Wellness Index
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashchandrabiswas@gmail.com
The government has picked its Special Economic Zones or SEZs. The Navi Mumbai SEZ is deferred, but the Tatas' Gopalpur SEZ and 30 others are through, reports CNBC-TV18.India's fast changing skyline in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and even in smaller towns like Ludhiana and Jalandhar is changing the size of corporate profits.Large order book from both domestic and international projects has kept the capital goods and infrastructure sector on the move.
In one go, Simplex bagged an order of over Rs 1,000 crore, taking the order book to Rs 6,500 crore. Patel Engineering also slipped in a contract of over Rs 518 crore and that's not where it may end. Its all this building up action that's got the PE investor hooked on.
Hyderabad based KMC has got investments worth nearly $60 million with plans to bid for more than 25 airports and an expected turnover of over Rs 400 crore.
So even as experts get a tad worried about infrastructure stocks towering on the BSE, the bulls of the infrastructure boom will not yet turn shy of the growth so long Indian government continues its focus on building India.
Incidents of firing and bomb explosion were reported from Nandigram on Wednesday in a fresh spurt of violence. There was no report of any injury and casualty in the incidents of firing and bomb explosion at Adhikaripara and Satengabari areas, Superintendent of Police G A Srinivas said. He said police personnel at Tekhali Bazar camp were monitoring the situation. Patients recovering from injury caused in the police firing on March 14 at Nandigram were threatened by some armed youth in a ward of SSKM hospital, alleged members of the Trinamool Congress today. The activists informed Ashok Ghosh, the superintendent cum vice-principal of the hospital about the incident.
A day after Forward Bloc leader Ashok Ghosh said he was ready to go to Mamata Banerjee’s house to discuss the Nandigram peace process, the Trinamul Congress leader met the party’s core committee and vowed to continue the agitation in Nandigram and Singur.
Presiding over the meeting in her Kalighat house, Mamata said: “The agitation in Singur will continue until the land forcibly acquired is returned to the owners. Our movement in Nandigram should be intensified.”
Contrarily, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya today said that people of the State are in favour of industrialization and creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs).
Addressing a huge rally here, Bhattacharya referred to the recent victories of his party CPI (M) in Singur by-polls and panchayat elections in Nandigram, to drive home his claim.
He said the verdict showed that contrary to claims by opposition parties, the people were in favour of the Left Front's industrial policy.
Centre holds emergency meet as Gujjar protests spread .The Gujjar community, which is at the centre of the storm, is spread across 15 states in north and west India and is said to comprise more than 10 percent of the country's population.Their population is the highest in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. In states such as Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh they have been given ST status.But in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat they are more involved in agriculture and are categorised as OBCs.In these states the community believes a lion's share of the jobs reserved for OBCs go to other castes like Jats and hence the demand for ST status.A ripple that jolted the CPM boat, but failed to rock and overturn it except in the waters closest to Nandigram. The first elections in Bengal after the political turmoil over the Singur-Nandigram land wars showed the cup of joy half-empty or half-full for Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Mamata Banerjee.But if the results showed no big changes in the state’s political equations, they re-confirmed that the Red rule in villages remained unshaken.
This is nothin g new. incomplete and discriminatary Reservation in different states is an old story. So the santhal and mundas don`t have any reservation in Assam. While dalit Namoshudra and POD Bengali refugees out of Bengal are deprived of reservation. UP and Uttaranchal settled dalit Bengali refugees are fighting for reservation for almost Six decades without any hearing. However, they refarained fro Violence!
At the same time, Undoing injustice is impossible through embracing secularism and liberalism. The aforementioned repression has spread to the international level. Obstruction of justice, denial of basic human rights and marginalisation in every sphere of life has become a global phenomenon for Muslims. Local dictatorship has paled before the tyranny of global dictatorship. And thus needs a global solution, starting with local revolutions against tyranny and injustice.
