DDA Housing Scheme Results
It's the day Delhi has been waiting for with fingers crossed. Nearly 5,000 new DDA flats will be allotted on Tuesday through a computer lottery.
One of the applicants Ritesh Jain, an entrepreneur, knows the odds are tough. There are 113 people who've applied for the DDA flat he wants.
"It's all about luck. It would be one of the happiest moments in my life if I get a flat," he said.
The 5,000 DDA flats range from Rs 7 to 77 lakhs. They've been built in some of Delhi's most-wanted colonies like Dwarka, Rohini and Vasant Kunj.
The fact that they're 50 per cent cheaper than market rates for these areas makes them priceless. And to avoid any controversy, the lottery is being supervised by IIT teachers.
"It's 100 per cent transparent. The draw is totally computerized; all the application numbers and flat numbers have been fed and both the list would be randomised by the computer. The cut off will be drawn by the judges and the computer will declare all the results," said Neemo Dhar, Director, PRO, Delhi Development Authority.
Anybody who is allotted a house will get a cheaper home loan from a government bank. Loans for upto Rs 20 lakhs have fallen by two per cent.
And half of the new DDA flats cost Rs 20 lakhs or less both the houses Ritesh has applied for fall into this category.
"I have just heard the news about the new home loan rates. I'll be very lucky to get loans at cheap rates," Ritesh said.
The lucky winners will get the keys to their new houses in two months. Those who didn't make it will be refunded the registration fee of Rs 1.5 lakhs by the end of December.
The DDA draw comes at a time when the government has announced capping of interest rates on home loans to their lowest levels in many years. But with one in every 110 applicants standing a chance, this indeed is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the lucky few.
India's Parvathy Omanakuttan was adjudged the first runner-up at the Miss World pageant here Saturday evening, with the crown going to Miss Russia.
Parvathy impressed the jury with her looks and quick wit and was one the five finalists out of the 109 contestants at the Sandton Convention Center. However, she was finally beaten by Miss Russia.
Miss Trinidad and Tobago was named the second runner-up. The others in contention in the final five were Miss South Africa and Miss Angola.
India had high hopes on 21-year-old Parvathy to win the crown that last came to the country in 2000.
India boasts of Miss Worlds like Reita Faria (1966), Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (1994), Diana Hayden (1997), Yukta Mookhey (1999) and Priyanka Chopra (2000).
Noted Indian music director A.R. Rahman has won a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Score for his music in British director Danny Boyle's uplifting underdog tale "Slumdog Millionaire".
The film has also earned three other nominations for Best Picture-Drama, Best Director for Boyle and Best Screenplay for Simon Beaufoy for the 2008 Golden Globe Awards given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
The film tells the heart warming story of an 18-year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai who goes on to win a staggering Rs.20 million ($420,000) on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" game show.
Earlier this week, "Slumdog Millionaire" won two awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association - Best Director for Boyle and Best Music for Rahman. It also won the runner-up prize for Best Cinematography for Anthony Dod Mantle.
The film, set and shot in Mumbai, has also won the Best Cinematography prize from The New York Film Critics' Circle and earned six Critics Choice Award nominations for Picture, Director (Boyle), Writer (Simon Beaufoy), Young Actor (Dev Patel), Composer (Rahman), and Song ("Jai Ho").
Currently playing in several major cities, "Slumdog Millionaire" will open in 87 additional theaters across North America Friday and bring its total theatre count to 165.
New markets where the film will debut this weekend include New Jersey, Connecticut, Ohio, Houston, Austin, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Ann Arbor, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, St. Louis, Kansas City, Louisville, New Orleans, Portland, Honolulu and Sacramento.
When author Gregory David Roberts wrote an open letter to all his readers asking them not to lose faith in India and Mumbai following the 26/11 attacks, he immediately found adherents in people like Anne Fox, a British tourist.
Braving a fear psychosis Fox took a corner table at the famous Leopold Café - the place Roberts had immortalised in his book "Shantaram" - ordered a beer and got up only after she finished reading it.
One of the city's oldest Irani-run cafes owned by Farzad and Farhang Jehani, Leopold was set up way back in 1871. Aptly wearing the tagline 'Getting better with age', it's a huge hit with foreign backpackers.
Situated on the Colaba Causeway in south Mumbai, Leo's (as the cafe is popularly known) offers you more than one reason to hop in. It has 333 items on its food menu ranging from the humble fish and chips to the royal biryani. But loyal Leodians swear by its chicken tikka masala and beef chilly and fried rice.
Serving hefty portions at reasonable price, what also sets the cafe apart is its ambience. Nothing too fancy for your eyes, but a quaint French cafe look with ever amiable waiters ready to serve you make most prefer it to its nearby look alike Cafe Mondegar.
Rudely interrupting its warm ambience, on the night of Nov 26 terrorists targetted Leo's as their first spot to launch their brazen attacks that claimed at least 179 lives. Seven people, including two tourists and two of the café's waiters, were among those killed.
Two weeks later, tourists like Fox have started trickling in again for what seems to be their favourite pass time at Leo's- read Shantaram.
"It's fascinating to read a book based in a particular place and then relate every little detail mentioned in it to the surroundings here," Fox told IANS, as she turned a page of the thick book.
A 2003 novel by Roberts, "Shantaram" is about an Australian bank robber and heroin addict who escapes from jail and flees to Bombay, as Mumbai was formerly called.
Of all the very typical "Bombay" things and places mentioned in the book is the Leopold Café.
Little wonder that one corner of the manager's counter is stacked with the grey and red covered "Shantaram". And it most definitely is the most read book in the café - especially amongst tourists.
Sitting lazily on her chair, Fox said that she was holidaying at the sun-kissed beaches of Goa when terrorists struck Mumbai. In spite of the outrage, Fox said she decided to continue her journey to Mumbai as per her long-drawn travel itinerary in India and despite her family and friends advising her against it.
"I have been in India for a month now and all this while I have been in Goa. When I heard about the attacks here, my parents back home wanted me to cut short the visit, but I just decided to carry on. It would have been such a waste of a trip had I gone back without visiting all these places," Fox maintained.
She, incidentally, was not the only one sitting in the café with a copy of "Shantaram".
Arthur Davis, a Canadian, sat with his girlfriend close by. Among their cloth shoulder bags and other things lying on their table was a copy of the book.
"This is not the first time that I have come to India and to Leo's. Now, the bullet marks on the ceiling of this place is unnerving.
"Yet seeing the crowd and the smiling faces of the waiters here gives you the confidence and hope to return. There is hardly any place today which has not been a victim to terror and, therefore, running away from India after these attacks is never an option," Davis told IANS.
But ask one of the waiters and he admits that after the Nov 26 attack the number of foreigners thronging the place has come down.
"The number of people coming to Leo's after the attack has not been affected; in fact it has increased. But the number of foreigners among them has come down. Otherwise, at any given time, the lower section of the cafe is generally filled with foreigners," said Avik, one of the waiters.
Nevertheless, this pub-restaurant - with its typical 1980s look and now bullet-riddled window panes - continues to serve loyal customers defiant in the face of depredations it had to endure.
(Azera Rahman can be contacted at azera.p@ians.in)
The Pakistan-based Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD), which has been branded a terrorist group by the UN, is writing to the global body to clarify that it has no links with terrorism and the Pakistani government began investigations against it only on the basis of "Indian propaganda", its chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed said.
Acceding to Indian and US requests in the aftermath of the Nov 26 Mumbai terror attacks, the UN Security Council Wednesday declared JuD, the front for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a terrorist group. Four top LeT leaders, including Saeed, have also been branded global terrorists.
However, BBC Urdu website quoted Saeed as saying in an interview that he never headed the LeT. He added that although he was once arrested by the government, he was let off after JuD proved that he had nothing to do with the LeT.
The other LeT leaders whom the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee has branded global terrorists are Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Haji Muhammad Ashraf and Mahmood Muhammad Ahmed.
While insisting that none of the "LeT office holders are members of JuD", Saeed said: "India has failed to provide any evidence of LeT involvement in the Mumbai attacks."
Asked about LeT offices and camps in Pakistan, Saeed said all LeT offices were closed in 2002 after the ban on the organisation.
"Presently, there are no offices or camps (of LeT) in Pakistan," he said.
He said India was pressurising Pakistan through propaganda, adding: "The Pakistani government should investigate the allegations and clear the situation. LeT has already denied all the allegations."
Saeed said that previously India was accusing LeT of the Mumbai attacks but this week its envoy in the UN demanded restrictions on JuD. He demanded that Indian authorities provide evidence of the involvement of either of the two groups in the Mumbai attacks, which left over 170 people dead.
Declaring that the JuD will challenge the sanctions imposed on it in all forums, Saeed said his group will write to the UN explaining that it has no involvement in any terrorist activity.
When asked what he would do if India presented any evidence against JuD, Saeed said in that case his group will abide by the decision of the government of Pakistan.
He said all JuD offices in Pakistani Kashmir and other parts of the country were working as usual and the recent raids in Kashmir were on LeT.
"Pakistan army and security agencies are conducting these raids and they are in a better position to tell you against whom they are taking these actions," he added.
When asked about media reports that one of the Mumbai attackers had visited the JuD office in Muridke, Saeed said he had never met him.
