What's the News

Professor of English Sues Publisher For Infringing Copyright

2012-05-05T13:34:00.000+05:30

A former reader of Goa University, who is settled in the city, has filed lawsuits against two publishers and claimed Rs 25 lakh each in damages over copyright infringement after he allegedly found books written by him being sold without his permission at high prices.

Prof Anand Patil, former head of the English Department, Goa University, claims that he has not received the royalty amount for his books Western Influence on Marathi Drama published by Rajhauns Vitaran, 1993 and The Whirligig of Taste: Essays in Comparative Literature published by Creative Books, New Delhi.

He said that the academic books are also available online. Patil has also filed cases against Google Books and Amazon.com.

Patil, a resident of Dahanukar Colony, learnt about the piracy last month from his US-based daughter who told him that his books were available on Amazon.com.

“Western Influence on Marathi Drama was based on my thesis on which I had worked for 12 years. When I found that it was sold online for about Rs 4,000, I was shocked,” Patil said adding that after browsing further he found The Whirligig of Taste: Essays in Comparative Literature was also on sale.

“Both of these publishers did not pay a single penny. When I demanded an explanation, one of them denied having published the book. Rajhauns Vitaran has offered me a cheque of Rs 10,000 but my counsel advised me against encashing it,” he said.

“Since there is no authoritative work available in English on Maharashtra’s language, culture and traditions, my books are sought by researchers. My essay is included in Cambridge Sourcebook of Comparative Literary into Comparative Literature,” he added.

Patil said that he was not worried about recovering damages from Google Books or Amazon.com because they have a better Intellectual Property Rights policy and will settle the dues. “It is these two publishers that I want to teach a lesson,” he said.

Maharashtra Day Without Fervour

2012-05-02T05:53:00.000+05:30

The usual fervour which accompanies Maharashtra Day on May 1 was absent this time. The state has been mired in problems ranging from lawlessness to drought and there is no remedy in sight. The ruling politicians have put up a brave face being a developed state but that does not take away the limelight away from the serious problems the public is facing here.

Just a couple of days before the celebrations for the 52^nd foundation day for the state began, the local media reported about the demand or wish by villagers in Jat division of the Sangli district. The villagers had collectively demanded that they wanted to go in the Karnataka state because the farmers in the neighbouring state are getting much better treatment. Their argument is that even though farmers in Maharashtra are suffering from drought, they are not given adequate waivers. In the contrast, the farmers in Karnataka are getting loans with zero interest and power without charge.

This news item was an eye opener for those who prided on the strides made by the state in social welfare, justice, economic equality and industrialisation. All the claims made by government stood dwarfed in the light of this development.

Not only the villagers of Jat, many parts of the state resent the downgrade of Maharashtra in recent years. Just August last year, Vairagadh village in Buldhana district made a similar demand through the gram sabha. They had even written a letter to Narendra Modi, chief minister of Gujarat for inclusion of their village in that state.

The state has taken a beating on each and every front. It stands at top in the list of debt ridden states and is followed by Uttar Pradesh with a total debt burden of Rs 1.36 lakh crore. The state is paying Rs 20,000 crore towards interest on loans alone.

The state also is ranked first in the number of farmer suicides with more than three thousand farmers taking their lives each year. According to Economic Survey 2011-12, the economic growth of the state has falled to 8.5 % from 11.3 % last year.

These hard realities have confined the Maharashtra Day to rituals. This has been second time in a row that the state is missing the usual celebratory mood. Hope it is improved next year.

Trekkers Paradise Under Development Threat

2012-05-01T19:33:00.001+05:30

The trekking community in Pune and Mumbai are enraged over the possible destruction of one their favourite destination. The trekkers and fort lovers are worried over a plan by Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) to build a resort at Harishchandragad, a fort on the south-east of Pune at about 160 kms.

Harishchandragad is a hill fort in south east of Pune. It has played a major role in guarding and controlling the surrounding region. Konkan Kada, the cliff is the most fascinating point for those who go up the fort because besides being vertical, it is spread like a cobra's hood.

However, all this will be relegated to past because the MTDC wants to build a rest house near the cliff and is to start excavation work there, claim the trekkers. The fort is among 25 forts which MTDC has chosen initially to develop tourist facilities on the forts. The company already has a rest house at Malshej sanctuary. To facilitate the tourists, a road is to be built also in the hill. Railings are to be built on the cliff for which, it is feared, a part of the cliff has to be cut.

Now, the decision is being opposed by trekkers. Giriventures, a Facebook group of trekkers from both the cities, has launched online campaign to oppose the development work. Anurag Vaidya, a trekker from city, said, “Some villagers at the fort told the trekkers from Mumbai about this proposal. When we got to know about the proposal, we contacted the officials at the fort. But we were told that there is no such proposal. I posted about it on my FB account so that people should know how the government is creating chaos.”

Jagdish Pati, managing director of MTDC, said that the Harishchandragad figures among the forts to be developed for tourists but the job will be done without harming the environment. “We have planned a base camp, toilets and other amenities at the fort. The plan is to connect the fort with Bhandardara and other tourist destinations in the area. However, we will not do anything which will harm the environment. It is our endeavour to promote a healthy and environment friendly tourism in the state,” he said.

Can Intellectual Property Rights Save Pune's Heritage?

2012-04-21T15:17:00.000+05:30

In a unique development, the pride of Pune’s may be protected by the Itellectual Property Rights, if all comes out as planned. Following in the footsteps of other cities, the Maharatta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) is finding the ways to protect city’s heritage with IPR.

MCCIA and Janwani, recently held a workshop on the subject. It was a part of the ongoing Heritage Week celebrations under Virasat Pune initiative of these bodies. According to these organisations, the objective of the exercise was to brainstorm and identify the ways in which the tangible and intangible assets in the cultural and natural heritage of Pune can be protected.

Those who addressed the workshop included Priyank Gupta, Amol Ghadge and Vithika Sharma. Priyank Gupta, manager, IPR at Legasis Services, told Pune Mirror, “There has been attempts all over the world to preserve own culture and heritage. Pune has recorded two major events where it lost a large chunk of its history – one was when the Shaniwar Wada was burned during 1890s and then floods in 1961 wiped out many wadas and historical documents. We want to prevent this to happen again.”

