India First Redesign Option by IANS Publishing

FROM THE EDITORâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DESK

Editor & Publisher Sanjay Hans Consulting Editor KG Sreenivas Associate Editors Prashant K Nanda Aroonim Bhuyan Senior Correspondent Byomakesh Biswal (Bhubaneswar) Correspondents Upendra Panda (Jajpur); Siba Tripathy (Phulabni); Naresh Patnaik (Keonjhar); RL Patnaik (Gajapati); Hrusikes Mohanty (Berhampur); Kanhu Nanda (Jagatsinghpur); Saroj Mishra (Puri); Sukant Sahu (Baripada); Suman Mohanty (Cuttack); Basant Rath (Nabrangpur); Ajit Nayak (Sambalpur); Satya Patnaik (Koraput); Sunil Panda (Boudh); Suvendu R Mohaptra (Bhadrak); Rajkapoor Barik (Nuapada); Manoj Kar (Kendrapara); Sanjit Sahu (Redhakhol); Arabinda Panda (Salepur); Srijay Baral (Konark); Ratnakar Dash (Malkangiri); Satish Sharma (Rourkela) News Editor Aninda Dey Copy Desk Nandini Banerjee, Bijaya K Das, Anindya Rai Verman, Anil Varghese Art Director Shajan C Kumar Design Team Mithun Mukherjee, Ashok Kumar, Kuldeep Malkoti, Inderjeet Chaddha Editorial & Marketing Offices 4th floor, Lalchand Market Complex, Station Square, Unit-3, Bhubaneswar-1, Orissa. Marketing & Sales Pramode Kishore Mohanty Office: 2373454, 2373455 marketing@indiafirst.com Printed and Published by Sanjay Hans Owned by Sri Jagannath Publications Pvt. Ltd. and Printed at M/S Laxmi Printex, 442, Saheed Nagar, Bhubaneswar. www.indiafirst.com Content, Design & Production IANS Publishing www.ianspublishing.com

rissa borders on the Bay of Bengal. The eastern part, close to the sea is more prosperous, with a lot of tourist locations and religious places. The western part is a hilly and forested area, generally drought prone. It is a predominantly tribal belt. However, the western part of the state contains enormous volumes of iron ore and other minerals that promises to herald a major industrialisation of the state. It is a culturally rich state. The Bhubaneswar-Puri-Konark golden triangle is the pride of the state. Traditionally, Orissa descended from the historical kingdom of Kalinga. The script for the Oriya language derives from the Kalinga script which is one of the descendants of the Brahmi script. Orissa is well-known for handicrafts. Sambalpuri and Kataki sarees in handspun cotton and silk or tussar, have traditional Hindu and Buddhist designs on them. There is filigree work in silver that you will find in Kataka. You will also find fine tribal work in brass and other metal-wire. Pattachitra is traditional painting on palm-leaf or raw silk. Eat the rasagullas from the dhabas or the little snack stores set in freeways, it comes in yellow white and brown color and are very delicious. Taste chena pod, another traditional sweet-meat from Orissa. If you enjoy spicy food and used to Indian cuisine, you can try out the local Oriya cuisin made out of Sea food (like Fish, tiger prawns and crab curry prepared with exotic spices). Its a foodie's paradise. There are several good hotels in Bhubaneswar, such as Trident Hilton, Hotel Mayfair, and Hotel Swosti Plaza. You can also get decent accommodation at the [OTDC] hotels all over the state in tourist locations. In the smaller towns, try and stay in the Forest Bungalows or Inspection Bungalows, mostly run for government officials on tour, but provided to others when vacant. The people of Orissa are known for their hospitality. It is largely peaceful( Till date, their has never been any large scale violence on communal grounds), and the society is very tolerant and accepting towards other cultures. However, the State, for reasons historical, economic and political,has remained isolated from the country's mainstream and hence has not been able to take in it's stride the tremendrous progress the Indian people have achieved in all spheres, including those the social sphere.

(Sanjay Hans)

2 India First | April 18-24, 2009 3

Contents COVER STORY

“‘Team RG’ sounds as impressive as the BJP’s ‘India Shining’ campaign. I hope it is not all-pomp-no-substance yet again”

Under the Scanner IF X-Rays the 157 candidates in the fray for the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Orissa to find the richest and poorest, the most educated and the least, those with outstanding loans and criminals seeking electoral sanction

S•Mahapatra, Bhubaneswar

Here, for the right reasons POLITICS

18 Professional Touch From engineers to MBAs to bankers to eye surgeons, a lot of young professionals with little political experience are standing in the 2009 elections. BUSINESS

28 India Inc’s Wishlist Hit by a demand slowdown and overall meltdown in the global economy, India Inc has its wishlist ready for the next government with sector-specific policy reforms and tax sops.

56 42

CAREER

34 Say it with flowers Floriculture is one of the fastest growing industries in India with enormous employment opportunities. Bestowed with diverse soil and climatic conditions, India is the perfect garden to grow a wide variety of flowers.

Your story on Rahul Gandhi, Taking Charge (April 17), was a refreshing read. Not just because it was well written and researched, but also, for the first time, an inheritor of a political legacy — unlike so many who have come and gone — seems to put it to some good use. —Abhinav Anand, Bhubaneswar

If Saturn was just exalted, one would always take the easy way out and be more diplomatic in general. Retrograde Saturn is a little more skeptical and slow and gains more through obstacles/disruption rather than a building process. Retrograde exalted Saturn is a strong placement but it gives slow results over a longer period of time, in comparison to a direct exalted Saturn. Saturn will work more strongly in one's advanced. —Amith Rahul, Kattak, Orissa

meaning Lord of Laxmi (wealth). This makes it a good financial planet which promises financial gains in its periods. —Ram Shankar Sha, Kattak

If you read my book on the Lunar Nodes you will find that even though Rahu is debilitated in Saggitarius it has the capacity to give good results because Rahu never does in Jupiter's sign. —Ram Shankar Sha, Bhubaneswar

Try to mix the pada lords with the Nakshatra lords like you would mix the energies of two planets in conjunction. For example if Venus is in fourth pada of Ardra, than RahuJupiter (Pisces mode) conjunction sort of energy would be relayed by Venus will make things work in a better way. —Harshita Choudhary,•Mukthimarg

. CINEMA

42 ‘Ollywood needs NROs’ Former superstar Aparajita Mohanty feels the need for marketing Oriya films outside the state, among non-resident Oriyas.

Whenever I see the games Pakistan and the US play vis-a-vis terrorism in India, I think of a Kannada proverb—”Nee sattante maadu, naa attante maadteeni ( You pretend like dead, I pretend like crying).” —Ram Shankar Sha, Chala

SPORTS

54 Movers in checkers

54 AND MUCH MORE 16 30 38 53 58 61 62

4 India First | April 18-24, 2009

Orissa Scan Business capsule Science and health Books & Ideas Travel Astrology Newsmakers

Padmini Rout started making her moves when she was nine. Now, a formidable chess player in the junior international category, she is confident of winning the Grand Master title in three years. FEATURE

56 Second Home Yoga centres, ayurvedic spas, eateries serving Indian food. The Hindu-majority Indonesian island of Bali is a second home for Indian tourists.

Saturn’s Navamsa placement in Capricorn gives it a rigid spine and strong material inclinations. It makes it a worldly planet. In a way it can be seen as a corporate placement. Saturn is in Cancer with Ketu in the Nakshatramsha and gives it a soft under belly from a pastlife, dedicated to homely/maternal issues. It works by being receptive to other’s needs. Saturn is in a Shashtiamsha called Lakshmisha

If you read my book on the Lunar Nodes you will find that even though Rahu is debilitated in Saggitarius it has the capacity to give good results because Rahu never does in Jupiter’s sign.

“

A period of retreat is coming to an end. If you have been able to get away from it all much the better but if you have.

“

MAIL OF THE WEEK

—Amith Rahul, Cuttack, Orissa

—Ram Shankar Sha, Bhubaneswar

We should also remember that it was his rath yatra that started the marginalising of the Muslim community, starting with the attack on the Babri Masjid in 1992. As home minister, he did not inspire much confidence. Instead of lposign those questions, he should be answering them himself —Aitha, Bhubaneswar

Send in your feedback to: The Editor Indian First Bhubaneswar, Orissa email: mail@indiafirst.com

India First | April 18-24, 2009 5

KNOW YOUR STATE | FILM AND TELEVISION INSTITUTE

MECCA OF MOVIEMAKING perhaps one of the cheapest film schools of its kind in the world. A cinematography course was being offered by Bhubanananda Orissa School of Engineering (BOSE) before some generous assistance from the World Bank paved the way for the setting up of the institute. Although the institute is still housed inside BOSE, located in Cuttack, it has been declared autonomous. Comprising separate television and film wings, it has video and film

editing facilities, studios for recording music and dubbing, and top-of-theline cameras. It has churned out fine video editors, sound engineers and camera persons â&#x20AC;&#x201D; some of whom have made a mark in Bollywood. In a short time, the institute has made a name for its academic rigour, exhaustive curriculum and handson training. It is the ideal destination for Oriyas who aspire to pick up essential skills in film-making but cannot afford to venture outside the state.

HONOUR

AWARD

RECORD

Padma Bhotra, a tribal woman who belongs to Devla village in Nabrangpur, is the brain behind a self-help group (SHG) that provides employment to women. Members of the SHG are involved in farming and marketing their produce in market. For her selfless dedication, Padma has won several awards, including the Best Volunteer of the Year award from the United Nations.

Supreme Court Judge Arijit Pasayat received the prestigious Kalinga Ratna Award for the year 2009 on April 11. Governor Muralidhar Chandrakant Bhandare honoured him at the 28th annual function of the Sarala Sahitya Sansad at Sarala Bhawan, Cuttack. The award consists of a silver bust of goddess Sarala, a bronze plaque and a citation.

By sheer determination, Bijaya Kumar Mohapatra, 40, has fulfilled his dream of recording his name in the Limca Book of Records for publishing a magazine in 60 languages. Mohapatra set off on the marathon effort in 1990 with the publication of Suna Bhauni in Oriya and subsequently the Loving Sister in English in 1992. He was undeterred by financial difficulties.

By Byomakesh Biswal

ith an array of hightech equipment and expertise needed, filmmaking is an expensive art to pursue. The Biju Patnaik Film and Television Institute of Orissa, ever since its inception in 1998, has succeeded in making the art a little more affordable. At a reasonable fee, students get to work with the most sophisticated equipment, making the institute

MILESTONES

6 India First | April 18- 24, 2009

COVER STORY

UNDER THE

RICHEST... R ICHEST... 1. Pinaki Mishra

SCANNER

Constituency: Puri, Party: BJD Movable Assets: Rs 65,00,000 Immovable Assets: Rs 29,04,00,000 Total Assets: Rs 29 crore+

2. Dhananjay Sidhu Constituency: Keonjhar, Party: INC Movable Assets: Rs 12,67,000 Immovable Assets: Rs 26,90,61,258 Total Assets: Rs 27• crore+

India First X-Rays the 157 candidates in the fray for the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Orissa to find the richest and poorest, the most educated and the least, the oldest and the youngest, those with outstanding loans and criminals seeking electoral sanction By Jatindra Dash

rissa is almost a metaphor for poverty, but many of those who seek to rule it are far from poor. Most of its 21 Lok Sabha constituencies has at least one millionaire in the fray in the ongoing elections, with some boasting of several. A survey has revealed that as many as 27 of the 157 candidates taking a shot at a Parliament seat are self-declared millionaires, and dozens more are near-millionaires. The survey, carried out by the Orissa wing of National Election Watch, also reveals that the dismally poor have perhaps now realised the importance of political power. The six poorest candidates have zero assets –– both immovable and movable. (See Box: 5 Richest… & Poorest) While the focus of the survey is on matters financial, including the outstanding loans against candidates, it also categorises them in terms of education, caste and criminal records, throwing up interesting findings. But first, a look at the richest and poorest. Former Congress party MP and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate from Puri, Pinaki Mishra, clocks in as the richest candidate. The affidavit he has filed with the Election Commission records that he has

8 India First | April 18-24, 2009

moveable assets worth Rs 65 lakh and immovable assets of Rs 29.04 crore, taking his total wealth to an impressive Rs 29.69 crore. His assets include Rs 4 lakh in cash, Rs 27 lakh in bank deposits and shares worth over Rs 6 lakh in at least four companies. He also owns a Hyundai Terracan SUV, a Mercedes Benz worth Rs 15 lakh and jewellery worth Rs 7 lakh. Dhananjaya Sidhu, the Congress party candidate in the Keonjhar Lok Sabha constituency, is the second richest, with moveable assets of Rs 12.67 lakh and immovable assets worth Rs. 26.9 crore, taking his total worth to Rs 27.03 crore. Sidhu has a bank balance of Rs 6 lakh and maintains only Rs 30,000 in cash. He owns land and buildings worth

The Congress, BJD and BJP dominate the list of the Top 20 richest candidates. But not one of their Lok Sabha aspirants figure in the list of the 20 poorest candidates

3. Baijayant Panda Constituency: Kendrapara, Party: BJD Movable Assets: Rs 10,47,53,630 Immovable Assets: Rs 7,28,00,000 Total Assets: Rs 17• crore+

4. Bikram Keshari Deo Constituency: Kalahandi, Party: BJP Movable Assets: Rs1,05,92,000 Immovable Assets: Rs 4,22,00,000 Total Assets: Rs 5• crore+

5. Bhartruhari Mahatab

more than Rs 21 crore. Coming in third is industrialist and BJD candidate for the Kendrapada Lok Sabha seat, Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda. He has total assets of Rs 17.75 crore. The assets of the 45-year-old Panda, an engineering and management degree holder from Michigan University, include agricultural land worth Rs 2 crore, non-agricultural land worth Rs 1.4 crore and buildings worth Rs 3.88 crore. He also has fixed deposits of nearly Rs 70 lakh, besides bonds, debentures and shares in about 17 companies. The worth of these assets is about Rs 6 crore. Joining these three in the Top 10 Richest Candidates Club are Bikaram Keshari Deo, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Kalahandi, the place most famously associated with Orissa’s poverty, starvation and backwardness, Bhartruhari Mahatab (BJD, Cuttack), Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo (BJP, Bolangir), Nityananda Pradhan (BJD, Aska), Kalikesh Narayan Singh

Deo (BJD, Bolangir), Surendra Kumar Agarwal (Ind, Bargarh), and Dr Gopal Chandra Kar (Bahujan Samaj Party, BSP, Cuttack). (See Box for details) What is common to most members of the Top 10 Richest Candidates Club is that they either have huge landed properties or palatial buildings –– or both. For instance, Mishra, a top notch Supreme Court lawyer who quit the Congress last month to join Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s BJD, has landed properties and buildings valued at more than Rs 25 crore in Bhubaneswar and Delhi. If you take the Top 20 richest candidates, the BJD boasts of six in the list, while the Congress has five, the BSP –– Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s party that claims to represent the poorest of the poor –– has three, the BJP 2, the Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav one, and independents two. But expand the list to the Top 100 richest candidates, and the Congress

party steals a march over the BJD and leads with 21 –– that is, all its candidates figure in the list. The BJP, too, overtakes the BJD, with 17 of its 21 candidates in the Top 100, while the BJD has 15 of its 18 in the list. As many as 14 independents figure in the list, and the BSP chips in with a significant 11. The number of millionaires in the fray is disquieting for many, and a pointer to the role money plays in an election even in a state as poor as Orissa. Says Ranjan Mohanty, the convenor of Orissa Election Watch (OEW): “It is, in fact, scandalous. And these are only their declared assets. I am sure that the number of actual millionaires contesting is more than double the number that is in our list.” Interestingly, however, when you go to the other end of the spectrum, not a single candidate from the three main parties –– the Congress, the BJD or the BJP –– figures in the Bottom 10 Poorest Candidates Club, or even the Bottom 20 list. Among

Constituency: Cuttack, Party: BJD Movable Assets: Rs. 1,75,55,909 Immovable Assets: Rs. 3,35,17,952 Total Assets: Rs 5• crore+

...& POOREST 1. Jerum Dungdung Constituency: Sundargarh, Party: BSP Movable Assets: 0, Immovable Assets: 0 Total Assets: 0

2. Debasis Ranjan Dash Constituency: Balasore, Party: Samrudha Orissa Movable Assets: 0, Immovable Assets: 0 Total Assets: 0

3. Debananda Singh Constituency: Cuttack, Party: IND Movable Assets: 0, Immovable Assets: 0 Total Assets: 0

4. Pravakar Nayak Constituency: Kendrapara, Party: Kalinga Sena Movable Assets: 0, Immovable Assets: 0 Total Assets: 0

5. Bibhuti Bhusan Majhi Constituency:Jagatsinghpur, Party: BSP Movable Assets: 0, Immovable Assets: 0 Total Assets: 0 See next page for the next 15 richest and poorest candidates

India First | April 18-24, 2009 9

GETTING YOUNGER

◆ Average age of candidates is 49.3 years ◆ Average age of candidates of the three major parties is higher ◆ BJD fields more elder statesmen: average age of 52.9; for the Congress it is 52.4 years, and BJP 50.8 ◆ Independents are younger than party candidates: average age of 47.6 ◆ There are 10 candidates in their 20s. Two are just 26: Ajit Kumar Nayak (IND, Kandhamal) and Upendra Majhi (BJP, Koraput) ◆ The oldest candidate, at 80, is Kshitish Biswal of the Communist Party of IndiaMarxist-Leninist (Liberation) ◆ The bulk of the candidates are in their 40s, followed by those in the 50s

10 India First | April 18-24, 2009

Election officials at a polling booth during the first phase of elections on April 16. Ten of 21 Orissa Lok Sabha and 70 of 147 Assembly seats saw polling.

the poorest 20 candidates, seven are independents, and four are from the BSP. The Kalinga Sena chips in with three and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) with two. The six poorest candidates have declared in their affidavits to the Election Commission that they have nil assets –– zilch, nothing. They belong to the BSP (2), the newly-

floated Samrudha Orissa (1), the Kalinga Sena (1), and independents (2). In fact, the Bottom 25 candidates have no immovable assets to declare — that is no land or flat or house. Babuli Mallik of the Orissa Mukti Morcha (OMM), at No. 20, has Rs 55,000 as moveable assets. OEW has also compiled a list of the liabilities of the candidates in

the fray –– that is the loans, etc, they have taken from banks and other government and non-governmental lending institutions. The list is headed by Yashbanta Narain Laguri, the BJD candidate from Keonjhar, who has liabilities of Rs 1.5 crore, and Surendra Kumar Agarwal, an independent from Bargarh, whose liabilities top Rs 1.43 crore. The other 18 people on the list have liabilities of between Rs 49 lakh and Rs 8 lakh. Happily, though, as many as

