Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award

Amjad Ali Khan was chosen for the 21st Rajiv Gandhi National Sadhbhavna Award for his contribution towards promotion of communal harmony and peace. He is Sarod maestro. 
It will be conferred on Amjad Ali Khan on 20 August 2013, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Rajiv Gandhi National Communal Harmony Award (Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award) is an award given for outstanding contribution towards promotion of communal harmonynational integration and peace. The award was instituted by All India Congress Committee of the Indian National Congress Party (INC), in 1992 to commemorate the lasting contribution made by the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. 
The award carries a citation and a cash award of five lakh rupees.The award is given on 20 August every year, the birth anniversary of Late Rajiv Gandhi, which iscelebrated as Sadbhavna Diwas (Harmony Day). 

The Hidden face of Shining India

Suman Chatterjee

Yatra 2013, organized by Centre for Social justice (CSJ) for exposing the youth through various socio-economic issues and various organizations working for rebuilding a better society.
It started from Odisha on 1st of June and ended in A. P. on 13th of June. The objective was to encompass the burning issues like model of development, religious multiplicity, and grey sides of this development. How system operates and its pros and cons?
Odisha Chapter:
The first day seminar was held in Bhubaneswar with Mr. Sandeep Pattnaik who is currently working as the Program officer at National Centre for Advocacy Studies, Odisha.
In the course of discussion it was very prominent that the colonial era rules that were played to suppress Indians are still at play. Odisha government has left no stone unturned to wrest land for POSCO from the villagers.
At the POSCO site participants met with the stark reality of land acquisition. They got to know how government use police, and hired goons to forcefully evict people from their houses.
They also learnt about the other tricks that are used to get the land. President of Posco Prrotirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), Abhay Sahu, is in jail since May this year. 40 cases have been registered against him.
Odisha government is falsely implicating people agitating against POSCO in terrorist or Maoist cases. In some cases lawyers are also being implicated, which has made difficult to avail lawyers to defend a case.
People of Dhinkia village are living in unbearable condition. They are virtually cut off from the outside world. Government has made a situation where they just can’t step outside their village for the fear of getting imprisoned.
One thing that seemed really peculiar is the sheer absence of youths in the anti POSCO movement. It seems that this model of “development” has really caught their imagination of a better life style.
The projection of an illuminated lifestyle probably has restrained them from taking part in the movement. The whole agitation is being run by a certain age group that is distant away from youth psyche. According to our speaker Bishwyaprio Kanungo, it has something to do with the education system that is in someway giving a layout of a lifestyle which can only be satiated with a development model that only focuses on industrial development.
Our next stop was Kandhmal. The 2008 riot was a meticulously planned tribal Christian slaughtering venture of RSS.
Long history of anti Christian propaganda and incitation preceded before the riot broke out. Innocents tribal bore the brunt of the killing of Swami Lakhanand Saraswati by Maoists.
Cow slaughtering, forced conversion by missionaries these were the main two ploys to mobilize people against adivasis. Some of the most inflammatory slogans are like: “padre hoato”, “gohatya band karo”.
RSS mobilized people and incited them with sham “forced-conversion” theory. During the riot, in victims’ account there were thousands of outsiders, carrying out the killings. Even administration was party with rioters.
Media report was miles away from truth and facts. Ordeal of the victims did not find place in media coverage.
“The blaze is still razing under the ashes”, said Father Manoj. RSS activities are in full swing. Large scale Puja, Yagna are being organized at regular interval. Every week RSS processions are hitting the streets of Kandhmal.
Though peace is prevailing for now but these are agents of cynic future that is looming large shadow of horrific days that may strike anytime. Even after five years of riot the victims are still traumatized. They are living under perpetual threat to life and security.
Andhra Chapter:
Then we went to Sompeta, Andra Pradesh to find the cause of people opposing the Nagarjuna Construction Company thermal power plant in that area.
Here people are opposing the power plant themselves. Their peers who previously worked in power plants or been to places near plants are raising awareness among fellow villagers about the heinous effects of a power plant.
In Dr. Krishna Murthy, President Paryavarana Parirakshana Samithi, account it’s a movement of “by the people, of the people, for the people”.
The government declared the wetlands, commonly known as “Beela” as waste land and stated it to be unfit for cultivation and thereof handed over to NCC. This untruth was soon exposed by National Environment Applelant Authority and stated that these lands are basically very important for the villagers as these are low laying swamp areas which is rich ecologically and this land has been declared as important bird area by international birdlife in UK.
Now that after a court injunction the project has been stalled, but people have organized a relay fast which is still going on to keep up the spirit. The fast entered on 1280th day when we visited the place.
Our next day visit to a NTPC power plant in Anakapelle gave a firsthand account of the precarious effects of power plant on the surrounding areas and people living nearby.
This visit also unveiled the mask of development which says that development is for the betterment of people. Here people living at the adjacent area don’t have electricity for 24*7.
The air and water of whole area was contaminated to highest extent.  Ecosystem is being ravaged by the sustained pollution.