Unfortunately, time has changed. Muslims have touched the same depth of degradation and humiliation from which they liberated the untouchables not long ago.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi today accused the Gujarat Government of treating the farmers in the state as “criminals”, saying it is not bothered about farmers’ welfare.
Thus, Nandigram and Kaling Nagar are followed by Dausa.
The enslaved rural dalit eighty five percent population of India is at the mercy of Brahminical political parties loyal to US zionist Imperialsm, Hindu rashtra ideology including secular and progrresive marxism Leninism and Post Modern Manusmriti of MNC global Order!Awaiting reports from the Maharashtra Government and developers, the Board of Approval (BoA) deferred decision on Mukesh Ambani-promoted Navi Mumbai SEZ but approved the Tata's Gopalpur SEZ in Orissa.Commerce Secretary and BoA Chairman G K Pillai stated that the government had received a report from the Revenue Department on the Navi Mumbai project, but was awaiting views from the State Government and the developers.
"We wanted to get comments from the developers and the state government on the report of the Revenue Department," Pillai said.
The Revenue Department wanted to know whether arrangements had been made for plugging possible revenue leakages because of a road passing through the zone being promoted by Ambani and his close aide Anand Jain.The 1,173 hectare Gopalpur SEZ, promoted by Tatas in Ganjam district of Orissa, was deferred in September last year as the BoA wanted to ensure that it posed no problem to a security facility nearby.
The ruling Left Front in West Bengal got the first electoral jolt after violent protests over land acquisition for industry in Nandigram as it lost the Panskura municipal body elections in East Midnapore to the Trinamool Congress-Congress combine.All eyes were on Panskura, closest to Nandigram under the same East Midnapore district, with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya matching a gruelling campaign by Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee.
At least 14 people were killed in police firing in Nandigram March 14 in a protest against a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
Of the 17 seats of the Panskura municipality, the combine won 10 while the Left lost its stronghold in the area as it managed to win only seven. Trinamool alone got eight seats while Congress bagged two.
Buoyed by the victory, Trinamool chief Banerjee said the local body election result had clearly indicated the huge support of people to the opposition parties in the backdrop of an anti-land acquisition movement in the state.
"The victory comes after the movement against the SEZ in Nandigram and the brutal police firing that killed 14 and left over hundreds injured in the trouble-torn area. The victory in Panskura is a tribute to those who lost their loved ones in the March 14 police firing and still suffering from spiralling tension," Banerjee told a press conference here after the victory.
THE Trinamool Congress has been kept out of the “All India People’s Convention on Nandigram and Special Economic Zones (SEZs)” being hosted in the city by the Gana Unnayan O Jana-Adhikar Sangram Samiti. It is an important constituent of the Bhoomi Ucched Pratirod Committee at Nandigram, where the Trinamool and the Samiti have been close allies in protests against the land acquisition drive.
The proposed convention, scheduled to take place on June 2 and 3, is expecting around 1,000 delegates which include activists from the state, Orissa, Maharashtra, Punjab, Jharkhand and Tripura. Arundhati Roy, Mahasweta Devi, Medha Patkar, Dipankar Bhattacharya, Debabrata Bandyopadhyay, G N Saibaba, Ulka Mahajan, Vara Vara Rao are among those expected at the convention.
Elections were held Sunday for 104 seats of five municipalities - Panskura, Dhupguri, Durgapur, Nalhati and Cooper's Camp. Also, by-elections were held in 11 wards of 10 municipalities as well as 516 panchayat seats comprising 24 zilla parishads, 94 panchayat samities and 398 gram panchayats.
The Left Front retained its power in Durgapur (Burdwan district of south Bengal) and Dhupguri (Jalpaiguri in north Bengal) municipalities while the Congress retained both Nalhati and Cooper's Camp municipalities (in Birbhum and Nadia districts of south Bengal, respectively).
And enjoy the game!
The CPI (M) on Wednesday condemned the police firing in Dausa, Bundi and other places in Rajasthan, and demanded a judicial enquiry into the incidents.
