The Times of Today

The Times of Today

DELHI – In tune with the Union Government’s 10 Year plan to improve the over-all welfare state of its citi-zens, the Ministry of Public Health Care has decided to give ‘free nutritious food’ for all the citizens of India. The surprise announcement comes in the wake of the findings of a recent state-sponsored study which has indicated a high level of mortality & disablement be-cause of improper nutrition.

‘We will systematical-ly implement this project starting from providing for those categorised as BPL (Below Poverty Line)’, said a spokesperson for the min-istry. He also added that the detailed plan for imple-menting the project would be made available to the

media ‘in a fortnight’.Critics of the scheme in-

cluding opposition leader Mr Radha Ravi pointed at the coincidence of the im-plementation of the scheme with the recent downward

slope of the centre’s popu-larity. Union Minister for Child Welfare, Mr Panneer Selvan however downplayed the criticisms by saying that the plan has been in incu-bation for ‘quite some time’

and is primarily aimed at shifting people’s attitude towards life. He added that this scheme is intended to enable people to aspire for greater goals than meager survival.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Printed at Velacherry, Taramani and K-Gate

Ramu will not have to worry about meager survival any more. (photo by Ravi)

FOSSIL REMAINS OF ‘SPHINX-LIKE’ ANIMAL DISCOVERED IN CHILE - Archaelogists dig out the fossil-ized remains of ‘what looks like a bird with a human head.’(Photograph in Pg 2)

FIVE HELD FOR ATTEMPT ON THE FRENCH PRE-MIER’S LIFE - Separitists fire buckshots at the premier’s con-voy

CHINA’S ACE SPRINTER BREAKS 100M BARRIER - Liu Bau completes 100m in 9.3s in World Athletics Champion-ship.

INDIA’S MARS PROBE COM-PLETES PRETESTS - ‘Launch date will be announced in four days’ - ISRO.

‘FOOD WILL BE FREE FROM NOVEMBER’ SAYS GOVERNMENT

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“The scheme will enable people to aspire for greater goals than meager

survival.”

Reg. No. 24309Is. No. OCT10/22

CHENNAI - Gokul, a 24 year old IT employee, who suffered multiple injuries after he was hit by a speed-ing SUV died today at the Central Hospital.

The car in question was allegedly driven by one Ra-manathan and had swerved out of control hitting a mo-torcyclist (Gokul) before coming to a stop at the road divider. Even as bystanders rushed to help, Gokul went unconcious becuase of ex-cess bleeding and couldn’t be recuperated thereafter. The Anna Nagar (Traffic) police registered a case of rash and negligent driving and took the driver into cus-tody.

The Additional Commis-sioner of Police (Traffic) has said that the number of ac-

cidents involving rash driv-ing has been brought down considerably ‘however such stray incidents are a matter of concern’ and will be ad-dressed with relevant meas-ures.

Atleast eight people have been killed and scores in-jured in a number of acci-dents in the city during the past week.

LOCAL NEWS

The mangled remains of Gokul’s bike (Photo: Mani)

CAR ACCIDENT VICTIM DIES IN HOSPITAL

CHENNAI - The MAI (Min-istry for development of Ar-tificial Intelligence) today unveiled a next generation prototype robot capable of operating in extreme condi-tions. When asked by this staff reporter as to what purpose the robot would be put to, the representa-tive said that ‘preliminary data suggests usefulness in hazardous working condi-tions such as mining, ship breaking etc... We are also considering upgrading the frame of the robot to make it compatible with space programs’. When asked about the number of ethical issues that the Civil Society had raised, the spokesper-son said that ‘we built these machines just as we built our cars and trucks. They

are primarily inference ma-chines that over a period of time acquire knowledge to work more efficiently’.

