Howrah News Service - Latest news and headlines on Howrah,West Bengal and World

A 'restaurant' for the destitute on Kolkata's rail tracks

Sun, 11 May 2008 03:08:00 -0400

Kolkata, May 11 (IANS) One chapatti for 50 paisa, a plate of rice for Re.1, a bowlful of curry for Re.1...So reads the menu card of a "restaurant" on railway tracks that has been running here for the last 51 years. In times of high inflation, it is a godsend for the poor.

Popularly known as "Gariber Hotel" or food joint for the destitute, it is run today by 40-year-old Fatima Bibi at the southern division of Sealdah Station in north Kolkata. She sits with her bags full of leftover food, using up the space around a couple of unused tracks, even as trains whiz past on other platforms nearby.

She took over the business from her mother Nur Banu at the age of 11.

Fatima told IANS: "I work as a part-time maid at various households and a few hotels. I collect the extra food, the leftovers or even slightly stale food at the end of the day from these places. The next morning I sell it to my customers."

Her hotel on the tracks opens at 8 a.m. and shuts down at noon. And it has a faithful clientele of beggars, pickpockets, platform dwellers, porters and drug addicts, who troop in for an inexpensive bite.

"I have over 200 regular customers apart from the flying ones. The number of customers is increasing with such rapidity that I have employed my two daughters and two sons as household helps and hotel bearers. They too bring excess food from their workplace to meet the demand," Fatima said.

Fatima and her clients sit under an open sky, sometimes putting up plastic sheets on bamboo poles as makeshift shelter from the hot sun or rain.

It goes without saying that the reason behind the humongous success of this "hotel" is the compromise between hunger and poverty.

"We hardly earn Rs.25 a day. Surely, we can't afford to spend more than Rs.5 a day on lunch and dinner. Here we can eat to the fullest for Rs.3, that's what matters. Whether the food is leftover or slightly rotting, we don't care," said Chanchal, a beggar at the station.

Some customers have just a bowlful of boiled rice water available for 50 paisa.

However, Fatima manages to make about Rs.800 a day from her "hotel". But just as there are no free lunches in this world, it seems there are no free businesses either - not a day passes without Fatima giving bribes to the railway police.

"Every day I have to pay the police personnel Rs.100 to allow me run my business peacefully. But policemen are like chameleons. On strict days they just kick my customers and me out of the tracks. However we don't give up. These tracks are ours and the next day we are back to our old place again," said Fatima.

(Sreya Basu can be contacted at sreya.b@ians.in)

Bhopal kids drinking poison water: Dominique Lapierre

Mon, 05 May 2008 10:27:00 -0400

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) Expressing solidarity with the survivors of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, French author and activist Dominique Lapierre has said the children growing up in the affected area are drinking “poisoned water”.

After visiting the survivors who were protesting near Jantar Mantar here Sunday evening, Lapierre has requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to listen to their problems.

“I have myself drunk a glass of the poisoned water, and I suffered an immediate skin rash and throat irritation. This is what the Bhopal children are today condemned to drink,” he said in a statement Monday.

Lapierre, who has co-authored "Five Minutes Past Midnight in Bhopal", has donated the royalty from the book to a charity clinic that is providing health care to the survivors and their children.

On the night of Dec 3, 1984, a Union Carbide subsidiary pesticide plant in Bhopal accidentally released 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate gas, killing approximately 3,800 people.

The incident, known as one of the world's worst industrial disasters, left hundreds of thousands suffering from various diseases after chronic exposure. Contaminated groundwater around the plant area still continues to infect people with various ailments ranging from skin problems to birth defects.

“I have given five years of my life to tell the story of the Bhopal disaster and meet its victims. This is a very precious cause close to my heart. I am sure that in his generosity, Dr. (Manmohan) Singh will accept to receive those heroic people of Bhopal fighting for their right to live with dignity,” Lapierre said.