The agitation by the Gujjar community took place because of the promise made by the BJP before the elections to include them in the scheduled tribe category. ``The failure of the government to deal with the matter politically has led to the violence and the needless deaths in police firing,'' the party said in statement.
The statement added that the BJP government headed by Vasundhara Raje has become notorious for its heavy-handed police repression on popular movements. ``The kisan movement faced brutal repression and six people were killed. The BJP leadership, which hypocritically tried to exploit the Nandigram incident, should take strong action against its state government,'' it said.
Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil held an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Rajasthan with the violence spiraling out of control.Meanwhile, Gujjar leaders from Dausa have agreed to meet Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje but they have refused to back down on their demand for Scheduled Tribe status.
Now the chief minister has called an all-party meeting.Rajasthan is on high alert as Gujjar protests spread beyond the state. There are reports of violence and arson from many districts.The Army is on standby and highways are blocked at many points.All major highways and roads in the state remained blocked for the third day on Thursday with Gujjars sticking to their demand for an ST status.
The number of dead across Rajasthan has climbed to 19 after two people were killed in a violent clash on Thursday between security forces and Gujjar protesters in the Sawaimadhopur district.
The protests spread across the state as well other parts of the country. Ajmer saw a bandh on Thursday. There were series of violence related incidents in Dausa, Jaipur, Kota and Bharatpur, and Karauli where protesters blocked roads and burnt vehicles and even police stations.Gujjar protesters torched police pickets in Kota and Bharatpur and also damaged railway tracks, which affected train traffic in these parts.
Outside Rajasthan, violence in Gurgaon saw road blockades and burnt vehicles and Yamunanagar police lathicharged angry protesters.Around 100 people of Gujjar community were detained and later released at Delhi's Jantar Mantar. They were trying to jam the traffic.Protests and minor clashes were also reported in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
Track wellness index, Amartya style
- Professor’s theories inspire centre at Oxford
AMIT ROY
Amartya Sen
London, May 30: A poor woman in Kerala who can decide what to do with her life is in some ways better off than a richer woman who is told what she can or cannot do by her husband or father.
This is one of the radical ideas on the human development index being tested at a new research organisation which was launched in Oxford today by professor Amartya Sen.
The Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative, part of the department of international development at Oxford University, has been “inspired by Amartya Sen’s theories of human development and capability”.
Its declared aim is “to build a new economic framework for reducing poverty grounded in people’s experiences and values”.
Sen is known for his view that a democratic society, where people are free to make choices, is much better equipped to tackle poverty.
Today, the Nobel laureate and Lamont University Professor of philosophy and economics at Harvard gave an inaugural address: “What Theory of Justice?” at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070531/asp/nation/story_7855551.asp
The chief priest of the Guruvayur Sri Krishna temple, Raman Namboodiri, has said that he is not willing to let non-Hindus into the temple .However, he said if the government brought in a law allowing entry to non-Hindus, he will go with it.This was announced by his son Satishan at a press conference in Guruvayur on Thursday. The move comes just three days after a majority of priests at a meeting of religious heads in Thrissur spoke in favour of temple reforms.
On the other hand, Maintaining that MPs cannot be made chief ministers or ministers in a state unless they resign from their seats, a writ petition seeking quashing of appointment of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati and Minister of State Satish Chandra Mishra has been filed in the Supreme Court. The petition filed by UP-based advocate and president of the Hindu Personal Law Board, Ashok Pandey, claimed that under the Constitutional provisions an MP has to resign his seat before getting elected to the state legislature. The petitioner urged the court to issue a "quo warranto" (court's direction to a particular authority to explain under what authority he/she was discharging such powers) to the Chief Minister and the Minister. In the case of Mayawati and Mishra, it was submitted the two were sitting Rajya Sabha Members and hence stood disqualified from being the Chief Minister and Minister at the State level. Quoting Article 164 (4) of the Constitution, the petition stated that even a non-member of the Legislative Assembly can be appointed as a minister, provided he/she gets elected to the Assembly within a six months period from the date of appointment. The same principle applies to the post of Prime Minister or a Minister at the Central level.
