The recent news report carried by The Telegraph, Calcutte, about BESU upgrade (‘Dec.5 deadline set for BESU upgrade’, 24 Nov. 2007) is indicative of yet another probable backlash for the LF Government in their desperate move to retain control over the premier technical institute of the state. The State authorities will have to find answers to several uneasy questions should the MHRD at the Centre decide eventually to back out from its declared decision of taking over BESU as an IIEST, in the face of indirect opposition from the LF. An NIT-like status, which may go well with the LF Government’s demand for 50% reservation and management control after upgradation, will be seen as a factual downgrade for this famous institute by the academic community as well as the industrial and business establishments in the state and across the country.
The questions that one would like to sek answers to are:
1. How was the state’s demand for 50% (initially 75%) reservation justified after BESU’s upgrade to a national institute when there was no such state reservation in pre-upgrade situation?
2. Was the State Government’s demand backed by any state expert committee or legislative committee recommendation?
3. How wise was it for the State Govt. to retain control over management and student admission in BESU at the expense of IIEST status when it could boast of giving an IIEST to the nation and utilize the financial burden thus saved in bringing up other technical institutes in the state, thereby expanding technical education infrastructure in the state?
The ruling LF do not seem to care much about popular opinion. They are however known for confessing wrongdoings and blunders decades after they are committed. The people of the state may therefore have to wait before they hear today’s leaders talking about today’s blunders several decades after.
Sudip Ghosh
Switzerland 5313
30.11.2007
Friday, November 30, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Tashlima moved out of Jaipur for Delhi
How organized are these forces?
Tashlima being taken out of Jaipur by Rajasthan Police for Delhi.
Tashlima being taken out of Jaipur by Rajasthan Police for Delhi.
Friday, November 23, 2007
AIIMS director at govt's mercy
Unbelievable!!!
Fantastic example of how Legislature follows the Executive in a Democracy while it is supposed to be the other way.
A complete bill is being introduced and passed (no information about debate) because a powerfull member of the executive machinery simply wanted to remove a person (widely believed to be popular and eligible) from a high office.
Fantastic example of how Legislature follows the Executive in a Democracy while it is supposed to be the other way.
A complete bill is being introduced and passed (no information about debate) because a powerfull member of the executive machinery simply wanted to remove a person (widely believed to be popular and eligible) from a high office.
No Indian varsity among world's top 200 universities
No Indian varsities, including the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology, figure among world's top 200 universities this year while six Chinese universities were listed, signalling the rapid stride the Communist giant is making in higher education.
Harvard University tops the league table followed by Cambridge and Oxford at second and third positions respectively. The top 10 universities are all either in the United States or the United Kingdom, a survey has found.
Harvard University tops the league table followed by Cambridge and Oxford at second and third positions respectively. The top 10 universities are all either in the United States or the United Kingdom, a survey has found.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Calcutta HC gave a 'tight slap on the face of the Govt'...says Chairman-NHRC
Outlook report 19 Nov, 2007
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.... ......... ....
Earlier in the day, Justice Babu told newsmen on the sidelines of the Fourth Annual Meeting of NHRC with State Human Rights Commissions in Delhi that Nandigram and Godhra were severe assaults in the face of democracy.
"They were the worst scars on the face of nations," he said, adding that the NHRC was committed to protect the rights of the people, who were victims of 'opportunist' politics in both West Bengal and Gujarat.
He said the Calcutta High Court had provided a 'tight slap on the face of the government' by condemning the attack on farmers.
----------------------
---------
.... ......... ....
Earlier in the day, Justice Babu told newsmen on the sidelines of the Fourth Annual Meeting of NHRC with State Human Rights Commissions in Delhi that Nandigram and Godhra were severe assaults in the face of democracy.
"They were the worst scars on the face of nations," he said, adding that the NHRC was committed to protect the rights of the people, who were victims of 'opportunist' politics in both West Bengal and Gujarat.
He said the Calcutta High Court had provided a 'tight slap on the face of the government' by condemning the attack on farmers.
----------------------
Monday, November 19, 2007
Thevar claimed of meeting Netaji in 1950
Muthuramalingam Thevar was a freedom fighter and a confidant of Subhas Chandra Bose from late 1920s onwards. Thevar was the first person to depose before Shah Nawaz Committee, the first official probe into Subhas's reported death. This very hearing on April 1 (1956) convinced Thevar that it was unlikely to do justice. On April 3, he held a press conference in Delhi. Calling the committee "an eyewash", Thevar said he would furnish "conclusive proof that Bose was alive....
