You travel all way round from Howrah to Delhi and you are just 10 minutes away from your destination. But, at TilakBridge you get stuck for half an hour due to the congestion of rail route ! Does this sound familiar? This situation mayprobably no longer trouble you. New Delhi railway station is upgrading its existing facilities.
“New Delhi railway station has added 600 routes to the earlier 690 routes at northern railway”, says Mr. Rajiv Saksena, chief director of public relation, northern railway. “It is a part of our route relay interlocking (RRI system ) upgradation plan which we have already started working on. We have installed a new RRI system for New Delhi railway station that replaced the previous British modeled RRI system”, says Mr. Saksena.
RRI has been installed in all the major stations and junctions in India. According to this system, train on a particular route recieves signals for its acceleration which is controlled by closest power station of RRI system. A.S. Nagi, public relation officer of northern railway says, “The upgraded power station of northern railwayis located in between Sadar Bazaar and New Delhi Station. Herein, operators sit and give signals to trains about the occupied and unoccupied tracks. There lies a clear layout in front of them which helps them to forsee train’s arrival and departure”.
Meanwhile, the question arises that how travellers at northern route are set to reap the benefits of the upgradation . “Incorporation of this remodeling of New Delhi Railway station plan has enhanced the train handling capacity of the Station by 33%. New Delhi station can receive more trains than ever before”,says Mr. Rajiv Saksena.
Despite this enhancement process, delay in train depurture from New Delhi station is common place. People claim to wait for two to four hours. In this regard, Mr. Nagi explains : “Chain pulling, road mishap, bridge constructions etc are the reasons for delay.Our teritory of working under new RRI system is from TilakBridge, New Delhito Sadar Bazar. When one train is late due to delayed departure from one station, it obviously affects the other train queing in the line. A train can only accelerate once it gets signal from RRI. Construction of new tracks will provide a solutionin connection to the whole train delay issue”.
Apart fromnew RRI system that has costed Indian Railway Rs 27crore, New Delhi station has something more for the passengers.“There will be four more island platforms as a part of our enhancement programme in order to handle the increasing four lakh passengers in the peak seasons”, says railway officials.
“There is a construction work of 80,000 square feet station building going on at Ajmeri gate. It will have more AC waiting room, plasma TV, touch screen enquiry system and also AC ticketing area”, says Mr. Saksena .
However, not every one is satisfied with the services provided by the Northern Railway . Sushant , an MA. student from DelhiUniversity says, “I just don’t know what this upgradation is meant for. Railway stations are always so dirty and fares in Express trains are so high. Withcutting fares, railway can think to serve their best”.
Can you convey an idea in 60 seconds? That is what 60 filmmakers from India, Pakistan and Britain tried to do in 60x60, a project by Motiroti, an international arts organization based in London.
The James Beveridge media resource center of AJK Mass Communication Research Center (JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA) hosted the screening of these 60 one-minute-films on diasporic identity on 29th September for students, filmmakers and academia. The programme called 360 degree Britain- India- Pakistan aims and attempts to depict the cultural spaces between these three countries.
Ms Sabina Gadihoke, faculty of video and television in Mass Communication Research Center opined on the films breaking the pattern of linearity. “The movies offered variety in its thought and conceptualization. Innovatively named as Grey, Me, Winds Have Changed, Benefits of War, and Importance of Bicycles etc. the movies wanted to go beyond the usual,” she said.
“The aim was to take the issues beyond rhetorical debates around identity and culture. The discourse about multiple identities, memories and abstraction were translated by the contributors,” says Ali Zaidi, Artistic Director for Motiroti.com.
According to him, “the film makers wanted to address the issues of cultural hybridity (synthesis) and migration nostalgia primarily”. He further adds the surfacing of new issues hovering around boundaries, nationality and nationhood will push forward the debate concerning culture and ethnicity.
