Tuesday, November 30, 2010

"He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye" Buddha


Dr.Ambedkar Academy and The People’s Eductional Trust
Dr.A.Padmanabhan Mansion
L-73,Kavery Colony,24 Th Street,Annanagar East,Chennai-600 102.
Cordially invite you with your spouse for the monthly meeting on
Tuesday the  2nd of Decembur 2010 at 6.30 PM at the above Premises
Sub: Development of youth Role of you in the presence
Of Dr.A.Padmanabhan IAS(Rtd)
Former Chief Secretary,Govt of Tamil Nadu
Former Governor of Mizoram
Chief Patron and Advisor of Dr.Ambedkar Academy
Chief Guest
Thiru Michael Vetha Siromani I.A.S
Director & Vice Chancellor RGNIFYD,Sriperumpudur.
Prsident:Mr.C.Chellappan IAS(Rtd)
Former Member SC/ST Commission
Managing Trustee,People’s Eduction Trust
Welcome: Mr.J.Ramalingam
Former FAO/UN Expert
General Secretary,Dr.Ambedkar Academy
Vote of Thanks: Mr.T.Rajendran
Excutive Engineer,TNEB(Rtd)
Mr.C.ChellappanIAS (Rtd)   Mr.M.Viswanathan IAS(Rtd)             Mr.J.Ramalingam
Managing Trustee               Joint Managing Trustee      General Secretary


Saturday, November 27, 2010

Tirupur village tense after dalits denied temple entry

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment"  Buddha


Tension gripped Uthamapalayam village in Tirupur district in western Tamil Nadu after dalits were allegedly barred from entering a Hindu temple built by non-dalits.
    Behind the serene facade of Uthamapalayam, a village lined with coconut groves about 12km from Kangeyam town, a row has been simmering for the last one week between 250 dalits and 1,500 non-dalits. The trouble erupted on November 21 when the dominant community of Gounders, besides Mudaliars and Chettiars, decided to perform the kumbabhishekam of the new Mariamman temple they had built. As dalits were refused entry into the new temple, they blocked the roads and staged protests. The revenue divisional officer (RDO) called a meeting of the leaders of the different communities, but the talks failed. Prohibitory orders have been clamped in the village and the police are guarding at the temple site. Dalits claimed the ‘upper castes’ had refused to even sit along with them during the talks with the RDO. The non-dalits reportedly constructed the new temple as dalits were allowed entry into the old temple which was being administered by the HR and CE department in January 2005. The dalits allege that the upper caste people took away the jewels of the deities and funds of the old temple to form a new Mariamman Trust and build the new temple.
    “An FIR has been filed against both parties (dalits and non-dalits) and a curfew has been imposed under Section 145 of the Cr.PC. to prevent further tension,” said revenue divisional officer (RDO) Akbar Ali.
    “The Mariamman Trust is illegal because the old temple is under the HR and CE department. There should be only one Mariamman temple for this village and both the dalits and the upper castes should be allowed to worship there,” says S Karuppiah,the convenor of the temple entry movement. But the non-dalits are unrelenting. “Who are they to say there cannot be two temples in Uthamapalayam,” asks 57-year-old V Sivasubramani, a land-owning Gounder, whose father is a temple trustee.
    The old temple, which has stood in Uthamapalayam for 600 years, meanwhile, has been abandoned by the villagers. Even God, it seems, is an untouchable in this village. “No one wants to worship there anymore. The priest never comes. He is controlled by the upper castes,” says P Muthu, a dalit labourer, who has been part of the temple entry movement.
    After series of meetings to bring about peace between the two groups failed, the RDO has ordered an inquiry on December 2. Non-dalits claim that the temple is on nearly two acres of patta land owned by them and, therefore, they have the right to keep dalits out. But dalits counter that the trust which owns the land is a public body and they have the right to enter the temple.
    Dalits are unable to offer worship in many temples across Tamil Nadu even 86 years after rationalist leader E V Ramasamy led a revolutionary movement to take Dalits into Hindu shrines. Dalit leaders and Left parties have launched a state-wide movement to throw open the temples which are shut for the Dalits.

Source: Times of India 24.11.10
 

Monday, November 22, 2010

Media under trial at T.Nagar on 24-11-10 at 6-30 PM

"An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind". Buddha

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Three Dalits killed over land dispute, former MLA blamed


TWO days before the last phase of Assembly elections in Bihar, three Dalits were killed and two others injured -allegedly by supporters of former JD-U MLA Krishnachandra Prasad Singh -over a land dispute at Pathua village in Lakhisarai district on Thursday morning.
The police said preliminary investigations do not point to any election angle. They said two people were killed in firing while a woman died of a heart attack. Two of the victims belong to the Extremely Backward Castes and one is a Scheduled Caste.
The incident took place around 7.30 a.m. when the three victims --Kusho Bhagat (55), Bachchan Rajak(45) and Pramila Devi (55) -and other villagers were resisting a bid by over 25 armed men, allegedly belonging to Singh, to destroy their standing mustard crop.
Villagers alleged the men opened fire, killing Kusho and Bachhan on the spot. They alleged Pramila Devi, who was badly beaten by rifle butts, died of a heart attack. Two other villagers, Rekha Devi and Nandu Bhagat, were seriously injured.
"It is a purely a war over land possession. Former MLA Singh is main accused along with 19 others. Preliminary investigations do not suggest any election angle," Bihar Additional Director of Police PK Thakur said.
Lakhisarai DSP Rajbansh Singh said they arrested Ramanuj Prasad Singh, a personal assistant of the former MLA.
Over 900 bighas of Bhoodan land given to farmers had been a bone of contention between EBC/SC and upper caste Bhumihars from adjoining Walipur village. The villagers had got patta (land ceiling certificate) for the land in 1983-84.
Former MLA Singh, who belongs to the village, is settled at Lakhisarai.
Village headman Mohan Bhagat said tension had been mounting for some time and alleged there had been several firing incidents in the past.
"The former MLA's musclemen again tried to make us concede our land. We resisted and three villagers paid with their lives," he alleged.

