The Legend

MUSLIMS AND ANNA HAZARE’S TIRADE AGAINST CORRUPTION | Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam

2011-08-25T00:18:00.000-07:00

MUSLIMS AND ANNA HAZARE’S TIRADE AGAINST CORRUPTION | Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam

Anna Hazare says bring back the Black Money.

2011-08-22T03:43:00.000-07:00

Do u know what willhappen if1,456 Lac Crores comes back.

1. India Financially No.1
2. Each district will get 60000 crores & each village will get 100 Crores
3. No need to pay taxes for next 20 yrs.
4. Petrol 25 Rs, Diesel 15 Rs, Milk 8 Rs.
5. No need to pay electricity bill.
6. Indian borders will become more stronger than the China Wall.
7. 1500 Oxford like Universities can be opened.
8. 28,000 kms Rubber road (like in Paris) can be made.
9. 2,000 hospitals (with all facilities) all medicine Free.
10. 95 crore people will have their own house.

PLease take time to read it.
‎
10 things to know about Anna Hazare 'n Jan Lok Pal Bill.. !

1. Who is Anna Hazare?

An ex-army man. Fought 1965 Indo-Pak War

2. What's so special about him?

He built a village Ralegaon Siddhi in Ahamad Nagar district, Maharashtra

3. So what?

This village is a self-sustained model village. Energy is produced in the village itself from solar power, biofuel and wind mills.

In 1975, it used to be a poverty clad village. Now it is one of the richest village in India. It has become a model for self-sustained, eco-friendly & harmonic village.

4. Ok,...?

This guy, Anna Hazare was awarded Padma Bhushan and is a known figure for his social activities.

5. Really, what is he fighting for?
He is supporting a cause, the amendment of a law to curb corruption in India.

6. How that can be possible?

He is advocating for a Bill, The Jan Lokpal Bill (The Citizen Ombudsman Bill), that will form an autonomous authority who will make politicians (ministers), bureaucrats (IAS/IPS) accountable for their deeds.

7. It's an entirely new thing right..?

In 1972, the bill was proposed by then Law minister Mr. Shanti Bhushan. Since then it has been neglected by the politicians and some are trying to change the bill to suit their theft (corruption).

8. Oh.. He is going on a hunger strike for that whole thing of passing a Bill ! How can that be possible in such a short span of time?

The first thing he is asking for is: the government should come forward and announce that the bill is going to be passed.

Next, they make a joint committee to DRAFT the JAN LOKPAL BILL. 50% government participation and 50% public participation. Because you cant trust the government entirely for making such a bill which does not suit them.

9. Fine, What will happen when this bill is passed?

A Lok Pal will be appointed at the centre. He will have an autonomous charge, say like the Election Commission of India. In each and every state, Lokayukta will be appointed. The job is to bring all alleged party to trial in case of corruptions within 1 year. Within 2 years, the guilty will be punished. Not like, Bofors scam or Bhopal Gas Tragedy case, that has been going for last 25 years without any result.

10. Is he alone? Who else is there in the fight with Anna Hazare?

Baba Ramdev, Ex. IPS Kiran Bedi, Social Activist Swami Agnivesh, RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal and many more.

Prominent personalities like Aamir Khan is supporting his cause.

11. Ok, got it. What can I do?

At least we can spread the message. How?

Putting status message, links, video, changing profile pics.

Did you know this about Libya?

2011-07-28T04:59:00.001-07:00

Some other facts (that mainstream media will never disclose) about Gaddafi and Libya

- Loans to Libyan citizens are given with NO interest.

- Students would get paid the average salary for the profession they are studying for.

- If you are unable to get employment the state would pay the full salary as if you were employed until you find employment.

- When you get married the couple gets an apartment or house for free from the Government.

- You could go to college anywhere in the world. The state pays 2,500 euros plus accommodation and car allowance.

- The cars are sold at factory cost.

- *Libya does not owe money, (not a cent) to anyone. No creditors.

- Free education and health care for all citizens.

- 25% of the population with a university degree.

- No beggars on the streets and nobody is homeless (until the recent bombing).

- Bread costs only $0.15 per loaf.

No wonder the US and other capitalist countries do not like Libya.

Gaddafi would not consent to taking loans from IMF or World Bank at high interest rates.

In other words Libya was INDEPENDENT! That is the real reason for the war in Libya!

He may be a dictator, but that is not the US problem.

Also Gaddafi called on all Oil producing countries NOT to accept payment for oil in USD or Euros.

Two other leaders that have the courage to speak the truth are Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Mahmoud Ahmedinejad of Iran and though both are fighting an uphill battle courtesy the cowardly Saudis who'd rather live in luxury while their people wallow in poverty, the battle is intensifying - the hypocrisy of the West is gradually being exposed.

Gaddafi recommended that oil get paid for in GOLD and that would have bankrupted just about every Western Country as most of them do not have gold reserves to match the rate at which they print their useless currencies and cheat the world.

The last time someone had the “NERVE” to make a similar statement was when Saddam advised all Opec countries not to accept payment for oil in US Dollars! Let us wait and watch and pray that this time round, justice and truth prevail.

The cult of busy : Scott Berkun

2011-07-04T00:56:00.001-07:00

When I was younger I thought busy people were more important than everyone else. Otherwise why would they be so busy? I had busy bosses, busy parents, and always I just thought they must have really important things to do. It seemed an easy way to see who mattered and who didn’t. The busy must matter more, and the lazy mattered less.

This is the cult of busy. That simply by always seeming to have something to do, we all assume you must be important or successful.

It explains the behavior of many people at work. By appearing busy, people bother them less, and simultaneously believe they’re doing well at their job. It’s quite a trick.

I now believe the opposite to be true. Or the near opposite. Here’s why:

• Time is the singular measure of life. It’s one of the few things you can not get more of. Knowing how to spend it well is possibly the most important skill you can have.

• The person who gets a job done in one hour will seem less busy than the guy who can only do it in five. How busy a person seems is not necessarily indicative of the quality of their results. Someone who is better at something might very well seem less busy, because they are more effective. Results matter more than the time spent to achieve them.

• Being in demand can have good and bad causes. Someone with a line of people waiting to talk to them outside their office door at work seems busy, and therefore seems important. But somehow the clerk running the slowest supermarket checkout line in the universe isn’t praised in the same way, it means they’re ineffective. People who are at the center of everything aren’t necessarily good at what they do (although they might be). The bar of being busy falls far well below the bar of being good.

• The compulsion to save time may lead nowhere. If you’re always cutting corners to save time, when exactly are you using the time you’ve saved? There is this illusion some day in the future you get back all the time you’ve squirreled away in one big chunk. I don’t think time works this way. For most Americans it seems most of our time savings goes straight into watching television. That’s where all the time savings we think we get actually goes.

• The phrase “I don’t have time for” should never be said. We all get the same amount of time every day. If you can’t do something it’s not about the quantity of time. It’s really about how important the task is to you. I’m sure if you were having a heart attack, you’d magically find time to go to the hospital. That time would come from something else you’d planned to do, but now seems less important. This is how time works all the time. What people really mean when they say “I don’t have time” is this thing is not important enough to earn my time. It’s a polite way to tell people they’re not worth your time.

This means people who are always busy are time poor. They have a time shortage. They have time debt. They are either trying to do too much, or they aren’t doing what they’re doing very well. They are failing to either a) be effective with their time b) don’t know what they’re trying to effect, so they scramble away at trying to optimize for everything, which leads to optimizing nothing.

On the other hand, people who truly have control over time have some in their pocket to give to someone in need. They have a sense of priorities that drives their use of time and can shift away from the specific ordinary work that’s easy to justify, in favor of the more ethereal, deeper things that are harder to justify. They protect their time from trivia and idiocy. These people are time rich. They provide themselves with a surplus of time. They might seem to idle, or to relax, more often then the rest, but that may be a sign of their mastery not their incompetence.

I deliberately try not to fill my calendar. I choose not to say Yes to everything. For to do so would make me too busy, and I think, less effective at what my goals are. I always want to have some margin of my time in reserve, time I’m free to spend in any way I choose, including doing almost nothing at all. I’m free to take detours. I’m open to serendipity. Some of the best thinkers throughout history had some of their best thoughts while going for walks, playing cards with friends, little things things that generally would not be considered the hallmarks of busy people. It’s the ability to pause, to reflect, and relax, to let the mind wander, that’s perhaps the true sign of time mastery, for when the mind returns it’s often sharper and more efficient, but most important perhaps, happier than it was before.

