Month: January 2013

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BMC will help poor women set up businesses

The women organise 20 per cent capital, BMC will examine the business and put up the remaining 80 per cent.
by Krishnaraj Rao

It was a meeting that gave several possibilities for livelihood among the city’s poor and marginalised, and especially its women. “Citizens are not generally aware of many schemes that the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) has initiated to empower economically weak sections, especially for womenfolk,” said Assistant Municipal Commissioner (P-South) Ramakant Biradar yesterday, speaking at a large public meeting held at Somanigram, Oshiwara, Goregaon West.

The meeting was held to motivate and assist the locals to form cooperative enterprises for their own economic upliftment, and also to manage their localities. “If you can manage 20 per cent seed capital for starting your own enterprise such as tailoring, the BMC will assist you with the balance 80 per cent,” he said, addressing the women in the gathering.

The meeting was organised by RTI activist Sulaiman Bhimani on behalf of the Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association (MSWA), on the theme ‘Kaise Badhayen Aamdani Sahakari Udyog Ke Saath’ (How to increase income with cooperative enterprises). MSWA chairman Ramesh Prabhu spoke about how the 97th Constitutional Amendment passed in January 2012 enabled much-needed reforms to the cooperative sector. “If anybody wishes to start a cooperative enterprise, he can approach us for free guidance, mentoring and assistance,” said Prabhu.

As Somanigram is a poor people’s locality full of SRA colonies, the main objective of the meeting was to enable the increase of people’s income by coming together in cooperative societies. “If a dozen onion and potato pheriwallahs (hawkers) form a cooperative enterprise, they can increase their income by Rs 500 per day, while making onions more cheaply available to the residents,” said Bhimani. “Unemployed youth, housewives, senior citizens, autorickshaw and tempo drivers, plumbers and other service providers can all benefit by forming a cooperative enterprise. We will help them in various ways and make their jobs easier.”

The MSWA has 30,000 member cooperative societies in Mumbai, to which it provides legal advice, accounting services, assistance in deemed conveyance etc. It has a decade of experience in the cooperative sector, which is being leveraged for the CSE initiative.

 

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Enough said

Has Rahul Gandhi really grown up?

Rahul Gandhi will have taken a step up in politics if he changes the future of children pulled into crime.
by Humra Quraishi

Tell me, does it make a difference to you if Rahul Gandhi gets a higher rung in the Congress party, or if Nitin Gadkari gets ousted from the top slot in the BJP? You could make them kings or call them emperors of India, but the ground reality will not change. No, this is not cynicism, but it is the reality of our daily life. We Indians are currently surviving by force of sheer willpower, destined to go through the daily grind of our lives till our allotted time is up.

December’s gang rape made some heads roll, but women are still being raped and brutalised, and so are young children, both boys and girls. In Delhi itself, you can see beggars and hapless children with them; the children may not be their own in all probability. The children are often battered – just two days ago I witnessed a child being  beaten with a stick by two elderly beggars because he wasn’t begging the way he was taught to!

Last spring, I saw a really pathetic sight…outside the Chandni Chowk metro station, several middle-aged and aged beggars sat with little children in their laps. The children were weak, almost lifeless, and were probably bought or abducted.

What is the administration doing about this? Surely the area’s cops know of the gangs operating in the area of their jurisdiction, of the several rackets flourishing right under their noses? And when these same children grow up and take to a life of crime, we catch them, they who are the foot soldiers for actual criminals, and we hang them and pat ourselves on the back. Or else, like Britain’s Prince Harry, we sit back and proclaim with some pride that we killed several terrorists!

What is the future of these street children? They are treated worse than stray dogs, and yet we do nothing, smug and secure in our own sheltered lives. Can Rahul Gandhi or his aides walk around the New Delhi or Old Delhi railway stations, or the metro stations and bus depots, and see the hundreds of unfortunate children there? If and only if Rahul Gandhi, or any of today’s top civil servants or politicians take up these as priority issues would I consider that he or she has truly grown up as a leader.

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Picture courtesy pardaphash.com)

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Learn

Nikam will get Rs 25,000 per result-oriented hearing in Jundal case

Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam will also get other expenses, such as Rs 5,000 hotel stay and Rs 7,000 hourly consultation fees.

In recent times, Ujjwal Nikam has become the go-to man in high-profile legal cases. And why not, the man’s successfully argued for the State of Maharashtra v/s captured 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab, who was given the death sentence by the Bombay High Court (and which was later upheld by the Supreme Court), apart from officiating as prosecutor in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, the Pramod Mahajan murder trial and the Gulshan Kumar murder.