Nearly 50 survivors, their children, and activists working for them have been protesting here for the past 39 days.

Gyanendra will continue to be 'king' in Puri temple

Sun, 04 May 2008 13:37:00 -0400

Puri, May 4 (IANS) Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev might lose his 239-year-old crown after monarchy is abolished in Nepal, but he will continue to enjoy special religious rights as a "king" in India's ancient Jagannath temple in Orissa.

Last month's Constituent Assembly elections in Nepal have brought the Maoists as the largest party to power. An agreement has already been reached between the Maoists and other political parties, including the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML), to abolish monarchy in the country. Declaring Nepal as a republic will be one of the first items in the agenda of the new dispensation in Kathmandu.

The king of Nepal and his queen enjoy special privileges at the 12th century-old Jagannath temple in Orissa's coastal city of Puri, some 56 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.

The temple is one of the most sacred Hindu pilgrimage spots and considered as one of the four abodes (dhamas) of the divine that lie on the four directions of the country.

As per the temple record of rights, the entire temple premises get washed - a ritual known as 'soudha', before the arrival of the Nepal royal couple.

Authorities do not allow devotees to enter the temple premise. All the morning rituals of the temple are conducted in advance to facilitate them.

Only a handful of temple servitors help the Nepal royal couple to perform rituals before the deities. The temple administration closes three gates and keeps open only the southern gate for the Nepalese king and queen to enter, according to temple official Bhaskar Mishra.

Family priests of the king, known as 'Lalmoharia Panda', escort the couple to the sanctum sanctorum.

It is the Nepal king who has the privilege to perform rituals on the 'Ratna Vedi,' the throne of the deities inside the sanctum sanctorum. Except for a few senior temple priests, no other person is allowed to perform the ritual.

"The Nepal royal couple will continue to enjoy the same privileges even after they lose their crown in Nepal," Suresh Mohapatra, the temple's chief administrator, told IANS. "If they come here, they will be given the same royal treatment we have been giving them in the past," he said.

Gyanendra became king after the "royal massacre" in Nepal on July 2001. His brother and the King of Nepal, Birendra, his wife, Queen Aiswarya, Prince Niranjan and Princess Shruti, along with eight others, were shot dead in that gruesome incident by Crown Prince Dipendra, after a dispute over his marriage. Dipendra who was fatally wounded after palace guards shot him, died after a few days.

King Gyanendra had visited the Puri temple on March 29, 2003, nearly two years after the "palace massacre", along with his queen Komal Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah to offer special prayers on the Ratna vedi inside the sanctum sanctorum.

Gold rings and eyes for all the three presiding deities - Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra, a lotus made of gold, a Laximinarayan statue and other gold ornaments were offered by Gyanendra.

The king also presented a silver peacock feather, a silver 'chammar' (feather brush), a pair of silver footwear, two silver dips and a 'tulsi' ornament also made of silver, to Lord Jagannath.

Like the Nepal king, a royal family in Orissa also enjoys special status in the temple. The king of Puri, known as 'Gajapati', is considered the chief servitor of the Jagannath temple. He is also the ex-officio chairperson of the temple managing body.

Hindu devotees believe the king of Puri is the religious representative of Lord Jagannath and revere him as next to the lord.

When the Nepal king and queen visit the temple, it is the Gajapati who welcomes them to the temple city and accompanies the royal couple to the temple.

"Legend says the King of Nepal had presented the 'Shaligram Shila' (a precious stone considered to be the representative of Lord Vishnu) to the king of Orissa, Jajati Keshari, in the 11th century AD," Jagabandhu Padhi, a researcher said.

"The Sila has since been placed in the heart of the wooden image of lord Jagannath. From that time on the King of Nepal enjoys special privileges in the Jagannath temple," Padhi told IANS.

Three states, four forest reserves, how many tigers?

Sun, 04 May 2008 03:50:00 -0400

Coimbatore: The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) says in its latest census report that the Nagarhole-Mudumalai-Bandipur-Wayanad reserve forests that straddle three states in the Nilgiris has about 266 tigers. The state governments of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala disagree.

