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08/02/2012 12:00:00 AM-119155961455MumbaiBy Quaid NajmiCentury on, end of a bullock cart saga in MumbaiRain or shine, they would deliver their ware. But, following a sustained campaign by an animal rights group and celebrities, Maharashtra has finally brought the curtains down on 465 bullock carts that were being used since 1906 for transporting kerosene in the city. As per a recent notification, since Feb 1, the State Ministry of Food and Civil Supplies, through the Controller of Rationing, has discontinued the kerosene quota for bullock cart owners, said an official from the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which campaigned for five years on the issue. However, bullock cart owners are up in arms and have threatened to challenge the government move. ''Our families are on the verge of starvation, they have no other source of income. Many of them have been in this trade for three or four generations, but we have not got any notice or compensation from the government or the oil companies,'' a fuming Bullock Cart Owners' Association chief, Jitendra Joshi, told IANS. Until the ban, the 465 cart owners used to regularly ferry one tonne of kerosene each day from the Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum warehouses in Sewri and Wadala in south Mumbai to retail outlets across the city and suburbs. Nearly 500 bullocks were deployed on a daily payment of Rs.105-Rs.250, said bullock cart owner Abdul Ghani Sheikh. Mahendra Karush, a third generation bullock cart driver, said his grandfather used to narrate stories of how the bullock carts helped tide over the shortage of trucks to transport kerosene during the British era and even later. ''The most important aspect was bullock carts were a highly navigable, cheap and all-weather option to transport kerosene. They functioned even in heavy rains or when the roads were flooded and in congested, narrow lanes to deliver the crucial cooking fuel to anxious citizens,'' Karush told IANS. Recounting a slice of Mumbai's history, he said the traffic problems started only after the mid-1980s and created problems for manoeuvring the bullock carts. ''My father used to complain that suddenly the number of vehicles seemed to swell on the roads and bullock carts were virtually driven to the pavements,'' he said. A majority of the bullock carts were - and are still - owned and run by migrants to the city, mostly from north Indian states. However, animal rights group PETA frowned at the practice and claimed that the animals were subjected to cruelty. ''These animals endured tremendous suffering. Many bullocks were underweight and ill, kept in filthy conditions and forced to work beyond their physical capabilities, pulling heavy loads in all weather extremes,'' PETA's India director of veterinary affairs Manilal Valliyate told IANS. The bullocks suffered from yoke gall (acute and chronic inflammation caused by pressure from a yoke or harness), maggot-infested wounds, infected sores, acute or chronic arthritis or intestinal problems, such as diarrhoea and impaction. The animals were rarely, if ever, given veterinary treatment, created a traffic hazard and were a risk to the public, he added. ''Forcing sick or injured bullocks to pull heavy oil carts on busy, hot and polluted Mumbai streets is an act of extreme abuse. We are happy that the government has brought this archaic and illegal practice to an end,'' Valliyate said. PETA India's campaign included numerous meetings with oil companies and the state government, demonstrations outside Indian Oil Company petrol pumps, disruption of a global Oil and Gas Review Summit and International Exhibition, and petitions signed by Bollywood actors Akshaye Khanna, Rahul Khanna, Raveena Tandon, Eesha Koppikar, Arjun Rampal and others. Joshi also demanded that the state government initiate immediate measures to rehabilitate the bullock cart owners. ''If the authorities do not take priority steps, we shall be compelled to park our bullock carts on the roads or outside the government offices,'' Joshi warned, besides seeking legal recourse on the issue. Another bullock cart owner Mahendra Karush demanded that the government increase the kerosene quota allotted to them and that the oil companies provide mini-tankers and diesel to existing cart owners, so they can remain employed.