To prevent such losses, Ghadge, a patent & trademark attorney, proposed to digitise the heritage items. Also, Sharma suggested to form a City Mark depicting the city’s identity with a known monument or product. “Like Puneri Pagdi, some of jewelleries or handicraft which may not be visible in the city may be found in the digital archives so that young generation can access and know them,” he said.

Gupta pointed to Birmingham where the city council has archived all newspapers and documented all family trees of the citizens. This facilitates people to trace their ancestry.

Japanese Comes Calling To Marathi

2012-04-21T07:00:00.000+05:30

Going beyond the Okamyoma garden and Origami classes, the city’s relations with Japan are getting a boost now in the form of a Marathi-Japanese online dictionary. As a part of the celebrations of 60 years of diplomatic relations between India-Japan, the government there has funded a project to build online Marathi-Japanese dictionary. About 30-35 volunteers from the city are contributing in this project.

The Online Verb Handbook will be one of the first of its kind. The project is launched by Dr. Prashant Pardeshi, Professor of Cross Linguistics in National University of Japanese Language and Linguistics (NINJAL), Tokyo. He and his 7-member team has identified basic verbs in Japanese language and they are providing complete explanation in Japanese, about meanings of the verbs in their various shades and numerous examples of their usage in sentences, idioms, proverbs, and even example of wrong usage (for avoiding common mistakes of usage) and so on. It also consists audio information (for accurate pronunciation) and animation (for proper understanding).

A team of volunteers from city is taking care of translation of the Japanese explanation into Marathi. The team consists of Dr. Hari Damle, Salil Vaidya and other Japanese language teachers. According to Dr. Damle, the project assumes significance that it is precursor to other languages. After completion of this project, similar verb handbooks will be prepared in other languages like Chinese, Korean and English.

For editing this handbook, Prof. Kiryu from Mimasaka University has developed an online editor, which enables simultaneous editing of the handbook from different countries. The work is expected to be completed in an year.

A workshop was recently held at the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) about the nuances of this project. During the workshop, Prof. Pardeshi spoke about earlier efforts in this direction. He exhibited a copy of his earlier Japanese-Marathi basic verb dictionary in printed book-form. He added, “The present handbook is the first of its kind in the sense that it is the first attempt in Japanese to compile such a work using a large scale database of written Japanese.” Prof. Yasunari Imamura

Prof. Pardeshi is a Puneite by birth. After securing education in Japanese from Pune and New Delhi, he compeleted Ph. D. from Kobe University.

The Maharashtra-Japan Relations

The relations between Japan and Maharashtra, especially Pune, share common bonds. Adv. Sameer Khale, president of Association of Friends of Japan, told Pune Mirror, “The grammar of both languages is same. That is why it is found that Marathi students acquire Japanese language more easily than others. There are about 500 families or 2000 Maharashtrians living in Japan now. This dictionary will facilitate to all those who want to learn Japanese without knowing any other language like English.”

Dr. Umesh Joshi vice president of Mombusha Scholars Association of India, said, “This is the first Japanese dictionary based on verbs. This dictionary will take the natural language to common people beyong academic circles. Most of all, it will be free of cost.”

Dr. Saroja Bhate, veteran indologist, said, “The relations of Maharashtra and Japan are very deep. There used to be an annual issue named Maharashtra. Also, Acharya Atre’s famous book Shyamachi Aai was translated also in Japanese.” Dr. Bhate said that there is a tremendous interest among Japanese for indology and given their lesser skills in English, these types of projects will bridge a wide gap.

The commonalities

The basic structure of Japanese and Marathi are too similar viz. subject-object-verb. The particles in Japanese are closer in meaning to Marathi. Even some words have the same meaning. For example, Marathi ka and Japanese ka means why. Dr. Damle informed that even some proverbs in both languages astounding similarities. For example, the equivalent to Marathi bhintila kana astat (walls have ears) is khabe-ni mimi aari in Japanese.

We, The Indians, Need This

2012-04-19T15:29:00.001+05:30

German voters are more and more inclining towards those political parties which favour more internet freedom. With the present United Progressive Alliance government in New Delhi pressing for bringing more restrictions on internet use, we also need to adopt this trend.

Internet freedom becomes German political catalyst

As per this report, Germany's Pirate Party, a party devoted to Internet freedom, gained backing in a weekly poll that showed it siphoning off support from opposition parties. The Pirates climbed 1 percentage point to 13 percent, displacing the Green Party, which slid 2 points to 11 percent, as the most popular force after the two main parties, according to a Forsa poll commissioned by Stern-RTL.

The Pirates, whose platform focuses on web privacy and copyright issues, are gaining support from young voters disenchanted with the more established parties. The emergence of the party, which won its first seats in a state parliament in Berlin last year, threatens to shuffle

"For many young people, the Greens have become stale and old," Forsa director Manfred Guellner said in a statement. "The antinuclear issue doesn't pull them in anymore."

It has been long since the idea has been floated to incorporate internet in the list of basic human rights. But the leaders of Congress party, which is heading the UPA government and which claims the legacy of more than 100 years, are showing hysteric tendencies over the critical comments made on social networking sites and blogs. If the voters chose to give credence to leaders for more internet freedom, the scenario may change in the country.

Nilu Phule Gets Tribute From Mother Organisation

2012-04-16T08:52:00.001+05:30

Rashtra Seva Dal, an arm of the socialist organisations, paid tribute to one of its illustrious members on Sunday by opening an art academy in his name. The academy, named after actor Nilu Phule, will conduct classes in acting, dance and singing.

Nilu Phule, a thespian of the Marathi and Hindi theatre and movies, was a member of the Rashtra Seva Dal before he rose to prominence. Till his death in July 2009, he was a dedicated worker of the organisation. To preserve his memories as a social worker, the organisation came up with the thought of building an academy. It took off with the inauguration of acting workshop on Sunday.

According to Deepak Rege, director of the academy, each workshop will be of 15 days and total 20 hours of training will be given to students in each workshop. Training on videography, editing and audiography will be added later. These workshops will be run all year long and keeping in socialist tradition, the fees for these courses will be kept low. Makarand Tillu, renowned artist, was present at the inaugural workshop.

