This post is a plug. And for good reason, because Sakaal Times launches tomorrow. Pune office is an excited kind of tizzy - apparently they've been putting in tonnes of work for over a month getting ready for the launch. The new product is for them to actively nurture and take the brickbats for. Over here, life goes on much as usual.
Wow, I'm actually part of a process that will see a new hope for all of us idiots who still believe in the power of the written word.
Keep logging on to www.sakaaltimes.com for daily updates on just about everything.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
You know you're in love when...
- You don't need to spell out anything, just a glance will do. Like when we're in a restaurant and a really fat person passes by, we just widen our eyes a bit.
- You go all gooey at the sight of a chubby infant.
- You tell yourself, 'My kid is going to be like that'.
- You want your kid to have his looks and your brains, not the other way around.
- You have a set of words and incidents that can make you laugh no matter what or where.
- You've just dropped the person off after a long day together but you still want to go back and complete the conversation.
- Your daily schedules match, right from the time you wake up till the time you sleep. And you're in two different houses and offices.
- You start the day by cribbing unitedly about a bad display for your story or about how bad the HT is.
- You make lunch dates you don't honour but don't fight about.
- You wait hours at railway stations so you can travel back together.
- You refuse to sit through bad movies and cry like kids during good ones.
- You are intellectually and ethically well matched but you notice that only when thrown in together during a crisis.
- You wait patiently at night, armed with books and snacks, for him to reach home and call you so you can say goodnight.
- Also because you have no other way of knowing when he got home.
- He goes out shopping for you though he's daunted at the prospect of going through girly stuff.
- He smiles when you ask him to though he's not in the mood. Only because you like his dimples.
- He cries with you.
- You hug him and he's a perfect fit.
- Both of you love harassing your younger sister.
- You can't imagine being with anyone else, ever.
- You can argue like cats and make up later, with the promise of not fighting again. Then you fight over that, because you like to fight.
- You find two white hairs on his head and think they're cute.
- You have this conversation:
"Gosh, I'm bored."
"Hmm. Chal, bhaag jaate hain..."
"Not today. I'm bored."
"Okay, kal."
"Pukka."
- You go all gooey at the sight of a chubby infant.
- You tell yourself, 'My kid is going to be like that'.
- You want your kid to have his looks and your brains, not the other way around.
- You have a set of words and incidents that can make you laugh no matter what or where.
- You've just dropped the person off after a long day together but you still want to go back and complete the conversation.
- Your daily schedules match, right from the time you wake up till the time you sleep. And you're in two different houses and offices.
- You start the day by cribbing unitedly about a bad display for your story or about how bad the HT is.
- You make lunch dates you don't honour but don't fight about.
- You wait hours at railway stations so you can travel back together.
- You refuse to sit through bad movies and cry like kids during good ones.
- You are intellectually and ethically well matched but you notice that only when thrown in together during a crisis.
- You wait patiently at night, armed with books and snacks, for him to reach home and call you so you can say goodnight.
- Also because you have no other way of knowing when he got home.
- He goes out shopping for you though he's daunted at the prospect of going through girly stuff.
- He smiles when you ask him to though he's not in the mood. Only because you like his dimples.
- He cries with you.
- You hug him and he's a perfect fit.
- Both of you love harassing your younger sister.
- You can't imagine being with anyone else, ever.
- You can argue like cats and make up later, with the promise of not fighting again. Then you fight over that, because you like to fight.
- You find two white hairs on his head and think they're cute.
- You have this conversation:
"Gosh, I'm bored."
"Hmm. Chal, bhaag jaate hain..."
"Not today. I'm bored."
"Okay, kal."
"Pukka."
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Phased out
It's like my life (okay, yours too) was written down and set in a series of phases before I grew up and spelt Phases correctly.
Phase 1 was when you were the tiny person, first in diapers, then in squeaky shoes, then in your first school uniform and hankie pinned to your pinafore, who cried when upset and who barfed in the car with enviable consistency. You got spanked once daily and hated your mum for about 10 minutes before toddling off to either look for something to eat or something to do. Then your mum served you dinner, you ate, farted, and went to bed.