The contributors in this project were a mix of amateurs, artists, filmmakers and students. The usage of animation and graphics for putting across the message caught the attention of students and filmmakers. For Ali Zaidi the approach was to use different narrative techniques, comical dramas and performance based style while giving creative treatments to their works.
Mr. Pawas Bisht, whose film was part of the project, commented on the inclusion of elements in the films. His film about his native village in Uttaranchal saw mixed reactions.
The screening was followed by discussion involving students and filmmakers. The usage of voices and language (melting pot of English, Urdu, and Punjabi) interested many. Ali Zaidi added that the one minute medium was challenging and testing for the filmmakers. “The project jury while selecting the proposals had to go through rigorous contemplation,” he said.
Earlier the movies were shown in the journalism festival of Kamla Nehru College (Delhi University). These screenings will be carried forward in Alhamra Arts Council in Lahore, Pakistan in the coming week.
“Tanushree, my daughter started putting ‘Late’ remark with her father’s name after I got separated with my husband in 1995,” says Swati Pathak, a teacher with Pearl Academy of Fashion. “At that time, even I used to favour her hate for her father. And why not? We both suffered a lot and faced an emotional turmoil.”
In India, a father is considered as the natural guardian of a child. In any application form or document, one has to fill his/her father’s name as guardian. The mother’s name is filled only after the father’s death. But neither Pathak nor her daughter was in favour of such guardianship. “Now the rules have changed a bit,” Pathak adds.
The case of Geeta Hariharan vs Reserve Bank of India is one such case where the petitioner won the case as the bank refused to accept her signature on an application to open relief bonds for her minor son.
Not only this, recently a 19-year-old Mumbai girl also filed a case as she was denied a passport because she refused to write her biological father’s name on the application form.
But what is the legal take on such a case? T V George, a Supreme Court advocate and solicitor explains Section 6 of Hindu Guardian Act. He says that according to the act, father is the natural guardian of a child and after him, the mother. “But under some circumstances the court has given the guardianship to the mother and at times to the grandparents also.” When asked about the gender bias in the law, he added, “A lawyer cannot explain it. It’s a question which needs to be asked in the legislature”
So, how do women deal with this? Pathak says, “the society is biased and I too face such biases but it doesn’t bother me anymore. If ever a male comes to my place people around raise their eyebrows. They doubt you like anything.”
So, it seems like Indian mothers have a long way to go as far as gender equality is concerned. As George says, cases like Hariharan’s need a good fight, “such cases cannot change the law but can make the law flexible to an extent”
Encounter is not an option to tackle with problem of extremism in a civilized society, feel the organisers of Shanti (peace) march held on October 4, 2008 by Sadbhav Mission, a NGO.
Organised in collaboration with Nishant Natya Manch, another NGO, the march started from Lal Quila (Red Fort) at eight in the morning. The participants included 300 students and teachers from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi University (DU) and Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI). Before culminating at Jamia Nagar for a solidarity meeting, the group traveled via ITO, Pragati Maidan, Mathura Road, Ashram and New Friends Colony.
Demanding a judicial enquiry on the Jamia encounter, the participants felt that certain religious communities are defamed. “We want judicial enquiry on the Jamia encounter. Unless the person is proved guilty, he should be provided legal aid,” said Vipin Tripathi, professor at physics department, IIT Delhi and the president of Sadbhav Mission.
Speaking on the fear psychosis created among the minority religious communities, he said, “There is a lot of fear among minorities. We want to change the perception against particular communities in India. We want people to speak out; an entire community can’t be terrorists. We want to break this myth. Innocent people should not become the target.”
Sukhdeep Kaur is a Ph D student and a core member of Sadbhav Group. She feels terrorist do not belong to one particular community. “This issue is the problem of the entire society, not just Hindus or Muslim. I am in this march because I want to spread harmony.”
Another participant, Anmol Ratan is a student of Masters from DelhiUniversity. “When a Christian Nun is raped by Hindu fanatics, he is termed as a fundamentalist. When a Muslim is involved in any criminal activities, he is called a terrorist!This is hypocrisy of worst form,” he laments.