"I have seen a media report that I met him for the first time in Dubai whereas I have never been to Dubai," he added.
Indo-Asian News Service
Acceding to Indian and US requests in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks, the UN Security Council has branded Pakistan-based Jamat-ud-Dawah, the front for banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a terrorist group and four top LeT leaders as global terrorists.
The LeT leaders who were Wednesday declared terrorists by the Security Council are Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Haji Muhammad Ashraf, and Mohmoud Mohammad Ahmed Bahaziq. Except for the last one, all are Pakistani nationals.
India says Saeed, the LeT head, is the mastermind of the Nov 26 Mumbai terror attacks that killed at least 179 people, including several foreigners. While Lakhvi is the chief of operations of LeT, Ashraf is the chief of finances of the terrorist organisatiation, which was declared a terrorist organisation by the UN in 2002.
India-born Saudi national Bahaziq raised money for the LeT in Saudi Arabia. Frontal organisations of the banned Al Rashid and Al Akhtar trusts, which raised funds for LeT, have also been included in the Security Council's terror list.
India had requested the UN to ban the Jamat-ud-Dawah and Saeed, while the request for rest of the terrorists and organisations came from the US.
With this, the onus is now on Islamabad to take immediate action against those included in the list by the UN Security Council's Al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee.
Richard Barrett, coordinator for Al Qaeda Taliban Monitoring Team, told IANS that the sanctions come into effect immediately. With this, Pakistan is expected to take action against them immediately, which include freezing of their assets, a ban on their foreign travel and arms embargo.
Since all the members of the Al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee have veto power, the decision was taken by consensus. All the 15 members of the Security Council are the members of this sub-committee.
In the three previous attempts to include the Jamat-ud-Dawah in the list, China had opposed the request. But not this time, given the concrete supportive documents provided by India and the US about the group's role in the Mumbai terror attacks.
At a Security Council meeting convened Tuesday to debate terrorism, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed said: "The Jamat-ud-Dawah and other such organisations need to be proscribed internationally and effective sanctions imposed against them."
Soon thereafter, the Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Abdullah Hussain Haroon told the Security Council that his country would take action against the Jamat-ud-Dawah, including freezing its assets if it was designated a terrorist organisation.
"The government of Pakistan has already initiated investigations on its own pertaining to the allegations of involvement of persons and entities in the Mumbai attacks," he said.
"After the designation by the Indian government of the Jamat-ud-Dawah under 1267, the (Pakistani) government upon receiving this instruction shall proscribe the JuD and take under consequential action as required including the freezing of assets," Haroon added.
Indo-Asian News Service
By Kriti Gupta
Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.”
Section 377, Indian Penal Code
The acts “against the order of nature” according to this definition are anal sex and masturbation. While this law applies to everyone; in practice, it generally implies homosexuality. This renders homosexuals vulnerable and is often used as means for blackmail and extortion. Though efforts are underway to change this law, the case is still pending in the Supreme Court.
This poses a problem as India has a thriving underground gay community. Kinsey Study, the most comprehensive research about sexual orientation, states that ten per cent of men and seven per cent of women between the ages of 16-55 are predominantly homosexual. This community has become more and more vocal, in the recent years. A phenomenon clearly exhibited by the recent gay pride parades held all over the country (like Delhi, Mumbai, and so on)
Jonathan Luther, a 20 something active homosexual man living in Delhi believes that India is suffering from a colonial hangover. “The Britishers introduced this law into the Indian Constitution. India itself has a history of accepting homosexuality. We need to get over this colonial hangover. Bharat chhodo 377!”
While discovering his alternate sexuality, Jonathan had a hard time. Continued on Page 4
“Being a Christian, I had major religious guilt. Christianity had been fed to me ever since I was a little boy. I had to go through five years of misery and torture. Then one day I realized – you cannot turn to God for everything. God is a construct that humanity needs to survive. To explain things that cannot be explained. Back then, I used to cry myself to sleep every night. Now, I have come to terms with who I am.” This is evident, as he is the only person who did not request a name change for this article.
Suhail Agarwal* has a different perspective.
As a Hindu, he did not face the religious guilt that Jonathan had to go through. In fact, he has not been subject to negative reactions from his friends and family. Despite that, he still prefers to stay in the closet. He believes that homosexuality is not a badge to be worn on your shoulder. “If straight guys don’t go around proclaiming that they are heterosexual, why should I have to do it?”
His take on Section 377 is that people need to be sensitized about the issue. Gay bashing still carries on in various parts of the country and vigilantes need to be suppressed. The police needs to be made aware of the problem. While attempting to explain 377, he said, “It kept going back and forth between the High court and Supreme Court. But I’m guessing as everything with the Indian law, the case is still pending.” He further added that if it were to become legal, at least it would no longer be a crime thereby reducing the stigma attached to it.
While on the one hand, Facebook type networking sites like www.guys4men.com ,a rage in India. On the other, there is still an alarmingly large number of cases reported where people kill themselves because they are forced to marry people of the opposite sex. In a study conducted recently, it was found that 45 gay couples committed suicide between 2001-2006. NAZ Foundation Co-ordinator Anuradha Mukherjee says that the figures are higher in reality, “It is hard to estimate the actual figure as families prefer saying that the girl committed suicide due to harassment rather than homosexuality.”
“Repealing 377 would make it easier for homosexuals in the lower classes to assert themselves. People in higher classes are insulated to a large degree. Parents bashing and friends ostracizing is a more prominent phenomenon with the lower classes,” remarks Jonathan. Suhail agrees, “There aren’t enough resources available with the poor to find out or even understand what they are going through.”
Rohit Kakkar*, a typical straight guy, comments on the community and his views on the same – “The class differences causes disparity in every field. So, to single out homosexuality is not justified. While I do not understand it, I know it happens. The best thing to do is to accept it and try and integrate it with society. There should be no judgement on you based on who you like.”
Perhaps the biggest challenge the Indian community faces today is to integrate homosexuality into the Indian society and culture. Hetero-normativity as a social construct is a farce that needs to be shattered. When asked about why he hasn’t come out to his parents, Suhail narrates the time his mother (who has a vague idea about his sexual orientation) said to him warningly, “Different people are not accepted in society. So you should think before you go down an unlikely path.”
Revoking Section 377 would be a step towards that.
* Names have been changed on request.
Every momentous event nowadays is tracked by live blogs, posts and messages.
There are minute-to-minute updates as events unfold, from the earthquake in China, to the cyclone in Burma. The terror attack in Mumbai was no different, as eyewitnesses and citizen journalists communicated with millions around the world.
But is all of that good, does it help? Is it reliable or can it also be abused?
For media commentators, two events have really led to the coming of age of live blogs. Firstly, the recent election in the US, which saw a massive number of news websites and individual bloggers cover the events minute by minute all over the globe. They were not only from the US, but also from the UK and around the Arab world.
The terror attacks in Mumbai has cemented the position of micro-blogging and live blogging as an invaluable medium to share information.
The first tweets about the attacks appeared early, and subsequently gave a tremendous amount of information, about a highly complex and rapidly changing series of events. But there are questions about verification and clarity.
According to the British Broadcasting Corporation's tech blogger Rory Cellan Jones, a story that kept popping up was of the Indian government trying to ban twitter, because it was aiding the attackers.
However, there was no confirmation of the ban from any government source.
Jones also says that the story appeared on the BBC's own Mumbai live event page. The event page had pulled together all kinds of sources, official and unofficial, to give readers a picture of the developing story. The pages are designed to allow readers to keep up with all the latest information circulating about the story in real time. So, to some extent it's up to the reader to decide how much credence to give them.
Thus, it may be prudent to treat everything one hears on a social network with a degree of skepticism. It throws open the discussion on the relevance of the mainstream media. There, some say that, because of the volume of information on those networks and the number of users, the mainstream media is increasingly irrelevant.
Sites claim to have full stories out before the television networks got out of bed. But the fact is that, while thousands post on twitter, and it may have alerted many people to the attacks, as time went on, the posts made the story more confusing.
Finally during the Mumbai attacks, many people had to switch back to the TV and newspapers to get a full sense of the story.
So, what twitter has done is to provide instant information to millions. No one doubts the fact that it's one of the best things to have happened to the internet. But as Cellan Jones says, that what it doesn't do is, tell us what is true, and what isn't. That makes the work of mainstream media outlets and professional reporters all the more relevant.
India Tuesday indicated it was keeping all options open, including a military strike against terrorist camps in Pakistan and suspension of bilateral dialogue, and underlined that it will take "appropriate action" to protect its territory from terror attacks emanating from the neighbouring country.
"We will await the response from Pakistan to the demarche (formal protest note)," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters here on the sidelines of a function to inaugurate the India-Arab Forum Tuesday morning.
"We have in our demarche asked for the arrests and handing over of those persons who are settled in Pakistan and who are fugitives under the Indian law," he added.
"There are lists (containing the names) of about 20 persons. (These) lists are sometimes altered and this exercise is going on and we have reviewed it in our demarche," Mukherjee said.
"What I am saying is every sovereign country has its right to protect its territorial integrity and take appropriate action as and when it feels it is necessary to take that appropriate action," Mukherjee later told the NDTV news channel in an interview.
