Rohith Vemula got call from cops, notice from hostel

Transcription

RNI No. GUJENG/2014/57876
GARVI GUJARAT
økhðe økwshkík
GARVI GUJARAT
(Published Daily from Ahmedabad)
EDITOR: ASHVINKUMAR KESHAVLAL RAMI
Regd. Office: 131, Dharmnagar Society, Highway Road, Sabarmati, Ahmedabad-380 005. Gujarat, India.
Phone/Fax: (079) 2757 3307, (M) 93283 33307, 94266 33307, 98253 33307,
Volume-02
Issue-170
Email : garvigujarat2007@yahoo.com • Email : garvigujarat2007@gmail.com • Website : www.garvigujarat.co.in
Dt. 22-01-2016 Friday
V.S. 2072
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Dalit professors threaten to quit, Univ campus tries to lower heat
Intruder shot dead
by BSF along IndoPak border in
Pathankot
Gurdaspur (Punjab),
image for representation A
suspected intruder was
shot dead early today by
BSF along the Indo-Pak
border in Pathankot where
the force is on high alert
following the January 2
terror attack on air force
base. Officials said the
Border Security Force
team deployed along the
International Border (IB)
saw suspicious movement
of at least three infiltrators
near the Bamiyal area
early morning. In order to
thwart a bid to breach the
border, the troops fired.
"One intruder has been
killed while two others fled
back from the IB. The area
where the incident took
place is called Taash and
is in Gurdaspur sector
near Bamiyal in
Pathankot," they said.
Incidentally, Bamiyal is the
same area from where it
is widely suspected that
the terrorists from Pakistan who perpetrated the
IAF base attack in
Pathankot had sneaked
into the country. Initial
reports said the incident
occurred last night but
officers on ground informed that it has occurred around 6 AM, they
said. The BSF has
launched a search in the
area to retrieve the body
but heavy fog and low
visibility is hampering the
operation, the officials
said. The latest action was
by a trooper of the 132nd
BSF battalion. Gurdaspur
Deputy Inspector General
(DIG) N K Mishra and
Commandant of the 132nd
battalion deployed in the
area S S Dabas were
recently transferred by the
BSF and a Court of Inquiry
ordered to look for any
lapses that could have led
to the Pathankot attack in
which seven security
personnel were killed.
Trai's face-off
with Facebook
escalates
New Delhi, Terming
Facebook's action as
diversionary, the Telecom
Regulatory Authority of
India said the whole
consultation exercise has
been reduced to a crudely
majoritarian and orchestrated poll. A day before
the open house discussion
on differential pricing of
data, a full-scale war of
words broke out between the Telecom
Regulatory Authority of
India (Trai) and social
networking giant Facebook
(FB). FB and the Trai have
made public letters that
were exchanged between
them on Net Neutrality. In
a letter, the Trai slammed
the campaign by
Facebook for its Free
Basics product as a
“crudely majoritarian and
orchestrated opinion poll”.
“Neither the spirit nor the
letter of a consultative
process warrants such an
interpretation which, if
accepted, has dangerous
ramifications for policymaking in India,” Trai said in
its letter to FB on January
18. According to the
regulator, the campaign by
Facebook to defend its free
Internet platform Free
Basics in India is “wholly
misplaced” as “the consultation paper is on differential
pricing for data services and
not on any particular
product or service”.
(Agency) New Delhi: Deepening the crisis in Hyderabad
University, teachers belonging
to the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes Wednesday
unanimously resolved to resign
from all administrative posts in
solidarity with students protesting the suspension of five students, one of whom committed
suicide last Sunday. The University of Hyderabad SC/ST Teachers and Officers Forum also condemned remarks made by HRD
Minister Smriti Irani at a press
conference in New Delhi and
alleged she had “misrepresented” facts and “misled the
nation”. “We express our solidarity with students who are protesting against the death of
Rohith Vemula and demand the
immediate revocation of suspension and removal of police cases
filed against our students,” the
Forum said in a statement. This
is the first time a teachers’ body
of the university passed such a
resolution. “In response to the
honourable minister’s fabricated
statements, we the Dalit faculty
and officers will lay down our
administrative positions,” said
one of the teachers at the protest site. S Sudhakar Babu,
convenor of the Forum, said
they will begin tendering resignations if their demands are not
met. “We want all students reinstated, jobs and compensation
for Rohith Vemula’s family and a
better mechanism in the university to deal with such student
issues,” Babu told The Indian
Express. Malicious intent to
present Rohith Vemula suicide
as a caste battle: Smriti
IraniRohith Vemula suicide case:
Hyderabad University mulls dilution of punishment, brief closure
of institutionRohith Vemula suicide: Hyderabad University VC
denies pressure from HRD
MinistryHunger strike at FTII,
demonstrations in DelhiPolitics,
protests over Hyderabad
student's death; Union Minister
booked, Congress demands
removalTMC students' wing
members ‘heckle’ teachers protesting
at
Calcutta
UniversityMalicious intent to
members ‘heckle’ teachers protesting at Calcutta University
According to the Forum, Irani
Wednesday said a senior Dalit
professor was part of the executive council sub committee that
took the decision to suspend
the students including Vemula.
“It was headed by an upper
caste professor… and there are
no Dalit faculty in this sub committee. Incidentally, the dean of
student welfare who happens
to be a Dalit was notionally coopted an an ex-officio member
of the committee. It is unfortunate that since its inception, no
Dalit representation has been
given in this council,” the Forum
stated. “Such a baseless and
misleading statement coming
from the honourable minister of
HRD amounts to bringing down
the morale of Dalits holding administrative positions in this and
other universities. By deflecting
this issue, the honourable MHRD
minister is absolving herself and
the honourable minister Bandaru
Dattatreya from being responsible for the death of Rohith
Vemula,” the Forum said. Meanwhile, the university is considering dilution of the punishment
meted out to the students and
possible closure of the institution
for a few days to lower tempers
on the campus. Sources in the
university administration said
Vice Chancellor Appa Rao may
soon call an emergency meeting
of the executive council (EC) to
discuss the proposal. Rao, university sources said, is in favour
of reducing the six-month suspension, starting December 18,
2015, to one month. Last November, the EC expelled the
five students, including Vemula,
from the hostel and barred access to public places on campus.
They were, however, allowed
to attend lectures and pursue
their research in the university.
The students were punished for
allegedly assaulting an ABVP
student leader on campus. If
the law and order situation on
campus goes out of hand, the
university could also consider
closing for a few days. “The
student’s death is unfortunate but this issue is n o w
being used to further political
motives. The university could
also close for some days to
help normalcy return to campus life,” said an official who
did not wish to be identified.
Irani told The Indian Express
Wednesday that she hadn’t
received any communication
from the university regarding
dilution in punishment meant
for the remaining four
scholars. An official reaction from the university was
not immediately available.
members ‘heckle’ teachers protesting
at
Calcutta
UniversityMalicious intent to
( C o r r s p o n d e n t )
Heydarabad: Before he committed suicide on January 17,
Rohith Chakravarthi Vemula was
summoned by the police and
had received an ultimatum from
the warden to leave the
hostel.The 26-year-old had received a letter from the SubInspector of Gachibowli police
station, dated November 5,
summoning him to record his
statement in connection with
the complaint lodged by ABVP
leader Nandanam Susheel
Kumar. On December 18, he
received another letter — this
time from the warden of the
men’s hostels J and K. The
letter, addressed to Rohith,
men’s hostel J, room no 45,
read: “This is with reference to
the letter dated December 17
received from the office of the
Chief Warden regarding vacating the hostel room immedi-
ately. Therefore, you are directed to clear your mess dues
of Rs 9,482 and vacate the
room by 4 pm of December
18…Failing which necessary action shall be taken in this case.
Please treat this as most urgent.’’ Replying to the letter
from police, Rohith said: “I deny
the allegations made by Susheel
Kumar which are false. I humbly
request you not to proceed
against me because I will be
affected unduly for appearing
in the case and my career will
be spoilt. I belong to SC community and implicating me in a
criminal offence amounts to
atrocity on an SC person.”
Rohith was scared that police
wanted to detain or arrest him
and, therefore, had summoned
him to the police station instead of visiting the university
to record his statement. When
his room was sealed on Decem-
ber 18, Rohith moved his belongings to a friend’s room and
the five suspended students
sought permission to use the
rooms till the next court hearing on January 18. The warden
did not agree, but the students continued to live in friends’
rooms until they were asked to
leave the hostel on January 4.
Dalit student suicide: ABVP
leader claimed stomach pain
after ‘assault,’ was operated
for appendicitisJagruti Yuva
Morcha protests outside Union
Minister
Dattatreya's
residenceHyderabad Dalit student suicide: No evidence initially, then flip-flop beganBehind
Rohit Vemula's suicide: how
Hyderabad Central University
showed him the doorGive euthanasia facilities, Rohith Vemula
wrote stinging letter to VCHyderabad: Suspended Dalit
student hangs himselfDalit stu-
dent suicide: ABVP leader
claimed stomach pain after ‘assault,’ was operated for
appendicitisJagruti Yuva Morcha
protests outside Union Minister
Dattatreya's
residence
Hyderabad Dalit student suicide: No evidence initially, then
flip-flop beganBehind Rohit
Vemula's
suicide:
how
Hyderabad Central University
showed him the doorGive euthanasia facilities, Rohith Vemula
wrote stinging letter to VCHyderabad: Suspended Dalit
student hangs himselfDalit student suicide: ABVP leader
claimed stomach pain after ‘assault,’ was operated for
appendicitisJagruti Yuva Morcha
protests outside Union Minister
Dattatreya's
residence
Hyderabad Dalit student suicide: No evidence initially,
then flip-flop beganBehind
Rohit Vemula's suicide.