The MLA's supporters tried to give a political twist to the incident, alleging rebel JD-U Munger MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh was trying to defame him. Lalan Singh had supported Congress nominee RS Singh in the November 1 election.
Source" The Finanacial Express Dt 19.11.2010 

Physical barrier removed mental barrier continuous...

"An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea".
Buddha


Tiruchi ‘untouchability’ wall removed 
A controversial wall, allegedly built to deny dalits easy access to their homes from the Tiruchi-Madurai highway, was partially demolished by corporation officials in Tiruchi on Thursday.
    The wall, built about 20 years ago across Muthumariamman Koil Street in Edamalaipattiputhur, had forced dalits in the locality to take a circuitous route. The issue was brought to light by the
CPM through petitions to the state government and later by a protest demanding demolition . On Thursday morning, corporation officials visited the spot and ordered removal of the structure.

Source: The Times of India dt 19.11.2010 

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Assets of Ministers of Central Govt and MPs are published in website. Already Judges are declared their assets. Now time has come to publish the assets of bureaucrats in their Departmental /Ministries websites.

An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.
Buddha 

 Department of Posts hesitating to publish reservation rosters and other important documents in its websites,Whether IndiaPosts will posts all IPS officer’s assets in its websites?!.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

In the midst of political heat over scams, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has decided to make public assets and liabilities of his ministerial colleagues. Details about he assets and liabilities of all ministers would now be placed on the website of the Prime Minister's Office and the information is likely to be uploaded in a couple of days, sources said. Cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar has written to all Union ministers recently that the Prime Minister has approved placing of information regarding details of the assets and liabilities received from the them in public domain as part of the efforts to enhance transparency in governance.
Source: The Financial Express dt 15.11.10 

Jobs in Private Sector- TCS,Infosys recruits SC/ST in their companies. Other companies are not recruiting SC/STs despite assurance given to Govt

Ambition is like love, impatient both of delays and rivals.
Buddha

JOBS ON OFFER TO CROSS ONE LAKH

Tech recruitments to touch new high

 With campus recruitments by technology companies only weeks away, early indicators suggest that this year recruitments may touch a historic high as top India tech majors including TCS, Infosys and Wipro will alone take in close to one
lakh engineers, if not more. Back of the envelope
analysis, coupled with stated recruitment plans of the IT biggies, shows that engineering campuses will witness an action-packed December-January, not to mention the impact that MNC biggies like Accenture and IBM will have.
    “As per our original plans, we were to recruit 30,000 people this fiscal, but we will close the current year with 50,000 persons added. For the next fiscal, we could hire as much as this year, if not more,” N Chandrasekaran, CEO and MD of TCS, which has an employee
headcount of 1.77 lakh people, said.
    TCS follows a policy
wherein it recruits 70% of its annual intake from campuses. The company recruited 24,000 persons in the fiscal ended March 2010. 
Pay packet not big
Going by recruitment data and growth projections, most tech majors began 2010 with conservative estimates of manpower required, but gradually scaled up targets as the year progressed.
    At the beginning of this fiscal, Infosys said it would recruit 30,000 but hiked the figure to 40,000 by September-end. Shankar Srinivasan,chief people officer, Cognizant, told TOI, “In the last year (from October 2009 to September 2010),we saw a net addition of over 27,500 employees. We continue to be active on campuses as well as in the lateral market (hiring of experienced professionals). We ended the September 2010 quarter with approximately 95,600 employees globally.”
    On the assumption that Cognizant, Wipro and HCL
Tech will recruit as much in the forthcoming recruitment season, if not more than they did in 2009-10, there are bound to be fireworks at the engineering colleges.“We have never seen such largescale recruitment. This are clearly the highest levels that I have seen in the past 10 years of campus,” a recruitment watcher said.
    Placement officers and institutional administrators in Tamil Nadu too are upbeat that IT majors have revised manpower projections for the coming year. “This is fantastic news. I am excited at this (revised HR projections). This is something that must keep not just placement officers, students, job seekers and job providers happy,” says Jayakumar, former deputy registrar (placements and training) at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.However, pay packages might not witness any significant uptick despite the surge in recruitments. An entry level engineer is likely to get Rs 3 to Rs 3.25 lakh as a starting offer, while a post-grad engineer may get an additional Rs 20,000. Also, like professor S Gowri, registrar of Anna University of Technology, to which over 150 engineering colleges are affiliated, says while
it is appreciable that the job market is looking up, much would depend on the kind of jobs being offered.

Source: The Times of India dt 16.11.10
    

University Glorifying 'SATI' by allowing sati Temple in its Campus

All wrong-doing arises because of mind. If mind is transformed can wrong-doing remain?
Buddha

Sati temple in Haryana university. 


A sati temple on university campus! And people actually go there to worship after being granted permission by authorities of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University (CCSHAU) at Hisar.
    The temple, symbolizing the now obsolete practice of burning of a woman on her husband’s pyre, is said to have been in existence before the construction of the university. However, the varsity allowed the family to use the approach path to the temple on certain conditions about a decade ago.

    In a reply under the RTI Act to Subhash, state convener of Haryana Soochna Adhikar Manch, the varsity authorities said the temple complex, spread over approximately 300 square yards, existed prior to the transfer of land to the university. They admitted that on a written request from a Hisar-based family, they allowed the use of a pathway leading to the temple.

    But the varsity put three conditions for the family to use the path – no addition/alterations or additional construction of any kind will be allowed in the area; permission to use the approach path will not entitle the family to any right of ownership and that the area earmarked for the temple as per revenue record ‘300 sq yards’ will continue as such without any encroachment.
    In 2004, the family again approached the vice-chancellor for permission to fix stones on the chabutara but he turned down their request.

    The family members regularly perform puja and other rituals at the temple. The ‘mundan sanskar’ (first hair cutting ceremony) of every male child of the family is performed at this temple, varsity officials said.
    Subhash said it’s shocking that a sati temple exists in a temple of learning. “The grant of permission to use the pathway to perform pooja and other rituals raises a serious question,” he added.

