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Patna: 3rd National Conference on Electoral Reforms, jointly hosted by Association for Democratic Reforms and Lok Samvad of Bihar, held on February 11and 12 in Patna.

Adopting a code of conduct for Civil Society Organizations, resolutions on Electoral and Political Reforms and an action plan for focusing on 'Political Party Watch' in future were the main highlights of conference.

Chief Election Commissioner B.B. Tandon and former Chairman of Law Commission Justice Jeevan Reddy addressed the participants. Delegates included State Election Commissioners of several States, eminent citizens and senior Government and Election Commission officials as well as activists, leaders of NGOs and people’s movements from all over the country.

S. Trilochan Sastry, one of organizer, told Www.mediabharti.com that the Conference passed 2 significant resolutions. First was to adopt a code of conduct for NGOs and civil society groups working for the improvement of democracy and governance and second was on Electoral and Political Reforms

By Brij Khandelwal

Agra: In this famous city of the Taj Mahal, police have busted a number of call girl racket.

Police say Agra, one of India's biggest tourist hubs, is gaining notoriety for flesh trade which has made inroads into the city's residential areas and tourist complexes.

While the 'mandis', or brothels, in Mal ka Bazaar, Seo ka Bazaar, Basai or Sikandra are as old as the ancient monuments this city is famous for, newer centers have sprung up.

Says Surendra Sharma, founder president of the Hotel and Restaurant Association: "Tourism brings dollars no doubt, but in many a country it has also opened the gates for cultural devaluation." "The city of the Taj, which till now had remained virtually insulated from tourism-related pollution, is beginning to feel the impact of changing perceptions and lifestyles, falling prey to demands from tourists for forbidden pleasures."

The flesh traders reportedly have close links with Sonagachi, the red light area in Kolkata, and Mumbai's brothels.

According to Police, a thriving market for prostitutes and even gigolos has come up to cater to the needs of tourists, mostly domestic.

In recent raids a large number of people booked were found to be of the nouveau riche variety. Police said from the confessions of 3 call girls from Delhi who were caught from a hotel, they had evidence confirming how local emporium staff and travel agents patronize the flesh trade.

Agra has become a transit point for recruitment and supply of dancing girls for bars in Mumbai, informed sources said. Police took into custody 2 teenaged girls who were being taken to Mumbai to work in bars.

The Shaheed Nagar colony has become infamous as a haven for flesh traders, mostly from the Beria tribe.

A senior police official indicated that whole families were involved in the supply of girls picked up early and later administered hormone injections for inducing accelerated physical growth. However, doctors at the district hospital and local officials deny any such cases. But unconfirmed reports continue to do the rounds about certain tribes in the Rajasthan-Uttar Pradesh belt where young girls are injected with hormonal injections.

Two interesting cases in the past week provided new insights into the working of the trade. In one instance, a newly built nursing home was being used for prostitution, with the doctor himself coordinating the racket. The other case involved a musical orchestra. The dancing and singing girls with the orchestras took up part time assignments as call girls, according to city Superintendent of Police.

By Brij Khandelwal

Agra: To enter the world's greatest mausoleum, swipe a card.
Automatic doors that open when a plastic card is punched in could soon be a reality as the Taj Mahal, India's most popular international tourist destination.
The swipe cards are part of extra security measures to guard the monument. Last year 800,000 foreigners and eight million domestic tourists visited Agra.

By Brij Khandelwal

Agra: Unable to keep pace with technological changes, Agra's booming power generator industry, which employs about 15,000 people, is facing closure after a recent directive imposing strict guidelines to reduce noise pollution.
The Central Pollution Control Board has directed the 150-odd units here to equip all diesel-fuelled generators with pollution control devices, a canopy and an enclosure to regulate the emissions.
The directive sent shock waves through the industry, which in any case has to meet strict Euro III emission norms by July 2005.
Considering the costs involved, the industry seems in no position to redesign the generators to control noise pollution to the stipulated 75 decibels level.
Agra's generator industry meets 70% of India's need for diesel engines, used for pumping water to the fields and to generate low-cost electricity.
Elaborating on the doomsday scenario facing the industry, Harish Mohan Sethi, head of the automobile department at the Dayalbagh deemed university, said the conventional 'Peter' engines manufactured here would have to undergo considerable up gradation to meet the new standards. The changes could escalate costs, which in turn would make the whole industry economically unviable, he said. "The engines being manufactured locally would need major modifications in their fuel injection equipment and exhaust system," Sethi said. The leading emissions expert said he had successfully designed and tested an integrated oxidation catalytic converter-cum-heat exchanger system for light diesel engines.

