GREAT THOUGHTS BY CHANAKYA

15 GREAT THOUGHTS BY CHANAKYA

1) "Learn from the mistakes of others... you can...'t live long enough to make them all yourselves!!"

2)"A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and Honest people are screwed first."

3)"Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous."

4)"There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship without self-interests. This is a bitter truth."

5)" Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead."

6)"As soon as the fear approaches near, attack and destroy it."

7)"The world's biggest power is the youth and beauty of a woman."

8)"Once you start a working on something, don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it. People who work sincerely are the happiest."

9)"The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind. But the goodness of a person spreads in all direction."

10)"God is not present in idols. Your feelings are your god. The soul is your temple."

11) "A man is great by deeds, not by birth."

12) "Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such friendships will never give you any happiness."

13) "Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years. For the next five years, scold them. By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend. Your grown up children are your best friends."

14) "Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person."

15) "Education is the Best Friend. An Educated Person is Respected Everywhere. Education beats the Beauty and the Youth."

Current affairs updated__LOOKING BACK TO 2011

In 2011 protests seemed to be the buzzword. Led by Anna Hazare there were anti-corruption protests across the country. The Lokpall Bill was introduced in Parliament but protests on its scope continued as the year drew to a close.
    Kudankulam nuclear power plant and Mullaperiyar dam were the other issues that prompted protests.
    Issues like the 2G telecom, corruption in Commonweatlh Games dominated headlines throughout the year.
    A stampede killed 102 people in Sabrimala in the beginning of the year, a train mishap in Uttar Pradesh killed 38 passengers whereas towards the end tragedy struck a Kolkata hospital when a major fire killed over 90 people.
    Mamata Banerjee stormed the Red bastion terminating the Left Front's 34-year stranglehold on West Bengal, while Jayalalithaa knocked DMK out of power in Tamil Nadu with a landslide victory in the assembly polls.
    Also, the killing of Maoists' top leader Kishenji in a gunbattle with security forces were other events in the year.
    Following is the diary of events during 2011:
    Jan 1: New Delhi: India and Pakistan exchange lists of their nuke installations for 20th consecutive year under an agreement which prohibits any attack on such facilities.
    Jan 1: Guwahati: ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa walks free from jail on bail and declares his readiness for an "unconditional" peace dialogue with Assam Government.
    Jan 4: New Delhi: A petition is filed in Supreme Court seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against former Telecom Minister A Raja and advocate R K Chandramohan for allegedly trying to influence the then Madras HC judge Justice S Reghupathi in a criminal case.

Jan 6: New Delhi: Delhi Court questions CBI's decision to
drop the case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi in the over two-decade old Bofors pay-off scam, saying there were "certain malafide intentions".
    Jan 10: Bangalore: India joins a select group of nations manufacturing warplanes with home-grown Light Combat Aircraft 'Tejas' moving a step closer to its induction into the IAF after getting its Initial Operational Clearance.
    Jan 12: Itanagar: China begun issuing visas to residents of Arunachal Pradesh, over which it lays claim, but they are stapled to passports as in case of people from Jammu-Kashmir.
    Jan 13: Mumbai: A special court grants permission to CBI for reinvestigating the 2006 Malegaon blast probe case in wake of "confession" statements made by Swami Aseemanand linking Hindu groups to terror acts.
    Jan 17: Ferozepur(Punjab): IFFCO chairman Surinder Jakhar dies of gunshot wounds in mysterious circumstances at his farmhouse at Abohar.
    Jan 19: New Delhi: Major reshuffle in Union Cabinet portfolios which saw S Jaipal Reddy getting Petroleum, Praful Patel moving to Heavy Industries, Kamal Nath to Urban Development and Murli Deora to Corporate Affairs.
    Jan 19: Bhopal: The Income Tax department has claimed to have detected wealth valued at a whopping Rs 360 crore from suspended Madhya Pradesh IAS officer couple Arvind and Tinu Joshi and disproportionate to their known source of income.
    Jan 20, Kochi/Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala High Court asks whether or not 'Makara Jyoti' is man-made amid a renewed debate on authenticity of the celestial light visible from Sabarimala after the stampede that killed 102 pilgrims.
    Jan 21: New Delhi: Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council unveils the first part of the draft food bill that seeks to provide legal food entitlements to 75 pc households.
Jan 22: Shillong: Lt Gen P K Rath, the senior-most
serving officer to be convicted for corruption,has been given a sentence of severe reprimand and two-year loss of seniority by an Army Court Martial.
    Jan 29: New Delhi: India reacts sharply to the action of the US authorities to tie a tracker on Indian students duped by a California-based "sham" university, terming it as "unwarranted" and demanded its removal.
    Jan 31: New Delhi: Setting 60 additional conditions, Environment Ministry grant conditional clearance for South Korean major Posco's USD 12 billion steel mill and captive port project in Orissa after putting it on hold.
    Feb 1: Shahjahanur/Bareilly: 15 youths are killed and several others injured when they fell from the roof of two speeding trains crammed with job aspirants returning from an ITBP recruitment camp in Bareilly in UP. The incidents triggered violent protests as angry youths torched a train.
    Feb 2: New Delhi: A Raja, who as Telecom Minister had allegedly manipulated procedures in allocation of 2G spectrum is arrested along with two officials by CBI, a week before it has to file its final investigation report in Supreme Court.
    Feb 2: Mumbai: CBI, which has registered a case against former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and 12 others in Adarsh Housing Society scam, approached state government seeking logistical support for the investigation.
    Feb 5: Kolkata: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee rules out disclosing names of those who have stashed away money in tax havens abroad but discloses that notices have been sent to 17 of 18 names of account holders in a bank in Liechtenstein.
    Feb 6: Srinagar: In wake of killing of innocent youth in North Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah pulls up the Army for violating the Standard operating Procedure and directs security agencies to completely avoid human rights violation.
Feb 9: Ghaziabad: Parents of slain teenager Aarushi
Talwar--Rajesh and Nupur--have been ordered to face trial in the murder of their daughter and servant Hemraj more than two years ago after local court rejected agency's closure report.
    Feb 9: New Delhi: In line with CAG's findings on 2G spectrum scam, telecom regulator TRAI recommends a whopping over six-fold jump in 2G spectrum cost for operators, a move that may make mobile services costlier.
    Feb 10: Bilaspur: Chhattisgarh High Court rejects bail application of rights activist Binayak Sen, who is sentenced
to life imprisonment by a sessions court on charges of sedition and links with Naxalites.
    Feb 14: New Delhi: CBI brings fresh charges of forgery and cheating against former Telecom Minister A Raja and Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa who have been arrested in connection with 2G spectrum allocation scam case.
    Feb 15: New Delhi: Supreme Court upholds death sentence to Nithari serial killer Surinder Koli for murdering 14-year- old Rimpa Haldar, one of his first victims in the serial rape -cum-killing episode six years back.
    Feb 16: New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit reshuffles her Cabinet by dropping a Minister, inducting a loyalist and changing portfolios of almost all ministers.
    Feb 17: New Delhi: Government scraps the controversial S -Band spectrum deal between ISRO's commercial arm and a private company on grounds of strategic interest and said it was prepared to face legal consequences.
    Feb 18: Jalandhar: Lt Gen (Retd) S K Sahni sentenced to 3 years RI and cashiered from service after being found guilty of irregularities in procurement of rations for troops in Jammu and Kashmir.
    Feb 19: New Delhi: Directorate of Revenue Intelligence slaps cases of FEMA and Customs Act violation on Pakistani Sufi Singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and his manager Maroof in connection with recovery of huge undeclared foreign currency from them at the airport here.
Feb 18: New Delhi: CBI moves Supreme Court challenging an
Allahabad High Court order that dropped charges of criminal conspiracy against top BJP leaders including L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
    Feb 20: New Delhi: The birdflu outbreak in Agartala in Tripura gets confirmed to be the highly virulent H5 strain which if transmitted to humans can be deadly.
    Feb 21: Mumbai: Bombay HC upholds sentence of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab for "brutal and diabolical" 26/11 Mumbai attacks aimed at "destabilising" the government.
    Feb 22: New Delhi: Prime Minister announces government's decision to set up a JPC into the 2G spectrum scam.
    Feb 22: Ahmedabad: 31 people are convicted and 63 others, including the main accused Maulvi Umarji, are acquitted by a special court here in the 2002 Godhra train burning incident that left 59 people dead and triggered violence in Gujarat that had claimed the lives of over 1200 people.
    Feb 23: New Delhi: Former Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Secretary General Lalit Bhanot and OC Director General V K Verma arrested by the CBI in connection with alleged irregularities in the Rs 107 crore deal inked with a Swiss timing firm.
    Feb 25: New Delhi: No increase in passenger fares in Railway Budget for 2011-12 and no hike in freight rates while 56 new trains, including nine non-stop Duronto trains and three Shatabdis introduced.
    Feb 26: Mumbai/New Delhi: India begins pulling its nationals out of turmoil-hit Libya by two Air India planes, including a Boeing carrying 291 people, even as 67 Indians crossed over to Egypt by road and were taken to Cairo on their way back home.
    Mar 1: Ahmedabad: Eleven convicts in Godhra train burning case get death sentence while 20 others get lifers by a special court in 2002 incident that left 59 'karsevaks' dead and triggered riots which claimed over 1200 lives in Gujarat.