Source: The Times of India dt 16.11.10 

Corruption at all level of Govt service-from Councillor to Minister and Peon to Collector.

All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.
Buddha

Tata reference to bribe demand creates furore

 TV reports on Monday quoting Ratan Tata saying that an unnamed aviation minister had asked him for a bribe — more than a decade ago — to clear his airline proposal raised a storm on Monday with former aviation minister C M Ibrahim bristling over the allegation and threatening to commit suicide unless Tata named the minister. The Tata group clarified later in the evening that the industrialist had not said he had been asked for a bribe.
    To a question on corruption during an interaction in Dehradun, where he was keynote speaker for Uttrakhand’s foundation day, Tata said his plans to float an airline jointly with Singapore Airlines fell through because he refused to pay for getting clearances.
    “I happened to be on a flight once, a fellow industrialist (was) sitting on a seat next to me and he said, ‘You know I don’t understand, you people are very stupid. You know that the minister wants 15 crore of rupees, why don’t you just pay, you want the airlines’. I said, ‘You will never
understand this; I just want to go to bed at night knowing that I haven’t got the airline by paying for it’,” Tata said in reply to a question on corruption in government.
    He added how, even after approaching three prime ministers, “an individual thwarted our efforts to form the airline”. Tata refused to throw any more light on his remark.
    In its clarification denying Tata had been asked for a bribe, the Tata group said it was the fellow industrialist’s view point.
 
Tata group denies bribe reports
Mumbai/Dehradun: Following reports on Monday that an unnamed aviation minister had asked Ratan Tata for a bribe, the Tata group went on a damage-control mode.
    In its clarification denying Tata had been asked for a bribe, the Tata group said it was the fellow industrialist’s view point. “Mr Tata in no way was in agreement to the fact that he was asked for bribe by any minister,” it added.
    But the initial TV and news website reports saying Tata had been asked for a bribe — before the clarification was issued — evoked an angry reaction from Ibrahim, who was aviation minister from May 1997 for less than a year. “Tata
should name the minister, or I will commit suicide,” Ibrahim told a news channel. Ibrahim clarified that he did stop the Tata-Singapore Airlines project in the interest of the nation.
    But speculation was rife in Delhi and Mumbai that Tata could have been referring to
one of two other aviation ministers, BJP’s Pramod Mahajan
or JD(U)’s Sharad Yadav.

    In an earlier interview, when he was civil aviation minister, Ibrahim was quoted as saying, “I am against airlines of another country coming and operating in our domestic circuit. No western country allows a foreign airline to take over a domestic circuit. Even Singapore Airlines does not have foreign investment. Why should I al
low Singapore Airlines into my country?”
In the same interview, he
said, “He (Ratan Tata) came to see me and I told him, ‘I admire your family but why do you need to bring in Singapore? Do it yourself.’ I told Ratan Tata, ‘Basically you are an Indian first and a businessman next. Don’t forget that...’ I think, I have convinced him.”
    Even in early 2000, when the government put Air India
on the divestment roster, the Tatas had joined hands with Singapore Airlines to bid for it. However, the privatisation plan was called off due to stiff political opposition.
    Singapore Airlines, whose association with the Tata group goes back a long way, starting with software, had sought a 40% stake in Air India, the Indian airline which was originally owned by the Tatas and was later nationalised.
    The group set up Tata Aviation Service on October 15, 1932, with the Puss Moth plane taking off from Karachi to Mumbai. However, post-Independence, the group formed a joint venture with the government and in 1953, Tata Airline was nationalized and it became Air India.

    Interestingly, the Tata group has a presence in many businesses allied to aviation, such as airports, air charter services, flight air catering, an equity interest in Spice Jet, other than the fact that Tata himself is fond of flying. A trained pilot, even after his retirement in 2012, Tata hopes to pursue his interest in flying.
Source: The Times of India dt 16.11.10

Saturday, November 13, 2010

(உட்)சாதி மாயை!

