcohol in the blood is above the permissible limit of 30 mg in 100ml.
An expert committee appointed by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry has recommended a graded punishment based on how much alcohol is found in the blood, including cancellation of the driving licence in case of the repeat drunken driving.
As a matter of fact, the committee has recommended heavy fine to the tune of Rs 2,000 for various traffic offences like over speeding, jumping red lights and using mobile while driving that presently attracts fine of Rs 100-500.
The recommended changes in the Act also provide for more information on the driving licences like blood group, etc, to be helpful in case of road accidents. The committee has also suggested that the heavy vehicle licence will also mention if the person can drive any vehicle carrying the school students.
Rasoi Ghar makes cooking easier for the poor
Bhayandar: Don’t have enough money to buy an LPG cylinder, nor kerosene to cook food? Don’t worry you can still get your food cooked by paying just Rs 8 an hour at a community kitchen in Bhayandar.
V.C.Shah, the local distribution unit of HPCL-LPG gas cylinders has commissioned a common LPG kitchen facility – Rasoi Ghar”, near the Maxus Mall in Bhayandar (west).
The kitchen equipped with four double burner gas stoves, LPG cylinders was inaugurated by Deputy Mayor, Jayant Patil.
“Eight families can use the kitchen at a time to prepare food by paying Rs 8 for using gas stoves and Rs 4 for half hour. The idea was to introduce families mainly migrant workers to clean, efficient and alternative fuel to firewood, also those who cannot afford their own LPG cylinders, can visit the kitchen, cook their meals and leave” says local gas distributor Hemant Shah. Living in tiny make shift rooms, these labourers use kerosene and firewood as cooking fuel, while the emitting smoke proved hazardous to health it also adds to pollution-Rasoi Ghar, is definitely an eco-friendly and cheap alternative said Jayant Patil. Lauding the efforts of the company, Patil said it was the need of the hour to replicate such projects especially in the tribal dominated areas which will save deforestation as this facility will eliminate collection of firewood.
Direct tax kitty rises 19 pc at
Rs 2.99 lakh cr from Apr-Dec
The government kitty swelled by 19.47% to Rs 2.99 lakh crore during the first nine months of this fiscal from direct taxes on a year-year basis, up from Rs 2,50,232 crore. With the Rs 2.99 lakh crore direct tax income till December, the government has already collected 69.53% of the budgeted target of Rs 4.30 lakh crore.
During the first nine months of the current fiscal the collections of corporate tax jumped by 22.07% to Rs 2.03 lakh crore. Also Personal Income Tax grew at 14.57% to 92,295 crore during the period compared to Rs 83,178 crore in the same period last fiscal.
The amount includes the Securities Transaction Tax, residual Fringe Benefit Tax and Banking Cash Transaction Tax.
Mumbai: Parents and teachers of the Marathi-medium MG School in Bandra (east) are up in arms against a government order, asking the school to shift its premises and to make way for a plush shopping mall.
Teachers from the school say that the redevelopment plan, which the school got from the collector’s office, shows a mall in place of the school. According to sources in the school, the matter came to light when the school authorities approached the education department regarding the grant it was stated to receive. The school authorities were told that since the school was to be shifted, they would not get any additional grant until the shifting took place.
The source added that the school has been allotted a land near Mithi River in the Bandra-Kurla Complex that is about two kilometers away from the existing location and is in contravention of the norms laid down by the high court.
No drinking water in 31% of
Maharashtra schools: Survey
A shocking 31% of schools in Maharashtra, a state that calls itself fifth prosperous in India, have to do without drinking water. This is just one of the many shocking findings, revealed by the NGO Pratham’s Annual Survey of Education Report 2010 (ASER). The survey also says that 45% of schools in the state do not have toilets, whereas 55.8% of schools do not have separate toilet for girls.
While Mumbaikars were shaken by 15% of water cuts, the recent survey found that a large numbers of schools in rural Maharashtra do not have access to safe and clean drinking water, one of the basic rights of students, under the Right to Education act. The report based on a study of 902 schools in Maharashtra states that only 69% of schools have running water facilities and other provisions such as storage facilities like water tanks, water coolers or even earthen pots.