 Mar 7:  Mumbai/Pune: Stud farm owner Hasan Ali Khan,
accused of massive money laundering and tax evasion, arrested by Enforcement Directorate which carried out multi-city searches at his Pune home and his associates' premises.
    Mar 8: New Delhi: A second-year degree student is shot dead by an unidentified person near her college in south Delhi in broad daylight with police suspecting a stalker.
    Mar 12: New Delhi: Former CVC P J Thomas decides to move Supreme Court seeking review by a Constitution bench of its March 3 judgement quashing his appointment, claiming that judiciary has no right to decide his eligibility for the post without prior reference from the President.
    Mar 15: New Delhi: Suspended Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi is questioned by the CBI for the second time in connection with alleged scams related to the conduct of the sporting extravaganza.
    Mar 18: Trinamool Congress unilaterally announces candidates for 228 constituencies for Assembly elections in West Bengal, leaving 64 seats to the national party.
    Mar 19:  New Delhi/Lucknow: Jats, agitating for job quota, withdraw their fortnight-long blockade from the railway tracks following an Allahabad HC order but a meeting between protesters and government fail to find amicable solution.
    Mar 21: New Delhi: Congress, Trinamool Congress reach seat-sharing agreement with former settling for 65 seats, against original demand of 90, in 294-member West Bengal Assembly.
    Mar 24: New Delhi: Shunglu committee finds procedural violations in construction of over 1,000 flats inside CWG village by real estate developer Emmar MGF, and indicts Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna for alleged inadequacies.
    Mar 26: Ghaziabad: The wife of Hemraj, who was killed along with teenaged girl Aarushi in Noida, moves a local court, trying the double murder case, seeking recording of her statement about a purported conversation with her husband who had talked of "threat" to his life and said she suspected the hands of Talwars in the killings.
Mar 28: New Delhi: Parliament's Public Accounts Committee
calls leading industrialists, including Ratan Tata and Anil Ambani, and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia to appear before the panel in connection with 2G spectrum scam.
    Apr 1: India registered a 50 per cent dip in number of new cases of HIV infections in this decade says a UN report.
    Apr 6: New Delhi: PM Manmohan Singh approves new guidelines for appointment of CVC, following which government sets ball rolling for choosing a head of top anti-corruption watchdog after removal of controversial P J Thomas.
    Apr 8: New Delhi: Government blinks in war of attrition with Anna Hazare by agreeing to issue a formal order to set up a 10-member joint committee for drafting a strong Lokpal Bill and the Gandhian will end his fast.
    Apr 13: New Delhi: China drops broad hints at reversing its 2-year-old practice of issuing stapled visas to people from Jammu-Kashmir, saying it was willing to work with India resolve issues relating to people to people exchanges.
    Apr 7: New Delhi: The war over an alleged CD involving eminent lawyer Shanti Bhushan intensifies with his son Prashant claiming the disc was "doctored" using 2006 conversations of Mulayam Singh Yadav and says he will move Supreme Court on the ground it was intended to influence judgements in 2G and Amar Singh tape cases.
    Apr 18: Raipur: Rights activist Binayak Sen, who was behind bars for nearly four months serving a life term for sedition and Maoists links, is released from Chattisgarh's central prison, 3 days after Supreme Court granted him bail.
    Apr 24: Puttaparthi: Godman Sathya Sai Baba, a cult like figure who had a phenomenal following, including the high and mighty, across the globe dies battling illness caused by a multi-organ failure for nearly a month.
    Apr 27: New Delhi: About 800 pilots from erstwhile Indian Airlines go on a strike demanding pay parity with Air India pilots and better working conditions, leading to cancellation of over 20 flights and disruption of many others.

 Apr 27: Dharamsala: Harvard scholar Lobsang Sangay is
elected Prime Minister of Tibetan Government-in-Exile and would take over the political duties relinquished by spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
    Apr 29: New Delhi: With the Air India pilots' stir affecting travellers, the airline issues an "ultimatum" to pilots asking them to resume work even as the Delhi High Court refused to stay a management order derecognising their union.
    May 4:
    Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorji Khandu, who went missing on a flight from Tawang, is dead along with four others after their helicopter crashed in bad weather in the mountains and their bodies and the wreckage are located.
    May 6: New Delhi: Air India pilots call off their 10-day -old strike that resulted in an estimated loss of over Rs 150 crore as Government agrees to reinstate sacked and suspended pilots and look into their demands within a time-frame.
    May 8: New Delhi: Suspense continues over arrest of DMK MP Kanimozhi with a special court reserving for May 14 its orders on her bail application after CBI strongly objected to it saying her "complicity" in the alleged bribe given to Kalaignar TV in the 2G scam was clear.
    May 11: Greater Noida: Rahul Gandhi is arrested and later released by UP police after he slips in unnoticed in pre-dawn hours to support farmers agitating against state's land acquisition process for a expressway project.
    May 13: Kolkata/Chennai: Mamata Banerjee storms the Red bastion terminating the Left Front's 34-year stranglehold on West Bengal, while Jayalalithaa knocked DMK out of power in Tamil Nadu with a landslide victory in the assembly elections.
    May 14: New Delhi: In the biggest ever price increase of the fuel, state-owned oil companies hike petrol price by Rs 5 per litre with effect from midnight May 15.
    May 21:  New Delhi: Kanimozhi, DMK MP and daughter of M Karunanidhi, arrested in connection with the 2G spectrum case, is set to move Delhi High Court for bail
 May 30: New Delhi: India and Pakistan discuss
demilitarisation of Siachen, a mountainous region where borderline is not demarcated, in a "constructive framework", picking up the threads of the issue after gap of 3 years.
    June 1: New Delhi: Government deputes its four senior Cabinet  ministers to the Delhi airport in a bid to persuade Baba Ramdev to give up his indefinite fast on corruption but yoga guru insists that he would go ahead with it from June 4.
        June 5: New Delhi/Haridwar: The dramatic eviction of Baba Ramdev in the middle of night in a swoop by Delhi police set off a slugfest between the UPA and the Sangh Parivar and the yoga guru who announced that he would continue his agitation against black money.
    June 7: New Delhi: India refrains from assuring support to French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde for her candidature for top IMF post, even as she said she has received "positive views" from New Delhi.
    June10: Chennai: Ending days of uncertainty, the DMK decides not to pull out of the UPA Government over the 2G spectrum scam, but accused the CBI of adopting "double standards" by arresting party MP Kanimozhi in the case.
    June 11: Mumbai: A senior journalist with an English tabloid 'Mid-Day', who extensively covered underworld and crime for over two decades, was shot dead in broad daylight by four unidentified bike-borne persons who pumped five bullets on him from behind in suburban Powai.
    June 12: Dehradun: Yoga guru Baba Ramdev breaks his nine-day-old fast that sparked a political slugfest heeding appeals of spiritual and religious leaders but vows to continue his campaign against corruption.
    June 18: New Delhi: Government makes clear its opposition to bringing the post of Prime Minister under the purview of Lokpal till he demits office and rules out opening the conduct of MPs inside Parliament as also the higher judiciary to scrutiny of the proposed ombudsman.

 June 20: Panchkula (Haryana): After a four-year-long
probe, the National Investigation Agency charges suspected right-wing extremist Swami Aseemanand and four others with triggering explosions in the cross-border Samjhauta Express in 2007 that left 68 people dead.
    June 25: New Delhi: The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) decides to strengthen its guidelines on the transfer of sensitive enrichment and reprocessing technologies (ENR).
    June 27: Mumbai: Underworld don Chhota Rajan ordered the killing of senior crime journalist Jyotirmoy Dey 16 days back and 7 persons including two sharp shooters are arrested, says Mumbai police but remains tightlipped about motive.
    June 29: New Delhi: PM Manmohan Singh rules out inclusion of higher judiciary within the ambit of Lokpal.
    July 1: Mumbai: Kannada actress Maria Susairaj gets a maximum three years' imprisonment while her boyfriend and former Navy officer Emile Jerome gets 10-year jail in brutal killing of Neeraj Grover.
    July 2: New Delhi: Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar chosen Chief Vigilance Commissioner, four months after Supreme Court quashed appointment of P J Thomas to post.
    July 7: New Delhi: Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran resigns from the Union Cabinet, becoming the second DMK casualty in the Government in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
    July 8:  New Delhi: The Supreme Court restrains the seven-member committee from opening vaults of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, which according to estimates contains wealth worth over Rs one lakh crore.
    July 10: Fatehpur (UP): At least 38 passengers were killed and about 210 injured when 15 bogies of a speeding Delhi-bound Kalka Mail derailed here -- the second major train mishap in a week in Uttar Pradesh.
    July 12:New Delhi: Controversial Jairam Ramesh is elevated to Cabinet status and shifted from the high-profile Environment Ministry and Veerappa Moily replaced by Salman Khursheed as Law Minister in a substantive reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers.

July 18: Rawatbhata (Raj): India begins construction of
its 25th atomic power plant and announces to build four more indigenous 700 MW units than planned earlier.
    July 21: Bangalore: Lokayukta indicts Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and his ministers in a "huge racket" of illegal mining and finds that his sons got kickbacks of Rs 30 crores from a mining firm.
    July 22: Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate issues a showcause notice to BCCI and suspends IPL commissioner  Lalit
Modi for transfer of Rs 90 crore to UK, in connection with its probe in the alleged financial irregularities in the T20 cricket tournament.
    July 23: Hyderabad: Putting an end to the 20-day-old political drama, Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar rejects the resignation of 101 Telangana MLAs.
    July 25: New Delhi: After A Raja, former Telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura seeks to implicate Prime Minister in the 2G spectrum scam, claiming that PMO was kept in the loop by the then Telecom Minister on the first-come-first- served policy in the award of licenses.
    July 27: New Delhi: Supreme Court orders immediate suspension of mining and transportation of iron ore from Bellary district of the state saying "over-exploitation" of the area has caused large-scale environmental degradation.
    July 31: Bangalore: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, resigns ending three days of defiance and favours sitting Lok Sabha MP D V Sadananda Gowda as his successor.
    Aug 3: New Delhi: Delhi High Court dismisses Centre's appeal challenging a 2007 order of the Income Tax tribunal that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, birthday gifts from supporters were exempted from taxation under the IT Act.
    Aug 4: Bangalore: Lok Sabha member D V Sadananda Gowda is sworn-in as chief minister of Karnataka, succeeding B S Yeddyurappa, who quit in the wake of the Lokayukta report on illegal mining that indicted him. 