The Rashtra Seva Dal came up with the idea to start such an academy after it conducted number of workshops teaching dance, music and even acting. Rege said, “There are a number of institutes right now teaching these type of things. However, they are limited to the affluent class. We want to create new artists with a clear consciousness to help the society. These were the ethos of Nilubhau and need to be imbibed in the next generation.”

Reminiscing about his association with Phule, Rege said, “Even though we met quite often, I could never act with him. At that time, he used to tour part of the month for plays and remaining part was given for shooting. I was working with a bank then and used to take part in plays after service hours. Because of this, we could never tour or work together.”

“Since this is a socialist organisation, we want to reach to every sphere. Younger generation want to learn every type art forms. This is evident from the audience present here. We got 100 to 150 calls within a month after we announced the opening,” said Suresh Deshmukh of Rashtra Seva Dal.

He said, “It was characteristic of Nilu Phule that he remained a hard core humanist till last. Today’s artists throw tantrums at the first chance they get in TV or other mediums. We are teaching the students to avoid this. In another words, this is an attempt to create a gentleman from them.”

Deshmukh said that the organisation is charging Rs 4,000 which includes lodging and food charges as well. He said, “I have seen talent at rural places. The young ones in villages can learn the art here and practice it in their place as well.”

Abhijit Kosambi, winner of the Saregama championship, will be training the students in singing. He said, “It was because of the guidance given by Phule sir that I ventured into singing. I am very thrilled that I will be a part of the exercise associated with his name.” He reminisced how Phule was humility personified and reminded the students that the greatness of the heart makes an artist great.

Offering a tribute to Phule, Sandhyatai Kate, a veteran theatre personality who worked with the thespian in many folk plays, reminded that Phule used to experiment a lot in his plays. “He along with Ram Nagarkar used to play pranks and make additions during plays which put other artists on toes. But that made the entire experience interesting one,” she said.

Nilubhau And RSD

Nilu Phule started his career with Rashtra Seva Dal, which had an art wing, during the independence struggle period. He mainly acted in plays which gave a strong message of socialism, humanitarianism and political agitations. He was the head of the art wing in Pune of the organisation during late 1950s. His major plays with the organisation include ‘Yeragabalyache Kam Nahi’, ‘Kunacha Kunala Mel Nahi’, ‘Binbiyanche Zad’ and ‘Pudhari Pahije’.

Pune Gets Hotter

2012-03-31T21:27:00.001+05:30

The summer has arrived with a bang. The city's temperature is getting warmer. On Saturday, the city recorded maximum temperature of 37 degrees Celsius. It is still only the beginning and the season is promised to make us sweat!

Intercaste Marriages Get Life Support

2012-03-06T16:35:00.001+05:30

With the incidences of honour killing on the rise in the state, the activists pressing for inter-caste marriages are also gearing up for a fight back. Those who are helping the couples from different communities coming together are themselves coming together in the city to discuss the hideous crimes in recent past and ways to prevent them.

The state has seen two such incidences in the last two months both of which were in Satara district. In the first instance, a Dalit woman was dragged and beaten, also allegedly paraded naked in the village in the month of January. In another instance, a woman was killed by her own father for insisting on marrying outside her community.

On the other hand, some activists are actively encouraging the intercaste or interfaith couples. Members of Maharashtra Andhshraddha Nirmulan Samiti, who register or arrange such marriages are to converge in city on March 18 & 19 to spread awareness about such marriages.

"The idea is to tell people that intercaste marriage is not a shameful thing. The society has to accept it and shed inhibitions about losing one's reputation in the community,” said Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, executive president of MANS.

To imbibe this message, the conference is named as Amhi Purohit Antarjatiy Vivahache (We are priests of intercaste marriages) even though MANS does not encourage religious ceremony for marriage.

Dr. Dabholakr said that to make the interacaste marriages a success, the couples should to be provided four fold support. The couples should be encouraged to shed their caste orientations, they should be provided counseling and other services, there should be institutional system for the protection of these couples and finally the families of the couples should be made aware that these marriages are as natural as other marriages are.

"With this conference, we are doing the same. The members who are participating in the conference will also narrate how difficult it is for them to officiate such marriages and how they deal with such situations,” said Dr. Dabholkar.

Meghalaya To Follow In Maharashtra's Strawberry Path

2012-02-29T20:24:00.000+05:30

Impressed by the rapid strides Maharashtra has made in the strawberry plantations, farmers from Meghalaya are looking to recreate the success in their own state.

A 25 member delegation from the Meghalaya was at Mahabaleshwar studying various aspects of the strawberry farming. According to the members of the delegation, the Meghalaya is leading in the tea plantation owing to a very conducive climate. However, the state is not so successful in having the production of starwberry in same measure. He compares the climate of his state to Mahabaleshwar which is very same. That is why he thinks that this study tour will be helpful for the farmers from his state.

In return, the delegation will impart training about the tea gardening to farmers in Mahabaleshwar which is the only place with favourable conditions for tea gardening in Maharashtra.

Balasaheb Bhilare, president of Strawberry Growers Association of Maharashtra said, "We had imparted training in the strawberry cultivations to Meghalaya farmers some years ago. Now that the initial experiments have brought good results, the farmers there came to probe further opportunities. The delegation was here for two days and studied various aspects."

However, this will not be a one way affair as the Maharashtrian farmers are also looking for opportunities in tea cultivation. A team of farmers will leave for Meghalaya in June to study the possibilities of tea cultivation on the hill slopes of Mahabaleshwar.

Pune's Blackberry Experiment To Go Global

2012-02-13T20:17:00.001+05:30

After having won accolades from the government and people alike, the traff-i-cop experiment started in the city is set to reach to international level. The designers of the Blackberry-based system presented it to a conference in Orlando and countries like Bermuda are looking at it for the implementation.

"Right now Kolkata and states like Assam, Punjab and Gujarat have asked us for the implementation of this system. In a conference at Orlando, US, the company officials had a presentation on this system to which Bermuda has responded positively,” said Hitesh Shah, Director, Commercial Relationship India of Research In Motion (RIM), the producers of the Blackberry. The conference was organised by RIM for its worldwide partners showing their applications where traff-i-cop was applauded by all.

In November 2009, the traff-i-cop system was experimented by the Pune Traffic police with the application for the system developed by Omni Bridge Systems, a city based company. The system envisages tracking down the traffic offenders with the help of Blackberry. Initially the project was meant to be for three months but it was extended to 13 months.