“Water crunch is faced by most of the schools in rural India. There is no hand pump or tap water available in these schools. Some schools have other storage facilities like a matka (earthen pot) where water can be accessed by students. These schools are in the hinterland, they do not have electricity and cannot install water coolers and purifiers,” said Nandakumar, state project head, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. He added that the state education department along with the rural development authorities, is working on projects to make water available in schools.
Moreover, the report brings to light the poor sanitary and hygienic conditions across schools in state. According to Unicef reports, lack of availability of toilets is one of the major reasons for girls dropping out of schools after standard VIII. Echoing this point, ASER report states that only 45.2% schools have a separate toilet for girls, which are hygienic and usable. “We have already started many infrastructure building projects to create more toilets in schools. Most of these projects will be implemented in three or four years,” added Nandakumar.
Man kills daughter recruited as al-Qaida bomber
Baghdad: Iraqi police say a man has killed his 19-year-old daughter after discovering al-Qaida had recruited her as a suicide bomber. Diyala province police spokesman Maj Ghalib al-Karkhi says security forces raided the man’s house in the former Sunni-insurgent stronghold of Baquoba north of Baghdad in search of the girl on suspicion she had ties to al-Qaida. Police did not find her. Al-Karkhi says the father, Najim al-Anbaky, told police he killed his daughter a month earlier because he found out she intended to blow herself up in a suicide attack for al-Qaida. Al-Karkhi said al-Anbaky showed police what he said was the woman’s grave. Al-Qaida recruits women for suicide attacks because they can pass police checkpoints easier than men.
TISS finds few takers for course on elderly care
Mumbai: In a world with growing apathy towards senior citizens, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has conceptualised an altogether new course that teaches students about the process of aging. A one-year part-time course, the Diploma in Gerontology aims at educating students on how the elderly in our society perceive social changes, while analysing the impact of a change of role in their life and health. No matter how contemporary the course may sound, it has found few takers, or rather the course is yet to reach its intended target group.
Students are also taken through the policies and programs, their status, social stratification and dimensioning, skill building, development intervention and psychological requirement of the elderly. “It is interesting to note how psychology behind aging changes from one place to another, said Prof. Pallavi Kumari in the Department of Gerontology, adding that the TISS course specifically concentrates on the issue involving elderly women and their problems with age.
The word gerontology originated from the Greek word “geron” implying the elderly. The concept came about after western nations realised that the ratio of aging in the population was higher as compared to other countries around the world, thus paving the way for the origin of gerontology. Since then the Western countries have been researching on the concept of aging as well as presenting a comparative study and debate to the world.
The TISS course deals with two components of gerontology, namely bio-gerontology and social gerontology. While bio-gerontology concentrates on the biological process of aging, social gerontology concentrates on the demographic aspect of the subject. Also, social gerontology studies the psychological aspect of aging, as to how the elderly react to changes taking place in their lives. “Though the subject is newly introduced in India, a statistical analysis by medical professionals on social dimensions show that by 2015, over 17 to 19 per cent population will grow old. Gerontologists aim to cut down this age growth percentage while studying the reasons behind this fast process of aging.” added Kumari.
Many students studying at the institute are part of NGOs and are into social activities for the elderly people. The elderly people need to be kept engaged in one or the other task so as to keep them away from getting depressed.
Vietnamese cops roughed up US envoy
Hanoi: Police roughed up an American diplomat in Vietnam and reportedly slammed a car door on his legs when he went to visit a prominent dissident, an official in Washington, detailing an encounter that prompted a strong US protest. Christian Marchant, a political officer at the US Embassy in Hanoi, was expected to make a full recovery after being roughed up while trying to visit the detained dissident, said the US official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to disclose details. Neither the US Embassy in Hanoi nor outgoing Ambassador Michael Michalak would describe the incident, but he said the US had protested what occurred in the central city of Hue.
