Sunday, July 30, 2006

 

Hindu Man Saves Muslim Woman in Taj City

By Brij Khandelwal

Agra: Language and religion posed no barriers for a Hindu tea stall owner as he came to the rescue of a distressed Muslim woman from Kolkata being forced into prostitution- she has now decided to marry her savior.

Bhagwat, who runs a tea stall at St. John's College crossing here, not far from the monument to love, the Taj Mahal, doesn't speak a word of Bengali. Nor can 25-year-old Mumtaz understand all he says. But the pair knew the language of love.

An unsuspecting Mumtaz, who disappeared 3 months ago from Bhagwangulla village in West Bengal, came to Agra with a woman who wanted to "sell" her to a brothel here.

When Mumtaz learnt what was in store for her, after accidentally overhearing the woman companion's telephonic conversation, she lost no time in running away from the Agra railway station.

Spotting her in distress at the College Crossing, Bhagwat provided her shelter and food at his home. Mumtaz began to help him at his tea stall during the day- and promptly fell in love with him.

When policemen and her mother came from Kolkata looking for her, Mumtaz refused to go back. She told her mother she wanted to marry Bhagwat and stay in Agra.

The mother gave her consent to the marriage, but the West Bengal Police were in a dilemma because they had registered a case of kidnapping and that required the woman's presence in the court. But Mumtaz refused to quit Agra- and Bhagwat

 

Agra Doctors 'Turn' Sharpshooters!

By Brij Khandelwal

Agra: Faced with increasing threats from kidnappers, doctors in Agra will undergo training of a different kind- learning the use of firearms for self-defense.

Doctors will spend more time at the shooting range than in their clinics when a programme drawn up by Indian Medical Association (IMA) is implemented early next month.

After a spate of abductions by criminal gangs, the doctors have been holding emergency sessions for the past week and meeting politicians and district authorities to work out a foolproof security arrangement.

Over 60 doctors have applied for licenses for firearms. They would start practicing at the firing range near Dayalbagh, developed at the initiative of Municipal Commissioner Shyam Singh Yadav. The doctors this week met Yadav, who is also the coach of the Indian shooting team, and requested him to allow them to use the shooting range. While Yadav gave the go-ahead, the IMA has mounted pressure on the district officials to promptly clear arms licenses for the threatened medical community, said IMA president Sharad Gupta.

The latest threat was received by Rajiv Upadhyaya who refused to give in and galvanized the medical fraternity to wake up to the challenge seriously. Said Upadhyaya: "Instead of fearing the gangsters, we should all collectively face the threat and devise methods to foil their attempts."

While Pankaj Mahendru, director of Apollo Hospital, said there was no ground for fear, gynecologist Alka Sen said: "We know how to defend ourselves."

In the past two years, at least a dozen doctors have either received threats or have been abducted.

Well-known dermatologist G.G. Dheer was abducted from his clinic by gunmen but was released within hours when the police swung into action.

Rahul Sahai and Munishwar Gupta are other doctors who have been victims of Agra's flourishing kidnapping industry.

"The kidnappers have political patronage. That's how they manage to get away," said another senior doctor to Www.mediabharti.com.

What baffles people here is the fact that only doctors working in Agra district have been targeted while those in neighboring districts are not. The reason could be the high profile and the earning capacity of these doctors, many of whom charge Rs.300-Rs.500 per patient. Some private practitioners examine up to 100 patients a day.

A medical 'bazaar' has come up in the Bagh Farzana, Professor Colony and Delhi Gate areas and attract thousands of patients a day. Some doctors even have commission agents to lure patients to their clinics.

Social activist Padmini Iyer of the Women and Child Development Society said: "While doctors need all security and freedom to carry on their professional duties, the medical practitioners would do well to foster a culture of humanism and a pro-poor orientation."

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

 

Security Beefed Up at Taj After Bomb Threat

By Brij Khandelwal

Agra: Security at the Taj Mahal has been beefed up and every visitor is being scanned through electronic surveillance systems after officials received a letter threatening to bomb the 17th century marbled wonder.

Though senior district officials described the threatening letter, received Monday at a Jain temple in Rakabganj area, as the work of a prankster, intelligence agencies are not taking any chances.

Letter contained a specific threat to blow off the Taj Mahal and some Jain temples. The sender said he was linked to the Al Qaida.

Additional security forces are guarding the outer circle of monument and Central Industrial Security Force personnel are keeping an eye on every visitor through close circuit cameras and other electronic surveillance systems.

The letter writer, one Mohammed Mirza, also demanded Rs.5 million from several political leaders. "Let the police make any type of security arrangements, the Taj Mahal will be blown off on Aug 15," the letter said.

However, senior officials discounted any such possibility. A source told to Www.mediabharti.com the letter as the handiwork of some prankster. Another official confided that the terrorists, being mostly Islamist fundamentalists, would never attack the Taj or any other Islamic monument in Agra as there are mosques in all of them.