... Next 15 in the Top 20 Rich-list Rank

Name

Sangeeta Kumari Singdeo

Nityananda Pradhan

Aska

Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo

Bolangir

Surendra Kumar Agrawal

Bargarh

Dr. Gopal Chandra Kar

Jual Oram

Santosh Mohanty

Balhansagar

92 of the 157 candidates owe no money to any institution. OEW’s survey is worrying when it comes to the criminality of candidates. Of course, active politicians often get embroiled in petty cases as part of their street-level activism. Which is why the OEW has made a distinction over those charged with what it terms “serious IPC counts”. These include crimes ranging from waging a war against the country, to assaulting the President or the Governor, to sedition, bribery, rape, adulteration, etc. As many as 33 –– about 21 percent –– of the candidates contesting in the ongoing elections to the Lok Sabha in the state have some kind of criminal case lodged against them –– as many as 70 cases in all. Twenty of them have been charged on “serious IPC•counts” –– although what these charges are has not been mentioned. The Top Five among them are Sangeeta Kumari Singhdeo (BJP, Bolangir), who is accused in three cases; Sudam Marandi (JMM, Mayurbhanj), who is accused in two cases; Prafulla Kumar Sahu (Republican Party of India-Athreya, Bhubaneswar), two cases; Arun Dey (Nationalist Congress Party, Balasore), two cases; and Jnandev Beura (BJP, Kendrapara), two cases. Interestingly, Tathagata Satpathy (BJD, Dhenkanal), a media baron,

... Next 15 in the Bottom 20 Poor-list

Constituency

Party

Moveable

Immovable

Total

Bolangir

BJP

Assets (Rs) 1,30,17,379

Assets (Rs) 3,26,71,425

BJD

32,56,692

BJD

2,59,88,172

IND

1,89,73,514

Cuttack

BSP

1,27,91,963

Sundargarh

BJP

73,11,470

Rank

Name

Constituency

Party

Moveable

Immovable

Total

Assets (Rs) 4,56,88,804

Akshya Kumar Mohanty

Bhubaneswar

BSP

Assets (Rs) 0

2,30,90,000

2,63,46,692

Susanta Kumar Jena

Bhadrak

IND

500

2,59,88,172

Arun Jena

Balasore

JMM

3,000

1,89,73,514

Pabitra Gamango

Berhampur

BSP

4,500

45,80,000

1,73,71,963

Lachhaman Majhi

Keonjhar

JMM

10,000

97,00,000

1,70,11,470

Udayanath Jena

Jajpur

IND

10,000

10,000 14,600

Bhubaneswar

INC

5,14,109

1,64,54,000

1,69,68,109

Basanta Kumar Behera

Bhubaneswar

14,600

Bolangir

BSP

9,35,000

1,60,00,000

1,69,35,000

Prafulla Kumar Sahu

Bhubaneswar

RPIA

15,000

Domburu Majhi

Nabarangpur

BJD

2,40,000

1,62,15,000

1,64,55,000

Pravat Kumar Barapanda

Puri

IND

25,000

Rabindra Kumar Sethy

Jagatsinghpur

INC

44,10,000

1,04,00,000

1,48,10,000

Pramila Behera

Bhubaneswar

IND

25,368

Ranjib Biswal

Kendrapara

INC

75,33,261

65,37,750

1,40,71,011

Bijayananda Mishra

Bhubaneswar

LJP

26,800

Nakul Nayak

Kandhamal

21,52,576

1,13,31,500

1,34,84,076

Narendra Hansda

Mayurbhanj

IND

32,000

Narasingha Mishra

Bolangir

INC

59,80,984

64,50,000

1,24,30,984

Ajit Kumar Nayak

Kandhamal

IND

35,500

Chita Ranjan Munda

Keonjhar

IND

3,00,000

1,20,70,000

1,23,70,000

Babuli Mallik

Jajpur

OMM

50,000

Papanna Mutika

Koraput

BSP

70,000

1,22,00,000

1,22,70,000

Priyabrata Garnaik

Dhenkanal

55,000

PASS OR FAIL

◆ There are only 2 PhDs in the fray among the 157 candidates for the 21 Lok Sabha seats ◆ The honours go to 61-year-old Dr Kishore Chandra Maharana (Ind) from the Berhampur constituency and the 54-year-old Dr Hamid Husain (BJD) from Bargarh ◆ Graduates form the biggest chunk of candidates – 60 of the 157, followed by post-graduates at 34 ◆ As many as 44 candidates have not gone beyond school ◆ There are two candidates who are just 5th pass, and 2 who have not gone beyond 8th grade ◆ The number of professionals in the fray is rising, up to 11 compared to the single digit in the 2004 election

India First | April 18-24, 2009 11

SURVEY NUGGETS ◆ There are 41 general candidates, 36 from the scheduled castes, and 25 from the Scheduled Tribe in the list of 157 Lok Sabha contestants ◆ The BSP is, for the first time, contesting in as many as 18 of the 21 seats ◆ As many as 5 of the Congress party’s 21 candidates do not have PAN numbers; 6 from BJP and only 1 from the BJD ◆ If you take the Top 20 richest candidates, the BJD boasts of six in the list, while the Congress has five, and the BJP 2 ◆ The BSP has three candidates in the list of Top 20 richest candidates; Mulayam Singh’s Samajwadi Party has one ◆ Not a single candidate from the three main parties –– the Congress, the BJD or the BJP –– figures in the Bottom 10 Poorest Candidates Club, or even the Bottom 20 list. ◆ As many as 33 –– about 21 percent — of the candidates have some kind of criminal case lodged against them: a total of 70 cases in all

12 India First | April 18-24, 2009

has the largest number of cases registered against him –– 13. However, none of them fall in the category of “serious IPC•counts”. Presumably, they are related to his newspaper, Dharitri, the second-largest Oriya language daily. In party terms, the BJP takes the lead among the 33 candidates with one or the other criminal cases against them. Ten of its candidates figure in the list, while six Congress nominees and five from the BJD also find themselves in it. All these candidates have, of course, only been charged so far. None of them have been convicted. Under Indian election laws, only criminals convicted in crimes that attract a jail term of at least three years are actually barred from contesting elections. However, Gobind Narain Agarwal, a political analyst and advocate in Bhubaneswar, is all for more stringent action against candidates with serious charges against them. “Given the fact that the legal system processes cases in such a slow manner, even those who have been charged with serious crimes would perhaps serve three or four terms in the Lok Sabha before they are actually convicted –– if ever,” he says. According to him, there should be certain crimes –– the really serious ones –– where even those who have been only charged should be barred from contesting elections. If the presence of those with criminal cases is a worry, so is the lack of quality education among those who seek to represent their people in the Lok Sabha. There are only two PhDs in the fray among the 157 candidates –– 61-year-old Dr Kishore Chandra Maharana, an independent contesting from the Berhampur constituency, and the 54-year-old Dr. Hamid Husain, the BJD candidate from Bargarh. Although graduates form the biggest chunk of candidates — 60 of the 157, followed by post-graduates at 34 — the really worrying part is that as many as 26 candidates have not gone beyond 10th standard, and 18 others have not studied beyong 12th standard. Two candidates have, in fact, not studied beyond class 2,

Of Criminals and Contestants Rank Name

The campaign is still on for the second phase of polling in Orissa, to be held on April 23.

while two others made it only so far as class 5. “This is a sad reflection of the kind of people politics is attracting. We need more educated people keen to join the political process, but for that to happen, we need to ensure that the role of money and muscle power is considerably reduced,” says OEW’s Mohanty. He, however, has seen an improvement on this front over the 2004 elections. “The number of professional people who are contesting has gone up.” There are many in the state who

are inspired by Chief Minister Patnaik, a man whose personal integrity –– or erudition –– is not in doubt. They would like to see more people like him enter the political arena. Unfortunately though, Patnaik, who is contesting from the Hinjili Assembly constituency, has to live with the realities of contesting elections in India. As he told his erstwhile partner of 11 years, the BJP, winnablity is the ultimate test in a democracy. And the sad fact is that most often, it is the man with the money and the muscle –– and not necessarily the educated and erudite –– who are capable of winning at the hustings.

Constituency

Party

Age Serious No of Cases No. of Cases IPC in in which in which Counts Accused Convicted

Total

Bolangir

BJP

Mayurbhanj

JMM

Bhubaneswar

RPIA

Balasore

NCP

Sangeeta Kumari Singhdeo

Sudam Marandi

Prafulla Kumar Sahu

Arun Dey

Jnandev Beura

Kendrapara

BJP

Ranjib Biswal

Kendrapara

INC

Rabindra Kumar Sethy

Nakul Nayak

Kandhamal

Kamala Kanta Pandey

Kandhamal

IND

Chandra Sekhar Tripathy

Dhenkanal

INC

Surendra Kumar Agrawal

Bargarh

IND

Kalikesh Narayan Singhdeo

Bolangir

BJD

Bhakta Charan Das

Kalahandi

INC

Subash Chandra Nayak

Kalahandi

BJD

Radharani Panda

Bargarh

BJP

Sunil Kumar Agrawal

Bargarh

BSP

Dhananjay Sidhu

Keonjhar

INC

Parameswar Sethi

Jajpur

BJP

Ratha Das

Bhadrak

BJP

Sradhanjali Pradhan

Balasore

BSP

Tathagata Satpathy

Dhenkanal

BJD

Dr. Debendra Mansingh

Puri

INC

Rudra Narayan Pani

Dhenkanal

BJP

Bibhuti Bhusan Mishra

Cuttack

INC

MANSID EKKA

Sundargarh

IND

Nakula Majhi

Kalahandi

BSP

Dr. Gopal Chandra Kar

Cuttack

BSP

Niladri Behari Panda

Bargarh

KOKD

Bikram keshari Deo

Kalahandi

BJP

Jual Oram

Sundargarh

BJP

Yashbanta Narayan Laguri

Keonjhar

BJD

Mahameghabahana Aira Kharabela Swain

Balasore

BJP

Aska

BJD

Nityananda Pradhan Total

Jagatsinghpur

India First | April 18-24, 2009 13

ELECTION 2009 | ORISSA

INNOVATIVE CAMPAIGNS Innovation drove electioneering in Orissa. Mangalsutras, bindis, badges, caps et al were used to attract voters, say Byomakesh Biswal & Prashant K Nanda

andles, rings, bindis, mangalsutras were on sale as election campaigns bore a festive look, indistinguishable from that of a wedding. It’s always been this way, some might argue. But elections have now come to resemble that ubiquitous ‘Great Indian Fair’. This time round, besides the conventional party flags and posters of leaders, anything one could possibly imagine — kitchen aprons, wrist bands, ear rings, watches, T-shirts, caps — with party symbols and smiling faces of leaders on them were on sale. The election blitzkrieg seems to have broken new ground to reach out to the voter. “These are innovative ideas to bind our supporters of all age groups,” says Prof Kailash Acharya, spokesperson of the state unit of the Congress Party. While mangalsutras, kitchen aprons, wrist bands, rings, bindis, lockets, ear rings and badges were used to woo the fairer sex, caps, badges and T-shirts were used to snare young men who sported them to look funky during rallies. “Kitchen aprons are in great demand as it has two benefits — one during election, and the other after it in kitchens,” says Banka Bihari Rout, a BJP supporter. “Ear rings, wrist bands, lockets and T-Shirts are in demand as flaunting them has becoming the new fad this election season,” says Rajiv Lochan Sahu, a BJD supporter, adding that conch-marked wrist watches were a favourite this time too. In view of the scorching heat this season, political parties distributed tens of thousands of caps to their supporters. “We also gave our supporters curd sharbat and water pouches,” says Samir Dey, a BJP candidate from Cuttack-Barabati assembly constituency. Besides voters also got hand fans and umbrellas.

14 India First | April 18-24, 2009

IANS

A typical mobile poster van being readied for the campaign

Parties and candidates have been procuring these election knickknacks from Delhi, Lucknow, Raipur, and Gandhi Nagar in Gujarat. The materials, mostly bought in bulk, are later sent to the candidates. But there are candidates who customise them, depending on the constituency and the dialect their electors speak. “There are several candidates who prefer to prepare their promotional materials in their dialect — a candidate from Sambalpur or Koraput may not like to take on material prepared by the central office,” says Arya Kumar Gyanendra, another spokesman of the Congress. Take the example of Juel Oram. This national vice-president of the BJP has produced several cassettes in local dialects to spread his party’s message and seek votes in the tribal Sundergarh district.

Seduction by technology Both the BJP and the Congress too are banking heavily on technology to reach out to Gen X voters. Several candidates have launched websites to be in touch with their supporters and ensnare new ones. An independent candidate has blogs and websites to make his campaign more

Both the BJP and the Congress are banking heavily on technology to reach out to Gen X voters. Several candidates have launched websites to be in touch with their supporters and ensnare new ones personalised. Leaving no stone unturned in reaching out to the masses, parties are vigorously relying on technology this time. Blogs, SMSes, e-mails and recorded voice calls are all in circulation. The BJD has turned out to be the tech-savviest of all. The party has hired a city based advertising firm — Sanket Communications — to help them devise their campaign. The firm has put out a series of strategically crafted print and visual advertisements to highlight the achievements of the Navin Patnaik government. Taking note of the reach of FM channels, the party too

has prepared several radio jingles to reach out to voters. Both the BJP and the Congress are banking heavily on technology to reach out to Gen X voters. Several candidates like Oram (BJP) and Alok Jena (Congress) have launched websites to be in touch with their supporters and ensnare new ones. Baidyanath Sing, an independent candidate, has blogs and websites to make his campaign more personalised. As it is the first election after the delimitation exercise, candidates have had little time to reach out to their new voters. Therefore, they are increasingly depending on new technology and devising new media strategies to make themselves heard. “There is no other way than technology. As three new segments were added to my parliamentary constituency, reaching out personally to each voter is an improbable proposition altogether. I am relying heavily on personal advertisements through local cable operators. I am also distributing CDs and DVDs containing my poll promises both in the form of speeches and songs,” says Tathagat Satpathy, the BJD candidate from the Dhenkanal Lok Sabha seat. Plastic has had a bad run this season with the Election Commission banning its use for campaigns. The Commission has also directed politicians to refrain from defacing public or private buildings by sticking paper posters or painting election graffiti. “There is a sense of fear among candidates about littering and despoiling public places. There is a clear directive that if a candidate defaces something, he will have to clean it up at his own cost,” says a BJD leader. Parties have also hired a number of special vehicles and painted them with their colours and symbols. “Mobile vans decked with party symbols have been used across the state,” says Binay Bihari Patnaik, a businessman who lends big vehicles to political parties for their campaigns. Call it compulsion or innovation, political parties have turned personal to woo voters during this poll season in Orissa.

MANGALSUTRAS? NO, THANK YOU By Prashant K Nanda

everal small traders have come to Orissa from Delhi, Gandhi Nagar and Raipur to sell caps, pens and headbands with symbols of political parties on them. The business, however, isn’t as good as expected and special mangalsutras are the worst hit. “I have brought over two dozen items — from hand fans with party symbols to caps and badges. The business is slow but the worst hit is the mangalsutra,” says Lal Parchani, a trader from Raipur. “I had brought over 5,000 such items for each political party — the BJP, the BJD and the Congress — as activists had told us that women would like them the most. But the reality is all of these items have been unsold,” Parchani tells IANS. Each mangalsutra is priced between Rs 30 and Rs 35, says Pankaj Kumar, another trader, who has come from Sadar Bazar in Delhi. “But where is the customer?” he asks. “I am selling materials related to the Congress party. People in Bhubaneswar told me that the mangalsutras will been in great demand and I brought in around 2,000 of them. But I have sold just 60 in the last 14 days. We had specially ordered these imitation jewellery mangalsutras with party symbols from Mumbai,” he rues. The traders say that the women in Orissa are laughing at these

‘political mangalsutras’. Says Kamala Rani Behera, who was bargaining for some Congress caps: “I may be a political supporter but will never sport these party mangalsutras. It seems so weird.” The traders say the overall market for election materials in Orissa has been rather dull. “During the election season, I transact business of over Rs 600,000, but this time it will not touch even Rs 100,000,” Binay Patnaik, who collaborates with traders from Gujarat and Lucknow, tells India First. Sitting amid colourful bundles of flags, posters and other articles like pens, badges, head bands and dummy voting machines bearing the Congress symbol, Kumar says: “I have brought materials worth Rs 1 million but have done just 50 percent business.” “Of the 400 (dummy) voting machines, 100 were sold and of the 10,000 badges with Sonia Gandhi’s image, a little over 2,000 were sold. But we had a good time selling Congress caps. Of the 37,000 caps, over 30,000 have already been sold and the credit goes to the hot summer here,” he says with a smile. Parchani, who has sold over 20,000 caps embossed with the BJD’s conch symbol, agrees: “The Congress and BJD caps are in great demand. But the BJP caps have come a cropper.” “Election Commission’s ban on plastic too has dampened our business,” Parchani adds.

India First | April 18-24, 2009 15

NEWS CAPSULE | ORISSA THIS WEEK

COASTAL DISTRICTS ON ALERT

he state government on April 16 asked collectors of all coastal districts to remain alert as a severe storm developing in the Bay of Bengal could intensify and make landfall, officials said. “We have alerted the collectors of all coastal districts,” Additional Special Relief Commissioner B. Baral told

India First. According to the meteorological office in Bhubaneswar, the cyclonic storm ‘Bijli’ forming over the central and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal has now moved in a north-westerly direction. ‘Bijli’ is now lying centred over west-central Bay of Bengal, about 330 km southsouth-east of Gopalpur. The system is likely to intensify further and move in a north-northwesterly direction further for some more time. Rain or thundershowers are likely to lash coastal Orissa and a few places in interior Orissa in the next 48 hours. Strong winds at speeds of around 70 km per hour are likely to prevail off the Orissa coast. Baral said local cautionary signal No 3 has been hoisted at the ports of Gopalpur, Puri, Paradeep and Chandbali and fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea.

ORISSA SECURES RECORD AID

he development financial support to Orissa by NABARD has touched an all time high of Rs. 2,043 crore during 2008-09 posting a growth rate of 68 per cent over the previous year. Disbursement of short-term loans to various banks rose from Rs 625 crore during 2007-08 to Rs 1,258 crore during 2008-09. The State Cooperative Bank (OSCB) availed of a short-term loan worth Rs 1,205 crore, registering 106 per cent growth. Refinance was provided for capital formation in agriculture and allied sectors, non-farm sector activities, and for investment in the services sector to commercial banks, RRBs and cooperative banks to the tune of Rs 411 crore.