BSP MP from Machchlishahr Uma Kant Yadav, who was arrested in Lucknow on Wednesday in connection with a land grabbing case, was sent to judicial remand for 13 days by a local court.He was brought on transit remand and was produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate.Yadav, arrested from outside the residence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati in Lucknow, was charged with attempting to grab land in Palia Mafi village under Pholpur police station area of Azamgarh. Yadav with his son and five others had allegedly razed some shops and house in the village on May 28.
While the MP and two others have been arrested, raids were on to arrest his son and three others.
In the pink of health
BARKHA DUTT
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/opinion/2007/May/opinion_May109.xml§ion=opinion&col=
Celebrated Indian television star and host Barkha Dutt is Managing Editor of NDTV 24x7.
BY NOW, miles of newsprint and hours of airtime have already been devoted to deconstructing Mayawati. You have heard all that you possibly could about her historic victory, her political acumen, her earthy charisma and her iconic hold over the Dalit community. You even know that strawberry pink is her favourite colour.
So why am I spending another weekend talking about an over-saturated subject? Because, even more than her well-documented achievements, it’s the reaction of people that has been fascinating, contradictory and, in some cases, downright disgusting. And in many ways, the schizophrenia of India’s response to Mayawati is a symbol of the country’s larger battle within.
As far as I can tell, there have essentially been two extreme responses to Mayawati’s ascent in Uttar Pradesh.
The first is the panic and thinly disguised contempt of the yuppie, English-speaking, America-educated urbanite. He’s shrewd enough to never acknowledge it in public, but in private conversations will openly lament the future of India if "such politicians" continue to grab centre-stage. Mayawati’s hard-nosed Hindi, unapologetic aggression and shimmering salwar- kameez make him nervous. If his scathing (and often deeply personal) criticism of her makes him sound like a horrible snob, he isn’t even slightly embarrassed. He worries that when Mayawati declares that she is aiming to be prime minister within the next decade, she means it. He knows he may not even be a milestone in her political journey from Lucknow to Delhi, and can’t bear being that irrelevant. He has made his millions on Wall Street and wonders how "someone like her" would fit in at the White House. He believes he is beyond social prejudice, but is likely to have been born into an "upper caste" and thus never experienced discrimination. The burgeoning growth rate is primarily what defines his dreams and possibly what blinds him to an India that is both changing and challenging class hierarchies.
This is the sort of Indian citizen who has contempt for all politicians and only wants to see dapper city slickers in parliament — the sort who lug their laptops, know their wine from their whiskies and are eloquent in English. And now, he’s alarmed that the rest of India is tearing down the barricades, making its way inside his No Entry clubs and turning all the old rules on their head. He feels like a man without a passport in the New India that Mayawati represents. As social churning jumbles up existing equations and gives birth to a new elite, he may well get left behind on the periphery, if he doesn’t make peace with how dramatically his country is poised for change.
Log on to the Internet, and you will be stunned to discover how many bloggers — anonymous, or otherwise — have worn their obvious bias on their computer screens. Some even write about wanting to "leave India if Mayawati ever became prime minister" — all this without a trace of irony or shame. Their delusion is not just offensive; it’s positively frightening.
At the other end of the spectrum is the equal and opposite response. This is the world of the eulogy writers. In this corner of India, Mayawati has been romanticised and revered to a degree that makes her sound almost unreal. Of course she is a dramatic and powerful symbol of Dalit assertion and so it’s not her voters I’m writing about here. I’m talking about the awe-struck observers and commentators who believe that she must be evaluated by a different set of parameters than other politicians. You only have to look back at some of the breathless editorials and columns of the last fortnight. Perhaps worried that any circumspection could sound dangerously like caste bias, most of the media have stayed away from past controversies and awkward questions. Not many are willing to revisit the Taj Corridor controversy that cost Mayawati a stint in power. How many editorials have commented on the mass transfer of more than a hundred bureaucrats within a day of her taking over as chief minister?