"As and when it takes place you will get to know. Nobody publicises or advertises it. I am not making any comment on military option," he replied when asked whether he would rule out military option against terrorist groups like the Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) which are suspected to have engineered the Mumbai terror strikes.
"What will be done, time will show and you will come to know," Mukherjee said.
India's "most wanted 20" list includes known terror masterminds like mob boss Dawood Ibrahim, Maulana Masood Azhar, the founder of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) which was suspected behind the Dec 13, 2001 attack on the Indian parliament, and LeT chief Hafez Mohammed Sayeed.
New Delhi has suspected these fugitives to be behind major terror strikes in India over the years.
India has, however, not set a time-frame for Pakistan to the demarche it issued Monday that included the return of India's 20 most wanted men, the dismantling of terrorist camps and the proscription of anti-India militant outfits.
"We have not set a time-frame for Pakistan's response to our demarche. We will give them a reasonable amount of time," a senior official said on condition of anonymity.
"All options are open. Nothing has been decided as yet," he replied when asked what steps India will take in case Pakistan refuses to concede to its demands.
Pakistan has responded by offering India a joint team to probe the Mumbai attacks and underlined it will "frame a response" to New Delhi's demand for handing over 20 of India's most wanted men.
But India has cold-shouldered what it sees a diversionary ploy by Pakistan to impress the international community about its sincerity. "We want action on the ground," the official said.
The bilateral composite dialogue process has not been stalled yet, but if Pakistan fails to address India's concerns, New Delhi may decide to suspend the talks on the remaining items in the ongoing fifth round, said reliable sources, privy to the government's thinking on the subject.
"There is a stress on the dialogue process. The atmosphere has been vitiated by the Mumbai attacks," the official admitted.
The menu of likely actions by India in case of Pakistan's refusal to act on the ground could include military action. But this last resort action is not being considered yet. "You can't rule out anything. We will cross the bridge when it comes to it," the official said.
Investigations have disclosed that the Nov 26 Mumbai terror strikes bore the imprint of LeT, a banned militant outfit.
The probe has produced enough damning evidence that led New Delhi to officially tell Islamabad Tuesday that it holds elements in Pakistan responsible for the Mumbai terror strikes.
Pakistan has denied any link with the Mumbai blasts.
"The government of Pakistan has offered a joint investigating mechanism and a joint commission to India," Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a nationwide telecast in Islamabad.
At the same time, India and Pakistan should not allow their composite dialogue to get derailed in the wake of the Mumbai killings, he said.
"We want better relations... and it is in the larger interest of the two countries to continue the composite dialogue process.
With Pakistan in the denial mode, India Tuesday briefed envoys of those countries whose nationals were killed in the NOv 26 terror carnage about the investigation and underlined that New Delhi expected Islamabad to act against militants based in its territory who engineered it.
Vivek Katju, special secretary (Political and International Organisations), held a meeting with the envoys and expressed India's deepest condolences to them.
The heads of missions from Germany, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Italy, Thailand, Israel and Mauritius were present at the meeting, official sources told IANS.
India's diplomatic offensive comes in response to repeated denials by Pakistan and Islamabad's frenzied calls to world capitals to convince the international community of its claimed innocence.
US Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate who lost the presidential race to Barack Obama, Tuesday said he was hopeful of Pakistan's cooperation with India in the Mumbai terrorist attack probe and opposed a military strike against Islamabad.
Underlining solidarity with India in the wake of the Nov 26 terror attacks, he said the US would not allow terrorists to provoke a confrontation between India and Pakistan.
"I assume the government of Pakistan will cooperate. They realise that this act of terror is not something that affects India but all the civilised nations," McCain said.
"No," he replied when asked whether the Mumbai attacks were a "fit case" for India to launch military action against Pakistan.
"We do not have hard evidence yet. Obviously, there are allegations that this organisation, this individual or this group were trained or operated or had some training in Pakistan," said McCain.
"This government is committed to better relations between India and Pakistan. They (those behind the Mumbai carnage) tried to provoke a confrontation between India and Pakistan," McCain told reporters here.
"This government will not allow it to happen," he said, indicating a pro-active US role in thwarting any breakdown of dialogue between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Nov 26 terror strikes.
"Relations between India and Pakistan were on an improving path. That was one of the objectives of terrorists (to strain ties between the two countries)," McCain said.
He, however, hoped that Pakistan will cooperate in addressing India's concerns over the terror strikes and show "transparency" in this connection.
"It is in the national interests of Pakistan to weaken these elements," he replied when asked whether the US will put pressure on Islamabad to act against those elements in Pakistan whom India suspect to be behind the Mumbai attacks.
McCain, the Republican senator from Arizona, was on his way to Bangladesh and Bhutan but decided to make a brief stopover here in the wake of the Mumbai strikes that has killed 183 people, including six Americans, and left 239 people injured.
McCain was echoing anxieties in Washington about the repercussions of potential India-Pakistan confrontation on the US war against fundamentalists in Afghanistan.
If such a situation arises, Pakistan is likely to move its troops from the Afghan border to its border with India - a move which could damage the US hopes of defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan.
McCain's trip to India comes a day before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives here in a bid to arrest the drift in fraying India-Pakistan ties in the wake of the terror attacks.
McCain, along with two other senators, Democrat Jospeh Lieberman and Lindsey O. Graham, called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here and underlined the US' solidarity with India in the fight against terrorism.
In their conversation with the prime minister, they offered to share the US' experiences in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Lieberman said.
They also told the prime minister about the counter-terror steps he US has taken, including the creation of the department of homeland security and a national counter-terrorism centre, said Lieberman.
President George W. Bush and president-elect Obama are acting in close coordination over the Mumbai terror strikes, the Republican senator said while underlining bipartisan support in the US to India in the aftermath of the terror strikes.
"We would be meeting Pakistan General (Ashfaq) Kiyani over the weekend and raise some questions with him," Liebermann told reporters here.
Indo-Asian News Service
Twenty-four years have passed since the world's worst man-made disaster - Bhopal gas tragedy - occurred. But despite the passage of time the trauma continues for the survivors of that fateful night of Dec 2-3, 1984, when over 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate (MIC) spewed out of the now defunct Union Carbide's pesticide plant here.
Having borne the brunt of neurological, hormonal and mental health problems - besides the economic hardships - the survivors are now faced with the problem of deformed children being born.
Children of affected parents conceived and born after the disaster were significantly different from children of the same age born to unexposed parents, says a study carried out by Sambhavna Trust that runs a clinic to treat the gas-affected people.
"Such children were shorter, thinner, lighter and had smaller heads. Also, children of exposed parents showed abnormal growth of upper part of their bodies - disproportionately smaller than their lower bodies," says the study.
Medical research is desperately needed specially into the possible genetic and reproductive after-effects of the lethal gas leak that killed over 3,000 people instantly and thousands more over years later.
But the genetic damage to the children - born to survivors - has been severely under-studied, allege rights activists. This has led to "unsystematic treatment of gas victims already faced with neurological, hormonal and mental health problems", they say.
Lack of research - into the possible genetic and reproductive ramifications of exposure to lethal gasses and now to contaminated water - has seriously marred efforts to check the effects of poisonous gases on the next generation of the affected.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) initiated 18 studies in the aftermath of the Bhopal disaster. However, despite findings of long-term damage, these studies were all prematurely ended within 10 years, that too at a time when the evidence of damage on the offspring of survivors was beginning to show.
ICMR studies, though terminated prematurely, did show that children of exposed mothers had delayed physical and mental development.
"Most studies done by the ICMR were terminated as early as 1989 and the rest by 1994 without reviewing the collected data, and pleas for continuing the studies were ignored. The ICMR's full report on Bhopal too has not been released till date," said Satinath Sarangi, who runs Sambhavna Trust.
There have been no large-scale official studies on the effects of this chemical exposure on children born to exposed parents despite the children facing very high rates of serious congenital health problems.
The Fact Finding Mission on Bhopal found high levels of chemicals in the breast milk of the affected women. Studies conducted by the Sambhavna Trust Clinic indicated that about half of the people living in the contaminated area were suffering from multiple symptoms.
"Children suffering congenital deformities continue to be denied medical attention. Only 14 children received official assistance for heart surgery and 13 assistance in diagnosis for congenital brain anomalies between 1992 and 1997, under the programme SPARC (Special Assistance to At-Risk Children). But it was suddenly withdrawn in 1997 citing financial constraints," said Rashida Bi of the Chingari Trust that is working for gas survivors.
"There are an unusually large numbers of children with cerebral palsy too in the communities affected by gas or contaminated groundwater," she claimed, lamenting that between 1984 and 2000, the government spent just Rs.3,761 per year per child orphaned by the disaster.
And this despite the fact that an amount of Rs.497 million was allocated for social rehabilitation of victims of the disaster in 1986, she said.
Esha News Monitoring Services Private Limited with their research and analysis television monitoring team has found out TEZ TV was the first to break the news through ticker at 2202hrs and IBN 7 gave the first visual of the Mumbai Terrorist Attack on the Taj Hotel at 2228 hrs.