 Aug 8: New Delhi: US hands over to India documents
related to Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana,
 Accused
of offering support to 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, and his confessional statements that will help NIA to file a charge sheet against him.
    Aug 9: New Delhi: The Supreme Court rejects plea of the Jayalalithaa government in Tamil Nadu, for scrapping uniform education system brought in by earlier DMK government and directed its immediate implementation.
    Aug 12: New Delhi: President Pratibha Patil rejects the clemency petitions of three killers of Rajiv Gandhi whose death sentences were confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2000.
    Aug 14: New Delhi: President Pratibha Patil condoles the death of veteran actor Shammi Kapoor.
    Aug 16: New Delhi: Anna Hazare refuses to leave Tihar Jail despite being offered a release, 15 hours after being detained and prevented from going on fast for strong Lokpal.
    Aug 17: New Delhi: Rajya Sabha takes up impeachment proceedings against Calcutta High Court judge Justice Soumitra Sen, who claimed he was being victimised and made "sacrificial lamb" to cleanse the judiciary.
    Aug 20: New Delhi: Filmstar Chiranjeevi formally joins Congress and hails Rahul Gandhi as
future prime minister.
    Aug 21: Hyderabad: 29 MLAs, loyal to Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, deciding to quit in Andhra Pradesh against mention of late YSR's name in the FIR of CBI in its probe in the case related to the Kadapa MP.
    Aug 28: New Delhi: Anna Hazare breaks 12-day-old fast declaring that poll reforms will be top of his agenda next so that corruption can come down.
    Aug 30:  Chennai: Ten days before their hanging, three Rajiv Gandhi killers get a reprieve from Madras HC which stayed their execution for eight weeks even as Tamil Nadu assembly in an unprecedented unanimous resolution appealed to the President to reconsider their mercy pleas.

Sep 2: New Delhi: With Income Tax office slapping a
notice on activist Arvind Kejriwal to pay dues, Team Anna Hazare alleges that the government is back to its "dirty tricks department" and that officials were pressurised by "political bosses" to act against them.
    Srinagar: Jammu-Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announces general amnesty scheme for youths in over 1,200 cases of stone-pelting in Valley during last summer's unrest.
    Aug 29: Ahmedabad: Slamming the CBI for its "botched up" and "blinkered" investigations, the Gujarat High Court drops murder charges against the 12 accused in the killing of former minister Haren Pandya eight years ago.
    Sept 4: New Delhi: India and Pakistan reach a "back- channel" agreement on the Kashmir issue during the tenure of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, PM Manmohan Singh had told a visiting US Congressional team.
    Sept 5: New Delhi: The much-talked about Land Acquisition Bill, which provides for enhanced compensation to land owners and other benefits, approved by Union Cabinet notwithstanding reservations from some senior ministers on some aspects.
    Sept 6: New Delhi: MP Amar Singh is arrested and lodged in Tihar Jail in sensational twist in cash-for-vote scam that rocked Parliament three years ago after he made a dramatic appearance in a local court within hours of claiming to beill.
    Sept 7: New Delhi: A high intensity briefcase bomb rocks the crowded reception area in the Delhi High Court killing 11 people and injuring 76 in a major terror attack that struck the Capital after a gap of three years.
    Sept 11: Sunday
    Dehradun: Former army general Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri takes over as new Uttarakhand Chief Minister, vowing to fight corruption as BJP handed him the reins of power barely six months ahead of assembly polls.

 Sept 12: Supreme Court declines to pass any order on
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's alleged inaction to contain riots in 2002 and leaves it to the trial court to decide course of action against him on basis of SIT report.
    Sept 13: Chennai: At least seven persons are killed and 85 others injured when a passenger train from Chennai rams into a stationary train near Arakkonam, derailing 5 coaches, in the third major rail accident in two months.
    Sept 15: New Delhi: Rendered out of action for over a month by her illness, Congress President Sonia Gandhi makes her first public appearance before a group of top party leaders bringing cheer to them and to the rank and file.
    Sept 17: Fighting hard to remove the taint of 2002 violence, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi began a three- day fast for peace and communal harmony vowing to end votebank politics but said nothing directly by way of regret for the post-Godhra carnage.
    New Delhi: India supported rebel-backed National Transitional Council of Libya and announced plans of considering a USD 2 million assistance to the country.
    Sept 18:
    Gangtok: A powerful earthquake with a 6.8 magnitude hit Sikkim and several areas in the eastern part of the country and neighbouring Nepal, leaving 18 dead and over 100 injured besides causing damage to buildings and roads.
    Sept 22: The Supreme Court says the vault 'B' of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple will be opened only after substantial work regarding documentation and preservation of assets unearthed from other vaults of the shrine is completed.
    Sept 27
    New Delhi: Portugese Court orders termination of extradition of underworld don Abu Salem for breach of agreement by India for slapping offences that attract death penalty.
Sept 30
    Ahmedabad: Suspended IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt, who had
implicated Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in 2002 post- Godhra riots, is arrested after a police constable filed an FIR against him.
    Balasore (Orissa): After perfect trial of 'Shourya' and 'Prithvi-II', India successfully test fired nuclear capable 'Agni-II' ballistic missile with a strike range of 2,000 km as part of user trial by armed forces from Wheeler Island off Orissa coast.
    Oct 1
    Ahmedabad: A day after suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt is arrested, his family says they fear for his life and have written to Gujarat Commissioner of Police demanding justice.
    Oct 2
    New Delhi/Hyderabad: Bringing his fight for a separate Telangana to the national capital, TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao stages a sit-in at Rajghat, rejecting
 Centre's decision
to hold "further consultations".
    Oct 5
    New Delhi: Pakistan is a "twin brother" and India a "great friend", Afghan President Hamid Karzai says in an obvious attempt to reassure Pakistan that the Strategic Partnership Agreement signed here was not targeted against it.
    New Delhi: The world's cheapest tablet PC, priced at around Rs 1,200, will now be available to students in the country as part of the government's programme to expand education through information technology.
    Oct 9
    New Delhi: Supreme Court stays the death sentence of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attack, on his petition that he does not deserve to be hanged because of his young age but it wonders whether he deserved to be heard.

 Oct 11
    Sitabdiara/Chapra: BJP stalwart L K Advani sets off on
his sixth yatra in 21 years to focus on rash of scams and black money issues, giving a clarion call for not just 'change' in leadership but also change in the system.
    New Delhi: After nearly 10 years in jail, dismissed IPS officer Ravi Kant Sharma is acquitted in the sensational murder case of journalist Shivani Bhatnagar by the Delhi High Court which itself raised questions as to who were behind the killing and what was the motive for it.
    Oct 16
    Jaipur: Rajasthan Minister Mahipal Maderna, suspected to be involved in the case of disappearance of nurse Bhanwari Devi, is sacked by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
    Oct 17
    Hisar: Kuldeep Bishnoi, HJC-BJP combine nominee, wins the battle for the prestigious Hisar Lok Sabha by-election in Haryana in a tight race in which Team Anna vigorously campaigned against the Congress which lost deposit.
    Oct 20
    New Delhi: Team Anna plunges into yet another controversy with allegations against Kiran Bedi that she over charged companies and institutions by inflating her travel expenses, evoking a strong attack from Congress and former colleagues in the anti-corruption campaign.
    Oct 28
    New Delhi: In a u-turn, Anna Hazare declares that he will campaign against Congress in five states where Assembly elections are due next year if the UPA government fails to get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed in Winter Session of Parliament.
    Nov 5
    Mumbai: Legendary singer-composer Bhupen Hazarika, who wove a magical tapestry out of traditional Assamese music and lyrics, dies following a prolonged illness.

Nov 8
    Haridwar: Sixteen people--14 women and two men-- are
killed in a stampede during a religious ceremony attended by tens of thousands of devotees near the famous 'Har Ki Pauri' ghat on the banks of the Ganges river.
    Nov 12
    New Delhi: The US apologises to former President A P J Abdul Kalam who was twice subjected to frisking at New York airport by American security officials.
    Nov 13
    Phulpur: Launching Congress party's election campaign symbolically from late Jawaharlal Nehru's constituency, Rahul Gandhi unleashes a scathing attack on Mayawati government calling it "corrupt and insensitive".
    Nov 17
    Mumbai/Chennai: Nuclear regulators of India and US undertake a review of safety measures at various atomic power plants in two countries in aftermath of Fukushima disaster.
    Nov 20
    New Delhi: Former Telecom Minister Sukh Ram, is sentenced to five years imprisonment by a Delhi court in a 1996 corruption case and arrested and sent to Tihar jail.
    Nov 21
    New Delhi: At least 14 eunuchs are killed and over 40 others injured when a major fire sweeps through an east Delhi community hall where a congregation was taking place.
    New Delhi: All difficult issues, including boundary question, came up during the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his counterpart Wen Jiabao in Bali and they said these would be worked out.
    Nov 22
    Lucknow: Chief Minister Mayawati pushes through resolution to split Uttar Pradesh into four parts in the state Assembly in less than 10 minutes ignoring stiff opposition after which the House was adjourned sine die.

