The Not-so-Vibrant Gujarat: Shocking revelations about Modi's Gujarat

MSN.com

This year's (Vibrant Gujarat) extravaganza, with even more of the cream of Indian business in adulatory attendance, netted promises of investments amounting to Rs 12,00,000 crore (Rs 12,000 billion) -- a colossal tribute to Modi's reputation for ruthless efficiency.....

But what never came out at the Vibrant Gujarat summit nor in any papers or TV channels are some shocking revelations about Modi's Gujarat:

- School drop out rates still high: The Annual Status of Education Report Rural 2008, the most telling document on education trends, shows 21 per cent of the boys and 30 per cent of girls in the 15-16 age group in rural Gujarat dropping out of school. Worse, the younger children are simply not getting a proper education. Only 59.6 per cent rural children in the Standard 3 to 5 group could read the Standard 1 text against the all-India average of 66.6 per cent. In maths, they fared worse: only 43.1 per cent could do subtraction against the national average of 54.9 per cent, way behind the figures for Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

- Dwindling sex ratio: Surely, something is rotten in the state of Gujarat? Perhaps, his business fan following is not aware that Gujarat under Modi has fared worse than most states on almost every index of human development, the worst blot being the dwindling sex ratio. The number of girls per 1,000 boys in Gujarat is just 878, one of the lowest in the country, despite the growing prosperity of the state -- or perhaps because of it.

- Gujarat slipped from 1 to 6: The poor indices of overall human development -- Gujarat has slipped from first spot to sixth place among Indian states -- are a deeply worrying issue for social scientists who have also been sounding the alarm bells on the fragmentation and ghettoisation of Gujarat's society.

- The truth behind the Nano deal: According to one estimate, tax-payers in Gujarat will be footing as much as Rs 60,000 per vehicle to make the Nano the car of the masses with a price tag of Rs 1 lakh...It's a dream package that Modi is giving the Tatas: apart from the 1,100 acres of land and infrastructure sops, there is a soft loan of Rs 9,570 crore (Rs 95.7 billion) that is repayable over 20 years at an unbelievable 0.1 per cent rate of interest.Facilities for solid-waste disposal and effluent treatment plants are to be developed by the state government which will also provide a dedicated power connection of 200 KW to the factory along with 14,000 cubic metres water daily. There are other dispensations, too.The Nano project does not have to recruit 85 per cent of the workforce locally as the state industrial policy mandates.

How can one not love Modi if public money is to fund private industry to this extent?

Taliban-izing India: Girls assaulted in Mangalore pub

Times of India - 26/1/09

Mangalore: A fanatical rightwing group notorious for creating communal tensions and indulging in moral policing has struck again in Karnataka, this time assaulting women guests at a bar in Mangalore. The activists of Sri Rama Sene entered the Amnesia Bar and Restaurant on Dr Shivaram Karanth Road on Saturday evening and threatened the women sitting inside. The men, who took objection to women drinking alcohol, pushed them outside, many women falling to the ground while they were being driven out......

The Sene activists accused the women of ‘‘involving themselves in immoral activities, including consuming alcohol, dressing indecently, and mixing with youths of other faith’’. The men will be produced in a court on Tuesday......

The Sene was also responsible for the attack on the Bangalore home of Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi’s daughter Selvi during the Cauvery protests in September 2007.

Taliban kill teacher over salwar

Times of India - 24/1/09

Islamabad: A teacher who once fought as a mujahideen against Soviet occupation forces in Afghanistan as been gunned down by the Taliban in Pakistan’s troubled Swat valley for not hiking up his ‘salwar’ or trousers above his ankles. Though the Pakistani Taliban have not issued any edict for the salwar to be worn in this manner, there have been reports of the militants threatening men for not hiking up their trousers. The militants say hiking up the trousers is essential for offering prayers. Former mujahideen Amjad Islam, who was working as a teacher in a private school in Swat, was gunned down yesterday for not hiking his salwar above his ankles. The militants then went to Islam’s house and gunned down his father, Ghani Akbar, a lawyer by profession. Islam’s body was later hung by the militants from a pole in the College Square in Matta town and locals were warned not to touch it till Friday. The body was taken down and moved to Islam’s house after a local jirga intervened. Local residents said the militants had asked Islam to hitch his salwar above his ankles last morning. The teacher told them he was a former mujahideen and knew everything about Islam. He also said nobody could be forced to pull up his salwar above the ankles, the News daily reported. Islam said he had also seen the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which had not forced men to wear their salwar in this manner. His arguments angered the militants and led to a scuffle. The teacher, who had a pistol, fired at the militants and killed a Taliban fighter and wounded two more. He then tried to flee but the militants shot and stabbed him, killing him instantly. Locals also said Islam’s father was a religious and humble man who was well respected in the area. Large tracts of the Swat valley in the North West Frontier Province are now controlled by local Taliban fighters led by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah despite a major anti-militancy operation launched in the area by the Pakistan army in October 2007.