The city is already under constant vigil because of some "SIMI activists having been quite active in the Agra division, which also includes Mathura and Aligarh, two hot spots", said an official.

Due to the large numbers of foreign tourists, the security agencies are keeping high alert and are extra cautious at all the historical monuments, a top official said.

Leaders of the Jain community gathered on Monday evening to discuss the threat to their temples. Valuable Jain statues have been regularly disappearing from various temples in the district.

 

3,000 7th and 10th Century Coins Found

By Brij Khandelwal

Agra: The Archaeological Survey of India has confirmed that the 3,000 coins found in a field in Mathura district were indeed of antique value.

ASI chief here, Dayalan, said this was the biggest such find in Agra circle and that the coins found in 2 copper vessels were of different periods between the 7th and 10th centuries.

"The coins need to be cleaned to decipher the script. We have decided to carry out further excavations in the area hoping to find some more valuable pieces of history," Dayalan told Www.mediabharti.com .

He said the coins would be kept in the Mathura museum, according to an arrangement discussed with the Mathura district magistrate.

ASI sources said coin experts in Lucknow would soon examine the coins, which seem to be made of silver and alloy.

Senior Superintendent of Police Mathura Satyavendra Singh said the coins were discovered from a field attached to the Janaki temple in the village.

The tractor driver and laborers rushed to the temple priest with the copper vessels.

The priest was later found to have disappeared when the village 'panchayat' got to know of the find.

'Panchayat' members wanted to use the proceeds from the coins for the development of the temple and the village. But some people alerted the police, which soon swung into action.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

 

Prof. Dayal Festschrift to be Released on 9th August

New Delhi: A set of 6 volumes on Management and a Festschrift written in the honor of Prof. Ishwar Dayal to be released on 9th August 2006, at India International Centre in New Delhi.

Dr. C. Rangarajan, Chairman Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister would be the chief guest for ceremony.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

 

Media War in Offing at Agra

By Brij Khandelwal

Agra: Launch of a new newspaper, ‘Dainik Hindustan’, is set to intensify the war in Agra's Hindi print media where ‘Amar Ujala’ and ‘Dainik Jagran’ are the major players and ‘Dainik Aaj’ fights for mind space.

For journalists who switched loyalty, it's a quantum jump in salaries and perks, but the mainstay of any daily newspaper - the tribe of vendors - are in a fix as rival groups are offering all kinds of lollipops, including insurance cover.

Over the years, there has been a substantial increase in the number of newspaper readers in the area, who are indeed a pampered lot.

"Whichever newspaper offers us better and more attractive gifts and schemes, in addition to routine contents, will be bought by us," advocate Sudhir Gupta told Www.mediabharti.com .

Old newspaper loyalties no longer work these days, explains 79-year-old newspaper vendor Chokhey Lal who has been distributing newspapers for half a century. "Readers' tastes have changed and they now go for gloss and glitter," he adds.

There are even reports of some strong-arm tactics by rival groups of vendors trying to prevent the entry of an "outsider" newspaper.

With ‘Dainik Hindustan’, of the Hindustan Times group, set to launch a few more editions in the Hindi heartland, the battle for supremacy could see a chain of new experiments and marketing strategies.

"At the end of the day, it will be the consumer who will stand to gain the most," predicts media pundit Ajay Pratap Singh of the journalism and mass communication department at Agra University.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

 

Conference on Metering and Billing Regulation

New Delhi: A one-day conference on Metering Billing Regulation is being organized by Telecom User Group India on 21st July at Hotel Le Meridian in New Delhi.

Objectives of this conference is to assist the auditors, chartered accountants with related knowledge about complying with the regulations and to share the experience of international experts in the area of regulation in context of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s recently published ‘Terms of Reference for Formation of a Panel of Auditors to Certify the Metering and Billing System of Service Providers’ as well as is to provide deepened understanding of TRAI "Quality of Service Regulation 2006" and requirements from auditors.

It would also include getting acquainted with Metering and Billing process, from a "phone call to bill", tutorials by subject matter experts, learning about the sources of discrepancies along the entire "call to bill" process, gaining knowledge of Metering and Billing systems regulation compliance– sharing experience with international experts, sharing the knowledge gained in India by early stage tests, learning about consumer protection perspective, learning about operator's perspective on compliance with regulation and gaining insight into the auditor perspective in regulation compliance.

“Members of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, members of Institute of Costs and Works Accountants of India and members of Quality Council of India will greatly benefit from this conference” told Anil Prakash, Secretary General of TUGI to Www.mediabharti.com .

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

 

"Oh! To be a Foreigner in Your Own Country!"

By Brij Khandelwal

Mysore: If you want to experience what it feels to be a foreigner in your own country, visit interior Karnataka where people have been painting English signboards black for past one year or more and they are not familiar with Hindi either, which makes communication difficult.