Ahmedabad: In a blow to the Narendra Modi
 Government, the
Gujarat High Court-appointed SIT concludes police encounter with college girl Ishrat Jehan and three others was fake as they were killed prior to the incident.
    Nov 23: Giridih (Jharkhand): Seven passengers burnt to death when a fire broke out in two AC coaches of Howrah- Dehradun Doon Express with authorities
 Suspecting the hand of
miscreants.
    New Delhi: Five top corporate executives, accused in 2G spectrum allocation scam, are granted bail by Supreme Court.
    Nov 25: Kolkata: Maoists top leader Kishenji is killed in gunbattle with security forces in a forest in West Midnapore district of West Bengal, a day after he narrowly escaped jail.
    Nov 26: New Delhi: Border talks between India and China scheduled to commence here have been indefinitely postponed.
    Nov 28: Imphal: United Naga Council lifts its 100-day economic blockade on the Manipur side of two national highways without any condition but with a caveat that agitation would be re-launched if the government did not make an 'alternative arrangement' for Nagas in the state.
    Dec 1: New Delhi: Union Cabinet finalises and approves India's stand at the ongoing UN Climate Conference in Durban.
    Dec 10: Dehra Dun: Visiting Sri Lankan army chief Lt Gen Jagath Jayasuriya says though China’s influence in Indian Ocean is growing, it is not posing any threat to Indian sub- continent.
    Dec 11: New Delhi: Leaders of non-UPA parties share dais with Anna Hazare during his one-day fast here backing him on a strong Lokpal but make it clear to him that it will be Parliament that will take the final call and civil society cannot expect all its demands to be accepted.
    Dec 12: New Delhi: Delhi, the political and cultural capital of several empires including the Mughals, adds yet another chapter to its glorious history as it marks 100 years of its re-emergence as modern India's capital.

Dec 19: New Delhi: RLD, with five members in Lok Sabha,
formally joins the UPA amid speculation that its chief Ajit Singh would be included in Cabinet as Civil Aviation Minister.
    Dec 19: New Delhi: Delhi, the political and cultural capital of several empires including the Mughals, adds yet another chapter to its glorious history as it marks 100 years of its re-emergence as modern India's capital.
    Dec 20: New Delhi: Union Cabinet clears three crucial Bills relating to judicial accountability, protection of whistleblowers and Citizens Charter--issues which Anna Hazare wants to be brought under the ambit of the proposed Lokpal.
    Dec 24: New Delhi: The Election Commission announces a seven-phased poll in Uttar Pradesh between February 4 and 28, while assembly elections in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa will be held in a single-phase.
    New Delhi: US-born terrorist David Headley, founder of Lashker-e-Taiba terror group Hafiz Saeed and two serving Pakistani Army officers were among the nine people chargesheeted by NIA for planning and execution of terror strikes in India.
    Dec 25: Mumbai: Renowned director and actor Satyadev Dubey, a maverick theatre guru who went on to become an icon, dies after remaining in coma for the past four months.
    Dec 27: New Delhi: Anna Hazare faces a low turnout as he launches his three-day fast against a "weak" Lokpal Bill asking people to be ready for fight to finish to stamp out corruption and ensure that "goondas" do not enter Parliament.
    Dec 28: Mumbai: Anna Hazare makes a surprise announcement of calling off his campaign to fill jails ended his fast.
    Dec 28: New Delhi: India termed as "sensible resolution" of a sensitive issue the rejection of a petition seeking a ban on Bhagvad Gita by a Russian court and said it was glad to "put this episode behind us."

BEd colleges in INDIA

B.Ed Colleges in India


List of B.Ed Colleges in India

College Name     Address     Contact Details
Dr. Zakir Hussain Teachers Training College     Darbhanga, Bihar     Telephone: 06272-23311 ,Email: info@zhttc.org
St Ann's College of Education     SD Road, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh     Telephone: 040-27804604 Email: info@stannscoe.com
A.G. Teachers College     University Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, Gujarat     Telephone: 02692-231890
St. Xaviers College of Education     Digha Ghat P.O. Patna-800011     Telephone: 0612-2260253 Email: xaviers@sancharnet.in
Loyola College of Education     NCB 21-28, P.S. Kumaraswamy Raja Salai, Raja Annamalaipuram, East Singhbhum, Jharkhand     Telephone: 0657-2488245 Email: loyolajsr@sify.com
Bombay Teachers Training College     Mahakavi Bhushan Marg, Near Reagal Cinema, Opp. Apollo Hotel, Colaba, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India - 400039     Telephone: 2222047160 Email: info@bttc.edu
Lady Irwin College     Sikandra Road New Delhi - 110001     Telephone: 1123711222 Email: contactus@ladyirwin.edu.in
C E S College of Educational Research And Training     Bal Bharti Public School Campus,Parwana Road, Pitampura,New Delhi - 110 034     Telephone: +91-11-27017900
College of Education     Bhai Parmanand Institute of Business,Shakarpur Delhi 110092     Telephone: 011-22543891, 011-22017393
P. V. D. T. College of Education For Women     No 1 Nathibai Thackersey Road,New Marine Lines,Mumbai     Telephone:022-2031879 Email: pvdtce@sndt.ac.in
Biyani D. Ed. & B. Ed. College     Jamner Road, Bhusawal, Dist.Jalgaon     Telephone: 02582-242010, 02582-242011 Email: manoj-biyani@yahoo.co.in
Sri Sikshayatan College     11, Lord Sinha Road Kolkata -16     Telephone: 033-22826033 , 033-22827296 Email: principal@shrishikshayatancollege.org
Government College of Education     Sector-20D, Chandigarh     Telephone: 91-0172-2700075 (o) 91-0172-2784182 (o) Email: gcechd@yahoo.co.in
SNDT Women's University     Nathibai Thavkersey Road, New Marine Lines, Mumbai.     Telephone: 2222031879 / 22032159 / 22032328
Department of Education, Himachal Pradesh University     Summer Hills,Himachal Pradesh,india-171005     Telephone: 1772831637 / 1772830273 Email: himvarsity1@gmail.com
K. J. Somaiya Comprehensive College of Education, Training and Research     Vidyanagari Vidyavihar - (East) Mumbai - 400 077     Telephone: 21022265 Fax: 21024458 Email: principal@bed.somaiya.edu
Bangalore City College     160, Chelekere Main Road Banaswadi Outer Ring Road, Kalyanagar Post, Behind Bts Bus Depot, Bangalore.     Telephone: 8025459956 / 8025439953 Email: director@bangalorecitycollege.org
Army Institute of Education (AIE)     Army Institute of Education,Kandhar Lines, Ring Road,Delhi Cantt.New Delhi 110 010     Telephone: 1125683535 Email: aiedelhi@gmail.com
Scottish Church College     Scottish Church College, 1 & 3 Urquhart Square, Kolkata, India.     Telephone: 3323503862 / 3323547105 / 3323607533 Email: principal@scottishchurch.ac.in
St. Xavier`s College     30 Park Street (30 Mother Teresa Sarani),Kolkata,india-700016     Telephone: 3322875995 Email: principal@sxccal.edu
Nirmala Institute of Education     Altinho, Panjim, Goa - 403 001.     Telephone: 0091 8322 225633 Fax: 0091 8322 420186 Email: niegoa@gmail.com
CSI College of Education     CSI Institutional Campus,Pasumalai, 625004 Madurai, Tamilnadu     Telephone: 91 0452 6455655 Email: info@csibedcollege.org
Farook Training College     P.O Kozhikode, 673632, Kerala, India     Telephone: 0495 2440662, 2443218
Jesus and Mary College     Delhi     Telephone: +(91)-(011)-26110041, 26875800
Fax No. : +(91)-(011)-4105466
Email : jmc@ndb.vsnl.net.in
B. N. College of Education     Jammu     Telephone: 9419190310, 0191-2493980
Lady Shri Ram College for Women     Delhi     Telephone: 91-11-26434459, 26460400, 26460434, 45494949
Fax: 91-11-26216951
E-mail: lsrc@lsr.edu.in
Shree S. N. Shukla B.Ed. College     Rajkot     Telephone: +91 98240 61113 , 0281-2224362, 3098393
Amity Institute of Education     Delhi     Telephone: 011 - 29561208, 29561182
Tele-Fax : 011 - 29562050
E-mail : rbhatia@aie.amity.edu
Govt. College of Teacher Education     Trivandrum     Telephone: 0471- 2323964
Fax : 0471-5533324
E-mail : gctetvm@gmail.com, principal@gctetvm.com
Mahatma Gandhi University College of Teacher Education     Kottayam     Telephone: 0482-8202952
Andhra Mahila Sabha College of Education     Hyderabad     Telephone: 91-040-27098573
Email: cte_ams@yahoo.co.in
Institute of Advanced Studies In Education     Delhi     --
R.C. Sharia Teachers Training College     Darrang     --
Navabharathi College of Education     Hyderabad     Telephone: 040 - 27861602 / 27860059
Email: info@navabharathicollegeofeducation.org

Poverty haunts India's economic miracle

 Poverty haunts India's economic miracle by Penny MacRae

ZARUA, India, July 18, 2010 (AFP) -

When flames from an open cooking fire raced through Fida Hussein's shack in

northern India, it was a disaster for him and his poverty-stricken family.
"We have nothing," said Hussein as he stood in the ruins of his hut through which

the sky could be seen between the burnt roof timbers in a remote corner of Uttar

Pradesh, India's most populous state.
India's number of millionaires grew by 51 percent to 126,700 in 2009, according

to US investment bank Merrill Lynch and consultants Capgemini, boosted by a

buoyant economy which grew 8.6 percent in the last fiscal quarter.
But increasing wealth has not trickled down to the likes of 40-year-old Hussein, a

landless labourer whose seamed face is prematurely aged, and his family of six

children who have no toys, books or other possessions.
"We have no clothes, no furniture," he said, gesturing to what remained of his

burned out shack which he had roughly patched up with plastic bags.
"We have only one quilt -- eight of us sleep under it in winter," he said, as his

children played in the dirt yard outside the hut. "But there's no use in crying -- no

one hears us," he added.
Like the more than 400 million Indians who have no electricity, Hussein's home

has has no lighting and there is no running water in the huts in his village, which

lies 60 kilometres (40 miles) from the state capital Lucknow.
In 1947, in his midnight independence address, India's first prime minister,