What about the whiff of vendetta politics as business decisions made by the previous government come swiftly under the knife? And how many writers are actually willing to examine the more complex dimensions to Mayawati’s persona? Yes, she is a powerful grassroots politician who has given the marginalised a voice and an identity. But in her personal working style, is she in danger of embracing the very feudalism her party has fought against? Is the BSP a one-woman shop? Is Mayawati autocratic, dictatorial and unwilling to share power within the party?
Now that the dust has settled and the celebrations are winding down, will her government now be measured by actual performance rather than symbolic value?
Yes, many of the criticisms that have tailed her career, apply just as much to other parties and politicians. Mulayam Singh Yadav’s government made no apologies about promoting a cartel of personal friends when it came to business or pleasure. It’s only natural that the next government will come along and undo some of that. That said, the real assimilation of Mayawati into mainstream politics will happen only when we are able to critique her without fear, favour or prejudice. And besides, as she has shown in election after election, she hardly needs our supercilious generosity.
Now that she is Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the fourth time, this then will be Mayawati’s real challenge. She has built an unlikely camaraderie between the Brahmins and the Dalits of one state. Can she now reinvent herself further? Can she shrug off the clichés that have defined her and emerge into a politician who Indians dare not scorn, but need not be scared of either. Will she now set an agenda for governance and development? Will the security of success make her more willing to share power? Now that she has every political party lining up at her doorstep, can she finally afford to be a little less abrasive? She has already created a successful coalition across antagonistic castes. Can she now bridge the divide across classes? In many ways where she goes from here may define how India resolves her own contradictions.
Meanwhile,Two persons were killed and five others injured in police firing on Thursday when Gujjar protesters indulged in arson at Bonli in Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur district, a senior official said.
Army was called out to assist the civil administration, the Superintendent of Police of Sawai Madhopur Jose Mohan told PTI over telephone.With Thursday's violence in Sawai Madhopur and in Kotputali on Wednesday night, the death toll in Gujjars' stir in last three days has risen to 18.
One protestor was killed in police firing in Paniyala village in Jaipur's Kotputali block on Wednesday night, a senior police official said.The agitation continued to paralyse normal life across the state and road blocks across state highways broughtvehicular traffic to a grind. Security was stepped up in the state with hundreds of army personnel deployed along thehighways.
A report from Kota, quoting official sources, said the bandh supporters gathered at Jagpuri police post in Kota this morning, clashed with the police and set a police post afire. A sub inspector sustained injuries, while six police personnel managed to run for safety, says UNI.
Sob rises above wail of rudaalis
Grandson killed, only son beaten up
CHARU SUDAN KASTURI
Ramdeer’s grandmother and sister (behind) mourn outside their home. Picture by Prem Singh
Peepalkheda village (Dausa) May 30: The wail of death is audible over a hundred metres away.
In the chorus of collective cries and synchronous chest beating — which traditionally follow a death in Rajasthan — one voice stands out.
Sitting with 20 other women — known as rudaalis — in the shade of a peepal tree outside grandson Ramdeer Gujjar’s mud house, Dhapabai’s screams are punctuated by loud, uncontrollable sobs.
The 75-year-old has nursed two generations of her family, and was waiting to do the same with the third.
But Ramdeer didn’t live to give her a great-grandchild — five bullets from the barrel of a policeman’s rifle, as he was walking on the Jaipur-Agra highway, didn’t let him.
His uncle — Dhapabai’s sole surviving son — Bachchan Singh lies on a cot nearby. He is barely conscious and his forehead is swathed in blood-soaked bandages.
