NEWS REVIEW - THE HINDU - SEP 23,2007

Agriculture students turn farmers

Amutha Kannan

TNAU students get hands-on training during the second year of study


COIMBATORE: This is the age where students get hands-on training before stepping out of the portals of a college. They are sent to an industry that is related to the course they are pursuing during the fourth or fifth semester in order to be industry-ready when they step out as graduates.
On the same lines, B. Sc. Agriculture students of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University get hands-on training during the second year of study. They do not go to any industry; but they become farmers in the true sense of the word. A batch is given a wetland of roughly 1.68 acres in the farm of TNAU to cultivate rice as part of a programme called‘Earn While You Learn’.

The four-month-long programme goes on simultaneosly with theory classes. The students do land preparation, irrigation, fertilizer spraying, weeding, harvesting, thrashing and weighing of the marketable produce. Each student gets two cents of the land to work on. The inputs and implements are provided to them. And, there is no help or assistance of any kind. The labour and costs are all theirs.

After the harvest when the marketable produce is obtained, it is sold at Rs. 6 per kg. After the sale, the profit is worked out deducting the production costs and each student is paid the profit amount that usually varies between Rs. 150 to 350, as an incentive. This year’s group consists of 52 girls and 32 boys.

This year’s land preparation and transplanting began in August with Vice-Chancellor C. Ramasamy planting alongside the students. “The students are in the mid-stages of paddy growing. The harvest is expected to be done in December. They have followed the new rice cultivation system called ‘System of Rice Intensification’, for more yield. This system follows planting a single seedling that is 14 days old. The seedlings were raised in a nursery and transplanted,” says S. Natarajan, Director, Centre for Soil and Crop Management Studies of the TNAU.

Students also get to raise maize or sunflower as a garden land crop. Since the land is not suited for any dry land crop, this cultivation is not undertaken. The programme is designed in such a way as to develop skill and confidence in the agricultural students to become independent farm developers.

A ENGINEERING STUDENT TURNING INTO AN ENGINEER

A MEDICINE STUDENT TURNING INTO A DOCTOR

THE ABOVE STATEMENTS THOUGH SENSIBLE , IS NOT SENSATIONAL.

BUT

A AGRICULTURE STUDENT TURNING INTO A FARMER
IS BOTH SENSIBLE AND SENSATIONAL.

MAY BE PESSIMISTIC IN NATURE , THE DAY , WE REQUEST FOR THE TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY FOR AGRICULTURE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES IS NOT FAR-OFF.

NEWS REVIEW - THE HINDU - SEP 22,2007

The sound of music

The country’s northeastern hills are in the grip of frenzied passion but guess what? The cause is neither political unrest nor separatist violence. It is difficult to imagine that the trigger for such hysterical ferment is a television programme.

As the finals of ‘Indian Idol’ readies to go on air tomorrow, consider how this singing talent programme — which ostensibly aims at unearthing the best undiscovered young crooner in this country — has rewritten the definition of idol worship.

Consider the attention and the adulation heaped on the two remaining finalists — Amit Paul from Shillong and Prashant Tamang from Darjeeling — one of whom will be crowned ‘Indian Idol.’ In Meghalaya, where Mr. Paul was recently anointed brand ambassador of the State for peace and communal harmony, the young singer is credited with doing the impossible — bridging the divide between the Khasi-Jaintia-Garo tribes and the non-tribal population.

Similarly, Mr. Tamang is said to have forged “an unprecedented unity” among Nepali-speaking folk in the swathe of hills that comprise Darjeeling and Sikkim. In a contest in which votes polled via SMS and phone calls will determine the winner, all stops are being pulled out by the two sides in mobilising support for the son of the soil.

In Sikkim, the Chief Minister has declared “all out” backing for Mr. Tamang; free PCOs have sprung up from nowhere; and Ministers are commandeering cell phones for voting via text messages.

Not to be outdone, the Meghalaya Chief Minister has instructed senior government officials to canvas support for Mr. Paul. In Darjeeling, the local administration has ordered all liquor shops to be closed over the weekend, fearing raucous parties if Mr. Tamang is crowned and severe alcohol-induced depression if he fails to make it. To set the record straight, the rumour that the Gorkha National Liberation Front and sundry Nepali outfits have been forcing people to vote for Mr. Tamang has been denied.

Recently, when the two young men returned to their native Shillong and Darjeeling, they were feted, felicitated, paraded, honoured, awarded, mobbed, and showered with all manner of adjectival praise. Of course, it is not only the hills that are alive with the sound of music. In other parts of India too, the programme, which is now in its third and most popular season, has got everyone — adolescent, youthful, middle-aged, and elderly — glued to their sets. This cannot but make one wonder. If only this power of television could be harnessed for the social good. If only people took a similar interest in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. If only our idols were more than singing or dancing sensations.

THOUGH QUITE SURPRISED BY THE POWER OF MUSIC , WHAT PAINED ME A LOT IS THE SURGE OF IDOLS ONLY IN ENTERTAINMENT ARENA .