07/02/2012 12:00:00 AM-157255871454AzamgarhBy IANSUttar Pradesh mosques double up as primary schoolsAmid the mushrooming convent schools, mosques still continue to be popular centres of learning at least up to the primary class level in Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh district. The trend is more common in cities and towns where Islamic primary schools are rare. There are more than 100 mosques in Azamgarh city and around 40 percent offer primary education. A majority of students in mosques come from the Muslim community but there are no restrictions on non-Muslim students taking admission. The educational system run by mosques provides free education including in subjects like the Quran, Urdu, elementary mathematics, Hindi and basic English. There are special classes for students of other schools who want to learn the Quran and religious morality. ''Our doors are open for every human being but, in practice, only Muslim kids come here to study,'' says Maulana Intekhab Alam Qasimi, the Imam of Jama Masjid in Azamgarh city. ''Sometimes Hindu students also come to study in mosques, but they are more interested in the Urdu language and not primary education,'' Alam Qasimi, who was appointed as Imam here in 1988, told IANS. ''Mostly, poor students come here to study as we provide free education,'' he said. ''We have taken the initiative to educate every child. Everyone has to learn how to recognise what is right and what is wrong,'' he added. ''Here people are more interested in education in mosques because they think that reading the Quran is necessary with modern education,'' he said. Another cleric in the district, Maulana Javed Ahmad Qasimi, has introduced a new trend in the mosque educational system. He started a madrassa, a special class for learning the Quran for kids enrolled in other modern schools and an English medium Abu Bakar Islamic Nursery School - all under one roof. The Abu Bakar Islamic Nursery School, housed in the basement of the mosque, was started in March last year. It prepares kids for higher classes' curriculum based on the Central Board of Secondary Education syllabus. According to Ahmad Qasimi, mosques were centres of learning and spirituality. ''Mosques are a centre of spirituality and learning both. We can't limit it,'' Ahmad Qasimi told IANS. Qasimi completed his education from Darul Uloom, Deoband, in 1975 and has been serving as the Imam of Islampura Jama Masjid in the Dalal Ghat area of Azamgarh for the last 20 years. Ahmad has also initiated a campaign to spread awareness among the backward Muslims of the area, among whom the education ratio is very low. ''These people were out of touch with the mainstream. We provide them reading material and dress, with education,'' he said. But he didn't agree with the free educational system. ''We charge Rs.30 per student and don't offer free education because people don't give importance to anything that is free. But if someone is not able to pay, then we never ask.'' ''Earlier there was no fee, but students didn't attend school regularly,'' he said, adding that class attendence improved after imposing a fee. Nausheen Rizwan, a housewife in Azamgarh, sends her two children, a son and a daughter, to the mosque school. ''I like to send them to the mosque where they can learn both divine and modern education,'' she said. Laraib, an upper kindergarten student of St. Xaviers High School of Azamgarh, comes to the mosque every afternoon to learn the Quran. ''My mom sends me daily to this mosque and I like to come here,'' he said.
07/02/2012 12:00:00 AM-11355861453AgartalaBy Our CorrespondentCIPL moots netting Tripura with WIFI technologyCam Infratech Pvt. Ltd (CIPL) is going to net whole Tripura with its unique WIFI technology. This will open up a new horizon as far as internet service is concerned, said a company official here today. The ALL NEW service provider launched its service in Tripura on February 05, 2012. The company having been associated with NSTPL (Noida Software Technology Park Ltd) licensed by Government of India. In its first ever Press Meet held in Agartala Press Club on this Sunday, officials informed that the company is eyeing at building a comprehensive services framework that can deliver leading edge voice, video, IT applications and multimedia content services over any broadband or IP centric network. “Gone are the days of longing for hours to get access to broadband connection provided by other popular service provider”, said Troilukya Borgohain, Director and Punu Bora, Managing Director of the company. Papri Rani Dey, proprietor of M/s Nirmal Baba Associates, sole Distributor in Tripura was also present in the press meet.