Jawaharlal Nehru, called for "the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and

inequality of opportunity."
It's an end that still seems a long way off.
-- Jump in number of Indians below poverty line --
In April, the Planning Commission, India's premier economic policymaking body,

raised its estimate of the number of Indians living in poverty -- unable to meet their

nutritional needs -- from 28 percent to 37 percent, which is roughly 440 million of

the 1.2 billion population.
A new international Mulitple Poverty Index, developed at Oxford University and

measuring a wide range of household-level deprivation, suggests that more people

are mired in poverty in just eight Indian states than in the 26 poorest African

countries.
"There are two categories growing in the 'Rising India'... the super rich, and the

abysmally poor," noted newspaper editor M.J. Akbar in a recent column.
The left-of-centre Congress government was re-elected on a pro-poor platform that

promised to do something for its main support base in India's rural hinterlands.
During its first term, it increased social spending, raising health and education

budgets and launched a huge public works program -- the National Rural

Employment Guarantee Act -- and a big loan repayment waiver for farmers.
But Hussein, who does work for local farmers, says he has not managed to obtain a

card needed to work in the jobs scheme. Others in the area complain that they only

get a few days work with the programme.
Former premier Rajiv Gandhi once said only 15 percent of development money

gets to its intended targets. While things have improved, there is still a lot of

"leakage" from poverty programmes.
The government will spend at least 250 billion dollars on services for the poor in

the next five years but a recent report by investment house CLSA Asia Pacific

Markets estimated more than 100 billion dollars would be skimmed off.
"There's personal gain going on at public cost where people who are supposed to

look after the interests of the people accumulate large sums," Anupama Jha,

executive director of Transparency International India, said.
Corruption, she said, is rife -- percolating through government, the private sector,

the police and the judiciary.
"There are signs of deterioration in behaviour where people who have access to

money do not feel accountable to the people they represent," Jha said.
"The poor are not spared even in the case of targeted programmes" and are often

obliged to pay bribes to take advantage of public services, according to a recent

study by the group.
-- Stuck in moneylender trap --
-------------------------------
Hardwari Lal, a labourer who has three children and whose wife is expecting a

fourth, says he also has not received the card needed to get work.
Lal, 32, owes a moneylender who is charging five percent interest a month on a

7,000 rupee (150-dollar) loan he took out for his son's hospital bill.
"There is only so much I can do," he said, adding he has no way of feeding his

family properly as he can barely keep up with the interest payments let alone make a

dent in the principal.
"So many poor villagers are caught up in this cycle of poverty where they get into

difficulty and go to a moneylender," said local development worker Vikrant

Kumar.
As part of its anti-poverty drive, the government is drafting a Right to Food Act

which calls for a government-subsidized minimum of 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of

wheat and rice a month for households below the poverty line.
Hussain feeds his six children two meals a day -- potatoes and wheat chapatis or

flat bread -- and eats one meal a day himself. Dal, the mainstay of Indian diets

because of its high protein, is too expensive, he says.
Malnutrition among under-fives in India stands at 43.5 percent -- worse than

sub-Saharan Africa -- and only nine percentage points less than when India's

"economic miracle" began in 1991.
During the same period, India's gross domestic product per capita has jumped

50-fold.
"We have gone from being a food deficit country to a food surplus country, which

is a big achievement, but there's a lot to be done in terms of getting the food to

people who need it," said Indian political author Ajoy Bose.
"You look slightly stupid in claiming to be a major power or even a modern

progressive state if you haven't done the very elementary basics for your

marginalised population," Bose said.
Mountains of grain and vegetables still rot each year due to poor storage and

distribution.
The immense gap between poor and rich has been pointed to by numerous

commentators as a factor fuelling a growing Maoist insurgency that has spread

across a large swathe of the country and is at its strongest in remote, impoverished

regions.
"It is not just poverty that is increasing, it also the inequality," said senior Indian

communist leader Brinda Karat.
The government insists it needs double-digit growth to eradicate poverty, but New

Delhi-based food and trade policy analyst Devinder Sharma argues that effective

distribution of wealth is the real key.
"We are already on a growth trajectory, but people are getting poorer. Eradicating

poverty is not woven into growth," he said.

Email address telephones INDIA

Details of Public Grievance Appellate Authority
Sl No. Name of the Circle Name of the Officer / Designation Office Address E-mail Address Office Phone FAX Number
1 A&N Telecom Circle Port Blair Atanu Ghosh, CGM A&N Telecom Circle, Telephone Bhavan, Port Blair cgm_an@bsnl.co.in 03192-233800 03192-233660
2 Andhra Pradesh Telecom circle Office M.S.S. Rao, GM(O) O/o CGMT, Doorsanchar Bhavan, Room No. 904, Abidi, Hyderabad-500001 gm_bd_ap@bsnl.co.in 040-23203355 040-23201103
3 Assam Telecom circle Office Soumya Ray, GM(D) O/o the CGM, Assam Telecom Circle/ BSNL, Guwahati-1. gmd_assam@bsnl.co.in 0361-2736310 0361-2527007
4 Bihar Telecom Circle Office H.S. Dwivedi, GM(NC) O/o CGMT, 5th Floor, Sanchar Sadan, Sanchar Parisar, Budha Road, patna gmbdnc_bihar@bsnl.co.in 0612-2239952 0612-2221681
5 Chhattisgarh Telecom Circle Office Jamuna Prasad, G.M. O/o CGMT, BSNL, Khamhardih Telephone Exchange, Campus, Vidhan Sabha Road, Khamhardih, Raipur-492007 pg_cgappeal@bsnl.in 0771-2229300 0771-2228300
6 Chennai Telephones G. SELVAM, GM(Operations) O/o, CGM, 78, Purasawalkam High Road, Chennai-600010 gselvam@bsnl.co.in 044-26613800 044-26616430
7 Gujarat Telecom Circle Office Ajit Singh, PGM(O), O/o CGMT, Telephone Bhavan, Near Navrangpura Telephone Exchange, C.G. Road, Ahmedabad-380006 pgmo_guj@bsnl.co.in 079-26481050 079-26481600
8 Himachal Pradesh Telecom circle Office A.K. Sanghi, GM(Opn.) O/o CGMT, H.P. Telecom Circle,SDA Complex, Block No.-11, Shimla-9 app_auth_@bsnl.co.in 0177-2626677 0177-2626999
9 Haryana Telecom circle Office B.D. Garg, GM(O) O/o CGMT, 107, The Mall, Ambala Cantt. vishwas4@yahoo.co.in 0171-2602900 0171-2603286
10 Jharkhand Telecom Circle Office B.N. Singh, GM(O) O/o CGMT, Jharkhand Telecom Circle, Ranchi bn_singh@bsncl.co.in 0651-2210028 0651-2210029
11 J&K Telecom circle Office R.K. Pandit, GM(O&D) O/o CGMT, 4th Floor, Bahu Plaza, Rail Head Complex, jammu Tawi-180012 rk_pandit@bsnl.co.in 0191-2477222 0191-2477255
12 Kolkotta Telephone District S.K.Bhaduri, GM(CR) 033-2243-8000 033-2243-8001
13 Kerala Telecom circle Office Amit Mishra, GM(O) O/o CGMT, Doorsanchar Bhavan, Trivandrum-695033 amit_mishra@bsnl.co.in 0471-2306600 0471-2305922
14 Karnataka Telecom circle Office A. Subramanian, GM(O) O/o CGMT, Doora Samparka Bhavan, No.1, Swami Vivekananda Road, Halsuru, Bangalore-560008 gmop_ktk@bsnl.co.in 080-25576577 080-25562602
15 Maharastra Telecom Circle Office B. L. Bordia O/o CGMT, D Wing, 1st Floor, Juhu Danda Admn. Bldg., Mumbai-400054 pgmd_mah@bsnl.co.in 022-26619090 022-26608898
16 M P Telecom Circle Office Bhopal Ziaul Hasan, GM(Op) 407, BSNL Building, Near Press complex, Bhopal-462015 gmo_mp@bsnl.co.in 0755-2760088 0755-2572424
17 NE-I Telecom Circle Office Pa Paramanandhan, GM(M&O) O/o DGM, CTO Building, Shillong-793001 gmmo_ne1@bsnlco.in 0364-2224737 0364-2228244
18 NE-II Telecom Circle Office  
19 Orissa Telecom Circle Office U. S. Panda, GM(O) O/o CGM, BSNL, Orissa, Bhubaneshwar uspanda@bcnl.co.in 0674-2535399 0674-2534545
20 Punjab Telecom circle Office H.K. Verma, GM(OPN.), O/o CGMT, Room No.226, Plot No-2, Sanchar Sadan, Sector 34A, Chandigarh pg_appellete_pb@bsnl.co.in 0172-2604747 0172-2646100
21 Rajasthan Telecom circle Office N.K. Singh, GM(CS) O/o CGMT, Rajasthan Telecom Circle, Jaipur 0141-2379484 0141-2379464
22 Tamilnadu Telecom Circle Office D Varadarajan, PM(O) O/o CGM TN Circle, 80 Annasalai, Chennai-600002 pg_tnpgm@bsnl.co.in 044-28521224 044-28520044
23 UP(E) Telecom Circle Office H.R. Shukla, GM(O) O/o CGMT, UP(East), M.G. Marg, Hazrat Ganj, Lucknow h-r-shukla@bsnl.co.in 0522-2621200 0522-2230300
24 UP(W) Telecom Circle Office S.C.Jain, GM(TS) O/o CGMT, MDA Building, 3rd Floor, Meerut subhashjain@bsnl.co.in 0121-2641415 0121-2411029
25 Uttranchal Telecom Circle Office J. B. Singh, GM(O) O/o, CGMT, UAL, Dehradun gmbdual@bsnl.co.in 0135-2653000 0135-2651099
26 W. B. Telecom Circle Office S.K. Bose, GM(O) O/o CGMT, W.Bengal Telecom Circle, Kolkata gmowb@sancharika.com 033-22100068 033-22100069

Pvt unaided schools can fix own fees but no capitation fees

Pvt unaided schools can fix own fees but no capitation fees:SC

The Supreme Court has held that private unaided schools in the national capital can fix their

own fee structure, sans capitation fees, and transfer their
surplus funds from one school to another provided they are
under the same management.
 A three-judge bench of Justices S B Sinha, S H Kapadia
and Cyriac Joseph, reiterated their earlier ruling that
private schools can fix their own fee structure subject to the
condition that no capitation fee is charged from the student.
  In other words, the Delhi government would not be an
authority to fix the fees but has the power to examine whether
any capitation fee is charged by the schools.
 The bench passed the judgement while dealing with the
review petitions filed by a bunch of schools challenging the
earlier judgement passed by the apex court in 2004 wherein it
was held that the government had the power to examine the fee
structure.
 The judgement assumes significance as private unaided
schools here had challenged an order passed by the Director of
School Education regulating the fee structure in the schools.
 The apex court said the rules governing the fee
structure in schools should be in conformmity with its earlier
Constitution bench judgements in the T M A Pai and P A Inamdar
cases, where it was held that private unaided educational
institutions have the power to fix their own fee structure,
provided no capitation fees are charged.