Phase 2 was when you didn't realise that the charm of adolescence and then early teenage has nothing to do with growing up, but in being able to laugh incessantly at everything. A teacher slipping and falling in the hallway could convulse you as much as dirty sexual jokes. That gift of perpetual merriment actually pulled you through the tough teenage years when we either started looking really gawky or developed permanently good skin. Either way, we laughed.
Phase 3 was when we entered college and realised a) that the dirty sexual jokes in school were plain silly and the opposite of funny and b) that school was such a cool place to be in, a truth that we missed completely when we were still in school. Stupid only. We were initially flattered, then daunted, then finally hysterical at being forced into premature adulthood. Then we turned 18 and were reminded that legally, we were adults now. Nobody ever noticed that I was never legally sane, 18 or otherwise. And legal adult meant we could have our own bank accounts and could vote, but could not have sex or our own landline phones without the parents hacking us to pieces. You realised for the first time that there are double standards to everything.
Phase 4 was learning to accept that we were legal adults. Everybody hated it, especially the realisation that there are two types of adults - one, the adults who do cool stuff like have jobs and make money and buy their own houses, while the other did silly things like give exams and study and beg for an increment on their pocket money. But what you hated most was those little adults, some from your own class, who studied and made money and actually enjoyed being an adult in every sense. Phooeey.
Phase 5 was changing colleges for your graduation year. Along the way, you realised just how much life had taught you so far (Nothing) and just how much you needed to learn (Everything). We did our degree college studies, did our parents a favour by passing the exams mostly on the first attempt, made some really kickass friends and yup, learnt how to get the laughter back in our lives when there was very little funny happening in the first place.
Phase 6 was graduating but not feeling any pride over it because heck, we started working four days after the final exams ended. And come on, we expected to pass, we're not that dumb (mostly). We enjoyed the job immensely till we stopped enjoying it - then with typical pigheadedness, we quit and sat at home till the next job came along. In this phase, we changed jobs like we changed our minds - suddenly and without warning. And did not regret it either.
Phase 7 was when we turned into our parents and started thinking about settling down and saving money and not overspending and not go changing jobs like we changed our minds. Okay, so we thought about it for about five minutes, but bhavnaon ko samjho. Then we compounded our own miseries by actually falling in love for no reason other than it seemed like a good idea at the time. And to prove that we really hated our own guts and wanted nothing more than to get back at ourselves for no earthly reason whatsoever, we got married. Then we further sealed our fates by having children.
Phase 8 was when we looked at all the seven phases in our life and wondered, Man, why have I lived so long?
Phase 9 was when we decided that there was nothing we could do to change ourselves, mostly because we must learn to accept the way we are, and also because it is too hot. Then we toddled off to bed because the burden of existing was too much to carry on our shoulders just then.
Phase 1 was when you were the tiny person, first in diapers, then in squeaky shoes, then in your first school uniform and hankie pinned to your pinafore, who cried when upset and who barfed in the car with enviable consistency. You got spanked once daily and hated your mum for about 10 minutes before toddling off to either look for something to eat or something to do. Then your mum served you dinner, you ate, farted, and went to bed.
Phase 2 was when you didn't realise that the charm of adolescence and then early teenage has nothing to do with growing up, but in being able to laugh incessantly at everything. A teacher slipping and falling in the hallway could convulse you as much as dirty sexual jokes. That gift of perpetual merriment actually pulled you through the tough teenage years when we either started looking really gawky or developed permanently good skin. Either way, we laughed.
Phase 3 was when we entered college and realised a) that the dirty sexual jokes in school were plain silly and the opposite of funny and b) that school was such a cool place to be in, a truth that we missed completely when we were still in school. Stupid only. We were initially flattered, then daunted, then finally hysterical at being forced into premature adulthood. Then we turned 18 and were reminded that legally, we were adults now. Nobody ever noticed that I was never legally sane, 18 or otherwise. And legal adult meant we could have our own bank accounts and could vote, but could not have sex or our own landline phones without the parents hacking us to pieces. You realised for the first time that there are double standards to everything.