Buses have Kannada signboards, the road names are also in Kannada and if you look around for a friendly interaction with a local, your efforts will be in vain because of the linguistic gap.

A section of literary society and some political groups are keen to ensure that it will be only Kannada, explains a media person to Www.mediabharti.com in Mysore. "So whoever wants to stay here will have to learn the local language or get out," he adds.

But now the dalit organizations in the state have demanded introduction of English from first standard, as they do not want their kids to be left behind in rat race in today's globalized world.

A newly elected MLC Marthibbegowda has urged the state government to take steps to begin teaching English from first standard in all government schools.

In Bangalore, several dalit organizations have demonstrated before Chief Minister's residence to press the claim for introduction of English in government primary schools.

Federation of Dalit Organizations Struggle for Social Justice has said there was a case for introduction of English in the primary schools, as per the advise of educational experts who want Kannada to remain as the medium of instruction.

Several dalit leaders including Harihar Anandswami, Lakshman Hoskote, Mavali Shankar have been agitating for introducing English language at the primary level for the past almost 2 years. Some leaders have even accused the Kumaraswamy government of deliberately postponing decision on this vital issue, using the case in High Court as a pretext.

A dalit leader saw "upper caste conspiracy" in this deliberate method to deprive the lower rungs of society from benefiting from knowledge of English. "Students with Kannada background were losing ground everywhere and all the good jobs were going to students with English background, particularly in Information Technology sector and companies run by multinationals," the dalit leaders have said.

Dalit Federation is keen that the state government should immediately order introduction of English from first standard in all government run institutions from this academic session itself. But the president of the Kannada Sahitya Parishad, Chandra Shekhar Patil wants the government not to take any decision on introduction of English language, until a stay is vacated in High Court.

Karnataka, well on the super highway to rapid progress, is facing a unique dilemma. If the students do not learn English language, they would fail to get the jobs which many say are going to the north Indians whose presence in large numbers is a cause of deep resentment in many sections of society.

Language has divided the Karnataka society. Those who know English are enjoying the benefits of development while the vast majority is deeply frustrated and finds no solace in painting English signboards black. "If our politicians had not kept the Karnataka youth away from English, all good jobs in Bangalore would have gone to the locals and not to the outsiders," says a frustrated college student Ritesh of Mysore.

So while the whole of south India has taken to the northern Salwar Kameez and Bollywood film music in a big way, acceptance of Hindi language has not been that smooth. On the other hand the locals have lost their superiority over knowledge of English language, which they once enjoyed.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

 

A Unique Marriage System for Getting Married

By Brij Khandelwal

Mangalore: “If marriages are fixed in heaven, the best place to solemnize them is Dharmasthala,” said a purohit after conducting a fast paced, low budget but value based marriage ceremony in one of the marriage halls overlooking the famous Manjunath Temple, 65 km. east of Mangalore.

Half a dozen kalyan mantapams are run by Bhatt Brahmins, who provide an in-house decent package of services including food to the guests for amounts ranging from Rs.2500/- to Rs.10,000/-. This includes cost of everything from garlands, puja samigri, to taped music and dholak beats. No bargaining, no hassles, it’s a time-saving, neat professional job that leaves everyone satisfied, explains a younger Bhatt. The whole family is engaged in looking after various aspects of the marriage ceremony which is their chief economic activity in this popular temple town visited daily by thousands of devotees round the year.

Preeti, 29, orphan from Mysore’s Bapu Ashram, couldn’t hold back her tears as she parted company with her ex-family members Alok Gupta, Mamta, Prof. Jennifer, Nanda, along with half a dozen couples from the same ashram, who got married in similar fashion at Dharmasthla and Sringeri Mutt. Chandra Shekhar, bride groom, is a Brahmin cook and was having difficulty in finding a girl, because educated girls in this part “are reluctant to get married to boys from the villages,” explained Prof. Jennifer of the Central Institute of Languages in Mysore.

Alok Gupta, managing trustee of the Bapu Ashram however attributed this to the imbalance in sex ratio, due to preference for male child and prevalent trend of female infanticide.

Interestingly, girls who get married to the Brahmins in this area are treated like Rani, as males do all the cooking work. Udipi cooks are famous for their culinary skills. Prof. Jennifer cited the case of one Dr. Pandurang Achar, who took time off from his academic persuits to rush to his home to cook for his wife in the afternoons.

Sadashiv Bhatt, the chief purohit who conducts upto 5 marriages a day, said those who opted for simple but elegant marriages always preferred to use our services. June 16 was a particularly auspicious day, the right muhurata for the marriages as groups of anxious family members followed the brides and the bridegrooms after a darshan of the presiding deity to join the traditional lunches with papadams, steaming sambhar and rice and coconut chutneys.

“It was in institution worth preserving and popularizing up in the north where marriages were still considered a heavy burden on the families,” commented Alok Gupta, technocrat industrialist of Mysore, who has so far been instrumental in solemnizing 21 such marriages, a record of sorts.

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