NEWS REVIEW - THE HINDU - SEP 21,2007

The earth is a borderless entity: Sunita Williams

Manas Dasgupta



STATE GUEST: Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams arrives to a tumultuous welcome in Ahmedabad on Thursday. Ms. Williams, who set a record for the longest stay by a woman in space, is on a week-long visit to the country of her origin. She is being treated as a state guest.

AHMEDABAD: The Indian-origin American astronaut, Sunita Williams, arrived here on Thursday for a six-day visit to her native Gujarat, the first since she returned from her historic six-month sojourn at the International Space Station.

She was accorded a tumultuous reception by people who turned up in large numbers at the Ahmedabad airport. The heavy rush and the presence of mediapersons following her with heavy cameras forced the American security staff accompanying her to make on-the-spot changes in her programme.

As per her desire to begin her visit to the State by paying homage to the ‘Father of the Nation,’ she was taken to the Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram after resting for a couple of hours at the hotel. She attended a prayer meeting where a host of Congress leaders, including the State party president, Bharat Solanki, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Arjun Modhvadia, occupied the dais.

A large number of schoolchildren, who were brought there for an active interaction with Ms. Williams, were disappointed as the police did not allow them near her. She, however, briefly addressed the gathering and told the children about her experiences in space and how the earth looked like from the window of the space station.

Ms. Williams told the gathering that “borders” between the nations were all “creations of the mind” of the people and from outer space, the earth was a single “borderless” entity. She said India looked the “most beautiful” from space.

IT REMAINED OF THE WORDS OF TAGORE -

Where the world has not been

broken up into fragments

by narrow domestic walls;

NEWS REVIEW - THE HINDU - SEP 20,2007

Basil Rajapaksa becomes MP

B. Muralidhar Reddy



COLOMBO: Basil Rajapaksa, Senior Presidential Advisor and brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was sworn in as an MP on Wednesday amid protests by sections of the Opposition.
Mr. Basil Rajapaksa, younger brother of the President, is likely to be inducted into the Government with the “Nation Building” ministerial portfolio.

Mr. Basil Rajapaksa is the second brother of the President in Parliament. While Chamal Rajapaksa is the Irrigation Minister, Gothabaya Rajapaksa is the Defence Secretary.
In recent months the President has come under attack from several quarters for leaning heavily on his family in governance

I UNDERSTOOD THE MEANING OF THE WORD NEPOTISM

NEWS REVIEW - THE HINDU - SEP 19,2007

Tolerating gender violence is a habit now: Welfare Board chief

Staff Reporter

Women have become secondary citizens, says Kavignar Salma


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Even denying a woman her rights amounts to violence against her
A society that does not give equal rights cannot call itself ‘developed’
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FOR GENDER EQUALITY: Kavignar Salma, Chairperson, Tamil Nadu State Social Welfare Board, speaking at Bharathiar University in Coimbatore on Tuesday. —

COIMBATORE: Life should not become a habit. There are set patterns for men and women in society that we blindly follow. A violent act is equally painful to a man or a woman.
“But, we women do not register any kind of protest to violence. We take it lying down because it has become a habit with us,” Kavignar Salma, Chairperson, State Social Welfare Board, Tamil Nadu, said here on Tuesday.

Inaugurating a seminar on ‘Countering Gender Violence’ organised by the Centre for Women’s Studies of Bharathiar University, she said violence need not be only a physical act. Even denying a woman her rights amounted to violence.

“A society or any particular community which does not accept a woman as an equal, or does not give equal opportunities for her to get educated or become independent, cannot call itself developed in any way. We pride ourselves on the fact that we are developed in many spheres; but foeticide and infanticide are still prevalent.

“We quietly accept this because this has also become a habit,” Ms. Salma said.
Discrimination should not be viewed only in the form of dowry, foeticide, infanticide, and denial of education and employment. Anaemia and malnutrition in women were also signs of discrimination against women, she said. “It has become an accepted fact that women are secondary citizens,” she observed.

She called for gender equality in society and urged women to be aware of their rights. She observed that in another 20 years the number of women being born would have dwindled to nothing.

She attributed this to modern medical facilities the helped identify the sex of the baby. When the couple got to know that it was a girl baby in the womb, the pregnancy was conveniently terminated. The in-thing was to have a single male child, she said.

G. Thiruvasagam, Vice-Chancellor, Bharathiar University, said that men always held pride of place in our society. Citing Indian statistics, he said, “Every 54 minutes a girl is raped; every 26 minutes a girl is molested, every 51 minutes a girl is teased, every 102 minutes there is a dowry death, and every 7 minutes a crime is committed against a girl.” Taking examples of the results of the X standard, Plus Two and Bharathiar University results (61 out of the 67 rank holders were girls), he asserted that such capable women should be treated with respect and no violence should be inflicted on them.

He also called for reservation to be implemented to enable them to achieve greater heights in life.

THIS ARTICLE STATING VIOLENCE NEED NOT BE A PHYSICAL ACT AND EVEN DENYING HER RIGHTS AMOUNTED TO VIOLENCE MADE ME ASTONISHED.