In a GR (Government Resolution) dated January 24, 2013, the Home Department of the State Government of Maharashtra said that while the State had appointed Nikam as the Special Public Prosecutor in the case against Indian Mujahideen’s Abu Jundal, it was also sanctioning official fees for Nikam to fight the case in court. Jundal is accused of being the Hindi tutor and handler of 10 Pakistani terrorists who carried out the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai – Ajmal Kasab was one of them.

In the GR, the Home Department has sanctioned result-oriented hearing fees will be Rs 25,000 (per hearing). Additionally, Nikam will also get Rs 7,000 per hour as consultation fees (discussion of the case and exchange of opinion) and Rs 5,000 per day as hotel and lodging expenses.

In 2011, the Home Department had sanctioned Rs 50,000 as result-oriented fees for Nikam, when the latter was appointed by the Government to fight for Kasab’s execution in the SC. At the time, his per hour consultation fees were Rs 10,000.

The GR further mentions that Nikam is not to be paid any fees on the days that no result-oriented hearing takes place in court.

Nikam’s most high-profile cases:

The 26/11 trial

Pramod Mahajan murder trial

Nadeem extradition case, London

Gateway of India blasts, 2003

Mumbai serial bomb blasts, 1994

Kherlanji Massacre, 2006

Marine Drive police chowky rape case, 2005

(Picture courtesy ibnlive.com)

 

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Deal with it

Delhi gang rape spurs purchases of CCTVs

Chinese CCTVs are imported the most; all metros and major cities in India figure in the just-released ASSOCHAM survey report.

A major news event can have off-shoots in several other places. Following the brutal gang rape and subsequent death of a 23-year-0ld medical student in Delhi last month, a survey reveals that the import and demand of Chinese closed circuit television (CCTV) and surveillance cameras have dramatically shot up.

According to a survey released by Associated Chamber of Commerce (ASSOCHAM) yesterday, which was carried out over a period of a month starting from December 20, 2012 and involved interactions with about 200 stakeholders in security (traders, manufacters, etc.), “Over half of the traders said that there is negligible manufacturing of CCTV cameras in the country and thus they import the same from countries like China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Israel and also from the US and Europe, as their products are not only cheap but these countries being leading hardware manufacturers, their products are based on latest technologies and thus are more preferred by the customers over domestically manufactured CCTVs.”

“The need for safety and security in almost every walk of life has fuelled an overwhelming demand for CCTV cameras and more so after the Munirka gang rape incident, as hostels, paying guest accommodations, hotels and places alike in cosmopolitan cities are installing surveillance gadgets to keep a check on the movements of both inhabitants and potential stalkers,” said DS Rawat, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM.

The survey was carried out in the metros of the country and big cities – Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Lucknow and Pune, as these State capitals and cities comprise a large number of men and women “from various tier II, III cities, districts and rural areas in search of job opportunities, which also makes these centres prone to crime.”

A majority of respondents are said to have claimed that even most of the indigenous enterprises import all the components of surveillance equipment from abroad, assembling them and selling them under their brand names. In terms of sales, the Chinese CCTVs sell the most. “Respondents said their sales have increased by over 60 to 70 per cent during the course of last one month itself,” the survey says.

Lack of government support, absence of regulatory framework, large investments and outdated technology are key reasons holding back domestic electronic companies from venturing into the CCTV domain leading to increased dependence upon imported material, highlights ASSOCHAM. According to their analysis, the video surveillance and CCTV market in India is growing at a compounded annual growth rate of about 30 per cent, and is likely to cross Rs 2,200 crore by year 2015.

Asia accounts for nearly 35 per cent of the global CCTV market with a share of over Rs 27,000 crore.

The CCTV camera industry is set to emerge as a huge market in the next few years in wake of rising demands from sectors like the hospitality industry, services, healthcare, retail and transportation. Currently, parts of northern India account for maximum number of security installations, followed by west, south and east India.

(Picture courtesy 2mcctv.com)

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Big story

Cops will watch the skies on R-Day

No paragliders or other micro-aircraft can fly near or above Shivaji Park till noon on Saturday, Republic Day, this year. Anyone breaking this rule will be arrested.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

If all of us watch the skies, who will watch the land and the seas? Never mind that, the Mumbai Police seem to be saying. As per a directive issued from the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) KG Patil, a “breach of peace” is expected by terrorist or antisocial elements from the skies above the Shivaji Park (Dadar) area on Saturday, January 26, 2013.