The Green Thing

2011-06-17T00:32:00.001-07:00

In the queue at the store, the cashier told the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bag because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

The clerk responded, "That is our problem today. The former generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He was right, that generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, they returned their milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. T he store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But they didn't have the green thing back in that customer's day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. T hey walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.

But she was right. T hey didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby's cloth-diapers because they didn't have the throw-away kind. T hey dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts - wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right, they didn't have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one T V, or radio, in the house - not a T V in every room. And the T V had a small screen the size of a handkerchief, not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you.

When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. T hey used a push mower that ran on human power. T hey exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she’s right, they didn't have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled their writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful the old folks were just because they didn't have the green thing back then?

~Author Unknown

Clients have started focusing on growth: Infy CEO

2011-01-14T00:50:00.000-08:00

Infosys’ Q3 results might have disappointed the market, but its CEO and MD S Gopalakrishnan sees no reason to be unhappy. He says the next financial year will be a normal one for the Indian IT services industry which is reflected in the clients’ budgets. In an interaction with Bibhu Ranjan Mishra and Pradeesh Chandran ,he details the strategy the company has put forth for the coming financial year. Edited excerpts:

Your client addition during the quarter at 40 was quite healthy. Which are the growth spots?

We are witnessing all-around growth. But we are actually optimistic about North America, especially the US, and the rest of the world. We have some short-term concerns about Europe. We are pro-actively investing in Europe as we believe the region will be a very important market for Infosys in the medium to long term because the aggregate IT spending there is actually equivalent to the US. Most of your clients have finalised their budgets.

What are the messages you are getting from them?

These (budgets) are slightly up or may be, in some cases, flat, which is actually positive. Otherwise, we believe it's a normal budget cycle, which to me indicates that the year is going to be normal. We are also witnessing spending on the discretionary side. Companies have started focusing on growth as compared to costs during the downturn.

Which are the industry segments you believe to be future growth drivers?

We are expecting significant growth in verticals like retail and BFSI. Even the spending pattern is different for each of them. In retail, investment can be seen in digital consumer and digital marketing since a number of advertisements are moving toward digital medium from print. In banking and capital market, the investment is going towards mobile commerce, mobile technology and risk management. M&A continues to be the driver for expenditure by banking firms. This is the third time this year you have revised the guidance.

Is the phase of volatility still on?

We said we would be cautious in the guidance, recruitment and capacity building. But if growth opportunities come, we will grow faster. This year, we saw that opportunity came and thus revised our guidance upwards.

What factors impacted your volume growth this quarter? It was 3.1 per cent compared to 7.2 per cent last quarter and 7.6 per cent in Q1.

We achieved a good volume growth of more than 5 per cent in the last three quarters. Normally, you would expect a budget flush in the last quarter of the calendar year. This year, however, most companies exhausted their budgets in the early part of the year, which is why the spending got impacted this quarter.

That is just a short-term phenomenon. Your focus had been the Fortune 1,000 clients.

Of the 40 clients we have added this year, several of them are Fortune 500 companies and Global 1,000 clients. Our model is that when arelationship starts, it starts small and then we start building it, which usually takes 12 to 18 months time. This is quite normal. Most of our top 10 clients started small, and those accounts have grown subsequently. This is why our repeat business is very high, around 97 per cent.

But are the project sizes getting smaller? Is this going to be a trend?

It is a relative term. In this quarter, we saw project sizes becoming shorter, partly because clients have spent most of their budgets in the early part of the year. Secondly, in an uncertain environment, clients don't make long-term commitments. While the overall programmes are actually quite large, the commitments were made for shorter periods - three to six months. Sometimes, projects might be given to multiple suppliers. That is something we have to live with or we have learnt to live with.

Markets have reacted very sharply to your financial performance this quarter?

I don't want to comment on the market.

Source: Business Standard

Powerful in Delhi, powerless in Kerala

2010-09-09T03:23:00.000-07:00

By E Jayakrishnan, India Syndicate, 08/09/2010

Powerful in Delhi, powerless in Kerala

The who's who of bureaucratic power elite in India is a breathtaking constellation of Malayalees

In the national pantheon of the influential and the powerful, Kerala rules; quite disproportionate to its size and standing in national affairs.

The roll call of the Malayalees in Delhi reads like a who's who of the Indian bureaucracy.

The immediate and the latest to ascend the stairway to power in the national capital from Kerala is P J Thomas, who has just taken over the critical position of the Chief Vigilance Commissioner.

He is unlikely to feel home sick in Delhi. He may even think the capital too crowded with denizens from God's Own Country.

For keeping him company in the sanctum sanctorum of bureaucratic elite in India is a whole gaggle of them. The list is indeed a breathtaking constellation of Malayalees.

Take a look:

K M Chandrasekhar, Cabinet Secretary

Shiv Shankar Menon, National Security Advisor (NSA)

Nirupama Rao, Foreign Secretary

P J Thomas, Chief Vigilance Commissioner

T K A Nair, Prinicipal Secretary to the Prime Minister

Madhavan Nambiar, Aviation Secretary

G K Pillai, Home Secretary

The list is further extended if you include those who were not born in Kerala, but belong to the Kerala cadre of the Indian civil service. For instance, Vinod Rai, Comptroller and Auditor General of India and Sudha Pillai, Planning Commission Secretary. And the list gets even heavier if you add the relatively unknown but important functionaries like P P Madhavan Namboodiri, one of the private secretaries of Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, whose son's wedding Rahul Gandhi graced recently at Thrissur.

However, Kerala's tryst with the bureaucracy is nothing new. It was V P Menon who led the way - he graduated from a one-finger typist to become the most important Indian in Viceroy Mountbatten's staff - and can be said to be the first and original Malayalee bureaucrat to reach the top of the power chart.

Many have followed in his wake, since Independence. Most through the 'steelframe of the Raj' - the vaunted Indian Administrative Service. And, the Indian Foreign Service.

The current NSA's family history is a testimony to the Malayalee penchant for babudom - his father P N Menon was an IFS alumni and retired as India's ambassador to Yugoslavia. His grandfather K P S Menon (senior) was India's first foreign secretary, while his uncle K P S Menon (Jr), was the former Indian ambassador to China.

This is apart from hundreds other Malayalees from the various other All India services and, not to forget, the thousands of the Malayalees in the national capital who are less venerated but do their bit in the various government offices as junior and middle-level staff with that peculiar Malayalee obsessions for 'rules' and going by the book.

Source: India Syndicate

Positive psychology in Buddhism

2010-08-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

Positive psychology in Buddhism

Saturday, August 28, 2010

A CENTRAL tenet of Buddhism is that we are not helpless victims of unchangeable emotions.

In the words of Buddha himself, "We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world."

It's an idea that's in line with current thinking in psychology. In fact, this simple philosophy – that changing the way we think can change the way we feel – underpins the very practice of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), an approach widely used in clinical psychology and counselling, as well as stress management programs.

CBT emerged in the 1970s, and according to the University of Technology Sydney's Dr Sarah Edelman, who wrote a book on the subject entitled ‘Change Your Thinking’, it was originally developed to help people recover from problems such as depression, anxiety disorders, anger and self-sabotaging behaviours.
"But its principles are just as relevant for managing the upsetting emotions that arise and disrupt everyday life," says Edelman.

However, while psychologists stress actively challenging negative thoughts and replacing them with more optimistic ones, Buddhists focus more on detaching yourself from all thoughts to create a state of stillness conducive to ultimate self-understanding, or enlightenment.

For Buddhists, the key method of achieving this is meditation – which usually involves fixing our attention on a body part, the breath, a mantra or an inspirational picture – to arrive at a state where we are not distracted by our thoughts.

And psychologists agree that quite aside from any spiritual connotations, meditation is a powerful tool.

Research has shown that practicing meditation regularly – and being more 'mindful', that is, focused on the present moment – has beneficial effects for a range of conditions. These include stress, anxiety, depression, poor sleep and coping with chronic pain. It also has other health benefits like reduced inflammation, improved immunity and lower blood pressure.

Most methods suggest meditating for about 20 minutes twice a day, although many people will find it useful to start with five to 10 minutes twice a day and to build from there.

Experts describe meditation as "a method to make the mind relaxed and peaceful. Tranquility gives rise to clarity from which understanding and wisdom grow."