Thevar wanted Dr Radha Binod Pal to head the enquiry committee in place of Congress MP Shah Nawaz.
The more startling bit about Thevar's press conference was the claim that he met Subhas Bose in China in 1950. He said that in late 1949 he met Netaji's ailing elder brother Sarat Chandra Bose in Calcutta. Sarat Bose confided in something to Thevar, who then made a surreptitious trip to China to meet Subhas Bose.
Thevar wanted Dr Radha Binod Pal to head the enquiry committee in place of Congress MP Shah Nawaz.
The more startling bit about Thevar's press conference was the claim that he met Subhas Bose in China in 1950. He said that in late 1949 he met Netaji's ailing elder brother Sarat Chandra Bose in Calcutta. Sarat Bose confided in something to Thevar, who then made a surreptitious trip to China to meet Subhas Bose.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Party takes on Judiciary over Nandigram
CPM state secretary Biman Bose advised the state government to move Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court order. The court on Friday had decreed that the March 14 police firing in Nandigram, which had killed 14 people, was "unconstitutional" and "unjustified".
"Will the judiciary dictate the government what it should do and what it shouldn't? If that is the case then there is no need for other wings of democracy namely the executive and legislature. Let there be a hike in the salary of the judges who will look after everything," said Bose at a party gathering.
"Will the judiciary dictate the government what it should do and what it shouldn't? If that is the case then there is no need for other wings of democracy namely the executive and legislature. Let there be a hike in the salary of the judges who will look after everything," said Bose at a party gathering.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Chief Minister's 'our people' are not really the people of his state
WB CM on Nandigram
-----------------------
“They had occupied the area for 11 months. So our people had no choice.”
‘They’ve been paid back in their own coin,” asserted the chief minister. That instant, the chief minister didn’t seem even remotely concerned about whether he represented the state government or his party. The lines had evidently been blurred.
- Economic Times, 14 Nov 2007
----------------------------------
So the Chief Minister's 'our people' are not really the people of his state ... ... God save the state..
-----------------------
“They had occupied the area for 11 months. So our people had no choice.”
‘They’ve been paid back in their own coin,” asserted the chief minister. That instant, the chief minister didn’t seem even remotely concerned about whether he represented the state government or his party. The lines had evidently been blurred.
- Economic Times, 14 Nov 2007
----------------------------------
So the Chief Minister's 'our people' are not really the people of his state ... ... God save the state..
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Nandigram updates - Nov 2007
Mamata Banerjee resigned as Member of Parliament on Saturday in protest against the continued violence in West Bengal's Nandigram: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070032372&ch=11/10/2007%205:21:00%20PM
Nandigram turns into 'war zone': http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070032375&ch=11/10/2007%2011:12:00%20AM
In a strong criticism of ruling Left Front major CPI(M), West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Friday night termed as ''unlawful and unacceptable'' the manner of recapture of villages in Nandigram: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070032348&ch=11/10/2007%2010:29:00%20AM
CPI-M takes on governor: http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=1cfd3f6f-48d6-45b3-b223-f0d38d473d80&ParentID=cd51a76e-cd59-4aca-98f8-19affbe3ebdf&MatchID1=4585&TeamID1=1&TeamID2=8&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1151&MatchID2=4587&TeamID3=3&TeamID4=5&MatchType2=1&SeriesID2=1152&PrimaryID=4585&Headline=Fresh+violence+in+Nandigram%2c+CPI-M+takes+on+governor
RTI effect: Netaji papers to be released- Hindustan Times
The government is finally preparing to make public a selection of secret and controversial documents relating to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s reported death and subsequent events.
The documents include communications to and from then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the chiefs of intelligence, which had been given to the Shah Nawaz Khan Committee of 1956 and Justice GD Khosla Commission of 1970.
Both had concluded that Netaji died in an air crash in August 1945, a conclusion trashed
by the Justice M.K. Mukherjee Commission in its November 2005 report.
The documents were never allowed to be made public for the next four decades. Till July, the Union Home Ministry also staved off attempts to release them under the Right To Information law saying the documents sought were voluminous, top secret in nature and may lead to chaos in the country if disclosed.
But a Central Information Commission decision in the same month has helped bring about the change in its assessment.