Top 5 Channels broadcasting the news flash of Mumbai Terrorists Attacks
Time News Channel
22:02 TEJ TV
22:03 AAJ TAK
22:04 SAHARA SAMAY
22:06 ZEE NEWS
22:06 IBN 7
Top 5 Channels broadcasting the first visuals of Mumbai Terrorists Attacks
Time News Channel Location
22:28 IBN 7 Taj Hotel
22:30 BBC Firing at Oberoi
22:31 AAJ TAK Oberoi
22:32 HEADLINES TODAY Leopold
22:32 IBN LOKMAT CST
Source: Esha News
Esha News has compiled this Television Monitoring Intelligence Report on Mumbai Terrorist Attacks after carefully 24x7 tracking and monitoring of the television coverage across 130 television channels. Television Monitoring Intelligence Report highlights the brand visibility on the numerous television networks.
Facts about Mumbai Terrorist Attack news coverage
2202hrs TEJ TV first to flash the news
2228hrs IBN 7 gave the first visual of Taj under attack
BBC first (International News Broadcast) to telecast the news
Something has bothered me as I have been watching the TV channels. Everyone is stationed outside Taj and a little bit the Oberoi but we hardly get a glimpse of the VT station and the victims there. The first 51 victims were there.I spoke to someone who has not been able to get his relatives body out for 15 hours. His relative was a bhelpuriwallah.
Our media is making invisible the poor once again. I wish someone had spoken of the terror of monetary superiority in a city that puts on display plenty of it. It is intimidating to even watch the Bombay people invited to comment on TV-they know each others names, the all speak fluent English, they all were lunching and dining on a regular basis at these places, they say they want all politicians to stay out. That is very dangerous, because the politicians are the only link that the poor have with governance and if politicians are weakened , so is our democracy. It seems that the trend in thinking among the bold and beautifil is that if uniformed people have to protect the lifestyles of the elite, so be it.
There was absolutely no introspection of why these targets.As always, the intelligence of the terrorists is ignored, their will to counter the hegemony of wealth and power.There are many factors at play and it would be too patronizing to write off the terrorists as any one simple thing and to reduce the dynamic of the bombings to money and by implication envy, blind instinct, poverty, etc? .
More backlash is expected and the promise of vendettas will deafen the ears of calm and peace.
--
Ruchira Gupta,
President, Apne Aap Women Worldwide
www.apneaap.org,
D-56 Anand Niketan,
New Delhi-21,
India-110021
Global economic recession will have an adverse impact on funding to fight HIV and AIDS, but India with its "robust" banking system should not worry too much on this count, says a top UNAIDS official.
"So far the funds provided by donors have not been impacted. They are providing us funds. But it may go down in the future," UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot told IANS during a visit to India.
The country is home to 2.5 million HIV-positive patients, including 70,000 children below the age of 14.
But Piot said India has nothing to worry about as far as generating funds for prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS is concerned. "Your banks are robust and doing well."
"If the economic situation of a country is bad, it affects its social structure too. The result is poverty, which means an indirect spread of HIV and AIDS," said Piot.
He said he was basing his observations on past experience when global funding for the fight against HIV and AIDS had gone down when Japan and Nordic countries like Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden faced financial trouble in the 1990s.
"I have seen it happening when countries experience economic downturn. In Japan, after their financial crisis in 1990, they cut development assistance by 60 percent.
"Japan is still recovering, though the Nordic countries have recovered and they have started giving aid," said Piot, who is also an under secretary general of the UN.
His greatest worry is that governments will cut social sector spending first, which will have a strong impact on HIV and AIDS. "The cut would impact the poorest countries who would not be able to run their otherwise sponsored AIDS programmes," he said.
Piot, who will complete his term in December after having led the organisation since 1994, said in developing countries, governments may have less income due to recession, which will mean their people will become more vulnerable.
"There could be an increase in sex work and the subsequent fear then is an increase in HIV and AIDS. Usually, in such situations, women are the most vulnerable," he said.
There are an estimated 33 million people living with HIV worldwide, while 2.7 million people were newly infected in 2007. About two million people died of AIDS last year. Monday is observed as World AIDS Day.
UNAIDS gets funds from a number of countries, Holland and Sweden being the biggest contributors. Various foundations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and various development agencies are the other donors.
Twenty seven countries, including the Netherlands, Britain, the US, Sweden, Norway and Ireland, were the biggest donors to UNAIDS in 2007.
Said Piot: "Funding is saving lives. Also, it has shown a high return on investments. Fewer people would be impacted with it, which means good investment.
"If they interrupt the treatment and prevention of HIV and AIDS (by cutting down on funds) there would be many people dying of it and obviously it would mean higher bills to pay. They have to act now otherwise they will have to pay later," Piot said.
At the moment, close to four million people all over the world are on anti-retrovirals, but about eight million more need it, he said.
The sight of fire leaping out of Taj hotel and its gutted rooms - as terrorists ravaged the grand heritage building in Mumbai - made Anilbhai Bhatt, 65, feel that his childhood had been consigned to flames.
"As a child, I always used to go there in the evening with my friends to play on the large courtyard in front of the hotel. We stayed clear of the hotel because it was out of bounds for us," Bhatt told IANS.
Every Mumbaikar, rich or poor, has a kind of affinity with the Taj. It is a hotel unmatched in India in terms of its regal opulence, sophisticated grandeur and discreet grace.
Every one of them is saddened today that the hotel that stood unsullied for 105 years has been made to crumble by terrorists who struck Wednesday at severalprominent places in the city and carried on the assault for 60 hours.
"Though I was born in Fort in south Mumbai and lived there till I got married, I never had an opportunity to go inside the Taj Hotel," rued Bhatt, a retired employee of a jewellery firm in Mumbai's popular jewellery market at Zaveri Bazar.
For countless people who visit Mumbai everyday, Taj is on their must-see list, though they cannot afford a simple cup of tea there. Even these visitors are pained to see the devastation wreaked by terrorists on the 105-year-old building.
Said Pradyut Sarkar from Silchar in Assam: "I first visited Mumbai two years ago. Like all visitors to the city, I had gone to the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Hotel at the Colaba sea front.
"I have seen many heritage buildings in Kolkata, but I was awestruck by the imposing structure of the Taj and the old world charm it exuded. I feel sad that the magnificent hotel has now been defaced and damaged so badly."
The Taj hotel was one of the city's most famous and photographed buildings.
Scores of people in Mumbai and many living elsewhere in the country, who have never set foot in the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, and Hotel Trident-Oberoi, are now upset that these two landmark luxury hotels facing the Arabian Sea should be the target of terrorists.
As inveterate party-goers Anil Dharker and Prahlad Kakkar said it is as if "a beautiful, charming virgin has been raped at gun-point by brutes".
Taj regulars are upset that the beautiful carpets laid all around the hotel's interiors and on the floors of each one of its 565 rooms are now blood stained, and damaged.
Actor-activist Rahul Bose said he could not bear to see the draperies of the hotel being stained with blood, the carefully arranged crockery strewn around the floors.
"The priceless antique paintings that adorned the walls are now either hanging in skewed angles or splotched with ugly gun-shot marks," he sighed.
"I wonder if I would be able to go to the Taj to cover any entertainment event there with the same happy feeling as I used to do until now. I will be haunted by memories of the fierce gun battle that raged continuously for three days," said entertainment journalist Indramohan Pannu.
The feeling is echoed by others who visited the heritage Taj regularly.
Stanley Fernandes, an employee of a now-defunct automobile publication, who lives at Mahim in central Mumbai, woke up with a jolt in the morning of Nov 27.
Until a few years ago, he used to regularly visit one of the second floor rooms in the Taj to take briefs from his employer, Kishu Gidwani.
Gidwani had migrated to India after the partition in 1947 and since then had been living in the Taj till 1983. After making the Taj his abode for 36 long years as a 'permanent guest', he later shifted to the National Sports Club of India at Worli in south-central Mumbai.
"Although Gidwani passed away some years ago, somehow I dreamt that he was lying in one of the rooms in a pool of blood," Fernandes said.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday announced the setting up of a Federal Investigating Agency and measures to strengthen maritime and air security in the wake of the terrorist savagery in the country's financial capital Mumbai.
"In the face of this national threat and in the aftermath of this national tragedy, all of us from different political parties must rise above narrow political considerations and stand united. We should work together in the interest of the country at this critical juncture," he said in his opening remarks at an all-party meeting here.
Manmohan Singh convened the meeting to take stock of the security situation and ways to strengthen the intelligence machinery in the country following three days and three nights of Mumbai terror that killed 183 lives and injured over 300.
While noting that "several measures are already in place to deal with the situation", he underlined that much more needed to be done "and we are determined to take all necessary measures to overhaul the system".
"We are further strengthening maritime and air security for which measures have been initiated. This will involve the navy, the Coast Guard and the coastal police, as well as the air force and the civil aviation ministry.
"The anti-terrorist forces of the country will be further strengthened and streamlined. The National Security Guard (NSG), the principal anti-terrorist force of the country, will be given additional facilities and the size of the force is being augmented. Steps have also been initiated to establish another four NSG hubs in different parts of the country. Additionally, the special forces at the disposal of the centre would be appropriately utilised in counter-insurgency operations."
NSG commandos fought pitched battles against the terrorists, who India says came from Pakistan, after the heavily armed gunmen took control of two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre, killed many in cold blood and took many more hostages. Two NSG commandos died in the operation.