Accordingly, no paragliders or remote controlled microlight aircraft will be allowed to fly in the jurisdiction of Mahim, Shivaji Park, Dadar and Worli police stations on that day.

An order issued today from Patil’s office reads, “On Republic Day 26/01/2013 at Shivaji Park, Dadar areas (sic) VIP, Army, Navy and Air Force officers, Consuls and citizens in large numbers come together for celebrating Republic Day, it is necessary that some checks should be put on activities around Shivaji Park area in Dadar, Mumbai, so that terrorist/anti-social elements may not attack through paragliders , remote controlled microlight aircraft (and) that immediate action is necessary for prevention of the same.”

This order is to remain in force from 6 am to noon of January 26, 2013.

(Picture courtesy thehindu.com)

 

Categories
Event

City NGO protests commodification of women

Demands quick redressal of sexual crime complaints; urges I&B Ministry to act against films, ads showing women as sex objects.
by Hamari Sanskriti

The public uproar and anger generated in the country due to the heinous rape and murder of the 23-year-old Delhi student compels us to introspect and find the possible reasons behind increasing sexual crimes against women. Though we speak about most of the reasons, we are not considering the root cause of the increasing incidents of sexual crimes – the portrayal of women as sex objects by the media.

One cannot deny the fact that the mass media is a very powerful and influential medium, and hence whenever an awareness campaign is started by the Government, whenever a public message is to be given to the masses, the civil society and NGOs, all  of them use the mass media. If the media can have a positive influence, then why are we not acknowledging that it may have a negative influence as well?

For example: addressing a woman as ‘Chikni Chameli’, songs like ‘Sheela ki jawani’ and lyrics like ‘Main tandoori murgi hoon yaar, gatka le mujhe alcohol se‘ and ‘Pallu ke niche chhipa ke rakha hai, dikha doon toh hungama ho‘ demean women and project them as sex objects. Such references to women, to parts of their bodies, certainly convey a lot about the intention of the creator of such content about the image of a woman. The gestures of dancers in such songs, and the lyrics, invite sexual aggression against women.

The posters of recent films like Jism 2 and Raaz 3 leave nothing to the imagination. Showing the naked body of a woman, with hands placed on her private parts, on huge hoardings in the middle of the roads, photographs of film sets printed on front page of the Bombay Times on December 12, 2012 showing Arshad Warsi holding Minissha Lamba’s breast, are shocking and are examples of the levels to which the entertainment industry can stoop to sell their films.

It will be foolish to believe that the poster of Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola, in which a girl in micro shorts is pointing towards her buttocks with ‘Dekho Magar Pyar Se‘ written on her lower waist will not draw undue attention towards women on the road.

Be it films, advertisements, serials, newspaper photos, all of them are contributing in further demeaning women and commodifying their body. Such songs, advertisements, hoardings and posters, films and serials on television, are everywhere, in all media.

If such songs and scenes are not meant to titillate and arouse the viewer, then why are they created? Who are we displaying them for? How can songs like ‘DK Bose’ of Delhi Belly, or words like ‘Paincho’ of Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola be suitable for a U/A audience? Is this what film producers want our children to say and learn? The way the name of one entertainment channel Bindass is written on BEST buses and hoardings is also objectionable, it is written with ‘B’ on one line, followed by ‘in’ on the next line and ‘d ass’ on the third line.

All the above examples are related to women, parts of the female figure or abuses and sexually suggestive words. With repeated hammering of the same, it is reflected in the behaviour and thought process of society. The entertainment media needs to be more responsible while portraying women in songs, films and advertisements.

Hence the staged a protest against such depictions, and made an effort to make the law-enforcers accountable for permitting such violations. We demand that there should be a regulatory body (comprising of psychologists, child counsellors, sociologists, teachers, parents, eminent lawyers, representatives from print, electronic media and film-makers), which has punitive powers to which we can complain and get a redressal for grievances. Immediate action should be taken against the violators of laws.

We would boycott all films and film/television stars who depict women on a demeaning manner or treat them as sex objects. The I&B Ministry being the ultimate authority for enforcing the various laws in the print and electronic medium cannot shirk its responsibility towards society. So we urge you to take immediate steps to ensure that henceforth no advertisement or film in the media treats women in a derogatory manner or as sex objects.

We also demand that those committing sexual crimes against women and children must be given stringent punishments and such cases be sent to fast track courts, with a time limit of maximum six months to deliver the judgment.

 

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