This wisdom allows us to observe that negative emotions such as anger and desire cause all of our problems. However, by applying antidotes, it's possible to free ourselves from their harmful influence.

So for instance, to overcome anger, Buddhists cultivate the practice of patience. To counteract desire – say for wealth,status or a lover – one reflects upon the impermanent and transitory nature of life and everything in it.

Similarly, positive behaviours such as acting in a kind and loving way, or as Buddhists say, practising 'loving-kindness', give rise to joyful experiences and we should therefore try to cultivate them.
-- Buddhism and Happiness

Loud music makes you dumb!

2010-08-28T02:50:00.001-07:00

Loud music makes you dumb!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Gifting an iPod or an MP3 player to your child for scoring good grades in an exam may fetch that smile and those brownie points but you could be causing a lot of damage in the entire process.

According to a recent study that has been making ripples across health circles in the US, one out of five American children has developed hearing loss to varying extents. With earphones constantly glued to their ears, iPods and MP3 players are the most obvious culprits. Our own teens can barely be recognized without a cellphone or an iPod attached to their ears like an extra appendage.

The city’s ENT specialists believe constant exposure to loud music is the single-largest reason for hearing loss. Dr Sharad Bhalekar, an ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon with D Y Patil Hospital in Nerul, feels, “The ill-effects of noisepollution can be seen in people subjected to prolonged exposure to high noise decibel level of more than 80dB (A) Leq (energy mean of the noise level).

Apparently, this number seems to have increased three fold in the past 15 years. Sadly, while others are a lot more sensitive, almost every teenager just has to walk around with his personal music to make a cool statement or risk being considered and outsider. What these kids don’t realise is hearing loud music constantly can create hearing loss which in turn hampers language and...intellectual development!

Going by the statistics of the young getting deafer and, concurrently, dumber, it just isn’t funny. So, the next time you see a teenager walking around with his or her ears plugged into earphones, it might make sense to stop and drop that warning. It won’t be easy or even pleasant – but someone’s got to do it.

Watch that anger

2010-08-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

Watch that anger

Dismiss it as a personality trait but those white flashes can do much damage to your health. Here’s why you must control your anger

Mumbai Mirror Bureau

Posted On Thursday, August 26, 2010 at 03:59:48 AM

Anger is a natural human emotion, no doubt. At times, venting out your frustration is good, but knowing how to control it is equally crucial. How you react to a certain situation mirrors your level of maturity and problem-solving skills. Psychologist Alina Philip tells you why you must control those unwanted bouts of rage.

• The immediate effects: When you lose control, your body is the first to bear the brunt. Your blood pressure shoots up and your breathing becomes faster. It’s almost as if you were gearing up for a physical fight. In some cases, the high BP also leads to sudden headaches.

And in the long run, the elevated blood pressure can lead to increase in the chances of heart attack. As the body temperature goes up, one may also experience sweating.

• Tiredness: Expression of anger needs energy. As a result, it saps up your reserves and you feel tired. In the process, the level of stress hormone shoots up, further aggravating that ‘down and out’ feeling. You may feel ‘in control’ while expressing anger, but spend some time in that state and the depleting energy levels will hit you. As a result, your productivity takes a nose-dive and work suffers.

• You cannot sleep: With so much negativity in your head and some riled up souls around you, getting a good night’s sleep is almost impossible. And even if you manage to fall asleep out of sheer exhaustion, the quality of it will be nowhere close to what your body (and mind) needs.

Lack of sleep and anger works in a cyclical fashion. When you are angry, you don’t sleep well. And lack of sleep leads to a foul state of mind which can trigger anger. Insomnia and other sleep disorders come with their own share of health problems.

• Depression: Being in a constant ‘worked up’ state can lead to depression. And that can set off a series of potentially harmful behavioral patterns such as smoking and excess drinking. Sometimes, people prone to anger use it to fight that feeling of depression and helplessness. Anger is not your natural and healthy state of mind, and when it turns into a regular phenomenon, ill effects are bound to follow.

• Alienation: Losing your cool occasionally is one thing, but flare-ups become an everyday phenomenon, the ones on the receiving end will start distancing themselves. You are then in the danger of becoming socially ostracized. In the office environment, you will lose respect of your subordinates and your boss will view you as someone who has no control over his/her emotions.

• Wrong decisions: Anger sends rationality for a toss. You are too caught up reacting to the immediate and lose focus of the true nature of the problem. In fact, when one ought to be channelizing energies towards solving the problem, you will be doing just the opposite. You cannot see the issue from a different perspective and there are high chances that you may end up taking the wrong decision.

Even studies say so…

Researchers from the National Institute on Ageing (NIA) in Baltimore have found that people who are angry and aggressive face a greater risk for heart attack and stroke. These people showed a greater thickness of the carotid arteries in the neck, a key risk factor for heart attack or stroke, compared with people who were more easygoing. The researchers write that "when the Type-A behavioral pattern was dissected into its constituent parts, hostility and anger emerged as the dominant predictor of coronary artery disease."

Get a grip on your anger

Get a grip on your anger with these asanas, says yoga expert Yogesh Chavan

1. Dirgha Shwasan (Deep breathing)

Sit comfortably with an erect spine, take a deep breath while expanding the stomach, then exhale deeply while pulling your stomach inwards. Continue for two to three minutes.

Effect: Anger subsides gradually and it steadies your thinking process and relaxes you. When you deep breathe, more oxygen is supplied to the body. More oxygen means more nutrition that stops the usual shallow and speedy breathing experienced during anger.

2. Jivha Shitali (Tongue cooling)

Sit comfortably and take your tongue out of the mouth. Shape your lips as if you would be saying the alphabet "O". In the process, this rolls the tongue into a pipe-like formation.

Inhale through this tongue formation and close the mouth after pulling the tongue inside. Hold this breath inside for 15-20 seconds.

Exhale through the nose while making a plain humming sound. Repeat about seven times.

Effect: It cools you down, relaxes the brain and normalises heavy breathing. When you are angry, your body temperature goes up. The cool air provides counters this problem.

3. Bhramari Pranayam

Breathe in and out through the nose. While exhaling, make a humming sound. Repeat the process about seven to eight times.

Effect: The sound vibrations created are radiated all over the brain. The sound creates moderate vibrations as if massaging the brain and other delicate organs situated in the skull. It relaxes and removes stress.

Traffic dept’s facebook page used to shame corrupt cops

2010-08-26T07:25:00.000-07:00

Online campaign backfires

Traffic dept’s facebook page used to shame corrupt cops

Users post photographs of policemen taking bribes, riding without helmets on online forum

Ashutosh Patil

Posted On Thursday, August 26, 2010 at 04:20:55 AM

Mumbai police is losing face every day on a Facebook page it recently created to allow Mumbaikars to post pictures of traffic offenders.

On the page, which carries an unofficial tag but is maintained and monitored by senior police officers, people are posting pictures of cops accepting bribes, riding bikes without wearing helmets, and even relating in detail cops' corrupt ways and their misbehaviour with motorists.

One of the pictures posted on the Facebook page

Alarmed by the negative feedback, which defeats the page’s stated objective of getting people involved in policing of Mumbai roads, the traffic department has begun initiating action against errant cops. “Let people post these pictures and comments on Facebook.

We will not turn our face away from our own failings. We will start initiating action against cops whose pictures or vehicle numbers appear on the page,” Deputy Commissioner, traffic, Nandkumar Chowgule, said.

Chowgule, just a glance at the Facebook reveals, will have enough material to act against his men. Here are a few samples:

Rahul rakh posted this picture

1. Rahul Rakh has posted a picture of a traffic cop accepting a bribe from a man. He, however, does not mention any details and signs off with a lament, “what to say, guys...”

2. Suchitra Ghosh relates an incident of Saturday night when she and her friends were made to get off a rickshaw “by drunk cops driving a police van”. Suchitra says the cops were so drunk, “they could not even stand straight.”

3. Ankita Karandekar reports on the page “a cop at Kurla station (having long moustache) who collects money from autorickshaw drivers everyday.”

Joint Police Commissioner, Traffic, Vivek Phansalkar said, “We will take cognisance of all these pictures and comments. We will take action against these men.”

Just last week, Joint Commissioner, Law and Order, Rajnish Seth, referring to some uncomplimentary pictures of policemen appearing in newspapers.

Calling it a “shame”, the notice asked policemen to make sure their conduct in public is exemplary and does not bring disrepute to the department.

