We will not continue to tolerate sexual violence

Sun, Dec 30, 2012 at 12:43 PM
We have a long fight ahead. But we will win

Photo courtesy Facebook

Dear Rector,
Yesterday was a sad day as we woke up to the heartbreaking news of the death of the 23-year-old medical student who was subject to a brutal gang rape, beaten and then dumped on the road on the night of December 16. 
Today, we share the same feelings of sorrow, hopelessness, anger and frustration. Yet, I believe that while this is a time for grief, this is also a time for action. This is a time to say: enough. 
Our petition has gathered over 88,000 signatures. It is important to make every voice count and to send a strong message that we will not continue to tolerate sexual violence against women. 
Tomorrow, at 10 am, I am going to the office of Justice J.S. Verma who is the head of a three-person committee that will submit its findings and recommendations on issues of safety of women. I will be submitting our petition with all the signatures (yes, all 2,700+ pages!). 

It is important to keep this campaign going. I am writing to you once again to request you to sign this petition and forward this email to your friends and family.

The Justice Verma Commission is accepting submissions until January 5. We don't have a lot of time. If you would like to make additional suggestions, please leave a comment as 'reasons for signing this petition'. I will be collecting all the comments and submitting them to the committee.

We have a long fight ahead. But we will win. 

With warm regards,

Namita Bhandare via Change.org
A letter from Namita Bhandare 
PS:  Help us reach out to more people by forwarding this email to your friends or share it on Twitter and Facebook.

An open debate on violence against women at Ldh

Sat, Dec 22, 2012 at 11:26 AM
A bill must be passed in parliament at earliest
such crimes are generally committed by the well connected people

LUDHIANA, 21 December 2012:A comprehensive strategy has to be evolved through administrative, socio political and judicial measures to combat the inhuman menace of violence against women. This was the consensus arrived at after open debate on violence against women organized by the All India Working Women Forum (AITUC), Punjab Istri Sabha and Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha Ludhiana today at Shaheed Karnail Singh Isru Bhawan Ludhiana. Dr Narjit Kaur –Convener of the forum said that it was heartbreaking and sobering to read the morning papers and realise how low we have fallen as a society and as human beings. A group of drunk middle aged men raped a young physiotherapist and brutally assaulted her and her boyfriend. Even if the girl survives her physical injuries, the mental scars she bears may not be erased for a lifetime. What sort of wicked and depraved men they must be to so casually and easily rob the joy and health of a harmless young girl at the threshold of womanhood and life and reduce her and her family to utter despair?

Mrs.Gurcharan Kochar – President Punjab Istri Sabha Ludhiana cautioned that it brings us to the urgent question of what needs to be done to prevent more of our daughters being deprived of their happiness, esteem, health and often, their lives. To act strongly and firmly. The female foeticide, honour killings and discrimination against the girl child are a reflection of  gender bias prevailing in the society. This needs to be condemned  and corrected.

Dr Arun Mitra – General Secretary Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha said that such crimes are generally committed by the well connected people who feel that they will go scot free after committing the crime. The economic gaps which have increased in the last about two decades have further marginalized the already deprived section of the society who have become more vulnerable to violence.

The meeting proposed following measures to meet the situation.

1.      All concerned men and women holding any position of authority and whose voice can be heard  by many, should publicly express their outrage and concern.

2.      A bill must be passed in parliament at the earliest wherein the outcome of rape cases must be decided within 45 days by a fast track court. Strong punishment must be meted out to the rapist and he must be publicly humiliated.

3.      Police reforms must be undertaken immediately. Political intervention in the police must stop.  If any police station refuses to register a complaint of rape, there must be a strong and well -defined punishment for the concerned officer.

4.      Laws in relation to sexual harassment at workplace should be enacted in consultation with women orgnaisations.


There should be one page devoted in the daily newspapers to women’s safety. This page should exclusively list crimes against women. Detailed identities and addresses of culprits involved, photographs and daily progress on brutal cases (ie who has been apprehended as yet, what punishment has been given etc)

5.      All employers should make their own  workplaces  as safe as possible for women.

6.      There should be several options for safe travel for women including exclusive buses and taxis, train compartments and plenty of well-lit public toilets. These should have female staff manning them as well.

7.      All parents, when rearing  their children, should place a very strong emphasis on not letting them use violence. Gentleness must be inculcated from the start in boys especially.