MAOISTS CREATE MAYHEM

I CISF men pay their respects to their colleagues who died on April 12.

en Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel and four Maoists were killed in a major gunfight after extremists attacked the Damanjodi bauxite mines on April 12. The Maoists had earlier killed the Samruddha Orissa Party candidate Somnath Madkami near Chitrakonda in Malakangiri last week. Another BJP leader Nanda Kartami was killed by the Maoists a few weeks ago. As expected, the Maoists have struck in the Naxal-affected Malkangiri district during the first phase of polling itself. The Naxals set on fire at least three booths in Kalimela and damaged many EVMs. Earlier, they had threatened to cut off the hands of those who dared to vote defying the Naxal orders.

‘KUI’ OUTFIT SEEKS COMPENSATION

WATER, A POLL ISSUE IN WESTERN ORISSA

he Supreme Court on April 13 witnessed a fresh twist, when a Hindu tribal organisation demanded parity with Christians in terms of compensation for victims of the Kandhamal riots of 2008. The Supreme Court, before which the state had promised to expedite relief and rehabilitation work, issued notice to the Naveen Patnaik government on an application filed by NGO ‘Kui Sanskrutik Parishad’ through Padmanav Pradhan alleging discrimination in compensation. The petitioner said that Kuis did not get adequate relief and rehabilitation despite being victims of the mob violence that destroyed villages in the aftermath of the killing of Swami Lakshmananand Saraswati in December 2008.

n western Orissa, it is water, both for irrigation and domestic consumption ,which holds centre stage in politics. In the recent past, unhappy farmers have agitated several times, demanding adequate water supply. The Hirakud dam which was constructed to control flooding, and irrigate agricultural fields, has failed to supply water to fields in the dam’s command area. To add to the woes of the villagers, the new industrial units in the region have started laying pipelines to draw

water from the reservoir. The farmers’ struggle, which had assumed violent undertones, forced the government to announce that not a drop of water meant for irrigation would be given to industrial houses. But this has failed to assuage the protestors. More recently, a Sambalpur based civil society organisation, Manav Adhikar Seva Samiti, along with Water Initiatives Orissa, asked participants at a workshop organised at Kusumdihi in the Rengali block, to prepare a charter of expectations from politicians.

35 ASSEMBLY CANDIDATES DECLARE NIL ASSETS

t least 35 candidates contesting in the first phase of assembly elections on April 16 in the state have disclosed nil assets, a voluntary body Orissa Election Watch (OEW) said on April 15. The state will elect 121 members to the state assembly and 21 members to Lok Sabha simultaneously on April 16 and April 23. About 12,650,750 voters will decide the fate of 72 candidates for 10 Lok Sabha seats and 599 candidates for 70 assembly constituencies in the first phase.

The Prithvi-II missile taking off on its test flight at the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur.

Nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile successfully test fired India on April 15 successfully test fired a new version of nuclear capable Prithvi-II ballistic missile, which in future could be used by the Indian Army as a tactical battlefield weapon. With a range of 250 miles, the missile was launched from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea near Balasore.

Two more Ultra Mega Power Plants planned in the state

“Thirteen candidates who have declared nil assets are contesting the election as independents,” OEW coordinator Ranjan Mohanty told India First.

ADHUNIK METALIKS PLANS 30 MN TONNE PORT

dhunik Group’s Adhunik Metaliks plans to set up an all weather commercial port at Barunei Muhan in Kendarapada district. It will be located near Jambu, 30 kilometres north of Gahirmatha. The proposed port will have a 13 metre draft and will have all facilities to handle 80,000 DWT to 100,000 DWT sized vessels. The cargo will mainly consist of coking coal, iron pellet exports, thermal coal, semi finished steel and container, and finished and

SHORT TAKES

The Centre plans to set up two new Ultar Mega Power Plants (UMPPs) in the state. Those projects are proposed to be set up in locations closer to the sea and will have a generating capacity of 4000 MW each. Though the locations have not been identified, five possible locations have been short-listed, namely Kirtania (Balasore), Dhamara (Bhadrakh), Paradeep (Jagatsinghpur) Astharanga (Puri) and Ganja (in Ganjam).

Orissa Heritage Day observed in Bhubaneswar

raw fertilisers. The company will require about 800 acres of land for the project, according to a company statement.

The Bhubaneswar chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) organised a “Heritage Walk” in the capital on April 15 to mark Orissa Heritage Day and Visuva Sankranti. The walk was flagged off at the entrance of the KedarGauri temple by senior Intach member, Gunanidhi Mohapatra. Over 100 students, artists and poets took part in the walk. — Compiled by Bijaya Kumar Das

16 India First | April 18-24, 2009

India First | April 18-24, 2009 17

COVER STORY

Professional

PARTY FOR PROFESSIONALS he Professionals Party of India (PPI) is the brainchild of a group of young professionals in Pune who believe that the only way to bring welfare in India is to get immersed in the country’s governance. In its website, it describes its vision thus: “The vision for the Professionals Party of India is to ‘Improve the Quality of Life of Every Indian’.” The party was formed in September 2007 and was registered with the Election Commission in July 2008. Besides Pune, the party now has chapters in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru. Mona Patel-Shah Making its election debut this year, the party has put up two candidates, both from Mumbai. Mona Patel Shah, an opthalmic surgeon, is standing from the South Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency. Born in Nagpur on January 14, 1971, Shah shifted to Mumbai at the age of one. After her schooling at the Walsingham House School and Queen Mary’s School, Mona attended St. Xavier’s, Jai Hind, Grant Medical and the Topiwala National Medical Colleges. She now has her own eye surgery practice in South Mumbai and is a consulting surgeon at three of the city’s eye hospitals. She is also an assistant honorary eye surgeon at the Municipal Eye Hospital of the BMC. The other PPI candidate, Rajendra Thacker, is standing from the North Mumbai seat. A well-known businessman, Thacker was born in Dhanbad, Bihar on December 5, 1957, where he completed his schooling from the Khalsa High School. He graduated in commerce from Burhani College in Mazgaon. He then went to Chennai where he completed a course in Accountancy and passed the Intermediate Examination of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Chennai and was awarded the A+ grade. After working for a few years in Mumbai and Tirupur town of Coimbatore, he started his own business in Tirupur. Thacker returned to Mumbai in 1994 and immersed himself in his business and served the Federation of Retail Traders as Secretary for five years. In 2002, he took over as the secretary of the Mumbai Mahanagar Vyapari Seva Parishad, a post Rajendra Thacker he holds till today.

TOUCH From engineers to MBAs to bankers to eye surgeons, a lot of young professionals with little political experience are standing in the 2009 elections, says Aroonim Bhuyan Pradeep Majhi, an e-commerce entrepreneur, has a lament. Sixty-two years after independence, his home in western Orissa doesn’t have a single government college – and over 50 percent of the people are illiterate. “This hurt me a lot,” says Majhi, who decided that criticising politicians was the easy way out. To change things for the better, he felt he had to take the plunge himself and be counted. He is today the Congress party’s candidate from the Nabarangpur Lok Sabha constituency. Each visit home was painful for Baidyanath Sing, an IT professional. “I saw many talented students not being able to complete their studies due to poverty,” says Sing. Egged on by friends who bankrolled him to “play a bigger role”, he, too, took the plunge. He is today contesting as an independent candidate from the Karanjia Assembly constituency in Orissa.

radeep Majhi. Baidyanath Sing. Names that voters in Orissa might not have heard of the last time the state went to the polls. They are people who gave up lucrative careers to enter politics in a bid to bring about a change in people’s lives. But they are not isolated cases. A similar story is unfolding all over India as the country goes to the polls with an increasing number of professionals, many of them without

18 India First | April 18-24, 2009

any political background, entering the poll fray. These are people who had more lucrative choices in life but chose a career in public life. Many of them are standing in the 2009 elections while others of their ilk are busying themselves with managing the affairs of the political party they are associated with.

These are people who had more lucrative choices in life but chose a career in public life. Many of them are standing in the 2009 elections while others are managing party strategies Majhi has a political background. His father was a Rajya Sabha MP from the BJD. And this was one of the reasons his family was against his move to enter politics and that too on a Congress ticket. Unlike many of his tribal brethren, Majhi had the privilege of getting a good education despite all the difficulties in Nabarangpur. After completing his graduation from Jeypore in Koraput district, he went to Delhi to pursue an LL.B

degree but left the course midway. He then completed a course in ecommerce from NIIT and started a jute business in cyber space. But somewhere, deep in his mind, the plight of Nabarangpur and its people kept rankling him. And the desire to serve the public grew despite the uncertainties that are posed by a career in politics. “I had a stable income. In politics life is uncertain everyday. I have taken a decision to fight it out

among tens of thousands of my own people. It was a difficult decision but the cause was greater,” he said. So it was that he decided to face an interview organised by Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi last year in the course of a talent hunt to revive the Indian Youth Congress. He was appointed one of the 13 secretaries of the IYC as part of the Nehru-Gandhi scion’s plan to launch a recruitment drive to revamp the youth wings of the

Congress.So how was it that he, a son of a former BJD Rajya Sabha member, joined the Congress? “I joined the Congress as I believe there is a future there,” Majhi, 33, said. “Rahul Gandhi has a lot of faith in me and has made me a secretary of the Indian Youth Congress.” Majhi believes his education is what would set him apart from other politicians of the area. “As politicians are not well educated, they have failed to under-

stand different schemes of the central and state government. Unless we know about the government funds, we cannot utilise them. I think my education will help me here,” the young politician said in a matter-of-fact manner. It was a similar concern about the economic condition of his people that drew Baidyanath Sing to politics. Sing used to sell vegetables to pay his school fees and support his par-

India First | April 18-24, 2009 19

‘BEEN THERE, DONE THAT’

Byre Gowda says that he wants to provide leadership on the dominant concerns facing this constituency. “I stand for promoting the economy, supporting freedom of expression and creating the right infrastructure for living and working,” he says. “I know this is what you also identify with, and I am not surprised that we think alike.” He believes that with over 70 percent of India’s population under the age of 40, people want a fresh perspective and new solutions on age-old issues. Byre Gowda first stood for the Karnataka Assembly elections on a Congress ticket from Vemagal in Kolar district in 2003. \He was reelected for a second term and in the 2008 state elections he stood from the Byatarayanapura Assembly seat in Bangalore, where again he was victorious. This year, he is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the Bangalore South seat.

Krishna Byre Gowda is among the first young professionals to quit a good career and join politics rishna Byre Gowda (seen here in blue shirt with Rahul Gandhi), son of veteran Janata Dal leader C Byre Gowda, is among one of those early birds who left a regular professional career to join politics and made a mark in his new vocation. After completing his school and college education in Karnataka, he did his postgraduation in international affairs from American University in Washington. He then worked as a project associate at the Ethiopian embassy in Washington but later returned to India to run his own agricultural farm in Bangalore. Thereafter, he worked as a project associate with Development Alternatives Inc., a Washington-based com-

pany whose mission is “to make a difference in the world by helping societies and economies become more prosperous, fairer and more just, safer, more stable, more efficient, and better governed”. But politics beckoned and he joined the Youth Congress. In 2007, he became the Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress president, a post he holds till today. “However, I am not what some people consider to be the typical politician,” he states in his website. “In fact, I think I’m more like you: I’m educated, young and progressive. Both my wife and I have postgraduate degrees. Mine is in international relations and hers is in computer science.”

lead them and show them ways to a better life for themselves and the next generation. I offered to do that,” Sing said. Improving the economic condition of people is but one of the reasons behind a rising number of professionals in India entering politics. Take Meera Sanyal, 47, who served as ABN Amro Bank’s India country head before deciding to stand as an independent candidate from Mumbai y, 34. South Lok Sabha Janardhana Swam m BJP candidate fro bha seat. Constituency, a Congress Chitradurga Lok Sa at Sun stronghold represented r Was lead enginee licon by Milind Deora. ents. He went on to get Si in s m te ys Micros to ck It was the November a bachelor’s degree in ba is t Valley, US, bu ment of the lift up 26, 2008, terror attack electrical engineering e th for rk wo e place. in Mumbai that from Regional people of his nativ spurred her into action. Engineering College, Sanyal had one option – like milRourkela (now NIT, lions of others, criticise the system Rourkela) and an M.Tech from and the government and accept Indian Institute of Science, what fate metes out. Bangalore. “The other was to think whether I With an educational background could contribute to making a differlike this, it was not tough to get a job ence in any manner. I felt ‘Yes’ and in India’s Silicon Valley. He also so I decided to take the plunge,” enjoyed a stint as a lecturer in an Sanyal said, even as she camengineering college. paigned with a crowd of supporters But he was far from satisfied as under the blazing Mumbai sun far the plight of the people in his confrom the airconditioned comforts stituency continued to haunt him. she was used to. “I realised that people in my Infrastructure, public transport home district needed somebody to

20 India First | April 18-24, 2009

and security are the key issues on her agenda. Security is also a key issue, among others, for Mona Patel Shah, a 39year-old opthalmologist who is also standing from Mumbai South. Shah is standing on a Professionals Party of India (PPI) ticket, a new political entity formed by a group of young professionals from Pune that was registered with the Election Commission last year. The eye specialist is undeterred by the lack of resources, financial or otherwise, that candidates from major, cash-rich, political parties enjoy. “I am using my own resources and friends and well-wishers are helping out,” Shah, who schooled in Walsingham House School and Queen Mary’s School in Mumbai and attended St. Xavier’s, Jai Hind, Grant Medical and the Topiwala National Medical Colleges, said. She is targeting a unique constituency – traditional non-voters – and her campaigning method too is different from others. “I will not go for huge banners, posters or advertisements. Instead, I will depend on word-of-mouth publicity, which I feel is more effective.” Opthalmology is the link that

Pradeep Majhi knows that in politics life is uncertain. But he decided to fight it out among tens of thousands of his own people. It was a difficult decision but he believes the cause is greater connects Shah with Pratibha Rao in Hyderabad. Like Shah, Rao too is embarking on a similar mission with a similar zeal from the Jubilee Hills Assembly seat in

Pradeep Majhi, 33. m Congress candidate fro a bh Sa k Lo ur Nabarangp seat. rce Gave up an e-comme for rk business in Delhi to wo of le the welfare of the peop a. iss Or in ur gp Nabaran

Hyderabad, on a ticket from Lok Satta, a political party that is making its debut in Andhra Pradesh these elections. Rao, along with her opthalmologist husband, had set up the LV Prasad Eye Insititute in Hyderabad in 1986 after a 12-year stay in the US. But public life beckoned. Rao does not believe in saying things are bad and leave it at that. She could either be a part of the problem or part of the solution. She decided to be a part of the solution. “We are trying to redefine politics and change the political culture,” she asserted. “We are saying what good poli-

38. Baidyanath Sing, te from ida nd ca t en nd Indepe tics is all Assembly seat. a nji ra Ka about. It in IT to Gave up a career Karanjia should be of le op pe e show th better life for about educaways to create a next e tion, not about themselves and th n. giving away generatio free TVs. It is about healthcare, not about free rice. It is about making people stand on their own feet and to enable them to take care of themselves,” Rao said. Change. That is the biggest catchword that is spurring this new breed of politicians into action. “I am a passionate believer of change and I also believe that India requires a lot of change right now,”

India First | April 18-24, 2009 21

Wharton School of Business, University of Pensylvania and a former investment banker and Sachin Rao, a graduate from the Stephen S Ross School of Business in the University of Michigan, form the core of the much-touted Team Rahul Gandhi. These young professionals, mostly coming from an apolitical background, believe that change is needed — and fast — and they are not shy of changing sides either if they felt that that would quicken the process. . 47 l, nya Meera Sa m fro A case in point is Ranjan te ida nd Independent ca Choudhary, standing on a stated Prodyut Mumbai South Lok Sabha BJP ticket from the Bora, the national seat. of Mohanlalganj Lok Sabha convenor of BJP’s Was India country head ed decid ABN Amro Bank but after constituency in Uttar IT cell. the elections in nd sta to Pradesh. An IIM Lucknow Bora is not con26/11. graduate, he worked in testing in these Powergrid Corporation and then elections and is instead concentrating on the party’s campaign on the digital platform. He believes being part of the system Janardhana Swamy is what will help him achieve the is concentrating “change” that he craves for. “The other way of bringing on improving the change is being part of a system. economic condition And bringing about systemic change in a holistic manner has an of the people in his impact countrywide. Now, politics is constituency with a platform that provides one an special stress on option of bringing about systemic change,” Bora said. technology as a tool Bora is not the only B-school for agricultural product working behind the scenes these elections. In the rival Congress development camp, Kanishka Singh, an MBA from

ANZ Bank in Melbourne. The 39year-old also had a stint as visiting faculty in Monash University, Melbourne, before deciding to take the political plunge. Choudhary was one of Rahul Gandhi’s core team members but opted to go for BJP as he felt the desired results were not achieved. “I had very high hopes from Rahulji. But somewhere I felt that my objective of youth empowerment stands defeated in the party. I made up my mind to leave it,” he said. Now, his agenda is clear: “Providing jobs with a special focus on making youths self-reliant is one of my top priorities. Health, education and police reforms are also my priorities.” Way south, in Chitradurga, Karnataka, a US-returned chip designer is concentrating on improving the economic condition of the people in his constituency with special stress on technology as a tool for agricultural development. Janardhana Swamy, 39, and a son of a retired schoolteacher, did his postgraduation in electrical communication from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore before working as lead engineer in Sun Microsystems in the US. But now he is back to his roots with a mission. “Technology is not being properly used in the development of agriculture,” said Swamy. “We have to use whatever technology is suitable for our develop-

2009: Time for the young Turks Young professionals are aiding the Congress and the BJP behind the scenes lections 2009 have seen the country’s two biggest parties – the Congress and the BJP – take the help of some bright young professionals with diverse backgrounds in running their respective campaigns. You may not have heard of them or seen them much in the media but these are the behind-the-scenes people who are working overtime to boost their leaders’ prospects. One team sits at 12, Tughlaq Lane helping Rahul Gandhi chart out the Congress strategy. The other team seats at

22 India First | April 18-24, 2009

26, Tughlaq Crescent helping the BJP prime ministerial candidate LK Advani’s campaign through various media with special emphasis on the internet.