" உலகில் தோன்றிய அனைத்தும் மாற்றத்திற்கு உட்பட்டவை! : மாற்றம் மட்டுமே மாற்றத்திற்கு உட்பட்டவை அல்ல !!"- பகவான் புத்தர் .
தலித் மக்கள் மீது இந்துக்கள் திணித்துள்ள ஜாதியையும் -
 ஜாதிய அடையாளங்களையும் முற்றாக ஒழித்துக் கட்டாமல்,
 அவற்றை வளர்த்தெடுத்தால், அது எத்தகைய ஆபத்தான 
நிலைக்கு நம்மை இட்டுச் செல்லும் என்பதற்கு - விருதுநகர்
 மாவட்டத்தில் உள்ள வத்திராயிருப்பு புதுப்பட்டி ஓர் 
எடுத்துக்காட்டு. கடந்த இரு மாதங்களாக, இங்குள்ள
 இரு பட்டியல் சாதியினரிடையே நடைபெற்று வரும்
 மோதல்களைத் தொடர்ந்து, இரு தரப்பிலும் 
ஒருவர் வெட்டிக் கொல்லப்பட்டுள்ளனர். இது, இந்த
 மாவட்டத்தில் மட்டுமே தொடர்ந்து நடைபெற்று வரும்
 தனித்ததொரு பிரச்சினை என்றாலும், தேர்தல் நெருங்கும்
 தருணத்தில் இதுபோன்ற அருவெறுப்புகள், பிற இடங்களுக்கும்
 பரவும் பேராபத்து இருக்கிறது.
கடந்த இருபது ஆண்டுகளாக, இப்பகுதி மக்களிடையே
 நீடித்துவரும் பகைமைக்கு, உட்சாதி முரண்பாடுகளைத் தவிர,
 வேறு எந்த காரணமும் இருப்பதாகக் கண்டறிய
 முடியவில்லை. இம்முரண்களைத் தீர்க்கவும்,
 நல்லுறவை வளர்த்தெடுத்து, ஒற்றுமையைப்
 பேணியிருக்கவும் வேண்டிய இரு முக்கிய தலித் கட்சிகளின்
 அலட்சியம் - இம்முரணை மேலும் கூர்மையாக்கியுள்ளது.
 அது மட்டுமல்ல, இத்தகைய பிரிவினைகளே இவர்களுடைய
 கட்சிகளை வளர்க்கும் மூலதனமாகவும் இருக்கின்றன!
 இவ்வரலாற்றுக் குற்றத்தை பிற கட்சிகள், அமைப்புகள்,
 அறிவுஜீவிகள் என அனைவரும் வேடிக்கை
 பார்த்துக் கொண்டிருக்கின்றனர்.
சாதிய சமூக அமைப்புக்கு எதிராகத் திரண்டெழுந்து 
போராடுவது நம் லட்சியமாக இருந்திருக்குமானால்,
 இத்தகைய மோதல்களுக்கும், அதற்கு வழிவகுக்கும்
 உட்சாதி புனைவுகளுக்கும் எந்த முகாந்திரமும்
 இருந்திருக்காது. அம்பேத்கரியத்தை உள்வாங்கிக் கொள்ளாத 
அறிவு ஜீவிகள், அரைகுறை அறிவாளிகள், மற்றவர்களின் 
உட்சாதியை காரணமாக்கியே தங்களுடைய உட்சாதி
 உணர்வை நியாயப்படுத்திக் கொள்ளும் அமைப்புகள்/
செயல்வீரர்கள், இவர்களுக்கான தத்துவங்களை
 உருவாக்கிவரும் விளிம்புநிலை "வரலாற்று ஆய்வாளர்'கள்
 ஆகியோரே இச்சிக்கலை மோதலாக வளர்த்தெடுத்த
 காரணிகள். இத்தகைய மோதல்களைத் தடுக்க, உட்சாதி 
வீரர்கள் என்ன தீர்வை வைத்திருக்கிறார்கள்? "உட்சாதி
 பிரிவுகளும் அமைப்புகளும் இருக்கலாம்; ஆனால் 
ஒருவருக்கொருவர் மோதிக் கொள்ளக் கூடாது' என்ற
 கடைந்தெடுத்த அயேõக்கியத்தனத்தைதான் இவர்களால்
 தீர்வாக சொல்ல முடிகிறது!
வர்ணாசிரமம் பொய் என்பது எந்தளவுக்கு உண்மையோ, 
அந்தளவுக்கு சாதியும்/உட்சாதியும் பொய். இதன் மீது
 கட்டப்படும் எத்தகைய அடித்தட்டு வீரக் கதையாடல்களும்
 பொய்யாகவே இருக்க முடியும்.
 சாதியவாதிகளுக்கும் உட்சாதியவாதிகளுக்கும் எந்த
 வேறுபாடும் இல்லை. தலித், அருந்ததியர் எனப் பிரித்து
 செயல்படும் மார்க்சிஸ்டுகளுக்கும் இப்பிரச்சினை ஒரு பாடம்.
 உட்சாதிப் பெருமைகளால் அருந்ததியர்களும், புதிரை 
வண்ணார்களும் பலியாக்கப்படுகிறார்கள் என்கிற
 உண்மைகூடவா இவர்களுக்கு உறைக்கவில்லை?
பன்னூற்றாண்டுகளாக நம்மை ஒடுக்கி, நம்மீதான
 இழிவுகளுக்கெல்லாம் மூலகாரணமாக இருக்கும்
 சாதியத்திற்கும், சாதி அடையாளங்களுக்கும் முற்றிலும்
 எதிரான, ஒரு பொது அடையாளத்திற்குள் தலித்துகள்
 அணியமாவதை எது தடுக்கிறது? சாதி அடையாளத்தை 
சுமக்க வேண்டும் என்று வலியுறுத்துகின்றவர்களின் இலக்கு 
என்ன? சாதி இந்துக்களுக்கு வேண்டுமானால்,
 இழிவான சாதி அடையாளங்கள் பெருமையாக
 இருக்கலாம். அதேபோன்ற அடையாளங்களை
 நம்மீது வரித்துக் கொள்வது (சமஸ்கிருதமயமாக்கல்),
 நம்மை இந்து புதைகுழிக்குள் வீழ்த்தி, கொல்லும் சதித் 
திட்டமேயன்றி வேறென்ன?
பிறப்பின் அடிப்படையில் சமத்துவத்தை மறுக்கும்
 ஜனநாயகமற்ற ஒரு நிறுவனமே சாதி அமைப்பு. 
இதற்கு அங்கீகாரம் வழங்கி, ஆதிக்கம் செலுத்தும்
 சுரண்டல் அமைப்புக்குப் பெயர்தான் இந்து மதம்.
 காலங்காலமாக இடஒதுக்கீடு கேட்டும், 
தங்கள் மீதான வன்கொடுமைகளை எதிர்த்தும்,
 அரசியல் அதிகாரத்திற்காகவும், பொருளியல்
 முன்னேற்றங்களுக்கும் குரல் கொடுக்கக்கூடிய
 தலித் அமைப்புகள் - இன்றளவும் நம்முடைய 
கேடுகளுக்கெல்லாம் அடிப்படைக் காரணமாக இருக்கும்
 இந்து மதத்தை கேள்வி கேட்கவோ, அதை
 மறுதலிக்கவோ முன்வரவில்லை என்பது ஒரு
 சமூகக் குற்றம். தலித்துகள் இதிலிருந்து விடுதலை 
பெறுவது தான் அம்பேத்கரியப் புரட்சி. இந்து அடிமைகளாக
 இருந்து கொண்டு சுகம் காண்பதும், உரிமைகளைக்
 கோருவதும் எதிர்ப்புரட்சி.
இப்பிரச்சினையைத் தீர்ப்பதற்கு முன்னுரிமை
 அளித்து - அம்பேத்கரியவாதிகள், அறிவு ஜீவிகள், 
பத்திரிகையாளர்கள், சமூக நீதி சிந்தனையாளர்கள்
 ஒரு குழுவாக இப்பகுதிகளுக்கு சென்று தீவிரப்
 பிரச்சாரத்தை முன்னெடுக்க வேண்டும். அம்பேத்கர்
 நூற்றாண்டு விழா கொண்டாட்டங்களுக்குப் பிறகு
 தலித்துகளிடையே உருவான எழுச்சியும் 
உத்வேகமும், 20 ஆண்டுகளிலேயே திசைமாறி, 
அதிலும் குறிப்பாக அம்பேத்கர் சிலையையொட்டியே
 சர்ச்சை உருவாகும் எனில் (வத்திராயிருப்பு 
புதுப்பட்டியில் உள்ள அம்பேத்கர்
 சிலையே அரசியலாக்கப்பட்டிருக்கிறது), இதைவிட
 பெரிய துரோகத்தை யாரும் அவருக்கு செய்துவிட முடியாது.
 தலித் முரசு ஆசிரியர் குழு வியாழன், 14 அக்டோபர் 2010 
நன்றி -கீற்று வலைதளம்