The government has also finalised a set of legal measures based on the recommendations of the Administrative Reforms Commission which includes the setting up of a Federal Investigating Agency, the prime minister told some 20 political leaders from the treasury and opposition benches.
Manmohan Singh said that unlike the recent terrorist attacks across the country, the Mumbai nightmare was different in several aspects.
"It was an attack by highly trained and well-armed terrorists targeting our largest city. They came with the explicit aim of killing large numbers of innocent civilians, including foreign visitors. They sought to destroy some of the best known symbols of our commercial capital.
"The ordeal at Mumbai, which occupied the attention of the entire nation, has finally come to an end. All of us share the grief of those who have lost their loved ones in this dastardly and brutal attack and also the pain and anguish of those grievously wounded.
"We cannot lessen their grief. But we will do all we can to alleviate their suffering. I give you my solemn assurance that we will look after the needs of those who survive this horrible tragedy."
Saluting the bravery of the security forces who fought the terrorists in "exceptionally difficult circumstances" and freed hostages from three places, Manmohan Singh noted: "They tried their utmost to save innocent lives at great personal risk. Twenty officers and men made the ultimate sacrifice by laying down their lives. The entire nation owes a debt of gratitude to these men that we can never repay."
He hoped that the discussions at the meeting would lead to a consensus on steps required to be taken.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders V.K. Malhotra and Jaswant Singh were among those attending the meeting at the prime minister's residence.
Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh, Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat, and D. Raja and A.B. Bardhan of the Communist Party of India also attended the meeting.
The meeting took place barely hours after Shivraj Patil resigned as home minister taking moral responsibility for the terrorist attack.
Setting up a Federal Investigating Agency is among the steps the government has finalised to prevent a repeat of the Mumbai terrorist attack, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced at an all-party meeting here Sunday evening.
Here's a list of the measures:
# Setting up a Federal Investigating Agency;
# Tightening the maritime and air security, which will involve the navy, Coast Guard and the coastal police, as well as the Air Force and the civil aviation ministry;
# Anti-terrorist forces of the country will be further strengthened and streamlined;
# The National Security Guard (NSG) will be given additional facilities and the size of the force to be augmented;
# Steps taken to establish another four NSG hubs in different parts of the country;
# Special forces at the disposal of the central government to be used in counter insurgency operations.
The Delhi operations of the Sakaal Times, an English daily brought out by Maharashtra's leading Sakal media group, were closed down Sunday allegedly without informing the employees in advance. The group's management has denied the charge.
Many staffers who came in to work Sunday morning found the office closed with a terse notice pasted on the main door stating: "The editorial work carried out at Delhi is no longer required to be continued."
"As a result, the operations are stopped forthwith and the staff is being released. They need not attend office from today."
Sakaal Times is published from Pune while the group also runs a popular Marathi daily, Sakal.
Confirming the closure, editorial director of Sakal Papers Anand Agashe told IANS in Pune: "The operations of the Sakaal Times' Delhi bureau have been suspended for now."
He said: "The overall market crash has entailed drastic cut-downs." Agashe said he could not comment on the decision to close the Delhi operations since "the decision was administrative".
There were around 70 employees in Delhi, including editorial staff, who camped at the gate for several hours, angry over the management's decision to close down the Delhi operations a mere six months since Sakaal Times was launched May 7.
Sakal Papers' Director, Human Resources and Operations, Pradip Khire denied the charge of the staff that they had not been informed about the impending closure.
"It was communicated to them that their services are no more required and their dues are being settled," Khire told IANS in Pune.
He said: "Some pages of Sakaal Times were being produced in Delhi and those operations have been shifted to Pune. Since we are also reducing the number of pages, we won't require the staff that we had engaged in Delhi."
The employees in Delhi, meanwhile, instantly constituted an action committee to protest the lock-out.
K.K. Laskar, the photo editor who has now become the convenor of the action committee of Sakal Times staff, told IANS: "The closure is illegal and unethical. We will take legal action. This is a test case for all workers in the print industry to fight."
A senior editorial staff said: "None of us knew the edition will be closed down like this. We were neither informed nor given the option to relocate to the head office in Pune."
An initial few were laid off some time ago and 12 people were told their services were no longer required. "The rest of the editorial team, including photographers, editors, reporters and designers, was all in the dark," he said.
A reporter with the paper said: "I was in the office till Saturday midnight. Till then, there was no intimation by the management. Everything was functioning normally and when I reached office today afternoon, it was all locked."
"We may not get even this month's salary," she said.
Indo-Asian News Service
Home minister Shivraj Patil, under tremendous criticism over a spate of terrorist attacks in the country since last year, has resigned
Home minister Shivraj Patil gestures as he addresses mediapersons after a cabinet meeting in New Delhi on Thursday. (AFP Photo)
in the wake of the Mumbai terror strikes. Patil has said that he felt obliged to take "moral responsibility" for the brutal attacks in Mumbai, an official government source said.
Finance minister P Chidambaram will take over as the new home minister and the finance ministry will now be under the direct charge of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The CWC, which met here on Saturday night, gave the marching orders to Shivraj Patil.
There was unanimity in the CWC that the political face of the government can be saved only with a drastic overhaul.
Chidambaram, who had an earlier stint in the internal security department, was the obvious choice to succeed Patil and the PM's charge of the economy is expected to bolster confidence in the country's economic management.
The massive collateral damage of the commando operation at Taj, Trident and Nariman House is being blamed on the delay and inadequacy of the response of the MHA in pressing the NSG into service.
Patil, who had offered to step down at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Saturday night, sent his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday morning, sources said.
The 74-year-old Patil was inducted into the Union Cabinet despite his defeat from Latur in Maharashtra in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. He has been a target of the opposition as also the detractors within the party over his handling of the internal security situation in the country.
Film: "Sorry Bhai"; Cast: Shabana Azmi, Boman Irani, Sanjay Suri, Sharman Joshi, Chitrangada; Director: Onir; Rating: ***
Shot in Mauritius, the film shows Sanjay Suri and Sharman Joshi vying for Chitrangada Singh's attention with a laid back stay-calm stay-cool kind of urbane chic that often masquerades as a mirror of contemporary mores in today's cinema.
Happily, "Sorry Bhai" has plenty of genuine moments of emotional 'ouch'-burst. This isn't a film about confrontational relationships. The characters prefer to keep it nice and peaceful on the surface, no matter what the turmoil inside, just like the blue oceans and white sands of Mauritius.
Love may or may not mean having to say you're sorry. But Sharman, who plays the kid-brother who whisks away his brother's bride-to-be in a tumultuous romance, says 'sorry' so many times you wonder whom he's trying to convince, the brother or his conscience.
Or could it be us, watching this pleasant, mild but finally intensity-free romantic comedy set in the mollifying splendour of Mauritius, whom Sharman's sorry state of 'affair' is trying to convince?
In one vital sequence, Sharman makes lingering love to his sister-in-law-to-be in the trial room while trying out a wedding suit. Waiting outside Sanjay chuckles, "I'm sure she's making him try out something he has never tried before."
Wicked spurts of humour seem oddly intrusive in this drama of the under-driven. The narration's mood swings from delicious satire to barbed rhetorics - mother-in-law-to-be Shabana Azmi's ar-son-ic exchanges with her future daughter-in-law could set the azure Mauritius waters on fire, if only they weren't so funny.
"Sorry Bhai" is a film that requires a number of mood change. In its two hours of mellow playing time, it packs in a whole criss-crossing kaleidoscope of family ties and accompanying emotions ranging from intense motherly possessiveness to authentic 'bhaigiri'.
Not all the mood and time transitions are achieved with fluency. Some moments between pairs of characters just don't go far enough to reach into the inner recesses of the heart. Indeed the best moment in the film is the one where the sobbing sibling rests his head on his brother's lap to express sorrow for stealing away his fiancée.
But then there's a difference between taking your brother's favourite pen to scribble your limericks and stealing his bride.
"Sorry, Bhai" swims languorously in a terrain that covers the thumb-sucking selfishness of childhood as well as the sexual friction within a family where a beautiful woman appears as a bone of contention.
And what a woman! Chitrangada looking toned and chiselled, playing the spunky woman who wants to break free from a stagnant long-lasting relationship to court life on the fast lane brings in the right flavours of chocolate-and-chutzpah into the tranquil goings-on.
When Onir keeps the family drama sweet and simple, when he focuses on one-on-ones within the family circle, he is in his element. But Onir's film is as original as it can get.
We won't have another film for a long time where the mom tells her younger son to live in with her elder son's fiancee.
Shabana in the mother's role is a bit of a disappointment. Boman as her husband is far more relaxed.
As for the central performances, Chitrangada makes a likeable comeback except when she's too busy putting her best profile forward to the camera. And it's hard for us to believe that Sharman is supposed to play a guy with such irresistible charm that he can sweep the far-from-blushing-bride off her feet and seize her from his brother.
The crew cruises the calm characters and their location with underplayed expertise.
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-Niha MasihVipul works with a call centre in New Delhi. He works from 10 pm to 6 am. The back to back calls exhaust him no end. He revives himself in the small four breaks he gets daily by drowning himself in a sea of smoke. Each puff takes him into another world of make believe where he feels he is dealing with his boredom and fatigue.