(Agency) NEW DELHI:
Delhi Police on Wednesday
announced the arrest of four
members of Islamic State
(ISIS) aged 19-23, who were
in touch with handlers in Syria
and Iraq and were planning a
terrorist attack ahead of Republic Day at targets such as
the Ardh Kumbh in Haridwar
and prominent shopping malls
of Delhi-NCR like Select
Citywalk, Saket; DLF Promenade, Vasant Kunj and the
Great India Place in Noida.
The arrests confirmed the
presence of ISIS in India for
the first time, transforming
what was till now a concern
into an actual security threat.
The ISIS cell members, according to the police, said
they were close to preparing
IEDs and procuring weapons
on the instruction of handlers
who they were in touch with
over VOIP, WhatsApp and
Facebook. The official word
came a day after TOI reported
the arrest of three operatives
of the terror outfit, which recently staged an attack in
Jakarta. The special cell of the
Delhi Police announced the
arrest of a fourth operative,
who was picked up at 1am on
Wednesday, and said there
was evidence connecting them
with ISIS operatives in West
Asia. Among the four arrested,
Akhlaq ur Rehman is a thirdyear engineering student at a
polytechnic college in Roorkee
area and was picked up by
cops just as he was to enter
his college to write an exam.
Mohammed Osama and Ajiz
are doing BA from a local
college while Mehraj is pursuing a bachelors in
Ayurvedic medicine. Apart
from targeting the Ardh
Kumbh in Haridwar on February 8, the ISIS recruits were
keen on bombing popular
malls that attract thousands
of visitors every day. They
had even conducted a survey
of their intended targets. The
quartet came in touch with
ISIS recruiters through
Facebook and were subsequently communicating
through WhatsApp and
Hike, sources said. They
were then asked to read
up ISIS literature on the
internet and the outfit's
mouthpieces like Dabiq.
(Corrspondent) LUCKNOW: When Babasaheb Bhimrao
Ambedkar University (BBAU) officials here were told to design
an achkan for PM Narendra Modi to wear at Friday's convocation, authorities said they were given a 50-inch chest size to be
conveyed to the tailor. In the run-up to the 2014 election, Modi
in a repartee to Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav
had said: "Netaji has said Modi does not have what it takes to
make another Gujarat out of UP. Do you know what making
another Gujarat requires? ... It requires a chhappan inch ki
chhati (56-inch chest)." It was never clear whether it was a
literal statement or an allusion to his political machismo.
Officials involved in preparations for the convocation told TOI
they had contacted the PMO for Modi's measurements and
were informed by a tour officer at the PMO that the size was 50
inches at the chest and 21 inches at the shoulder. The university
is getting the golden-coloured achkan stitched by a tailor in Delhi.
(Agency) WASHINGTON:
Pakistan's nuclear warheads
which are estimated to be between 110-130 are aimed at
deterring India from taking military action against it, a latest
Congressional report has said.
The report also expressed concern that Islamabad's "full spectrum deterrence" doctrine has
increased risk of nuclear conflict
between the two South Asian
neighbours. "Pakistan's nuclear
arsenal probably consists of approximately 110-130 nuclear
warheads, although it could
have more. Islamabad is producing fissile material, adding to related production facilities, deploying additional nuclear weapons, and new types of delivery
vehicles," Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in its
latest report. In its 28-page report, the CRS noted that
Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is
widely regarded as designed to
dissuade India from taking military action against it, but
Islamabad's expansion of its
nuclear arsenal, development of
new types of nuclear weapons
and adoption of a doctrine called
"full spectrum deterrence" have
led some observers to express
concern about an increased risk
of nuclear conflict between Pakistan and India, which also continues to expand its nuclear arsenal. CRS is the independent
research wing of the US Congress, which prepares periodic
reports by eminent experts on
a wide range of issues so as to
help lawmakers take informed
decisions. Reports of CRS are not
considered as an official view of
the US Congress. "Pakistan has
in recent years taken a number
of steps to increase international
confidence in the security of its
nuclear arsenal," said the CRS
report authored by Paul K Kerr
and Mary Beth Nikitin. Moreover,
Pakistani and US officials argue
that, since the 2004 revelations
about a procurement network
run by former Pakistani nuclear
official A Q Khan, Islamabad has
taken a number of steps to improve its nuclear security and to
prevent further proliferation of
nuclear-related technologies
and materials, it said. A number
of important initiatives, such as
strengthened export control
laws, improved personnel security, and international nuclear
security
cooperation
programmes, have improved
Pakistan's nuclear security, the
CRS said. "However, instability in
Pakistan has called the extent
and durability of these reforms
into question. Some observers
fear radical takeover of the Pakistani government or diversion
of material or technology by
personnel within Pakistan's
nuclear complex," the CRS said.
A photo of Rohith Vemula garlanded at the protest site at the Hyderabad Central University on Wednesday. (Source: AP)
Rohith Vemula got call from Islamic State comes to India: Planned
cops, notice from hostel
to strike Delhi-NCR malls, Kumbh
Narendra Modi’s chest now
said to measure 50 inches
Around 130 Pak nuclear warheads
aimed at deterring India: US report
The Minister of Business, Enterprise and Cooperatives of the Republic of Mauritius, Mr.
Soomilduth Sunil Bholah meeting the Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Shri Kalraj Mishra, in New Delhi on January 21, 2016. PIB
IBM employee found
murdered in her Bengaluru flat
(Agency) Bengaluru: A
techie working with IBM was
found murdered in her apartment in Kadugodi, southeast
Bengaluru, on Tuesday night.
Kusum Rani Singla, 31, from
Punjab, who moved to
Bengaluru six months ago, is
suspected to have been strangulated to death with a wirelike object, police said. She
was found in a pool of blood,
raising suspicion she may have
been attacked by a sharp object as well. It is suspected
she was murdered in the afternoon; her flatmate saw the
body around 7.30pm. Kusum,
a divorcee, was working with
IBM's Noida office before she
took a transfer to Bengaluru.
She was staying on the fourth
floor of Mahaveer Kings apartment in Kadugodi. Flatmate
Nidhi, working with another
multinational, returned home
to find Kusum's body , and
informed police. Sleuths are
looking for a man who visited
her in the flat before the
murder.Police didn't reveal the
man's details, saying it might
hamper probe. DCP (Southeast) MB Boralingaiah said it is
suspected she died of strangulation, probably by a rope
or wire.But excessive bleeding has led to the suspicion
she may have been attacked
with a sharp object as well.
Postmortem will reveal the
cause of death, DCP (South-
east) MB Boralingaiah said.
Blood wa oozing from her nose
and mouth, and hid any injuries. Police said they have not
recovered any sharp objects
or weapons from the spot.
There was no concrete evidence
of
any
struggle.However, strands of
broken hair were found around
the body. Police are trying to
ascertain whether it was, indeed, evidence of a struggle.
CCTV footage is not clear.
Details in the apartment
register have given cops
some clues. There is no
evidence of anything being
stolen from the flat. The
woman's family members
are on their way to the city.
Researchers find possible
ninth planet that is 10
times bigger than Earth
(Agency)
CAPE
CANAVERAL, An artist's rendering shows the distant view
from 'Planet Nine' back towards the sun, in this handout photo provided by the
California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena,
California, January 20, 2016.
The solar system may host a
ninth planet that is about 10
times bigger than Earth and
orbiting far beyond Neptune,
according to research published on Wednesday. Computer simulations show that
the mystery planet, if it exists, would orbit more than
50 times farther from the sun
than Earth, astronomers with
the California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena said.
2
Ahmedabad. Dt. 22-01-2016 Friday
Editorial
Polarisation in Malda
On the face of it, the violence unleashed in Malda on
January 3 would appear to point to a dangerous escalation
of a communal protest by an obscure group called the
Anjuman Ahle Sunnatul Jamaat. The group had organised a
rally to protest against remarks against Islam made by a
Hindu right-wing leader in Uttar Pradesh nearly a month
earlier — a mob burnt a Border Security Force (BSF)
vehicle, then attacked and ransacked a police station and
burnt vehicles in Kaliachak. However, a deeper inquiry
suggests that the violence was the result of a law and order
breakdown in the largely backward and under-developed
district, which has been convulsed by agrarian distress,
poverty and a political system thriving on patronage and
crime. The mob had specifically targeted the police and the
BSF after a crackdown on poppy cultivation and the circulation of fake currency notes, an illicit economic activity that is
rampant in the area. It is clear from ground reports that the
protest rally was used as a ruse to unleash violence against
the police in the Kaliachak area, with crime records and
poppy storage facilities being the primary targets for the
looters and arsonists among the mob. The subsequent
attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party to give a communal
colour to the violence is a sinister ploy to foment more
trouble in an already troubled district. Malda has for long
been a pocket borough of the Congress party. The family of
the late A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury continues to wield
influence and power through a client-patronage system. The
Trinamool Congress had hitherto been unable to breach the
Congress stronghold despite establishing hegemony in most
other districts. The State government’s business-as-usual
reaction to the breakdown in law and order in Malda is
possibly on account of the Trinamool Congress’s expectations of deriving some electoral advantage from religious
polarisation. Meanwhile, the BJP, which blatantly took
recourse to dog-whistle politics in the Lok Sabha elections of
2014, managing a decent showing in West Bengal, has been
unable to consolidate its position in the subsequent local
body elections. With the increasing prospect of a Congress
alliance with the Left Front — both the Congress and the
CPI(M) leaderships in the State have signalled a preference
for an electoral understanding for the coming Assembly
elections — it is amply clear that tensions are being deliberately ramped up in order to polarise voters in Malda. This
process is being helped by the Trinamool government’s lack
of a will to curb criminality and increasing threats to law and
order in West Bengal. Communal riots and deterioration of
civic relations are products of cynical electoral strategies of
communal and narrow-minded political outfits. It is to
be hoped that the progressive social forces in Malda
will work to resist the political machinations that are
under way to create a communal conflagration. That
they are the last hope is a searing indictment of the
administration in West Bengal.