When asked why does a community get branded as terrorist? Anuj Agarwal, sub inspector, IP estate said, “We do not want to stereotype. Coincidently most of the culprits are Muslims. May be that is the reason why many think that way.”
Speaking on the recent encounter at Jamia Nagar, he said, “If we had not killed Atif Ameen, there could have been more bomb blasts. In fact there has been one encounter in the area before.” When pointed out that the victims of the previous encounter were proven innocent, Agarwal did not have a reply. He added, “If public wants a judicial probe, we don’t have any problem.”
As questions continue to be raised on the Jamia encounter by various sections of the society, the police and government still have a lot to answer.
Since heart loves, it should also be taken care of. In this busy world and with changing lifestyles, it seems that somewhere we have been neglecting our heart. Aqsa Anjum finds out why heart care is important and the various ways for keeping our heart healthy . Photo: Jaishree
By: Dipu Shaw Two days after the Nanavati Shah Commission gave a clean cheat to Narendra Modi, Tehelka organized a press conference to publicly deny the claims of the Commission. The Nanavati Commission had submitted the first part of its report on Godhra to Chief Minister Narendra Modi on 18th September, 2008. The report was tabled in the assembly a week later. Tehelka labeled the Nanavati report as “extremely controversial” and called its findings a “manufactured theory”. The magazine which claims to have conducted an exhaustive investigation in 2007 on the Godhra incident, raised questions about the authenticity of the Nanavati Report at a press conference at Women’s Press Club recently. Tarun Tejpal, editor in chief of Tehelka and his team of investigative journalists refuted the Nanavati Report with their sting camera footage, much of which had already been shown in November last year on Aaj Tak. The Nanavati Commission findings state that the burning of the Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002 was “a pre-planned conspiracy, not a spontaneous act of mob fury.” Tarun Tejpal accuses the Godhra police of “staging this conspiracy.” On being asked what could have caused the controversy, the veteran journalist replied that there was tussle over a Muslim girl at the Godhra station that day.
The Tehelka version of the story The Sabarmati Express carrying many karsevaks arrives at the Godhra station at 7.43 am on 27 February, 2002. One or more karsevaks try to abduct a Muslim girl from the platform. This leads to rumours that Muslims have been abducted and taken aboard the train. The feud gets bitter and ends with the burning of coach S-6. When journalists asked how such a huge crowd gathered at the station in such short time and from where they managed the inflammatory material, Tarun Tejpal did not give a satisfactory reply Tehelka had already disputed the Nanavati report that 140 litres of petrol was procured from a local petrol pump to be used for burning the coach. Eyewitnesses Kakul Pathak, media cell convenor of the BJP in Godhra and Murli Mulchandani, the vice-president of the Godhra Municipal Corporation were two of the key eyewitnesses for the police. Tehelka claimed that it caught both of them admitting on camera that they were not even present at the station on the day of the incident. The video that was shown to the media persons in support of this argument was however too unclear. The rest of the videos had the other eyewitnesses saying that they were not present at the scene of the incident. Tarun Tejpal when asked why some of the video footage was out of sync, reasoned that it was captured by hidden cameras and the Tehelka team “only showed what they had investigated”. No response One obvious question from the journalists was whether the investigations were sent to the Nanavati Commission. Harinder Baweja, editor-Investigations of Tehelka informed that they were. Nevertheless, there was no response from the Commission. “We want the Nanavati Commission to relook at its conclusions,” concluded the editor in chief.
Finland has been a successful story in the field of globalization and gender equality. Stuck between two large neighbours – Sweden and Russia, the country has evolved a pragmatic foreign policy. Tarja Halonen, President of Finland, spoke to Kunal Majumder on wide range topics concerning the country.