This is just one of the myriad stories of young chain smokers. Smoking kills. Yet smoking is almost a cult especially among youngsters. What is it about smoking that people find irresistible? Amit, a 25 years old chain smoker admits, “I took my first puff in class 10th at the insistence of my friends. Though I did not enjoy it much I would do it with friends as I did not want to appear uncool. With time it became a habit and now I can’t do without it.” Most students start smoking in school like Amit because of sheer peer pressure.
The same sentiment finds echo in a lot of others. Egged on by friends, giving in to temptation is something we all can relate to. Says Meera, a young housewife: “There is a certain coolness quotient attached to things like smoking and drinking and at a young and impressionable age it is easy to get hooked.” Also for the youth cigarettes are affordable as one need not buy a whole pack but just a few loose cigarettes for daily consumption. The market currently is flooded with numerous brands and caters to every kind of budget.
For many like Amit or Vipul, smoking is more than just lighting up a cigarette. It is also a stress buster and is often an easy escape route from drudgery. Tina, a 21 year old college student says: “Smoking helps me de stress. Its like sort of a friend whom I turn to whenever I want. It might be psychological but I definitely feel better. All my worries just blow away in the smoke.” Most people know that smoking does not give a high like alcohol or give a high so they condition themselves into thinking that it makes them feel better.
Health hazards related to smoking are many yet not many are ready to quit. Perhaps, this is due to lack of proper knowledge. An important thing to keep in mind here is that unlike drinking and substance abuse, smoking does not have any immediate after effect.
Rohan, a 27 years old engineer, working with a software company says: “The problem with people not being able to quit smoking despite all the heath hazards is because there is no guarantee of a disease though chances might be high. Just because I might have throat cancer after ten years I can’t give up on smoking. Why care about it from now.”
In India, a staggering 2000 people die of smoking everyday. The Health Minister has been quoted saying that almost 40% of deaths are caused by tobacco related diseases and two thirds due to smoking, junk food and drug abuse. The Ministry of Health imposed a nationwide ban on smoking from October 2nd 2008. It is now illegal to smoke in shopping malls, cinema halls, work places, hotels, banquet halls, discotheques, canteens, coffee houses, pubs, bars, airport lounges and the railway station. Smoking on roads and at home is permitted. The fine for violating the law is Rs. 200. Whether this ban which is poorly enforced will lessen the rising number of deaths remains to be seen. One thing is certain: Smoking kills.
niha.masih@gmail.com
It's not just coffee. It's conversations, connections and more...
-Ankita Khare
Just as every man has his hobbyhorse; coffee has its own fans. It enjoys a long history and rich culture. Complimenting this heritage, the modern coffee corners in Delhi, like many others around the world, have created a special niche for themselves. There is no doubt that these coffee joints have created an atmosphere which is more addictive than the caffeine itself.
“The hip-hop music, an economical menu and a ‘classy’ ambience act like opium for people of all genres. It is amazing to watch an old staunch man reading his newspaper while the couple sitting next to him continues to get intimate with every passing moment. It is a perfect place for social interaction,” says Parth Goswami, a Delhi University final year law student and Barista-addict.
It all started in the nineties with the boom in the Indian economy taking off. One symbol of change was the sudden mushrooming of Baristas and Café Coffee Days not only in metros, but also in small towns. It was a refreshing change for the young who till then frequented the typical coffee houses.
Confirms K S Rao, a middle-aged real-estate agent and a casual Barista visitor: “Some two decades ago, there were hardly any coffee shops in the city. I can only recall Indian Coffee House at Connaught Place. The environment there was extremely informal. The crowd was mainly dominated by old people while students hardly approached these places...Baristas and Café Coffee Days are a welcome change to this scenario.”
Almost everything within is adorable. Loud music. Semi-formal interiors. Decorated coffee froth. Someone playing the guitar. Air conditioned wi-fi environment. An affordable menu.
Yet, there are some who want a change.
“The arrangement is not very comfortable. The music is too loud. It is better in America. They have more options there. We have a lot of catching up to do in India,” suggests Harsha Misra, an America-returned business executive.
Some even blame these new social networking places for “westernizing our good old Indian Culture,” says 50-year-old home-maker Aditi Asthana, “The youth has suddenly discovered a new meaning of being in love—it is all about hanging out at a coffee shop, blowing their parents money and getting cozy. Youngsters are turning into nocturnal animals, courtesy these 24X7 coffee bars.”
However, even after all the criticism, the city’s coffee culture continues to gather steam. And when it comes to social networking, Baristas, Costas and Café Coffee Days are considered no less than Orkut or Facebook--only with a better face value.
So as people continue to discover new meanings of networking at these bars, even a coffee hater is compelled to tell his buddies… “see ya at the coffee shop.”
Are you being held hostage by social networking and social media? Is it keeping you back or keeping you inside? Are you too tied up by it to break free for even a minute?
If yes, then there’s a good chance you’re being held hostage. You are a hostage of social networking. You are one among 17 million Indians who are estimated to visit social networks each day.
Raj Tandon is in his early twenties and is Linguistics lead with Google India. This is his first job. He puts ten hours translating Google products and 2 hours commuting to office but he still finds time to spend two hours each day catching up the latest from his peers at various social networks. “I can’t let my mobile bills hit the roof by calling all my friends or acquaintances so social networks are the cheapest mode to be in touch,” remarks Raj.
Chronology of Social Networks
Year = Social network founded
* 1995 = Classmates.com
* 1997 = Six Degrees of Separation
* 1999 = Circle of Friends
* 2002 = Friendster.com
* 2003 = MySpace.com
* 2004 = Orkut.com
* 2004 = Facebook.com
* 2005 = Yahoo! 360
Source: Internet
Raj is not alone who is spending time on these sites. An overwhelming majority of corporate executives is India is doing so. According to a survey by leading market research firm Synovate, 79 per cent executives are members of one or more social networking sites. Breaking away from the conventional wisdom that social networks are teenage crushes, more and more adults have started being a part of this new age revolution.
There is an increase in the absolute number of the 35+ age group on social networks, but because of the sheer pace at which younger people are taking to social network, their percentage remains small, claims the survey report of Synovate.
Social network sites as basically web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. This social networking phenomenon started in 1997 with the launch of Sixdegress.com. It allowed users to create profiles, list their Friends and surf the friends lists. Since 1997, progress is tremendous; today 57% of the total internet users are the members of these websites.
Networking sites in India are surely are a big hit, with Orkut and Youtube leading from the front, while their desi counterparts like Bigadda are also not lagging behind. Popular online professional networking site LinkedIn is also fetching good numbers more than Facebook, the worldwide winner. Today these websites are not limited to their basic portfolio of a meeting place for peers; these sites have also been started to be used like a job search engine, finding funds for start-up ventures, advertising and helping in crime investigations to name a few.
Top SNS in India*
1.Orkut
2.Youtube
3.Big Adda
4.HI5
5.LinkedIn
6.Facebook
7.Yahoo! 360
Source: Synovate
In one such incident, Orkut helped in cracking the murder mystery of TCS engineer Koushambi Layek in year 2007. Layek was murdered in a Mumbai hotel, and Orkut merged as a source of information gathering for security agencies, which were otherwise clueless.
Threat to privacy, account hacking incidents and unwanted friend requests remain the negative sides of these networking sites. Nivedita, a student of International Relations, Jawaharlal Nehru University says: “Girls are the worst victims of such unnecessary friend requests; my inbox is full of such requests. If people I don’t know request to be my friend, I block them.”
Priyanka, a media student says that she is more cautious with such unwanted requests. “Two weeks ago, I got a friend request. And one of my friends hit approve. And the person, this guy started sending me weird comments; he’s sent me these comments like oh, you’re so hot, and where do you live? I want to meet you. That gets a little weird,” says Priyanka.
Even though there are flaws in online social networking, no one seems to give them any importance. All facts withstanding, the truth is that in the ever evolving world of Internet, the Social Networking Websites have heralded a new era of interpersonal communication. They have bridged the gap between human beings even more than telephone or emails giving a real meaning to the word Social Networking and helping people build Relationships that last a life time.
But the real beauty of social media is that you get responses real-time and on-the-fly. And that, in a country where even the epics have been passed down the generations by word of mouth, means that social media will probably explode and will change the way we communicate.
Here are the highlights of US president elect Barack Obama's life and career:
Born: Aug 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Parentage: Father Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a Luo from Nyang'oma Kogelo, Nyanza Province, Kenya. Mother Ann Dunham, a white American from Wichita, Kansas.
Education: B.A. in international relations, 1983, Columbia University. J.D. from Harvard Law School; Elected first black president of the Law Review in February 1990.
Present Family: Married Michelle Robinson, another Harvard Law School graduate, Oct 18, 1992. They have two young daughters, Malia and Sasha.
Faith: Christian, United Church of Christ.
Political career: Worked as a civil rights lawyer in Chicago in 1991. Organised one of the largest voter registration drives in Chicago history to help Bill Clinton's 1992 election as president. Elected thrice to Illinois state senate in 1996, 1998 and 2002. Made an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the US House of Representatives in 2000.
Rises to national prominence with an inspiring keynote speech at the July 2004 Democratic National Convention.