Dealing with the
slowdown
The International Monetary Fund has added to the prevailing
economic gloom by cutting the global growth forecast. It
now expects the world economy to expand by 3.4 per cent
in 2016. This is 0.2 percentage points below its forecast of
October last year. The revision has come just as Beijing
released numbers that showed China posting the slowest
growth yet in 25 years. Though it reported a growth of 6.9
per cent in 2015, the year saw turbulence in the Chinese
economy, with heavy capital outflows and stock market
volatility. The IMF has kept its growth forecast for China
unchanged at 6.3 per cent in 2016, and the fear is that
China’s economic slowdown could have a trigger effect on
others. Reading the China factor in tandem with weak
commodity prices, the Fund has chosen to pare its global
growth forecast. The latest IMF growth numbers no doubt
reflect the unfavourable ground conditions around the globe.
Yet, they also underscore a sense of urgency in putting in
place an action plan that would catalyse and hasten the
economic recovery process. Not surprisingly, the IMF has
emphasised the need for supportive measures in the near
term to assist a recovery. While ringing the slowdown
alarm, the IMF, however, finds India better-placed vis-à-vis
other large economies. It has kept its growth forecast for
India in 2016-17 unchanged at 7.5 per cent. Coming as it
does at a time when global political and business leaders
make a beeline for Davos, the IMF’s prediction could be
seen to be a shot in the arm for Indian leaders to hard sell
the country at the World Economic Forum. At best, it could
give India a psychological edge over others. But that alone
may not be sufficient to pull India to a higher growth orbit.
In an inter-connected environment, global headwinds cannot
be wished away. Oftentimes, there have been comparisons
between India and China in the global investing community.
Managing the ‘China factor’ is very crucial for India to stay
its course on the growth path. Containing the spillover
effects of volatility in Beijing could, however, prove a big
challenge for monetary and fiscal planners in India in the
coming days. Given that Indian exports have been contracting month after month, the developments on the Chinese
currency front are bound to pose fresh worries for the
economy. Though India is relatively better-placed, the
economic slowdown is as much a concern for the country as
it is for others. Even as the IMF forecast provides India a
comparative edge in wooing the global investor community,
it is essential for the government to coherently address the
growing anxiety among domestic consumers and stem, if
not fully reverse, the demand slump. The budget will
provide the NDA government an opportunity to announce a
plan to mitigate economic distress, especially in the farm
sector, and show the political will to push job-creation as a
central objective. It’s a task the government must not
dodge.
TVS rolls out Apache RTR 200
(Agency) TVS Motors on Wednesday launched its much
anticipated Apache RTR 200 motorcycle, with a starting
price of Rs. 88,990 (ex-showroom Delhi). The company also
rolled out its refurbished Victor on the occasion. Addressing
a press conference, Venu Srinivasan, chairman TVS Motor
Company, said the launch of the two motorcycles was
‘significant’ for the company as it aimed to improve its
market share in the two-wheeler industry. “I would like to
say that our target is to get at least a 3 per cent increase in
market share in motorcyles to 10 per cent this year,” he
said. With the launch of Apache 200 in the premium space
“we hope to move from 17 per cent to 22 per cent market
share,” he said. The company has invested close to Rs. 300
crore on these two products and they will be made available
across the country in a phased manner from February, he
said. Mr. Srinivasan said his company hoped to sell 25,000
units of Victor and 7,000 Apache RTR 200 a month by Diwali
this year. The company officials said that Apache RTR 200
was targeted at the young generation and came with
modern technology including its design and equipment. The
200cc motorcycle can zoom from 0-60 kmph in 3.9 seconds,
the company claimed. It also sports a digital speedometer
and matte finish.
Garvi Gujarat
2
The hidden wealth of nations
India’s biggest source of FDI is India itself, money departing on a short
holiday to a tax haven and then routed back as FDI. Will the government
muster up the political will to clamp down on the tax-allergic business elite?
This could be a bumper
year for the ever-lucrative tax
avoidance industry. The 2015
final reports of the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD)-led project on Base
Erosion and Profit Shifting
(BEPS) — which refer to the
erosion of a nation’s tax base
due to the accounting tricks of
Multinational Enterprises
(MNEs) and the legal but abusive shifting out of profits to
low-tax jurisdictions respectively — lays out 15 action
points to curb abusive tax
avoidance by MNEs. As a participant of this project, India is
expected to implement at least
some of these measures. But
can it? More pertinently, does
it have the political will? The
BEPS project is no doubt a
positive development for tax
justice. If India’s recent economic history tells us anything,
it is that economic growth
without public investment in
social infrastructure such as
health care and education can
do very little to better the life
conditions of the majority.
Which is why curbing tax evasion to boost public finance is
part of the United Nations’
Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs). However, notwithstanding the BEPS project,
MNEs and their dedicated army
of highly paid accountants are
not about to roll over and comply. Again, if past history is
any indication, the cat-andmouse game between accountants and taxmen will continue, with new loopholes being unearthed in new tax rules.
Empowering tax dodgers The
primary cause of concern here
is the quality of India’s political
leadership, which has consistently betrayed its own taxmen.
All it takes — regardless of the
party in power — is for the
stock market to sneeze, and
the Indian state swoons. We’ve
seen it happen time and again:
the postponement of the enforcement of General AntiAvoidance Rules (GAAR) to
2017, and more spectacularly,
on the issue of participatory
notes, or P-notes. Last year,
the Special Investigation Team
(SIT) on black money had recommended mandatory disclosure to the regulator, as per
Know Your Customer (KYC)
norms, of the identity of the
final owner of P-notes. It was
a sane suggestion because
the bulk of P-note investments
in the Indian stock market were
from tax havens such as Cayman Islands. But the markets
threw a fit, with the Sensex
crashing by 500 points in a
day. The National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) government,
which had come to power
promising to fight black money,
promptly issued a statement
assuring investors that it was
in no hurry to implement the
SIT recommendations. Given
such a patchy record, what
are the realistic chances of
supplying more than one-third
of India’s FDI? We all know the
answer: Mauritius is a tax
haven. While not in the same
league as Cayman Islands or
Bermuda, Mauritius is a rising
star, thanks in no small measure to India’s patriotic but
tragically tax-allergic business
elite. In Treasure Islands: Tax
Havens and the Men Who Stole
the World, financial journalist
Nicholas Shaxson notes how
Mauritius is a popular hub for
what is known as “round-tripping”. He writes, “A wealthy
Mauritius. It’s a textbook example of ‘treaty shopping’ — a
government-sponsored loophole for MNEs to avoid tax by
channelling investments and
profits through an offshore
jurisdiction. For instance, as
per this DTAA, capital gains
are taxable only in Mauritius,
not in India. But here’s the
thing: Mauritius does not tax
capital gains. India, like any
sensible country, does. What
would any sensible businessman do? Set up a company in
Mauritius, and route all Indian
India actually clamping down
on tax dodging? Let’s take, for
instance, Action No. 6 of the
OECD’s BEPS report: it urges
nations to curb treaty abuse
by amending their Double
Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAA) suitably. The
obvious litmus test of India’s
seriousness on BEPS is its
DTAA with Mauritius. By way
of background, Mauritius accounted for 34 per cent of
India’s FDI equity inflows from
2000 to 2015. It’s been India’s
single-largest source of FDI
for nearly 15 years. Now, is it
possible that there are so many
rich businessmen in this tiny
island nation with a population of just 1.2 million, all with
a touching faith in India as an
investment destination? If not,
how do we explain an island
economy with a GDP less than
one-hundredth of India’s GDP
Indian, say, will send his
money to Mauritius, where it
is dressed up in a secrecy
structure, then disguised as
foreign investment, before
being returned to India. The
sender of the money can avoid
Indian tax on local earnings.”
In other words, it appears that
India’s biggest source of FDI is
India itself. Indian money departs on a short holiday to
Mauritius, before returning
home as FDI. Perhaps not all
the FDI streaming in from
Mauritius is round-tripped
capital — maybe a part of it is
‘genuine’ FDI originating in
Europe or the U.S. But it still
denotes a massive loss of tax
revenue, part of the $1.2 trillion stolen from developing
countries every year. What
makes this theft of tax revenue not just possible but also
legal is India’s DTAA with
investments through it. India
signed this DTAA with
Mauritius in 1983, but apparently ‘woke up’ only in 2000.
India has spent much of 2015
‘trying’ to renegotiate this
treaty. But with our Indianmade foreign investors lobbying furiously, the talks have so
far yielded nothing. Meanwhile, China, which too had
the same problem with
Mauritius, has already renegotiated its DTAA, and it can
force investors to pay 10 per
cent capital gains tax in China.
Changing profile of tax havens
Tax havens such as Mauritius
thrive parasitically, feeding on
substantive economies like
India. Back in 2000, the OECD
had identified 41 jurisdictions
as tax havens. Today, as it
humbly seeks their cooperation to combat tax avoidance,
it calls them by a different
name, so as not to offend
them. The same list is now
called — and this is not a joke
— ‘Jurisdictions Committed to
Improving Transparency and
Establishing Effective Exchange of Information in Tax
Matters’. Distinguished members of this club include Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Bahamas, Cyprus, and of course,
Mauritius. Today the function
of tax havens in the global
economy has evolved way
beyond that of offering a lowtax jurisdiction. Mr. Shaxson
describes three major elements that make tax havens
tick. First, tax havens are not
necessarily about geography;
they are simply someplace else
— a place where a country’s
normal tax rules don’t apply.