On-screen: Gandhigiri, Off-screen: Patriarchy

Times of India - 19/1/09 and 22/1/09

Sanjay Dutt: "Girls who become part of a new family after marriage must assume their new surname and all the responsibilities that come with it.... That’s a message not just to my sisters, but to all girls who hang on to their parents’ surname. It’s become fashionable these days. But I strongly feel that doing so disrespects the person they’ve married. This may sound harsh, but if Manyata had said that she wanted to retain her father’s surname, I would’ve felt offended."

Asked whether she would contest elections if Sanjay couldn’t, Manyata Dutt said, ‘‘He has to take the decision. I take permission from him even if I have to go for coffee or dinner with friends. My priority is my family. He will decide if it is right or not right for me.’’

The Truth behind Modi's 'VIBRANT GUJARAT'

MSN.com

Congress party spokesperson Manish Tewari said: “Instead of getting misled by mithya (falsehood), the Indian intelligentsia and capitalists should understand the reality of Gujarat. Indian capitalists are patting Modi on his back today. Similarly, in 1933, German capitalists were also fascinated by a fascist dictator. I do not want to go into the consequences of the episode on Germany and the rest of the world. His (Modi’s) entire edifice rests on the dead bodies of innocent people.”

He said information obtained by the Congress under the RTI Act showed only 23.52% of MoUs signed by Gujarat had been executed. In December 2007, then Finance Minister P Chidambaram had told a press conference in Ahmedabad that Gujarat had a debt burden of Rs 94,000 crore, Tewari said.

“Today, it could be Rs 1.20 lakh crore, which means every Gujarati is under a debt of Rs 20,000,” Tewari said.

MNS at it again. Packs off Pakistani actor.

Times of India - 15/1/09

Mumbai: Pakistani stand-up comedian Shakeel Siddiqui was driven out of a television set at Mohan Studios in Andheri on Wednesday afternoon by members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and asked to leave the country immediately. Siddiqui is one of the most popular comedians on Indian TV and has been working in comedies like Comedy Circus for a long time.
MNS entertainment cell president Amey Khopkar said: ‘‘We got to know that Shakeel was on the ‘Chinckpokli to China’ set and so we decided to raid the place. We took him out of the set and told the producers not to hire any Pakistani.’’ Producers had agreed to their demand, he added. ‘‘We will not allow films starring Pakistani actors or singers in Maharashtra,’’ he said. TNN

It’s OK to marry off 10-year-old girls, says cleric

Times of India - 15/1/09

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia’s senior most cleric said girls as young as 10 years old can be married, local media reported. The powerful Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh said in a speech on Monday that Islamic sharia law allows the practice of pre-teen girls getting married, and that critics of the practice were doing the girls “an injustice,” reports said. “We hear often in the media about the marriage of minors. We must know that sharia law is not unjust for women,” the cleric is quoted as saying. “If it is said that a woman below 15 cannot be married, that is wrong. If a girl exceeds 10 or 12 then she is eligible for marriage, and whoever thinks she is too young, then he or she is wrong and has done her an injustice.” His comment came in the wake of several cases of young girls being married to men sometimes old enough to be their great-grandfathers. On Monday a court in Taif allowed a girl, 11, to separate from her husband, 75, after the girl’s mother petitioned the court.The girl’s father had arranged the marriage in exchange for dowry, it said. In December a court rejected a plea to divorce an eight-year-old girl married off to a man who is 58, saying case should wait until the girl reaches puberty.

Dilli's dread

Hindustan Times - 10/1/09

• "I've never felt comfortable driving through this road in Vasantkunj, which goes through a jungle-like area. Old Delhi, too, keeps me on high alert. It's a sad thing to say, but Delhi men are disgusting" - Tania Sachdev, chess Grandmaster, lives in Hauz Khas

• "The most dangerous thing for a girl to do in Delhi is to walk down the road, alone. Everyone tries to come close and touch you. Even walking just outside the home isn't safe." - Amanpreet Wahi, model, lives near Rajouri garden

• "I went to Ghaffar Market around a year ago with my aunt and was pinched by a man. He ran off before I could do anything.......I'm also scared of the area outside Gangaram Hospital. After dark, if you walk there alone, men would roll down their car windows and ask you to get in." - Prashansa, class IX student, lives in Karol Bagh

GOODBYE BUSHISMS

Times of India - 10/1/09

Some of his notable malaprops and mangled statements:

• Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we. —AT THE SIGNING CEREMONY FOR A DEFENSE SPENDING BILL 5 AUGUST, 2004

• There’s no doubt in my mind, not one doubt in my mind, that we will fail. —WASHINGTON BUSH WAS REMARKING ON A BACK-TO-WORK PLAN AFTER THE TERRORIST ATTACKS OCTOBER 4, 2001