Adding the figures given by the three state governments, there are 290-295 tigers in these forests. That may not be far higher than WII's 266 estimate, but is significant in a situation where the total number of tigers left in India's forests is estimated to be just 1,411. The Mudumalai sanctuary in Tamil Nadu is like a camel's hump, flanked in the east by Karnataka's Bandipur reserve forest and in the west by the Wayanad sanctuary in Kerala. South of it is the western-most district in Tamil Nadu - the Nilgiris. Mudumalai falls within the Nilgiris bio-reserve.

The WII report says, "the single largest population of tigers in India is within the Nagarhole-Mudumalai-Bandipur-Wayanad contiguous forest range covering the three states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala having a tiger occupancy in 10,800 sq km and an estimated tiger population of about 280 tigers."

Each of the three state governments, however, puts its tiger number somewhat higher than what the WII census says. Karnataka claims its Nagerhole-Bandipur reserve holds nearly 200 tigers. According to Wildlife Warden Wayanad-Mudumalai Deepak Mishra, "Based on direct sightings, pug marks on land and claw marks on trees and droppings", tiger population in the Wayanad sanctuary is stable at 10-15. Survey teams here have really "seen as many as five tigers".Tamil Nadu's own estimates are that there are about 105 tigers in its forests. The WII census says there were 61 tigers in the state in 2001-2002, which increased to 76 in the 2006 census - the only forest in India where the number has increased significantly.

The tiger monitoring programme coordinator for the Pollachi and Kanykumari ranges Sankar said, "There are about 8 to 10 tigers in the two smaller ranges in Tamil Nadu and there may be up to 80 tigers in the Mudumalai range."

Adding the figures given by the three state governments, the number of tigers in the Nagarhole-Mudumalai-Bandipur-Wayanad reserves would total 290-295, compared to WII's 266. There are discrepancies between the WII and state government figures elsewhere too. Based on the WII census, the country's apex National Tiger Conservation Authority says there are 46 tigers in all in the forests of Kerala. But the state government claims there are 75-80. The Periyar tiger reserve, the state believes, has 35 tigers against the WII estimate of 23. It says the Parambikulam reserve has 20 against the WII number of eight. There are more than 15 cubs in its forests, it says.

Amidst reports that at least three tigers were killed in the forests in the last three months, Kerala has now started an independent survey to count the number of tigers it has.(IANS)

Who is responsible for president's embarrassment in Latin America?

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 02:01:00 -0400

New Delhi, April 27 (IANS) Who is to blame for the embarrassments President Pratibha Patil faced during her recent visit to Latin American countries?

The president, who was on her maiden foreign visit, had to face an almost empty senate in Brazil during her address and had to call off her address to the Mexican parliament at the last minute.

The Indian officials involved have been since then in a blame game.

Embarassed Brazilian diplomats tried to downplay the issue. "Our practice is to invite the leaders of main political parties, who were all present on this very solemn occasion," claimed Brazilian Ambassador to India Marco Antonio Brandao.

However, the 20-odd media members accompanying the Indian president were not briefed about the "practice" either by the Brazilian side or by the Indian officials.

The envoy also could not explain why there were no instructions - on the lines of a whip - from the party leaders to their members to be present in the house. He was also silent when asked if it would be same situation if the US President George W Bush or his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy were to address the senate.

Later, while talking to IANS, Brandao himself admitted that they should consider organizing such addresses - by a head of state only to the leaders of main parties in a smaller chamber instead of holding it in the capacious senate chamber with rows of empty seats.

After addressing the senate - where only 15 of the 81 members were present - Patil went to the lower house, the house of deputies, where only three members out of 513 were present initially before the president came into the chamber. However, the media was ushered out and not allowed to cover her speech subsequently, but officials later claimed that more members had trooped into the house.