So, for instance, country A
can serve as a tax haven for
residents of country B, and
vice versa. The U.S. is a classic example. It has stringent
tax laws, and is energetic in
prosecuting tax evasion by its
citizens around the world. But
it is equally keen to attract taxevading capital from other
countries, and does so through
generous sops and helpful
pieces of legislation which
have effectively turned the U.S.
into a tax haven for non-residents. Second, more than the
nominally low taxes, the bigger attraction of tax havens is
secrecy. Secrecy is important
for two reasons: to be able to
avoid tax, you need to hide
your real income; and to hide
your real income, you need to
hide your identity, so that the
booty stashed away in a tax
haven cannot be traced back
to you by the taxmen at home.
So, even a country whose taxes
are not too low can function as
a tax haven by offering a combination of exemptions and
iron-clad secrecy — which is
the formula adopted by the
likes of Luxembourg and the
Netherlands. Third, the extreme combination of low
taxes and high secrecy brought
about a new mutation of tax
havens in the 1960s: they
turned themselves into offshore financial centres (OFCs).
The economist Ronen Palan
defines OFCs as “markets in
which financial operators are
permitted to raise funds from
non-residents and invest or
lend the money to other nonresidents free from most regulations and taxes”. It is esti-
mated that OFCs are recipients of 30 per cent of the
world’s FDI, and are, in turn,
the source of a similar quantum of FDI. Such being the
case, all India needs to do to
attract FDI is to become an
OFC, or create an OFC on its
territory — bring offshore onshore, so to speak. That’s precisely what the U.S. did — it
set up International Banking
Facilities (IBFs), “to offer deposit and loan services to foreign residents and institutions
free of… reserve requirements”. Japan set up the Japanese Offshore Market (JOM).
Singapore has the Asian Currency Market (ACU), Thailand
has the Bangkok International
Banking Facility (BIBF), Malaysia has an OFC in Labuan
island, and other countries
have similar facilities. OFCs,
as Ronen Palan puts it, are
less tax havens than regulatory havens, which means that
financial capital can do here
what it cannot do ‘onshore’.
So every major hedge fund
operates out of an OFC. Given
the volume of unregulated financial transactions that OFCs
host, it is no surprise that they
were at the heart of the 2008
financial crisis. Apart from
accumulating illicit capital (in
the tax haven role), channelling this capital back onshore
dressed up as FDI (in investment hub role), and deploying
it to engage in destructive financial speculation (in OFC
role), these strongholds of finance capital also serve a
political function: they undermine democracy by enabling
financial capture of the political levers of democratic states.
It is well known that political
parties in most democracies
are amply funded by slush
funds that would not have accumulated in the first place
had taxes been paid. But today, not least in the
Anglophone world, global
finance’s capture of the state
appears more like the norm. A
lone exception seems to be
Iceland, which began the new
year on a rousing note — by
sentencing 26 corrupt bankers to a combined 74 years in
jail. Meanwhile in India, we
continue to parrot long discredited clichés about the need
for more financial deregulation and a weird logic that
mandates a smaller and more
limited role for public finance.
The clarity of a suicide note
Rohith Vemula’s farewell letter is a searing critique of
what capitalist and casteist democracies have reduced people to.
These lines by Brecht, from
his poem on the German Jewish philosopher and critic
Walter Benjamin, tell you a
person committing suicide has
one terrible advantage at his
disposal: his clarity. In
Benjamin’s case, it was not
simply clarity about his personal situation, being unable
to cross through the border
check posts and fearing he
would be turned over to the
Nazis. It was also the darkened vision of a future Benjamin carried before his eyes,
for a racist regime was ruling
his country and hope had receded beyond the horizon. In
Vladimir Mayakovsky’s last
poem, ‘Past One O’Clock’,
written two nights before he
shot himself, the clarity is
equally chilling, caught between a Stalinist regime discrediting his poetry and a failed
love affair. Paul Celan was
driven to the same fate also
for more reasons than one, a
mediocre poet’s wife accusing him of plagiarism, and his
psychiatric treatment. But the
poet might also have been
referring to the larger web of
desolation of being Jewish in
post-War Europe, when he
wrote two months before he
jumped into the Seine: “They
have healed me to pieces.” A
25-year-old Dalit scholar from
University of Hyderabad,
Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide on Sunday evening,
left a stunning note for his
friends and the world alike,
whose content is full of seri-
ous lessons for India’s casteridden society. The sequence
of events leading to the suicide was plaguing Rohith’s life,
when he decided to end it in
his friend Uma Maheshwar’s
room. In the note, Rohith says
a growing gap between his
soul and body made him feel
he had become a monster. He
immediately goes on to say
where his soul lay — in becoming a writer of science,
like Carl Sagan. But his body
got entangled in politics, a
politics that reduced him to his
body, dismissing his soul. The
science of politics, a science
that tears the soul apart from
the body, was not for him. He
laments in the note, he loved
people without knowing they
were long divorced from nature. That is quite a
Rousseauian angst, pretty late
into the heart, or heartlessness, of a post-industrial era.
All Rohith saw around him
was second-hand feelings,
constructed love, coloured
beliefs and artificial art. There
was no room for artifice in his
soul, the note seems to suggest. But nature, like politics
and art, has both soul and
room for artifice, which tore
apart his soul from his body.
No wonder Rohith concludes,
it is difficult to love without
getting hurt. Love, like nature,
art and politics, is a thing of
artifice, and no science can
prove it otherwise. It made a
huge difference to him. The
note then moves into the political sphere of things: what
Rohith understood as valuable
in a man meant nothing to the
world around him, beyond the
constraints of his identity and
its thin possibilities. Rohith was
a Dalit, and it came in the way
of his quest for the stars.
Sounds incredible, but the
Hindu caste system still lives
in the Middle Ages. Being Dalit
was Rohith’s only value for
caste Hindus, a value measured only through denial, in-
in a letter must have broken
his heart. How can a Dalit,
who is a victim of casteism, be
casteist? The game of casteism
is prone to absurd charges,
and Rohith’s intelligence
couldn’t make sense of it. It all
started after he was part of a
small protest against the disruption of a film screening on
the Muzaffarnagar riots in Delhi
University by a Hindu rightwing student organisation.
sult and injury. Casteism,
analogous to racism, is no
less sinister and monstrous
than what Celan faced under
the Nazi regime. When Rohith
was suspended by his university authorities, for an alleged
assault on a fellow student
that wasn’t proven beyond
doubt, he must have felt the
world closing in around him.
The accusation of being
“casteist, extremist and antinational” by a Union Minister
Can’t a film showing atrocities
on religious minorities be
screened in the university of a
country that boasts of being
the world’s largest democracy?
Rohith was well within his
rights to protest against
majoritarian vandalism. But
the exercise of such rights
comes with a price, for the
rhetoric of democracy doesn’t
match up to its practices. The
value of man, Rohith sums up
in his note with precision, has
been reduced to a vote, a
number, a thing. It is a prescient summing up of what
the instrumentalist logic of
capitalist and casteist democracies has made of people.
Rohith refused to be counted
as a number wearing an identity mark forced around his
neck, in this absurd game
where democracy and
casteism play calculable crimes
between each other. In the
middle of having contemplated
his fate, having decided to end
his life with his own hands, in
a farewell act that will destroy
his torturable body, Rohith
leaves his own idea of man: A
“glorious thing made up of
star dust. In every field, in
studies, in streets, in politics,
and in dying and living”. Rohith
was left wondering at his
immeasurability that opened
up spaces between him and
the stars. To be a vote counted
for much less. He only saw his
own immeasurability everywhere, while protesting
against the disruption of a film
screening, or for a suspension
he and his friends didn’t deserve. Even in death he believed he can “travel to the
stars”. But how did he feel on
earth? The quoted phrase,
“From shadows to the stars”,
gives an impression. The Dalit,
whose shadow pollutes the
caste Hindu, one who is ascribed a body that embodies
the shadow of pollution, feels
like a shadow aspiring for the
stars. From measure to
immeasurability. From dark-
ness to light. And yet, Rohith
reminds us, the moment of his
birth is irreconcilable: For
people like him, life is “a
curse”. He finds his birth a
“fatal accident”. He writes further, “I can never recover from
my childhood loneliness. The
unappreciated child from my
past.” Despite that accident of
birth, which becomes catastrophic, being saddled with a
caste, foreshadowing all his
troubles, overshadowing his
quest for the stars, his lonely,
unappreciated childhood and
adolescence, he nevertheless
sees himself in the true measure of immeasurability that
he knows he inhabits within.
In that, Rohith betrays a clarity that Brecht saw in Benjamin, and Mayakovsky and
Celan saw in themselves.
Those who have most overwhelmingly suffered the barbarism of history — Dalits,
people of colour, vulnerable
women, workers — alone
carry a genuine value of universality in them, and in their
protests against injustice we
see the true unfolding of that
universal spirit that impresses
upon our hearts. The claims
to universality of those in
power — white colonisers,
caste Hindus — are essentially un-universal, bigoted and
discriminatory. It is not in “universal gospels” that we find
any real, universal capacity
but in the spirit of those who
suffer these gospels, the propaganda of spiritual and cultural supremacy, these lies.
Garvi Gujarat
3
8th NATIONAL PRINTPACK SIGNDIGITAL Alankit Ltd to beef up printing
EXHIBITION IN AHMEDABAD FOR 3 DAYS of Plastic Aadhaar Cards in India
Ahmedabad: Gujarati community is known as Business
Community worldwide. There
is certainly tremendous
growth in Printing and Packaging Industry. Gujarat is considered as the growth engine of
the country. So many National
and international large scale
companies have their production plants in Gujarat. "I congratulate the entire team of
Parmar expositions for making
such an effort and making the
PRINTPACK SIGNDIGITAL
2016 a grand success. I hope
we are able to contribute our
part in PM Modi's 'Make in India' campaign by manufactur-
ing a variety of printing equipments and tools", Mr. P.T
Jagtap, Vice President (W), All
India Federation of Master
Printers says. N. Parmar Expositions are known as pioneer
exhibition organizers in Print
Packaging segment. Since
2000 they have been serving
the industry by the way of exhibition as well as print journal
- Printing Samachar in the local language. Print Pack Sign
Digital 2016 is 8th edition of the
series. This year, the international exhibition is to be held at
AES ground from 22nd to 24th
January. "We are proud to
bring networking opportunities
with the industry leaders and
also be able to help in the generation of new business for the
printing industry. We moreover
look forward to develop direct
interaction with the decision
makers and explore further
channels of dealers and distributors of the print industry",
Mr. Narendra Parmar, Mktg.