8.      All schools should make self- defence, especially for girls , a mandatory part of the curriculum.

Others who spoke at the meeting include Maj. Sher Singh Aulukh – President BJVJ, M.S.Bhatia – Organising Secretary BJVJ, Jit Kumar – General Secretary Punjab Istri Sabha Ludhiana, D.P.Maur – General Secretary Joint Council of Trade Unions Ludhiana.  
 An open debate on violence against women at Ldh

CMC Chrismas Fire-2012 Ludhiana

Another colorful presentation by CMC artists

Ludhiana,16th December, 2012 (Shalu Arora and Rector Kathuria) The CMC family celebrated Christmas with good cheer and religious fervor. The high point of all the Institutional Christmas Programs was the “CHRISTMAS CAMP-FIRE” held in CMC Children’s Park on the evening of Sunday the 16th of December 2012 witnessing a gathering of about 1400 people including staff and their families joined by friends and well wishers of CMCH.

The items included singing of Christmas Carols by choirs, and choreography by small children. The neighboring churches i.e. the Orthodox Chruch, Marthoma Chruch and CNI Chruch also participated in the programs. Christmas message was delivered by Rev. Darbara Singh of CNI Kalvari Chruch, Ludhiana.

The dignitaries present included Director, Dr.Abraham G Thomas, Associate Director, Dr.Kim Mammen, Medical Superintendent Dr.Kanwal Masih, General Superintendent Mr.Ashley Isaiah.

The Director in his address greeted the gathering and wished everyone A Merry Chrismas and a blessed new year. 
CMC Chrismas Fire-2012 Ludhiana

At the cremation

The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the Vice President, Shri Mohd. Hamid Ansari, the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Union Home Minister, Shri Sushil Kumar Shinde and the Chairperson, National Advisory Council, Smt. Sonia Gandhi at the cremation of the former Prime Minister, Shri Inder Kumar Gujral, at Smriti Sthal, in Delhi on December 01, 2012. (PIB photo)

Dr. Meera D. Ansal on fish farming

Fish need special care during winters-GADVASU Expert

                                                                                                             Courtesy Photo:Pond Clinic/

Ludhiana-27-Nov, 2012: Being a cold blooded aquatic animal, fish needs special care during winters. Dr. Meera D. Ansal, Scientist (Fisheries), College of Fisheries, GADVASU said that during winters, temperature of surface water is colder than the bottom layers and the fish prefers to live in the bottom zone. Farmers shall keep the water depth up to 6 feet, so that fish gets enough space for hibernating in the warmer bottom zone. In shallow waters, the whole water column becomes cold, which affects the fish and can prove fatal. Regular addition of tube well water at dusk helps in keeping the surface water warm.

As day length and light intensity also decreases during winters, oxygen levels declines due to poor photosynthetic activity in the pond. The situation further aggravates during continuous cloudy days. The farmers are advised to aerate their ponds either by adding fresh water or by using aerators, especially during early hours of the day. Regular monitoring of water pH is also needed during continuous cloudy days in winters, which may fall to harmful levels due to poor photosynthetic activity and hence higher carbon dioxide levels in the pond. In case there are trees (especially deciduous trees) around the pond, trim them during winters so that direct sunlight could fall over the pond and leaves do not fall in to it, as they will add to the organic load and deteriorate the water quality on decomposition. Shaded ponds are more susceptible to oxygen depletion during winters.

Feed intake of fish decreases with decrease in temperature as its digestive system becomes sluggish. Hence it is essential to reduce the feeding rate by 50-75% depending on the temperature. In case the temperature falls below 5⁰C, it is advised to stop feeding. Excess feed remains unconsumed and accumulates at the pond bottom, which deteriorates the water quality. Farmers are further advised to use low protein diets. It is also recommended to feed your fish with high protein diets just before the onset of winters. It is also necessary to reduce/stop adding organic manures like cow dung, poultry droppings, pig dung etc. in the pond as rate of decomposition of organic manures declines due to poor microbial activity during winters. It is also advised to go for periodic raking of bottom soil (with the help of barbed wire) to prevent any suspected accumulation of toxic gases at the pond bottom.

Presence of algal blooms is another serious problem during winters as they blocks the penetration of sunlight in to the water. Algal blooms appear due to the presence of excess nutrients in the water. Hence it is also recommended to avoid excessive use of inorganic fertilizers during winters. Algal bloom can be controlled by application of either lime @ 50-100 kg/acre or copper sulphate @ 1-2 kg/acre. The farmers are advised to check the pH of water before lime application. In case it is above 8.5, they shall use copper sulphate to control the algal blooms.

During winters, various fungal, bacterial and parasitic diseases like fin rot, gill rot, EUS and argulosis may appear in the fish. Treat the pond with CIFAX @ 400 ml/acre just before the onset of winters. Also treat the pond with potassium permanganate @ 1-2 kg/acre or limestone @ 50-100 kg/acre. Salt application @ 100 kg/acre also helps in protecting fish against disease outbreak during winters.

Text of Speech of President of India

27-November-2012 18:53 IST
Speech:President of India Delivered at the PAU
Following is the text of the speech of the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee at the inauguration of the International Conference on “Sustainable Agriculture for Food and Livelihood Security” delivered at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, today (27.11.2012.) 