By Brij Khandelwal
Agra: It hardly matters where they come from. Bangladesh, Bihar or from some nondescript district on eastern border. They have no past, worth remembering, and they seldom face an identity crisis, as both history and geography do not interest them. Poverty has driven them to seek greener pastures westward ho.
Hundreds of Rehanas, Sultanas, Kamlas and Sheilas have found new homes in Agra’s dalit basties and muslim mohallas. Nobody objects to their presence for they have integrated so well into the local social order, picking up the language and the norms of the communities they are now part of.

Surendra Singh of Kachchpura village behind the Taj Mahal explains: “a large number of Jatav boys fail to get married for various reasons, economics being one. Past 30 or 35 years of age, they have no choice but to go eastward and buy a girl for Rs.5 to 10 thousand. This includes commission to the agent, plus a lavish booze party. He returns within a week with a bride. The mohalla celebrates and welcomes the new member without any hassles. This has been going on for past few years. Muslims in Nagla Devjeet call a maulvi who conducts the Nikaah according to their system.”

In a number of cases men who can afford, buy two or three Paros for fun, hiring them as maidservants initially. Without a whimper of protest they resign to their destiny. “It is indeed insulting and humiliating to hear comments from agents who call them “maal” (product or commodity), cheaply available in abundance. Truck drivers help ferrying them across for a sum paid by the buyer,” adds Ramesh, a social worker of Trans Yamuna area.

Ehsaan of Garhi Chandni area said these women rarely created any adjustment problems “because their life in Agra is comparatively better than what they were leading back home, most on the verge of starvation. Their children too are easily integrated. One woman can easily motivate half a dozen others to marry locals who are looking for wives.”

Occasionally there is fracas over ownership of women. Three days ago the Mahila thana tackled one such case of Zekha, originally from Hazari Bagh district in Bihar, who had two claimants. She said she had divorced her first husband and married Vicky. But the former husband lodged a complaint with the police, which issued a search warrant. Zekha, five months pregnant, however was adamant and refused to go with the former husband who she said had kicked her out of the house, as she couldn’t bear him a child.

The brides from the east are much sought after as most are considered hardworking and a productive asset. Raja of Neem Darwaza said several handicapped youth in his locality who had failed to find brides bought girls from “dalals” running a racket that now extends to Jaipur and Delhi. A truck driver’s cleaner confirmed: “there are thousands of such girls married to people in Bharatpur and Alwar districts.” Both the Mevs and the Jats have no hang-ups taking the girls from the east as their wives, he informed.

One reason why the girls from the east are in demand in local dalit basties, “is that the sex ratio has been imbalanced in the past decade. Now there are fewer girls available and those of marriageable age often refuse to marry any Tom, Dick and Harry, because a large number of girls are now High School or eighth pass and have all the dreams and fantasies of the urban youth. Boys not well settled or without means are finding it difficult to get married to a local girl,” explains social worker Netra Pal Singh, a counselor for an all India women’s organization.

A police source said there has been a big influx of Bangladeshis in Agra, particularly in the last few years. But whenever an operation is launched they seem to disappear. “We can do nothing about women because they are lawfully wedded and nobody has raised any doubt or lodged a complaint.”

Interestingly, even the family members of the eastern bride do not know where she hails from, what is her background or who she has left behind. It is only the accent or the language these girls speak that distinguishes the identity. But after a couple of years even that difference disappears. For all practical purposes she is what her new surname denotes, says a Buddhist monk of Jagdishpura.

By Brij Khandelwal

Agra: Once the blue eyed flag bearer of Indian railways the Taj Express to Agra has fallen on bad days. Its celebrity status as a prestigious train, recognized as one of the best trains worldwide has been snatched away by Shatabdi Express.  

Foreign tourists have en masse switched over to Shatabdi Express, while the domestic budget tourists who unknowingly happen to board the Taj Express have plenty of time to rue their decision. 