Director from N. Parmar Exposition explains. "There will be
a wide scope for print professionals for development.
There are more than 10000
small, medium and large scale
printing presses, 3000 corrugation plants and more than
500 Card box Packaging printers are in Gujarat State. This
exhibition serves as the ultimate platform for B2B and B2C
interactions",
Mr.
Shambhubhai Patel, president,
Ahmedabad printing press association remarks. A wide array of products and machines
will be displayed at the exhibition namely signage printing,
digital printing, post press
machines, old & used imported
machines, envelop making
machines, ID card manufacturing machines, etc.
BIG BAZAAR'S SABSE SASTE
DIN from 23 Jan to 26 Jan 2016
Discounts are synonymous
to happiness. Especially when
the India's trusted brand, Big
Bazaar brings its iconic Sabse
Saste 4 Din campaign once again
on India's Republic Day.
Country's leading retail brand is
all set to welcome shoppers
into the stores with four days
of "Sabse Saste 4 Din", power
packed offers across food,
household items, electronics,
fashion apparels, footwear,
toys, luggage, kitchenware,
home décor and many more
categories. The offers are so
attractive that it will redefine
"Sabse Saste 4 Din" in India
from 23rd to 26th Jan, 2016.
The key distinguisher of this
year's '4'Day Sale is the mega
offers on the widest range of
products. The sale guarantees
to ring true to the much popu-
lar Hindi saying "Bas Khareedte
jao!" Shop for the technological advancements at your
home, add more to your shopping list by happily flaunting
the new age products like
health fryers, large screen HD
LED TV, Opwalware dining
sets at unbelievable prices!
Go healthy with a Health Fryer
at cost of Rs 3999 and microwave oven with Smart Wave
technology for Rs 6999, redesign your living room with
HD LED TV for Rs 13,999*
only and many more of such
unmatched deals and offers.
Speaking on this occasion,
Sadashiv Nayak, CEO, Big Bazaar said "Sabse Saste Din is
amongst the most awaited
shopping festival in India. Its
promise of great value and
mega savings resonate in more
than 100 towns across India.
We are confident that this
year too Big Bazaar's Sabse
Saste 4 Din will stand true to
our promise of value and customer delight."A walk through
every store of Big Bazaar and
fbb, and customers can avail
an enticing shopping bonanza
on the widest range of products ensuring that there is
something in-store for everyone in the family. All Big Bazaar stores will open at 9AM
during these four days, giving an early access to customers to fill their shopping
carts with their preferred
choice of products before
they run out of stock.
In line with online
A recent survey shows that the youth of
Kochi are true digital natives-socially collaborative and technologically aware. What
does it mean? Read on
On a recent visit to a
relative’s house, the parents of
an active nine-year-old told me
about their son's ongoing fixation with Casio’s G-Shock
watches. With a mixture of
amusement and mild apprehension, they explained how the
rugged and moderately expensive gadget was an unnecessary indulgence for his age, and
how they got him a replica
instead. “This is nice, but this is
what I want,” says the precocious child, plonking down next
to me, picking up his father’s
phone and promptly Googling
up an image of the object of his
desire. “The Internet has
turned out to be more trouble
than we realised!” his parents
tell me. This is the story of
Generation Z, broadly defined
as children born after the year
1995. With access to the connected world at such an early
age, their mental development,
and speed of learning and adapting to technology, is often at a
pace that is hard for elders to
keep up with. A recent survey
conducted by Tata Consultancy
Services (TCS), of nearly 13,000
students aged between 12 and
18 from 1,800-odd schools in
15 cities, revealed that
smartphone and social media
access is on the rise, and online
shopping has become the norm,
with Kochi being right in the
centre of the action. According
to TCS Global Communications
Head Pradipta Bagchi, this is a
positive sign, “The youth of
Kochi are socially collaborative,
technologically aware and are
true digital natives. The survey
showed a lot of positive traits,
such as use of online resources
for study, with study material
even being shared over
WhatsApp. We found that 18
per cent of the participants in
Kochi went online to learn a
new hobby and 15 per cent for
school assignments. Interestingly, 42 per cent still prefer
face-to-face communication
over its online counterpart,
which shows a level of maturity.” This comfortable adoption of a technologically linked
world is something parents and
teachers are coming to terms
with. Susan Varghese Cherian,
principal of Rajagiri Public School,
agrees that access to available
resources cannot be denied,
within acceptable limits. “Children these days are technologically-savvy and not at all
hesitant in embracing new platforms. I feel this should be
allowed, with a clearly defined
list of dos and don'ts. Parents
play the primary role in guiding
children, but educational institutions must also sensitise children on the opportunities and
potential hazards of the online
world. While it has many merits,
it can also be captivating to the
point of addiction.” While the
older section of Generation Z,
in their late teens and early
twenties are now considered
mature enough to have full
access to devices and services
of their choice, the increasing
number of primary schoolers
getting online poses regulatory
challenges, and the line between indulgence and restraint
is a tough one to walk for
parents. Shikha Menon, who's
nine-year-old daughter got her
first tablet at the age of seven,
and a smartphone a couple of
years later, does not fully agree
with the idea of children having
their own Internet-connected
gadgets at an early age. “I do
not endorse the idea, but I
went along with my husband's
reasoning that these technologies exist, so we might as well
teach her to use them responsibly at an early age, with guidelines to go along with it. On a
positive note, I have found that
it makes her self -sufficient.
When she has a doubt, she
Googles it herself and learns
about things.” With every aspect of daily life becoming connected to technology and the
Internet, the decision on how
much and how soon the upcoming generation gets to access its full potential remains a
tricky one. As my G-Shock obsessed companion led me to
the neighbouring house where
his cousin was engrossed in a
game that tested dexterity and
reflexes, I was taken aback
with the ease which the 10year-old tapped and flicked
his way through a series of
rapidly moving objects. For
someone who got his first
computer at the ripe old age
of 13 this was hard to comprehend; for Generation Z, this is just
another day in the classroom.
Ahmedabad: Alankit Ltd
(BSE: 531082, NSE: ALANKIT),
part of Alankit Group and a
leading e-Governance Service
Provider in India, announces
that it is going to beef up
printing of PVC Aadhaar Cards
across the country through its
offices. The company is going
to make this facility available
for people at their convenience.
Authorised representatives
from Alankit would be printing
Plastic Aadhaar Cards (PVC
Cards) on the spot at various
locations where Alankit has its
offices. PVC or Plastic Aadhaar
Card is the printed form of
Aadhaar details on a plastic
sheet that serves same as the
copy of original Aadhaar card,
which is easy to carry, maintain and also acts as an identity card. The cards are printed
using the eKYC service of
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). The person will have to provide the
credentials of his Aadhaar
Number, the registered mobile number or his/her biometric details (either fingerprints or iris scans) on the
basis of which the online verification process would be carried out. On successful verification and authentication, the
PVC Aadhaar cards would be
printed and handed over to
the person. Speaking on the
initiative, Ankit Agarwal, Managing Director, Alankit Ltd says,
"We hope that this facility of
Plastic Aadhaar Card printing
is going to be useful for people.
We have our own specially
trained processing and printing staff, who are going to
help people to avail this service across the country."
People can visit Alankit's offices across the country and
get their paper Aadhaar card
converted to plastic Aadhaar
card without much hassle.
INDIA'S YES BANK SIGNS MoU WITH
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE GROUP
Ahmedabad: YES BANK, India's fifth largest private bank, today formalised the Memorandum of Understanding signed with The
London Stock Exchange during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's UK
visit in November 2015, to develop bond and equity issuance, with
particular focus on the relatively untapped sector of Green Infrastructure Finance. YES BANK was the first issuer of the Green Infrastructure Bonds in India. As a catalyst for Green Infrastructure
finance, allowing investors to facilitate funding towards renewable
and clean projects in India, YES BANK is also the first Indian Bank to
have made a commitment to funding 5000 MW of renewable energy. As part of the agreement with LSEG, YES BANK confirmed
that it plans to list a Green Bond of up to $500m on London Stock
Exchange by December 2016. YES BANK will also evaluate the
possibility of raising further capital in London, potentially through
the listing of Global Depository Receipts (GDR) as part of its overall
$1bn of equity capital raising plans, basis market conditions. The
agreement, signed by Mr. Rana Kapoor, Managing Director & CEO
of YES BANK and Nikhil Rathi, CEO, LSE Plc will help strengthen the
increasingly vibrant economic and financial ties between the UK and
India. Speaking about the collaboration, Rana Kapoor, Managing
Director & CEO, YES BANK said: "Following the historic visit of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi to the UK, the YES BANK - LSEG strategic
MoU presents an incredible opportunity to create mutually beneficial partnerships. YES BANK will strive to improve the access to long
term overseas funds for corporations in India, through capital markets in the UK particularly towards Green Infrastructure Financing,
which is high on India's agenda. We also look forward to working
with LSE in establishing London as the leading instrument for
raising rupee denominated offshore capital via 'Masala bonds'.