Villagers claim that Bachchan was beaten up by police at home, some 2 km north of the Jaipur-Agra highway, where his nephew’s bullet-riddled body lay.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070531/asp/nation/story_7855086.asp
Fodder scam case: 58 convicted, given jail terms
Times of India - 4 hours ago
RANCHI: A local court on Thursday convicted 58 people and awarded them five to six years in prison in a fodder scam case involving embezzlement of millions of rupees from the treasury of pre-bifurcation Bihar.
39 convicted in fodder scam Hindu
13 fodder scam convicts jailed for three years Monsters and Critics.com
Tabletop touch screen tipped as next big thing
Guardian Unlimited - 14 hours ago
In an era when computers get ever smaller and more portable, it seems almost a throwback; but software giant Microsoft hopes a £5000 coffee table bristling with technology could be the next big step forward.
T-Mobile Washington Post
Microsoft Unveils "Surface" Computing InternetNews.com
Raje briefs Governor on Gurjar stir
Jaipur, May. 31 (PTI): Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje today met Governor Pratibha Patil and updated her on the issue of the ongoing Gurjars' agitation for Scheduled Tribe status, which has claimed 16 lives so far. Accompanied with Home Minister G C Kataria, Raje is also said to have apprised the Governor of the law and order situation in the state, an official said. The Governor met the Union Home Minister Shiv Raj Patil and the Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Delhi yesterday. The Chief Minister is also planning to hold an all party meeting here in the afternoon to discuss the Gurjars' demand of shifting from OBC to Scheduled Tribe category to avail the benefits of reservation, the official added.
MP held at Maya door
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Yadav in Hazratganj police station in Lucknow. (PTI)
Lucknow, May 30: Mayavati today got a party MP arrested after inviting him to her residence, attempting to show herself as impartial in cracking down on politicians facing criminal charges.
Uma Kant Yadav, 65, MP from Machhlishahr in Jaunpur, had been accused of razing several shops and a house to grab a piece of land in neighbouring Azamgarh on Monday night. His men allegedly fired at local people, injuring three.
After the information reached Lucknow, Mayavati is believed to have ordered the state police chief last night to arrest Yadav, who was named in the FIR.
Within an hour, the MP called up the chief minister and asked for a meeting this morning. Mayavati granted the interview but tipped off director-general of police Giridhari Lal Sharma.
“Make the arrest before he (Yadav) gets a chance to see her. That’s what the chief minister wants,” a top bureaucrat told Sharma, according to police sources.
Yadav, accused in about a dozen criminal cases, arrived at the chief minister’s residence around 11.45 am. He had stepped out of an air-conditioned car and was walking towards the house with two associates when the police stopped him. Two senior officers went into the house for a final go-ahead, which came through Mayavati’s secretary.
A Lucknow court ordered three days’ transit remand so that Yadav could be produced in an Azamgarh court on the charges of attempt to murder, intimidation and illegal assembly.
Principal secretary (home) K. Chandramauli soon called a news conference. “The MP had called up the chief minister seeking an appointment. She informed the police.”
“The chief minister’s message to us is clear: take stern action against outlaws no matter which political party they represent,” the DGP said.
Yadav has been suspended from the party and his son Dinesh, a BSP worker, expelled.
Yadav, a policeman-turned-politician, is said to have been eyeing a plot some 200 metres from a house he possessed in Pallia Udai village, Phoolpur. On Monday night, Dinesh and five others allegedly arrived with a bulldozer and firearms and razed the shops and the house, belonging to a certain Feroz Ahmed, that stood there.
When some villagers tried to resist, Yadav’s men fired and hit three.
Nobel prize winner talks at PEP conference
by Anjli Raval | May 31st, 2007
Email Print Leave a Comment RSS 2.0 Feed Nobel prize-winning economist Amartya Sen was the focus of a conference hosted by the PEP club on the theme of ‘Identity, Community and Justice’ at the King’s Manor on May 23 and 24. Sen’s ideas on the subject were brought forward as a starting point for discussion, with leading academics invited to speak. In addition to Professor Sen, the list included Professors Akeel Bilgrami, Kaushik Basu, David Miller and Lord Bhikhu Parekh.