06/02/2012 12:00:00 AM-11455821452AgartalaBy Our CorrespondentRatan, SC dept to fastOpposition leader Ratan Lal Nath will launch fasting for 30 hours on February 9 demanding CBI probe into several financial scams including Adhaar. On February 3, the opposition leader has written a letter to Chief Minister Manik Sarkar demanding CBI investigation into the misappropriation of funds allocated for Adhaar. “It is unfortunate that the Chief Minister has not responded to my letter prompting me to go for fasting for 30 hours”, Nath said while addressing a press conference at Town Hall here today. Alleging that the Chief Minister is the chief patron of corruption and nepotism, Nath said, “I have requested the Chief Minister to order CBI probe in several financial irregularities but he still remains silent which shows his arrogance attitude”. According to Nath, the corruption has emerged main enemy to the state and the Chief Minister and ruling CPM can’t disown the responsibility. Giving instance of lack of will in taking stringent measure against corrupt officials, Nath said that the CID after completing investigation into Lottery Scam had sought approval to place charge sheet against the then Finance Secretary BB Deb in 1997. “But the government is yet to give green signal to probe penel to go ahead with the case”, he alleged. Nath further said, at least 44 charge sheets have been submitted in the court of people against the Chief Minister. “He will be tried in the people’s court in February, next year on the basis of the charge sheets”, Nath added. Meanwhile, PCC SC department has decided to go on fasting on February 9 in support of 30-point charter of demands including cancellation of forged SC certificate of RSP MLA Partha Das. Briefing media after delegates’ conference at Town Hall, PCC SC department president Prakash Das said that they had been organized movement demanding cancellation of forged SC certificate of the MLA since December, 2008. “Unfortunately, the government has not taken any action against the RSP MLA prompting us to go for fasting on February 9. “ If the government doesn’t take action even after the 30-hour fasting movement, the organization will launch massive agitation in the days to come”, he warned. Earlier, PCC president Surajit Dutta inaugurated the state level SC department delegates’ conference in presence of party MLAs and chiefs of Congress frontal organizations. Over 2000 delegates from across the state joined the conference.
06/02/2012 12:00:00 AM-19555791451New DelhiBy IANSviSparsh: Helping the blind through touchMohammed Wasim is a young helpline operator at India's National Association for the Blind (NAB) who could only perceive brightness and lights, but the lack of ability to discern shapes meant living in a shapeless world where every small obstacle could prove a barrier. However, viSparsh, a belt-based sensor system (sparsh literally means touch) created by a young team of engineers, could herald a revolutionary change for 25-year-old Wasim, and millions of others who are blind. Engineers Rolly Seth, Jatin Sharma and Tushar Chugh are Young India Fellows and are developing viSparsh under technical guidance of Professor Rahul Mangharam of the University of Pennsylvania. Whenever a user wearing viSparsh belt encounters an obstacle, the sensors find the distance and direction of the obstacle and provide vibratory feedback to the user. For this, the team modified Microsoft's Kinect, a motion sensing input device for the Xbox 360 video game console, and mounted it on the belt. The vibrations are produced only in the direction of the obstacle and the intensity of the vibration increases as the obstacle gets closer so that the user can identify the direction of obstacle and judge if the obstacle is near or far. The belt has been tested for usability at NAB. Wasim helped the team with some trial runs. ''The vibration patterns are quite understandable. It's good that the belt can tell the direction in which the obstacles are detected,'' said Wasim during the trials. The first stage of development is already over, engineer Jatin Sharma told IANS. ''We're now at stage two. We have proved the usability; now our focus is on minimising the weight of the system and enhancing the battery backup,'' said Sharma. Speaking of their roadmap about viSparsh, Rolly Seth said, ''The stage one is over and stage two is progressing rapidly. The next stage will be fabrication of the device.'' ''The fabrication will be done in the US, after which the device will be ready for mass production,'' Tushar Chugh told IANS. If produced, viSparsh will be a new hope to many, who could walk free and unhindered. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are some 285 million visually impaired people around the world, of whom 39 million are completely blind.