RTI: Bending over backwards to break Right to Information Act

2009-06-29 Thread Venkatesh Nayak
Dear all, There has been some discussion about the circular issued by the Department of Personnel and Training on how Information Commissions should conduct hearings. The sum and substance of the circular is that benches constituted by the Central Information Commission and other multi-member State

National Agenda for Muslims Development

2009-06-29 Thread M J Khan
National Agenda for Muslims Development Respected Dr. Singh Widening the jobs and educational opportunities to the millions of its citizens in a cost effective manner should be the national priority for India in the new millennium. Muslims constitute a large segment of those Indians who continue

Journalist Booked under the National Security Act on charges of Naxal links

2009-06-29 Thread Vijayan MJ
Roma is the first woman in UP to have been booked under the National Security Act on charges of Maoist links. A DU postgraduate and a freelance journalist working with tribes in the Naxal infested region for a decade now, she warns that if problems of tribal are not solved through a democratic p

Re: No burqas in the land of bikinis - French President

2009-06-29 Thread Dr A K Isaacs | Dr Dhuni Soren | Manoj Padhi
In a secular European democracy like France where the separation of the state from the church is total and irreversible, the least sign of people wearing religion on their sleeves in the form of peculiar clothing (burqas) or symbols (crosses, swastikas) revives scary memories of religious persec

We had found out that males after reaching normal puberty were experiencing sex changes. Shrinking of their penises and slight enlargement of their breast, these deformities need not be contained with

2009-06-29 Thread Xavier Dias
Dear Friends,To those who think that they are not affected by environmental pollution often brush aside our claims as 'phantom claims of jollawallas'. In the early 90's an IB guy from Jamshedpur visited me at our office in Chaibase. He wanted to know why we are opposing uranium mining in Singhbhum.

Letter to PM on recent price hike in fuel prices and faulty mining policies of India [1 Attachment]

2009-06-29 Thread Pravin Patel
Sub: Ref: Your twenty minute televised address to the Nation on 4th June, 08 Most Respected Sir, I convey sincere gratitude on your addressing the Nation to take the people of our country in to confidence by directly talking to them in an effort to convince them of the economical

Lalgarh: In the name of searching for Naxalites, houses were allegedly raided regularly in the wee hours of night, women were forced to show genitals to prove that they are not males, Male members wer

2009-06-29 Thread Pravin Patel
If Lalgarh is burning today, government of West Bengal is responsible for the same. It is only due to their failure to protect its own people from the atrocities committed on tribals by none other than their own police force and ruling party cadres. Torture and harrashment of tribals of Lalgarh

Dalit Caste issues in Indian News Media

2009-06-29 Thread Ajay | Sri Venkitesh
�In Bihar, teachers complain to the Dalit parents that their children wear dirty clothes and they smell in the classrooms� �During a school visit in Rajasthan, while asking who gets beaten up regularly and why, children immediately pointed out to a student. He was a Dalit� �Teachers don�t give

Picket in Birmingham, England on 10th July 09 to stop state terror in Lalgarh (Bengal)

2009-06-29 Thread news
On 18 June 2009, in a massive operation, the central government of India rushed 6 companies of Border Security Force (BSF) and 4 teams of CoBra special security force to Lalgarh, in West Midnapore region of the West Bengal state of India, in a massive operation against the local tribal populatio

Bihari Kahin Ka - Stigma of being called as Bihari

2009-06-29 Thread Chandra Mohan Thakur
Well, life for a bihari is a lot different from an average Indian. In a state which has highest percentage of population below poverty line and lowest rate of literacy, you can't expect life to be great. There are social issues of caste, political issues of crime and violence and economic issues of

In time of recession, Naxalites go on recruitment spree

2009-06-29 Thread Jharkhand Forum
Even as the continuing global economic meltdown has led to curtailment in job opportunities, Maoists in Bihar are making the most of the situation. Unemployed youths are being lured ~ with a promise of a salary of Rs 2,500 to Ra 3,000 a month ~ to join as cadres. The monthly package as announced

Bengal: Locals reveal Naxal terror tales

2009-06-29 Thread Jharkhand Forum
Her son and daughter-in-law had fled to Midnapore town on June 15, the day when Maoists torched Ramgarh police station. But septuagenarian Renu Ray refused to leave her homestead land at Amladanga. Since then, the old woman is living by herself, with hardly anything to eat. Her eyes glistened wi

Dumka: Children of a Paharia Adivasi village prefer to graze cattle than study

2009-06-29 Thread Jharkhand Forum
Children of Budhudehi, a Paharia Adivasi village in the Dumka district, prefer to graze cattle than study. “The primary school in the village is closed as the teacher never comes to take classes, but children should not roam idle. So, we ask them to graze cattle instead,” says Malti Paharia, a h