Phase 4 was learning to accept that we were legal adults. Everybody hated it, especially the realisation that there are two types of adults - one, the adults who do cool stuff like have jobs and make money and buy their own houses, while the other did silly things like give exams and study and beg for an increment on their pocket money. But what you hated most was those little adults, some from your own class, who studied and made money and actually enjoyed being an adult in every sense. Phooeey.
Phase 5 was changing colleges for your graduation year. Along the way, you realised just how much life had taught you so far (Nothing) and just how much you needed to learn (Everything). We did our degree college studies, did our parents a favour by passing the exams mostly on the first attempt, made some really kickass friends and yup, learnt how to get the laughter back in our lives when there was very little funny happening in the first place.
Phase 6 was graduating but not feeling any pride over it because heck, we started working four days after the final exams ended. And come on, we expected to pass, we're not that dumb (mostly). We enjoyed the job immensely till we stopped enjoying it - then with typical pigheadedness, we quit and sat at home till the next job came along. In this phase, we changed jobs like we changed our minds - suddenly and without warning. And did not regret it either.
Phase 7 was when we turned into our parents and started thinking about settling down and saving money and not overspending and not go changing jobs like we changed our minds. Okay, so we thought about it for about five minutes, but bhavnaon ko samjho. Then we compounded our own miseries by actually falling in love for no reason other than it seemed like a good idea at the time. And to prove that we really hated our own guts and wanted nothing more than to get back at ourselves for no earthly reason whatsoever, we got married. Then we further sealed our fates by having children.
Phase 8 was when we looked at all the seven phases in our life and wondered, Man, why have I lived so long?
Phase 9 was when we decided that there was nothing we could do to change ourselves, mostly because we must learn to accept the way we are, and also because it is too hot. Then we toddled off to bed because the burden of existing was too much to carry on our shoulders just then.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Editorial II
Fence sitters no more
When rulers and detractors agree
Maharashtra’s politics is taking an ominous turn. Though the ruling parties in the state publicly condemned the recent anti-migrant agitation launched by MNS chief Raj Thackeray, the latter’s views are now being cautiously agreed on by the same quarters.
The ongoing Budget Session of the State Legislature has been a study on the migrants debate receiving guarded but official sanction across all party lines. The Shiv Sena has, in as many as five different discussions on housing, employment, infrastructure, Belgaum and crime in this Session alone, boldly called for ‘outsiders’ entry to be stopped in Mumbai.
Previously, the ruling parties vociferously opposed such unconstitutional statements, most of which came from the Shiv Sena. But lately, there has been subtle agreement from as many as three major state politicians – CM Vilasrao Deshmukh, deputy CM R R Patil and Finance Minister Jayant Patil. While Deshmukh said that there were “ways to stop migrants” from coming to Mumbai, he added that post-2000 slums would never be regularised - a clear message that migrants could make living arrangements or stay out of Mumbai. R R revealed a statistical finding in the Legislative Assembly that migration and crime rates in Mumbai had both risen in five years. Finance Minister stated that people from other states should come to Mumbai to be productive, not just fill the city’s slums.
While saying the same things but in a different manner as the hardliner MNS and SS, the ruling combine is officially, and for the first time, blaming some of Mumbai’s chronic troubles on migrants – who, they say, tax the city’s resources, create slums wherever possible and add to law and order problems. Interestingly, every important discussion in this Session has taken this view at some point, but ministers have carefully balanced their rhetoric by saying that everybody is welcome to Mumbai. The state’s understated acknowledgment of the burden of running Mumbai has so far just stopping short of blaming migrants for leaving lesser opportunities for the locals.