Four nomads lynched in Bihar

Four members of a nomadic tribe were lynched Thursday evening in Bihar's Kaimur district on the suspicion that they were involved in a theft in the area, police said Friday. Three of the alleged assailants have been arrested. 

The four men were beaten to death at Kudra village in Kaimur district, about 200 km from the state capital, for their alleged involvement in a theft at a liquor shop in the area.

The victims -- identified as Shankar, 30, Lakhan, 26, Majanu, 25 and Soojan, 27 -- were banjaras, a sub-group of the Nat nomadic tribe. Originally hailing from Bharatpur in Rajasthan, they were living along with their families in Kaimur for over a decade and trying to earn a livelihood.

Police have lodged a case and arrested three of the accused, Additional Director General of Police (headquarters) Neelmani said Friday.

Family members of the four victims told police they had gone to the village pond but some people attacked them and others beat them with bamboo sticks and iron rods, killing them.

Some two years ago, a mob lynched 10 men of the Kueri sub-group of the Nat tribe at Rajapakar village in the state's Vaishali district. The incident had hit national headlines.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had ordered a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) probe into the incident, which found that the victims were not thieves and the lynching was not a sequel to any crime or theft case.

According to the report, the men were returning from a feast and got involved in a heated exchange with an auto-rickshaw driver over the fare near Dhelpurwa. The spat attracted a mob, which beat up the men mercilessly.

In rural areas of Bihar, street 'justice' is becoming increasingly common. Over 50 cases of lynching have been reported from the state over the last two-and-half months this year.

Cryobanks International to expand network in Bihar

Cryobanks International India, a cord blood stem cell banker, is eying to expand its network in Bihar where awareness of stem cell banking is still very low, a company official said.

"We will expand our network across the state to create more awareness among people to come forward for stem cell banking," company's marketing head Ashim Ghazi said.

He said till now 18 to 20 umbilical cord blood stem cells were collected from Bihar on an average per month. "So far about 200 parents have stored samples of umbilical cord blood stem cells."

Ghazi said 14,000 of 35,000 samples collected for stem cell banking in India were with Cryobanks International India.

Falgun Sah, medical adviser of Cryobanks International India, said nearly 10,000 people across the world were being treated through stem cell therapy but in India the number is as low as 25 to 30.

Cryobanks International India provides a programme for families that wish to store their baby's stem cells and another for those who prefer to donate.

Bihar curbs medicine that kills vultures

The Bihar government has decided to check the use of anti-inflammatory Diclofenac medicine in treatment of animals as the drug accumulates in the tissues of carcasses and is leading to the death of vultures.

Bihar Animal Resources and Fisheries Minister Ramanarayan Mandal said Friday: "I was told by experts that vultures suffer from renal failure and die after consuming the Diclofenac accumulated in the tissues of the dead animals. 

"We have directed not to go for veterinary use of Diclofenac to save vultures and to help increase their numbers," Mandal told IANS. 

The minister said that in May 2006 the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) had asked all state drug controllers to phase out Diclofenac from the veterinary use within three months.

DCGI issued another circular in 2008 asking all state drug controllers to direct manufacturers of Diclofenac to label it "not for veterinary use".

Despite the notes, rampant use of Diclofenac continued in Bihar. 

Once a common site in the state, vultures have seen a steep decline in numbers in the last decade.

"Vultures are now spotted mainly in Bhagalpur, Supaul, Araria and Khagaria districts," an animal resources department official said.

Global animals group to help flood-prone Bihar save livestock

As saving human lives is the priority of BIhar, which is annually ravaged by devastating floods, the World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA) has now stepped in to help the state protect its cattle during natural calamities.

"The WSPA has selected Bihar, the first state in India, to help to save the livestock," Philip Russel, director of the disaster management wing of the WSPA, said here Wednesday.

The WSPA has chosen Bihar as the state sees a huge loss of livestock during recurring floods, particularly when the Kosi river breaches its embankment like last year. Over 19,000 livestock perished during the floods in Bihar last year and the state has no focused approach yet to save them. 

Russel said the WSPA would provide relief and rehabilitation to animals in distress following flood or drought.

He was here to attend a two-day international seminar on disaster management for livestock that began Tuesday.

Russel told IANS that working to protect animals in flood-prone Bihar would be a challenge for the WSPA, which is all set to open its first veterinary emergency response unit of the country in Patna. 

"A team of the WSPA would go and conduct a mock drill for evacuation of animals by the end of this year in a village in one of the flood-prone districts of Supaul, Saharsa or Madhepura," he said.

The WSPA would also train veterinary doctors about methods of safe evacuation during natural disasters.

Russel said several countries were now recognizing the need for laws to protect the livestock population.

The curious case of monsoon

When it rains, it pours - when it doesn't, you can only wait. That was the situation of the monsoon that has 'officially' hit most parts of the country, but has been elusive in Delhi and has kept Maharashtra "worried". 

Delhiites rejoiced in the rain early Wednesday but only for a few hours - after which the humidity set in.

"Delhi has received no rain since 8.30 a.m. Wednesday," an official said.

According to the India Meteorological Department, the southwest monsoon has further advanced into remaining parts of Punjab and Haryana and isolated parts of north Rajasthan. 

"Widespread rainfall activity with heavy to very heavy falls at a few places over east Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim are likely during the next two to three days. Over northeastern states during the next three to four days, isolated extremely heavy rainfall (25 cm) is expected over Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh," a senior IMD offical said.

The weather might have changed for the better in the national capital but not the mood of the people as protests continued Wednesday over power cuts and water shortage.

"Na bijli, na paani, yeh kaisi rajdhani?" (No power, no water - what kind of a capital is this?) chanted angry residents in some parts of the national capital.

In some areas, irate residents of the capital protested the erratic water supply by shouting slogans and breaking earthern pots in the middle of the road. 

In Punjab and Haryana, the weatherman seemed to have got it correct as monsoon reached all regions of the two states Wednesday.

The Chandigarh Met department recorded 16.2 mm of rain in the city in the last 24 hours.

There were spells of moderate to heavy rainfall in most of regions of Punjab and Haryana, and there has been a dip in the mercury by five to six degrees Celsius across the two states.  

Up north in Himachal Pradesh, the southwest monsoon remained active Wednesday and the state experienced intermittent showers, weather officials in Shimla said.

"The monsoon remained active all over the state in the past 24 hours," Shimla meteorological office director Manmohan Singh told IANS.

In Bihar too the rain gods smiled as it rained well in many parts of the state. 

Patna Met Office director S. I. Lashkar said that monsoon has finally arrived in Bihar and rains were reported from different parts of the state in the past 72 hours. 

More rains are expected in the coming days, he added.

There has been heavy to extremely heavy rains in the northeast with the monsoon getting active over the region in the past 24 hours. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Meghalaya witnessed heavy to extremely heavy rains, while the rainfall was isolated over Nagaland, Manipur, and Mizoram, according to the regional meteorological centre in Guwahati.

According to forecasts, there would be widespread rain in the northeast in the next 48 hours, with the region expecting between 25 to 35 cm rains.

The world's wettest spot Cherrapunjee in Meghalaya recorded 43 cm rains in the past 24 hours.

In Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, however, the monsoon scenario continues to cause concern to the authorities and people alike. 

Usually, July is the wettest month of the season, but the weather bureau has forecast only a few spells of rain or thundershowers in Mumbai city and suburbs during the next 48 hours.

The municipal corporation of Greater Mumbai has warned that only 20 days' water supply is available for Mumbai, while the state government is contemplating supplying water every alternate day till the rains normalise.

There were no rains in Kolkata Wednesday even though the sky was cloudy.

However, monsoon rains lashed the metropolis and West Bengal Tuesday. The highest rainfall of 51 mm was recorded in Burdwan district Tuesday, according to the Met Office. Five people died after a lightning struck them at Ketugram in the district, police said.

Buddhist monks pray for rain in Bihar

Hundreds of Buddhist monks in Bihar have been performing special prayers and rituals at the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya to appease the rain god and end the ongoing dry spell in the state.

"We began special puja from Thursday at the Mahabodhi temple of Bodh Gaya to seek blessings of god for rains. Our puja will continue till Aug 12," in-charge of Bodh Gaya centre of Mahabodhi Society of India P. Sivali Thera told IANS.

Bodh Gaya is considered the birthplace of Buddhism. Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment about 2,550 years ago at this place.

Thera said the Buddhist monks have been performing special puja for rain under the holy Bodhi tree at the temple. The monks will perform prayers for seven days under the tree.

He said monks from dozens of monasteries at Bodh Gaya and several other monks from different countries have been participating in the prayers.

Earlier, Muslims and Hindu priests performed prayers for rain at several places across the state.

Lack of rain has been a concern for millions of farmers in Bihar as transplanting of paddy seedlings has been badly hit. Bihar has recorded a 43 percent rainfall deficit so far this monsoon season.