MAI’s drive for public rec-ognition and awareness of its work has been slated to go on up to a week from the 15th of November. Interest-ed individuals or groups can contact Suresh at [email protected]

The indigenous artsman X2 developed by the MAI

PROTOTYPE ROBOT DISPLAYED TO PUBLIC

The fossilised remains of an unknown aerial species discovered at the Ramnad Paleolithic site.

Scientists from all over the world have been visiting the site to collect details about the fossil »

Chennai

ToT * Friday, October 22

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ToT * Friday, October 22

A celluloid extravaganza that celebrates the Techni-color imagination of the Youth as much as it evokes nostal-gia of being young. The rich school kids driving cars and the poor one’s riding motorcy-cles, this exact representation of the social conditions is all thanks to Arindam Choudary, who with his IIPM’S ( from the think beyond the IIM’S and look at my smile and stud looks ads) has bought MBA education to the common man. He is a noted economist & management, he is an emi-nent author, an authoritative speaker & a transformational leader. He has been conferred upon with ‘Management Guru 2000’ award, ‘Personality of the Decade’ award, ‘Exam-ple to Youth’ award & many more... He also happens to be a film maker in this case. He is a new age Renaissance man and overall good guy.

In this movie Sunny Deol seems to be doing the role of a life time. Even though he has aged, he has lost non of his sex appeal and strength. Beating the living daylight out of 10 guys is still as easy

as taking candy from a baby for him. Also, I saw quite a few girls going week around the knees, when he began to dance in his innovative and unique ‘Egyptian style’. It re-minded me of the 80’s when dancing was pure, raw and all you had to do to impress a girl was the march past . The

director seems to have done an excellent job and compar-ing him to Steven Spielberg may not be going too far. The music director would give the Beatles a run for their money. The 2000 odd people debut-ing in this movie have dished out a strong performance and their 6 pack abs and per-

fectly flawless skin give an accurate image of the mod-ern Indian youth. The movie Jho Jita Wohi Sikandar(1992) seems to me, to be an exact copy of this film. The direc-tor must have come ahead in time and stolen the idea (that bastard!). Sue him Arindam, sue him!. - Karmat

Rok Sako to Rok Lo

A MOVIE TO WATCH - ‘Rok Sako to Rok Lo’

ENTERTAINMENT

Set in Italy during World War I, Porco Rosso is Hayao Miyazaki’s light hearted take on human values. The protagonist of this movie is a pig-headed (and literally at that!) bounty hunter who goes around relieving hos-tages and goods from sea pirates for a bargained re-ward. This seemingly mo-notonous life is put on hold when an American pilot by the name of Curtis is hired by the Pirates to shut down

Porco Rosso – can Curtis ever bring down the famous fighter pilot Marco Pagot?

Porco Rosso (Crimson Pig), originally an Italian ace fighter pilot called Mar-co Pagot has been cursed with a pig’s face. Details as to how this transfor-mation took place aside, we are shown breathtak-ing aerial combat scenes of the forties that only Hayao Miyazaki can imagine. His ethereal presentation of a

period marred by war and depression is appealing giv-en the fact that the film dis-plays only the good side of the characters in the mov-ie. This particular attitude

culminates in the climax when an aerial dogfight be-tween Curtis and Pagot de-generates first to throwing junk at each other’s plane and then to a bout of box-ing to decide the winner of the dogfight (The director has made sure that none of the characters in the movie get killed – after all every one of them is dear to the audience!). The dazzling Gina, Curtis’ infatuation and Pagot’s love and the beauti-ful Fio add to the colors in the movie.

Pros: Amazing images, Hand drawn frames, Cute love story and lots of action

Cons: none-Hagar the HorribleAn original poster of Porco Rosso

A PIG’S GOTTA FLY!Movie: ‘Porco Rosso’, known in Japan as ‘Crimson Pig’ (Kurenai no Buta)

Written and directed by: Hayao Miyazaki

Produced by: Studio Ghibli

Running Time: 94 Minutes

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Chennai

ToT * Friday, October 22

Special correspondent, Delhi

New Delhi oct 22, 2010: The Rs. 183 crore bank guarantee furnished by Commonwealth Games vil-lage builder Emaar- MGF was on Wednesday ordered to be confiscated. DDA has taken the action against the builder on the directions of the Urban Development Ministry for failing to de-liver the Games village on time. The DDA also wants the builder to now cough up additional Rs 84 crore as damages for breaching the project deadline and not completing the landscaping.