Karadekar Ankita a cop at kurla station(having long strange mustache) ......collects money frm all the autorickshaw drivers out there...."everyday" and encourages them to break rules...

Ramanathan Swaminathan Man, this is a fantastic way to reach the cops. basically, the cops i find are just standing at a distance away from the signals so they can catch some one to make their days money. in fact, i asked the police man standing little away why he should stand there instead if he stood on the signal, i am sure the motorists...

Uday Sripathi The "Licensed Thieves" of Mumbai, our beloved traffic police. It's like the Government giving them a salary and asking them to loot and steal the citizens money.

Amardeep Hora Imagine the money collected at traffic violations without receipts would be such a large amount (lacs per day,may be more), that traffic police department will have enough money to raise their salaries like our MP's

I was porn yesterday!

2010-08-25T05:19:00.000-07:00

I was porn yesterday!

Lt Colonel arrested for child pornography in May tells cops he doesn’t understand technology. Had no idea that clips he was downloading frenetically were also getting uploaded in cyberspace

Deeptiman Tiwary

Posted On Friday, August 20, 2010 at 02:28:20 AM

Crime branch and Mumbai police cyber cell have completed their investigation in the case of the army colonel sensationally arrested from his house for uploading clips of child pornography on the internet.

Investigators have put together a portrait of a man who was a bright career officer of integrity-his bank accounts scrutinised just last week, are impeccable, but his image of a caring husband and father tarred by a furtive obsession with child pornography.

All the 250 clips confiscated from the home of Lt Col Jagmohan Balbir Singh, 42, feature 60 Caucasian girls aged between three and ten years.

Singh told the police that he got addicted to pornography while on a posting to Assam in 2007 where, with little avenue for a social life, he and his fellow officers spent time watching porn. “He subsequently became curious about obscene films featuring children,” disclosed an officer close to the investigation who did not wish to speak on record.

However, it emerged during investigation that for all his obsessive surfing, Lt Col Singh had very little idea about the surprises that technology could spring and which eventually landed him in trouble.

Investigation has established that Singh did not commit the offence for money, nor was he part of some international pornography racket. He also did not upload the offensive clips intentionally, perhaps. “He has also not shot any of the videos that he uploaded, nor has he indulged in paedophilia.

The downloading software he used, simultaneously uploads the clip which is being downloaded. He claims he was unaware of this,” said a Crime Branch officer.

According to cyber experts, software like u-Torrent have an in-built system wherein the clip being downloaded gets simultaneously uploaded through the default setting to maintain the high quality of videos on the internet. “The entire system works on the principles of demand and supply. On the internet it is known as leechers and seeders.

A video that has more seeders than leechers will have a better quality as there are more number of people uploading it than the number of people downloading it,” said an expert who has also helped Crime Branch in several cyber crime cases.

Singh, who has moved to an undisclosed location since his arrest on May 6, was also unaware that according to information technology law under which child pornography comes (section 67 B) even downloading is an offence.

“Ignorance is no excuse, we have enough forensic evidence to get him,” said additional CP (Crime) Deven Bharti. The punishment for offences under 67B of the IT Act can attract a jail term up to five years and or a fine of up to Rs ten lakh.

Singh’s activities on the internet first came under the scanner of German agencies. In July 2009, German police spotted frenetic uploading of child pornography clips from Mumbai on a server located in the United States.

They sent a report to the Interpol, which in turn forwarded it to the CBI in Delhi, and subsequently to the Mumbai Crime Branch in February 2010.

The Cyber Cell under Senior PI Mukund Pawar then tracked the server activity to Singh’s Internet Protocol address. Since Singh’s house was in a protected area, officers entered his house acting as internet service provider agents, checked his computer to be doubly sure and then arrested him.

Lt Col Singh, a commerce graduate, joined the Indian Military Academy in 1989, and was awarded the nine-year service medal in 1998.

Singh was just a few months away from receiving the 21-year service medal when he was arrested. He has also done stints in militancy-affected areas of J&K and Assam.

Since his arrest, Singh has also been facing a trial in the military court, said Defence PRO Manohar Nambiar.

Cash begins growing at Gorai dump yard

2010-08-25T01:17:00.001-07:00

Cash begins growing at Gorai dump yard

Scientific capping of Gorai dump begins earning BMC carbon credits. First cheque of Rs 24.5 crore in

Sudhir Suryavanshi

Posted On Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 04:20:36 AM

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has become the country's first civic body to earn and encash carbon credits, a kind of international rewards programme that encourages reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

And it's not a small sum -- the first cheque received by the corporation is of Rs 24,51,39,862. The second cheque could be on its way soon.

The BMC earned these carbon credits by successfully capping its Gorai dumping ground, that had reached its capacity, and then putting in place a mechanism to continually collect methane being released inside the dump and burn it before it escaped into the environment.

The Gorai dump is currently 'flaring' 300 to 400 cubic metre of methane gas, one of the most dangerous of the green-house gases, every hour.

The Solid Waste Management Department, which helmed this pioneering project, is now looking at various options to not burn the gas, but instead use it to generate energy. If it manages this transition, the corporation's carbon credit earnings will go up.

“The money earned from this project is a bonus for us. The dump had to be capped. The focus was on doing it scientifically to minimise environmental damage,” said Chief Engineer, Solid Waste management, Bhalchandra Patil.

For record, the corporation hopes to earn Rs 72 crore by selling the carbon credits and it has spent a little over Rs 49 crore setting up the project. It spends around Rs 83 lakh a year on its maintenance.

Capping the dump

The 19.6 hectare Gorai dump stopped accepting garbage on Jan 1, 2008, that's 30 years after it was designated a landfill site.

By then, it had accumulated an estimated 2.34 million tonne of trash. In the first stage of capping, the entire landfill site was walled from all sides.

These walls had their foundations dug deep enough to touch the hard rock underneath. This was done to prevent the dirty groundwater from flowing into the creek on the one side and the adjoining land on the others.

The dump was then covered with two feet of construction demolition waste, followed by a cover of high-density polyethylene sheet.

A geo-membrane cover was laid on the polyethylene sheet, followed by another layer of construction and demolition waste and soil to grow grass.

Thirty interconnected wells were dug into this ‘tamed’ dump to collect the methane gas it will continue to generate for ten to fifteen years.

This maze of wells was connected to an extraction unit and thence to a 20-feet chimney to 'flare' the gas.
Money from the dump

The project was registered with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (popularly known as Kyoto Protocol) in February 2010. Its international validation was carried out by DNV.

The carbon credits were sold in a future trading arrangement to the Asian Development Bank, with which the corporation signed an Emission Reduction Purchase Agreement in 2008.

The arithmetic of carbon trading is a little complex - 1 tonne of methane is equivalent to 21 tonne of CO2. And 1 tonne of CO2 is equal to 1 Certified Emission Reduction (CER).

The project has so far has been able to encash 3 lakh Certified Emission Reductions and 1.25 lakh Voluntary Reductions at $13.85 per CER and $ 8.81 per VER.

“It’s a matter of pride for us that the BMC has become the first civic body in India to earn and encash carbon credits. This project has been recognised globally as a success story,” said P S Awate, executive engineer, Solid Waste Management.

Poorest MP says no to salary hike

2010-08-24T08:06:00.000-07:00

Harishchandra Chavan from Nashik, who has assets worth Rs 15 lakh, says he was ashamed of the drama created by his colleagues in the Parliament

By: Sanjeev Devasia

Date: 2010-08-24

Place: Mumbai

With a double hike in salary in two weeks one would expect Harishchandra Chavan, Maharashtra's poorest Parliamentarian to be on top of the world.

Harishchandra Chavan

But while his crorepati counterparts celebrated yesterday after the Union Cabinet approved a hike of Rs 10,000 in allowances that too within days of getting a three-fold raise in salaries, Chavan seemed disappointed.

Ashamed
No he did not want more money. In fact, he did not want a hike in the first place.

"I am ashamed of the drama created by the MPs for an increase in pay. I do not want a hike in salary and allowances," said Chavan, a Member of Parliament from Dindori (Nashik).

More funds
In a state where 38 out of the 48 MPs in Lok Sabha and 13 out of the 18 MPs in the Rajya Sabha are crorepatis, Chavan is the poorest with his total assets standing at Rs 15 lakh.

But despite this, all Chavan wants is more allocation of funds towards the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD), which will help him bring about development in his constituency, which is reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.