The state government admitted that drought-like situation was prevailing in 32 of 38 districts in Bihar. A crisis management team, headed by Chief Secretary Anup Mukharjee, was set up to suggest measures to tackle the situation.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called an all-party meeting in Patna Sunday to plan succour to farmers and check crop damages. Earlier, he held a high-level meeting Wednesday to review the situation.

Bihar government is considering declaring at least 12 districts drought-hit. The government will declare the districts drought-hit on Aug 9 or 10 after ministers submit their assessment reports. 

The ministers have been asked to assess the situation in their respective districts along with district officials and submit their reports at the earliest, an official said.

Amartya Sen welcomes government's Right to Food Act

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen Saturday praised the government's draft for a Right to Food (Guarantee of Safety and Security) Act saying it was a "step in the right direction". 

"In my new book, 'The Idea of Justice', I have spoken about injustice. Inequitable distribution of food and malnourishment is one of the injustices. I think it is to the credit of the government that it is planning to bring about the Right to Food Act. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi are in the right territory. It is a step in the right direction,” Sen said addressing a discussion on Right To Food at a packed Press Club here.

Sen was in the capital to promote his new book, “The Idea of Justice”.  

"Recently, I spent some time at Nalanda, Gaya, Rajgir and Patna in Bihar and found that there was a change in the administration even in the backward areas. A wider cross-section of people had access to food and it showed how change people's initiative and a good leadership can bring about,” he said. 

The Right To Food Act is an integral component of the United Progressive Alliance's proposed National Food Security Bill mentioned in the budget speech under which the every poor family would get 25 kg of food grain per month at Rs.3 per kg. 

It was also part of the Congress's election manifesto.  

Outlining the food scenario in the country, Sen said the magnitude of malnourishment, especially in woman, mothers, children and babies at birth, in India was tremendous. 

"No other country comes close to India. Most of the African nations have lower levels of child malnourishment. It is a situation of manifest injustice and we have the means to remove it but there is a certain level of smugness about India's achievements. The most difficult and nasty thing about malnourishment is that incapacitates the mind and debilitates the body,” Sen said. 

The economist said one must recognise that “poverty, lack of food, illnesses and state of education in India were closely linked - and were of the same magnitude”.

"Though the public distribution system has achieved something quite considerable, it still merited a depth of probe on effective were the distribution networks. There is a general perception that if the supply of food has been ensured, then the poor do not need the employment guarantee scheme. But the way of getting to all is through diverse necessities (addressing all their needs),” Sen said. 

The economist's West Bengal-based organisation, Pratichi Trust, working in food security and education sectors across the country, is currently studying facilities under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and how it applies to children under below six years of age in six districts of West Bengal.

"We have studied the ICDS scheme in some areas of West Bengal and a few tribal districts of Jharkhand and found a number of defects. As an economist, I would be very happy if these flaws could be removed. There is need for a multiplicity of delivery system and NGOs have a very important role to play in universalising the ICDS system so that it reached everyone,” Sen said. 

Commenting on the mid-day meal scheme, Sen said: “What Europe introduced in the 19th century, India was getting it 200 years later. 

“Lot of relatively richer kids in India complain that they don't want to eat with the poor kids in schools for they can get food in their tiffin carriers. The media in this country is obsessed with the rich kids. Consequently, the quality of food gets more importance than the fact that the scheme is getting to some people. We have to defend the mid-day meal schemes so that the poorest schools do not lose the grants and benefits they have,” Sen, who teaches at Harvard University in US, said.

“It was easier to teach children in a full stomach than hungry children who could not concentrate and had short attention spans.”  

The discussion was hosted by an umbrella of non-profit groups campaigning for the right to food.

Human trafficking on the rise in Bihar

The Bihar government Friday admitted that there has been a marked increase in the number of women and children being smuggled from the state since the launch of its Human Trafficking Prevention Programme in 2007. 

Bihar Water Resources Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav told IANS that over 50 cases of human trafficking had been registered till July this year. There were 50 cases in 2008 and 21 in 2007.

The minister had told the state assembly last week that 128 human traffickers were arrested in 2009 and 91 women were freed from their clutches. 

Most cases were reported from Kishanganj, Purnia, Araria, Katihar, Sitamarhi, Madhubani and Saharsa.

Yadav said it was a matter of serious concern that human trafficking was on the rise though special cells had been set up to initiate effective measures to check the crime.

The state government launched the Human Trafficking Prevention Programme for checking smuggling of women and child labourers and ensure a comprehensive rehabilitation scheme for the victims.

A senior police official said Bihar had become a hub of human trafficking due to large scale poverty and illiteracy. 

Officials in the social welfare department said that last year's devastating floods in the Kosi region had provided a golden opportunity to human traffickers to target poverty stricken people.

According to a report prepared by the state government along with NGOs, most children smuggled from the state end up as bonded labourers, domestic workers and employees at roadside restaurants or small textile units. 

Most young girls are either forced to marry men from Punjab and Haryana or work in brothels.

Woman shot dead for marrying outside caste

An 18-year-old woman was shot dead by her uncle in Bihar's Kaimur district for marrying a man from a different caste, police said Saturday. 

Nikki Kumari, 18, was shot dead Friday in Kudra in Kaimur district by her uncle Bhanu Pratap Singh for marrying a backward caste boy against the wishes of the family.

"It was like an honour killing," a police officer said.

Kumari, a resident of Dalmianagar in Rohtas district, married Dipak Yadav last month against the wishes of her parents and other relatives. 

She was living with her husband but Yadav was arrested after the girl's family lodged a complaint stating that he had kidnapped Kumari. 

Kumari was then taken to her sister's husband's house in Kudra. On Friday when Kumari was in Kudra, Singh came to the house and allegedly shot her dead. Singh is absconding, police said.

"A case has been lodged," the police officer said. 

Three Dalits beaten in Bihar for listening to songs

A middle-aged Dalit woman, her son and his friend were allegedly abused and beaten by upper caste men in a Bihar village for listening to popular Hindi songs on a mobile phone, police said Friday.

The incident took place in Kurji village near here. According to one of the victims, the three of them were in a group listening to songs on their mobile phone when a group of upper caste Bhumihar men objected and asked them to stop. When they ignored their threat, the men allegedly beat them up. 

Kishori Ravidas, in his early twenties, told IANS: "Our only crime was that we were listening to Hindi songs on the mobile phone. This was disliked by some upper caste men. But when we continued to listen to the songs, we were beaten up." 

Ravidas' mother Bhagwania Devi and his friend Lalbabu Paswan were also assaulted.

Ravidas was seriously injured and was admitted to a private hospital here Thursday. He was so shocked by the incident that he refused to lodge a police complaint.

Phulwarisharief police station officer-in-charge Balram Prasad said it took a lot of convincing and an assurance of protection for the victims to come forward and lodge the complaint.

The officer said a case under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (prevention of atrocities) Act has been lodged against seven men of the village. All the accused are absconding, he added.

Poverty, hunger drive elderly couple in Bihar to suicide

Poverty and hunger forced an elderly couple in a Bihar village to commit suicide, villagers said Sunday. However, a local official maintained the couple died of cancer but was unable to explain how the deaths occurred at the same time.

Farm labourers Inderdeo Mahto and his wife Kari Devi, both in their 60s and residents of Khushalpur village in Gaya district, allegedly consumed poison Saturday after going without food for days as they found no work since early July, villagers claimed. The village is about 100 km from Patna. 

"They were left in the lurch, no one helped them and hunger forced them to commit suicide," Manoj Prasad, a villager, said.

"Mahto and his wife used to work as farm labourers to earn their livelihood but for over a month, there was no work available because of the drought like situation and people were reluctant to hire them for other jobs due to their age. He was not supported by his two sons, both of whom live separately and also work as labourers," Suresh Singh, another resident of the village, said.

Village council head Rambha Devi also told IANS Sunday that the couple died due to poverty and hunger. 

The names of the couple reportedly did not figure in the list of those below poverty line (BPL). Villagers said the couple had requested authorities to add their names to the list but this was not done. However, both of Mahto's sons figure in the list.

Block Development Officer (BDO) Shivnarain Singh said the couple died of cancer but was unable to explain how the deaths occurred at the same time.

Police have recovered the bodies and sent them for post mortem. A case has been filed.

Scanty rainfall has affected millions of farmers in Bihar as transplanting of paddy seedlings has been badly hit. The state has seen a deficit of 43 percent rainfall so far in this monsoon season. 

The state government admitted that a drought-like situation was prevailing in 32 of the state's 38 districts and has set up a crisis management team, headed by Chief Secretary Anup Mukherjee, for measures to tackle the situation. 

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called an all-party meeting here Sunday to discuss the issue. The government is considering declaring some worst affected districts drought-hit. 

Mahatma Gandhi's dream schools in Bihar set for revival

After years of neglect, the 391 schools that were set up in Bihar to fulfil Mahatma Gandhi's dream that one day all Indian children will have access to basic education are set to get a new lease of life. 

State Human Resources Development Minister Hari Narain Singh told IANS here Thursday that the government has decided to spend Rs.50 crore to improve the infrastructure of the Buniyadi Vidyalayas (basic schools), about six of which were set up by the father of the nation himself.

The schools were set up to impart basic education to boys and girls in rural areas. They were also meant to provide vocational training in spinning, carpentry, farming and weaving.

The first Buniyadi Vidyalaya was established by the Mahatma in 1939 at Brindavan in Bihar's West Champaran district.

Singh said the government will spend Rs.50 lakh each on 100 basic schools during the current financial year as part of the first phase of the revival plan. In the next two financial years, the government would spend money on the other 291 schools.

"The government will not allow the dream schools of Mahatma Gandhi to die. All the basic schools will be revived in phased manner to provide opportunity to the younger generation to realise the dream of the father of the nation," said Singh.