Officials said the Shivraj Patil-led Home Ministry had come around to the view that there really was no fear of a law and order problem if the secret documents were revealed.
Last week, Patil moved the Cabinet Committee of Political Affairs to seek a decision on releasing the files.
The documents include communications to and from then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the chiefs of intelligence, which had been given to the Shah Nawaz Khan Committee of 1956 and Justice GD Khosla Commission of 1970.
Both had concluded that Netaji died in an air crash in August 1945, a conclusion trashed
by the Justice M.K. Mukherjee Commission in its November 2005 report.
The documents were never allowed to be made public for the next four decades. Till July, the Union Home Ministry also staved off attempts to release them under the Right To Information law saying the documents sought were voluminous, top secret in nature and may lead to chaos in the country if disclosed.
But a Central Information Commission decision in the same month has helped bring about the change in its assessment.
Officials said the Shivraj Patil-led Home Ministry had come around to the view that there really was no fear of a law and order problem if the secret documents were revealed.
Last week, Patil moved the Cabinet Committee of Political Affairs to seek a decision on releasing the files.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
People' s Tribunal Report on 14 March Nandigram Violence
Nandigram violence dubbed ‘state sponsored massacre’
People’s Tribunal Report Says CBI Probe Should Continue
In its final report the People’s Tribunal on Nandigram has called the violence of 14 March 2007 a ‘pre-planned, state-sponsored massacre’ carried out ‘to teach a lesson’ to people opposing the SEZ project on their land.
For executive summary of the report: http://www.labournet.de/internationales/in/peoplestribunal.pdf
People’s Tribunal Report Says CBI Probe Should Continue
In its final report the People’s Tribunal on Nandigram has called the violence of 14 March 2007 a ‘pre-planned, state-sponsored massacre’ carried out ‘to teach a lesson’ to people opposing the SEZ project on their land.
For executive summary of the report: http://www.labournet.de/internationales/in/peoplestribunal.pdf
Sunday, November 04, 2007
WW II : Lesser known facts
WW II pilot saved by parachute made by his mother
Around midnight on June 5, 1944, Private C. Hillman, of Manchester, Connecticut, serving with the US 101st Airborne Division, was winging his way to Normandy in a C-47 transport plane. Just before the jump, Private Hillman carried out a final inspection of his parachute. He was surprised to see that the chute had been packed by the Pioneer Parachute Company of Connecticut where his mother worked part time as an inspector. He was further surprised when he saw on the inspection tag, the initials of his own mother!
SOVIET RAPES IN BERLIN: UNKNOWN TOTAL
The official figures for Berlin rapes by Soviet troops does exist but has never been published. However, Berlin’s former mayor, Ernst Reuter, said that the figure given him was 90,000. In 1945, Berlin had a population of some 2,700,000 of which about 2,000,000 were women. Many rapes of course were never reported and the figure of 90,000 includes only hospitalized cases and doctors reports. Some 10,000 women in Berlin died as a result of rape , many by suicide. The death rate was thought to have been much higher among the 1.4 million estimated victims in East Prussia, Silesia and Pomerania. Doctors were besieged by women seeking information on the best way to commit suicide. A charity institution, orphanage and maternity hospital, 'Haus Dehlem ' was forcibly entered by second line Russian troops and pregnant women and women who had just given birth were repeatedly raped. In the Soviet Zone of Germany nearly 90% of females ages between 10 and 80 were raped in what undoubtedly was the largest case of mass rape in history. This included women expelled from the eastern provinces. Among the rape victims were many women who became prominent figures in post-war Germany. Hannelore Kohl, wife of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl was raped when twelve years old, along with her mother while they tried to escape from Berlin on a train heading for Dresden. Hannelore Kohl committed suicide in 2001.
Most German children born in Berlin in 1946 were the result of rape. Women and young girls were forcibly dragged from their homes and raped, the drunken Soviet Mongolian soldiers queuing up to await their turn. For two whole weeks these mass rapes of women continued. Some Jewish women, thinking that their nationality would save them, showed their identity cards to the rapists but none of them could even read. Marshal Zhukov issued orders that any soldier caught in the act of rape after the two week period was up, was to be shot on the spot. Many a Russian soldier met his end this way. No US soldier was ever executed for rape in Germany. As one GI wrote 'Many a sane American family would recoil in horror if they knew how 'our boys' over here conduct themselves'. The psychological effects on many of these rape victims were devastating, future relationships with men became extremely difficult for the rest of their lives. ( Between 1942 and 1945, a total of 2,420 rapes were reported in England, 3,620 in France and more than 11,040 in Germany by the occupying troops.) It is estimated that around two million German women had undergone an illegal abortion in the three years after the war ended.