IT MADE ME TO RECOGNISE THAT I AM ALSO A CULPRIT.

HOPE THERE WOULD BE SOME BEHAVOURIAL CHANGES IN ME WHILE DEALING WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX.

NEWS REVIEW - THE HINDU - SEP 18,2007

A chance to bring out the filmmaker in you

Ananth Krishnan

Entries invited for first ever online film festival ‘PFCOne’


CHENNAI: Ever felt you had the talent to be a Spielberg or a Mani Ratnam locked up inside you? Now here’s your chance to finally let it out.

Passionforcinema.com (PFC), an independent website that seeks to bring together filmmakers and cinema lovers to discuss the art form, has announced the first ever online film festival titled ‘PFCOne.’

The website is inviting entries on any topic and in any language (as long as you make sure it’s subtitled), and aspiring filmmakers are free to capture their visions on video, digital or movie cameras, camcorders and even mobile phones. The only condition — your films have to be only a minute long.

Just like in any other film festival, auteurs will have their works judged by a panel of distinguished jurors, including Anurag Kashyap (director ‘Black Friday’, soon-to-released ‘No Smoking’ and writer for ‘Guru’ and ‘Yuva’), Sudhir Mishra (‘Khoya Khoya Chaand’, ‘Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi’, ‘Dharavi’), Nishikant Kamat (national award winner for ‘Dombivili Fast’) and Suparn Verma (‘Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena’, ‘Qayamat’).

The best one-minute films will be screened on the website between December 1 and December 5, while prizes include film and screen-writing internships with some of the above directors and writers.

“PFCOne is more than just about the competition or the prizes,” says Karthik Krishnan, a member and writer at PFC.

“Our intention is to motivate anyone who wants to make a film to make that jump, and for film-lovers to stop talking and just go out and make a film.”

Mr. Karthik says the PFC was set up by lovers of cinema from different walks of life a year ago to give them a much-needed platform to discuss their passion. “This is a place where lovers of cinema can discuss the art, and I don’t mean film gossip,” he says. Here, film enthusiasts are welcome to dissect anything about the nature of the art, from lighting to scene-content.

Forum for feedback

The website also gives filmmakers a chance to receive honest feedback from their fans. “In Mumbai’s media you often tend to get film reviews that are biased, so this is especially important,” Mr. Karthik says.

Entries will be accepted at

http://passionforcinema.com up until November 15; there is no entry fee for the festival.

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ME TO SHOWCASE MY TALENT TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD AND TO FIND MY NICHE IN THE CELLULOID WORLD.

NEWS REVIEW - THE HINDU - SEP 17,2007

An ‘expert’ unmasked

Suzanne Goldenberg


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Alexis Debat operated as an expert on security in the world of Washington think-tanks, U.S. network TV, and French intellectual journals.
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American and French media on Friday were taking a second look at the work of a so-called terrorism expert who faked his academic credentials — and entire interviews with some of the world’s most prominent figures.

For six years Alexis Debat, who falsely claimed to have earned a Ph.D at the Sorbonne and worked as an adviser to the French Defence Ministry, operated as an expert on national security in the world of Washington think-tanks, U.S. network television and French intellectual journals.
He was a consultant to ABC television, which sent him on trips to Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran to guide their coverage on Al-Qaeda; a senior fellow on terrorism at the conservative think-tank the Nixon Centre; and a regular contributor to the magazine National Interest, whose honorary chairman is Henry Kissinger. Mr. Debat was also a regular in the pages of the French publication Politique International.

But, as is only now emerging, Mr. Debat not only lacked the credentials he claimed, he fabricated interviews with such figures as the then U.N. Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, and Democrat presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

On Friday ABC News withdrew his work on Al-Qaeda and other subjects from its website. He was sacked from the network last June after it emerged that he had made up an interview with Mr. Obama.

Mr. Debat resigned from his post at the Nixon Centre on Wednesday, following “extensive and difficult discussions” over his credentials, said Paul Saunders, the centre’s executive director. Mr. Debat’s credibility in such circles was in itself noteworthy. What is extraordinary, however, was his ability to continue operating for more than two years after the first doubts about his integrity.

The U.N. first raised the alarm in June 2005 after failing to find any evidence that Mr. Debat had held a claimed interview with Mr. Annan for Politique International. A U.N. internal probe revealed no record of such an interview, and that Mr. Annan was a meeting of the African Union in Addis Ababa on the day of the alleged conversation with Mr. Debat.

When the Nixon Centre inquired last June about the veracity of Mr. Debat’s Ph.D, he produced a sheaf of documents to back up his claims. Such bravado may have allowed Mr. Debat to keep functioning long after he was unmasked.

Mr. Debat, who was on a trip to Pakistan with ABC News when contacted about the interview, stood by his story, claiming he had held a telephone conversation with Mr. Annan, arranged through a third party. The magazine did not publish that particular interview. However, it continued to publish pieces by Mr. Debat, including the purported interview with Mr. Obama, which was exposed by the French online magazine Rue 89. — ©Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2007

I UNDERSTOOD THE MEANING OF THE WORD "IMPOSTOR"

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