26, TUGHLAQ CRESCENT Prodyut Bora is the national convenor of the BJP’s IT cell. An IIM Ahmedabad graduate, Bora worked with con-

sultancy major Hewitt Associates before becoming vice-president for business development in Digital Talkies, India’s first digital filmmaking company. He incubated a software company for six years before joining the BJP in 2004. Mallika Noorani works in a multinational bank in Mumbai and has taken a threemonth sabbatical to manage the content of LK Advani’s website. Zorawar Daulet Singh, who studied international relations at the Johns Hopkins

“But at the same time, they could see that it was a step taken out of idealism and a desire to make a difference for the larger common good. Educated So they have been extremely supporting,” he said. masses and Mridul Gogoi, a management today’s younger graduate, entered politics at the behest of his father, a retired governgeneration must ment servant. get involved Gogoi, who was recently appointed as one of the actively in politics to 13 secretaries of the bring internal change, Indian Youth . Ranjan Choudhary, 39 Congress in the face and solve regional m fro te ida BJP cand bha seat. course of a talent issues, blend with Mohanlalganj Lok Sa hunt launched by ment work. We must Worked in ANZ Bank in Rahul Gandhi, had elder statesmen, derive schemes that will Melbourne and was visiting rsity joined the Congress politician(s) and specifically benefit low faculty in Monash Unive s res before joining the Cong BJP. in 2000. and medium farmers.” also with the and then shifting to the An interesting And like others of his sidelight of his life is that he had government breed in these elections, participated in Kaun Banega Swamy firmly believes that Crorepati in 2007 and got a special it is the youth who can achieve this. “Educated masses and today’s award as the best participant. “Both my parents, especially my younger generation must get involved actively in politics to bring father, encouraged me to join poliinternal change, face and solve tics. He had said that good people regional issues, blend with elder were needed in the statesmen, politician(s) and also Indian political syswith the government,” he stated in a tem and the time for good political leaders — website message. — Interestingly, many of these visionaries definitely young professionals also got family will Pratibha Rao. support while entering politics come in India Lok Satta candidate from despite coming from an apolitical and these people Jubilee Hills Assembly seat. , she would lead the After returning from US Eye background. d sa Pra founded the LV BJP’s Bora admitted that his fami- country on the but Institute in Hyderabad ne ly had initial apprehensions when path of developefi red to s litic po entered ment,” he said. he decided to take the plunge. the system.

University, is helping the Advani campaign with his inputs on international affairs and other strategic issues. Robin Rappai quit a 20-year-old career in the software industry to start an organic farm near Coimbatore. He has temporarily relocated to New Delhi to help in the BJP’s campaign and looks after all technical matters of the Advani website. Banu Chandar worked as a management consultant with PriceWaterhouse Coopers but now helps in the BJP campaign with research work.

12, TUGHLAQ LANE Kanishka Singh is an MBA from Wharton School of the University of Pensylvania and

worked as an investment banker at Lazard Freres & Co. in New York prior to being inducted in Rahul Gandhi’s team. He is seen as the eyes and ears of the Nehru-Gandhi scion and is the person who looks after all of the 39-year-old Gandhi’s agenda and schedule. Sachin Rao worked in the software solutions sector prior to getting an MBA from Stephen S Ross School of Business in the University of Michigan. He worked on a project under renowned management guru CK Prahalad before returning to India and joining the Centre for Civil Society. He has

now been entrusted with revamping the youth wings of the Congress — the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) and the National Students Union of India (NSUI). Jitendra Singh is one of the two Congress secretaries assigned to Team Rahul Gandhi. A scion of the Alwar royal family, he did his higher studies in the UK before coming back to India. He helps Sachin Rao in revamping the IYC and will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Alwar. Meenakshi Natarajan did a postgraduation in biochemistry and a degree in law before entering politics. She is the other Congress secretary assigned to Rahul Gandhi’s team and reports to Sachin Rao on affairs of the NSUI.

India First | April 18-24, 2009 23

POLL POURRI

Log on to log criminals out of politics By Azera Rahman

ant to know if the candidate you plan to vote for has a criminal record? Thanks to the efforts of a recently launched “No Criminals” campaign, you can do that now either by logging on to their website or sending an SMS. Just over a month old, the campaign, whose goal is to purge politics of crime, is gaining momentum, especially among youngsters. Guru Murthy, one of the coordinators of the campaign, says that the idea is to give a voter more rights than just casting the ballot. “As citizens of this country, we have more rights than just voting. We have the

In Jharkand, better halves go full throttle etter halves are playing a key role in the election campaign in Jharkhand. The wives of former Chief Ministers Arjun Munda and Madhu Koda have taken charge of their election campaigns while Mrs Shibu Soren is expected to follow suit as her husband recuperates at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. Munda’s wife Meera is wooing the voters, particularly women, during rallies. Munda, who is contesting the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat, takes on sitting Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MP Suman Mahto, the wife of slain MP Sunil Mahto. Meera walks several kilometres daily to interact with people and apprise them of the work done by her husband. She has addressed more than 15 rallies in Jamshedpur so far. “The wife is the strength of her husband. I am proud to be the wife of Arjun Munda, who has done a lot for the people,” Meera told India First. Koda’s wife Geeta addresses rallies in rural areas. “My husband is a grass-roots leader and I try to impress on people that their problems will be solved if he is elected,” she said. JMM chief Soren’s wife Rupi is likely to step in for the purpose. She has been seen with him at election and party rallies. — Nityanand Shukla

24 India First | April 18-24, 2009

right to select the right candidate — someone who has a clean record and will actually work for the welfare of the masses.” To find out if a candidate in a particular constituency has a criminal record, one can send an SMS to 567678 typing NC (space) (pincode

of the place) and get registered with the campaign. Thereafter, the sender receives an SMS giving details of any criminal record of the MP. Or one can log on to the campaign’s website www.nocriminals.org and follow a similar procedure. According to the National Election Watch, a group of election observers, six major political parties have already fielded at least 63 Lok Sabha candidates who face criminal charges or have a criminal past. The Bharatiya Janata Party leads the list with 28 such candidates. There are 13 from the Bahujan Samaj Party, five each from the Congress and the Samajwadi Party and two from the Communist Party of India-Marxist.

CRIME ALWAYS PAYS FOR THESE WOMEN By Kavita Bajeli-Datt

uess what? Kerala, Bihar and Chhattisgarh are the states with the highest percentage of women legislators with criminal records while Assam, Jharkhand and Rajasthan are some of the cleanest, according to a study. About 13 per cent of women state legislators and 14 per cent of MPs in the 14th Lok Sabha had criminal records, says the study, by PRS Legislative Research, based on affidavits filed by candidates with the Election Commission up to 2007. The survey shows that 83 per cent women legislators have criminal records in Kerala while the figure is 25 per cent for Bihar and Chhattisgarh. The survey names seven women

MPs with criminal charges, and topping the list is Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, who had been booked for cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy. There are two from Kerala — Communist Party of India-Marxist members P Satheedevi and CS Sujatha — booked for unlawful assembly and rioting.

wirling a lock of hair, Suleiman (name changed) who goes by the name Sulekha, stared at a pocket mirror and sighed: “I want to vote, but what good will it do to me? How will it help my community?” Sulekha, a eunuch from Seelampur, east Delhi, is one of the 7,000-odd members of his community in the national Capital. “I do not have a voter card. How

ongress candidate Raninder Singh is the 13th descendant of the Patiala royal family and is contesting elections from the Bathinda constituency in Punjab. And he is being accompanied by another royal — Jigme Wangdi Wangchuk, uncle of present Bhutanese king Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck. Singh, son of former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, is pitted against Akali Dal’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal, wife of Punjab’s Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal. Belonging to the youngest democracy in the world, Bhutan’s royal descendant seems to be taking first hand lessons.

Rahul breaks security ring, carries around 'frisked' boy ongress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi gave a tough time to his security men at Fort Maidan, in Palakkad, Kerala, this week. As soon as he finished his speech, Rahul carried a little boy down the podium and shook hands with a few women. He then handed the child back to his mother and went back to the podium. But the police did not take any chances. Palakkad Superintendent of Police Vijay Sakhre said: “He wanted to meet some of the people. The boy was frisked (before Rahul could carry him).”

Recession hits Gujarat too, no freebies from business class he economic downslide has hit Lok Sabha candidates hard in Gujarat. Businesspeople reeling under the impact of recession are shying away from extending their usual offers of free food, volunteers and money for the election campaign. “Candidates have been asked to take care of expenses from their own pockets by the political leadership. The contribution from traders is either very little or nil particularly in rural areas. The diamond cutting and polishing units in Sabarkantha are in a very bad shape and have no money to give us,” Himmatbhai Patel, a Bharatiya Janata Party worker in Sabarkantha district, told India First.

‘THIRD SEX’ WANT TO VOTE, BUT FOR WHAT

Royal booster: Cong candidate gets Bhutanese support

can I when I don’t even know my identity?” “They need representation in the government, in decision-making to make progress in society,” said Malti Mehra, heading the transgender community project for NGO Sahara for the last eight years. Eunuchs want policies that acknowledge their existence, protect them from police harassment, and provide jobs. — Shweta Srinivasan

N-deal, Palestine main issues By TG Biju

uess what the people of two constituencies in Kerala want to know from political parties? Not so much about regional or national issues, but the parties’ stance on the Palestinian issue and the India-US nuclear deal. Voters in Malappuram and Ponnani — where Sunni Muslims are in a majority — also want to know what candidates have to say about President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whom they admire for their anti-US stance. Candidates contesting from these two north Kerala constituencies are grilled more often about these issues than on what they will do for the development of the areas.. “Anti-American leaders Chavez and Ahmadinejad are heroes in Malappuram,” said Faisal Mariyad, who grew up in Manjeri in Malappuram district. Political lead-

ers campaigning for the ruling Left Democratic Front and the Congressled United Democratic Front (UDF) are trying hard to convince voters about their stance on issues like imperialism and the Gulf War.

Though the area is a stronghold of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) — a key partner in the UDF — in 2004, the Communist Party of India-Marxist won from Manjeri. IUML leader MK Muneer told India First over the phone: “Raising panIslamic issues for the election campaign among innocent... people here is a dangerous trend.”

‘RESCUE GIRLS, THEN ASK FOR VOTES’

ave our girl children from the clutches of traffickers, and then ask for votes — this is what angry villagers of three Chhattisgarh constituencies tell candidates when they come canvassing for votes. Hundreds of poor families of three Lok Sabha constituencies — Surguja, Korba and Raigarh — want to know why human trafficking is unabated in their area. A large number of girls and even boys from poor families in the three constituencies leave home

to seek employment in the metros, mainly as domestic help. However, many of the girls return home after months, and some after years, to recount tales of sexual exploitation. When candidates went to Kamleshwar and Narmadapur villages, located in the Surguja constituency’s Mainpat area and inhabited mainly by Urao and Manjwar tribes, they were accosted by angry villagers. “We have been living in extreme backwardness and poverty for decades and human traffickers, taking advantage of our situation, have forced several girls of the Mainpat area into prostitution outside the state,” said Badru Mandawi, 52, a resident of Kamleshwar village. “We have told the candidates of the BJP and the Congress... to first find a permanent solution to human trafficking,” he added. — Sujeet Kumar

India First | April 18-24, 2009 25

IANS

NEWS CAPSULE | INDIA THIS WEEK

Kasab’s trial amid drama

LALU HELD, RELEASED IN COPTER LANDING CASE

ailways Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad was arrested and released this week in an ‘unsafe helicopter landing’ case in Garwah district of Jharkhand. Lalu was arrested following an Election Commission (EC) notice. The minister’s helicopter landed at a public rally venue instead of a helipad in Garwah on April 7, said an official. Later, Lalu told the poll panel that his pilot did not get the geographical coordinates in time. “Lalu Prasad has filed in his reply that the information about the (geographical) coordinates (of landing spot) was not received on time. That’s why the helicopter landed in the school premises,” Deputy Election Commissioner R Balakrishnan told reporters in New Delhi. The EC had issued the notice to Lalu Prasad, saying that the unsafe landing was a violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The district administration had lodged an FIR against Lalu Prasad and the pilot, Jagjit Singh. The pilot was arrested and released on bail the same day. The RJD chief had come to Garwah to address the rally for his party candidate Nagmani, who is contesting for the Chatra Lok Sabha seat.

he trial of the lone terrorist captured in the Mumbai terror strike, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, started this week amid high drama with his counsel Anjali Waghmare being removed on grounds of “professional misconduct”. Kasab, the prime accused in the November 26-29 Mumbai terror attack, which killed more than 170 people, was present in person for the first time in the Special Court at the Arthur Road Central Jail. Kasab demanded a Pakistani lawyer to represent him, but was snubbed by the court. However, if the Pakistani government or his family members wished to engage an Indian lawyer, they were free to do so, Special Judge ML Tahilyani said. The Pakistani national, sporting a short beard and dressed in a grey shirt and jeans, sat through the threehour proceedings along with the two co-accused, Lashkar-e-Taiba members Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Mohammed. The entire court lapsed into silence as Kasab stepped in from a special corridor connecting his cell to the courtroom. He did not have a microphone and spoke in short sentences in Urdu, all of which was heard in complete silence. Keeping in view the sensitive nature of the trial, the Special Court was likely to appoint a senior lawyer in consultation with the Sessions

Court Bar Council. The issue of a lawyer for Kasab has been a tricky one. After several delays, the court appointed government Waghmare, but revoked it on grounds of “professional misconduct” and “conflict of interests”. Waghmare was removed for agreeing to represent one of the victims of the Mumbai terror attacks who is also now a listed witness scheduled to depose in the matter. Nearly, 500 personnel of Mumbai Police, State Reserve Police Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the jail’s own internal security put in place a tight security cover.

NUCLEAR-CAPABLE PRITHVI TEST-FIRED IN ORISSA ndia test-fired the nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Prithvi-II missile from a test range in Orissa on April 15, according to defence sources. The missile, tested from the Integrated Test Range of Chandipur in Balasore district at 10.21 am, has a range of about 350 kms, officials said. Prithvi is India’s first indigenously built ballistic missile.

26 India First | April 18-24, 2009

It is one of five missiles being developed under India’s Integrated Missile Development Programme. Prithvi has a range of 150-250 km and is capable of carrying a payload of between 500 kg and one tonne, including nuclear weapons. Two versions of the missile have already been inducted into the Army and Air Force.

MASTER BLASTER IN HALL OF FAME

Star cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s wax statue for Madame Tussauds being unveiled in Mumbai

SHAH RUKH APOLOGISES TO SUNNY olkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan has apologised to Sunil Gavaskar for hitting back at the legendary cricketer’s criticism of the multiple captaincy

theory mooted by his team coach John Buchanan. Shah Rukh said that he had sent an apology letter to Gavaskar. “I have not said anything against Gavaskar. My comments were for people who don’t understand cricket and are still telling me how to run the team. I wanted to have a breathing space to try something new. I have sent him an apology letter, in case, Gavaskar felt offended because he was in America at that time,” Shah Rukh said before leaving for South Africa. The actor added that he has great regard for the cricketer.

Rama Sene disrupts India-Pak seminar embers of the Sri Rama Sene, the group that hit the public eye with its attack on women at a Mangalore pub, tried to disrupt a seminar of Indian and Pakistani journalists in New Delhi before being pushed out. The Sene members, who were seated in the audience at the India International Centre (IIC), shouted slogans against Pakistan. The seminar, “Is Media Jingoism Fanning the India-Pak Problem?”, had been organised by the Foundation for Media Professionals and some Pakistani journalists were also invited. Owning responsibility for the act, Sene National General Secretary Binay Kumar Singh said: “Everything was pre-planned as

we wanted to disrupt the seminar.” He added that around 30 members of the group were present. “Speakers at the seminar were making comments against India and they were relating India with the recent terror attack on a police academy in Lahore. How can one listen to it? Pakistan has become a global problem and war is the only solution,” Singh added. The speakers included noted author Arundhati Roy, columnist Swapan Dasgupta, Nirupama Subramanian (The Hindu correspondent in Islamabad) and Amit Baruah, the Hindustan Times Foreign Editor. Security officials along with some Indian journalists caught hold of the Sene members and pushed them out.

SHORT•TAKES Varun out on parole to contest elections The Supreme Court ordered Bharatiya Janata Party’s Pilibhit candidate Varun Gandhi’s release for two weeks from preventive detention in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah jail — where he was held for making speeches allegedly vilifying Muslims — to enable him to contest the Lok Sabha elections. A bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishanan, however, stipulated that Varun Gandhi will make no provocative speeches disturbing communal peace.

Three nabbed for gang rape of US student in Mumbai Three people have been arrested and the police are looking for three more in connection with the gang rape of a US national studying in Mumbai. According to the Trombay Police Station, the victim, a student of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, located in Trombay, had lodged a police complaint of gang rape. According to the police, she had reportedly attended a small party outside the campus along with two of the accused who later invited her to their house. The other accused were already present there and they raped her, the police said.