"Please don't put all the MPs in one bracket. I was among the many MPs who did not make any demands when the drama unfolded in the Parliament over the hike in salaries and allowances," said Chavan.

"People have a lot of expectations from us, which we are not able to meet with the present funds allotted to us. I have been demanding more funds for development of constituencies even in the party forum and not a salary hike."

According to him, an MLA gets a constituency fund of Rs 1.5 crore, while an MP gets Rs 2 crore.

"This is unfair as an MP is in charge of six Assembly constituencies. With the present funds, an MP is able to allocate a meager Rs 34 lakh for a single Assembly constituency," he said.

Humble living
Unlike most netas who live in plush bungalows, Chavan lives in a humble two-room kitchen apartment in Nashik.

And this, after being in politics for over two decades.

"I have been a member of Zilla Parishad for 14 years. During this tenure I held the position of the chairperson for 10 years and the president for a few years."

"I was an independent MLA for some time, after which I have been elected to the Parliament twice. But this is all I have earned," he added.

Poor MPs club
>> Charandas Mahant of the Congress, who was elected from Korba constituency in Chhattisgarh, is the poorest MP in the country, who has net assets of only Rs 12,000.
>> Another Congressman N Peethambara Kurup, elected from Kollam constituency in Kerala, follows with assets amounting to just Rs 1,50,600.
>> Lingam P of the Communist Party of India, elected from the Tenkasi constituency in Tamil Nadu, has assets amounting to Rs 1,59,365.

What MPS get

>> Rs 14,000 for office expenses every month, which includes
Rs 3,000 for stationery items, Rs 1,000 on franking of letters and Rs 10,000 for secretariat services
>> A monthly constituency allowance of Rs 10,000
>> A daily allowance of Rs 500 during the three Parliament sessions
>> A daily travel allowance of
Rs 8 per kilometre. When an MP travels abroad officially, he is entitled to free business class air tickets. He is also paid a daily travelling allowance, which varies depending upon the country being visited
>> Each MP and his spouse or companion are entitled to unlimited, free,
first class railway travel anywhere in the country. They can also travel anywhere in India with a spouse or companion 40 times by air in the business class free of cost every year
>> An MP gets a sprawling bungalow in the heart of New Delhi for which he pays a rent of just Rs 2,000 per month. He gets near-free electricity of 50,000 units every year and free water
>> MPs are entitled to three phone lines and 1,70,000 free local calls every year
>> Most medical expenses of MPs are taken care of by the Contributory Health Service Scheme of the Union government
>> After an MP completes a term in office, he is entitled to pension. The basic monthly pension amount is Rs 3,000. But it goes up according to the number of years an MP has served in Parliament.

Poorest MP says no to salary hike

Rescue sham: Why did they take so long to wake up?

2010-08-24T00:39:00.000-07:00

Here we get food, soap and rakhis, say rescued children
Out of Satkarm Balgriha orphanage, kids discover happiness at an Ulhasnagar welfare home
Yogesh Sadhwani

Posted On Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 02:37:58 AM
Overnight, the world seems a lot rosier to the kids rescued on Monday from Satkarm Balgriha orphanage in Kavdas, 70 km from Mumbai. Suddenly, there is food, as much as they want, whenever they want.

There’s water for a bath, and with the luxury of soap and hair oil. And there is love. The boys, shifted to the State-run welfare home for the handicapped, in Ulhasnagar, couldn't stop flaunting the rakhis they got from the centre’s staff.

Of the 18 mentally-challenged kids rescued from Kavdas, five girls have been shifted to an Airoli-based NGO.

The Ulhasnagar centre accommodated 13 boys, of which six had to be rushed to the Ulhasnagar Central Hospital. For the remaining seven, life hasn't been this good in years.

The probation officer at the welfare centre, A S Sonar, said, “The children couldn't believe they could eat as much as they desired. Initially, they just pounced on the food, saying they had not eaten enough for the past few weeks.”

The thrilled children were only too happy to praise their new home. One of the rescued child, eight-year-old Navnath said, “At the orphanage, we were never given enough to eat. We would be screamed at if we asked for more food.”

Navnath's friend Pappau said, “We could not even take bath at the orphanage. But here, we even got soap and hair oil.”

The six boys admitted to the hospital were showing signs of improvement. Four of them - Sunny, Hitesh, Ameya and Gopal – were severely malnourished. The other two, Mahindra and Rahul, are completely out of danger.

Usha Rathod, a nurse attending to the kids, said, “The children were stinking and barely hanging on to life when they were wheeled in late on Monday.”

Hospital superintendent Dr S L Waghmare said the boys suffered from weeks of dehydration, and blood supply to brain was greatly reduced. He said, “Four kids were extremely critical.

A couple of them suffer from tuberculosis, but we do not want to draw their blood samples now as they are very weak.”

One of the rescued kids at a hospital in Ulhasnagar. The others, shifted to a welfare centre (right) are thrilled with the turn their lives have taken. They even celebrated Rakshabandhan with the staff

Did Satkarm fudge papers for official status?
Yogesh Sadhwani

Posted On Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 02:38:00 AM
Following Monday's rescue of five malnourished children from Satkarm Balgriha orphanage, it has emerged that the institute, 70 km from Mumbai, obtained government recognition on November 26 last year despite not fulfilling official guidelines.

Officials believe a combination of fake documents and fudged claims of facilities may have earned the orphanage - where five children died a few months ago - the government stamp.

While the Child Welfare Committee made a surprise visit to the orphanage in July, the Women and Child Welfare Department, which accorded recognition to the centre, undertook an official inspection of the place only on August 4 this year.

It has also come to light that the orphanage borrowed its name from an NGO called Satkarm Balgriha; it was registered as Matimand Muli Va Mulinche Balgruh, and run by Adivasi Magaswargiya Krishi Sanstha.

As per the guidelines set by the Juvenile Justice Act of 2002, an orphanage for mentally-challenged kids must provide each inmate a minimum of 55 sq ft space, bed for each inmate, separate wash-rooms for boys and girls, a doctor on 24x7 availability and a proper kitchen.

The orphanage in Kavdas was spread across just five rooms, which doubled up as classrooms and kitchen too.

The rooms were strewn with unwashed utensils, there was obviously no sign of a permanent doctor at the centre, and investigations have revealed that the centre had a staff of 10, contrary to its claim of 24 full-time employees.

It was the Child Welfare Committee and Women and Child Welfare Department's responsibility to ensure the guidelines were met before granting the centre recognition.

The institution gets Rs 1,150 per child per month post recognition. The centre in question was granted permission to admit 50 children.

Sanjay Shinde, district officer, Women and Child Welfare Depart-ment, said, “I was not the one who inspected the place. The orphanage management may have fudged the facilities and records to get money from the state.”

The department’s deputy commissioner, Harish Rathod, said an inquiry was on. “We need to know how this centre was cleared by our district staff,” he said.

The guidelines state such institutes should be inspected twice to ensure all norms are followed. However, the Kavdas orphanage was inspected only on August 4, after five deaths were reported there.

Shinde said, “After my visit there on August 4, I had recommended that this centre be shut.”

Section Officer Pramod Valanj said a high-level inquiry has been ordered to probe the centre's credentials. Investigations are also on to find out how much money the trustees collected. Shinde said, “We suspect money was collected in the name of the inmates and funds siphoned off.”

Satkarm Balgriha in Kavdas is spread over five filthy rooms. It fulfilled none of the criteria required to get official status, but it got State recognition in Nov 2009

Readers respond

Aren’t we mentally challenged?

The children aren’t mentally challenged, we are. For electing a bunch of clowns who are more concerned about their monthly pay than the state. Why didn’t the concerned ministry take any action after the death of the five children? Either they do not get reports on time or they are too callous to act on them. People responsible for these deaths should be immediately arrested. The CWC, WCD should be disbanded too.
- Omkar Wagle

Save them physical assault

The picture of the malnourished kid holding few biscuits and with minimal clothing brought tears in my eyes. Can someone ensure that these kids won’t be exploited physically? I request you to continue with your investigation.
- Munmun Dutta
Shame on the babus

This report raises many questions on the government welfare schemes. In this case no one seems to be bothered about the plight and welfare of the orphans. The officials are interested only in self welfare. Shame on the babus for showing apathy towards these hapless souls.
- Vanita S Shenoy

Rescue sham: Why did they take so long to wake up?