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Lone dalit family braves harassment


Continues To Live In Thanjavur’s Pattukottai Town Despite Social Boycott 
Wall of Hatred-A structure under construction in front of Murugan's House in Pattukottai Town
              O Murugan has been a resident in Bharati Nagar of the Pattukottai municipality for 20 years. Unfortunately, Murugan’s is the only dalit family in the town in Thanjavur district.
   The non-dalits don’t want a dalit living among them. They first asked him to vacate the house, threatened him and then started dumping garbage on his premises. Murugan didn’t react. With his wife and three children, he tried to survive, inhaling the foul smell emanating from the garbage every day. A huge trunk of a tree was soon placed at the entrance to his house. A ‘social boycott’ followed. Of late, the entrance to his house has been blocked under the guise of road-widening.
   “The non-dalits don’t want a dalit living in their area. They have been torturing the family for quite a long time. They want him to leave the house which he got from his parents. The family is even facing a social boycott. Nobody will give him a job, and he has to go out of the village for earning his living. They even placed a garbage bin in front of his house, which was later removed with the help of the police,” says Satha Sivakumar, president of the TN Adidravida Munnetra Kazhagam, an organization which fights for the dalit rights and issues in Pattukottai.
   Murugan, 35, has three children, of which the youngest is suffering from stunted growth. “Due to the social boycott, my husband has to go to Thanjavur to find a job. Since the town is 48 km from here, he comes back only in the midnight and leaves early in the morning. Although we filed a case in the Pattukottai police station, the harassment still continues. Of late, they have blocked the entrance to our house by erecting concrete walls in the guise of road-widening,” says Murugesi, wife of Murugan.
   The issue, according to the police, is not new. “Four months ago, we had picked up a group of non-dalit youth for threatening Murugan. A case was also filed against them. When Murugan filed another case to remove the garbage bin, we took action immediately. The bin was removed. But we have limitations in solving the recent issue because it comes under the municipality. Yet, we have advised the authority concerned not to block his entrance,” says Pattukottai deputy SP N Narayanaswami.
   Councillor K B Mohan of Pattukottai municipality, however, sees a political motive behind the harassment. “The non-dalits are troubling him for quite a long time. The DMK has majority in the municipality. Since Murugan is an AIADMK supporter, the chairperson won’t support him,” he says. What does the chairperson say? “We don’t want to create any trouble to anyone. This is done as part of the roadwidening. I don’t know about the other issues,” says Priya Ilango, chairperson of the municipality. “It is immaterial which party Murugan belongs to, what he needs is the right to live freely and comfortably without fear,” Sivakumar said.-
   mt.saju@timesgroup.com 
Soource: The Times of India Dt.4-11-10
 

CM evicted poor and housed rich: Medha

"Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind".
Buddha


 The curse of the poor has struck chief minister Ashok Chavan, social activist Medha Patkar said on Wednesday, referring to the demolition of slum colonies by his government.
   Recounting the blatant violations by the neta-babu clique in the Adarsh housing scam, Patkar said that these very people were ruthless when it came to slumdwellers. The women of Mandala slums in Trombay had sent a housing proposal to the CM but he had no time to look at it, she said at a rally organised by the National Alliance for Peoples Movements (NAPM) at Azad Maidan on Wednesday.
   We were looked upon with contempt whenever we went to Mantralaya for housing rights for slumdwellers. Chavan would not spare even two minutes for us, Patkar said. She said that the Urban Land Ceiling Act had been repealed despite the fact that a handful of people own 30,000 acres in Mumbai. Cant the government acquire a fraction of this land to house the poor? she asked.
   When slumdwellers living by the sea are evicted because they are in the coastal regulation zone, how come Adarsh housing society was permitted in the same zone?, Medha said, adding that the law was used selectively to deprive the poor of their basic right to housing. If roadside hawkers are called encroachers, what do you call officials who reduced a 60-metre road to 18 metres to facilitate Adarsh housing society? she said.
   The NAPM has written to Union ministers Pranab Mukherjee and A K Antony, reminding them how the Maharashtra government suppressed the truth right from 2008, when the NAPM had complained about irregularities in Adarsh housing society. The NAPM had got details about the society using the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Source: The Times India dt 4-11-10

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Cognizant's Combined Campus Freshers Recruitment Drive