India First | April 18-24, 2009 27

POLITICAL INVESTMENT for “party funds”. They want this practice too to end. As revealed by a recent analysis by the Centre for Media Studies, a New Delhi-based think tank that analyses communications and media trends in the country, the total expenditure for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections will be around Rs 10,000 crore. “The Election Commission’s expenditure alone will be about Rs 1,200 crore,” said N Bhaskara Rao, founder of the centre. “And out of this Rs 10,000 crore, a fourth would be financed by unaccounted money.” Coming to specific sections of the industry, the ailing export sector, which in October witnessed a decline for the first time in a decade due to the contraction in global trade, has sought an exemption from paying income tax for five years to deal with the turmoil. “Since the export sector is an employment-oriented industry, we should be exempted from paying income tax for five years,” said A Sakthivel, President of the

sops available on exports to spur growth. Section 10A of the Income Tax Act exempts payment of tax on incomes from any newly established firm in a free-trade zone while section 10B extends a similar sop on income from any newly established 100 per cent export-oriented undertaking. An extension in the validity of sections 10A and 10B till 2010 and rationalising excise, service tax and surcharge on direct taxes will help industry cope with falling profits, said the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom). “Since ours is a skill-based industry, we need constant upgradation of the education system so that we have enhanced capacity and capability to service the world,” Nasscom President Som Mittal said. He also hoped for a people-oriented regular budget from the next government— one that will focus on a unified taxation system with minimum tax burden on the common man apart from increased allocation to infrastructure and social sectors

The export sector, which last year witnessed a decline for the first time in a decade due to the contraction in global trade, has sought an exemption from paying income tax for five years to deal with the turmoil like education and health. “We would appreciate a uniform tax regime with a common goods and services tax,” Mittal added. For the automobile sector, which has had a good run in the past decade, continuity in policy is the main plank. Beyond that, the representative organisation — the Society

especially to help the workers who had to be laid off,” said Vasant Mehta, Chairman of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council. Representing industry at large, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) said that the next regular budget should introduce the general sales tax system and remove irritants in the present value-added tax regime. “Service tax has become a massive money-spinner for the government. It would be even more so as the economy moves to seeing higher percentage of its gross domestic product (GDP) come from services,” added Assocham. “It must be recognised that any further increase in the rate of taxation would dissuade compliance and compel tax avoidance innovations by trade, especially at the grass-roots level, due to the complexity of collection and bureaucratic harassment in remitting it.” The chamber also urged political parties to refrain from offering free

India Inc’s WISHLIST Hit by the slowdown, corporate India wants the next government to get its act together fast, writes Arvind Padmanabhan

28 India First | April 18-24, 2009

it by a demand slowdown and overall meltdown in the global economy, India Inc has its wishlist ready for the next government with sector-specific policy reforms and tax sops on top of the agenda to tide over the crisis. At the same time, it wants political parties not to waste their time promising freebees and instead focus on development — since that is what, the corporate sector feels, will touch the lives of people in any meaningful way and eventually fetch them votes. Industrialists also complain, albeit privately, that the election bugle had already added to their cup of woes with political parties clamouring, coaxing and sometimes even threatening them to cough up

Federation of Indian Export Organisations. “We want a separate policy for the export sector that can be drafted after the government analyses what the global market situation is. The policy should take into consideration what other competing countries are doing,” Sakthivel told India First. According to the federation, promoted by the Commerce Ministry, the export sector lost about 500,000 jobs during the third quarter of this fiscal and it was imperative to formulate a separate policy to help arrest this ominous trend. Another sector that has been a significant contributor both to fresh jobs and exports in the past, the information technology (IT) industry, wants the service tax schemes to be simplified and an extension of

WHAT SPECIFIC SECTORS WANT vThe ailing export sector has sought an exemption from paying income tax for five years to deal with the decline caused by the economic meltdown vThe IT industry wants the service tax schemes to be simplified and an extension of sops available on exports to spur growth vFor the automobile sector, which has had a good run in the past decade, continuity in policy is the main plank vThe gems and jewellery sector, which has seen some large-scale job cuts in recent months, wants the next government to especially help workers who had to be laid off

for Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) — does not have a long wish list. “We want the next government to continue with the auto policy spelt out in 2002,” said SIAM Director General Dilip Chenoy, explaining that it calls for automatic approval of foreign investment up to 100 per cent with no minimum investment criteria. Similarly, the gems and jewellery sector, which has seen some largescale job cuts in recent months, also has its own set of demands. It accounts for exports worth $21 billion and employs some 1.3 million people, of which some 800,000 people are in the diamond-cutting and polishing trade. “This sector gives good business every year. The next government should stress more on this industry,

power and foodgrains like wheat and rice at highly subsidised rates, saying such freebies could stunt economic growth in the long run. India Inc, in fact, has its fingers crossed as the election process kicks off. It is hoping, as a bestcase scenario, for a stable government — whether of the United Progressive Alliance or the National Democratic Alliance. Its worst fear, however, is a more likely outcome of the elections: a government that depends on too many small parties with competing interests. This is a scenario where governance could take a back seat, something that is not likely to help the Indian economy at a time when decisive action is what is required to ride out the slowdown.

India First | April 18-24, 2009 29

NEWS CAPSULE | BUSINESS

REBOOTED, BUT VIRUS OF RISK

ust three months after it got entwined in corporate India’s worst frauds, the governmentappointed board of Satyam Computer Services this week approved a bid by Tech Mahindra to acquire 31 per cent stake in the company for Rs 1,756 crore at Rs 58 per share. Though the 48,000 employees and more than 300,000 shareholders were visibly excited, Tech Mahindra admitted that the crisis-ridden IT firm’s liabilities would add to the challenges usually associated with an acquisition. “We have taken on a challenge and we will make it work,” Mahindra and Mahindra group Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra told reporters in Mumbai. Mahindra said that merger and acquisition decisions were taken in the best interest of shareholders. “We will try to make it as less painful as possible.” Tech Mahindra Vice-Chairman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Vineet Nayyar also admitted that the ride was not going to be

aram Butalia, former global head of private equity at Standard Chartered, took home a £16-million pay packet before leaving last year, making him the best-paid British banker, according to a newspaper. Butalia, 55, received about four times as much as Standard Chartered Chief Executive Peter Sands, the Sunday Times reported this week. Butalia, who is based in

espite plunging steel prices, Indian-born steel czar Lakshmi Mittal with a net worth of $19.3 billion remains the world’s richest soccer club owner in the Forbes list of soccer billionaires. “Anybody can buy a ticket to a soccer game; these moguls own the teams on the field,” the American business publication said about the top soccer 10, picked up from its list of the World’s Billionaires published in March. “Last year, the world’s 10 richest owners of professional soccer clubs had a combined net worth of more than $150 billion. Then the economy tanked. These days, the top 10 have a cumulative net worth of less than $90 billion,” Forbes said. Mittal bought a stake in the Londonbased Queen’s Park Rangers in 2007, joining Formula 1 tycoons Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone as owners. The club, currently playing in England’s Championship League, hopes to win a promotion to reach England’s top league, Forbes said. “It almost certainly won’t happen this year. As of April 6, QPR was 10th in league standings.” “Lakshmi Mittal, operator of the world’s largest steel company, is the richest — despite his team not being worth all that much. Mittal is a stakeholder in Queen’s Park Rangers, a team that doesn’t even play in England’s top league.” In its annual ranking of the world’s richest people, Forbes had named Mittal at the eighth place. — Arun Kumar

Mahindra and Mahindra group Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra

smooth. “Satyam’s revenues have dipped from $1.8 billion to $1.5 billion and may come down to $1.3 billion in the next quarter,” he said. Satyam faces the threat of paying up to $1 billion as damages to Upaid, a UK-based IT company. Apart from this, a dozen-odd class action suits have been filed against it in the US.

£16 MN-BONUS FOR INDIAN-ORIGIN BANKER

STEEL CZAR MITTAL TOP SOCCER BILLIONAIRE

Singapore, is believed to have secured a string of lucrative private-equity deals during his six years at the bank. Butalia, who took an MBA at Hull University in Britain in 1994-95, bought stakes in one of China’s biggest construction firms, an Indian engineering company, as well as China’s biggest pen maker, the Sunday Times said.

SOLAR RICKSHAWS: INDIA, BRITAIN SET UP ENERGY HUB ickshaws powered by solar energy could be your next mode of transport, courtesy of a Commonwealth initiative. The Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) has set up an incubation hub in partnership with the Indian government to develop cutting edge energy-saving technologies. The hub, which also involves the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, the UK Carbon Trust and British Petroleum’s

30 India First | April 18-24, 2009

Alternative Energy Group, will work on technologies that will be designed for Indian city and rural living as well as transport. By involving academics as well as industry, the hub will be able to get ideas commercialised quickly, CBC said. “Our new incubation hub will get ideas from everywhere, including Indian entrepreneurs. Hopefully, this hub can get these ideas backed and commercialised quickly,” said CBC Director

General Mohan Kaul. “I look forward to seeing the first solar powered rickshaw,” he added.

BANKRUPTCY LOOMS OVER GM By Arun Kumar

British Telephones to shed 10,000 more jobs: Newspaper

he US government has asked General Motors to get ready for a possible bankruptcy by June 1 even though the troubled automaker insists it can restructure its business on its own. Citing unnamed people “with knowledge of the plans”, the New York Times said that the goal is to prepare GM for a fast “surgical” bankruptcy. Members of President Barack Obama’s automotive task force spent last week in meetings and on conference calls with GM officials and its advisers in Detroit and Washington, it said. The automaker already has been granted $13.4 billion in federal aid and its managers have insisted that the firm’s image should not be damaged. The preparations are aimed at assuring a GM bankruptcy filing is ready should the company be unable to reach agreement with bondholders to exchange roughly $28 billion in debt into equity in GM and with the United Automobile Workers Union, which has balked at granting concessions without sacrifices from bondholders, The Times said. Obama, who was elected with strong backing from labour, remained concerned about potential risk to GM’s pension plan and wants to avoid

British telecom giant British Telephones (BT) is planning to shed a further 10,000 posts from its workforce. The job cuts come on top of around 10,000 jobs already culled, mainly among contract and temporary workers. The Sunday Times, citing unnamed sources within the firm, reports that the group would announce the redundancies along with planned cost cuttings at its annual report next month. The paper reported that the firm was now at a low point since privatisation by Margaret Thatcher in 1984 with a pension deficit of around £8 billion.

ITC Welcomgroup to hire 4,000 in four years

harming workers, the daily said citing unnamed people. One plan under consideration would create a new company that would buy the “good” assets of GM almost immediately after the carmaker files for bankruptcy. Less desirable assets, including unwanted brands, would be left in the old company, which could be liquidated over several years.

NO ZIMBABWE CURRENCY FOR A YEAR imbabwe’s new coalition government has decided to withdraw the country’s worthless currency from circulation for at least a year and rely exclusively on other hard currencies, according to newspaper reports. Economic Planning Minister Elton Mangoma was quoted in the state-controlled Sunday Mail as saying that the Zimbabwe dollar, whose value was sent crashing by an official policy of the former regime of President Robert Mugabe to print huge volumes of cash to keep up with state spending, “will be out at least for a year”. “We resolved there will be

SHORT TAKES

no immediate plans to introduce the money because there is nothing to support its value,” he said. In January, when it took Zimbabwe $20 trillion to equal $1, the government adopted international hard currencies like the US dollar and the South African rand as legal tender alongside the local currency. Inflation running into percentage points with 15 zeroes had made trade in Zimbabwe dollars impossible and business was already conducted predominantly in hard currencies, albeit technically illegal. “Our focus is to ensure that we first have a vibrant industry,” he added.

Hotel chain major ITC Welcomgroup will hire around 4,000 people in the next four years, taking the total number of employees to 14,000, a top official said this week. “Our new star hotels that are coming up in Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and New Delhi require additional hands,” Anil Sharma, Vice-President (Human Resources) of ITC, told India First over the phone.

‘Job creation nearly halved in first three months’ Employment generation in the country fell to 49 per cent during JanuaryMarch, largely due to slow growth in the services sector, according to a survey. “The Assocham placement parameter Index (the body’s index for measuring employment generation) has shown a steep fall of 49 per cent,” the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) said in a statement.

India First | April 18-24, 2009 31

‘IP’: Numbers machines use to talk to each other Technology Made Easy

hat will be your reaction if you were told to type 74.125.45.100 to log into the Google website or By SUNIL SAXENA 68.180.206.184 to access Yahoo? You may do it once; you may even do it twice. But after that, I am sure you will give up. Human minds are not configured to memorise strings of numbers separated by dots. But computers are. They talk to each other using these numbers. These are their names by which they identify and communicate with each other. These machine names or numbers, which are known as IP addresses, are made up of four octets, whose value ranges from 0 to 255. Each IP address is unique, and can be the name of only one computer. To get a better understanding, you can compare IP addresses to door numbers. When you search for a term on Google, your computer sends your query to this IP address, because this is the computer where the Google website lives. It’s the same with Yahoo too. The IP addresses may be perThe IP addresses may manent or temporary, but each be permanent or one is unique. You can imagine temporary, but each the confusion if this was not so. The Internet would be like a one is unique. You country without addresses, where can imagine the you had to be extremely lucky to reach your destination. confusion if this The authority that ensures that computer has only one was not so. every name when it connects to the The Internet would Internet is the Internet Assigned Authority, popularly be like a country Numbers known as IANA. It has built a hierwithout addresses, archical system to ensure that is no overlapping or dupliwhere you had to be there cation of numbers, and that there extremely lucky to is a record of each IP address used on the net. reach a destination being IANA has also set up regional of your choice bodies to look after different con-

32 India First | April 18-24, 2009

tinents. Thus, for India the IANA body that allots IP addresses is Asia Pacific Network Information Centre. It is through this organisation that Internet Service Providers in India like BSNL, Airtel or Reliance obtain the IP addresses that they then allot to their Indian customers. The IP addresses can be temporary or permanent, according to usage. For instance, a broadband user is allotted a permanent IP address. This IP address then becomes the identity of this user’s computer. The other computers know the destination where information is to be sent. For instance, when this user based in Delhi types Google.com in the search bar, his computer first locates the machine name of Google.com. It then sends a message to the computer where Google resides saying his boss wants to visit Google. This message may be routed through hundreds of computers before it reaches Google but Google knows where the message has come from. It responds by sending a message back to the IP address of the computer. The connection is made, and communication begins. But not everyone in India is lucky to have a broadband connection. There are lakhs of Indians who use a dial up connection to access the net. In these cases, the service providers, like BSNL, provide temporary or floating IP addresses to the user Thus, the computer of a Chennai resident, who has a dial up account with BSNL, will be allotted a temporary IP address by BSNL the moment he logs onto the net. This gives the user’s machine an identity to talk to other machines on the net, and to fetch requests made by the user. This identity lapses the moment the user logs out. The floating IPs enable ISPs to serve a large number of users as against the fixed IPs whose usage is restricted. So, next time you log on to the net, try and identify the machine name of your host. (The writer can be reached at sunil.s@ians.in)

CAREER | FLORICULTURE

‘It’s the art and science of growing flowers’ M Jawaharlal, Professor & Head, Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, Horticultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, spoke to India First

Say it with flowers Floriculture is one of the fastest growing industries with enormous opportunities, says Jyotimala

WHERE TO STUDY

loriculture is a discipline of horticulture which deals with the science of cultivating flowers. One of the fastest growing industries in India, it provides enormous opportunities for employment. Bestowed with diverse soil and climatic conditions, India is the perfect garden to grow a wide variety of flowers. In recent years, there has been tremendous growth in the industry powered by growing international demand for flowers. Exports of floriculture products stood at Rs 340.14 crores in the year 200708. India exports flowers to countries like the United States, Japan, Britain, the Netherlands and Germany. Therefore, the industry also earns vital foreign exchange. The states which make major contributions in the sector are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana. Today, approximately 160,000 hectares have been brought under floriculture. The government has also taken up significant steps to help grow the industry. A direct subsidy up to 50 percent for pre-cooling and cold storage units has been made available. Eleven model floriculture centre units and 20 tissue culture units have been established by the Ministry of Agriculture. Moreover, import duties on cut flowers, flower seeds, tissue-cultured plants have also been reduced. The field is vast and ample

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Coimbatore http://www.tnau.ac.in Ph: +91-0422-5511200 431222, 431821

34 India First | April 18-24, 2009

Bestowed with diverse soil and climatic conditions, India is the perfect garden to grow a wide variety of flowers. Floriculture exports in 2007-08 were worth Rs 340.14 crores opportunities are available. One can grow flowers for the domestic as well as export markets, run nurseries, be a farm manager or landscape manager, and work for gardening and landscaping advisory services. However, marketing is a key function and those with experience and aptitude can make the most of it, with flowers!

Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) Pusa, New Delhi www.iari.res.in

The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) Punjab.

What you can become You can grow flowers for domestic and export markets, run nurseries, become a farm manager or landscape manager

What you can expect The pay package normally starts from approximately Rs 15,000 and can go up to Rs 50,000 per month

Key skills You need to have sound knowledge of floriculture and market intelligence (domestic and international)

Ph: +91-161- 2401960

Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry Himachal Pradesh

http://www.pau.edu/

www.yspuniversity.ac.in

Centre for Distance Education North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya www.nehu.ac.in

What is floriculture? What is the career graph like? Floriculture is the art and science of growing flowers. With the fast growing per capita consumption of flowers, floriculture has emerged as a big industry, with immense employment opportunities both in the domestic and export markets. There are various opportunities. You can become an entrepreneur, or a consultant for production and marketing and so on. Pay packages start from Rs 15,000 to 50,000 per month. What is the basic eligibility? There are two options available to pursue a course in floriculture. To do courses in floriculture, as part of the curriculum of the UG Degree programmes, B.Sc (Hort.) or B. Tech (Hort.), one needs to clear a Plus-Two or a Higher School Certificate followed by Common Entrance Test. And for the Master’s programme, you should have a B.Sc. (Agri) or B.Sc (Hort) degree. What are the courses available in the field? What is the course fee? For B.Sc (Horticulture) it will take 4 years (8 semesters) and will cost you Rs 5,150 per semester while a B.Tech (Horticulture) course will take 4 years (8 semesters) at a cost of Rs 30,150 per semester. The B.Sc (Agri) will take 4 years (8 semesters) at a cost of Rs 5,150 per semester while an M.Sc. (Horticulture) with research specialisation in floriculture will take 2 years (4 semesters) at Rs 5,000 per semester. A Ph. D (Horticulture) with research specialisation in floriculture will take up to 3 years (6 semesters) at Rs 6,000 per semester. Is a degree mandatory? No. Basic knowledge and skills can Department of Botany Hislop College, Nagpur Ph: +91-712-2532004, www.hislopcollege.ac.in

School of Agricultural Sciences Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University www.ycmou.com

be acquired by undergoing training in commercial floriculture from institutions like TNAU (open distance learning) and HTC, Pune. Best institutes in India and abroad? In India TNAU (Coimbatore), IARI (New Delhi), PAU (Punjab), YS Parmar University (Solan) are among the best institutes. The Practical Training Centre (The Netherlands), Flower Council (The Netherlands), and Galilee College (Israel) are some of the best foreign institutes. What is the contribution of floriculture to the Indian economy? The industry plays an important role in India’s economy. Floriculture exports in 2006-07 stood at Rs. 650 crore (approx) and projections for the year 2010 are estimated at Rs. 10,000 crore (Floriculture Today, March 2009).

What have been the initiatives taken by the Government? The government is providing significant assistance to help grow the industry. Many organisations have been set up. The National Horticulture Mission (NHM) has made subsidies available to small growers for poly house construction for cut flower production. Likewise, the National Horticulture Board (NHB) provides subsidies for production of high value flowers while APEDA provides subsidies for infrastructure including cold storage. Nationalised banks lend financial support for commercial floriculture ventures. State agriculture universities lend technical support through training to growers and entrepreneurs and State horticulture departments help technology transfer to growers.

‘Floriculture in India a success story’ BN Raskar, Managing Director of Professional Agrotech Pvt Ltd, spoke to India First on floriculture. Excerpts: What is floriculture all about? How does it make a good career option? Floriculture deals with growing and marketing of flowering and ornamental plants. The field is entirely commercial and has huge potential in the domestic as well as global markets. It is a success story and has huge scope. You can expect handsome financial rewards also. A fresher can expect a minimum of Rs. 10,000, going up to Rs. 50,000 depending on the experience and potential you have. Is a degree mandatory? It is always good that you do a course in the field for the Polytechnic School basic knowlof Horticulture, edge Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh required but Ph: +91-0285-2670204 it is not www.jau.in mandatory. You can opt

for floriculture as a professional career option if you have the inclination. Best institutes/colleges in India and abroad? Lots of good colleges are available in the country. Horticulture Training Centre, Pune, is one of the best, which has amazing facilities and offers efficient training programmes. If you want to pursue your studies abroad you can look for institutes in Holland. It’s an ideal place for the field. What key skills do you require? Essentially knowledge and interest in the field. And if you have an agricultural background, it is like the icing on the cake. Which countries does Professional Agrotech Co., export flowers to? We export flowers to countries like Britain, Holland, Italy, Japan and Australia. We especially deal in roses.

