Ramanisblog

Tag: Delhi

  • North East Is It A Part Of India? Plight Of Students

    One would find scant coverage of news from the North east of India.

    Many are not even aware of the States in the North eastern Part of India,which in a paternalistic way called as the Seven Sisters of India.

    Indian media wakes up on the issues of the North east when there is an insurgency activity, election, Rape or a Corruption case erupts up.

    Many students from the North East study in Indian Universities, especially in the South, like the Manipal Group of Institutions in Karnataka ,Bangalore and Anna University in Tamil Nadu.

    The students do not get the same treatment as the other Students.

    In fact in some campuses thee are separate Mess facilities  for them.

    In Hostel room allocations, these students are grouped together.

    They do not get a chance to mingle with the other students,

    On their part the North Indian Students do not make an effort to mingle with the others.

    There is also a (mis) conception that they are untrustworthy.

    The students who  stay out side the Hostel do not even get accommodation easily.

    In the unfortunate case of a Girl from the North East getting molested, there seems to be no action unless the students resort to strike.

    Unless we assimilate them we can not complain that they are being mistreated by India,

    Time for us to ponder and mix with them freely without waiting for the Government to announce some useless paper schemes only to make money by politicians.

    Manipur Girl rape
    Girl from Manipur raped

    Story:

    I first discovered that ‘we’ were seen as ‘different’ when we moved to Chandigarh. I was 16, and rather surprised when we were visited at lunchtime by Mrs. Khunjoo , who lived in the next apartment. Surprised because we don’t generally expect visitors at lunchtime. Certainly not visitors who spring lithely over the balconies as Mrs Khunjoo did.

    “Will you have lunch” my mother , ever hospitable asked her, the first time she manifested.

    “No no sister,” she said. “i just want to see.”

    “What do you want to see?”,I asked.

    “No, please , just what you are eating ?”

    She advanced upon our table. My Mother uncovered our serving dishes. She stared at it like some mystery was to be uncovered.

    “Arre!” said Mrs Khujroo. “Rice? Dal?”

    We do these things. We eat rice and dal but Mrs Khujroo was hoping that she would see something exotic.

    “Do people from Nagaland really eat dogs?” asked my landlady when she first learnt that I was from the North East. She was offended when I walked out of the room. Mrs Vaidya (named changed to protect the innocent, namely me) failed to even realise that what she said could be offensive. Mrs Vaidya represents mainland India’s opinion about the seven states of North East India. But at least she has given me a place to stay. Many other North-Eastern students have been turned away because they don’t “look like us”. The other thing is institutional. Don’t believe it? Consider this.

    One of India’s proudest moments was at the opening ceremony of the XIX Commonwealth Games. It was one of those moments when one feels proud to be part of such a great Indian Union. The Indian contingent marched in led by Abhinav Bindra proudly carrying our Indian flag. Before him, the signboard holder was wearing the Mizo tradition Puanchei dress. Such a proud moment for the North East to be finally recognised at a event of this scale.

    The very next morning the Times of India front page had a photograph of the Indian contingent. “All the teams were led out by girls wearing saris in different styles, except for the Indian team, which was heralded by a girl in a Naga dress.” So much for a “knowledgeable” leading daily.

    No North Eastern student in a mainland metropolitan city would be surprised by this sheer ignorance. It has become a part of their lives and an accepted fact that they do not belong here. Nor has the mainland made them feel like they’re part of this country. Hundreds of students come every year from the North East to seek admission in Delhi University. The joy of seeking admission is often cut short by the difficulties faced in the capital. Racial discrimination, language barriers, sexual harassment and trouble finding accommodation are only some of the numerous problems.”

    ..”

    A Khap Panchayat called by Bhagwant Singh(President), Bhartu Rathi(Secretary), and Dhiraj Tokas (husband of Counsellor) from Munirka has ordered the landlords in Munirka area to evict all the tenants from North East within 3 months, as per tweets by Bina Nepram ( twitter ID @BinaNepram), noted activist from Manipur.

    Also, there is Facebook update status message by here , sent to us by Twitte handle @Jorebungley.