Ratnam said that the mother earth has everything in it that we need to survive. It’s our greed for more and more that is eroding this world. We are tearing apart the world in the name of development.
In this context Gandhi’s comment is more valid than ever: “The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed”.
Then we had made a visit to Acchayapeta to interact with the people who are at the receiving end of high flying urban lifestyle.
Ajay Kumar showed how Garbage from the city is being dumped by the municipality in the village and when resentment was showed by villagers they were dumped in police vans and arrested and charged with criminal cases.
“Simple people and complex system”, said Ajay, while pointing out the main reason of the failure of Indian judicial system to deliver justice. The complex multi layered structure has made it like hell for the uneducated section of the society to go to seek justice. This is leveraged by the moneyed creamy class.
The area where garbage is being dumped is a source of drinking water and is now being polluted by the garbage dumping. Medicinal waste is also being dumped recklessly.
Currently, with the High Court’s stay order, dumping has been stopped but the case is still pending.
Moving ahead in our journey we reached Addateegala where we visited villages where the NGO Laya had come up with alternative development plans so as not to affect the climate and maintains ecological balance by providing villagers of Nellikota with “bio sand filters” and “smokeless stoves” and thereby making their life more easy and efficient.
Domnic D’souza who is the director of Laya explained their alternative development plans which will leave little side effects on environment.
Advocate Sridhar briefed us about the judicial system of that area and the present scenario that has given some relief to the tribal after Laya started working in that area.
It happens only in “Incredible India!!” that a revenue officer is looking after judicial system and delivering verdict too. Situation changed only after 2005.
Mr. T. Shankar, the secretary of Fisherman’s Youth Welfare Association (FYWA) threw light on the illegal fishing in the Indian coastal region by foreign fisher folks. The illegal constructions that were going on along the coastal side giving a dam to existing environment laws came to halt only after a High Court ruling.
“Every law has a fascinating history behind it”, said V. S. Krishna, secretary Human Rights Forum. Hard struggle of people has materialized the promulgation of every law. People have to struggle to unnerve the ruler till he accepts the rights of people.
Final session was with IAS E.A. Sharma, ex secretary to Prime minister, who showed us that even if you are working inside the system you can still listen to your conscience and do something for the society. “There will be positive and negative, good and bad. Concentrate on the good and forget the rest”, said Sharma.
He suggested that before setting up of plant and displacing people, an environment assessment Report should be prepared which should be transparent and accountable to general people. Governments usually defraud the people by not making such reports properly and thus harass the people.
He also said that a number of laws are present before the people for their welfare but their implementation is not performed properly.
He also suggested that the judiciary should delegate some of its power to the local people to save time of the judicial proceedings. Along with this he also said that the investigation procedure should be made more active to save the time of judiciary.
With this our tour came to an end. But questions keep cropping up in mind. What is development? Whose development is this? It is coming at whose and what cost? Is this the sole model of development?
We should all do some introspection to find out the answer of where to draw the line. Where human need and greed is overlapping and greed is taking over need under incognito?
Everyone comes to this world free and has right over everything. It’s the cunning strategy of hierarchical society to deprive a section of this society to exhaust their unending greed. Let us sit and ponder over it to bring an end to this injustice that is meted out to the oppressed section.
(The writer is young journalist, completed his journalism from IIMC)

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Successful candidates from Media Mentor now in IIMC Delhi

                         Congratulations Trio


Pakhee, Pooja and Ranjana
EJ           RTV            RTV

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

WIFS

WIFSMinistry of Health and Family Welfare launched the National Weekly Iron and Folic Acid (WIFS) supplementation programme for adolescents in Bangalore on 17 July 2013. It is a unique initiative to protect the adolescent population from iron deficiency anemia. Around 13 crore children will benefit from this programme. According to the health ministry, 70 percent children below five years, 56 percent adolescent girls and 30 percent adolescent boys are anaemic in India.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Successful Students of Media Mentor

                        Congratulations
                                               
                                                       Ranjana Majumdar
                                (Selected in Radio and TV Journalism, IIMC Delhi)
                                                              
                                                  
 Nitya Agarwal  
                                        (English Journalism, IIMC)
                                                
                                   
                                       Bihasita Bhattacharya 
                                     (Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan PG in PR)
                                       
                                   
                                             Pooja Bedwal
                                            (RTV, IIMC Delhi)
                                            
                                              
                                        Pakhee Malhotra
                                  (English Journalism, IIMC Delhi)
                                       
                                     Kaushal Kumar Jha
                                            (PTJ, Jamia)