you have the passion to make a difference - the passion to build stronger businesses for organizations around the world? Cognizant offers career opportunities that are as dynamic as the marketplace. You'll experience a series of engaging assignments and challenging projects, and work in a fast-paced environment. It's your chance to be a part of a vibrant business community.    Currently we have openings for IT (2010 & 2011 batch), ITIS (2009 & 2010 batch) and BPO (2009 & 2010 batch).    Combined Campus Recruitment - INDIA  
Eligibility Criteria for IT: Open only to the students with following degrees Category 1: BE / B Tech / ME / M Tech / MCA / M Sc (Computer Science / IT / Software Engg) Category 2: B Sc / BCA / M Sc (except Computer Science / IT / Software Engg) Year of graduation: 2010 or 2011  batch only Consistent First Class (over 60%) in X, XII, UG and PG (if applicable) No outstanding arrears Candidates with degrees through correspondence/ part-time courses are not eligible to apply Good interpersonal, analytical and communication skills Eligibility Criteria for IT IS: Open only to the students with following degrees
BSC - Computer Science/Computer Technology/ IT /Maths/Statistics/Electronics and BCA MSC - Maths/Statistics/Electronics Year of graduation: 2009  or 2010  batch only Consistent First Class (over 60%) in X, XII, and UG Candidates holding correspondence or part time degrees are not eligible to apply Good interpersonal and excellent communication skills Willingness to work in shifts (including night shifts) Willing to work at any Cognizant location across India Eligibility Criteria for BPO: Any Arts & Science graduate except BSC – IT/CS, Electronics, Maths & Statistics
Hotel Management & MBA graduates are also eligible Year of Graduation: 2009  or 2010  batch only Consistency of 50% in X, XII, and UG Good verbal and excellent communication skills Willingness to work in shifts (including night shifts) Cognizant's Combined Campus Freshers Recruitment DriveAptitude InstructionsCognizant will be conducting aptitude tests separately to select IT, IT IS and BPO freshers and you can apply on this website to attend the test. Please read the instructions below to understand the process and eligibility criteria.Aptitude TestYou will be required to appear for an aptitude test. This will be a test to assess your logical, analytical and reasoning abilities.

The venue and the time slot will be communicated to you through the hall ticket

Please bring the following documents with you for the test: Original Academic certificates only for Std. X, XII, Graduation and Post Graduation (if applicable) Valid photo Identity Card (Driving License/Valid Passport/Voters ID/Letter from a gazetted Officer/College Authorities on an official letterhead with your photo attached therein with the sign and seal of the certifying authority affixed half across the sheet and continuing on to the photograph) Hall tickets can be printed online upon successful submission of the details.

If the details in the hall ticket are incomplete (10th std certificate number, degree, branch) you may not be allowed to take the test.
If you do not carry the relevant documents mentioned above you WILL NOT be allowed to take the test. Application Form Please read the following instructions carefully before filling the form: You can select only 1 job type: IT or IT IS or BPO. Please enter only one email ID which will be you primary address. Please enter full name of your College (if it does not appear in the list) and the University.
IT Aptitude Tests for IT will be held only in Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Pune, Bangalore and Kolkata. Hence, please select the location accordingly. Mode of Education should be Full-time ONLY. Std XII fields are optional only for those who have completed a Diploma. If you have pursued an engineering degree after your diploma (lateral entry into the second year), kindly enter the first two semester / year percentages as zero.
IT IS Aptitude Tests for IT IS will be held only in Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Hence, please select the location accordingly. Mode of Education should be Full-time ONLY.
BPO Aptitude Tests for BPO will be held only in Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai. Hence, please select the location accordingly. For Diploma students, Std XII fields are mandatory while Graduation details are optional.
Select preferred Job Type IT ITIS BPO Choice of Test Center --Select-- Bangalore Chennai Coimbatore Hyderabad Kerala Kolkata Mumbai Pune Shreds   *

For further details please visit: https://careers.cognizant.com/OffCampus/OffCampus.aspx

Fencing Culture-Divides People

"In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then beleive them to be true".
Buddha

Barbed-wire fencing erected around narikorava colony near Harur

 P. Dilli Babu, CPI (M) MLA (third from right), arguing with Village Administrative Officer in Pachinampatti on Sunday.
A barbed-wire fencing has been erected by a Village Administrative Officer around a narikorava colony in Pachinampatti village in H. Thottampatti panchayat near Harur in Dharmapuri district thereby denying them access to a nearby burial ground, according to Dilli Babu, a Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA.
After visiting the colony, Mr. Babu told TheHindu here on Sunday that the fence had been erected by the VAO to protect his land. He said about 28 narikorava families had been given house site pattas in the survey number 27/2 in the village by the district administration in 2000.
Petitions
Several petitions had been submitted to the district administration and police authorities in this regard but to no avail.
Appeal to Collector
In a petition to the Collector, Mr. Babu appealed to him to intervene and remove the fence and ensure that the narikoravas lived with self-respect.
When contacted, the VAO told TheHindu that the fence was put up to protect his land.
Case pending
before court
A case was pending in a court, he said adding that he was seeking patta for the land on which he had built a house in Survey No. 78/1 in the village.
The Hindu dt 08.11.10
******************************************************************************
Songs for the departed
'Marana Gaana' Viji is Chennai's most-sought after death song singer. Tune in to his stoic tale 

Living in proximity with death has sculpted this intriguing man. A physically challenged boy forsaken to the streets by parents and society, he eventually found home in a cemetery, scrapping out a meagre sustenance by recycling the robes and the metallic remains from cremated bodies. And now, he's famous for his power-packed singing and his book ‘Naan sanditha maranangal' (The deaths I have encountered). Meet Marana Gaana Viji, Chennai's most sought after ‘death song' or ‘marana gaana' singer.Now, Viji has even composed a marathon death song with 183 major sections running into hundreds of lines, which he sings extempore for sometimes as many as nine hours at a stretch. And not to forget, besides the book, he has also written two plays. Plans are also afoot to translate his death songs into English. Viji has even had a documentary film made on him and his art by V. Ramu, a veteran in theatre for over two decades, and has been the subject of a research project.Soaked in philosophyViji's songs come soaked in philosophical concepts and anecdotes. They are unique, because he combines the Chennai gaana (a rap-like, catchy folksong genre unique to Chennai's Tamil dialect), with metaphysical concepts. “Consciously or unconsciously, whatever I compose turn out to be about death,” says Viji, who is inseparable from his heavy metal chain with a skull pendant and black clothes, and the thapattai (drum), sanku (shell) and dol (a circular metal sheet) that he plays as accompaniments to his songs.Living in cemeteries, for he had no other place to stay, the concept of death made a huge impact on the boy's fertile mind, and he easily picked up the songs he heard there. And at 14, he sang at a young boy's funeral. “The mother broke down. Later, she offered me some rice. That was the first thing I earned from my songs”, says Viji. Veteran gaana singer Aayiram Vilakku Selvam influenced him as well, and one day, Viji gathered the courage to request him to teach him. Sometime later, N. Muthuswamy, the founder of Koothu-p-pattarai, would hear his songs on the sands of the Marina, and invite Viji into their group. This is why this formally uneducated man now speaks chaste Tamil.It is incredible that Viji radiates humaneness, despite the inhumane indignities he has endured in life. Once, a young Viji had been starving for two days, and saw some leftover food lying around. He crawled towards it, but a dog ensured he was denied even that. “That day, I made up my mind to stay alive to tell someone about all the sorrow in the world,” he says. As a nameless orphan, he came to be called Viji only because a prostitute by that name found him begging on the sands of the Marina, and took him under her care for a few months. “She succumbed to AIDS soon after that, and I was abandoned again.”“Like many other orphans in the city, I took to manual scavenging . My fellow scavengers were very kind to me, and share their food with me,” he recalls.Did you think death songs are macabre? Sounds ironic, but they are not morbid at all. These songs speak of the fragility of life. They make you understand and appreciate life — while it lasts.HEMA VIJAY The Hindu dt 09.11.10 