    This Facebook update reads,

    The matter was first reported last night by What’s Up Darj ? and was subsequently reported by TheDC [Details here: http://goo.gl/xni0Yn%5D.

    TheDC has also come to know that those who called for Khap Panchayat are relatives of Ashish Tokas alias Vicky who has been arrested on the charges of raping a 14 year old child from Manipuri. Following the threat, concerned people from North East are currently gathering at the Vashant Vihar Police Station.

    TheDC team and people of Darjeeling strongly condemn this RACIST act and request the Central and Delhi governments to take appropriate action against the perpetrators.

    After tragic killing of Nido Tania, supposedly in a racial attack on 29 Jan 2014, students and activists from North East India have been protesting against racial discrimination in Delhi.

    This incident has not been picked up by mainstream media yet.

    Source:

    http://www.northeastblog.in/north-east-india/does-the-north-east-belong-to-india/

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  • Do Not Drink Frooti Has AIDS Virus Hoax.

     

    There was an email from a Group ,of which I am a member, this morning that the Delhi Police that the soft drink Froot is contaminated with HIV Virus and

    is not to be consumed.

    It also stated that NDTV telecast a show on this.

    Frooti Hoax
    Frooti Spreads Contaminated , Causes AIDS

    I checked this with Hoaxslayer.com

    The information given out is wrong.

    Here is the analysis.

    The story supposed to be an important message from Delhi police states that a worker from Frooti company has added his blood, contaminated with HIV (AIDS), and so, you should not drink any product of Frooti for the next few weeks. The story also claims that this public warning was shown on NDTV. However, all this is complete hoax.

    Firstly, Delhi police did not issue any such warning, and neither did NDTV show this message. HIV can NOT spread through food contamination. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) clearly states that a person would not become infected with HIV even if he consumed food containing HIV infected blood.

    “HIV does not live long outside the body. Even if small amounts of HIV-infected blood or semen was consumed, exposure to the air, heat from cooking, and stomach acid would destroy the virus. Therefore, there is no risk of contracting HIV from eating food.”

    Therefore, it is quite clear that this message of Frooti containing HIV is yet another hoax to scare people in the name of health. This is in fact another version of an old hoax talking about HIV in Pepsi. The message need not be shared”

    Source.

    .http://www.hoaxorfact.com/Health/important-message-from-delhi-police-frooti-can-contain-hiv.html

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  • The North South Indian How they Befriend

    North Indians as South Indians
    North Indians as South Indians Readers correct me but I can’t spot a single South Indian surname in the line-up; let’s not even get into caste. Oh well I can’t help myself so here goes, btw this could be marital or maiden names but Indians remember when you wear your caste names so proudly then don’t complain when it’s called up. Credit.http://www.brownpundits.com/2012/11/16/north-indian-punjabi-sindhi-high-castes-pose-as-chennai-beauties/

    I venture to share some of my thoughts on the way the South Indians mix and react with each other.

     

    I am making observations based on my  having covered the length and breadth of India over  a period of nearly Thirty nine years.

    I have spent my time, while on business tour, in my Dealer’s Homes, partaken their Hospitality.

    Before proceeding let me add that , by a North Indian, I mean those people whose mother tongue is not Tamil, Malayalam,Telugu or Kannada.

    Some of these people were my business associates, others simple are those whom I met casually, mostly on Trains, Buses, Flights .

    Then again there is this difference, those whom I met in their Native place in the North, and those who were settled in the South.

    I had a dealer in Bellary, C.G.Dass & Co.

    I used to visit the Town once in 45 days ,regularly for a period of over six years.

    Right from the second visit, the dealer’s son, Harish, A Guajarati, would come to my Hotel room, pick me up drive me straight to his Home and make me ear.

    Then we would go out for a picture, only to return to his Home at the night. Some days I have slept in his house.

    One must remember I was just a Salesman, not a big wig to who can grant favours to them.

    And my knowledge of Hindi was and is horrible.

    Tehn I had a Maharashtrian Friend Ashok Kamle in Adoni, Andhra Pradesh.

    This again is a repeat performance of Bellary.

    Another is Vasanth at Belgaum, a Guajarati who would not even allow me to check into a Hotel!