Kids, aged 6 & 7, try to elope to Africa

Times of India - 7/1/09

Berlin: Two childhood sweethearts, aged six and seven, eloped from Hanover in northern Germany on New Year’s Eve, determined to tie the knot under the African sun, police said on Monday. The pair identified as Mika and Anna-Lena “are very much in love and decided to get married in Africa where it is warm, taking with them as a witness Anna-Lena’s little sister, aged five,” police spokesman Holger Jureczko said. The idea for the romantic trip began when Mika told the two girls about his recent holiday in Italy, while their families celebrated New Year’s Eve together. As the first dawn of 2009 broke, the trio started to put these plans into action, packing all the essentials for the journey, including “sunglasses, swimming trunks, a lilo, summer clothes and provisions.” While their parents slept, they left their house in the suburbs of Hanover, walked a kilometre up the road to a tram stop from where they took a tram for the central station. Waiting for a train to the airport, they aroused the attention of a guard who contacted police. Two officers managed to convince the young lovers that they would struggle to get to Africa without money or a plane ticket. Their relieved parents picked them up from the station, the spokesman said, adding: “They can still put their plan into action at a later date.”

Inhuman brutality

A man pulls the body of a Palestinian child out of rubble after a house collapsed following Israeli forces’ operations in Gaza City on Tuesday

Times of India - 7/1/09

Just like that

Times of India - 7/1/09

Watch this to get inspired

Nick Vujicic has no arms or legs but has come to terms with his life. Watch as he delivers an inspirational speech to a bunch of kids that they will probably never forget:

http://www.maniacworld.com/are-you-going-to-finish-strong.html

90 flimsy reasons for murders in Delhi

Times of India - 3/1/09

Medha Chaturvedi & Dwaipayan Ghosh TNN
New Delhi: Objecting to a goat being tied outside the house, not giving bus route directions, not playing the ‘‘right’’ number at marriage celebrations, refusing to serve papads and objecting to a dismissal in a game of cricket — these are all, apparently, good enough reason to murder someone. Of the 518 murders recorded in the city in 2008, about 90 (17%) were committed for reasons as flimsy as these. ‘‘Many murders took place in a fit of rage without any planning. Most of those who committed the crime neither had a criminal motive nor were criminals. They happened due to absolutely ridiculous reasons,’’ police commissioner YS Dadwal said at the annual press conference on Friday. Last August in Narela, 14-year-old Sarvesh was battered to death with his own cricket bat by his friend Khalid, 19, after he refused to admit that he was out. Mohammed Shahid, the head cook of Zaika Bazar Hotel in Anand Vihar, was stabbed to death after refusing to serve papad to two diners unless they paid for it. Ajay Mann was shot by his friends a day before his wedding because he refused to play the songs his friends wanted him to during a pre-marriage bash. Mohammad Abdul, 45, objected to his neighbour, Mohammad Umar and his wife Parween tying a goat in front of his house. This enraged the couple so much that they beat him to death with iron rods.

Respect & Appreciate 'Her'

Tomorrow you may get a working woman, but you should marry her taking into consideration these facts: Here is a girl, who is as much educated as you are; Who is earning almost as much as you do; One, who has dreams and aspirations just as you have because she is as human as you are; One, who has never entered the kitchen in her life just like you or your Sister haven't, as she was busy in studies and competing in a system that gives no special concession to girls for their culinary achievements One, who has lived and loved her parents & brothers & sisters, almost as much as you do for 20-25 years of her life; One, who has bravely agreed to leave behind all that, her home, people who love her, to adopt your home, your family, your ways and even your family ,name One, who is somehow expected to be a master-chef from day #1, while you sleep oblivious to her predicament in her new circumstances, environment and that kitchen One, who is expected to make the tea, first thing in the morning and cook food at the end of the day, even if she is as tired as you are, maybe more, and yet never ever expected to complain; to be a servant, a cook, a mother, a wife, even if she doesn't want to; and is learning just like you are as to what you want from her; and is clumsy and sloppy at times and knows that you won't like it if she is too demanding, or if she learns faster than you; One, who has her own set of friends, and that includes boys and even men at her workplace too, those, who she knows from school days and yet is willing to put all that on the back-burners to avoid your irrational jealousy, unnecessary competition and your inherent insecurities; Yes, she can drink and dance just as well as you can, but won't, simply Because you won't like it, even though you say otherwise One, who can be late from work once in a while when deadlines, just like yours, are to be met; One, who is doing her level best and wants to make this most important, relationship in her entire life a grand success, if you just help her some and trust her; One, who just wants one thing from you, as you are the only one she knows in your entire house - your unstinted support, your sensitivities and most importantly - your understanding, or love, if you may call it. But not many guys understand this........ Please appreciate "HER"