CR facilitators net Rs 32,925 in 5 days
Mumbai: Facilitators appointed by the Central Railway (CR) who have been issuing tickets from Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) at railway stations in the New Year have already sold tickets worth Rs 32,925. A facilitator is a railway employee authorised to sell tickets before and after office hours on the ATVM at a station most convenient to them. Over 200 employees had applied for the job of which 129 have been selected for 129 ATVMs. They must purchase their own smart card and are given Rs 5 on every sale of Rs 100. Each facilitator has been provided with a large identity cards so that passengers standing in the queue can spot and approach them easily. Precautions have been taken to avoid manipulation, as all the ATVMs are connected to a database, which is continuously monitored. In six days (January 1 to 6, 2011), the facilitators have sold a total of 2423 tickets through ATVM. Santosh Kambli of Ulhasnagar topped the list, having issued 624 tickets worth Rs 9670 alone.
Drunken driving fine, measure in pegs!
New Delhi: The Motor Vehicles Act is being made more stringent for drunken driving. Those driving after consuming liquor will be checked and fined as per the quantity of alcohol in the blood.
The present law provided for just a fine of Rs 2,000 or simple imprisonment up to six months if the alcohol in the blood is above the permissible limit of 30 mg in 100ml.
An expert committee appointed by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry has recommended a graded punishment based on how much alcohol is found in the blood, including cancellation of the driving licence in case of the repeat drunken driving.
As a matter of fact, the committee has recommended heavy fine to the tune of Rs 2,000 for various traffic offences like over speeding, jumping red lights and using mobile while driving that presently attracts fine of Rs 100-500.
The recommended changes in the Act also provide for more information on the driving licences like blood group, etc, to be helpful in case of road accidents. The committee has also suggested that the heavy vehicle licence will also mention if the person can drive any vehicle carrying the school students.
Rasoi Ghar makes cooking easier for the poor
Bhayandar: Don’t have enough money to buy an LPG cylinder, nor kerosene to cook food? Don’t worry you can still get your food cooked by paying just Rs 8 an hour at a community kitchen in Bhayandar.
V.C.Shah, the local distribution unit of HPCL-LPG gas cylinders has commissioned a common LPG kitchen facility – Rasoi Ghar”, near the Maxus Mall in Bhayandar (west).
The kitchen equipped with four double burner gas stoves, LPG cylinders was inaugurated by Deputy Mayor, Jayant Patil.
“Eight families can use the kitchen at a time to prepare food by paying Rs 8 for using gas stoves and Rs 4 for half hour. The idea was to introduce families mainly migrant workers to clean, efficient and alternative fuel to firewood, also those who cannot afford their own LPG cylinders, can visit the kitchen, cook their meals and leave” says local gas distributor Hemant Shah. Living in tiny make shift rooms, these labourers use kerosene and firewood as cooking fuel, while the emitting smoke proved hazardous to health it also adds to pollution-Rasoi Ghar, is definitely an eco-friendly and cheap alternative said Jayant Patil. Lauding the efforts of the company, Patil said it was the need of the hour to replicate such projects especially in the tribal dominated areas which will save deforestation as this facility will eliminate collection of firewood.
Direct tax kitty rises 19 pc at
Rs 2.99 lakh cr from Apr-Dec
The government kitty swelled by 19.47% to Rs 2.99 lakh crore during the first nine months of this fiscal from direct taxes on a year-year basis, up from Rs 2,50,232 crore. With the Rs 2.99 lakh crore direct tax income till December, the government has already collected 69.53% of the budgeted target of Rs 4.30 lakh crore.
During the first nine months of the current fiscal the collections of corporate tax jumped by 22.07% to Rs 2.03 lakh crore. Also Personal Income Tax grew at 14.57% to 92,295 crore during the period compared to Rs 83,178 crore in the same period last fiscal.
The amount includes the Securities Transaction Tax, residual Fringe Benefit Tax and Banking Cash Transaction Tax.
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