    I had another friend SriKant Hanchate a Maharashtrian at Gulbarga, who would spend the whole day with me.

    On my trips to Delhi, I was forced to stay with my dealer friend, a Punjabi, Harkirat Singh.

    He would not have a No from me!

    He would take me to Hindu pilgrimage spots.

    He had taken me  Hardwar,Rishikesh,Kedarnath and Badrinath.

    And I had a gentleman whom I met on the Train at night en route to Budh Gaya.

    I was on my way, with my wife to Benares,Gaya and Allahabad and the Rajdhani from Delhi was expected to reach Gaya by 3.45 am.

    Around Eight when the Dinner was being served a Young man of about 35, took the Dinner Trays from the Waiter’ laid it out in his aisle berth and made sure me and my wife had water by our side.

    As my wife was allotted an upper berth, he exchanged his berth later one, without my asking!

    I spent some time chatting with him.

    In the morning he woke me up at 3.30 am, helped me out with my baggage, assisted my wife in getting down from the Train

    He fetched us an auto rickshaw, gave directions to the driver, asking him to drop us at the address, telling him that he should  call him as soon as he dropped us and had the driver’s Phone number noted.

    After ten minutes or so when we were reaching the destination the driver received a call from this Youngman who checked whether we had reached safely

    and chatted with me for a couple of minutes.

    Remember it is 4am!

    He is local Cable TV operator from Gaya and a journalist.

    Next morning he sent a man who introduced himself as an Agent and booked us in a Train to Allahabad.

    Wait listed at 300( I never knew WL can run into 300!) I was apprehensive.

    The man was waiting at the Train Compartment before we arrived got us a Confirmed seat.

    Do you that he refused to accept anything more than Rs 20 as his charge!

    I get to meet a lot of my son’s friends who are North Indians working in Bangalore.

    The way they mix and the respect they express, I have not seen.

    No pretensions, no air,

    I tend to believe that by Nature North Indians are very easy-going , with out pretensions and has a tendency to befriend and help people.

    However , during my career, I have found that the North Indians clinging together and try to exclude the South Indians from promotions.

    I do not know which is real.

    Is  that I have been lucky in getting to know these wonderful people?

    I tend to take the view that by nature they ar easy-going, respectful and friendly.

    Alas, the South lags behind in this!

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  • The Delhi Jal World Bank Corruption Story

    I Just read a news story that Arvind Kejrwal is looking into the corruption cases in the JAL Board Delhi and a related news item that some engineers were suspended.

    Jal Board, Delhi
    Delhi Jal board

    I wondered as to why such a routine and insignificant(?) case is being attended to by the CM of Delhi.

    I did some search and found that the issue of Corruption in JAL Board Delhi is not as insignificant as I imagined.

    I seem to have missed out this altogether.

    Or is it that the Media has not covered it as the case deserves?

    I suspect so.

    Here is the take on Jal Corruption.

    This corruption involves World Bank , appointing consultants to Delhi Water Board.

    To the uninitiated, it is the practice of Governments to appoint consultant for a new Technology/Process.

    The operation involves floating technical specifications, Commercial Bid and final selection.

    To secure the business the competing firms appoint Liaison Officers, Project Consultanats.in plain language ‘The Fixers” who find out what percentage is to be given to whom, what to quote and in general facilitate the winning of the Contract.

    I have a post on this process.

    Now to Jal.

    In getting a Consultant for a Project of Rupees 168 Crore, the Foreign Consultants suggested by the World Bank would amount to 108 Crore, 60% of the project Cost.

    This came out during through RTI.

    “RTI documents revealed that the DJB had approached World Bank in 1998 for a loan to upgrade its water utility services to Delhi. The bank suggested that they hire a multi-national consultant who would ‘suggest’ basic reforms for the DJB to carry out. The bank offered a $2.5 million loan to DJB for hiring the consultant.  States Arvind Kejriwal, “Delhi has 21 water zones. The management of each water zone was to be given to four experts for each zone at a salary of Rs25,000 per month which is Rs11 lakh. The per annum cost of the salaries would come to Rs108 crore. The total budget of the DJB was Rs168 crore thus 60% of the money would be spent on salaries on foreign consultants. Roughly estimated, this would lead to nine times increase in water tax for Delhites.”