"Right now we are in talks with the Pune police, RTO and other officials. Even though it is away from public glare, the work is underway to update the system and removing whatever shortcoming which came or might come in future,” said Shah.

The application has been awarded ‘Best innovative project/technological application’ by Ministry of Urban Development last week. By using this application, traffic police could easily identify the offenders and trace them real time. Now, this is set to be used for detecting the stolen vehicles which are taken to other cities.

"National Informatics Centre (NIC) is digitising the databases of all Regional Transport Offices in the state. Once it will be available on the server, the stolen vehicles or vehicles found violating traffic norms will also be traced easily,” said Amit Shitole, director of the Omni Bridge Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Mark Of A Controversy

2012-02-13T19:00:00.000+05:30

The jewellery professionals in the city are now up into arms agaisnt a recent directive by the central government to make the hallmark certification mandatory. The professionals have termed this order as an impractical one and say that it will create more problems for the sarafi pedhis.

The Union Cabinet had decided in January that all the gold jewelleries sold in the country should bear the Hallmark stamp. Apparently, the decision was taken to ensure the quality and authenticity of the gold jewelleries. A large part of the jewellery sold in the country carries this stamp already but it was a voluntary step and not the mandatory one.

However, the decision has not gone down well among the jewellers. Fattechand Ranka, president of the Pune Saraf Association, told Pune Mirror, “At the moment, there are not enough Hallmark centres. To get the Hallmark stamp means that jewellers from far off places will have to put off their business for at least four hours a day. Also, carrying the jewellery will pose danger to the person.”

The Jewellers are also dissatisfied with the provision that if the jewellery is found faulty even after the Hallmarking, then the responsibility will have to be carried by jeweller himself rather than the Hallmarking centre.

Ranka said, “We have given a presentation to the Union government in this regard. We have requested to set up more centres and clear these shortfalls. It has not come up with the draft of the law. If the law is enacted in the current form, then we will have no other option but to go to court.”

The Hallmarking of the gold and silver jewellery is done in India by the Bureau of Indian Standards, under the Consumer Affairs Ministry.
The mandatory Hallmarking oof gold jewelleries, among others, will be implemented once the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act, 1986, bill will be amended.

Bio-Diversity Map Of India Ready : Kasturirangan

2012-02-13T18:40:00.002+05:30

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Department of Bio-technology (DBT) has prepared a biodiversity map of the country on the landscape level. It has also prepared digitized inventories of important bio-resources which includes medicinal plants, other economically important plants, animal, marine and microbial resources. This map will be instrumental for strategic planning, said Dr. K. Kasturiranga, member of the planning commission and former chairman of ISRO.

Dr. Kasturirangan was speaking after inaugurating the National Conference on BiodiversityAssessment, Conservation and Utilization which was organised by Abasaheb Garware College along with BAIF Development Research Foundation. He praised Madhav Gadgil, senior scientist and chairman of Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, who was present on the dais. He said, “You are lucky to have Prof Madhav Gadgil , who is the world recognized expert on ecology and for his work on the Western Ghat as your patron. His work evokes pride in all of us. Prof Gadgil had kindly consented to be the chairman of Steering Committee on Environment & Forests which was constituted for the 12th plan preparation.”

He outlined the key course of action taken by planning commission based on recommendations made by the Prof. Gadgil's working group as greening 5 million hectares under Green India Mission including 0.75 million ha. of degraded lands and afforestation and eco-restoration of 2.0 million ha of ecologically sensitive areas, Reclaim wetlands/inland lakes /ponds of 0.1 million Ha by 2017, Improve forest production and maintain biodiversity, Prepare and implement recovery plan for identified 16 wildlife species and assess ,Coastal Biodiversity resource, use and sustainability.

He said that the Planning Commission is developing a Environmental Performance Index (EPI) that combines ecological performance with economic delivery for purposes of fiscal planning and social delivery.

Prof. Gadgil reminded that Western Ghats is one of the two biodiversity hotspots in the country other two being Eastern Himalaya. Eminent scientist Dr. Vasant Gowarikar, principal secretary of revenue and forest, Maharashtra, Pravinsingh Pardeshi were also present on the occasion.

The Biodiversity Facts

India has over 91,000 species of animals and 45,500 species of plants in its ten bio-geographic regions have been documented so far.
Nearly 6,500 native plants are used in indigenous healthcare systems.
Thousands of locally-adapted crop varieties are grown traditionally since ancient times, and nearly 140 native breeds of farm livestock, continue to thrive in its diversified farming systems.
The country is recognized as one of the eight Vavilovian Centres of Origin and Diversity of Crop Plants, having more than 300 wild ancestors and close relatives of cultivated plants still growing and evolving under natural conditions.
It is estimated that about 4,00,000 more species may exist in India which need to be recorded and described.
In addition over 3 lakh samples of cultivars , which have gone out of cultivation are under long term storage in the National Gene Bank.
An estimated 41 percent of the country’s forest cover has been degraded to some degree.
As much as 78 percent of forest area is subject to heavy grazing and about 50 percent of the forest area is prone to forest fires.

Maharashtra's Stale Politics

2011-08-03T13:24:00.002+05:30

Ever since Prthviraj Chavan has taken over as the chief minister of Maharashtra, the politics of the state has become too stale and bereft of political drama. One reason behind this is that Chavan is not a shrewd and professional politician like his predeccecors Ashok Chavan and Vilasrao Deshmukh. He is more of a bureaucratic personality which pervades his political acumen. Much unlike his fraternity, he is not a public figure in the sense that he rarely is seen sorrounded by workers or common public. He has carefully placed himself away from the masses creating a halo around himself. Chavan has spent most of his tenure in centre and in that sense, he is yet to accommodate himself in the state's politicians.

In the initial days of his tenure as the CM of Maharashtra, Chavan was seen superceded by his deputy Ajit Pawar, who is a Nationalist Congress Party leader. Pawar had then conducted separate meetings with bureaucrats and appeared to have taken many decisions much against the wishes of Chavan. But soon, that euphoria also got disappeared.

What we are now seeing is a kind of a boring drama where all the actors are just bidding their time before their final exit. Their body language gives an expression that they are not happy with the stage but their invisible director has forced them to show themselves before the audience, which in any way is not entertained at all.