Between two worlds
Home-grown automaker Mahindra & Mahindra is leveraging its capabilities to offer cars in more segments than just
affordable SUVs, with the launch of the KUV100. A hatchback
fitted with SUV-like cues to differentiate it from the competition, the KUV100 is Mahindra’s first indigenously-developed
car. First impressions with the KUV are striking, thanks to its
unconventional looks. When viewed from the head on, it
hooks the viewer’s attention. The swept-back headlights and
pinched grille are reminiscent of the Range Rover Evoque and
Mahindra designers have given the car butch cladding on the
front bumper and a bottom scuff plate to make it look more
SUV and less hatchback. The detailing in the headlights,
along with the distinctive daytime running LEDs are noteworthy. From the side profile, though, the KUV looks slightly
disproportionate. Moreover, there are too many seemingly
unnecessary design elements cluttering the car’s flank. The
massive squared wheel arches, also an attempt to arm the
KUV with SUV credentials, make the 14-inch wheels look
smaller than they already are. The rear door handle placement at the aft of the rear window is a nice touch though. At
the rear, the KUV looks like a tall hatchback, while the
protruding single-body tail lamps give it a distinctive identity.
In contrast to its exteriors, the interiors of the KUV100 are
unambiguously pleasant. The high-set seats make for easy
access, while space for both front and rear passengers is
ample. The centre console, more functional than stylish,
houses the infotainment system, the aircon controls and the
gear lever. A unique feature of the KUV is the optional front
bench seat, allowing the car to seat six. However, the front
middle seat is not very comfortable, and the lack of a centre
airbag coupled with the provision of just a lap belt for
restraint, makes it a bit unsafe. It can also be folded down to
be used as an armrest by the front passengers. The standard
five-seat version gets a handy centre storage area with lots
of cubbyholes between the more omfortable and supportive
seats. For rear passengers, both knee and head room is
ample, which the rear bench provides good thigh support and
is wide enough to fit three comfortably. In fact, this is one of
the best bench seats around. The abundance of storage
spaces in the KUV deserves a mention. Each door gets a
bottle holder, both the front and rear armrests get cupholders, a large, removable storage box is concealed below
the front passenger seat and another one is hidden beneath
the floor at the back. Boot space stands at a reasonable 243
litres, and can be expanded by folding the back seats down.
The good news continues under the hood. The KUV100 is the
first car to be powered by Mahindra’s new family of petrol and
diesel engines, christened mFalcon. The diesel engine on
offer in the KUV is a 1.2-litre three-cylinder mill constructed
using cast iron for the block and aluminium for the head. It
churns out an adequate 76.4bhp at 3,750rpm and 19.37kgm
between 1,750 and 2,250rpm. The diesel engine can be
operated in Power or Economy mode, and is fairly responsive, especially after the turbo kicks in at about 1900rpm.
However, the power build-up, as the revs climb, is best
described as linear. The petrol engine is also a 1.2-litre
three-cylinder mill, although completely constructed using
aluminium. It gives an impressive power output of 81.8bhp
at 5,500rpm along with 11.7kgm torque at 3,500-3,600rpm.
It is a responsive engine, though exciting would not be an
adjective attributable to it. Both engines are mated to a fivespeed manual gearbox, placed to fall nicely to hand and
characterized by short throws that make for crisp gear
changes. Mahindra claims that the diesel KUV will return a
fuel efficiency of 25.3kpl when driven in Economy mode. The
ride and handling of the car are commendable, though there
is a bit of body roll around corners, and the brakes with more
bite would help too. Evidently, the KUV has a lot to offer even
despite its odd styling, in terms of road presence, a well
thought-out and spacious cabin, capable engines and good
fuel efficiency. With competitive prices ranging from Rs
4.42 lakh (ex-showroom, Pune) for the base petrol
variant to Rs 6.76 lakh for the top-spec diesel, the KUV
has been placed in the intensely competitive hatchback
segment. The unique hatchback-SUV-crossover design
is what could be the crucial differentiator.
3
Mahindra First Choice Services
to expand footprint in Gujarat
Ahmedabad: Mahindra
First Choice Services (MFCS),
India's leading chain of multibrand car service workshops,
with a national network comprising 100 workshops across
more than 60 cities, today
announced that it plans to expand its footprint in Gujarat.
MFCS's growth plans for the
state envisage 35 new workshops by March 2017. The
company envisions great potential for the multi-brand car
servicing business in Gujarat
and invites applications from
various interested parties in
the entire state. MFCS seeks
franchisee partners from
amongst existing OEM dealers,
independent car workshops,
and other automobile related
businesses as well as from
those currently engaged in
non-auto businesses. "We are
delighted to further expand
our network in Gujarat which
is a strategic market for MFCS.
Our business model for franchisees, especially our spare
parts management model has
received a strong response
and we are in the process of
expanding this model across
the country. With the increase
in our network strength we are
confident of leveraging economies of scale to deliver higher
value to our franchise partners
as well as customers. We are
looking for the right partners
with strong entrepreneurial
ability. They may not necessarily be associated with the auto
industry but should have a
passion for automobiles. Our
partners need to have the
ability to couple their understanding of local trends with
robust MFCS systems to help
provide a delightful service
experience to car owners,"
said Alok Kapoor, Head- Marketing and Franchise Development- Mahindra First Choice
Services Ltd. MFCS provides
franchise partners with a high
level of support, right from
helping them design workshop
layouts to ensuring optimum
utilization of land and resources and also helps them
select the right manpower and
workshop staff, who are
trained at the company's 'Yellow Spanner Academy' and
technical training centres in
Noida and Bengaluru. MFCS,
the fully owned subsidiary of
the USD 16.9 billion Mahindra
Group, has expanded its network rapidly in the past one
year through Franchisee
Owned Franchisee Operated
(FOFO) workshops. As of 31st
December 2015, the company
had 97 workshops in 14 states.
Till recently, the Rs. 20,000
crore plus car servicing industry was almost equally divided
between OEM dealers and independent garages. However,
in recent times, changing customer needs and rapidly evolving automotive technology
coupled with the exponential
growth in the country's car
population, has seen multibrand car workshop chains
such as MFCS gain momentum. MFCS has already serviced over 360,000 cars and
has been receiving an encouraging response from across
the country. In last one year,
MFCS appointed more than
190 franchisees, of which 79
workshops are already up and
the balance are scheduled to
commence operations in the
next 3-4 months. MFCS expands its network in clusters
with each cluster comprising a
geographical region of around
250-300 kms radius. Each
cluster has a 'cluster warehouse' which supplies spares
to all the workshops in that
particular cluster. Currently,
the company operates clusters
in Chennai, Coimbatore,
Madurai, Kochi, Bangalore,
Hyderabad, Vijayawada,
Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur & NCR.
My character is all about what
interesting and weird things
Jodha witnesses when she
enters into the 21st century. I
have hilarious dialogues with
Kavita and Ketan where I will
teach them a lesson on how to
speak to your spouse. Not only
this, Jodha will also be a part
of Ji Sirji where she come to
witness how relationships work in
21st century. This is completely a
different experience for me and I
loved being a part of these comedy shows." Watch out for the
amalgamation of History and Humor from January 25 to January
28 on Fakebook with Kavita
and Ji Sirji on BIG Magic at 7.30
pm and 92.7 BIG FM at 9 pm.
operating a secondary mobile number like an international SIM card along with their
primary mobile number instead of carrying multiple
phones. The device also ben-
efits users who operate different mobile numbers for their
personal and professional
lives, typically corporates, by
managing them separately but
with the convenience of managing just one phone. The
Galaxy Note5 Dual SIM, thus,
truly becomes an ideal device
for the multi-taskercarrying
forward the Note ethos of "Doing More and Being More". It
gives users the freedom to
choose what is important to
them - operating different
SIMs for data and voice to
experience the best of both
worlds.
Mr.
Manu
Sharma,Director, Mobile Business, Samsung India said,
"Samsung has always focused
on driving innovation based
on valuable customer insights.
PARIDHI SHARMA IS BACK AS JODHA ON BIG MAGIC AND
92.7 BIG FM'S FAKEBOOK WITH KAVITA & JI SIRJI!
Popular TV actress Paridhi
Sharma, who won millions of
hearts with her girl next door
persona and her fantastic portrayal of Jodha, is all set to
bring the affable character
back to the small screen. The
actress will be seen playing
Jodha on BIG Magic's satirical
comedy Fakebook with Kavita
and Ji Sirji, albeit with a twist.
Catch the actress, for the first
time, in a humorous Jodha avatar from January 25 - January
28, Monday-Tuesday on
Fakebook with Kavita and
Wednesday-Thursday on Ji
Sirji, at 7.30 pm only on BIG
Magic. Paridhi Sharma who
was always inclined towards
comedy genre says, "I like experimenting with my characters and this unique concept of
Jodha time traveling to the 21st
century made me say yes to it.
Samsung expands frontiers with
the launch of Galaxy Note5 Dual SIM
Ahmedabad: Samsung
Electronics today announced
the launch of the Dual SIM
edition of its recently launched
flagship smartphone - Galaxy
Note5 in India. A true productivity enhancer, the Galaxy
Note series has always stood
for superior multitasking abilities and enhanced S-Pen capabilities. The Galaxy Note5
Dual SIM is the first device
among Samsung flagship
smartphones that allows customers the freedom to operate multiple mobile numbers
on a device and potentially
changes the landscape of
the segment. The Galaxy
Note5 Dual SIM is the perfect companion for users
who travel frequently as it
offers the convenience of
DHFL Q3FY16 Net
Profit up by 16.4% to
INR 185.90 crores
Ahmedabad: DHFL, India's
second largest housing finance
company in the private sector,
today announced a net profit
growth of 17.54% for the 9
month period ending December 31, 2015 in comparison to
the corresponding period of
the previous financial year.
The third quarter of the current financial year also witnessed a net profit growth of
16.43%, when compared with
the corresponding period of
the
2014-15
financial
year.Assets Under Management (AUM) grew by 23.48%
year-on-year, reaching Rs
65962 crore from Rs 52, 637
crore as on December 31,
2014.Commenting on the performance,
Mr.