When rulers and detractors agree
Maharashtra’s politics is taking an ominous turn. Though the ruling parties in the state publicly condemned the recent anti-migrant agitation launched by MNS chief Raj Thackeray, the latter’s views are now being cautiously agreed on by the same quarters.
The ongoing Budget Session of the State Legislature has been a study on the migrants debate receiving guarded but official sanction across all party lines. The Shiv Sena has, in as many as five different discussions on housing, employment, infrastructure, Belgaum and crime in this Session alone, boldly called for ‘outsiders’ entry to be stopped in Mumbai.
Previously, the ruling parties vociferously opposed such unconstitutional statements, most of which came from the Shiv Sena. But lately, there has been subtle agreement from as many as three major state politicians – CM Vilasrao Deshmukh, deputy CM R R Patil and Finance Minister Jayant Patil. While Deshmukh said that there were “ways to stop migrants” from coming to Mumbai, he added that post-2000 slums would never be regularised - a clear message that migrants could make living arrangements or stay out of Mumbai. R R revealed a statistical finding in the Legislative Assembly that migration and crime rates in Mumbai had both risen in five years. Finance Minister stated that people from other states should come to Mumbai to be productive, not just fill the city’s slums.
While saying the same things but in a different manner as the hardliner MNS and SS, the ruling combine is officially, and for the first time, blaming some of Mumbai’s chronic troubles on migrants – who, they say, tax the city’s resources, create slums wherever possible and add to law and order problems. Interestingly, every important discussion in this Session has taken this view at some point, but ministers have carefully balanced their rhetoric by saying that everybody is welcome to Mumbai. The state’s understated acknowledgment of the burden of running Mumbai has so far just stopping short of blaming migrants for leaving lesser opportunities for the locals.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Lifestyles of the poor and hungry
H/l: State's kids hit by heart disease
Intro: About 1,000 ages 5 to 10 children have heart ailments, while others have skin and eye disorders, says health department
Byline: Vrushali Lad
Slug: Special Report
Mumbai: The state's financially backward children can only blame their poverty and lack of overall health awareness for a staggering new truth: 979 school children aged five to 10 years have been found to have heart diseases.
The figures have come to light from a School Health Report 2007 compiled by the state's family welfare department. As per the 37,00,000 Below the Poverty Line (BPL) school students surveyed in the last year from July to October 2007, the department has identified heart diseases, anaemia, worm infestation, night blindness, otatis, scabies, skin problems, eye diseases and dental defects among the children.
Speaking to The Herald, deputy director of the family welfare department Dr Vithal Khanande said, "It is stunning but not surprising that such small children have heart problems and other diseases also. Of all the heart disease cases discovered, we found that the children suffered from congenital heart disorders caused by developmental problems, or in other cases, when fevers or other illnesses were not treated on time, it affected the child's heart.
There are also some cases with ventricular septal defects. However, it all boils down to these kids' lifestyles – not enough nutritional food, no prompt medical treatment and no awareness of most diseases by the parents."
The state's kids are also falling prey to anaemia (59,667 cases), worm infestation (1,59,138), night blindness (10,845), otatis (15,865), scabies (17,887), skin disorders (15,391), eye diseases (19,341) and dental defects (1,35,186). The figures in each district are then considered for free treatments under the Jeevandayi Arogya scheme, and wherever necessary, operations are conducted at government-designated hospitals and clinics free of cost, the public health department said.
A Rs 1,95,00,000 corpus has been set aside for treating these children, public health minister Dr Vimal Mundada told The Herald.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Rice and shine
March 30, 2008
H/l: India clicks to feed the world
Intro: Nation's web users are playing a vocab game to feed the hungry daily
Byline: Vrushali Lad
Mumbai: Each of us has, at some point of time, experienced what it feels like to forgo a meal. This may be fuelling India's participation in a unique 'feed while you learn' internet-based game, through which our country is opening up its heart to feed unknown hungry souls in other countries.