India First | April 18-24, 2009 35

GADGETS Light for life Just like yoga and meditation, light therapy can make you feel better, increase energy and even help you sleep. Using the right wavelength of light, you can trigger your active hormones, claims Philips. The goLITE from Philips is a breakthrough in light therapy that provides the blue light our body needs (called bluewave technology).

Studies have shown that low-intensity blue light (470 nm, the kind emitted by goLITE) is twice as effective in managing our body clock compared to other sources of light. Bluewave not only makes light therapy easier compared to traditional white light, but is also less harmful for the eyes because of its lower intensity. Bluewave technology produces no UV or near-UV light and has passed ocular safety tests as well as all government and industrial ocular safety standards. Now, you can avail the benefit of light therapy within 15 minutes. Price: Rs 15,000

Printing wizard Sony’s DPP-FP97 portable printer is the latest in India. This model can print photos in about 45 seconds. Other features also include auto touch-up, which can be used to edit photographs with the touch of a button. This printer also uses technology that corrects white balance, focus, exposure and red eye — all from the 3.5-inch LCD screen right on the unit. DPP-FP97 depends on memory cards and Sony’s Memory Stick Pro formats for loading images. Price Rs. 7,000

Shocking gadgets These gadgets are fake but the nasty jolt is real. Available in PSP, iPod and laser pointer versions, the devices can shock a unsuspecting user. Careless handling of these gadgets can give you the shock of your life. The laser pointer is actually functional, but dare not mess with the other gadgets. There’s also a fake car alarm remote available in the market. These gadgets are cheap and widely available at roadside stalls. Price: Rs 100

— Compiled by Bijaya Kumar Das

36 India First | April 18- 24, 2009

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

HEALTH & MEDICINE

The boon of infertility

Teen sues sperm bank for 'defective' dad

Genetic defect may help develop male contraceptive

Scent of a

PARTNER The simple procedure involves taking a saliva test which can be done at home

ou are chatting animatedly with someone on a dating website, but the moment you catch a whiff of his odour, you decide he is not the one for you — never mind his good looks or similar tastes. Dating websites like Basisnote, a start-up company, will soon permit you to match your odour profile with that of your prospective partner and will help you decide whether you find the smell pleasant or not. “If everything fits, you have the same interests, lots to talk about, but you can’t stand their smell, then a love affair doesn’t stand a chance,” explained

biologist August Hammerli, who founded the company. If the flirt partner has also entered their smell profile, you can find out within seconds whether you would like their smell. All of this works by taking a saliva test which can be carried out easily at home. It works with a chromatographic process, similar to a pregnancy test. The result: a simple digital code which can be entered into an online profile. It takes no longer than 20 seconds. Hammerli continues: “Obviously, smell is by no means the only factor in choosing a part-

IN SHORT

Fast, accurate test detects lethal drug cientists have developed a simple and highly sensitive test to detect and quantify ricin, a highly lethal toxin with potential use as a bio-terrorism agent. Ricin, a protein extracted from castor beans, can be in the form of a powder, mist, pellet or solution. When injected or inhaled, as little as one-half mg of ricin is lethal to humans. No antidote is available. The most notorious ricin attack took place in London in 1978, when Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov died after being stabbed with an umbrella that injected a ricin-coated pellet into his leg. The ricin assay was developed in the lab of Vern Schramm, professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and study co-author.

38 India First | April 18-24, 2009

ner. However, our test makes it a measurable component.” The company is developing the test together with Mathias Wegner, head assistant at the Paul SchmidtHempel chair at the Institute for Integrative Biology, Switzerland. The test will appear in the market this year in cooperation with an online dating provider. Mice check their potential mating partners by smelling them. The fact that humans do the same on a subconscious level was first proven in the nineties by biologist Claus Wedekind at the University of Bern.

Baby born from 21-yr-old sperm ertility specialists heralded the birth of a baby girl who was conceived through in-vitro fertilisation at their lab with sperm frozen 21 years ago, a world record. Chris Biblis, 38, of Charlotte (US) was treated for leukemia from age 13 to 18. In 1987 at 16, his family encouraged him to freeze his sperm even though there was no treatment for male infertility at the time. It was not until 1992 that the first baby was born from intracytoplasmic sperm injection, a breakthrough fertility technology in which scientists inject a carefully selected healthy sperm cell into a human egg in the lab.

Although the team’s research with genetic aberration that seems Iranians focuses on identifying to prevent some males from genetic causes of deafness, collectfathering kids could be instruing genetic information from this mental in developing a male contrasource allowed the researchers to ceptive. Although female oral contraidentify two families where male ceptives developed over 40 years ago infertility, which was not part of have been very effective in family a syndrome, appeared to be inheritplanning, no similar contraceptive ed. The affected men’s infertility has been developed for males. was diagnosed with a routine Surveys conducted by the semen analysis. Medical Research Focusing on a Council CATSPER1 is a group of genes that Reproductive Biology gene that is have been implicated Unit, Britain, suggest that men would be involved in male in male infertility in mice, the researchers willing to use a pharinfertility, a found that mutations macological contrain both Iranian famiceptive besides confinding which lies occurred in a doms or vasectomy if could lead to single gene called one was available. future infertility CATSPER1. “We have identiHarvard University fied CATSPER1 as a therapies that studies on mouse gene that is involved replace the gene models that lack the in male infertility, a CATSPER1 gene finding which could or the protein reveal how sperm is lead to future inferaffected when the tility therapies that protein is missing or abnormal, said replace the gene or the protein. But an U-I release. These findings were perhaps even more importantly, reporting in the April 2 online edithis finding could have implications tion of the American Journal of for male contraception,” said Human Genetics. Michael Hildebrand, study coauthor. He is postdoctoral researcher in otolaryngology at the University of Iowa (U-I) College of Medicine. The research team, which included scientists from the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, discovered CATSPER1 while studying genetics of families in Iran with relatively high rates of disease-causing gene mutations.

hom to blame if the sperm from a sperm bank leads to complications in children? An American teenager who was born with a genetic disorder called X syndrome, causing mental impairment, has filed a suit against the sperm bank that her mother used to conceive her. Thirteen-year-old Brittany Donovan from Pennsylvania is suing the sperm bank, Idant Laboratories, New York, after a judge gave her the go-ahead to pursue the case under product liability laws applicable to manufacturing defects. Brittany does not have to show that Idant was negligent, only that the sperm it provided was unsafe and caused injury, according to NewScientist. “It doesn’t matter how much care was taken,” says lawyer Danile Thistle, who is representing the teenager. Genetics tests on the girl confirmed that she inherited the genetic defects from her biological father. But in Pennsylvania state, where she was conceived, she could not pursue the case since a ‘blood shield law’ gives impunity to sellers of human bodily material from product liability suits. As New York State does not grant such impunity to sperm sellers, federal judge Thomas O’Neill has allowed Donovan to pursue the lawsuit in New York, according to the magazine. Since this is the first case of its kind in US medical history, sperm banks fear that “this could open the floodgates” for other sperm recipients to sue them. Idant Laboratories claim themselves to be the oldest and largest semen banks in the US, pioneering semen banking and developing the technology to ship frozen semen all over the world. The group also claims to maintain one of the largest human semen banks in the US. — Shudip Talukdar

India First | April 18-24, 2009 39

PRAVASI ORIYA Ask Dr Behera

AN EXTRAORDINARY

What happened in the Big Bang? What was the universe made of before the matter we see around us was formed? The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN will recreate conditions that existed during the first billionth of a second of the Big Bang. At the earliest moments of the Big Bang, the Universe consisted of a searingly hot soup of fundamental particles — quarks, leptons and the force carriers. As the universe cooled to 1000 billion degrees, the quarks and gluons combined into composite particles. The LHC will collide lead nuclei so that they release their constituent quarks in a fleeting Little Bang. This will take us back to the time before these particles formed, recreating the conditions early in the evolution of the universe. The debris detected will provide important information about the earliest state of matter.

JOURNEY Abject poverty did little to deter him. From a little known village in Kendrapada to the CERN labaratory (Geneva), Dr Prafulla Behera today is a top notch scientist at the frontiers of physics, says Bijaya Kumar Das

rom Kendrapara to Geneva, it has been an extraordinary journey. The eldest son of a bus driver, he lived with seven of his other siblings and his mother in a one-room thatched tenement. Penury was never far from the family and the little boy trudged four kilometres back and forth from Icchapur School, always finishing his homework at school. He joined Kendrapara College to do science. By now he was putting in nearly 18 hours of study. Soon his father fell ill and the young man had little choice but to work alongside college to fend for the family. He passed out of college with a BSc (Honours) in physics and joined Utkal University for a post-graduate degree in the subject. It wasn't easy. There was little money and he was the only source of support to his large family. He took to private tuitions to make both ends meet. Not one to be deterred, he decided to pursue an MPhil at Utkal University. Soon after, he got an offer to go to Japan for a PhD in experimental high-energy physics. A local journalist raised funds for his trip. Once he left India, there was no looking back. He joined the Belle Experiment at the National Laboratory of High Energy Physics (KEK) and finished his PhD in a little under four years. His thesis “Study of Charmonium Production in the Belle Experiment” was published in Physical Review Letters with more than 50 citations. He got several

40 India First | April 18-24, 2009

lucrative postdoctoral offers from well-known American universities and he chose to join the University of Pennsylvania to work on BABAR experiment (a collaboration of around 600 physicists) at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Subsequently he moved to the University of Iowa as a scientist to work on the Atlas Experiment. Meet Dr Prafulla Behera, today a member of the elite team working on the Big Bang experiment at the prestigious CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research). His has been a story of sheer grit and iron, a story he seems to have foretold with little else than with unforgiving hard work. “My source of inspiration has been the principle of honesty. It may sound old fashioned but honesty is

It would be good if the state government can provide scholarships which will allow students to spend some time researching at international laboratories

INDIA FIRST

the best policy. This has been my guiding force of my life,” says the 36year-old Behera in all humility. Talking about his being included as a team member in the Big Bang experiment in an exclusive interview to India First, Behera says, “I am indeed happy to be part of an experiment the world is watching.” Though he says that it may be too early to talk about the benefits of the experiment, he takes considerable pride in what CERN has come to represent. “CERN is responsible for the invention of the world wide web which has created employment opportunities for millions around the world. This invention also propelled the IT revolution,” he says. The experiment involves a collaboration of more than 2,000 people from 37 different countries and Behera has been a part of the project since 2006. Since late 2007, however, he has worked full time at CERN. For Behera, it is a combination of huge logistical, managerial, intellectual and cultural challenges. Ten years after having left Orissa, Behera is today a formidable scientist doing cutting-edge research at the frontiers of physics in one of the world’s top-

(Top)Dr Prafulla Behera near the Atlas detector — a massive particle collider and a part of Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland. (Above) Behera with wife Babita Behera and two kids — Bishwaprakash and Prityush.

most laboratories of science. Asked about what the universe is made of, the young scientist says, “Ninety-six percent of our Universe is missing! Much of the missing matter is the stuff researchers call dark matter.” To an enquiry about the kind of universe we inhabit, Behera says, “Many physicists think the universe has more dimensions than the four

we are aware of. In fact, gravity does not fit comfortably into the current descriptions of forces used by physicists. It is also very much weaker than the other forces.” At a level where philosophy, metaphysics and principles of matter converge, he adds, “One explanation for this may be that our universe is part of a larger multi-dimensional reality.”

Refusing to be drawn into a debate in Europe and the West vis-à-vis the position of the Catholic Church on the Big Bang experiment, he however scotches fears of annihilation that had gripped some sections of public opinion before the experiment took off. “The experiment is safe for us. There is no need to panic.” Asked about what the Orissa government could do to encourage the pursuit of science in its universities, Behera says, “It would be good if the state government can provide scholarships which will allow students to spend some time researching at international laboratories. Our Universities should be encouraged to participate in experiments at laboratories like CERN. To derive real benefits, we need to have our own labs at universities where we can do cuttingedge R&D. Without the government’s initiative, it will be very difficult for our universities to stand on their own.” From Kendrapara to Geneva, Behera has indeed arrived with a big bang. Honesty, he says, has been the fulcrum of his universe. To the young in Orissa, he says, “I would suggest that we should be honest to ourselves and to others as well. We should stick to our duty without worrying about the result. The results entirely depend on our work.”

India First | April 18-24, 2009 41

INDIA FIRST

APARAJITA MOHANTY

‘OLLYWOOD NEEDS

NROs’ By Prashant K Nanda and Byomakesh Biswal

ontentment means the death of an artist, she says. Though for three decades, her life was entwined with the reel world, a veteran of 120 films — mostly Oriya and a few Bengali — still strives for perfection. For her fans, Aparajita Mohanty has been synonymous with the traditional Oriya girl — elegant, charm-

42 India First | April 18-24, 2009

ing and cultured. The elegance with which she once romanced her heroes and set a million hearts racing is still evident. From being a sexy college student to a sobbing daughter-in-law, she has always mesmerised the viewer with the ease with she slipped into varied roles. “The moment I put make-up on, I become the character,” she quips. Although dancing and acting fascinated her from an early age, acting was to be Aparajita’s calling after she

watched the shooting of Sisir Mishra’s movie Sindura Bindu in 1974. Her cousin Mahashweta Roy, then the reigning star of Ollywood, inspired Aparajita to try her luck in the world of cinema. However, the first opportunity to step into the sets came only in 1981, when Aparajita was still in college. “It was a godsend,” she recalls. “Sharat Pujari, the director of Astaraga, was a little apprehensive about me despite my confi-

dence. And though the movie was not a major hit, it was a good debut.” Phula Chandana, in which she played the leading role, is her favourite movie. However, Aparajita took some time to acclimatise to the new environment. The transition from her middle-class background to the glitter of fame and success was too rapid to handle. “I took some time to shed my shyness, but I quickly got used to fame and success.”

Soon, reel and real life would merge. In several movies, Aparajita would play opposite her husband Uttam Mohanty, cult figure in Oriya cinema. Their movies like Jaiphula, Janani, Jaga Hatare Pagha, Mamata Mage Mula, Puja Phula, Sahari Bagha, Sankha Sindura, Pua Mohara Kala Thakura and Thili Jhia Heli Bahu set the cash registers ringing. In spite of her personal success, the limited appeal of Oriya cinema haunts her. “The budget of our films does not even touch the crore mark and the returns are not encouraging,” she says. Aparajita is for marketing Oriya films outside the state, among non-resident Oriyas (NROs). Recounting her travels in India and abroad, the actor says that Oriyas in the United States and Britain, and those in Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal present a good market for Oriya films. Although the state film industry has “done well to catch up with the technological advances in production”, it still lags in marketing, Aparajita feels — observations which would stand her in good stead once she “turns to direction after some years”. Until Oriya cinema reaches the NROs, Aparajita knows it will be the goodwill of rural Orissa that will support the industry. In fact, even as she leads a life of luxury, Aparajita feels a deep connectedness with her rural audience, which trudges mile after mile of dusty roads in bullock carts to watch her at theatres. “I’d love to be one among those villagers. After all, they are the people who have loved and supported me through all these years so unconditionally. They are the ones who decide whether my films are hits or not.” Three decades of striving to give her fans glimpses of another world — an escape from the usual drudgery — has taken her deeper into everyday realities. She remains grounded as ever and fame has failed to corrupt her. “I have an unquenchable thirst for performance; I am never satisfied with my acting. Everyday, I come back home and assess my work,” Aparajita says.

The budget of our films does not even touch the crore mark and the returns are not encouraging. Oriya films should be marketed among non-resident Oriyas. Our film industry still lags in marketing

MILESTONE MOVIES vAstaraga v Jaiphula v Phula Chandan v Sata Micha v Jaga Hatare Pagha v Chaka Bhaunri v Mamata Mage Mula v Puja Phula v Sahari Bagha v Sankha Sindura v Ei Ta Dunia v Tunda Baida v Danda Balunga v Udandi Sita v Pua Mohara Kala Thakura v Thili Jhia Heli Bahu v Bidhira Bidhan v Mamata Ra Dori v Chakadola Karuchi Lila

India First | April 18-24, 2009 43

SILVER SCREEN | BOLLYWOOD

Saif and I will be smouldering hot in ‘Agent Vinod’: Kareena

Satyajit Ray’s films to be showcased in NY

No movies yet with my dad please By Subhash K Jha

hose who want to see Sonam Kapoor and her dad Anil Kapoor together on screen will have to wait for a long time. The Delhi 6 girl thinks Kapoor senior looks far younger than his age to play a conventional father in a Bollywood flick. The buzz around tinsel town is that there’s a pivotal role in Anil’s home production — of Sonam’s father — that he was supposed to play. But Anil is not doing the film titled Ayesha. “Do you really think he looks like my Dad? No! He doesn’t. He looks far younger than his age. And that’s why I wouldn’t want him to play my father. The role in Ayesha that you’re mentioning didn’t suit him. My dad can’t play the conventional father,” Sonam, who has acted in Saawariya and Delhi 6, said. Earlier, Anil had been offered a role in Delhi 6 with Sonam, but both father and daughter decided against it.

areena Kapoor is finally going to play a full-fledged role in Saif Ali Khan’s home production Agent Vinod. She wants the spy drama to be hot and says even the posters will be designed to portray them as Bollywood’s “coolest hot pair”. It is being said that in the beginning, Kareena’s role in the film was relatively less substantial than Saif’s. When quizzed, Kareena said: “Do you think I’d agree to be part of the film if my role was not as exciting as Saif’s? I mean, can you imagine what would happen? But Saif and I will be smouldering hot in Agent Vinod. Even the posters will be designed to highlight us as the coolest hot pair.” —Subhash K Jha

Varma’s ‘Rakta Charitra’ about Paritala Ravi Rakhi plans her ‘swayamvara’ on reality TV show

he is known for her shock value and Rakhi Sawant is now planning her ‘swayamvara’ — picking a groom and tying the nuptial knot with the chosen one — on a reality TV show. Rakhi will choose from among 15 grooms on NDTV Imagine’s new show Rakhi Ka Swayamvara and and will take the help of viewers to decide on her perfect man. The timing of the show hasn’t been announced yet. The first-of-its-kind show will trace Rakhi’s journey from selecting a groom to the wedding ceremony. “I want to solemnise my marriage in the presence of all my fans who have been supportive of me throughout and what better way than getting married on national television,” Rakhi said, commenting on her decision to marry this way. “I am looking for a companion who is warm, affectionate, someone who can dance a little bit, who respects women for who they are, and above all who is punctual. Even Sita had her Swayamvara, so why not me?” Rakhi says this is the right time for her to settle down. “Every young woman dreams of a perfect marriage. There is a right time in your life to get married to become a wife and a mother. I’m a cultured Indian woman with good values and I have reached a stage where I need a companion with whom I can share my love, joys, sorrows and success. For me that time is now,” she said.