Official sources said the basic schools or "Mahatma ke school" as they are popularly called in Bihar, are struggling for survival. They suffer from a shortage of teachers and funds. In many case, land meant for the Buniyadi Vidyalayas is in illegal possession of others.

Successive state governments have allowed the schools to languish. Even the central government has not made any attempt to breathe life into them.

A few years ago, the Supreme Court took serious note of the plight of the basic schools in West Champaran district. 

The court had then issued notices to the centre, the state government, the district administration of West Champaran and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to ensure proper functioning of the schools and preservation of the Gandhian heritage.

Bihar plans to provide toilets to all families

The Bihar government plans to provide each family in the state with proper toilet facilities in the next five to six years, with the target of constructing more than ten million toilets.

"Every family would be provided a toilet in the state as the government's target is to construct over one crore toilets in next five years," Bihar Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey said here Thursday.

The PHED plans to construct 1.12 crore (11.2 million) toilets by 2015 to provide toilets to all, he said.

Choubey said that 17 lakh (1.7 million) toilets have already been constructed in last 43 months. "The number of toilets constructed in the state during the period 2005 to the first half of 2009 was much more than 753 toilets constructed during 2001-2004," he said.

The latest survey conducted by the PHED revealed that about 95.96 lakh (9.596 million) households, out of which 49.19 lakh (4.919 million) are from the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category still do not have toilets at their homes. 

The state government is offering a grant of Rs.1700 to every BPL family for adding toilets in their huts.

Our Bihari Police System

Judiciary and the Role of the Fourth Estate

Judiciary and the Role of the Fourth Estate
Should judiciary be left alone to freely execute its functions as enjoined by the Constitution and statutes emanating from it and to deal with malfunctioning on its own or the press should be given a free rein to criticize every action of state organs.
The stance taken by Delhi High court against the Mid day journalists for allegations against ex-chief justice Y.K.Sabharwal had taken many by surprise ruffling the feathers of big brains of the country and small brained social observers alike. The media played its role well in accordance with the spirit of giving the right information at the right time. But coupled with the contempt proceedings initiated by the HC it has raised many questions in the intellectual circles as to what is of greater importance - the free judiciary or a free press. Should judiciary be left alone to freely execute its functions as enjoined by the Constitution and statutes emanating from it and to deal with malfunctioning on its own or the press should be given a free rein to criticize every action of state organs.
Lord Denning once said - 'supervision of judges encroach upon the independence of judiciary, judicial behaviour should invite no scrutiny or criticism or discussion or debate as it would affect the administration of justice and deter the judges from expressing an independent and fearless opinion.'
The reason given by Lord Denning is prudent but it might not be wise in the present socio-legal-political scenario to rule out the scope of any judicial scrutiny, discussion or debate or criticism.
In the present context the fear of interference with the judiciary can be set aside, for although the actions of CJI has been scrutinised and discussed it aims at holding judicial organ accountable and there is no apparent threat to independence of judiciary.The concept of independence of judiciary runs rather too deep to be affected by holding the judges and judicial officers accountable.
In simplest terms independence of judiciary means that it should be free from the interference of state organs like the legislature and the executive which has the capability of influencing the impartial execution of justice. An independent judiciary ensures a fair play of fair justice.
The Constitution of India envisioned such possibilities and so inserted three pronged provisions to ensure that judicial organ can function in furtherance of justice without external interference.
Firstly complex and complicated procedure for removal of the judges has been prescribed. It is said about impeachment proceedings that it is easier to amend the Constitution than to impeach a judge.
Secondly Art.50 lays down that the state shall take steps to separate the judiciary from the executive in the public service of the state.
Thirdly a complete mechanism to control the subordinate courts has been provided under Articles-233-236 wherein the HC has been empowered to supervise their functioning. All matters related to promotion, demotion, suspension of sub judges, posting etc. are also controlled by the HC.
Apart from this Art.121 prohibits any discussion in Parliament about the conduct of the judges of HC or SC in discharge of their duties except in case of impeachment proceedings against them. Thus independence of judiciary has been sufficiently guarded.
But to rule out fair criticism to ensure independence of judiciary would amount to the assertion of the policy of secrecy which marked the colonial era in India. During the British rule, the right to question the actions of government was denied and laws were introduced to eliminate such rights completely. With a population desperately trying to free itself from the webs of colonial hangover, unmindful restrictions on freedom to express opinions and to question the actions can be intrusive and unwelcome. In a free democracy and a young democracy as that of India, no organ should shield itself from the eyes of the masses nor it should claim an immunity from fair criticism.
The spirit of Rule of Law which is one of the essential part of the concept of basic structure of Constitution as laid in Maneka Gandhi case (1978) requires that every judge should submit before law. It proclaims --- "be you ever so high the law is above you."
And history is testimony to the fact that neither judges nor the judiciary as a whole has been spared fair or unfair criticism.
In 1990 for the first time the impeachment proceedings were initiated against Justice Ramaswamy, Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court for misconduct and financial irregularities. Likewise, the image of Judiciary was tarnished by the statement made by the then law minister in 1988 in a meeting of Bar council of Hyderabad. Commenting on Apex court he said that SC was composed of persons of elite class and anti-social elements like bride burners, FERA violators and whole herd of reactionaries have found their heaven in the SC.
Similarly ex-Chief Justice of India E.Venkatramaih said in an interview -"The Judiciary in India has deteriorated in standards because such judges are appointed as are willing to be influenced by lavish parties and whisky bottles."
It definitely had greater power to shake the faith of people in administration of justice than the allegation leveled by the Mid-day journalists on three counts-
Firstly , because the statement was made by former Chief Justice of India.
Secondly the statement was not only sharper but had more credibility because it was made by an insider.
Thirdly it was not an allegation leveled against a particular judicial officer but it lay bare the very system of working of the Apex body.
But the Bombay HC was not alarmed by such scandalisation and ruled out any contempt of court to have been caused by such statement. And such reaction is desirable because stifling fair criticism does more harm to the respect of a body than a scandalous publication. Even under English law, which have been borrowed freely to develop our legal system public opinion, criticism are left to the conscience of the people. Holding people guilty for contempt has become obsolete.
An informed press is therefore should be welcome rather than being hammered down by court rulings. The informed press has a long way to go in nurturing healthy inquisitive spirit amongst the citizenry. If press were to give only tailored information democracy will become merely a mask on the face of dictatorial governments. In Romesh Thappar's case Patanjali Shastri ,J. Observed "freedom of speech and press lay at the foundation of all democratic organisation for without political discussion, no political education, so essential for the proper functioning of the government is possible." The press is watchdog and a free press must be embraced by each and all.
In a democracy which upholds the principles of participation of people, it is a sensible question as to where the freedom of organ to function freely should be limited and freedom of people to know should start. Can highlighting corruption in any organ of the state amount to overstepping into the jurisdiction of such organ. On principle at least people are supposed to have the power to criticize and inquire into the actions of every organ of the state, for each organ has inter alia, the foremost and fundamental duty to serve the people, judiciary cannot be an exception to this.
Corruption has become rampant and judiciary cannot be immune to these developments. Corruption cannot be confined to a straight jacketed definition. Just as making money by undesirable means amount to corruption, influence of nearest relatives and friends in deliverance of justice is equally a corruption. And it is this latter form of corruption that was exposed by the Mid-day journalists against the ex-CJI. Besides, the judges are also human, human frailty can sometimes afflict even the purest of them.
The plea that criticizing judiciary would lower the respect of judiciary in the eyes of people cannot hold ground because if the judges and magistrates are delivering justice - free and fair, it shall continue to command respect irrespective of such exposes. If there are fears that the media has the power to mislead the masses, it is not completely unjustified. And this is also true that scanty knowledge and adulterated information can be a deadly combination.
But such possibilities of exploitation have to be accepted as inseverable part of free press. Unfettered press should be allowed to do its functions properly as it has been doing for last fifty years in our country. As Madison said in First Amendment of Federal Constitution of the USA
"It is better to leave some noxious branches to their luxuriant growth than by pruning them away, to injure the vigour of those yielding proper fruits"
In other words, just because there are possibilities of failure we cannot abandon the pursuits of truth and sooner it is realized, the better and quicker shall we reap its benefits
bishakha84@legalserviceindia.com

About the Author: Bishakha Chakraborty 
  
Advocate, Patna High Court 

If you have been scouting for a job

If you have been scouting for a job for quite sometime now with no luck, it’s time you employ some vaastu changes to fetch that coveted appointment letter asap. Cracking an interview usually requires confidence, enthusiasm and a clear head. In Feng Shui terms, these feelings are encouraged by the chi energy of the east and south-west. To improve your chances of getting the job you want, you need to increase the presence of eastern or south-eastern chi energy in your house. Here are some remedies to improve your career luck.  
# For a perfect job, keep the outside light of your house on. If you don’t have an outside light, keep on the first light inside the front door. Leave it on for at least four hours a day to increase job opportunities. I would suggest having a red bulb outside the front door as it is easier to find your house.
# Water is the element that represents career opportunities and advantages. Place a fountain in your house. Make sure the fountain flows into the house and does not point out the front door.
# To increase the energy of the east in your home, place a bowl with fresh water in the eastern area and replace it every morning. Having plants in this area will also help.
# Hang metal wind chimes outside the front door to help control movement within your career. When hung with this particular intention, chime will ring a breath of fresh air into your job search.
# Check your front door area very carefully. If the door sticks or cannot open fully, then you are creating blockages in your job search and your life. Make sure everything around the doorway — door bell, switch, name plate, floor mat — is in good condition.
# Place a small elephant (wooden, ceramic or stuffed) on the floor facing the front door. He will lend you his power and prudence and carry you through your job search like a king. Don't forget to carry this elephant along on your job hunt or on a mission of jaldi naukri.
Raman Datta is a Delhi-based feng shui and vaastu consultant. 
Call: 9810155835