Indian officials blamed the media for "making mountain out of a molehill" and for "craving for sensationalism." But they secretly admitted that it was "too embarrassing to witness the Indian president's address to a nearly empty house."

They also said the absence of 66 senators during the Indian president's address was certainly unusual and did not speak well of the interest they had in India.

Officials also admitted that the Brazilian side should have ensured that the address would be attended by a considerable number of members. In the US, it is usual practice for Congress to be filled up with aides and non-lawmkers to give an impression of a full house and thus avoid embarrassment to the guest.

Last year the Japanese embassy in New Delhi wanted the government to ensure that then prime minister Shinzo Abe's address to the joint session of the Indian parliament was well attended when he addressed it.

Even as officials in the Indian embassy, accompanying officials of the external affairs ministry and the president's office blame each other, it was very clear that proper lack of coordination between the three led to these diplomatic embarrassments for the country's first citizen.

In Mexico, Indian officials at the last minute informed the media that the president's address to the country's parliament was cancelled due to a blockade by the Left MPs over an energy bill.

The lawmakers there had been protesting against the energy bill and had been disturbing the proceedings for quite a few days. However, Indian officials did not seem to have taken the issue seriously even after what had happened in Brazil.

The embassy in Mexico seemed to have relied too much on the Mexican parliamentary officials' assurance that they would talk to the protesting MPs to allow the Indian president to address them.

Thus India's first woman president's maiden foreign visit - she also visited Chile where mercifully there was no diplomatic faux pas - lost its grandeur, thanks to the ego clashes between officials of both Rashtrapati Bhavan and the ministry of external affairs, according to junior officials who were in the delegation.

Don't blame the black cat for a bad day: Experts

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 04:10:00 -0400

New Delhi: If a black cat crosses the road, many an Indian will wait for someone else to walk down the path first, thinking bad luck will befall him otherwise. This is a classic example of superstition in an insecure person, say experts. Sanjay Chugh, a leading psychiatrist and the founder chairman of the Delhi-based International Institute of Mental Health, said, "When we are insecure, we do anything to make ourselves feel more secure." He said an insecure mind tries to make an association between randomly occurring events without having any evidence or basis for it. "This association is superstition."

Many Indians refuse to step out of the house immediately after someone sneezes. Another common superstition is to carry a "lucky" pen to an examination. "If a person wears any specific colour (say blue) while taking an examination and he or she performs well, then the mind tends to make an association between the colour of the dress and the performance level," he explained.

Chugh said people who have a superstitious habit could be divided into two categories - those who feel more secure because of it and those who practise it mindlessly just because everybody they know does it too. "On the face of it we will see no difference between the two. But I think that a lot of business families would fall in the first category while a lot of middle class people would fall in the latter," he said.

Samir Parikh, chief of the department of Mental Health & Behavioural Sciences, Max Healthcare, says ignorance is another root cause of superstitions. "It's simply a belief resulting from ignorance and faulty understanding," he said.
Sanjay Pattanayak, consultant, psychiatry and de-addiction, Vidyasagar Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (VIMHANS), said lack of education and a person's upbringing also influence superstitious habits. Sometimes superstitious people can even require medical intervention. "If people feel distressed and depressed due to superstition, they must seek medical assistance," Chugh advised. Clinically, the doctor said, a combination of medication and psychotherapy is used on such people.

"Once a person feels more in control after the therapy, we work upon his/her insecurity and use a process called systematic desensitisation. Here we make the person get into the feared situations in a controlled way so that he can restore the confidence and faith in himself or herself," Chugh said. Experts, however, suggest that as long as such beliefs do not lead to excessive waste of time, money and energy, they do not require clinical treatment as such. (IANS)

Videocon warehouse burnt down in Kolkata

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 13:28:00 -0400

About 100 TV sets and refrigerators were destroyed as a warehouse of electronics goods manufacturer Videocon caught fire in northeastern Kolkata Saturday afternoon.