The website www.freerice.com allows the user to play a word vocabulary game in which with every right answer, the user donates 20 grains of rice through the organisation to the end user. Hence, the more you play, the more you learn and hence, the more rice you end up generating for the benefit of a hungry stranger.
India is the fifth highest rice generator on this programme, after US, Canada, UK and Australia. 22 countries have officially subscribed to the programme, and India is not one of them. Thus, India is the only non-participating country on the Top 5 list.
Add to that the fact that India's growing internet connectivity is helping such an endeavour in catching on very quickly.
"The response from India has been great. It is our fifth most popular country and it is contributing about two million grains of rice per day," said Martin Penner, Public Information Officer, World Food Programme of the UN, via email from Italy.
Freerice.com gives users the option of setting the difficulty level of the game and to listen to how the word is pronounced. "Hence, you feed your mind by learning new words in the English language, and while you learn, you end up feeding a hungry person somewhere. It's that simple," Penner told The Herald.
This is how the game works: the user can set the difficulty level and choose to hear how the word is pronounced. You will be given a word and multiple choices of which only one is the meaning of the given word. Every correct answer results in 20 grains of rice being added to your total. The rice grains are totalled once you stop playing and are paid for by advertisers.
The UN's World Food Programme volunteers then distribute the rice to the end users in four countries currently – Nepal, Uganda, Bangladesh and Cambodia.
The freerice.com website works on a no-profit basis and is linked with the UN's Food Programme since October 2007. "We get about five to 10 million page views a day, an average of about 7.5 million. Daily visitors are in the 3,00,000 – 5,00,000 range," Penner said.
Box:
Get cracking on your vocab:
- Go to http://www.freerice.com
- Select the difficulty level by clicking on Options
- If you get a word wrong, you will be switched to an easier level
- If you get a word right, you will be switched to a harder level
- There are 55 levels in all. Players generally complete 48 levels
- A tracker on the site registers how much rice you have donated even if you abandon the game mid-way
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Tag, I'm forcibly It
Okay fine, I did this only because I was blackmailed into doing so by a persistent younger sister who would have adopted her usual policy of punishing me when I refuse her something - by sitting on me. Since life is dear to one and all, I go ahead with this tag:
Ten things you wish you could say to people right now (without taking their names):
You’re an ass and a fraudster and I’m going to kick you
You’re not as smart as you think
I was smarter than you even before I was born
Where is my debit card, you son of a bachelor?
Your mere presence makes me reach for a barfbag
This is tea? Seriously?
I would love to break up with you but I’ll just take you back some day
Get up and apply, you whatnot. Do you honestly think they are going to call you?
Oh please. Since when have you become Vir Sanghvi?
Maar de saale ko
Nine things about yourself:
I love filing stories
I like my food to have all or some of the following: cheese, butter, stroganoff sauce, crunchy chicken
I am severely technologically challenged
How sarcastic I get depends on how angry I am
I hate hitting anyone. But I do it when required
I feel nothing when I make someone cry
I can go for days together without a shower
I hate being the ugly duckling in the family
I changed from being a nervous kid to an impossible adult
Eight ways to win your heart:
Give me a back massage
Listen when I talk, not because I yell if you don't but because you're genuinely interested
To appreciate that it is okay if I am different from my sisters
Oil my hair
Buy me stuff I need without asking my permission
Appreciate my efforts
Tell me I look pretty. Not mind when I accuse you of lying
Plan an evening out for me
Seven things that cross your mind a lot:
Gosh darn it, will she stop talking?
I want to go home
Nobody loves me
Yeah, she’ll start bitching about me next
I didn’t charge my iPod again??!
Okay. You asked for it, sucker
That will make me famous...