Emaar was the sole bid-der in 2007 and got 27.2 acres to build 1168 apart-ments. The builder’s plan went haywire when their Rs 8000 crore IPO failed in 2008. Emaar blames it on recession. However, DDA bailed out the builder by paying Rs 770 crore and got rights to sell 333 apart-ments. An expert panel said the DDA had paid nearly Rs 90 crores more than neces-sary.

The DDA retorted that the experts hadn’t factored

in parking costs and “the developer’s margin”. The package was said to have been worked out by the Delhi’s LG, Tejinder Khanna, who is the Chairman of the DDA, and was cleared by the Centre.

Khanna has described the Rs. 700 – crore bailout for Emaar as “an out – of – box decision” taken in consulta-tion with the Urban Devel-opment Ministry. Khanna stresses that flats had to be bought by the DDA because there were no private tak-ers.

NDTV has accessed docu-ments that chronicle com-plaints about the Games Village filed by the repre-sentatives of the participat-ing countries. From poor plumbing to water leaks and concerns about struc-tural safety, the catalog of grievances is extensive and indicting. On September 23, one country’s chef de mis-sion complains of “cracks in the buildings, shattered glasses in residential area. Difficult to believe it’s been certified as fit.

In a letter to the Prime

Minister on October 7, how-ever, Tejender Khanna said “great builder appreciation has come for facilities and the overall pleasant ambi-ance” of the Village. Khanna added that the criticism of the Village, widely reported in the media, was “highly exaggerated.” Emaar- MGF, on its part, too claims the Village was built to the “highest standards of qual-ity and design” and all the pertinent milestones were achieved as per their scope of work.

Commonwealth Games Village Comes to Haunt Builder

NATIONAL

National correspondent, Patna

The Election Commis-sion has asked all major parties in Bihar to instruct their office bearers, agents and candidates not to carry large amounts of cash dur-ing poll duration to main-tain “purity” and “bring transparency” in electoral process.

The EC, in a letter to all presidents and general sec-retaries of recognized na-tional and state parties, has taken the step after it discussed with their repre-sentatives the issue of use of money power during polls on October 4 in Delhi. “In order to maintain the purity of elections and in particu-lar to bring transparency, the parties should instruct their officer bearers, offi-

cials, agents and candidates not to carry huge cash dur-ing the ongoing process of elections,” the EC letter said.

The six-phased Assembly polls in the state began to-day. “It is needless to point out that any fund provided

by the party to its candi-dates for election purpose are required to be reflected in the day-to-day accounts of election expenditure of the candidate and the par-ties are also required to maintain and lodge the ac-counts before the Commis-sion, after the election is over,” the letter said.

The EC has recently ac-tivated a Election Expendi-ture Monitoring (EEM) cell to curb the use of illegal money and almost 150 I-T and Customs officials have been designated as elec-tion expenditure observers for Bihar. According to EC guidelines, a candidate can spend a maximum of Rs 10 lakh for Assembly polls and Rs 25 lakh for Parliamenta-ry polls in Bihar.”Instances are reported to Commission

and also in media that cash, liquor and several utility items are being used in a clandestine manner during the process of elections for bringing influence on the voters.

Such distribution of cash, liquor or any other item for gratification of the voters is bribery and is punishable under Indian Penal Code. It is also corrupt practice un-der Representation of Peo-ples Act,” the letter said.The Bihar Assembly polls are the first assignment for the new expenditure cell in the EC which has recently brought out new guidelines like the creation of “shad-ow” expenditure register and exclusive election bank accounts by the candidates trying their luck in the elec-toral battle.