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Atrocities on Dalits continues despite awareness, refusal of police to register such cases under Prevention of atrocities act 1989 reduces the No of cases committed against SC/STs.

Ambition is like love, impatient both of delays and rivals.
Buddha

 Conviction rate poor under SC & ST Act: official document
 Over a thousand cases are being booked every year under SC & ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, but the conviction rate was poor as the affected turned hostile at the time of trial or reached a compromise with the accused after obtaining monetary relief.
An official document presented to the State-level vigilance and monitoring committee presided by Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Wednesday has also revealed the areas prone to caste atrocities in the State based on the number of pending cases at courts.
Over 1,000 cases were filed under the SC & ST Prevention of Atrocities Act every year according to statistics available from 2005.
Verbal abuse
Of this 90 per cent were booked on charges of verbal abuse on caste lines. As the trial process involved 13 stages in courts and as it takes one month to cross each stage, there were chances of witnesses forgetting the events, officials reasoned.
One of the major reasons for the poor rate of conviction was that the affected often turned hostile. The affected make a compromise with the accused as charges for verbal abuse were not harsh. Further, the affected turned hostile as 80 per cent of the affected receive monetary relief immediately after charge sheets are filed leading to the release of the accused.
The Government, to its credit, has sanctioned about Rs.1.5 crore as monetary relief to the affected annually from 2006.
The document prepared by the Social Justice and Human Rights Wing of Adi Dravidar Welfare Department has that 2,822 cases were pending at courts and special courts and district-wise data of pending cases has clearly mapped the “hotspots.”
Madurai rural
tops the list
Madurai rural tops the list with 353 cases pending before the courts followed by Sivaganga (310), Tirunelveli (220), Villupuram (220), Virudhunagar (205), Dindigul (158), Thanjavur (136) and Ramanathapuram (131). The Nilgiris is the only district with a single digit (7) number.
Among the cities, Madurai tops with 35 pending cases followed by Chennai (18), Salem (13), Coimbatore (10) and Tiruchi (2).
Surveys done in 2010 have identified 174 villages as atrocity-prone and 295 villages as peaceful.
At the time of the survey, infrastructural needs like roads, street lights, drinking water and access to availability of burial grounds were assessed.
Providing basic amenities to SC and ST Communities has been chosen as the key to reduce caste conflicts in the Government's action plan.
Source: The Hindu dt 4.11.10 

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Political Parties and Social Organization Should demand for reservation in Outsourcing for Govt Jobs! as the outsourcing of Govt Jobs is order of the day!!

The Corporate affairs Ministry is planning to outsource the investigation of 7 Lakhs Registered companies’ accounts as the present 20 registrars of companies could not accomplish the work in time bound manner due to under staffing.  While considering the outsourcing by the ministry it should not forget to include the claims of SC/ST representation in the outsourcing.  The CII has opposing reservation in private sector, but govt outsourcing the work to private, ultimately the representation of the SC/ST in Govt got reduced because of outsourcing, to compensate this the govt should consider for representation of SC/ST in outsourcing by giving preference to the so called specialized chartered accountants firms owned by SC/ST or these firms may be asked to engage the qualified SC/STs in their firms.
            The news media like Financial Express which is enjoying the various concession from Govt for enlightening general public about the happening in corporate sector is advocating for corporate companies by conveniently forgetting that the outsourcing plans of govt will be at the cost of SC/STs reservation in Govt Jobs.  These Media/ paper neither support the reservation in private sector nor oppose the loss of jobs for SC/ST in Govt sector.  This is a sample for intellectual class of India running the news paper by availing various concessions from govt and boasting themselves as fourth pillar of democracy by not bringing the  glaring discrimination against 25% SC/ST population in India!    