The University of York’s Professor Haleh Afshar (Politics) and Professor Tom Baldwin (Philosophy), currently working on areas related to ‘Identity, Community and Justice’, also spoke.
In light of recent debate at the University with regards to multiculturalism, the conference could be described as highly timely.
After the two-day conference, Sen took part in an exclusive question-and-answer session on Thursday evening, where the theme of ‘Identity’ seemed to be at the core from the very start. Given the speaker’s Indian heritage and extensive knowledge of Eastern philosophy, he refuted American and Eurocentric approaches to politics, economics and philosophy, dismissing the idea that developing nations are backward.
Later, talking exclusively to Nouse, Sen declared global and national identity, rather than sectarian identity, to be crucial in eliminating tensions, with particular reference to conflict in the East. He emphasised the importance of political participation in the augmentation of democracy within a state, dismissing the idea that it can have a negative economic effect.“I’ve never understood how political participation can be inimical to economic growth”, he said.
Commended for his work on famine, human development theory, welfare economics, the underlying mechanisms of poverty and political liberalism, Sen expressed his ideas in an inspiring manner.
Henry Smith, President of the PEP Club, said, “I thought the night was a great success. It was a testament to Sen’s intellect that he was able to answer the range of questions in such depth without any warning as to their content”.
Smith confirmed the opinion of many students present at the conference, saying Sen was “thought-provoking” in his bringing together of the interdisciplinary nature of the subjects.
26 trains cancelled due to Rajasthan violence
No TV tuner /any hardware required.
Train services in violence-hit Rajasthan continued to be affected for the second day today with as many as 26 trains passing through the state, including the Delhi-Ajmer Shatabdi Express and the Delhi-Ahmedabad Rajdhani Express, being cancelled and one train rescheduled in the interest of passenger safety.
The decision to cancel and reschedule trains passing through the desert state was taken following a high-level meeting by the Railway Board officials here.
A ministry official said train movement in the North Zone, North Western zone, West Central zone and North Central Zone had been severely affected by the agitation by the Gujjars, demanding Scheduled Tribe status for their community.
Northern Railway cancelled 12 trains, followed by North Western Railway with 7, Western Railway with 4 and North Central Railway with 2. West Central Railway cancelled one train.
Among the cancelled trains are:
Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Porbander Express;
Bareilly-Bhuj via Delhi Express;
Delhi-Ahmedabad Ashram Express;
Jaisalmer Intercity Express;
New Delhi-Ahmedabad Rajdhani Express;
Nizamuddin-Udaipur Mewar Express;
New Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani; and
Nizamuddin-Mumbai August Kranti Rajdhani Express.
Further,
the Nizamuddin-Indore Express,
New Delhi-Ajmer Shatabdi Express,
Nizamuddin-Bandra Sampark Kranti Express and
Jammu-Tawi-Jaipur Pooja Express
were the other trains, which were cancelled by Northern Railway, which also rescheduled the Nizamuddin-Ahmedabad Sampark Kranti Express.
The seven trains cancelled by North Western Railway for today are:
the Jodhpur-Marudhar Express;
Jodhpur-Banares Marudhar Express;
Jaipur-Gwalior Express;
Udaipur-Nizamuddin Mewar Express;
Amritsar-Jaipur Express;
Ajmer-New Delhi Shatabdi Express; and
Jaipur- Sealdah Express.
Western Railway cancelled four trains. These are
the Ahmedabad-Haridwar Mail;
Mumbai-Nizamuddin August Kranti Express;
Bandra-Nizamuddin Garib Rath; and
Ahmedabad-New Delhi Rajdhani Express.
North Central Railway cancelled two trains:
Mathura-Lucknow Express and
Gwalior- Jaipur Express
The lone train cancelled by Central Railway was the Nizamuddin-Kota Jan Shatabdi.