The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee addressing the International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture for Food & Livelihood Security, at the Golden Jubilee of Punjab Agriculture University, at Ludhiana on November 27, 2012. The Governor of Punjab, Shri Shivraj Patil and the Chief Minister, Punjab, Shri Parkash Singh Badal are also seen.(PIB)27-November-2012

“It is indeed a privilege for me to be present here to extend to the faculty and students of the Punjab Agriculture University, my felicitations and best wishes on the 50th Anniversary of this great institution.

This is my first visit to Punjab in my present capacity. I had indeed looked forward to being here - amongst the distinguished scientists and experts present today. This Institution is synonymous with the Green Revolution which transformed Indian agriculture, making our country self reliant in feeding its population. Today, we produce enough to spare for export and assistance to other developing countries. It is the Punjab Agricultural University that pioneered agricultural research and technology dissemination in our country - at a time in the ‘60s when this was a crucial need. Its scientists engaged with a sense of urgency in research, innovation and foreign collaborations. They have since developed hundreds of new strains, high yielding and robust varieties of crops and studied the management of environmental, weather and soil conditions. I congratulate the Punjab Agriculture University for its splendid contribution in the service of our nation. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, the agriculture sector in India continues to be the lifeline of our people and a key factor in our economy’s overall productivity. It has rightly been accorded due priority in every budget and Plan for achieving India’s developmental goals. Government of India has, over the decades, introduced a variety of schemes and measures to give support to the entire agriculture sector from small farmers to large investors. Institutions and banks have been created to focus on supporting agriculture development, fixing remunerative prices and improve agricultural marketing. The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices and the Food Corporation of India have been set up to recommend Minimum Support Prices and procure grains for public stocks respectively, the NABARD and Regional Rural Banks to ensure easy and adequate credit availability, and programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna, National Food Security Mission and National Horticulture Mission have taken the Government’s outreach to the farthest and remotest regions. 

Promoting inclusive growth, sustaining food security and boosting rural incomes in the country is intrinsically linked to growth in the Agriculture sector. As the Finance Minister, I had outlined a four-pronged strategy as part of the Union Budget for 2010-11 to drive growth in the Agriculture sector. The first component of the strategy was to extend the green revolution to the Eastern region of the country comprising Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Orissa. The second component of the strategy was to reduce the significant wastage in storage as well as in the operations of the existing food supply chains in the country. The third component was to improve credit availability to the farmers, while the fourth component was to aim at providing a further impetus to the development of the food processing sector by providing state-of-the-art infrastructure and substantial fiscal incentives. 

The initiative of bringing green revolution to Eastern India has resulted in a significant increase in production of paddy, as States in Eastern India reported additional paddy production of 7 million tonnes in Kharif 2011. The total paddy production in the country increased from 95.98 million metric tonnes in 2010-11 to 104.32 million metric tonnes in 2011-12. Mr. Robert S. Zeigler, Director General of the International Rice Research Institute in Manila lauded our achievement when he mentioned that “the most heartening aspect of India crossing the 100 million tonne rice production mark is that a major contribution has been from Eastern India”. The total food grains production in the country increased from 244.78 million metric tonnes in 2010-11 to 257.44 million metric tonnes in 2011-12. To reduce wastage in storage, concrete steps have been taken by the Government to create additional food grain storage capacity in the country. Two million tonnes of storage capacity in the form of modern silos have already been approved for creation. Further, nearly 15 million tonnes of storage capacity is being created through private entrepreneurs and warehousing corporations. To enable the timely availability of affordable agriculture credit to the farmers, the target for flow of agriculture credit has been enhanced in the Union Budgets from time to time, from Rs.3,75,000 crore in 2010-11 to Rs.5,75,000 crore in 2012-13. The Mega Food Park scheme, which was introduced in the Eleventh Plan, aims at developing farm proximate state of the art infrastructure with strong backward and forward linkage in a demand driven manner. 30 Mega Food Parks are being planned for creation in this financial year. 

At the present juncture, we have come a long way. The growth rate of GDP in Agriculture and allied activities in 2011-12 is 2.8 per cent which is, of course, lower than the growth rate of 7 per cent in 2010-11 but higher than the growth rates of 0.4 per cent in 2008-09 and 1.7 per cent in 2009-10. 