It is not that Chavan himself does not understand this. But he is preoccupied himself with the task of appearing clean in the eyes of public which was least bewildered to see his predeccecor Ashok Chavan leaving his office in the aftermath of the Adarsh Society scam. Apparently, the Prithviraj Chavan's brief is to keep his party, Congress, away from scandals or scams. In the bargain, it is nobody's concern that performance is compromised.

Centenary of An Ispiring Book

2011-04-09T19:31:00.001+05:30

A book that inspired an entire generation of freedom fighters in Maharashtra is celebrating centenary this year.

The celebrations for the centenary of Gitarahasya, the commentative treatise by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak startrd from March 27 to 30. The occasion was marked by lectures of eminent speakers during this period.

The Kesari Mahratta Trust in Pune, headed by Lokmanya's great-grandson Dr. Deepak Tilak, organises Gitarahasya Jayanti (birth anniversary) each year on March 30. Since 1962, a lecture is organised bringing out aspects of philosophy in Gita. This time, the series of lectures are organised because of special occasion.

Lokmanya wrote Gitarahasya as a commentary on Srimad Bhagwadgita. It advocates the way of works as against way of renunciation as propagated during Lokmanya's time. The new thinking was easily lapped up by the patriots, providing inspiration to the thousands.

The popularity of the book can be gauged by the fact that till now, 24 editions of the book have been sold. It has been translated into English, Hindi, Gujarati, Bengali, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil.

The book is also special because of process of its creation. Lokmanya Tilak started writing this book on November 2, 1910 and completed it on March 30, 1911. He was placed in Mandalay Jail (Now in Myanmar) then on sedition charges. He was released in 1914. In the meantime, he wrote the book sitting in his cell, many a times yearning for right references.

After coming out of jail, Lokmanya once quipped that he could wrote his scholarly books only because he was placed in the solitary cells, away from hustle-bustle of politics. Commenting upon Gitarahasya, Mahatma Gandhi had once said, “ThIs book is the perpetual memorial of Lokmanya Tilak.”

Even though Tilak wrote the book in jail during 1910-11, he was influenced by the greatest theological book of Hinduism since 1872 when he was just 16 years old. Little Bal (Lokmanya's original name) was made to read the holy book when his father was very ill.

So Sorry For Japan...

2011-03-16T16:18:00.000+05:30

Photo courtesy: AP & Yahoo News

After World War II, Japan was always seen as a role model for the developing countries. For an Indian like me, the country had a special space because of its cultural affinity to us.

Radio Japan was the first international radio station which I started listening to in 1992. Soon, I was hooked to it and got to know many interesting things about this 'land of cherries'. That also prompted me to try learning that language in 1993.

Even after trying for six or so years, I could not make much progress on that front. My knowledge of Japanese never went beyond Sumimasen and Arigato or Dozo Yoroshiku.

But that did not deter me from loving this tiny nation with highest moral character possible. When the deadly quake wiped off much of country's wealth during last week, all those memories came back to me. During this time, one of the comments on a news item made me think.

The anonymous writer said, 'Even after so much destruction and chaos, there was no chaos or looting. That speak volume about the character of the nation.”

I could not agree more. Having gone through so many natural tragedies made us Indian admire more and more the tiny but great nation on this earth. Japan...we are so sorry for you!

Will Prithviraj Prove His Mettle In Budget Session?

2011-03-14T20:39:00.001+05:30

Chief Minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan is facing the budget session of state legislature first time since taking over charge of his post over 100 days ago. The timing is not so right main opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party is roaring with rants against the rule of Mafias in the state. On the other side of political spectrum, Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena are preparing themselves for the impending elections of Zilla Parishads and municipal corporations. The quadrangle is completed by Nationalist Congress Party which does not let go any chance of showdown against its ruling alliance partner.

Even though Congress enjoys the most MLAs and MPs from Maharashtra, it is still groping in dark because of lack of able leadership. CM Chavan, even though a good hand at the administration, has no nose for politics. Former CM Ashok Chavan was a seasoned politician who talked in same language with NCP when he lead the cabinet. However, he had to part with chair because of one of the worst scandals that hit the state.

Ashok Chavan resigned after it was surfaced that his relatives owned flats in the now infamous Adarsh Society. With this background in mind, it was completely obvious that Prithviraj chosed to play it safe. He ensured to create an image of Mr. Clean and reigned over the builders' lobby.

However, in his endeavour to mend the administration, he forgot to make it move. The administration came to a standstill. Now, the Congressmen themselves started to blame own government. On February 3, some 25 Congress MLAs held a meeting at former minister Baba Siddiqi's house. Those who attended the meeting criticised the tardiness of administration. Interestingly, Chavan was present in the meeting.

Even as Prithviraj steered clear of corruption allegations and scandals, he could not evade the controversies. The state government first faced the ire of media and public when additional collector of Nashik,was burned alive by oil mafia Popat Shinde in Manmad on January 25. Last week, CM Chavan again found himself in thick of fire when Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh named him as culprit for appointing P. J. Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner. Chavan, thanks to his academic skills and graciousness of PM, could avert the allegations.

These chain of affairs has not helped the Congress party in view of impending civic bodies elections. Matters are made worse because CM Chavan is not elected to any house of legislature. Sanjay Dutt, the member of Legislative Council has shown readiness to vacate his seat for CM. But a definite course of events is still far away.

With Congree in search of impressive leadership and opposition's armoury full with weapons, the budget session is sure to prove a hard nut to crack for CM.

Martyr's Nephew Extends Hand For Martyr

2010-12-18T20:14:00.002+05:30

Kiranjeet Singh, nephew of Bhagat Singh, wrote a letter to district collector of Pune on December 6. In the letter, he reminded the administration that during the same time of Rajguru's birth centenary, the nation celebrated Bhagat Singh's birth centenary in 2007-08. To commemorate it, a national memorial at Martyr's Samadhi at Ferozpur and a memorial costing Rs 18.50 Crores at Khatkarkalan and a 18 ft high statue in the premises of Lok Sabha were erected. A museum is also in the making. It contrasted with what was going on at Rajgurunagar.