Authorities make big show of shutting down Thane children’s home after our shocking story of starvation and death. But they were aware of the situation for almost 2 months

Yogesh Sadhwani and Bapu Deedwania

Posted On Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 02:56:42 AM

Eighteen children between 5 and 15 were 'rescued' on Monday evening after this newspaper reported on their enfeebled and neglected condition at Shahpur's Satkarm Balgriha.

The government-run Child Welfare Committee members dressed them up, some of them in mismatched clothing, packed their meager belongings - one of them only had a half-eaten packet of biscuits that this newspaper's journalists had offered him on Sunday - and bundled them in a creaking Sumo.

Wide-eyed and huddled together, their stick-thin elbows digging into each other, they acquiesced without question. These children, all of them certified mentally retarded, are being accommodated in whichever orphanage in the city will take them.

Having done their duty, the CWC members will no doubt sleep smug. For newspapers, including this one, there will be other stories to follow.

In the bustle of our get-on-with-it ethos, the deaths of five such children at the same Satkarm Balgriha (no irony intended), will be forgotten.

For the record, a small footnote to prove they had existed , these children were, Sameer, 14; Pavan 15; Divya, 12; Deepak, age unknown; and Ramu, about whom the only fact known is that in addition to being mentally retarded he was also deaf and mute.

Between the months of June and July 2010, these children died due to severe malnutrition.

The fact was duly brought to the notice of CWC chief Sai Jadhav, who told this newspaper: “After the first death was reported to me, I came to know that the situation at the orphanage was pathetic, and I warned the founder of the orphanage that they would have to take all possible care and precaution so that no more kids took ill.”

The founder of Satkarm Balgriha, Pundalik Bole claims that he never got any government grant and that he had spent Rs 3 lakh from the time the orphanage started in November, 2009.

In fact, the orphanage administrator Jitendra Chavan had told this newspaper on Sunday not to pay any attention to the emaciated form of the children. “They're fed eggs for breakfast and mutton for lunch. They don't know how much to eat and how to interact with strangers.”

For his part, Sai Jadhav insisted that he had also been waiting for the Women and Child Welfare Department to take the lead in the issue. Both WCD and the Child Welfare Committee are not small, fly-by-night entities.

The WCD comes directly under the state government's Welfare ministry, and has an annual budget of nearly Rs 40 crores.

The CWC is quasi-judicial body with branches in every district, its chief enjoys the privileges of a Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), giving him the authority to pass a prison sentence of up to three years under the Juvenile Justice Act. The bodies, therefore, have access to both funds and power. So what were they waiting for?

When we reached the Satkarm Balgriha on Sunday, apart from the five children who had died, five others were seriously ill and on the brink of death.

These children - Gopal, 8, Ameya, 8, Sunny, 9, Hitesh, 5, and Dipika, 12 - had not been taken to hospital, and were isolated in a dark room where they ate, slept, and defecated.

Hitesh, whose picture you saw on page 1 yesterday, weakly hobbled around the room without underwear, grasping the packet of biscuit with rough eagerness.

On Monday, as they were being taken away someone procured a bright sky blue skirt to cover his unmentionables.

In the Sumo, one of the girls, barely a few years older than him, held him in a protective embrace as the car door shut. Some time later they were separated.

The girl was one of the five sent to a welfare home for mentally challenged children in Airoli. All the 13 boys, Hitesh included, were packed off to a state-run home in Ulhasnagar which has no facility to deal with children with special needs.

How you can help them

Posted On Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 02:24:18 AM

Many readers have asked us if they help the children from Satkarm Balgriha.

The state is still at a loss on the issue and the arrangements made for them today are temporary.

Given the circumstances, here is what social welfare experts say you can do:» NGOs who work with children who have special needs can volunteer to admit them in their own centre» If you want to make a financial contribution, you can either contribute directly to the CWC or wait till another organisation takes over. You can choose to fund or sponsor a child.» Apart from being severely malnourished, many of these children are suffering from scabies and other skin infections. Any help with medicines or treatment will be appreciated.We will keep track of what the government and the authorities plan for them next and will keep you posted on how you can help further.To send your contributions contact:
Child Welfare Committee Thane Zilla Parishad, Thane Phone: 022-25333732

No home for these children

Authorities rescue inmates of Satkarm Balgriha, but send most of them off to orphanages ill-equipped to handle the mentally challenged

Posted On Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 02:24:16 AM

Gopal, 8 years

Found by the police in December 2009 and sent to Bhiwandi remand home, where he was declared mentally-challenged. Brought to Satkarm Balgriha on January 16, 2010.

Authorities at Bhiwandi remand home said he was certainly not malnourished when he was sent to Satkarm. Gopal now weighs just 20-kg. He is very scared of visitors.

(Inset) In Jan, 2010

Ameya, 8 years

Found by the cops late last year, brought to Satkarm Balgriha on De-cember 22, 2009.

He is suffering from a skin infection. Mirror reporters found him hungry for the past many days, when they met him on Sunday. He didn't have enough clothes on his body.

Sunny, 9 years

Brought to the orphanage from a welfare home in Ulhasnagar on De-cember 22, 2009. He is suffering from a severe skin infection, has lost a lot of weight in the past six months, and is very scared of strangers.

Hitesh, 5 years

He is not even able to stand. Brought to the orphanage on December 22, 2009 from a Dombivili welfare home, Hitesh is severely malnourished. He was clad in dirty, torn clothes when Mirror reporters met him on Sunday, and is extremely underweight.

Deepika, 12 years

She can barely walk. Like Hitesh, she too was brought to the orphanage from the Dombivali welfare home. She is suffering from tuberculosis and her chances of survival are not very high.

Kids moved; temporary measure, say authorities

Yogesh Sadhwani and Bapu Deedwania

Posted On Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 02:24:14 AM

Responding to Mumbai Mirror’s report on the heartrending plight of 18 children at Satkarm Balgriha, an orphanage for mentally challenged, the authorities jolted out of their slumber and moved them out on Monday.

But the woes of these mentally challenged kids are far from over. About 13 of the 18 have been sent back to the institutions they came from, which are not equipped to attend to their special needs.

On Monday morning, Sister Annie and Sumitra Aashtikar from the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) rushed to the orphanage, where five children died in the past two months and another five were malnourished and critically ill.

They then summoned the Sanjay Shinde, Commissioner of the district Women and Child Welfare Department (WCD).

Within an hour of reaching the institution located at Kavdas village, about 70 km from Mumbai, the authorities came to an obvious conclusion - the facility is unfit for the children.

Mirror had reported on Monday that the five ailing inmates had not received any medical attention and were left in a dark room.

18 children at Satkarm Balgriha, an orphanage for mentally challenged, were moved out on Monday

The children were clearly malnourished but the administrator Jitendra Chavan insisted they had been fed eggs for breakfast and mutton for lunch.

The CWC and CWD decided to shut the place down and relocate the inmates. The five girls were sent to a welfare home for mentally challenged children in Airoli but the 13 boys to a state-run home in Ulhasnagar.

Dr Sai Jadhav, Chairperson, CWC, Thane district admitted that the institution the boys had been packed off to is not geared to take care of them.

“The Ulhasnagar welfare home does not have the facility to take care of the mentally retarded. But we do not have another other option right now. This is only a temporary measure,” she said

The manner in which the children were moved out was also telling of the apathy of the powers-that-be to their pitiable plight.

For almost four hours after the authorities decided to move them, they could not arrange for a vehicle. At about 3.30 pm, they somehow managed a truck, which CWC members objected to.

Finally, at about 5.30 pm, the children left in a jeep.

We spent Rs. 3 lakh on these kids in 10 months
Founding trustee of the orphanage claims it’s the local docs who are responsible for children’s problems
Yogesh Sadhwani and Bapu Deedwania

Posted On Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 02:24:12 AM
Look at this picture. The founder of Satkarm orphanage, where they are living for the past many months, claims Rs 3 lakh have been spent on these kids in the past 10 months. That means Rs 30,000 per month. How believable is that?

The founder, Pundalik Bole, gave one more statement which should make the authorities do whatever it takes to shift every single kid out of the orphanage.

Reacting to the District Child Welfare Committee’s decision to shut the centre after finding five children there on the brink of death, Bole unabashedly said, “Take them (the inmates) away. In any case, I am not gaining anything out of them.”