    RTI documents further revealed how the World Bank arm-twisted DJB to favour a particular multi-national company. The DJB invited tenders for which 35 consultants applied and six of them were to be short listed. An evaluation committee consisting of senior officials of the DJB ranked them in order of merit as per the World Bank guidelines.  PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) was curiously termed as a ‘desi’ company because it bid from its Kolkata branch but was ranked 10th. However, the World Bank arm-twisted the DJB to prop it up to the 6th position.  States Mr Kejriwal in a protest letter that he wrote to the World Bank after studying the documents, “This provision was misused to bail out PWC as it was treated as an Indian company because the branch of PWC which had applied is incorporated in India. Thus, PWC featured amongst the top six short-listed companies.

    Mr Kejriwal’s letter to the World Bank further states: “Thereafter, technical and financial proposals were invited from the six short-listed companies. A company needed 75% marks in technical evaluation to qualify. An evaluation committee, consisting of senior officials of DJB, evaluated the proposals on the basis of the criteria given in World Bank guidelines. PWC again failed. Only two companies, namely Deloitte of USA and TAHAL of Israel, got more than 75% marks.

    “The results were sent to the World Bank for their “no objection”. The bank was strangely dissatisfied with the results. It nevertheless blatantly displayed its interests in PWC. It demanded an explanation from the DJB as to why did they give such low marks to PWC.” DJB was stunned at this reply from the World Bank and in a note, the official placed on record that he strictly abided by the World Bank norms and no company procuring below 75% could be eligible for procuring the contract. If PWC is considered, the official wrote in his internal correspondence, it would go against the principles of transparency and would cause great embarrassment to the DJB.

    DJB opposed this arbitrary interference but the World Bank bullied it into revising the criteria, audaciously stating this was not the first time it had so intervened”

    Source.

     

     

     

    http://www.moneylife.in/article/rti-expose-of-how-world-bank-had-arm-twisted-delhi-jal-board-for-water-privatisation/23217.html

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  • AAP Post Delhi Police Brutality Video

    I have not written any thing on Arvind Kejriwal’s and AAP‘s antics a couple of days ago in Delhi over the matter of non suspension of Policemen in a raid case.

    AAP victms of Police Brutality.
    Victims of Police Brutality on AAP. Image from http://shishirkumarrai.blogspot.in/2013/06/brutal-attack-on-aap-volunteers-by.html

    I am of the opinion and I have expressed this on Twitter, that Arvind Kejriwal does not know how to run an administration and more harm is done by well-meaning people who are inefficient.

    However the present case and the unfolding swift and administrative political events force me to sense some conspiracy.

    1.Why a Constable can not be kept under temporary suspension when the Law Minister says on the scene of alleged crime?

    2.Why nobody bothered about the statement of the residents of the locality?

    3.Is it not a fact that the Law Minister received a complaint about the Party that was degenerating into a drunken orgy?

    4.Since when a member  from the alleged crime scene’s testimony tendered much later is accepted and not that of a Law Minister who raised it, not behind doors, but in full Public view?

    5.In the past cases how many Policemen were suspended only after inquiry?

    6.Now Constituitonal pundits say in Delhi, Police is more of Central List.

    Does it mean The Police will wait till the Home Minister orders an action to be initiated?

    7.The CM of Delhi, Is he to be treated as a Flea?

    As expected BJP and Congress are singing in chorus, dubbing AAP and Kejriwal as Anarchists.

    A Section of the Media too.

    And National Human Rights Panel, who are yet to make a statement on gang Rape in Bengal where a woman was gang raped in Public as ordered by the Village headman.

    And the PMs in waiting , Rahul and Narendra Modi,are yet to comment.

    The Media loves it so long as the rabble-rouser are helping them to increase TRP, not when they try to something.

    What did the Media do in the case of  Aarushi,Rajesh Talwar Case?

    Did it not conduct a Trail on TV?

    While the antics of Kejriwal is not in the interests of the Public, it may be noted that, in this case, he had no other option but to protest in Public.

    Now the AAP has released TV footage of Police brutality.

     

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