About 50 workers were inside the warehouse at the Information Technology (IT) Park in Salt Lake. They managed to escape unhurt, but they could not save the goods.

'The godown caught fire around 4 p.m. Though the reason behind the fire is unknown so far, it seems there was a short circuit,' a fire brigade official said.

The place was stocked with about 100 television sets and refrigerators. Besides, there were highly combustible packaging material and pitch boards that helped the fire spread rapidly.

'At first four fire engines reached the spot. But as the television sets and refrigerators started bursting we rushed 10 more engines,' he said.

The fire was controlled after two hours.

Sanju Santra, a worker, said: 'The fire fighting system here is ineffective. This place lacks the security measures that an electronic goods godown should have. We were lucky to escape or else we would have turned to ashes.'

The IT Park is regarded as the techno-hub of the city. Business centres like Technopolis and around 10 call-centres fall within a one-km radius of the Videocon facility.

North 24 Parganas Additional Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar Biswas said: 'Our only concern at the moment was to check the spread of fire to the neighbouring buildings. We have to rethink about the security issues in this area after this fire.'

Poila Baisakh

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 11:46:00 -0400

Poila Baisakh festival is basically a harvest festivity that marks the beginning of the crop cycle in Bengal. It takes place in the first month of the Bengali calendar, Baisakh (April). Poila Baisakh is celebrated with magnificent grandeur. The first day of the month of Baisakh is known as Poila Baisakh and is celebrated as the Bengali New Year. It is on this day that wherever you go, you are offered yummy sweets.

Poila Baisakh festival of west bengal, India witnesses the inauguration of the new books of accounts by the traders. This month is considered auspicious for the purpose of marriage and starting a new venture. The month of baisakh marks the beginning of agricultural activities. Bengalis are of the belief that children born in this month are likely to possess the qualities of a genius. The perfect example is that of Rabindranath Tagore who was born on the 25th in the month of baisakh.

People dress up in their best apparels and share joyous moments with friends and family. Houses are not only cleaned thoroughly, but also beautifully decorated. Women make awesome rangolis at the entrance of house. On this festivity, cultural programs are held. People greet each other and exchange sweets. Prayers are conducted to seek the divine blessings.

Basu wants Chakraborty in state secretariat

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:41:00 -0400

Communist Party of India ? Marxist (CPI-M) patriarch Jyoti Basu today expressed his desire to include West Bengal Sports and Transport minister Subhash Chakraborty in the party?s state secretariat, as well as the central committee.

Addressing the media at his Salt Lake residence today evening, Basu said that although Chakraborty was left out of the party?s revised central committee formed during CPI(M)?s 19th party congress in Coimbatore earlier this week, he personally wished to see Chakraborty figure in both the central committee and state secretariat of CPI(M).

Basu said, “Subhash has not been selected as a member of the central committee, but I wanted him to be there. We will revise our state secretariat after the Panchayat polls in May. There is a seat lying vacant in the state secretariat, I don?t know for whom, but I wish Subhash could occupy it. I will talk to the other party members, as I personally want him to share the responsibilities of the state secretariat as well as the central committee.”

Basu also expressed his gratitude to the CPI(M) members for relieving him and Harkishan Singh Surjeet from the responsibilities of the party?s Politburo. He said, “We had been requesting them for a long time to relieve us of the responsibilities. Finally, they have agreed. Surjeet is two years younger to be, but he is much more ill than I am. Biman (Bose) came and told me that they had relieved us from Politburo, making Surjeet a special invitee in the central committee, and conferring on me the status of a special invitee in the Politburo. They have also retained me in the central committee. I have thanked all of them for this gesture.”

Meanwhile, Subhash Chakraborty has expressed his happiness over Basu?s statement, and said he was ready to shoulder any responsibility if his seniors wanted him to. Chakraborty, however, expressed apprehension that although Basu wanted him to be a part of the party?s state secretariat and central committee, others in the party might not want so. “If they want me to take on greater responsibilities than I am taking now, I would be obliged and would strive hard to live up to their expectations. But I am not sure if all of my seniors want so.”