"Recently I am shocked and pained to see the news reports that proposed memorial of Rajguru has been delayed due to many controversies and red tapism. So I wish to offer our services to build a befitting memorial of Hutatma Rajguru. We (Bhagat Singh's family) would like to complete this task with our efforts and public co-operation with social organisations and like minded people,” the letter said. Singh has also asked the permission to “undo the injustice done to the memory of a martyr of Rajguru's stature.”

Sanjay Nahar, president of Sarhad, who referred the issue to Kiranjeet Singh told Pune Mirror, “Bhagat Singh's brother Sardar Kultar Singh went to Rajgurunagar some years ago. Then he expressed his wish to erect a memorial. But he was told that government is building it. Then he donated Rs 25,ooo to Rajguru College's library. After his demise, Kiranjeet Singh, was shocked to know the sorry state of affairs. He then showed readiness to contribute to building the memorial with Sarhad and other organisations.”

Story in Pune Mirror

After Chavan, Who?

2010-11-03T19:11:00.000+05:30

Ashok Shankarrao Chavan is unarguably in the midst of worst crisis of his tenure as the chief minister of Maharashtra. The political pundits have already written his government’s obituary. It is only an impending visit of US president Barack Obama that has helped his survive at least for a week. The Indian National Congress cannot change the Maharashtra CM just before the US president’s visit to Mumbai, where the latter is to visit Hotel Taj.

What a coincidence it is, that it was political developments after the devastation of Taj that Chavan was catapulted to his present post. Till then, he kept a low profile in the state cabinet and working as minister of revenue, cultural affairs among other departments. When 26/11 happened, then CM Vilasrao Deshmukh showed lack of regard to the heightened sentiments of the common people and had to go when, in a utter disregard of political correctness, he visited Taj along with film producer Ram Gopal Verma.

Now, the same Taj has helped him retain in the chair at least for a week and there are slight indications that he may manage to evade the axe. The Congress has little choice in Maharashtra to replace Chavan. All the contenders of the post have inherent deficiencies, which can hardly be overlooked. For example, Narayan Rane, who has seldom hidden his aspirations for the post and went on the launch a little rebel against high command in New Delhi when denied the chance last time, was a strong candidate. But the timing of Chavan’s crisis went against him since he is already embroiled in controversy of land grabbing in Mahabaleshwar.

Rane is alleged to have helped his wife buy a plot in Mahabaleshwar, which falls under green zone. The recent controversy involving his son, Nitesh, is too fresh in the public memory. Nitesh was alleged to have fired gun shots at Chintu Shaikh, his former aide in Swabhiman Sanghatana. Rane had a hard time defending his and Ritesh’s position in case then. It was only when home department under R. R. Patil of Nationalist Congress Party gave a clean chit to Nitesh that the issue died down. But with allegation flying so fast, it is next to impossible for Congress to install Rane in Chavan’s chair. After all, what is the use of removing one tainted CM for another tainted one?

The same is the case with other contenders. Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushilkumar Shinde, both former ministers and now union ministers, figure in the Adarsh Society scandal. Their name is automatically deleted from the list of possible CMs. Also in Shinde’s case, the situation becomes more at odd since his daughter, Praniti, is sitting MLA. Beyond them, the Maharashtra Congress has no real leader to reach to state audience. In this critical situation, the party would not like to install someone like Patangrao Kadam, known for his sharp tongue and rustic manners.

Fortunately for Congress, the seat arithmetic is in its favour. Therefore, it has little to worry about the nuisance from his alliance partner NCP. Previously, NCP had claimed CM’s chair many a times, since it had more MLAs. However, in the last election, the tide turned to Congress side and it has got an upper hand. This has silenced the Sharad Pawar-led party, effectively putting the onus of appointing new leader on Congress only.

Thackerey Feud Brings Firecrackers Before Diwali

2010-10-29T20:46:00.000+05:30

The citizens of Maharashtra are witnessing a dazzling show of firecrackers full weeks ahead of Diwali. The show, which can beat a laser show in any case, is taking during Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation election where two branches of Thackerey family are letting no stone unturned in their verbal assault.

Balasaheb Thackerey, original doyen of Marathi politics, hit out at his now famous nephew, whom he himself has mentored over last four decades, set the ball rolling. The senior Thackerey, unambiguously referred as Tiger in Maharashtra, lashed out at Raj Thackerey, who is son of Balasaheb's younger brother Shrikant. Apparently, the senior tiger is unhappy that the cub he fostered over the years severed his ties and chose to led his own party. Not only did Raj took his own paths, he chose own destinations and ways to tread it.

Unfortunately enough, the ways of tiger and his foster cub crossed creating obvious conflict. The cub tiger did not want to serve one who, in former's eyes, is incapable of doing justice to the agenda of the party. Matters became worse for senior one when the cub inherited all mannerisms, roaring and all, from his mentor. Tiger's own son skipped those lessons during adolescence and claimed his place when the fostered cub was about to take to throne.

When people of Maharashtra took liking to roaring of Raj during two subsequent elections in state last year, it was but only an inference that Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena will have to slug it out to became the alternative party to Congress and National Congress Party. The signs were visible much earlier but the reading on the wall became legible only after 13 candidates entered the legislative assembly of Maharashtra in October last year. This was the background when Bal Thackerey hit out at Raj saying that 'he copies me. The mannerisms and copying are not the only things. There must be thought, philosophy.'

Miffed by his uncle's attack, Raj did what he refrained from doing for last four years, when he finally parted ways with his previous party. Known for his incisive tongue, Raj had restrained from putting Balasaheb at the gunpoint. 'He is deity to me and my fight is not with him, but with the middlemen around him,' he had insisted saying this for all these years. But after the sharp criticism from his uncle at Dussehara rally in Mumbai, he could not hold himself more. He opened fire at the man who, as Raj himself proclaimed even during the volcano-type eruption, was and is most venerable for him.

'Why is he repeating the same things over and over again? It is a plain fact that I was suffocating in the party. I did not have any rights. Some people assumed authority because of which I left Shiv Sena,' he pleaded in his characteristic style in front of two lakh people who gathered to listen him. In the history of municipal elections in Maharashtra, any public rally with that much size is called huge. Two lakhs people coming to a meeting for municipal election was never heard before. Added to that, the cheering and clapping from the people must have raised the spirits of MNS candidates.