Don’t let members carry large amounts of cash, EC to parties

Spokesperson for EC, addressing the press conference

‘We are not happy with Emaar - MGF’s work’ - A representative for DDA

Chennai

ToT * Friday, October 22

Op-ed

Famous QuotesPut your hand in a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like a hour.

Sit with a pretty girl for n hour, and it seems like a minute.That’s relativity.

- Albert Einstein

On ‘n-Kashmirs’

The government’s recent decision to equally divide Kashmir into two halves and then divide one of the halves equally between China and Pakistan is in no way different from the Alla-habad high court’s decision on the Ayodhya issue. Why take pain in upholding jus-tice and ideals when issues such as these will be forgiv-en and forgotten with time

- Babulabighead

The government doesn’t have the right to do what it

has done. Who said every-one supports the constitu-tion - give us the country and we will show how the country is run

-Rampalsmallhead

On ‘Common-wealth Games

2010

Whatever said and done, I feel great dishonour has come to our land. The games have caused great shame to me personally. I have not been able to look

a foreigner in the eye for quite some time now, and this has nothing to do with my height.

- Ritu Raj Brahma.

Foreigners athletes must stop complaining. Aren’t these guys supposed to be tough as hell, pushing the boundaries of human en-durance and ability, being counted among the best in the world at what they do. But, surprisingly all it takes to defeat them is a leaking tap.

- Bharath Anuroop.

On ‘Who’s your daddy, it’s not me’

10% of Indians don’t know who their biological father is, is a frightening statistic. Only a call yesterday night, from my father, reassured me that I had a father and amazingly I also discov-ered that I had a mother. It was awesome. Wow! I have hands, two of them!

- Gaurav Shasital

Letters to the editor

Corrections and apologies:

The Oct 11 article titled “Slapping students, a timeless Indian tradition” was written by Padma Viswanathan and not ‘Panda Viswanathan’ as the article mentioned,.

This error had misguided readers into thinking it was humorous spin on the child beating issue in India. This is also to remind readers that as a child, Miss Padma Viswanathan had her funny bone surgically removed.

Chennai

ToT * Friday, October 22

“India is Shining” in many ways, but the major hiccups in the run up to the Com-monwealth Games (CWG), which opened on October 3 in New Delhi, highlight India’s serious problems. Despite the colourful dis-play of India’s arts and cul-ture at the grand opening ceremony, the frantic last minute interventions —in-cluding enlisting the Army (who did a remarkable job) to help with the final prepa-rations — reveal the gross inefficiencies of India’s pub-lic sector management sys-tems. More to the point, it has exposed globally the weak public sector, para-lysed by unacceptable cor-ruption practices.

India’s image is at stake

The impressive opening ceremony showcased In-dia’s many talents and its prowess as an emerging global player. Unfortunate-ly, the rough run-up to the CWG was, and still is a ma-jor embarrassment for In-dia and tarnishes its image as it competes with other emerging economies such as China, South Africa and Brazil on the global stage. International shame over the many calamities that made world news before

the Games opened spurred national leaders to act pre-cipitously, with no check on costs. If only the same lead-ers were equally shamed by India’s slow progress toward achieving its targets on the United Nations (U.N.) Mil-lennium Development Goals (MDGs). Earlier this month in New York, a massive U.N. gathering brought global attention to the progress many countries are making (or not) towards achieving key social and economic de-velopment targets by 2015. These include measures of poverty and hunger reduc-tion, as well as those that show improvements in child and maternal survival. India has made some progress, but not at a pace that will allow it to meet its specific targets by 2015.

A recent report from World Health Organisation (WHO) and the U.N. shows that approximately 60,000 Indian women die every year from pregnancy and childbirth related causes, even though the risk of dy-ing in childbirth is falling for urban women relative to their rural counterparts.