The facilities are poor. People board the train without reservation and pull the chain to get down virtually at their door-steps. Daily commuters from Kosi to Mathura and Agra follow no rules and there is little that the railway staff can do to discipline hordes of rowdies who board the train unrestricted from just anywhere. Railway officials say the degeneration process started when politics got the better of Taj Express, which lost its glory and élan, after its run was extended to Gwalior by late Madhav Rao Scindia.

During the 9th Asian Games in October 1982, the Taj Express was modeled on the Great Oriental Express of the west. In terms of décor, accommodation and the standard of comforts it was closer to the Deccan Queen run between Mumbai and Pune. Recalls Rajan Kishore, a frequent traveler of the 1980s, “Taj Express trips used to be a memorable experience. The train never got late and we got off fresh and smiling at the New Delhi railway station. What made the Taj Express popular those days were the promise of a less tiring journey, orderly and comfortable seating arrangement, the overall ambience of the train, the thrill of a “chuk chuk karta” steam engine, coupled with synchronized sight seeing trips by UP roadways buses.”

The bullet nosed WP class of locomotives, with a crew of four ensured the train stuck to a punctual time schedule. At times the train touched 120 kmph from the average 105 kmph. “We did have quite a few express trains those days which were part of the historical tradition like the Frontier Mail, the Punjab Mail and the Toofan Express,” reminiscences old timer Rajendra babu, adding “ there was something uniquely romantic about a trip to Delhi by the Taj Express.”

When it started in 1964, the Taj Express was drawn by a WP 7003 steam engine, which roared past history on its way to Agra. In 1982 the navy/cream colored steam engine made way to a standard Indian railway Maroon colored diesel engine and in 1986 Taj Express had an electric engine. These days it is hauled by a WAP/4 or WAM/4 high- powered engine.

After 1998, the ex-darling of the Indian railways was reduced to just another train. Facilities declined and the pantry car also vanished. On an average day the train is full of daily commuters, big families out on an outing to Agra with all the paraphernalia in attendance from paranthas to bananas and oranges. The foreign tourists have long deserted the train except for a stray couple in the AC compartment.

“We have allowed history and heritage to be vandalized, “laments a retired ticket collector whose stiff and starched uniform used to be the talk of train.

By Surojit Gupta

India may soon allow foreign newspapers to print their foreign editions locally according to a government official, opening the way for a jump in readership and sales in the rapidly growing market.
The proposal, to go before cabinet soon, would relax the tightly controlled market in the world's second most populous nation, where foreign papers now are imported, arrive a day late and sell for about 100 times the cover price of local dailies. But the Information and Broadcasting official said there was no plan to let foreign publishers print local editions here.
Major foreign publishers including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Financial Times are eyeing the lucrative Indian market, with its rapid economic growth, liberalization and booming consumer spending.
In 2002 the government scrapped a half-century ban to allow foreign firms to buy up to 26% in news publications and 74% in non-news titles.
The latest proposal would mean overseas publishers could print their overseas editions in India, reducing costs, but could not change any of the news or advertising content.
The government set up a panel to look at the issue after the Paris-based International Herald Tribune began printing in India through local partners, a move seen by some local media groups and political parties as an effort to sidestep the controls. It has since stopped.
OUTPACING TV- Even while publishers struggle against new competition overseas, India's newspapers are outpacing rival local media with advertising revenue growing faster for print than television in the year to end-March for the first time in years.
Print advertising grew 15% in 2004 to 54 billion rupees, beating television's 13% rise. Print makes up 46% of the ad market, and TV 41%. The Indian Readership Survey estimates there are 161 million newspaper readers in a country of more than a billion people.
Henderson Private Capital's Asia Fund, which manages $210 million, has invested $26 million in the Hindustan Times, partly to fund its foray into radio, and now owns more than 15%. Last June, Pearson Plc's Financial Times paid $3 million for almost 14% of Business Standard, the number two business daily. Dow Jones tied up with Bennett Coleman & Co., publisher of The Times of India, the world's top-selling daily English-language broadsheet with a circulation of 2.4 million. In December, Ireland's Independent News and Media Plc paid 25.5 million euros ($34 million) for 26 percent of Jagran Prakashan, a Hindi-language daily publisher and television broadcaster.
The official said there were no plans to change the 26% cap on foreign investment in India's news publications.