When Raj put aside his oath and targeted Balasaheb Thackerey, it was but given that the diatribe would be aptly replied. And it was so. Raj's cousin and Balasaheb's own son, Uddhav, came out in open to verbally assault the MNS leader referring to Mahabharata. It was after all Uddhav, who is blamed by Raj as well as Narayan Rane, for meddling in Shiv Sena and deliberately reducing the two to their size. Both Raj and Rane attribute their desertion from Shiv Sena to Uddhav's high handedness, keeping their regard for Balasaheb intact. This gives enough reasons to Uddhav, more known for his skills in photography, to have personal grudge against the former two.

Uddhav, even though lacking in the as hardihood as Raj, targeted him saying all the obvious things. He tried to create an emotional flutter in his audience, which is forte of Shiv Sena over last five decades, saying he would not tolerate anything said against his father. Here, one was tempted to point to an episode in Maharashtra polity when the government contemplated arresting Bal Thackerey about two years ago. In his unmistakable style, Raj''s jumped the bandwagon and threatened to 'raise a hellstorm' if anyone touched Shiv Sena chief. Uddhav, through the party's mouthpiece, Saamana, had hit out at him and had said Shiv Sena is capable of defending its chief.

The same leader is now resorting to same statements. These firecrackers are adding element to otherwise a minuscule and dull election for the election of Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation.

Who Will Head Congress Now?

2010-10-16T13:51:00.000+05:30

With the recent expose of Maharashtra State Congress chief Manikrao Thakre taking money from ministers and Chief Minister himself, the issue of appointing a new state congress president has taken curious turn. The issue was deliberated by Congress president Sonia Gandhi at a meeting with senior party leaders yesterday.

Maharashtra Congress has already authorised her to nominate the new PCC chief. Manikrao Thakre, who is eyeing a re-election to the post or a ministerial birth, was seen discussing collection of funds from Congress Ministers in Maharashtra for Sonia's rally in Sewagram yesterday. 'CM Ashok Chavan has no willingness to part with money,' was caught saying on camera after a press conference.

The controversy has deteriorated his chances of re-election and automatically makes him out of contest for ministerial berth. The Opposition has attacked the Congress over the issue and demanded a judicial probe into the alleged fund collection by Maharashtra Congress leaders.

Bad Voyage For ST Buses

2010-10-04T09:12:00.001+05:30

The hike in fares of State Transport buses has come as a real shocker in Maharashtra. The ST buses, marked by their red colour, are considered as common man’s vehicle for inter-city transport. The ST corporation, which manages the passenger transport in state, has introduced new fares from this month. Obviously, the public which was already reeling under the weight of inflation, has to bear additional burden, detrimental to the economy of the state. In all possibility, it might encourage illegal and worse, dangerous clandestine transport by private vehicles. It is a known fact that ST buses reach out to the most far away villages and hamlets in state, which are hitherto never approached by any other public transport utility.

The fares have been hiked by four per cent especially at a bad time. This is festival season in Maharashtra. The Ganesh festival has just concluded but Navratri, Dasara and Diwali are in the queue. The demand for oil, vegetables, cooking gas and other commodities touch a new high in this time. This is second fare hike of buses within six months. With this, the Maharashtra State Transport Corporation has become costliest public transport utility in India.

It might be interesting to see why ST buses have to undergo the hike in fares each time there is a hike in fuel prices, alienating its loyal passengers. The biggest detriment for the buses proves to be toll collection at booths, which is in place for a decade now. The government vehicles, including that of legislators, parliamentarians etc., are exempted from the toll charges. The same concession is not given to ST buses who have to shell out about Rs 200 Crores as toll charges on all roads in the Maharashtra. Then, the corporation pays Rs 700 per year to state government in the form of passenger tax.

About 40 per cent of ST corporation’s revenue is spent on paying salaries and conveyances of its staff. Another major portion is spent on purchase of fuels. Since the government of India has deregularised petroleum prices, the fluctuation in prices have become a routine affair. Another bane prove to be large number of concessions offered to passengers. The accredited journalists get 100 per cent rebate while senior citizens get 50 per cent off on ticket prices. Students are given likewise passes for monthly travel. Since majority of passengers, who are supposed to pay regular prices, prefer private buses, trains or own vehicles, the revenues have seen downward trend. Even when the revenue went up thanks to the hiked prices, profit margin of the corporation has never reached satisfactory level in the last two decades.

In this situation, it is really sad that the ST corporation choses to increase the burden on passengers instead of thinking of novel ways to pile up its revenues.

A Division To Unite India

2010-10-01T16:44:00.002+05:30

The decision by the Allahabad High Court to divide the disputed site at Ayodhya into three parts is rightly contested on the legal ground by experts. The legal pundits have pointed out the brazen attempt by the court to arrive at a consensus through dividing the land, trying in the process not to offend anybody even remotely associated with the issue.

Since 1986, when then union government under Rajiv Gandhi allowed pooja to be performed in the disputed structure at Ayodhya, the issue has taken so many turns, many a times with disastrous consequences, that the court tried to do what the political mandarins in New Delhi should have done long ago. It is highly possible that what the three justice bench delivered was, in fact, a magical concoction exquisitely made by the political parties in the countries. The nature of verdict and a not so hidden ploy to doling out something to all involved parties gives away enough hints of how the rival political parties put their formula to their audiences through the mouth of High Court, which has not yet eroded its credibility compared to other pillars of governance in country.

If that is so, let us think who could have played big role in shaping the formula and to what length. Whenever the word Babri mosque is uttered, the party which develops coldest feet is Congress. After all, it was during its regime that the lock to the disputed structure was opened. It was Congress ruling the country when the structure was razed to ground by the thousands of karsevaks in 1992 with exceptional exhibitionism. The plank handed out unknowingly by Congress was held by Bharatiya Janata Party nicely and the party built a career out of it. Hence, it was hardly surprising that Congress would held the wrath of Lord Rama as chief reason why it was sent to eight years of vavaas (living in jungles away from comforts) when BJP ruled the country.

Therefore, it was only obvious that Congress was extra careful not to give a slight impression that the verdict went against a community. Its nationwide presence made it hard to alienate Hindus; and it could ill-afford to anger Muslims, who helped it regain power decades after decade and showed what their displeasure meant for the party during 1993-2004 when Congress was left in shambles. The assembly elections in Bihar and next year's elections in Uttar Pradesh put it in a compromising position.