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am Gopal Varma is all set to tell a real life story about Paritala Ravi, a murder accused and one of the most feared individuals in the blood-ridden faction politics of Andhra politics, through his film Rakta Charitra. “The film is a biographical tale of Paritala Ravi who was a prime accused in quite a few murder cases. In fact, he had also survived numerous assassination attempts, the most brutal of which was way back in 1997 when a bomb explosion near Rama Naidu Studio in Hyderabad killed 26 people, but he survived,” Varma said. Highly excited about the venture, the director insists that this is one of the most fascinating stories he has ever come across. “Rakta Charitra is the story of a man’s phenomenal rise to power and a story of the most intense blood curdling conflict between two individuals. Moreover, the story is also the ultimate statement on the oft-heard disastrous consequences of a fatal mixture of caste, crime, family feuds and politics,” Varma said. The director is planning to make it into a two-part feature film spanning over five hours. The two parts would be called Rakta Charitra-I and Rakta Charitra-II.

The work of India’s greatest filmmaker and one of cinema’s greatest auteurs, Satyajit Ray, will be showcased in a special series by the prestigious Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York, from April 15 to 30. Featuring over 20 films, with six in new 35 mm prints from the Academy Film Archive, ‘First Light: Satyajit Ray from the Apu Trilogy to the Calcutta Trilogy’ focuses on what is roughly the first half of Ray’s career, when he broke out internationally as an important new voice in the world of cinema. Ray won the Honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement at the 1991 Academy Awards “for his rare mastery of the art of motion pictures and for his profound humanitarian outlook”.

Who will play Jessica Lal? Aamir director Rajkumar Gupta’s next film is based on the sensational Jessica Lal murder and he has approached Kareena Kapoor to play one of the two protagonists. But so far he hasn’t been able to finalise anyone for the lead roles in No One Killed Jessica. “I did approach Kareena Kapoor initially to play one of the two protagonists. But nothing more can be said about the casting right now,” Gupta said. Jessica Lal was gunned down in a New Delhi restaurant in April 1999. Manu Sharma, son of a former minister, is serving a life term for killing her. “All I can say at this moment is that the film and its script which I’ve just completed is inspired by a headline that I saw in the Times of India in 2006 which said, No One Killed Jessica (when all the accused in the sensational case were acquitted). It immediately set me thinking,” he added.

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SHORT SUCCESS

Bhagyashree

Pooja Bedi

Sneha Ullal

Not all actresses are lucky to begin their careers with a blockbuster hit. But Bhagyashree’s first movie Maine Pyar Kiya was a runaway box-office success. But the wedding bells rang soon and Bhagyashree walked away from stardom, which came her way with unbeckoned ease.

After working in movies like Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander and Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee, the gorgeous actress was seldom in the limelight. Though her creative skills are evident in her two books and her talk shows, films are not happening for Pooja Bedi.

Her blockbuster Lucky and her resemblance to Bollywood’s most beautiful actress Aishwarya Rai haven’t quite proved lucky for her. Not seen for a while now, the petite and dainty Sneha Ullal has a long journey ahead.

ITSY BITSY

Many film actresses have arrived with a bang. Much adulation follows... and then there’s silence. Either films stop coming their way or they bid adieu to the silver screen. Here’s some of them who have walked into oblivion Pooja Batra

Sandali Sinha After making a mark in Tum Bin and Pinjar, model-turned-actress Sandali Sinha wasn’t seen in any significant role and has disappeared from the scene altogether.

Gracy Singh Gracy Singh got into movies after she was discovered in the TV serial Amanat. But it was Gauri’s character in Lagaan that became a mega hit for the fresh face on the big screen, followed by the super-successful Munnabhai MBBS. Now, it has been quite sometime since she has shown her talent.

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Preeti Jhangiani Despite movies like Mohabbatein and LOC, Preeti Jhangiani is still remembered as the ‘Chui Mui’ girl in her album opposite Abbas. The fame was good while it lasted, but she hasn’t quite struck again.

Pooja Batra started her career with the blockbuster Virasat. But the success, followed by some item numbers, cameos and side roles, was too short-lived to sustain her in the long run.

Sophie Chaudhary Well known for her remix numbers, actress Sophie Chaudhary made her debut in David Dhawan’s Shaadi No. 1. But she didn’t get the kind of response needed to make it big in Bollywood.

Gayatri Joshi Ranked among the top five in Femina Miss India 1999, Gayatri Joshi made her debut opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Ashutosh Gowariker’s Swades. But after charming audience with her innocent looks, she hasn’t been seen since in any other movie.

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SILVER SCREEN | MUM’S THE WORLD

YUMMY MUMMY Motherhood is a state of mind and not a road downhill! Which means a woman needn’t get bloated — or to be politically correct, become ‘horizontally challenged’ — just because she has a few ‘little’ things in tow now. IF presents the yummiest ‘mommies’ of Hollywood and Bollywood Kate Winslet Kate Winslet has two children, daughter Mia Honey from a previous marriage, and son Joe Alfie Winslet Mendes with filmmaker husband Sam Mendes. She still pulls off power-packed performances.

Madhuri Dixit Madhuri is now Madhuri Dixit Nene, married and a mother of two. Madhuri, who rocked an entire generation and was the famed muse of M F Hussain, continues to be an icon of style. What’s more, her new look has her sporting jeans and stylish t-shirts.

Kajol

Katie Holmes

Kajol was never ‘good-looking’ in the traditional sense of the word. And her muscular forearms and unflattering hairstyles did little to change that image. Now Kajol has lost oodles of weight. She’s got a child but the bulky figure has disappeared and she looks absolutely ravishing.

Katie Holmes has a daughter, Suri, with Hollywood superstar husband Tom Cruise. ‘Mother’ Katie continues to be a powerful star actor.

Jennifer Garner Jennifer Garner has two daughters, Violet Anne and Seraphina Rose Elizabeth, with husband Ben Affleck. Now, expecting a third child, Jennifer is still much sought after.

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie and partner Brad Pitt have six children. While Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt, Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt and Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt were adopted, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt and the twins Knox Léon Jolie-Pitt and Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt are their biological children. Yet Jolie of brand ‘Branjolie’ is among Hollywood’s hottest stars! 48 India First | April 18-24, 2009

Malaika Arora-Khan She of the Chhaiyya Chhaiyya fame is known for her fabulous body, which she has maintained even after motherhood. Her husband, actor Arbaaz Khan, once said, “She balances work, home and kid beautifully.” Mummy Malaika is quite a sizzler.

Karisma Kapoor With her straightened hair and subtle make-up, Karisma, now the mother of a beautiful daughter, spells class. Though matrimony and motherhood meant a retreat from films, when last reported, producers were queueing up for dates from the svelte mom!

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SILVER SCREEN | HOLLYWOOD Lohan ‘twits’ against ex-girlfriend

Johansson trying to shed extra pounds

ollywood singer-actress Lindsay Lohan, who recently split with her DJ girlfriend Samanta Ronson, has launched an internet rant at her, accusing the 31-year-old of cheating on her.

ctress Scarlett Johansson is trying to shed extra pounds with the help of Tracy Anderson, who is Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow’s personal trainer. Johansson, once known for her hourglass curves, works out every day with Paltrow and Anderson, reported dailymail.co.uk. She is trying to get into shape for Iron Man 2 in which Paltrow also plays a pivotal role. In the past, Anderson has also helped singer Madonna remain fit.

Cruise to spend $1 mn on Suri’s education

ollywood actor Tom Cruise wants his two-year-old daughter Suri to have a well-rounded upbringing. So he is spending $1 million on her education. Suri will turn three on April 18 and both Tom and his wife Katie Holmes, who want her to be an all-rounder, have made arrangements not only for her basic education but have also invested in dancing, foreign language and art classes. “It doesn’t matter what Suri is doing, Tom wants her to be able to do it better than any other child. All parents think their kids are special, but Tom and Katie firmly believe that their daughter is gifted,” chinadaily.com quoted a source as saying. “Suri has shown interest in dancing, so Tom and Katie are encouraging her as much as possible. She practises ballet, tap and modern dance for hours every day. She also has private gymnastics lessons and is learning soccer,” he added.

Finally, Paris finds her man

ocialite Paris Hilton has declared her love for new boyfriend American TV personality and baseball player Doug Reinhardt, insisting he’s the man she’ll marry. The news came after Hilton, infamous for her relationships, was forced to deny recent reports suggesting that her new beau popped the question to her on a dinner date. But she insists she will wed Reinhardt one day, reports contactmusic.com. “He’s going to be my husband. We’re best friends. It’s not like we just met. We’ve known each other over the past year. I was in a relationship before and we reconnected. I’m really in love and really happy,” she said.

Eminem pens ode to Detroit apper Eminem has paid a musical tribute to his native city Detroit that has been hit hard by recession. Detroit has been hit harder than most US regions as the economic crisis deepens and threatens the Michigan carmaking industry. But Eminem is offering hope to those fearing the worst in the form of a hard-hitting new public service announcement, reported contactmusic.com. “Detroit. There is a resilience that rises from somewhere deep in your streets. You can’t define it but you can feel it; you can feel it overflowing from the people who call you home. Your name still carries with it the idea of a nation built on steel, muscle and sweat. You became the city that carried a country,” reads the song.

Kate Moss to bring out cookbook Miley dismisses wedding rumours

eenage sensation Miley Cyrus has dismissed rumours that she is to exchange vows with her model-singer beau Justin Gaston. The rumours surfaced after the 16-year-old Hannah Montana star joked about an engagement during a radio interview, reports contactmusic.com. Cyrus sparked rumours she is set to marry the 20-year-old after Los Angeles DJ Ryan Seacrest asked her on radio whether she planned to spend the rest of her life with Gaston, to which she replied, “If he gets a pretty ring.” She later took to her Twitter.com page to deny the claims, insisting, “I am not getting married! I’m 16 and super focussed on my career and just living life! I was kidding Seacrest.”

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Lohan, 22, made a string of accusations against Ronson on her private Twitter account with messages directed at the latter’s profile, reports the Daily Mail online. “I was right all along. Cheat... Being cheated on does wonders to you. I’m doing this publicly because you and your friends call [US magazine] People. So you win, you broke my heart. Now go away. I loved you,” she wrote.

fter conquering the catwalk and storming the high street with her designer clothes, British supermodel-turned-designer Kate Moss is bringing out a cookbook. Moss, 35, has been inspired to write some recipes by Stasha Palos, the step-daughter of her good friend and billionaire businessman Sir Philip Green, reports Mirror online. Stasha Palos has penned a cookbook of traditional Jewish meals made simple. After trying out a few on her boyfriend Jamie Hince, Moss wants to do something similar. “Kate recently cooked Jamie a slap-up Jewish meal following kosher techniques from Stasha. She loves her easy-to-follow recipes. It’s all she’s been taking about,” said a source. “Stasha is due to release her book this year and Kate has been testing out the recipes... Her (Moss’) friend Davinia Taylor has been helping and Kate is always on the phone to her pals for tips. She is buzzing about the idea of being the first supermodel to release a cookbook.”

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FILM REVIEW

BOOKS & IDEAS

{ I am reading... } TATHAGAT SATPATHY BJD MP, DHENKANAL

IANS

Mosaic of CULTURES By Madhushree Chatterjee

COFFEE, SUBSTANCE AND SOUL...

emember your coffee house days when you becomes a platform for showcasing contemporary India’s measured life in coffee spoons and talked about major problems. The theatre group includes a live-in couple who break conquering the moon. Well, now it’s time to revisit those high aspiration times when revolution up when the ambitious young girl is seduced by corporate seemed round the corner and utopia anything, but an honcho Harsh Chhaya into a richer, more glamorous world of TV journalism. Also present are a group of senior impossible dream. citizens with their own share of Coffee House is a small, unostenproblems (neglect and lack of tatious, yet meaningful film about respect from their offspring), and dreaming big, seeking change and three conmen who pull a fast one making a difference. Naturally, in COFFEE HOUSE (Drama) on corrupt bureaucrats. today’s high-voltage electioneerCast: Ashutosh Rana, Sakshi Tanwar, Eventually, all the assorted cofing, the film comes as a topical Harsh Chhaya fee house regulars (read decent reminder of the power of the comDirection: Gurbir Singh Grewal citizens, desirous of change) come mon man. Ostensibly inspired by together and begin a home-spun the life and times of noted theatre Critic’s Rating: ««« revolution. This naturally rattles activist Safdar Hashmi who died a the ruling politicians who are not brutal death in the 1990s, the film ready to face the new Indian who focuses on the valiant attempts of calls himself a Hindustani instead Ashutosh Rana and his street theatre group to change the system and make it more of a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Isai. And therefore, it’s time for accountable, inclusive and humane. Apart from his the goons to rush in.... The film scores mostly in its performances by actors nukkad natak, Rana also runs his wife’s (Sakshi Tanwar) newspaper but steps back when the business interests of who may not be big stars but are big in talent. Like Rana the paper come into conflict with his voice-of-protest edi- who plays a consummate activist; Chhaya who perfects torial content. This, however, is a minor point of conflict the art of genteel exploitation; Vinod Nagpal who touches between the much in love husband and wife, who are the you with his oldie ‘emotional fool’ act, and Tanwar who focal point of the ensemble cast which assembles in the makes a smooth switch from the ever-wailing Parvati neighbourhood coffee house for its daily adda-baazi ses- (Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki) to a woman of substance. Don’t go sions. The coffee house not only witnesses a robust looking for regular naach-gana and gloss, and you will — Subhash K. Jha exchange of ideas on society, politics and ethics, it also find substance and a soul.

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merican writer and filmmaker Sadia Shepard came to India to find her roots and understand her heritage — a mix of Protestant, Jewish and Islamic culture. She left with 18 diaries full of experiences that blended to form a book. The Girl from Foreign: A Search for Shipwrecked Ancestors, Forgotten Histories and a Sense of Home traces the Jewish heritage of Sadia’s grandmother as a member of the small Bene Israel community in Mumbai, her unusual love story and a secret wedding to a Muslim from Pakistan. It was presented by the American Centre, Penguin Books India and The United States-India Educational Foundation at the American Centre in New Delhi last week. “The Girl from Foreign is a very American story about a search for roots. When I was 15, I learnt that there was one story I had never been told. Nana, my grandmother, was not a Muslim like the rest of her family in Pakistan. In fact, she begun her life as Rachael Jacobs, a member of a tiny Jewish community in India which believes itself to have descended from one of the lost tribes of Israel, shipwrecked on the Konkan coast nearly 2,000 years ago,” Sadia told a packed house. Many members of the Bene Israel tribe live in Mumbai — having made their mark in Bollywood and in the armed forces. But the chunk of the Gen Next has migrated to Israel. “I had the fortune to be raised by

strongly believe that not one Indian should go to bed hungry. Access to employment and other benefits in the corporate sector must be available to every citizen. Economic Reforms in South East Asia, the book that I am reading currently, has strengthened my belief. Besides, the book mentions the negative impact of globalisation. I have always been a little sceptical of the concept. Even more so now with the book, which details the impact of globalisation on countries like Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Some aspects of the phenomenon have been really devastating. The job losses, the lurking shadow of pink slips and a growing insecurity in the middle class are grim realities. As a reader, an editor and a politician, I have observed the people of our country closely and feel that they deserve a better life. As a politician, I reach out to people and as a philosopher, I ponder over their plight. It hurts to see people suffer whether they be in villages or cities. The book will be an eyeopener to anyone who is concerned about the plight of the poor. After reading this book, I believe that programmes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme cannot alleviate poverty. Perhaps, we need a better programme and the best of guidelines and procedures in place to ensure that it is implemented properly. — Prashant K Nanda

my grandmother who flew to Boston, where my father Richard and mother Samina, a Pakistani from Karachi, lived. She came to help my mother cope with childbirth and stayed back,” Sadia said. Her grandmother, rechristened Rahat after converting to Islam, would “open up at times” to recount her days in India. “When she spoke of India, her voice and speech would change. As a result, India became a kind of mythical land for me.” “Before her death in 2000, she extracted a promise from me that I would visit Mumbai, the city of her birth, which I managed to do in 2001.” Sadia’s grandmother eloped with a Muslim man from Pakistan, a family friend, at 17. “She hid her marriage for 10 years till the birth of her child. My grandfather built her a house at Worli facing the sea. It was named Rahat Villa after her.” The house was the focus of Rahat’s dreams, “it was a symbol of loss — the home she left behind after partition”. In Mumbai, Sadia chronicled her experiences in diaries. “First one, then three and then 18 — the diaries piled up. Once I went back to New York, it became the source of my book.”

India First | April 18-24, 2009 53

SPORTS | PADMINI ROUT Competition in 2003. She then went on to win tournaments at state and national levels before doing her country proud. Deservedly, she was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Prativa Puraskar in 2005 as well as the prestigious Biju Patnaik Sports Award. On the chessboard, Padmini loves to be on the offensive, often planning five to six steps in advance. She prefers the “Sicilian attack”, and idolises former attacking Grand Master and world champion Mikhail Tal. Coming to family support, the teen queen says that it’s her parents who have helped her reach this level. “I only concentrate on the game and the rest is taken care of by my parents,” said the player, who is mostly accompanied by her mother on international tours. Her current coach is Shekhar Sahu, a former international master who quit his secure job as a

Padmini Rout started making her moves when she was nine. Now, a formidable chess player in the junior international category, she tells Prashant K Nanda and Byomakesh Biswal that the Grand Master title is only three years away

(Left) Padmini Rout with her world championship trophy and practising with her coach Shekhar Sahu

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manager in a Mumbai bank to turn to full-time coaching. “Padmini is a brilliant player,” he says. “I am sure she will become a Grand Master in the next few years. She has everything but the exposure to make it to the bigger league. The lack of sponsors is the main problem.” In everyday life, as during a chess game, Padmini has found herself encountering numerous

obstacles and making the all-toofamiliar manoeuvres. She initially overcame a dearth of quality coaches by reading several books written by former greats to get “a peek into their minds when they were playing certain games.” She had her classes and exams to negotiate and sponsors to convince, so that she could participate in as many tournaments as possible. Padmini finally got a sponsor after six long years in competitive chess. Balancing studies with chess is another major problem. Padmini had to take personal tuition for her recent standard X board exams. Now, it seems the way forward is either chess or studies. “As one moves up the rungs of the game, one has to devote at least eight to ten hours a day. So it will be very difficult for her to pursue her studies alongside. She will probably want to complete standard XII and then get neck-deep into chess,” says Sahu. Luckily for Padmini, her parents agree with Sahu as she readies for another gruelling day.