Elected to the US Senate Nov 2, 2004, as the fifth African American Senator in US history, and the third to have been popularly elected. Declared his candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination Feb 10, 2007.
Officially becomes the presumptive Democratic nominee for the presidency June 3, 2008.
Accepts party nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, Aug 28, 2008.
Wins US presidential election: Nov 4, 2008.
Other Accomplishments:
Signed a $1.9 million deal to author three books in 2004. The first, "The Audacity of Hope," discusses his political convictions. The second book will be co-written with his wife.
Dubbed one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2005.
Indo-Asian News Service
The economic slowdown has dampened the festive mood this season, with even business houses slashing their budget for corporate gifting by almost 25 percent.
According to an industry estimate, the festive gifting market, largely unorganised, is estimated at Rs.45 billion (nearly a billion dollars).
"Last year, corporate houses distributed gifts worth Rs.20 billion, but this year the budget has come down by Rs.5 billion," said D.S. Rawat, secretary general of the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), an industry lobby.
"It is not only the small corporate houses that are cutting down their budgets for corporate gifting during Diwali. Even companies like Videocon Industries, JSW steel, Tata group and large automobile, retail and real estate companies are going slow this festive season," Rawat told IANS.
Concurred Phani N. Raj, managing director of corporate gifts and brand merchandising company eYantra Industries: "The gifting sentiments are bit low this year thanks to the slowdown and bad profit margins."
The company caters to the corporate gifting of around 1,000 corporates across the globe including giants such as Microsoft, Infosys, Wipro, Google, Satyam, Dr Reddy's and Aurobindo.
"Last year, we got expensive orders for electronic goods like iPods, digicams, camcorders, mobiles and portable DVD players. However, this season, we are getting orders for gift sets like pens, watches, valets, keychains, and perfumes.
"The major cost cutting has come from IT companies. Obviously, the impact of slowdown is reflected," Raj told IANS.
The only item that is doing brisk business is dry fruits. According to the Assocham report, dry fruits sales have gone up by nearly 40 percent in the past few days as these are considered handy and most acceptable commodities.
What is also significant this year is that most business houses are going for Chinese gift items because of their cost competitiveness and attractive packaging, Assocham's Rawat said.
"The sparkle is certainly missing this festive season as even big corporate houses are cutting back their expenses. This year, we have received almost 20 percent fewer orders than previous year," said Ravi Chopra, a salesperson at online florist and diversified gift seller Fern N Petals.
"It is tough time ahead for us. Corporate gifting during Diwali is a relationship-building tradition and we cannot cut down the spending straight away. However, we are looking at less expensive gift items. After all we have to compensate somewhere," said the vice president at a leading software company, who asked IANS not to identify his firm.
He does not for a moment regret his supremely brave act of throwing out a ticking bomb from the bus window and saving over 50 lives, losing his eyesight in the blast that followed seconds later. But, DTC bus driver Kuldeep Singh does feel hurt that three years later he is made to run from pillar to post to get the promised medical compensation and that Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit chooses to "ignore" him.
Surviving on a meagre salary of Rs.8,500 that he draws as vehicle examiner at the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) Shadipur depot in west Delhi, 36-year-old Singh says life is tough for him, his wife and three-old-year son.
"I am proud of what I have done. But some times I really fight within and feel cheated when I have to run from pillar to post to get the promised medical compensation announced by Dikshit."
On Oct 29, 2005, a few days before Diwali, three blasts ripped through the national capital and killed at least 65 people.
Singh, then a DTC bus driver, spotted a bomb inside his bus and picked it up to throw it outside. His bravery and presence of mind saved the lives of over 50 people but took away his vision completely.
His right hand was severely burned and he cannot even hear anything in his right ear.
"Today I am forced to borrow money from others to buy necessities. Still I have no regrets of picking up the bomb and throwing it away at a safe distance," Singh, clad in light blue kurta pyjama, told IANS in his two-bed room apartment.
"I have saved the lives of 50-60 passengers and saved the bus costing Rs.1.8 million. God forbid, had all the passengers been killed, the government would have had to give compensation of Rs.50,000 each to their families," he said in a heavy voice.
"A government job is good for nothing. It is difficult to survive with this meagre salary, and this too was only raised last month because of the Sixth Pay Commission. Earlier I used to get only Rs.6,800. You can understand how we would be surviving when I have to foot bills on treatment of my son and myself," he said.
"Do they (government) have any idea how many families would have lost their breadwinners. I am not asking all this money. But I am hurt. The promises meant to us are still to be fulfilled. They gave me a permanent job in DTC after the blast. My wife and I were promised that the home given to us is part of the reward."
"But we are still paying the house rent. On Jan 25, 2007 Dikshit honoured me with Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak and promised me that I would be given the required amount towards the expenditure incurred on the treatment of my eyes at Hyderabad hospital," he said.
Singh said he has visited Hyderabad 11 times so far and spent Rs.250,000 on his treatment. "In February last year, I submitted the bills and after some time I was given a sum of Rs.63,000. Since then, no further payment has been made to me. Whenever I ask the government officials, they say my file is moving."
"I even went to meet Dikisht along with my wife and two other people demanding the compensation amount. But she just overlooked us and casually directed his personal assistant to look into my grievances. But I am still waiting," he said wiping his eyes with his right hand which still bears the scars of wounds received that fateful day three years ago.
"Had these politicians lost their loved ones in the blast, they would have realised the pain and apathy. These senseless people only know about playing politics."
Singh has now only one wish - to be able to see his son growing up.
"I hid myself under the staircase. The crowd was shouting 'where is that sister. Come let us rape her, at least 100 people should rape.'"
Her head down, her bespectacled face wrapped with a printed scarf, her voice steady except for once when she broke down and sobbed, a nun Friday recounted before a stunned nation the horror of her rape two months ago in Orissa's Kandhamal district at the hands of a mob baying for vengeance for the killing of a Hindu leader.
Appearing live on TV news channels, the nun narrated her ordeal in the Indian capital, where she was brought by activists, and the way the state government and political parties had turned a blind eye to her suffering.
The press conference was held at the Indian Social Institute. Flanked by Christian leaders, the nun read out her handwritten statement that often made quite a few in the audience wince in horror.
The nun said a mob of 40-50 people dragged her out from the house of a "Hindu gentleman" where she was hiding, ripped off her clothes and raped her on a verandah strewn with glass.
"They pulled out my saree and one of them stepped on my right hand and another on my left hand and then a third person raped me on the verandah," the nun, who did not take any questions, recounted in a choked voice of the Aug 25 incident.
"When it was over, I managed to get up and put (on) my petticoat and sari," she said with her head bowed, stirring the conscience of a secular country that has been shaken by recent assaults by Hindu fanatics on minorities in Orissa and Karnataka states.
The nun recounted her story here two days after the Supreme Court ruled out an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged rape and asked her to cooperate with the state police in the investigation. She had not made a public appearance after the incident was reported.
It was a painful journey the Indian nun had to endure all the way from Bhubaneswar to New Delhi to draw attention to her plight because, as she herself has said in the past, she had lost faith in the Orissa Police to bring to book the perpetrators, reported to belong to the Hindu extremist group Bajrang Dal.
The alleged rape took place two days after the killing of a prominent Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader and four of his associates in his ashram in Kandhamal. The killing triggered widespread anti-Christian attacks in the district.
Not surprisingly, at the end of the 15-minute hair-raising narrative, the nun was in no frame of mind to take questions and was quickly ushered out of the room by another nun and an advocate.
After the rape, the nun and Father Thomas Chellantharayil were made to walk on the road to Nuagaon market, which was half a kilometre away.
"They made to fold our hands and walk. I was with petticoat and sari as they had already torn away my blouse and undergarments. They tried to strip (me) even there but I resisted and they went on beating me with hands on my cheeks and head and with sticks on my back several times," the nun said.
Personnel of the Orissa Special Armed Police (OSAP) were present at the spot but didn't even attempt to intervene, the nun alleged.
"When we reached the marketplace about a dozen of OSAP policemen were there. I went to them asking to protect me and I sat in between two policemen. But they did not move. One from the crowd again pulled out from there and they wanted to lock us in the temple mandap," she recounted.
Eventually, the nun and the priest managed to find their way to a police station, where the officials initially refused to register a complaint. They relented only after she underwent a medical examination and then too, what was recorded was an extremely watered down version of the incident, the nun said.
Replying to queries, the Archbishop of Delhi, Father Dominic Emmanuel, said the nun had come to Delhi in the hope that the Supreme Court would reverse its decision against ordering a enquiry into the incident that has sent shock waves throughout the country with the Pope expressing sadness over reports of anti-Christian assaults in India and European leaders seeking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention in the matter.
At least 36 people have died, thousands have been rendered homeless and dozens of Christians shrines vandalised in violence that erupted in the coastal Indian state after the killing of the Hindu religious leader.
The Supreme Court had Wednesday said "it does not feel the need to have a CBI inquiry, at the moment".
Dominic said that since the decision was "for the moment", the nun's open admission and "narration of injustice under the state system would make the requirement felt".
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray was arrested from Maharashtra's Ratnagiri town early Tuesday, prompting large parts of this city to shut down as his supporters went on the rampage torching public transport and telling office goers to return home.