Six things you wish you never did:
Take up architecture
Meet Atul, Jesse, Prasad Sathyen, Gaurav, all of National’s classmates, Turja, some senior reporters
Cut my hair off
Get into an accident :(
Occasionally like my job
Not trying to forgive being the last to be told, and by a relative stranger, that my dad had suffered a heart attack and had been taken to hospital
Five Turn offs:
Pretend modesty
Assumed talent
Stupidity
Fishing for compliments
Unwashed clothes
Four turn on’s:
Books
Midnight snacks
Salary
Good photographs
Three things you want to do before you die:
Raise a smart, polite, fun kid
Cook well
Write a bestseller
Two smiley’s that describe you:
:O
:(
One confession:
I keep thinking I will meet a violent end. And that it's going to happen any day now.
Ten things you wish you could say to people right now (without taking their names):
You’re an ass and a fraudster and I’m going to kick you
You’re not as smart as you think
I was smarter than you even before I was born
Where is my debit card, you son of a bachelor?
Your mere presence makes me reach for a barfbag
This is tea? Seriously?
I would love to break up with you but I’ll just take you back some day
Get up and apply, you whatnot. Do you honestly think they are going to call you?
Oh please. Since when have you become Vir Sanghvi?
Maar de saale ko
Nine things about yourself:
I love filing stories
I like my food to have all or some of the following: cheese, butter, stroganoff sauce, crunchy chicken
I am severely technologically challenged
How sarcastic I get depends on how angry I am
I hate hitting anyone. But I do it when required
I feel nothing when I make someone cry
I can go for days together without a shower
I hate being the ugly duckling in the family
I changed from being a nervous kid to an impossible adult
Eight ways to win your heart:
Give me a back massage
Listen when I talk, not because I yell if you don't but because you're genuinely interested
To appreciate that it is okay if I am different from my sisters
Oil my hair
Buy me stuff I need without asking my permission
Appreciate my efforts
Tell me I look pretty. Not mind when I accuse you of lying
Plan an evening out for me
Seven things that cross your mind a lot:
Gosh darn it, will she stop talking?
I want to go home
Nobody loves me
Yeah, she’ll start bitching about me next
I didn’t charge my iPod again??!
Okay. You asked for it, sucker
That will make me famous...
Six things you wish you never did:
Take up architecture
Meet Atul, Jesse, Prasad Sathyen, Gaurav, all of National’s classmates, Turja, some senior reporters
Cut my hair off
Get into an accident :(
Occasionally like my job
Not trying to forgive being the last to be told, and by a relative stranger, that my dad had suffered a heart attack and had been taken to hospital
Five Turn offs:
Pretend modesty
Assumed talent
Stupidity
Fishing for compliments
Unwashed clothes
Four turn on’s:
Books
Midnight snacks
Salary
Good photographs
Three things you want to do before you die:
Raise a smart, polite, fun kid
Cook well
Write a bestseller
Two smiley’s that describe you:
:O
:(
One confession:
I keep thinking I will meet a violent end. And that it's going to happen any day now.
Monday, March 24, 2008
What a bunch of duffers
March 21, 2008
H/l: Only 5.1 pc Std 2 kids can read Marathi
Intro: State has faltered on education in rural Maharashtra
Vrushali Lad
Mumbai: Will the Rs 1,400 crores set aside in the Budget for the state’s education this year plug some major deficiencies in rural areas’ education? As per estimates for rural Maharashtra as enumerated in the Economic Survey 2007-2008, just 5.1 per cent children can read class II Marathi texts.
Even more shockingly, 12.2 per cent children cannot read at all, even their mother tongue Marathi. English capital letters seem to stump students right from class I to class VIII - 72 per cent of the former can’t and just 5.7 per cent of the latter can read capital letters in English.
The survey, titled ‘Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)’ was carried out by NGO Pratham, that surveyed the state’s villages during October and November 2007, to understand the educational status of children aged 6 to 14 years.
As per the survey, arithmetic fares even worse than the languages. While 10.5 per cent children in class I cannot perform any arithmetic operation, only 5.1 per cent and 0.7 per cent children can do subtraction and division.
Apart from these problems, there seems to be a marked absence of basic infrastructure for rural schools. 16.9 per cent class I to VIII rural schools in the state have no water and 8.6 per cent have no toilets provided. A huge 28.5 per cent class I to V schools have no water and 15.5 per cent schools in the same category have no toilets.