INDIA FIRST

CLEVER MOVES

MOVER IN CHECKERS imple, ordinary moments can knit together a masterpiece. Padmini Rout, the teenage chess sensation, is one. When she was younger, she used to make frequent trips to her ancestral village along with her parents. What began as a mere observation soon turned out to be an addiction as Padmini too immersed herself in chess like her father and uncle. Now ranked first in the country, third in Asia and tenth in the world in the under-16 category, she is eyeing the pinnacle of the game. “I

Ranked first in the country, third in Asia and tenth in the world in the under-16 group, Padmini has already posted four major international wins, including the 2008 World Youth Chess Championship in Vietnam

will be a Grand Master in the next three years,” says a confident Padmini. Her trophies and certificates stacked up in her house seem to nod in agreement. She has already posted four major international wins, including the World Youth Chess Championship in Vietnam last year. For two years in a row — 2005 and 2006 — she was the Asian Youth Champion. She also became the youngest international master from Orissa when she won the World Junior Girls’ Championship at Yerevan in Armenia.

It was her father Ashok Kumar Rout’s contagious passion for the game that Padmini simply couldn’t avoid. Later, it was his tutelage that sustained her interest in the game. She recalls making her first moves on the chessboard when she was barely nine just to give her father company. Few years on, there’s been a reversal of roles. “Now, I beat my father in every game,” she says. It is now her father who gives her company. As for him, he doesn’t mind his new-found helplessness. Outside her home, Padmini shone first at the Telegraph School

n She won the 2005 Asian Youth Championship, held in New•Delhi n In 2006, in Teheran, she became the Asian Youth Champion for the second consecutive year n She won the under-14 gold at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games n She was crowned the under-16 champion in the 2008 World Youth Chess Championship, Vietnam n She became Orissa’s first Woman Fide Master n She is also Orissa’s youngest International Master

India First | April 18-24, 2009 55

BECKONING BALI

Yoga centres, ayurvedic spas, eateries serving Indian food... the Hindu-majority Indonesian island of Bali is a second home for Indian tourists, says Azera Rahman

n all probability, the driver of the cab that you hire from the airport to the town will be a Sanjay or a Ram. As you hit the road, you will cross several yoga centres, ayurvedic spas, restaurants serving pure vegetarian Indian food and even a mall named Ramayana. Welcome to Bali, the steamy, pulsating, culturally-vibrant Hindumajority island in a Muslim-majority nation. This tiny Indonesian island, about 1,000 km from Jakarta, is famous for its exotic beaches, pristine lakes, beautiful temples and exciting nightlife among tourists who flock here. And although locals admit that there was a slight dent in tourism after the terrorist bombings in 2002 and 2005,

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normalcy has since returned. Almost 93 per cent of Bali’s population of three million is Hindu. Hinduism spread across the Indonesian archipelago in the 14th century through the trade route and although it lost its status of state religion during the 15th and early 16th century, when the new sultanates expanded, Hindu kingdoms persisted in eastern Java and Bali. But while the Hindu rituals in India and Bali are not exactly the same — Balinese Hinduism for instance lacks the emphasis on the cycle of re-birth — the “Indian connection” in the everyday life of a Balinese is quite striking. For instance, spotting a restaurant serving Indian or both Indian

Almost 93 per cent of Bali’s population of three million is Hindu. Hinduism spread across the Indonesian archipelago in the 14th century through the trade route

IANS

and Balinese food is not a rare sight. Among the more popular ones are Queen’s Tandoor and Gateway of India. They serve a range of delicacies — right from tandoori chicken, mutton and lamb sizzlers to korma, naan and dal, even samosas and mango chutney, all hot favourites of tourists. And there are also restaurants where one can learn how to cook Indian cuisine! One among them is a restaurant in Ubud, the cultural capital of Bali, where many tourists stay. As one travels through Bali, a huge statue of Arjuna in his chariot stands tall at the criss-cross of the narrow roads mostly filled with twowheelers. Lined on either side of the road, one is bound to see a number of yoga centres — some with strange names like Internet Yoga and Steam Yoga centre — filled with local Balinese folk and foreigners,

eager to de-stress. But it’s not just in these centres that yoga is taught. At Gurukul, an all-boys residential school in Bali, yoga is a part of the curriculum like any other subject. And so is Sanskrit. Hendra, a Class V student in the school, said that although he finds Sanskrit difficult, he likes doing yoga. “Some of the Sanskrit words are so difficult to pronounce. I like mathematics more. I also like doing yoga,” said Hendra as he washed his clothes in the gurukul style school, where garden-grown vegetables are cooked, there is a biogas plant for fuel and students do their own chores. There is also the Gandhi Memorial International School, a branch of its more famous counterpart in Jakarta, which was set up recently. Somvir, an Indian academic who teaches Indian aesthetics at Udayana University and has been living in Indonesia for the past 15 years, said that there are a number of takers for the course. “It’s difficult to put a concrete figure on the number of students because that depends on the batch. But normally there are easily 40-50 students in each batch,” Somvir, who also set up the Bali-India foundation, which teaches yoga, Sanskrit and Hindi, told India First. A beauty parlour named Ratna and a popular mall Ramayana there make one feel the “Indian” connection even thousands of miles away from home. At the close of 2007, the number

(Above) The Indian gurukul-style school in Bali. This restaurant in Ubud serves both Balinese and Indian food

of Indian visitors to Bali stood at 21,909, up 71.27 per cent from the previous year, according to a communique issued in New Delhi by the Indonesian culture and tourism ministry last year. There has been a steady increase in Indian arrivals to the exotic island. In 2003, the number of Indians who visited Bali was a mere 4,554. The subsequent year, the number logged a quantum jump of 42.03 per cent to 6,468 and in 2006, it was 12.79 per cent.

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TRAVEL

How to get there

Peace Pagoda

THE TWIN HILLS OF PEACE Khandagiri provides an enthralling view of Bhubaneswar from its summit. You can see the airport, the tower of the Lingaraj temple and further away, Dhauligiri

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n the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, stands a rocky outcrop — Dhauligiri or Dhauli hill — a mute witness to the historic Kalinga war. The small hill is surrounded by lush green paddy fields stretching up to the horizon. It was here that Emperor Ashoka, appalled by the suffering and death of soldiers, renounced war and embraced Buddhism.

relics (a fragment of the tooth) of Lord Buddha. It is said that the wisdom tooth was divided into small fragments and distributed all over the world. The stupa also houses Buddhist monk Nichidatru Fuji’s preachings on Emperor Ashoka. Just walk around and you will discover four large idols of Lord Buddha in different postures adorning the exterior walls of the stupa — meditating (east), attaining salvation (west), blessing (north) and preaching (south).

THE PEACE PAGODA: On top of Dhauli hill, you will see an alluring, dome-shaped, white building called Shanti Stupa or the Peace Pagoda. Shanti Stupa is a Buddhist structure built jointly by the Japan Buddha Sangh and the Kalinga Nippon Buddha Sangh in 1972. The stupa, a symbol of the Buddhist precepts of peace and non-violence, contains the holy

ROCK INSCRIPTIONS: The Ashokan rock inscriptions at the bottom of Dhauli hill is another attraction. The hill also houses a huge elephant cut out of the rock carved in indigenous style. The rock inscriptions contain valuable information on the postKalinga war situation, and Ashoka’s instructions to his administrators regarding sound administration.

By Bijaya Kumar Das

THE CAVES: Udayagiri and Khandagiri face each other across the road, honeycombed with caves. The Khandagiri caves can be reached by going up the steps next to the entrance to the Udayagiri caves. Most of the caves are numbered. Caves 1 and 2 are known as Parrot caves because of the birds carved over the doorways. Cave 3, known as Ananta Cave, features beautifully carved figures of elephants, women and a bird carrying flowers. Cave 7 has fine carvings of the nine Jain Tirthankars. There are 33 rock cut caves in all — 18 in Udayagiri and 15 in Khandagiri. It is believed that the magnificent sandstone caves were excavated by Jain and Buddhist ascetics in the 2nd century during the reign of King Kharavela of the Chedi dynasty. There is a beautiful Jain Temple at the top of the hill. From here, you can see the Daya river meandering smoothly at the foot of the hill.

Best Time to Visit Bhubaneswar can be visited round the year, but the ideal time, especially for visitors from colder climes, would be from October to March.

Accommodation With numerous hotels as well as the Orissa Tourism Development Corporation’s Panthanivas, Bhubaneswar is well equipped to accommodate every type of visitor.

Air: Biju Patnaik Airport is just 6 kilometers away from Bhubaneswar. Regular Indian Airlines flights are available to Hyderabad, Nagpur, Calcutta, Delhi, Varanasi, Bombay and Madras. Rail: Dhaulgiri and Khandagire are well connected by rail to all major tour destinations of the country. Road: Bhubaneswar is on the National Highway No. 5 linking Kolkata (480 km) to Chennai (1225 km). There are few buses specifically plying to the caves but there are plenty going by the nearby road junction. Otherwise you can also avail private cars and taxis from Bhuwaneswar station.

OTHER PLACES TO VISIT LINGARAJ TEMPLE: Lingaraj temple is one of the oldest temples of Bhubaneswar. It is believed to be built by king Jajati Keshari in the 11th century AD. The Lingaraj temple is located in a spacious courtyard covering over 25,0000 square feet, and is bounded by fortified walls. The temple compound has three compartments, one each for Goddess Parvati, Lord Ganesha and Lord Karthikeya. The main temple has pillars with beautiful carvings. BINDUSAGAR LAKE: Lying to the north of the Lingaraj temple, the Bindusagar lake is a popular tourist destination. Every year, the idol of Lord Lingaraj is brought to the lake for a holy bath. People believe the

Khandagiri Caves

holy water of Bindusagar lake has healing powers, and a dip in it washes away sins. Mukteshwara Temple: This 1000 years old temple is located in the heart of the state capital and near the Lingraj temple. RAJARANI TEMPLE: Built sometime in the course of the 11th century, the Rajarani temple is set in open paddy fields, and the entire structure exudes grace and elegance. The temple is one of the most beautiful and best specimens of the earlier type of North Indian style of temple architecture. The temple is remarkable for the absence of any presiding deity. The temple's name is supposed to be derived from the red-gold sandstone used in building it — Rajarani being the local name for the stone. STATE MUSEUM: The very first glimpse on entering the Orissa State Museum transports you into the world of past, reminding you of the history and cultural traditions of the state. This museum at Bhubaneswar has an amazing collection of copper plates, coins, stone inscriptions and sculptures. You’ll be astonished to see rare manuscripts written on palm leaves. The museum also houses age-old bronze tools, and traditional and folk musical instruments.

India First | April 18-24, 2009 59

RELATIONSHIP

STAR TREK

Psychologist Sanket Mahapatra has answers to all your relationship problems

I’ve been in a relationship for about 2 months now with a really nice girl but we have nothing in common, and I don’t think I love her. She tells me she loves me and I don’t know how to respond. How do I tell her without breaking her heart?

You shouldn’t feel guilty that you cannot give this young lady the same response. Because it wouldn’t be honest. And it wouldn’t make sense at this point. You two are simply dating. But I understand your predicament. She has said it. And you don’t know what to say in response. So I think unfortunately you are going to have to talk. Tell her that you really like her and have enjoyed spending time together so far — but that you aren’t where she is right now. Assure her that you want to still see her and only her (if that is the case), but that you just aren’t ready to say those words yet. If she can’t handle that sort of truth from you, then she just may be a little too immature to handle a mature and ‘real’ relationship.

My boyfriend and I have been seeing each other for two months. I like him a lot. And this is the first relationship I’ve been in, since my divorce. We have a problem having conversations though. I mean, a lot of things that he says are not intelligent. I like CNN. And he likes those Japanese cartoons. It embarrasses me when we are in front of my family and friends. I don’t want people to think that I have started dating beneath me. But I don’t want to dump him because of this. What do I do?

60 India First | April 18- 24, 2009

Well you are being a snob. Honestly, I don’t see anything wrong with that. But, if you rather date men who can talk politics and not embarrass you in front of others — then that’s who you should choose. But to choose someone who doesn’t possess those qualities, and then bash him is not the smartest decision. Live by your standards. Don’t go beyond and then ask someone what to do? The fact you haven’t been in a relationship for a long time might have prompted you to enter into this relationship, so you will either have to let this man go and wait to meet someone else. Or you can decide that you can change what you normally go for, not hold it against him, and enjoy the relationship. The only person’s opinion that matters right now is yours. If you see something wonderful about this man, who cares what others think. Even if he slips up in front of your friends. Ask yourself what is more important — companionship or family wide approval?

I need your advice. There is this guy in my school and I think he’s really cute. Of late, I’ve become really attracted to him. A few days ago, I saw him in the hallway and he stared at me twice. I was really happy that, for the first time, he noticed me. Does this mean he’s interested in me or something else?

He either absolutely noticed you and is interested in you, or he saw you staring at him and was wondering, “hey, why is this girl staring at me,

all crazy?” I would go with the first case. I think he is interested, or he probably wouldn’t have given you any eye contact. The next thing to do is to smile and speak the next time you catch him looking. He may be wondering the same thing about you — whether you are interested. Smiling and speaking gives him the “okay” to talk to you. I recently told a man how I felt about him. We went out a few times. He told me that he had been in a relationship, and that the girl hasn’t completely severed the relationship with him. He hasn’t given me a straight answer but shows interest in me now and then. Should I ask directly, or just move on?

I would recommend that you ask directly. My reasoning is this. If you just move on, it will be over for sure. If you ask directly, you will have to take a risk of rejection. But taking a risk is actually a good thing. Because if you ever get together with someone and start down the path of a long-term relationship, what still comes up to block love is where we stop ourselves — because we won’t take risks. So taking the risk is actually good. Don’t run away from the fear of rejection. If you take the risk, you may be rejected, but, at least, you will know for sure. And not least of all, only if you take the risk is it possible for him to say “yes” and you just might have what you desired. No guarantee, of course. But then that’s why it is called ‘taking a risk’. Unless you speak up, nothing will happen and you will continue to feel troubled.

Aries Romance will come through involvement with fund-raising organisations. Don’t give your heart too readily. Your fun loving approach will be admired and appreciated by others. Your lucky day this week will be Wednesday.

Taurus Don’t let peers distract you or push their work your way. Don’t be afraid to say what’s on your mind. Your emotional state will vacillate. Romance may be better than you ever thought possible. Your lucky day this week will be Sunday.

Gemini Your tendency to take on too much will end in fatigue. New hair, new outfit, new you. Set your goals and stick to your guns. Pleasure trips will be most enjoyable and should lead to new and lasting friendships. Your lucky day this week will be Saturday.

Cancer New interests are preoccupying your time. Make plans to meet again in the near future. You may need a good friend to lean on. Someone you work with may be trying to make you look bad. Your lucky day this week will be Wednesday.

Leo You need to look into ways to change your self-

Noted astrologer Anil of Think Astro tells what the stars have in store for you in the coming week

image. Travel could be in order. You have more than enough on your plate already. You will find yourself tied to the phone. Your lucky day this week will be Wednesday.

Virgo Your talent will be recognised. Your ability to do detailed work will dazzle those who are less creative. Don’t make financial contributions in order to impress others. Try to iron out any friction over money with your mate or conflicts could prevail. Your lucky day this week will be Thursday.

Libra Update and review your personal investments. You may find that someone you live with may be irritable. Take time to listen to the problems of family members. This could be the cause of a dispute that may result in estrangement. Your lucky day this week will be Monday.

Scorpio Your ability to dazzle others with your unique and innovative ideas will attract attention. Losses are likely if you have left your financial affairs in other people’s hands. You can stabilise your situation if you compromise. Your lucky day this week will be Sunday.

Sagittarius

Talking to those you trust and respect will help you

sort out any problems. Exercise programmes will be effective. Get down to business and do the work yourself. Travel will also be very informative. Your lucky day this week will be Monday.

Capricorn You can discuss your findings behind closed doors with your boss. Be aware that joint financial ventures could fall apart. Romantic opportunities will flourish through travel or communication. A friendship might suffer if money becomes an issue. Your lucky day this week will be Saturday.

Aquarius Your mind will be wandering to exotic destinations. Work diligently and you will get ahead this week. Nagging has never been something that you could tolerate, and it’s once again driving you into a lonely state of affairs. Take time to make physical improvements that will enhance your appearance. Your lucky day this week will be Tuesday.

Pisces You may be offered high earning opportunities. You will do best to entertain those you wish to close deals with. You can expect the fur to fly at home. You may need a physical outlet to relieve your tension. Your lucky day this week will be Tuesday.

India First | April 18-24, 2009 61

SPOTLIGHT

Hemi’s tryst Artist Hemi Bawa, who was honoured with the Padma Shri this year, feels that the award is a recognition of her art and a tribute to the artists’ fraternity. The 61-year-old artist sources her subjects from everyday life and etches them in glasses, a medium that reflects her art and personality. The artist, however, is not switching to large format art like many of her contemporaries. Born and brought up in Delhi, Hemi has been painting since childhood. Hemi’s formal brush with art began in 1962. She was conferred a national award at the Chitra Kala Sangam in 1968. She has since exhibited all over the country and abroad. In 1996, she was commissioned by Coca Cola to create a sculpture for the Oylmpic Games. The eight-foot high Coke sculpture is at the company museum in Atlanta. The artist usually works with broken sheet glass — the kind found in broken window panes. Hemi ’s studio is located in an industrial hub at Faridabad, on the outskirts of New Delhi.

Daring Duo

Sainath, a journalist who chronicles rural India and the poor and tells stories that would otherwise never be told, and Karan Thapar, whose incisive interviews with politicians and policy-makers almost always makes news, won the top honours at the third Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards in New Delhi on April 13. Sainath, Rural Affairs Editor of The Hindu, received the Journalist of the Year Award for 2007-8 for print and Thapar for broadcast from the Chief Justice of India, Justice K G Balakrishnan . The awards celebrate excellence in journalism, recognise courage and commitment and showcase outstanding contributions and individuals every year. The awards were instituted by The Express Group as part of the centenary year celebrations of founder Ramnath Goenka.

Sharp Shooter

orld record holder Gagan Narang clinched a bronze medal in the 10-metre Air Rifle event in the ISSF World Cup at Changwon, Korea on April 10. Gagan shot 594/600 in the qualification round and took the eighth and last position. Keeping his cool in the final, Gagan came back strongly to finish third with a score of 102.7 points and overall tally of 696.7 points. The gold and silver went to Chinese shooters Zho Qinan (597+103.3 = 700.3 pts) and Cao Yifei (595+103.6 = 698.6 pts). Gagan won a gold medal in the Afro Asian games, 2003 in Hyderabad on October 26, 2003 in men’s 10-metre air rifle competition. He had won an air rifle gold medal at the World Cup 2006 and followed it up with a bronze at a similar event in April 2008. — Compiled by Bijaya Kumar Das 62 India First | April 18-24, 2009