Education and Trade
We are one of the biggest domestic markets in European Union (EU), which makes us more balanced when taking in consideration the competition with big markets such as the US and China. EU has been a very strong supporter for the global markets. I'll say that's one of the major reasons why we became a part in the big ship.
Finland has always wanted to be good in quality not quantity. We try to be as good as possible. That's why we always focus on education. We also try to be innovative in universities, research institutes and arts. Ours is a democratic system with transparent society and no corruption.
Causes for sustainable development
We are well prepared for the difficulties for the international trade and globalisation. Globalisation is part of the national and international trade and economy. But money is just a resource. Our country has democracy, human law, rights, good governance and no corruption. We are a good example to the other countries around the world. We try to combine two things – one is good development and the other one is the trade market.
But it is not only globalisation that the world is discussing now it is also the climate change. These two are a part of the sustainable development. We cannot teach anything on the sustainable development if we do not think about man and the nature together. Fair globalisation is needed to meet sustainable development.
Both globalisation and ecological changes are happening even if we agree or not. Some of the people might suffer more if we don't find a solution to climate change. There have been energy and food crises. Russia can be very important economically and politically in globalisation as well as sustainable development. Other countries are America, Brazil and Chine. We are ready to work together.
NATO and Finland
We are not planning to be a member of NATO but we are keeping this as an option. Finland, Sweden, Austria and Ireland are good friends with NATO.We are working close with NATO in international operations.
We had difficult historical experiences. We had wars with Sweden and Russia in the history. We were like a forest between Russia and Sweden. We know the good side and the bad side of the military system. Finland has never been the country who has been helped with the war. We have learnt how to struggle with difficulties and looked after ourselves. All this things made us a little bit descriptive; we don't want to get involved in others businesses. But we know we have to work together, Baltic States now know that they need both the east and the west.
Gender equality and politics
The Nordic countries are very good at gender equality. We are open to woman domination even in the families. Everyone has to work hard. But lately women have gained more power all around the world. In the globalised world, you have to be strong, smart and you should have experience.
When you start accepting that you are just a human being, not a man or women. Then the media surprises you. You read many things in the news about yourself. They write more about how the woman looks and more about how the man speaks. In that way it is a little bit more difficult. After the elections I received a lot of letters from women and even little girls. It is nice to know that you are encouraging women. But women also face stereotypes. For example we believe that rights are equal but now we are encouraging men to look after their babies as well, we give one more extra month off work after the baby is born. We now have more women in our parliament just like Spain.
Georgian crises
If I had known how to solve the conflicts I would have got a Nobel Peace Prize by now.
Finland is a member of Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OECE). The Foreign Ministers are there to resolve the problems and I consider us as a luck country to have Alexander Stubb (Finnish foreign minister). Our biggest demand from Russia was to stop shooting people. The other issue is that there are a lot of humanitarian difficulties in the region. International communities can certainly help the people.
Think about Delhi autos and overcharging and misbehaviour may be the first things that come to your mind. But talk to the autowallahs and they have a different story. So, can there be a smooth ride? Neha Sethi and Nazia Jafri reports
Dr Palash Sen is probably one of the first original Indian popstars. His band Euphoria is the only non-filmy band in the country that has four albums to its credit. It’s not just music or singing. A physician by profession, Sen also entered into the tinsel town of Mumbai with Meghna Gulzar’s directorial debut Filhaal. He claims to be brand faithful and believes the brands give the best of fabrics and fits.
What do you generally wear at home? Which are your favourite casual wear brands and why? Which are your favourite jeans brands?
When it comes to casual wear, I love Levis jeans. One of my huge favourite is Gap. I also like Diesel but the problem with these brands is you cannot make out the difference between an original and fake. I’m also a big fan of UCB.
Which is your favourite formalwear attire? Which are the formalwear brands that you admire and why?
I’m not much into formalwear. I have a sporty outlook when it comes to fashion. However, I like shirt and trouser fabrics from Raymond. I think shirts from Park Avenue and Zod are good. Usually for formalwear, I would like to get something stitched by a designer like Nikhil Shantanu.