Kapil
Wadhawan, Chairman and
Managing Director, DHFL said,
"The Company retains its three
decade old focus on enabling
convenient and affordable financial access for every Indian to own a home of his
own, through its wide network presence and product
innovations.
Now easy EMI and Interest
Free Loan forBariatric Surgery
Ahmedabad: For the first time in the country obese and
overweight patients are offered zero percent interest loan for
the Bariatric surgery. The Bariatric Patient Lone initiative is
takento help those obese and overweight patients financially
who are in dire need of the surgery but could not afford or do
not want to spend the entire amount at one time. "Unlike the
common perception, Bariatric surgery is actually a life saving
procedure which not just helps obese patients live a normal and
healthy life, but also improves diabetes. Considering the rising
obesity and requirement of Bariatric surgery, the initiate will
certainly give a chance to millions of people across the country
to live a normal life," says Dr. Mahendra Narwaria, Director of
Asian Bariatrics, Ahmedabad . With The zero percent interest
rate Bariatric Patient Loan, patients can convert their medical
bills into an interest free EMI loan.This will be the first instance
of extending patient loan for Bariatric procedures in the
country.With the approval time of just 30 minutes, the scheme
claims to be one of the fastest in the country. "Such initiatives
make more sense in the country like India, where one in six
adults is obese and one in five adults suffer from diabetes and
hypertension. It is well documented that weight loss surgeries
are extremely beneficial to help achieve long term weight loss
goals and in improving health complications like diabetes and
hypertension, associated with obesity," says Dr Sanjay Patolia,
Director of Asian Bariatric, Opp, RajpathClub, S.G.Highway,
Bodakdev, Ahmedabad. According to the World Health
Organization (WHO), nearly 20 to 40 % of the adult population
and 10 to 20% of children in India are affected by obesity and
as far Bariatirc surgeries, only around 13000 are performed
every year, which is just <0.01% of the total patient population.
4
Garvi Gujarat
4
MIT, Sewa to study
CM opens Rs.2-crore Reliance Industries' Cong holds Swabhiman
dharna
for
OBC
rights
how poor women use tech
modern Veterinary Hospital under CSR
(MAHITI) Ahmadabad,
January 21, 2016: Gujarat
Chief Minister Anandiben
Patel today inaugurated Rs.2crore modern veterinary hospital at Padana in Jamnagar
district built by Reliance Industries under its Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR).
She also inaugurated 30-km
road built by the Reliance also
under CSR at a cost of
Rs.86.96-crore, connecting
eight villages to be benefitted
by the new vet hospital. About
two lakh people live in these villages. The road becomes the
gatewaytofamoustempletown
of Dwaraka, bypassing the
Jamnagar town's traffic.
Speaking on the occasion,
Mrs. Patel said that her government had decided to open
one veterinary dispensary for
every ten villages. It began with
opening a veterinary mobile
dispensary at Vekaria village in
KutchdistrictduringtheRabiKrishi
Mahotsav. Over one lakh cattle
have been operated upon or
treated during Krishi Mahotsav
started in 2005. She reiterated her
government's commitment to
provide modern veterinary facilities in the state. While the cattle
count in India dropped by 3.33
percent, it increased by 15.36
per cent in Gujarat owing to
intensive cattle care efforts in
the state. The Chief Minister
said that industrial houses setting up factories in remote areas helped local people get
jobs for which the state government has started Skill Development Centres and ITIs. She
described the Reliance refinery at Jamnagar as a country's
unique refinery and a pride of
Gujarat. She also visited the
country's biggest Greenfield
refinery and the SEZ. She was
accompanied by Reliance Industries Group President and
Rajya Sabha Member Parimal
Nathwani. She lauded the
Reliance industries' contribution in social welfare, health,
education and job creation
under CSR. Mr. Nathwani said
that his company was keen to
undertake people's welfare
schemes in villages around
the refinery under CSR as
enunciated by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. He praised
the Chief Minister Anandiben's
leadership for fast development of the state.
Canadian Universities to start new
courses according to global changes
Ahmedabad: The Congress
party
held
a
`Swabhiman dharna' in the
state capital, demanding rights
for Other Backward Classes
(OBCs) in the state.Congress
leaders said that the BJP, instead of empowering the OBCs,
had cut down on the infrastructure and budget for the
community. Gujarat Congress
president Bharat Solanki said
that in 1990, when the Congress lost power, there were
small, medium and big irrigation projects planned for the
upliftment of the community.
There were small scale industries, colleges and schools in
OBC-dominated areas. He said
that BJP government not only
closed down schools and small
scale industries, but have also
not planned any new irrigation schemes in the state. He
said that in the district and
taluka panchayat elections, the
people have given a mandate
to the Congress, and it has
become the responsibility of
the party and their elected
representatives to work for
the upliftment of these communities.
(Agency( Ahmedabad:
Questions ha ve been raised
over the Gujarat University
(GU) syndicate meeting scheduled to be held on Saturday.
GU employees claimed that a
syndicate member has to be
an elected senate member,
but the members who were
recently appointed by the government were not senate
members. Sources in GU said
these members, as they are
not senate members, cannot
officiate at any meeting and
cannot take any decision.
Hence, decisions taken at the
Saturday meeting will be ille-
gal and will have to be struck
down once the complete syndicate body is formed. GU officials said that according to
the GU ordinance, these syndicate members first have to
be elected to the senate and
only then can the government
nominate them as its representatives on the syndicate.
The officials said that they are
also planning to draw the attention of GU vice chancellor
M N Patel to this, and inform
him that the appointments are
illegal and that no meeting
should be convened nor any
important decisions taken.
GU syndicate meeting
not legal, say officials
(GTU) Ahmedabad: Canadian Universities will start many new courses according to latest
trends and global changes. This include climate change, community economic development,
cultural tourism etc. This was stated by a visiting delegation from Canada. The Indo-Canadian
Study Centre, a dedicated research centre of Centre for Global Business Studies for
Canadian Studies in Gujarat Technological University (GTU) hosted the delegation from
Canada consisting the Professors, Deans and Directors of three Canadian Universities at
GTU. They visited GTU as a part of Atlantic Canada Education Mission to Gujarat, India.
Pujari calls: Builders given security
(Agency) Ahmedabad:
Security cover has been pro
vided to the three builders
who received extortion calls
from underworld don Ravi
Pujari. Crime branch, which
is probing the three extortion complaints, is scrutinizing VoIP (Voice over Internet
Protocol) calls made by the
gangsters, to around 1 5
people, most of whom are
from Gujarat. “A few are
from
Delhi
and
Maharashtra. We suspect
Pujari may have called them
to for extortion too,“ said a
crime branch official. Builder
Paresh Patel was the first to
lodge a complaint against
Pujari, when he got several
calls from the gangster, demanding protection money
.Fifteen days after Patel
lodged a complaint, Arvind
Patel of Anand lodged a complaint about threatening calls
from Pujari, who demanded
he pay Rs 25 crore as protection money . “Patel provided
audio recordings of the extortion call by Pujari, supposedly
from Australia, in which the
gangster threatens a shootout
at the Patel's residence if the
money is not paid,“ said a
crime branch official. Crime
branch sources said while they
were scrutinizing the calls
made by the gangster they
came across a cell number
from Ahmedabad. “We
learned that a jeweller and
builder Rimpal Patel had also
received extortion calls from
Pujari. He was asked to pay Rs
5 crore as protection money ,“
a crime branch official added.
All India Speakers' conference begins
(Agency) Ahmedabad: The threeday All India Speakers' Conference that will be held
in in Gujarat Vidhan Sabha at Gandhinagar will be inaugurated on Thursday . Apart from
holding discussions on various issues, the focus of the conference will be on improving
the quality of debates in Lok Sabha and even the state assemblies. The conference is
likely to attended by Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan among others. The valedictory
function will be held on January 23. According to officials, almost all speakers and their
delegates are expected to attend the conference. Officials said the issue of strengthening
the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, the state assemblies and the role of MPs and MLAs in
strengthening institutions of democracy will also be discussed. The conference will also
have detailed discussions on improving the attendance of MPS and MLAs in houses.The
speakers will also work out a plan to improve the quality of questions and even the
debates which take place in houses. More than 21 speakers have already confirmed that
they will be taking part in the conference. Sources in the Congress said that even
speakers from Congress-ruled states will arrive for the conference in Gandhinagar.
The Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and
Parliamentary Affairs, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu visited the Vivekananda Rock memorial, at
Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu on January 21, 2016. PIB
Mrinalini Sarabhai critical
(Agency) Ahmedabad: Legendary danseuse and Padma
Bhushan awardee Mrinalini Sa rabhai, 97, fondly known as
Àmma', was admitted to a city-based ho spital on Wed
nesday morning after she fell ill with oldage related
complications.Kartikeya Sarabhai, Mrinalini's son and founder
of Centre of Environment Education (CEE) said: “She had an
infection which led to her health deteriorating. Her condition
is critical. We are by her side. She is 97 years old and is
fighting her condition bravely.“Amma's daughter and noted
danseuse herself, Mallika Sarabhai, said that her mother is
critical but stable. Hospital sources said Mrinalini
Sarabhai was admitted on Wednesday . She is in the
Intensive Critical Care Unit (ICCU) as her condition is critical.
(Agency) Ahmedabad/New
Delhi: If you've ever had to
buy a new phone or appliance, you've probably relied
on one of those helpful consumer guides that review rival
products. But can that approach be used for development, where tech is often prescribed as a problem-solver?