Corporate affairs Ministriy plans outsource to probes into Companie’s books
Corporate affairs minister Salman Khurshid In order to expedite investigations into the books of companies, the ministry of corporate affairs is planning to outsource this job to specialised chartered accountant firms, reports Ronojoy Banerjee in New Delhi. Currently, this work is carried out by the Registrars of Companies.
To expedite investigations into the books of accounts of companies, the ministry of corporate affairs is planning to outsource the investigation related work to specialised chartered accountant firms.
Currently, the job is done by the Registrars of Companies (RoCs) but since it is highly understaffed it is unable to carry out probes in a time-bound manner.
The move to outsource the investigations came up for discussion at a meeting in Hyderabad last week where members of the Parliamentary standing committee on finance met the regional directors and RoCs for a stock taking exercise.“ Outsourcing investigation would guarantee the completion of the probe in a time-bound manner,”
a source who attended the meeting told FE.
An MCA official said the ministry was currently finalizing its views on the matter which would then be forwarded to the Parliamentary standing committee headed by the BJP leader and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha. "No decision has been taken yet. It is at a proposal stage at the moment we need to look deeper into the feasibility part of it," the official said.TheMCAofficial added that once the proposal becomes a law, though the investigation related work would be outsourced, the overall control would continue to  remain in the hands of the RoCs.
"Private f firms have developed a sound net work. A model wherein they join hands with he government would be beneficial to both," the source said. Currently, there are about 20 RoCs spread across the country that look into affairs of over 7 lakh registered companies in India.
The RoCs are both the repository of company information as well as preliminary investigation bodies that are authorized to look into company books once directed by the MCA as outlined in thesection234of the Companies Act. In September, the Parliamentary standing committee on finance had recommended that the RoC probe should be conducted in a ‘time-bound’ manner. The PSC also suggested that in a bid to strengthen compliance mechanisms the RoCs should conduct a probe into every company’s accounts at least once a year, which has been opposed fiercely by CII.
“The standing committee, through its recommendations, has sought to empower investigative agencies to keep a check on erring corporate houses,” a source said. The PSC has also recommended that statutory powers be given to Serious Fraud Investigation Office, an arm of the MCA. Corporate affairs minister SalmanKhurshidhad earlier said that the Companies Bill, 2009 should be tabled in Parliament in the Winter Session.
Source: The Financial Express dt 01.11.2010
Limits to Outsourcing /RoCs can't outsource their governance function
On the face of things, the corporate affairs ministry's reported plans to begin outsourcing investigation-related work to CA firms seems a good idea--the idea was discussed during a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee in Hyderabad with various regional directors and registrars of companies (RoCs). With 20 RoCs across the country to look into the affairs of 7 lakh registered companies, the task is a mammoth one and there is no way, as the parliamentary committee wanted, the RoC can probe every company's accounts once a year. It is in this context that the move to outsource some basic investigative work into account has been suggested.
But that said, several things need to be kept in mind. For one, if an audit is outsourced as it was in the case of telecom firms, and the name of the company is leaked, this causes its own set of problems--one of these audit firms complained it was being harassed by the company whose accounts it audited. Also, keep in mind that all these firms already have audited accounts--so what's being done is to ask another one of the same tribe to do the same audit again. Surprise checks and cross-checks can be a good idea, though industry would say it puts an unjustified burden on the audited firms, but the onus of making it work is on the corporate affairs ministry ­ you can get temporary policemen on hire, but it the job of the policing agency to make them work according to its standards. In any case, it is useful to keep the old 80:20 rule in mind: 20% of the companies account for 80% of the revenues. So why not concentrate on them? And, most important, when a company has been selected, do the audit fast and make the punishment equally fast--how many companies can you think of that have been caught by the RoCs and had the book really thrown at them? That, more than anything else, will ensure the other firms start behaving themselves.
Source: The Finanacial Express dt 02.11.10

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Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Book Review- What drives the Dalits to Christianity?

All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.
Buddha 

DALIT THEOLOGY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Discordant Voices, Discerning Pathways: Edited by Sathianathan Clarke, Deenbandhu Manchala, Philip Vinod Peacock; Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi-110001. Rs. 745.
Although Christian missionaries of various denominations have been active in India for several centuries, the 1941 Census placed the number of Christians in colonial India at just 1.6 per cent of the population. This clearly indicates that the main objective of the British rulers was colonial domination and economic exploitation, not religious conversion.
According to the 2001 Census, Christians constituted 2.3 per cent of India's population. This rise of 0.7 percentage point in their numbers over six decades has been a matter of debate. Starting with the Niyogi Commission (1956) down to a Supreme Court's 1977 ruling, conversion has been a highly contentious issue, sometimes inviting frowns from officialdom and the judiciary. Hence the interest in the question whether the Dalit converts to Christianity have indeed been seduced by proselytising missionaries to “change Gods.”
Urban artisans and people in the lower middle class have generally turned against their established faiths throughout history. Urbanisation gave these people a “greater access to religious preachers, to literacy, to education and books, to a great variety of personal relations, and to greater riches of urban culture,” says David Lorenzen in his introduction to Bhakti Religion in North India: Community Identity and Political Action (1995). A distinct feature of the Dalits who embraced Christianity is that a vast majority of them are from the poorest sections in villages, not urbanites.
According to John Webster ( Religion and Dalit Liberation:1999), changing the religion is one of the ‘strategies' the Dalit communities adopted in their struggle to secure social justice and equality. The other four were: acquiring political power; securing as much independence as possible from the dominant castes; initiating reformist measures to reduce prejudices among themselves; and deploying cultural modes of communication, like literature and theatre, for conscientisation. Dalit theology has grown out of this practice of changing religion. We have Christological reflections in M.E. Prabhakar-edited Toward a Dalit Theology (1989), and methodological formulations in Arvind Nirmal's Reader in Dalit Theology (1992), and biblical reinterpretations in V. Devashyam's Frontiers of Dalit Theology (1997).
This book presents, in three parts, 16 well-researched essays on different themes by theologians and teachers and is a mine of profound concepts and serious ideas on ecumenical social thought, myths of Dalit origins, and so on. Does the ‘Dalit Theology' have anything to do with ‘Liberation Theology'? Sadly, the points of convergence/divergence between the Dalit Theology and the South American Liberation Theology are not discussed in this book. One of the reasons could be that Sathianathan Clarke, an editor of this volume, has already authored a tome on the subject titled Dalits and Christianity: Subaltern Religion and Liberation Theology in India (1998). Yet, the omission is a real shortcoming.
From Punjab to Tamil Nadu, there have been a lot of conversions for well over a century. What leads the Dalits to Christianity? Does anything change for the better after conversion? It emerges that, despite conversion, the Dalit Christians continue to be denied “land, water and dignity.” And the women among them have to bear the double cross of ‘lowest caste' and ‘womanhood.' Sujatha, a woman tricked into unwed motherhood, is told: “The palm leaf is torn, whether it falls on a thorn or a thorn falls on it.”
The relevance of the book stands enhanced in the context of the spate of violent attacks by the Hindutva forces as a backlash to religious conversions in recent years. The worst of these were witnessed in 2007 and 2008 in Kandhamal (Orissa), the target being the meek Dalit Christians from the Pana caste. Dalit conversions are not a calamity but they throw up situations of “slippery identities and shrewd identifications,” say Clarke and Peacock epigrammatically.
Source: The Hindu dt 02.11.2010