The Government of India (GOI) is battling over the “correct” number of ma-ternal deaths in India with the U.N. and WHO given re-

cent progress on this MDG, but we know for a fact that less than 50 per cent of In-dian women deliver in the presence of a skilled health professional, significantly decreasing their chances of survival if they begin to haemorrhage, face ob-structed labour or contract an infection during child-birth. Should not this slow progress be a matter of na-tional shame that requires urgent action for India to earn its place on the global stage?

Lasting national pres-tige

Lasting national prestige comes not from interna-tional sports events, even if they are orchestrated spec-tacularly well, but from in-vesting in one’s own country and people. Estimates sug-gest that India will spend three billion to ten bil-lion dollars on the Games. In stark contrast, India’s health budget for 2010-2011 was about four billion dol-lars, or just about one per cent of its total GDP. Simi-lar levels of attention and resources that have been poured into the Common-wealth Games could solve some of India’s fixable but persistent problems. The government needs to not only find ways to generate

power for industrial growth, but also to use this power to build and operate class-rooms and protect supply chains so that children can read and write, and receive life-saving immunisations.

Some signs of progress are emerging, but urgent action from India to meet its MDG targets by 2015 is in order. India’s leaders can apply lessons learnt from the CWG experience, and hopefully even generate funds from the ongoing use of this massively expensive sports complex, to accel-erate India’s development performance. This way the Army would not have to be called in to fix India’s image in the final run-up to the global MDG stage in 2015.

( Nandini Oomman is Sen-ior Associate at the Center for Global Development, Washington, D.C.) COPY-RIGHT © 2010, THE HINDU

Much more than Commonwealth Games needed for lasting national prestige

EDITORIAL

Algole Narsamma makes for an unusual reporter. Every morning at 10, she starts her journey to vari-ous villages in search of sto-ries that are neither break-ing news nor juicy snippets that sell. But the 25-year-old mother of two says she is always sure her reports strike a chord with listeners every time they are aired.

Algole is a producer at 90.4 FM, the radio channel started “by Dalit women, for Dalit women”. It’s making waves not only in her village, Machnoor, but nationally. Algole’s reports on farming tools, and folk songs are a hit in Zaheerabad, where most women her caste toil

in the fields. The audience base has been expanding in the 11 days the channel has existed. Many listeners are even buying FM-enabled cell phones to catch the station.

About 70 villages in the Medak district of Andhra Pradesh have been tuning into India’s first female Dalit community radio. Every night at 8, the channel airs a one-and-ahalf hour pack-age of local news and views, tidbits on herbal medicines for animals and folk songs and stories.

This all-woman, all-Dalit Sangham (community) ra-dio station, which boasts the signature tune, ‘akka chillelu kudi podame (come

sisters, let us go to the sangham radio)’, is seen as the first ‘audible’ voice of the state’s Dalit women. Algole claims the station “represents” over 5,000 women.Her studio partner General Narsamma doubles as reporter and jockey. She has studied to Class 10 and is adept at the computer, editing programmes before they are aired.

The station is an initiative of the Deccan Development Society (DDS), an NGO that works with 100 groups of the poorest Dalit women. Kancha Ilaiah, one of the state’s best known cam-paigners on Dalit issues, says the radio can even

generate new struggles. For instance, domestic abuse is no longer news but if they air a case of the wife resist-ing her husband’s violence, women will be empowered.

The station has already received a congratulatory note from the upper-caste sarpanch. But the best feed-back so far is from those it’s meant to serve. One lis-tener asked if her children could work as reporters. Another felt proud to be in-terviewed by the radio. “I always heard others,” she said. “Now I hear my voice, my views.

-Athul Lakshman

India’s first female Dalit radio makes waves

Chennai

ToT * Friday, October 22

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Chennai

ToT * Friday, October 22

Published by Karmat and GreenBeast Publishers * Editors: Satish & Shyam