When Congress had a windfall of seats after last year's parliamentary elections in UP, Rahul Gandhi was touted as the heir apparent. Had the result alienated any of the community and it would wreck the party's possibility of regaining lost fortune there, Rahul's leadership would have been in jeopardy. Party's fight in UP, from where majority of parliamentarians come, is with Bahujan Samaj Party and not with BJP. Hence, it was easily possible for Congress to tacitly join hands with BJP for a compromise. Within hours after the judgment, chief minister of UP Mayawati came out before media and tactfully tried to put union government in a tight corner, indicating the larger fights in UP. Today, Mulayam Singh Yadav, leader of Samajawadi Party is also crying against the order because of the same equations.

On the government front, Congress is facing harsh problems like Kashmir, Telangana, the Commonwealth Games fiasco and many more. To add an inflaming issue like this would have made the tasks infinitely difficult for the party and government to handle.

Meanwhile, BJP had also many points to score here. After fall of Babri Mosque on Dec. 6, 1992, the party was brandished as a militant party. Six years of governance that it enjoyed did little to improve its image in polity. On the contrary, the riots in 2002 in Gujarat further damaged its reputation. Even though the legal battle for Ram Janmabhoomi was fought by many parties at many levels, it was BJP under Lal Krishna Advani which brought the issue to centre of national debates. The court's judgment allowed the party not only to portray itself as a law abiding and constitution loving party, but also gives elbow room to reach out to Muslims.

BJP's attempts in the past to salvage its image, like Jinnah episode, had immense repercussions. These attempts even alienated the 35 years old party from its patron organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. For the BJP, accepting the court's verdict was a chance to raise its image into national politics, and it did not miss that. The statements by BJP leaders and RSS chief and Congress leaders sounded same for ears. That was hardly a coincidence.

For the Muslims, the verdict had little consequence. The mosque in the past belonged to Shia sect. The case was being fought by Sunni Wakf Board. That itself lent less credibility to the party. After the court order, it retained 1/3 of the land, which was enough for it. Also, it has option to go to Supreme Court and stretch the issue for years. Had the court favoured its arguments and gave the land to it, still it was not in a position to build new mosque there.

Though the court has divided the land at Ayodhya and it is sort of a political settlement, the nation has and must welcome it. The court has appreciated the reality and it is time we must do so.

Communities Have To Come Out Of Shells

2010-09-21T09:02:00.001+05:30

Recent arrest of Himayat Baig, a Muslim youth in connection with the German Bakery blast has again put the Muslim community in city under scanner. Muslims in Pune have hitherto been living peacefully without any type of scrutiny. The past record of the community also served as a substantial reason for it to mingle with others just as any other community lives. But all this changes two years ago, when Mansoor Peerbhoy, a software engineer was picked up by the Anti-Terrorist Squad in connection with bomb blast in July 2008.

Since then, three young members from Muslim community have fell into police net. After Peerbhoy, Mohsin Chaudhary, a young graduate from Kondhwa made his way into police records as involved in terrorist activities. Himayat made it a hat-trick of sorts.

Himayat's arrest came as a stark contrast to the efforts put up by the Muslims in Pune. Just some months before Peerbhoy was arrested in blast case, Muslim scholars from all over Maharashtra gathered in Pune to deliberate the issue of extremism in Islam. 'Terrorism is anti-Islamic,' proclaimed the scholars.

A Muslim organisation in Pune had taken the initiative to repeat what was hailed as the historic declaration in Deoband in February 2008. An anti-terrorism conference took place in the city. The conference saw many scholars and activists from Muslim community debating the issue deeply.

All Maharashtra Rabta Madaarise Dinia, Pune was the organization which had organized that one day conference. However, it seem some community members have not received the message from that conference. It is upto the community now to take the initiative further.

On this background, it was reassuring that the Pune witnessed an all faith meeting. The meeting was conducted in a Ganesh pandal, which makes it more special. In view of eagerly awaited judgment from Allahabad High Court, the leaders from all communities appealed their respective members to keep calm, whichever way the verdict comes. Pune needs such initiatives.

The communities have to shed their shells and come out in open. In an ideal society, the communities should take backseat and rational or practical thinking should the driver engine. However, it goes without saying that our society is far from being like that. So the building of bridges should be taken into hand by the community leaders. Fortunately, Pune has a history of comfortable co-living, allowing a beneficial dialogue between the groups. We should expect more such initiatives in future, then.

Specially in this environment where a mere rumours about impending court orders are enough to ignite passions, sending government and administrations into frenzy, it is especially binding on the learned ones to come forward and establish an orders in seemingly disordered matters of faith.

Democracy- A Forgotten Procedure

2010-09-16T16:26:00.001+05:30

Sometimes, I am tempted to say that not many people truly like the idea that India is a democratic country. India may have a constitution proclaiming the virtues of the democratic system, but the general tendency of the populace is directly opposing to the spirit of the democracy. Chief among them are the coteries within political parties who benefit most from such a system.

Take for instance recent developments in the Maharashtra congress. A new head of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee is to be chosen by the partymen as Manikrao Thakare, present president has completed his term of two years. The Committee members gathered two days ago in Mumbai to arrive upon a name to head the state unit of the party which is enjoying power at center as well as in state for almost a decade. (The Congress lead government at center completed one full term and is into its second year of existence. )

However, the partymen chose not to tread the path which obliged them to exercise their own intellect. Instead of deciding a leader as president of the MPCC from among a plethora of candidates, the politicians relegated their voting powers to Sonia Gandhi, the national president of the party. The resolution to this effect was approved by the newly elected district presidents of the party.

Evidently, the party leasers to not think it necessary to follow democratic procedures to elect their president even at state level, let alone national level. It is funny how these same people go to public at the time of elections to legislature and parliament. We have come to accept this as a routing fact of social life. Voters even have forgotten to find any flaw in the system. Appointment has replaced the election and favour has replaced popularity. It is hardly surprising then that those at the helm do not necessarily find themselves figured in the popularity charts. And people hardly find their 'chosen ones' representing them at the important affairs. This is current affair of our state!