What do you prefer for footwears – Chappals, slip-ins or shoes? Which are your favourite brands?
Aldo is my favourite. I love it because it is tough yet comfortable. I also like the normal Reebok, Nike and Adidas. I have a Caterpillar shoes which has lasted for years now.
Are you into accessories? Which are your favourite accessory brands?
I always wear a magalshutra and a silver bangle. When it comes to sun glasses, I prefer CK and Police. Tissot is my favourite among watches. I’m a belt guy and prefer the nice cloth belts from USB. For wallets, I like Highdesign.
Recently, I got myself the latest fragrance collections of new Diesel and Boss. I use underarm roll-ons by Bodyshop. It’s so good that I recommend it to everyone.
Which are your favourite innerwear brands?
I use innerwear from Diesel
Which is your favourite shopping store in the country and why?
Being a celebrity, it is difficult to shop in the country. So prefer abroad. Usually I shop wherever I go for my shows.
Which are the foreign brands that you love to see in India?
Most of the brands I like are already here. However, I think its time for the brands to start selling the best quality products in our country. Usually the foreign brands sell poor quality stuffs here in spite of the fact that most of the goods are sourced from India or the neighbouring Bangladesh or China.
Posted By : Saurabh Sharma & Rama Shanker Pandey Photo By : Jaishree
If the blasts on 13th September rocked the capital city, it has shaken the Jamia Millia University too.
The Delhi serial blast has dragged the University in the spotlight. Two of its students, Mohammad Shakil, a final year student of MA Economics and Zia-ur-Rehman, a third-year student of BA (pass) were detained by the Delhi police in connection with the blasts.
This has stirred a mood of apprehension in the University. Most of the students are now feeling alienated and a sense of anger is quite evident. To quell the emotions and worries of the students, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Mushirul Hasan, addressed students at Ansari auditorium.
“For the past 88 years Jamia has faced so many troubles but every time we came up with some solution to it. The reason why we have grown exponentially from ten-twelve students to seventeen thousand students is just because we acted prudently to every challenge that came to us,” he said.
The Vice chancellor requested students not to get carried away with emotions. “This is not the time to get angry instead we all have to sit and talk, to engage in dialogue and to find ways to resolve the problem.”
On behalf of all the students and the faculty, the VC condemned the act of terrorism without any reservations. Adding further on this issue he said, “We feel extremely bad when something happens wrong with our country. But we don’t have to be defensive and keep on clearing our position to anyone. We all are proud to be Indians and we all love our nation and believe in the constitution as any other citizen does. And there is no need to prove our loyalty to anyone.”
He further commented, “For all those who criticize us on baseless issues we can only say that their criticisms will make us more secular, more liberal, and more progressive in our thoughts and deeds.”
He also criticized the media for blowing the issue out of proportion. “Whenever there are positive things happening in the University media never highlights it. But why did Jamia suddenly become the center of interest when nothing has happened in the University. Here everything is normal as it was a few days back,” he said. “This is a University and to keep the sanctity of the university is not only the responsibility of the fraternity here but also of the media. Rather than concentrating on the petty issues media should concentrate on what is happening in Gujarat, Karnataka and Orissa.”
Speaking on the issue of providing legal aid to the two accused students, he explained: “It’s the right of every citizen to get legal assistance. No one is guilty until proven so. Jamia every year spends 40-45 lakhs on court cases. So there is no point in talking of money.”
He urged the students to help him not politicize the issue. “I don’t know politics and don’t want to deal with the politicians. But if the issue gets politicized because of the behavior of the students I will disassociate myself from the fight.”
In the end he asked students to lead a normal life and start preparing for the celebrations of E-id. “I assure you that when you will come back after holidays you will feel the situation is better and everything will return to its normalcy.”
By 
जीत की खुशी
Eid is a good excuse to buy bangles