Other figures from the ASER findings:
- 1.2 pc class 8 students can read Marathi words
- 67.5 pc class 8 students can read easy English sentences
- 33 pc class 5 students can read simple English words
- Only 8 pc class 8 students can recognise numbers between 10 and 99
H/l: Only 5.1 pc Std 2 kids can read Marathi
Intro: State has faltered on education in rural Maharashtra
Vrushali Lad
Mumbai: Will the Rs 1,400 crores set aside in the Budget for the state’s education this year plug some major deficiencies in rural areas’ education? As per estimates for rural Maharashtra as enumerated in the Economic Survey 2007-2008, just 5.1 per cent children can read class II Marathi texts.
Even more shockingly, 12.2 per cent children cannot read at all, even their mother tongue Marathi. English capital letters seem to stump students right from class I to class VIII - 72 per cent of the former can’t and just 5.7 per cent of the latter can read capital letters in English.
The survey, titled ‘Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)’ was carried out by NGO Pratham, that surveyed the state’s villages during October and November 2007, to understand the educational status of children aged 6 to 14 years.
As per the survey, arithmetic fares even worse than the languages. While 10.5 per cent children in class I cannot perform any arithmetic operation, only 5.1 per cent and 0.7 per cent children can do subtraction and division.
Apart from these problems, there seems to be a marked absence of basic infrastructure for rural schools. 16.9 per cent class I to VIII rural schools in the state have no water and 8.6 per cent have no toilets provided. A huge 28.5 per cent class I to V schools have no water and 15.5 per cent schools in the same category have no toilets.
Other figures from the ASER findings:
- 1.2 pc class 8 students can read Marathi words
- 67.5 pc class 8 students can read easy English sentences
- 33 pc class 5 students can read simple English words
- Only 8 pc class 8 students can recognise numbers between 10 and 99
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Hic and fine
March 13, 2008
H/l: Medicinal liquor coming your way
Intro: …so are soaps, oils and cattle feed, courtesy the mahua flower that state produces
CORRESPONDENT
From: Vrushali Lad
Mumbai: At a time when the state is focussing on creating a booming grape wine industry for potential export, CM Vilasrao Deshmukh is about to add cheer to Maharashtra’s plans with a great new addition – Herbal Liquor – courtesy the mahua flower that is produced in huge quantities here.
Responding to a Calling Attention Motion moved by MLAs Nana Patole and others, who demanded to know why the state was not putting the over 3.35 crore mahua trees’ produce to good use, Deshmukh said, “This is an untapped territory, but we will shortly put together a scheme under which we can establish wineries using seeds to produce liquor, and set up units to produce soaps and oils using the mahua flowers.”
He added that this would benefit the tribal belts and unemployed especially in areas like Vidarbha, where the mahua trees grow in abundance.
Earlier, responding to the Motion, forest minister Babanrao Pachpute had extolled the virtues of the mahua trees. “With over 3.35 crore mahua trees, the state produces 50,000 tonnes of flowers and 20,000 seeds. One kilogram of mahua flowers gives 320 ml of liquor, which is healthy and herbal in nature,” he said.
He added that the flowers can also be used in making soaps and perfumed oils, so that those are two other industries that the government may consider.
Deshmukh explained that the government would work towards bringing the mahua flower business under one common programme, which would oversee everything from collection to manufacture of allied products. Legislators have been urged to meet him on the issue and offer inputs.
H/l: Medicinal liquor coming your way
Intro: …so are soaps, oils and cattle feed, courtesy the mahua flower that state produces
CORRESPONDENT
From: Vrushali Lad
Mumbai: At a time when the state is focussing on creating a booming grape wine industry for potential export, CM Vilasrao Deshmukh is about to add cheer to Maharashtra’s plans with a great new addition – Herbal Liquor – courtesy the mahua flower that is produced in huge quantities here.