That idea has now brought
together the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT)
and the Self-Employed
Women's Association (Sewa)
Bharat, both trying to learn
how women in the informal
sector evaluate and use technology . “There are lots of
innovations in the name of the
poor, but nobody knows what
works,“ says Bishwapriya
Sanyal, director of MIT's Comprehensive Initiative on Technology Evaluation (CITE), an
interdisciplinary team that includes engineers, urban planners, development and management researchers.CITE
tries to bring the consumer
report's approach, the comparing of product specs, to
assess these technologies for
suitability , scalability and
sustainability . For Sewa
Bharat's 1.9-million-strong
network of working women, it
is important to understand
technology , to be comfortable with it, to appraise its
costs and benefits rather than
be swamped by the next new
thing. Sanjay Kumar, director
of Sewa Bharat, describes
how an agarbatti-making
group of women in Munger,
Bihar, were first made to
switch to pedal machines, and
then lost those jobs when the
process became electricitydriven. Same way , Sewa
members are banking correspondents for SBI, and find
that the tech keeps changing
on them. Education and
awareness-raising is one aspect of their collaboration. For
instance, they discovered that
many women in Murshidabad,
West Bengal, didn't know the
dangers of arsenic in their
water. Their research in
Ahmedabad studied water filters in the market, and ranked
available options - finding that
the locally made non-branded
Dolphin filters were as effective as their branded counterparts, at half the price. The
most common filtration technique they found in their survey - of running water through
a saree folded several times
over, is practically useless.
“And if they boil the water and
use the saree right after, they
may be contaminating it further,“ says Sanyal. But the
researchers are just as often
educated by those they survey
, on how tech is moulded to
various contexts. “When we
studied solar lanterns in
Uganda, we found that one of
the things that mattered to
people was whether they could
charge their phones with it,“
says Sanyal. The more multiuse and supple a technology
is, the more likely it is to work
well and last. So what are
their preliminary findings on
how low-income Indian
women make choices about
technology? “Trust plays a big
role in decisions. You might
buy something based on the
recommendation of someone
else from Sewa.Also, it's better if you can access repair
easily , through someone in
your network,“ says Cauam
Ferriera Cardoso, a CITE researcher. Brand loyalty also
plays into their decisions, as
someone with a Samsung TV
chose to buy a Samsung
fridge, says Sanyal. The capacity to pay in installments is
a draw. Interestingly, “warranties are often more a factor than price,“ he says.
Unsurprisingly , their decisions
on technology are often
usurped by the men in their
families, or by others with
greater voice. As the CITESewa collaboration unfolds,
it hopes to enable these
women to take control of
their tech decisions, as well
as identify what kinds of technology are truly enabling.
(Agency) Ahmedabad: The
Gujarat high court on Wednesday directed Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) to
shut down around 1,800 units
involved in manufacturing ornaments without licence in
Manek Chowk area. The HC
order came in response to a
public interest litigation seeking removal of illegal gold and
silver foundries from the
walled city. A division bench of
Justice Akil Kureshi and Justice Mo hinder Pal also directed state authorities to increase vigil in Manek Chowk
to stop illegal foundries from
running there.The HC asked
authorities to seal all premises
where such illegal units are
operating, and ordered not to
unseal any without the court's
permission. The order came
in the wake of a plea filed by a
resident of Manek Chowk
Bhavik Shah, alleging that illegal manufacturing units are
causing pollution in Walled
City . In 2013, the high court
had ordered shutting down all
units running without licenses,
but the petitioner alleged that
no action had been taken
against the units. On this, the
HC asked the state to file a de
tailed affidavit on or before
February 17 informing the
court about actions that have
been taken against the illegal units. The HC also asked
the AMC to report what the
authority had done in connection with the 2013 order. The court observed that
the Manek Chowk area is
densely populated and congested, and such illegal units
caused environmental pollution endangering human
health. Earlier, advocate general Kamal Trivedi, who appeared for AMC, had informed
the court that around 1,800
units are running illegally in
Manek Chowk. However, the
petitioner had objected to the
figure, and had pointed out
that earlier, in September,
state authorities had informed
the court that around 2,500
such units were running illegally in the area. Following
this, the HC had asked the
state to file its affidavit in the
issue. The HC has also
asked the city police commissioner to assist the AMC
in closing down the illegal units.
(Agency) Ahmedabad: Six
years after it made its debut in
Wimbledon, textile major
Welspun India has started
manufacturing towels for another tennis grand slam event
-the ongoing Australian Open2016. The towels are being
manufactured at Welspun's
facility in Vapi, Gujarat. Dipali
Goenka, CEO and jo Dipali
Goenka, CEO and joint managing director, Welspun India, said: “We have supplied
4,000 pieces of `Performance
Gym Towels' to Sheridan Towels who are the official partners for Australian Open-
2016.These towels were
manufactured using Nano
Spun Technology.“ “With a
GSM (grams per square metre)
of 525, these are 100% cotton
terry towels with excellent
absorbency . Available in the
Midnight shade, they measure
50 x 100 cm, weigh 270 gm
and are priced at $49.99
apiece,“ said Goenka. Welspun
has supplied to wels directly
for Wimbledon Championship
and Rugby World Cup (RWC)2015 through its UK-based
brand, Christy .The home textile major, which is a licence
holder of RWC-2015 for towels, had designed and developed a capsule collection of
beach towels, quick dry sports
towels and blankets under the
Christy brand. In 2010,
Welspun had began manufacturing the iconic Wimbledon
towels at its facility in Vapi.
Illegal Manek Chowk
foundries to close
Gujarat-made towels
AMC engineer fined debut at Australian Open
for late reply
(Agency) Ahmedabad: It
took the Ahmedabad municipal corporation (AMC) almost
two and-a-half year to reply to
an RTI query, as to how much
of the taxpayers money was
being spent in a year behind
constructing roads, picking
garbage, and to keep the urban health centres running in
central zone. The information
commission in Gandhinagar
has taken serious note of the
issue and has even fined a
central zone deputy city engineer, this week, Rs 2,000 for
deliberately delaying the information to a Kalupur based
RTI applicant, Pankaj Bhatt.
Information commissioner V
S Gadhvi said that the information requested by the applicant should have been made
readily available. Bhatt had
sought information in April
2013 on the amount spent on
road repairs of the Ratan
pol road, which is off Relief
road and also whether contractors engaged in gutter
repair work were penalized
for a shoddy work.
‘Nimo’ finds oneness in city
Ahmedabad: It was in early
2000s when Karmacy , a
hiphop rapping band consisting
of four Indian-American
youths, took the diaspora in the
US by storm with their number
- Blood Brothers - expressing
the anguish of an immigrant in
ROOTS & search of the American Dream asking the American Dream asking his younger
brother not to follow the same
path. The trilingual band not
only featured on prominent
R&B and hip-hop music stations but also successfully
toured across the US with their
music. For Nimesh `Nimo'
Patel, one of the founding
members of the band, life followed a similar journey . For
the past six years, this youth in
his mid-thirties has made
Ahmedabad
his
`karmabhoomi.' During this
time, Patel has brought out a
music CD of city's slum kids,
`Let Them Sing', toured to the
US and the UK with Èkatva,' a
song and dan ce show featu
ring 16 unWINGS derprivile
ged kids from Ahmedabad, and
has from Ahmedabad, and has
conducted over 220 of his own
“Empty Hands“ shows songs
and lyrics of his experiences of
Gandhian values.Patel received an award last week for
his work as an NRG. Patel is
actively working on his next
project called the `HeArt Centre' using art to help unleash
the talents in the children of our
local un derprivileged communities. “I got an opportunity to
volunteer at Manav Sadhna in
the Gandhi Ashram in 2007 for
six months. It was when I came
back to Ahmed abad and engaged with the lo cal community around Gandhi Ashram,
that I trans formed. The
change started in 2009 and
continued for next two and a
half years,“ said Patel. About
Èkatva' Patel said “It was an
experiment of sorts to showcase Mahatma Gandhi's ideals
through the ir tales. Through
Manav Sadhna, we have been
part of a larger family where
we are taking care of children's
edu cation. We are planting a
seed that hopefully would take
shape of a tree in the future.“
The experience of Ekatva
coupled with his experiences
of Gandhiji's values in life to ok
shape in the form of Èmp ty
Hands,' an album in 2014, with
tracks such as Grateful, Being
Kind, Ode to Women and Keep
Loving among others. In 2014
and 2015, Patel toured the album through the US, Europe
and Gulf countries without
charging for his music album or
any of his concerts everything
being a gift to the world. Many
people across the world keep
messaging Empty Hands Music
in gratitude. This week,
Ricardo Williams messaged
Nimo with a lovingly sarcastic
tone: “Dear Nimo, please, stop
sending me you Empty Hands
songs and videos, cause every
time Iwatch them I start to cry
, and cry and cry .... I still can't
understand what it is about
your music that touches and
moves me so deeply . It really
makes me believe in Love
and Humankind again. Love
and blessings for you a n d
your beautiful songs.“
Helpline for CBSE
students from Feb 1
(Corrspondent) Ahmedabad: More than 50 principals and
trained counsellors from private and government schools
affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE),
psychologists and social scientists, will be part of the core team
of the helpline that will become operational from February 1
and continue to be so till June 2016. The helpline will counsel
students preaparing for class X and XII exams as well as their
parents. Students can call the toll-free helpline number
1800118004 to get in touch with the counsellors for one-to-one
counselling over phone from 8 AM to 10 PM. They can also get
connected to the counsellors for professional counselling. CBSE
is also operating helplines in Japan, Kuwait, Doha, Dubai, Saudi
Arabia, UAE and Sultanate of Oman.
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Mkkçkh{íke, y{ËkðkË- 380 005.
RNI No. GUJENG/2014/57876 Printed, Published & Owned by AJAYKUMAR RAMANLAL PRAJAPATI and Printed at Vansh Corporation, A/8, Shayona Golden Estate, Shahibag, Ahmedabad - 380 004
and Published from 131, Dharmanagar Society, Highway Road, Sabarmati, Ahmedabad - 380 005. Editor : ASHVINKUMAR KESHAVLAL RAMI

Rohith Vemula got call from cops, notice from hostel

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