If the sole intention of the orphanage’s head is to gain something out of the poor children, without caring one bit about their health, what can one expect from the staff? On Sunday, Mumbai Mirror found five children, Gopal, 8, Ameya, 8, Sunny, 9, Hitesh, 5, and Dipika, 12, barely dressed, unwashed and hungry. They were isolated in a dark room, where they sleep and even defecate.

The condition of children at the orphanage had no effect on Bole, who only talked about not receiving any money from the government.

He said, “I started the orphanage in 2009, and was promised grants within weeks of the launch. I tried my best to take care of the children, spending over Rs 3 lakh in the last 10 months. Had I received the grant, I would have been able to offer much more to these kids.”

He said that the five children who died at the orphanage, and the ones malnourished, were brought to the centre in declining health. However, a picture of Gopal nails Bole’s lies.

In the picture, taken six months ago when Gopal was brought to the orphanage, he is looking a lot happier than he is now.

But Bole remained adamant. “Those who died, and the ones malnourished, were brought here ill. It’s not correct to say their health declined here,” he said.

There was no end to Bole’s blame game; he didn’t even spare the doctors. He said, “I took every sick child to a state-run clinic close to the orphanage but the doctors didn’t treat the children properly.”

Pundalik Bole, who started the orphanage last year, said had he received grants from the state, he would have done more for the children (Pics: Santosh Shinde)

Readers respond

More homes like this

This is with reference to the story 'Orphanage Hell' (MM, Aug 23). It was horrifying to see small children in such inhuman conditions. The picture of five-year-old Hitesh speaks a lot. It makes me tremble to think that many more such homes exist all over the country. It is sad to see that we tend to care more for our pets than these orphans and politicians care more for filling their pockets than feeding the hungry.
- Aditi Debnath

Question the men at Mantralaya

The news report is shocking, the pictures are graphic and signifies unspeakable cruelty. The orphanage authorities should be severely punished. If their claims that no funds have come from the State is true, the men sitting at the Mantralaya should be questioned too.
- Xavier Louis

Fed eggs for breakfast?

I am appalled by the cruelty of administrators like Jitendra Chavan. These children were denied treatment because the orphanage had no money. Even worse was his statement that those children were being fed eggs for breakfast and mutton for lunch. If you look at the picture of five-year-old Hitesh, it looks like he hasn’t been fed for weeks.
- Debra GomesGovernment should be ashamed

The children who died were not suffering from any life-threatening ailments when they were sent to the facility. It's a matter of great shame that this government-recognised facility has not received any funds from Maharashtra government for the past few months.
- Hansraj BhatWe want to help these children

I would like to help these kids in whatever way I can. Can you tell me the procedure for the same? I will be thankful.
- Pradnya More

Authorities knew, but let the children die
Yogesh Sadhwani and Bapu Deedwania

Posted On Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 02:24:20 AM
The authorities, answerable for the destitute children rescued from Satkarm Balgriha on Monday, knew of their deplorable condition since June, when an inmate died of neglect for the first time. However, they watched on inertly and let four more die and five get critically ill because of malnourishment.

Now that the suffering of the mentally challenged children has come to light - they were underfed, some packed into an unsanitary room and denied needed medical attention - the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and the Women and Child Development Department (WCD) are busy passing the buck for the state’s failure to protect its wards.

Each time a child from the orphanage for mentally challenged died, both CWC and WCD, Thane, were sent a report by the institution. But they did nothing to rescue the children. The organizations swung into action only after Mirror’s expose.

Dr Sai Jadhav, chairperson, CWC, Thane, admitted that she was informed about the first death a couple of months ago. “It was brought to my notice that the kids had taken ill because of the condition they were kept in.

I warned the institution of strict action. Despite the warning, another death was reported barely a few days later,” she said.

CWC made a surprise visit to the centre in the first week of July but failed to move the children out even after witnessing the sub-human conditions they were living in. Barely a fortnight after this visit, two more deaths were reported.

CWC was quick to blame the WCD, Thane. “We informed Commissioner Sanjay Shinde and asked him to hold a special meeting to chalk out our course of action. But he did not turn up citing other commitments,” Jadhav said.

Shinde put the ball right back into the CWC’s court. “I did go to the orphanage a few weeks ago. I was contemplating action when two more deaths took place.

However, it is the job of the CWC to rescue the children and not mine,” he said. He added that Satkarm Balgriha was the only one in Thane authorized to take care of special children. Shinde said action would be taken against the orphanage and its founder.

When contacted, Secretary for Women and Child Development Vandana Krishna referred us to section officer Pramod Valanj, who conceded that such a situation should have never occurred. “I have read the report. We have called for details from the commissioner and will take suitable action,” he said.

Asha Bajpai, Chairperson, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies and Human Rights, Tata Institute of Social Sciences said the CWC is the custodian of children according to the Juvenile Justice Act.

“Why didn’t they act even though they have the powers to take immediate action? The state government is supposed to conduct regular inspections at these homes. Where are the reports of the inspection committee?” Bajpai said.

WCD Commissioner Sanjay Shinde said that he was contemplating action against the orphanage

Q A On the delay in action against the Orphanage

Sai Jadhav Chairperson, CWC

I admit there was a delay in taking action

Were you aware of the deplorable living conditions at the Satkarm Balgriha?

Yes. I came to know that the situation at the orphanage was pathetic after the first death was reported to me. I had categorically warned the founder of the orphanage to take all possible care and precaution so that no more kids fall ill.But nothing has improved. Why did you or your staff not take some concrete measures?

Even after the second and the third deaths, I issued warnings to the organisation, but to no avail. I even ordered immediate transfer of seven kids who were critically ill. However, only one of the kids was moved by the orphanage. I was not even informed of the fourth and fifth deaths.You have power of a judicial magistrate. How did the orphanage then disobey your direct orders of shifting seven children?

Though we have adequate powers to pass orders to implement them, the fact is that they disobeyed. I had even instructed the WCD Commissioner to take immediate steps.Had the CWC acted on time, their lives could have been saved. Why such a delay in action?

After three deaths at the orphanage, I had called a meeting of all the CWC members and WCD Commissioner to decide on further course of action. The commissioner didn't turn up at the meeting owing to other commitments.Why do you need the WCD to rescue the kids when you are yourself empowered to do so?

I admit that there was some delay, but now everything has been taken care of. The kids have been moved out of the orphanage.

Mumbai on sick leave

2010-08-19T11:05:00.000-07:00

Sick bay

Malaria. Dengue. Viral. How rain, poor health management, irresponsible construction have finally taken a toll on Mumbai’s most solid asset: its people

Lekha Menon and Alka Shukla

Posted On Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 02:10:29 AM

Another year, another monsoon, another spell of unrelenting rain. But this time, something is different - a city touted for its ability to go through every travesty with a smile on its face has been pushed against the ropes by a spate of diseases, starting with malaria and dengue and ending with fever and gastroenteritis.

In the middle of crumbling infrastructure and civic mismanagement that leads to splintered roads and bursting pipelines, the one thing holding Mumbai together - its people - also seem to be giving in.

Experts and the aam aadmi are both unanimous that this has been the sickest monsoon for the city that never sleeps, hitting productivity and festering gloom, as the civic authorities are going through the motions but are strangely failing to find answers to the same questions that are asked every year.

Let's start with some number crunching: As per the latest BMC figures, the total number of people admitted to various private, municipal and government hospitals with monsoon-related ailments is 13,530. Unofficial estimates are much higher.

Malaria, the talk of the season, tops the list. Take a look at the figures for this month alone: 25 deaths and 3,628 affected patients.

The number of dengue patients is 140, with three deaths, and there have been 25 leptospirosis patients with five deaths. The first 18 days of August have seen 8,600 cases of fever and 1,137 of gastroenteritis.

The Anopheles mosquito has not even spared the cops with over 2,000 men in khaki hospitalised in the last couple of months.

The monsoon showers - the best we've had in a while - may have brought huge relief to this water-starved city. But along with the rain have come a long list of ailments that have forced ever-busy citizens to halt in their tracks.

Life disrupted

The result is there for all to see. Increased absenteeism in offices, failing health and a general blue funk has set in.

Sushil Bahal, CEO of a communications firm has been at his wits' end trying to deal with schedules going haywire and deadlines being missed, all thanks to the poor attendance in his organisation.

“Each of the 35 people in my firm has taken 5-10 days off to recuperate from flu, malaria and other diseases. In the two decades that I have been in this business, this has probably been the worst year,” says a worried Bahal.