CPI(M) state secretary Biman Bose chose to remain mum of the issue, and only said that he did not want to give any reaction to Basu?s statement. “He is my senior. I have never given counter remarks to his statements in the past, and will not do so in the future also”, said Bose.

No child's play: A bank run by and for street children

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:37:00 -0400

New Delhi: The cashier counts the currency notes carefully, makes an entry in the passbook and hands it over to the waiting customer through a tiny window. But this is no ordinary bank - as both the cashier and consumer are actually street children.

The Bal Vikas Bank, or Children's Development Bank (CDB), is a unique initiative by a Delhi-based Non Gvernment Ooganisation (NGO) 'Butterflies', whose primary aim is to inculcate a sense of saving money in street children, who otherwise end up wasting whatever little they have on gambling or drugs.

Suman Sachdeva, project development manager of Butterflies, said that the programme, which began in 2001 and runs from 11 night shelters spread across the city, does more than just help children save money. “The Children's Development Bank is not a stand-alone programme. Since it's run by and for children, it inculcates in them a sense of responsibility. And it also brings them on the path of education since one can't be expected to maintain ledgers and passbooks without being literate,” Sachdeva said.

Trained by volunteers of the HSBC bank, the young officials of CDB, mostly in the age group of 12-14, are as professional as can be. The members are either rag pickers or work in tea-shops and dhabas. Since its inception, CDB has grown from 20 members to 1,700 in Delhi alone.

12-year-old Rakesh Kumar, a runaway from his home in Bihar, is manager of the bank's Nizamuddin branch. Sharp at 6.30 in the evening, when the bank opens after the children return from "work", Kumar walks in. Dressed in a chocolate brown pair of trousers, a white printed shirt and hair neatly combed back, he enters his cubicle painted bright yellow and pink. Soon a number of young customers queue up in front of the cashier's window with their earnings of the day, anything between Rs 20 to Rs 50. Members get a 3.5 per cent interest return on their savings.

“It feels good to be able to handle such a responsibility,” Kumar said as he made an entry in the passbook and hands over Rs 50 to a customer, as young as him. “It's a matter of pride to be the bank manager. We have regular meetings and choose a different bank manager every six months,” he added.

Apart from the bank timings, there are other rules that the children have made. For instance, it's unanimously decided that kids selling pornographic material or indulging in stealing, pick pocketing and substance abuse will not be given membership of the bank.

Like any other bank, CDB, whose overall functioning is seen by the volunteers of the NGO, has two types of accounts - the 'jama khata' (savings account) where a minimum of Re 1 can be saved, and the 'chalta phirta' account or the current account.

“One can also take loans from the bank. A panel of nine members comprising NGO volunteers and children however, carefully reviews the request. These loans are more often than not for business propositions,” Sachdeva said. “So, for instance, if someone wants to start a tea-shop or a video CD shop, one can take a loan. It specially help girls to empower themselves, by setting up tailoring or embroidery shops protecting them from being pushed into prostitution,” the project development manager added. The membership of CDB comes to an end when a child turns 18. He or she then has the option of seeking membership in other affiliated banks like ICICI or Andhra Bank.

“As an offshoot of this programme, we are now planning to get some of the children who have turned 18 to get trained by institutes such as the Pusa Institute of Hotel Management so that they can be absorbed by catering agencies later,” Sachdeva said. "Hopefully, we should start the programme by June this year,” Sachdeva added.

CDB has its branches in Kolkata, Chennai, Muzaffarpur, Srinagar and Leh, besides 11 locations in Delhi. It also has branches in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, which are run by partner organisations. For instance in Afghanistan, 'Aschiana' is the key organisation that runs CDB there. On popular request, there might be a few other countries that could join the list. In South Asia, CDB has over 8,000 members.(IANS)