Responding to a Calling Attention Motion moved by MLAs Nana Patole and others, who demanded to know why the state was not putting the over 3.35 crore mahua trees’ produce to good use, Deshmukh said, “This is an untapped territory, but we will shortly put together a scheme under which we can establish wineries using seeds to produce liquor, and set up units to produce soaps and oils using the mahua flowers.”
He added that this would benefit the tribal belts and unemployed especially in areas like Vidarbha, where the mahua trees grow in abundance.
Earlier, responding to the Motion, forest minister Babanrao Pachpute had extolled the virtues of the mahua trees. “With over 3.35 crore mahua trees, the state produces 50,000 tonnes of flowers and 20,000 seeds. One kilogram of mahua flowers gives 320 ml of liquor, which is healthy and herbal in nature,” he said.
He added that the flowers can also be used in making soaps and perfumed oils, so that those are two other industries that the government may consider.
Deshmukh explained that the government would work towards bringing the mahua flower business under one common programme, which would oversee everything from collection to manufacture of allied products. Legislators have been urged to meet him on the issue and offer inputs.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Dear Potential Terrorist,
March 6, 2008
H/l: Biometric ID cards on the anvil
Intro: Your biometric visa card to the UK may just become your ID card for use all over the EU
CORRESPONDENT
From: Vrushali Lad
Mumbai: The United Kingdom is tightening the screws on internal security and immigration frauds. On Thursday, UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced in a radio interview that foreign nationals and visitors to the UK would be required to obtain national biometric identity cards this year onwards.
“Increasingly, we need to be able to prove our identity in a whole range of ways: when we’re travelling, when we’re opening a bank account or accessing government services. We’re all better protected if we can be confident that other people are who they say they are,” The Times quoted Smith.
The biometric visa to the UK has already been introduced in India from December 2007 onwards, in which every applicant has to submit fingerprints and allow a digital photograph to be taken at the time of applying for a visa. With this new initiative, applicants will also have to surrender personal details apart from fingerprints, to be stored in a microchip on the card. The card must be carried whenever the person travels, and must be produced whenever asked for by authorities.
The ultimate aim is to get visitors’ and nationals’ biometrics into the national identity register, so that even those foreign nationals who have so far resisted submitting their personal details will come into the purview of the security agencies.
The Home Office is yet to decide on how to implement the scheme for foreigners who come from countries such as India, where there is the most widespread abuse of the immigration system. It may be noted that the biometric visas were also introduced in India after Mumbai police unearthed a huge fake visa racket in December 2007.
H/l: Biometric ID cards on the anvil
Intro: Your biometric visa card to the UK may just become your ID card for use all over the EU
CORRESPONDENT
From: Vrushali Lad
Mumbai: The United Kingdom is tightening the screws on internal security and immigration frauds. On Thursday, UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced in a radio interview that foreign nationals and visitors to the UK would be required to obtain national biometric identity cards this year onwards.
“Increasingly, we need to be able to prove our identity in a whole range of ways: when we’re travelling, when we’re opening a bank account or accessing government services. We’re all better protected if we can be confident that other people are who they say they are,” The Times quoted Smith.
The biometric visa to the UK has already been introduced in India from December 2007 onwards, in which every applicant has to submit fingerprints and allow a digital photograph to be taken at the time of applying for a visa. With this new initiative, applicants will also have to surrender personal details apart from fingerprints, to be stored in a microchip on the card. The card must be carried whenever the person travels, and must be produced whenever asked for by authorities.
The ultimate aim is to get visitors’ and nationals’ biometrics into the national identity register, so that even those foreign nationals who have so far resisted submitting their personal details will come into the purview of the security agencies.
The Home Office is yet to decide on how to implement the scheme for foreigners who come from countries such as India, where there is the most widespread abuse of the immigration system. It may be noted that the biometric visas were also introduced in India after Mumbai police unearthed a huge fake visa racket in December 2007.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