Around midnight on June 5, 1944, Private C. Hillman, of Manchester, Connecticut, serving with the US 101st Airborne Division, was winging his way to Normandy in a C-47 transport plane. Just before the jump, Private Hillman carried out a final inspection of his parachute. He was surprised to see that the chute had been packed by the Pioneer Parachute Company of Connecticut where his mother worked part time as an inspector. He was further surprised when he saw on the inspection tag, the initials of his own mother!
SOVIET RAPES IN BERLIN: UNKNOWN TOTAL
The official figures for Berlin rapes by Soviet troops does exist but has never been published. However, Berlin’s former mayor, Ernst Reuter, said that the figure given him was 90,000. In 1945, Berlin had a population of some 2,700,000 of which about 2,000,000 were women. Many rapes of course were never reported and the figure of 90,000 includes only hospitalized cases and doctors reports. Some 10,000 women in Berlin died as a result of rape , many by suicide. The death rate was thought to have been much higher among the 1.4 million estimated victims in East Prussia, Silesia and Pomerania. Doctors were besieged by women seeking information on the best way to commit suicide. A charity institution, orphanage and maternity hospital, 'Haus Dehlem ' was forcibly entered by second line Russian troops and pregnant women and women who had just given birth were repeatedly raped. In the Soviet Zone of Germany nearly 90% of females ages between 10 and 80 were raped in what undoubtedly was the largest case of mass rape in history. This included women expelled from the eastern provinces. Among the rape victims were many women who became prominent figures in post-war Germany. Hannelore Kohl, wife of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl was raped when twelve years old, along with her mother while they tried to escape from Berlin on a train heading for Dresden. Hannelore Kohl committed suicide in 2001.
Most German children born in Berlin in 1946 were the result of rape. Women and young girls were forcibly dragged from their homes and raped, the drunken Soviet Mongolian soldiers queuing up to await their turn. For two whole weeks these mass rapes of women continued. Some Jewish women, thinking that their nationality would save them, showed their identity cards to the rapists but none of them could even read. Marshal Zhukov issued orders that any soldier caught in the act of rape after the two week period was up, was to be shot on the spot. Many a Russian soldier met his end this way. No US soldier was ever executed for rape in Germany. As one GI wrote 'Many a sane American family would recoil in horror if they knew how 'our boys' over here conduct themselves'. The psychological effects on many of these rape victims were devastating, future relationships with men became extremely difficult for the rest of their lives. ( Between 1942 and 1945, a total of 2,420 rapes were reported in England, 3,620 in France and more than 11,040 in Germany by the occupying troops.) It is estimated that around two million German women had undergone an illegal abortion in the three years after the war ended.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Atom Bomb: President Truman's Press Statement, Aug 6, 1945
From Truman Library online resourses, as available on 1 Nov 2007
The statement says, " With this bomb we have now added a new and revolutionary increase in destruction to supplement the growing power of our armed forces".
The statement describes the competetion among the German and US-UK atomic research establishments as the "battle of the laboratories".
Truman writes about the Manhattan project: "We have spent two billion dollars on the greatest scientific gamble in history - and won." He also describes the project's success as "the greatest achievement of organized science in history".
-------------
A nice documentation about the US decision making process for the first use of atom bomb could be foun d here:http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/70-7_23.htm
-------------
Interestingly today's CNN news informs that the pilot of the B-16 bomber that dropped the first atom bomb has just died at the age of 92.
The statement says, " With this bomb we have now added a new and revolutionary increase in destruction to supplement the growing power of our armed forces".
The statement describes the competetion among the German and US-UK atomic research establishments as the "battle of the laboratories".
Truman writes about the Manhattan project: "We have spent two billion dollars on the greatest scientific gamble in history - and won." He also describes the project's success as "the greatest achievement of organized science in history".
-------------
A nice documentation about the US decision making process for the first use of atom bomb could be foun d here:http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/70-7_23.htm
-------------
Interestingly today's CNN news informs that the pilot of the B-16 bomber that dropped the first atom bomb has just died at the age of 92.
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