There is however, a reality that cannot be ignored – and I take this opportunity to call upon all present here today to reflect on why, despite all these successes and efforts and despite India’s overall improved economic performance, the economic viability of this sector is still a challenge. There are, even today, so many regions in our country where subsistence farmers and small farmers remain susceptible to failure, risk and desperation. Despite various programmes and schemes of Government- complemented by the efforts of the scientific and corporate community, why is it that prosperity has eluded a large part of this sector? It is ironical that although India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, value addition to this produce is just 7 per cent and processing only around 3 per cent of production. There is hardly any value addition at the farm level - and 98 per cent of farm produce is sold as it is harvested. Due to our tropical / subtropical conditions, more than 25% of production is lost during harvest and post harvest operations. We import a large amount of the pulses we consume. In the agriculturally advanced regions, there are problems of over-exploiting ground water resources and vulnerability to pests and crop diseases; over-mining of nutrient reserves has led to multi-nutrient deficiencies. Excessive use of fertilizers is taking its toll on the productivity of soil. 

I recall a comment of Mahatma Gandhi which made a profound impression on me : He said, and I quote, “A farmer cannot work without applying his mind. He must be able to test the nature of his soil, must watch changes of weather, must know how to manipulate his plough skillfully and be generally familiar with the movements of the stars, the sun and the moon…….” 

This is a compelling reason for the Indian farmer to be provided the wherewithal that he urgently needs - the financial, technological, infrastructural, transportation and other requirements for a sustainable approach for the increased productivity that we seek. 

In this context, I take this opportunity to share a few thoughts on the challenges that we must address. We need to do a re-think on agriculture in India. And we need to do this urgently to ensure food security in India. We must have in place a coherent and comprehensive policy that has synergy among its various elements. Government initiatives are of little use without efficient systems for their implementation. Equally important is the necessity for collaboration between the state and central governments on the monitoring and appraisal of various schemes. A co-ordinated and integrated approach should start at the grassroots, taking into account all the factors. 

Many policies are susceptible to failure because of inaccurate feedback. Collation of information and policy integration is essential. As I am among academia and experts, I would like to suggest that we identify the priorities and act swiftly. I would put training and entrepreneurship development high in my list of items requiring urgent attention. To this I would add the task of developing and reaching appropriate technology to farmers, agriculture marketing reforms, studying the present yield gaps and methods to harvest wastelands, address wastage and overuse of fertilizers and develop simple IT tools for farmers - that are user friendly and can provide relevant and timely information relating to weather forecasts. Enhanced productivity would reduce per unit cost, enhancing the global competitiveness of our produce. 

Farm mechanization, linking farms with markets and adding value at each stage will help in employment generation, entrepreneurship development, increased profits to farmers and safe and healthy food to consumers. Investments in food processing sector have multiplying benefits for all, and hence a major boost needs to be given to the processing sector. Fiscal incentives and land leasing policies of State Governments should be such that agro-processing, especially in the rural areas, becomes a lucrative option both for the farmers and the private sector. 

A useful part of the re-assessment would be a mapping and indexing of crops and livestock to anticipate market demands, plan resource allocation and ensure its optimal utilisation to ensure maximum output. This would give an edge in the global market. Similarly, the agro-industry, in partnership with research institutions can plan relevant and standardised crop production and efficient agricultural supply chains, which are vertically integrated. Improved connectivity between agricultural universities and the farmers could be very beneficial for both. 

Most importantly, innovation—of new varieties, technologies and methods for post harvest processes--should move up on our priority list. The percentage of GDP from Agriculture and allied activities spent on research and development must be increased from the current level of 0.6 per cent to 1.0 per cent in the Twelfth Five Year Plan. 

I believe that a multi-pronged strategy involving technology development, new marketing methods, precision in farm operations and innovative policy instruments is required to ensure agricultural sustainability and food and livelihood security and I would stress the importance of due attention to modernising food storage and its distribution. 

This Conference on Sustainable Agriculture for Food and Livelihood Security is, therefore, an important opportunity for stakeholders to review the current overall approach and, develop an updated, comprehensive strategy to accelerate agricultural growth and further strengthen national food and livelihood security in India 

I also take this opportunity to convey my best wishes to the students and faculty for success in all their endeavours in years to come. 

With these words, I have the pleasure to formally inaugurate this conference.”    (PIB)
***
Text of Speech of President of India

JOBS4ALL INITIATIVE

Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 7:04 PM
Jagminder Singh
On the 337th Martyrdom Day of 9th Sikh Guru – Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji, a special JOBS4ALL Initiative organised at Gurudwara Sri Rakab Ganj Sahib, New Delhi by SikhiSidak and Dharam Prachar Committee (Youth & Education Wing), DSGMC on 25-11-2012.

During this Camp, various services such as Resume building, Job Counselling, Information on current openings in Private /Government Sectors were provided to the job seekers. Nearly 300+ candidates registered as a job seeker. Few job recruiters/consultants also visited and interacted with job-seekers.

SikhiSidak is a non-profit and non-political organisation for the service of humanity.

Job seekers and recruiters can visit www.ssjobs.in for latest information. Our jobs team can be reached at jobs@sikhisidak.com.
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