Offices, schools, colleges and households across the city tell a similar tale.

At Mantralaya, the attendance reported on Wednesday was just 66 per cent with about 5,000 employees out of 8,000 registering their presence. Many of those absent have reported as sick, a senior official told this newspaper.

An unending list

The alarming extent of the situation becomes clear when not just government centres but also high-profile private hospitals teem with patients suffering from seasonal diseases.

Dr Dilip Nadkarni, leading orthopaedic surgeon attached to Lilavati Hospital, notes that patients signed up for planned surgeries are finding it difficult to get beds because the wards are occupied by people suffering from fever or malaria.

“Two anaesthetists in my team fell ill recently, which greatly affected work,” he says. “This time the diseases are striking anyone at will.”

Clearly, the authorities find themselves outfoxed. The numerous health campaigns, fumigation exercises and cleanliness drives notwithstanding, Mumbai’s health facilities that cover just 80 lakh people seem hopelessly inadequate to cater to its 1.4 crore population. “We get about 4-5 cases of influenza every day.

Of all patients, 80 per cent suffer from malaria and 20 per cent from Dengue. And they belong to all strata of society,” says Dr Bajan Khusrav, critical care specialist, Hinduja Hospital.
Blame the weather

The reasons are not far to seek either. Rampant construction, responsible for as much as 38 per cent of emission load of particulate matter, has been cited as the prime reason for increasing pollution.

Add to it stagnant water, the breeding ground for mosquitoes, the general filth during the rains, the long commute, overcrowding, and you have a potent mix that takes a toll on your health.

The weather, of course, has been largely blamed. “Dengue increases when there are intermittent showers while malaria increases when there is a continuous downpour,” says Dr Khusrav. With 100 humidity in the atmosphere, even those who stay at home are not spared. “Fungus tends to grow in stagnant water.

Not just government centres but also high-profile private hospitals teem with patients suffering from seasonal diseases

Also in this weather your clothes and bed tend to be damp. Those who are allergic to fungi will naturally suffer from sneezing, sore throat, watery eyes and breathing problems,” says ENT specialist Dr Gauri Mankekar, herself recovering from a bad bout of flu.

Mankekar adds that the general lethargy in the air, even for those who haven’t been hit by a virus, points to Seasonal Affective Disorder - common in European countries during bleak winters. “It’s a typical reaction to the weather. Only, here, it is during the monsoon when the sky is dark for days on end,” she says.
Enough already

For the common man and woman though, it has been a rather long date with ill-health, muck and filth. “I have had enough of the rains,” says Shital Raval of the Cancer Patient Aid Association, where three staffers have reported sick in the last few days. “I feel like sterilising my feet each time I step out.”

Most Mumbaikars are doing what they do best - trying to work around it. Some firms, like Planman Consulting, have been even forced to hire extra hands to cope with the absenteeism.

Rahul Wadhwani, the company’s managing partner says, “Around five to seven people constantly report sick at any given point. We have been hiring people for critical functions like sales to buffer the vacancy.”

It’s a similar story elsewhere. Aarif Malik, associate VP Sampark image consultants, says, “Business plans don’t stop for people falling sick.

Productivity gets affected, events and campaigns take a hit, the pressure on others increases and when deadlines aren’t met, there is a lot of angst between the client and the agency.”
Authorities speak

But even as citizens cope, as they have no choice but to, the authorities are going through their usual procedures. Manisha Mhaiskar, additional commissioner, BMC, lists the measures being taken to get Mumbai back on track. She says until now standard operating procedures (SOP) were not being followed properly in certain areas increasing chances of a malaria relapse. “We have activated SOPs of the national malaria programme.

That apart, we are taking care of the general hygiene levels in the city, fogging aggressively and nine tankers of mosquito larvicidal oil have been procured.”

But while officials rattle off all the right words, the numbers keep increasing. The government is not ready to declare it an epidemic, according to a senior official who didn’t want to be named, because such an announcement would be a huge embarrassment.

It’s true that Mumbai is a “beemar shahar”, he says, but calling it that might have a serious impact on tourism and businesses, and affect normal functioning of schools, colleges and other institutions.

What’s the option then? Forget the authorities, and turn to the weather gods to pray for sunshine this time. (Inputs by Geeta Desai and Ravikiran Deshmukh)

A health official takes blood sample of a child

CR blamed for malaria outbreak

Geeta Desai and Virat A Singh

Posted On Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 02:10:00 AM

A meeting convened by the chief minister to stall the malaria juggernaut predictably turned into a slugfest with concerned parties blaming each other for the outbreak.

Last week Ashok Chavan had summoned Brihanmumbai Municipal Commission (BMC) officers, general managers of Central and Western Railways and Additional Municipal Commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar, for a detailed scrutiny of the seven high risk malaria wards - Dadar, Parel, Byculla, King’s Circle, Ghatkopar, Kurla and Andheri. It emerged that the ones along the CR lines - Dadar, Parel and Byculla - are the worst affected.

Garbage thrown along the tracks between Sandhurst Road and Byculla stations

While railway tracks have always been a favourite breeding ground for malaria parasites, the CR tracks scored lower compared to its counterparts, said Mhaiskar. “The garbage along the tracks, the stagnant water and junk in the large yards have become a hotspot for the parasites, thanks to CR’s inefficiency,” she said.

While the CM came down heavily on CR authorities, BMC too jumped into the fray. “BMC is not allowed inside the yards,” said Mhaiskar, adding, “We need access to these spots to use fogging machines and spray anti-larvae oil. We are willing to work with CR to help clean up their premises.”

However, the BMC’s ‘offer’ did not go down well with CR. A senior official said, “BMC should first try and clear the garbage and drainage water that they conveniently ‘guide’ towards CR areas.”

He added, “Stations like Sion, Wadala, Matunga are classic examples of how garbage is dumped along our tracks. BMC should also improve its poor drainage system before pointing fingers at us.”

Meanwhile, chief PRO for Central Railway, Shriniwas Mudgerikar clarified, “Our health department is already undertaking fumigation and other activities to ensure that there is no mosquito breeding in and around the railway premises, including railway colonies.”

While criticising the civic body for its stance, Mudgerikar, however, said that CR was willing to work with the BMC to ensure that the vector is brought under control.

No play for kids at school that shares space with court

2010-08-19T07:03:00.000-07:00

No play for kids at school that shares space with court

Dipti Sonawala

Posted On Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 02:09:46 AM

It is a school where students are not allowed to play in the campus, organise cultural programmes, raise their voices even during recess or, when the bell rings at the end of the day, rush out noisily to meet their parents outside.

But the kids can derive evil pleasure from the fact that, every time they break these rules, it is their teachers and the school headmistress who get punished and are dragged to court.

Dadar’s Shinde Wadi BMC school, which was set up in 1975, has shared its premises with a magistrate’s court since 1985, which primarily hears matters related to offences under the BMC Act.

The school with its primary and secondary sections, a night school and a NGO-run section functions out of three floors, while two halls on the ground floor are exclusively for the court.

The fallout of this arrangement is that teachers at Shinde Wadi have to keep more than 800 rambunctious students on a tight leash all the time.

Since the court functions from 9 am to 5 pm, teachers have to ensure students don’t disturb the legal fraternity downstairs.

Every time students get noisy in Dadar’s Shinde Wadi BMC School, their teachers get a rap as the school shares premises with a magistrate’s court

The penalty for breaking this code of conduct is severe. Teachers and the headmistress are summoned by the magistrates and held guilty under contempt of court and made to remain in the court room for five hours.

Says a teacher, “It is very difficult to keep the students suppressed all the time. Being kids, they are naturally exuberant, noisy and energetic.

How long can we keep them engaged with class work?” Every time there is even the slightest hint of a commotion, a constable is despatched to identify the errant group and the teacher responsible for managing it.

Recently a teacher had to put in the punitive hours in the court when her students ran down the stairs noisily.

Headmistress Aparna Save is finding it tough to manage the situation. “I don’t want to comment on the court’s functioning,” she says warily, adding, “It is sad that we cannot organise any programmes during school hours, or allow the children to get into any physical activity.”

Abbasaheb Jadhav, BMC’s education officer, said, “It is possible that the education officers at that time had thought of something before allowing a court to run in a school building. ” He said students were not being inconvenienced at all and could always use the BMC playground behind the school.

He claimed he had not received any complaint from the teaching staff. “We have not heard of any teacher being punished and would not like to comment,” he said.