Many shops and commercial establishments, especially those run or managed by non-Maharashtrians, chose not to open at all to avoid trouble. Thackeray, whose MNS workers Sunday attacked non Maharashtrians appearing for the railway board examination, was brought from Ratnagiri, about 250 km from here, to be produced at the Bandra court.
There was mayhem outside the court premises with large crowds milling around restively and camera crews waiting to capture the trouble.
While in some areas, buses, taxis and autorickshaws were set on fire, in others areas public transport just stayed off the roads causing great inconvenience to people. However, suburban trains on the Western and Central Railways and Harbour Line functioned as usual.
The office of the state Congress spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam was also vandalised.
As news about the arrest spread, there was violence in other parts of Maharashtra too.
Thackeray was arrested from a government guest house in Ratnagiri district at about 4 a.m. along with other party workers like Sanjay Ghadi and Pravin Darekar in connection with the beating up of some north Indian candidates at a railway recruitment examination centre in Chetana College, Bandra East, police said.
This is the second time in eight months that Thackeray has been arrested for his tirade against north Indians.
Indo-Asian News Service
The first holocaust for Mangalore Catholics happened in 1784 at the behest of Tipu Sultan. Following his defeat by the British in the first battle of Mangalore, Tipu's wrath had turned on the local Christian community, in the belief that it was their aid and support to the British that cost him his battle.
In a ruthless swoop by his marauding armies 85,000 Christians were rudely uprooted from village homes, herded and marched off through arduous jungle terrains of the Western Ghats for incarceration in the dungeons of Seringapatam (Srirangapatnam). Rigours of the journey coupled with malaria and dysentery had decimated the numbers and not all captives reached the destination.
Release came in 1799 to about 15,000 of the motley bunch that had survived - only after the fall of Seringapatam and Tipu's death following the second battle of Mangalore. With release had come a sense of purpose, a common identity, for a people who had hitherto considered themselves migrant Goans. For the first time a distinct "Mangalorean" identity was born.
Over the years the close-knit and homogeneous small community of 1799 grew, diverging into fields and destinations anew. Leaving their native shores they spread far and wide pursuing new and rewarding careers elsewhere in India and all over the world. In India, other than that of a president or a prime minister, there is no seat of honour, profession, trade or virtue that has not been claimed, graced or enriched by a Mangalorean. This was possible because of the environment of amity and understanding that prevailed in the region.
This communal harmony, which was the hallmark of the region, was suddenly shattered on Sep 14 when the Bajrang Dal went on a rampage vandalising churches, assaulting Christians, and desecrating holy artefacts. Mangalore since then has gone through a period beset by challenges not faced in over 209 years of communal harmony.
The current lull in violence has resulted only due to unprecedented solidarity (perhaps totally unexpected by the perpetrators) and protests by the Christian communities of Mangalore, and the support they received from the right-minded in other local communities, leading to nationwide and worldwide condemnation of the heinous acts of the Sangh Parivar and particularly by the Bajrang Dal in Mangalore and elsewhere.
While social scientists and analysts will try to unravel the deep-rooted prejudices or political agenda that led to the shattering of the harmonious relationship between communities in the area, there needs to be some thought spared to checks and balances to be supplanted which will preclude such gratuitous violence between communities in future.
Mangalorean communities including Christians, Hindus, Muslims and Jains are a peaceful, law-abiding and religiously tolerant people, often of similar ancestry and traditional heritage. Against this background, there is a consensus that a small group of misguided elements cannot be allowed to orchestrate well organised and premeditated attacks on minorities.
The government justice system needs to look at the causes for the violence that occurred, identify those who instigated and the criminals who carried out the attacks. There is need also to examine the role of the police during the violence and in their provocative actions during peaceful protests.
What was sorely found missing was the presence and intervention by community peace committees - the need of which every efficient police organisation is acutely aware of and strives to ensure. So a standing nodal agency with representation from major religious communities, major political parties and the police - to ensure preventive measures through regular meetings to monitor simmering tensions and all that is a must.
From the outpourings of the anguished, voiced in the media, it is evident that the majority of Indians (particularly Hindus) do not believe in the Sangh Parivar's ideology, and yet are forced to go along with it as a necessary evil, partly for lack of an alternative party with strength to lead the country with a viable government. There has perhaps never been a time of greater need to join hands with people of goodwill among all faiths and even with people of no faith to make common cause on important issues.
The public today are subjected to propaganda spread by aggressors - about conversions and foreign funds. Despite categorical assurances that there cannot be forcible conversions to the Christian faith - and there exists not a single chargesheet or conviction under the highly hyped anti-conversion laws enacted in many states - the canards on this score continue. While no one in the government or the Sangh leadership explains why this lie cannot be nailed once and for all with a national debate, the ploy continues to be used as a plank for propaganda and more attacks.
There is need for the entire nation and its people to know what the Sangh Parivar is, what it stands for, its tactics, its strategy, its political policy. As there is need for the hitherto complacent Christian community to be involved more in the political arena - not just to understand and expose the political policy of the Sangh Parivar but to know and understand policies of other parties too - to identify those that hurt the interests of all in the sphere of human rights and constitutional rights that guarantee freedom to practice and preach one's religion. If people do not act on time, there is danger of the Sangh Parivar succeeding in abrogating these very rights, or writing rules to circumvent these.
It is evident that the Bajrang Dal has realised Mangalore Christians stand for their rights, and that support for them has come forth from every imaginable quarter. Going forward, there is need to focus less on reprisals and recrimination but more on ensuring sustainable peace in times to come and especially for future generations.
(Maxwell Pereira, a Mangalorean, is a former joint commissioner of Delhi Police. He can be reached at mfjpkamath@gmail.com)
India's Aravind Adiga was the toast of the literary world Wednesday after he won the prestigious Man Booker Prize at a glittering ceremony in London for his debut novel "The White Tiger", set against the backdrop of India's growing wealth gap.
The 33-year-old former journalist, who defied odds and beat hot favourite Sebastian Barry, took home the 50,000-pound ($47,000) prize -- becoming the third debutant to win the award in its 40-year-history and the fifth Indian-origin author to win the prize.
His book - which judges felt "shocked and entertained in equal measure" - is the story of Balram Halwai, a village boy who becomes an entrepreneur through villainous means.
Adiga's novel, aimed to highlight the needs of India's poor, was described by one reviewer as an "unadorned portrait" of India seen "from the bottom of the heap".
As accolades poured in thick and fast, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too congratulated Adiga: “I join the people of this country in celebrating this international recognition of your literary accomplishment."
The Mumbai-based author had been given odds of 7/1 before the ceremony by bookmakers William Hill. Irish writer Barry had been tipped to take the prize at 7/4. The bookmakers' favourite has not won since Yann Martel in 2002 for "Life of Pi".
Born in Chennai and raised partly in Australia, Adiga, who always wanted to be a novelist since he was a boy, studied at Columbia and Oxford Universities and was a former correspondent for TIME magazine in India based out of Delhi.
Adiga, who beat off competition from five other authors, including fellow Indian Amitav Ghosh, nominated for his "Sea of Poppies", dedicated the prize to New Delhi where he has lived for many years.
"It's a city that I love and a city that's going to determine India's future and the future of a large part of the world. It's a book about Delhi, so I dedicate it to the people that made it happen," he said.
"It is a fact that for most of the poor people in India there are only two ways to go up - either through crime or through politics, which can be a variant of crime," Adiga told the BBC.
"These people at the bottom have the same aspirations as the middle class - to make it in life, to become businessmen, to create business empires. They need to be given their legitimate needs - the schooling, the education, the health care - to achieve those dreams. If not, as I said, there are only two ways up: crime or politics."
Back home, his alma mater St. Aloysius High School in Karnataka's coastal city of Mangalore, where he was a top-ranking student, invited him on Oct 18.
"We are extremely happy. We congratulated him Wednesday morning as soon we learnt he has been chosen for the award. We hope he will make it to the Oct 18 meeting so that we can honour him," Fr. Denzil Lobo, a former Aloysian who now teaches there, told IANS on telephone from Mangalore.
"He was a quiet student. Well disciplined and among the best in his class," recalled Sambu Shetty, who was assistant head master of the school when Adiga was a high school student in the late 1980s.
Students and teachers at the James Ruse Agricultural High in north-west Sydney, Adiga's other alma mater, also celebrated.
"We are very proud of Adiga's wonderful achievement. It is amazing for someone so young at 34 to receive one of the highest awards in literature. It reinforces the view of our school as a wonderful place of learning," James Ruse principal Larissa Treskin said.
Adiga joined James Ruse school in 1992 half way through Class 10 and topped the New South Wales (NSW) state in the Class 12 ancient history exam.
Lipika Bhushan, marketing manager of Harper Collins Publishers, said there would be a grand welcome for Adiga in Delhi.
“He will be going to the Frankfurt book fair and then come back to Delhi,” she said.
The other shortlisted authors were Amitav Ghosh ("Sea of Poppies"), Steve Toltz of Australia ("A Fraction of the Whole"), Sebastian Barry of Ireland ("The Secret Scripture"), and British writers Linda Grant and Philip Hensher ("The Clothes on Their Backs" and "The Northern Clemency" respectively).
Indian origin authors to win the Booker Prize before him are V.S. Naipaul, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy and Kiran Desai.