20 April 2010

Exam Bribe Gains Currency

HSLC examinees attach money, prayers to answer scripts

By Daulat Rahman

Guwahati, Apr 20 : Currency notes, personal letters and medical certificates. All are found inside answer-scripts in Assam. Even neighboring West Bengal appears to be keeping pace, though its examinees are far more thrifty with cash!

Thousands of evaluators of this year’s High School Leaving Certificate examination in Assam are amused to find “something” they did not expect inside answer-scripts of nearly four lakh examinees.

The secretary of the Board of Secondary Education, Assam, (SEBA), Dhanadev Mahanta, told The Telegraph that though the candidates used to attach personal notes and currency notes to answer-scripts in previous years too, the number of such incidents had gone up significantly.

He said instances of medical certificates attached to answer-scripts to earn pass marks had even come to the light.

“There are reports that candidates have attached currency notes of different denomination totaling Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500. While the board has strictly instructed the evaluators not to succumb to the examinees’ tactics of alluring them, money found inside the answer-scripts is being used to sponsor snacks, tea and lunch for the evaluators,” Mahanta said.

“It was really a surprising as well as an amusing experience for me when I found a personal letter along with Rs 1,000 inside an answer-script of general science. The candidate in the letter wrote that he had found mathematics and science very tough to comprehend and considered the subjects as a curse on his life. He would be grateful if the evaluator gave pass marks to overcome the curse,” an evaluator said.

The principal of Cotton Collegiate Government HS School, Pabitra Kumar Deka, said such incidents prove the candidates’ total loss self-confidence to come out with flying colors in the matric examination.

He said there had been cases when beautiful and charming girls clipped their photographs on the very first page of their answerscripts to impress the examiners.

“A rise in the number of such cases is, however, a matter of concern and reflection of the negative side of society. Resorting to such practice must be seen as bribery. As corruption has become rampant in every sphere of society, students must have started thinking that attaching currency notes to answer-scripts would bring them success at important examination like matric without any study,” Deka said.

The principal of B. Borooah College, Dinesh Baishya, likes to add a different angle to such incident.

“Matric is the target of thousands of guardians for their children, particularly in rural Assam. For them passing matric is the way to get a job, even to get a good bride/groom. So matric has psychological and social implications.”

S. Dasgupta of Loreto College, Calcutta, who is a regular examiner, says she has come across instances of currency notes (not more than Rs 500 though) being attached to answerscripts. “These are usually accompanied by a “prayer” on the last page to help them clear the exam because they are from poor families.

“The pleas generally come from girls in rural areas, who say they will not be able to find a good husband unless they have cleared school. We hand over the cash to head examiners.”

The headmaster of a school in West Bengal’s North 24-Parganas district, D. Sen, who examines Higher Secondary papers, says it is pretty common to find pleas from students in answer-scripts. So far, he has come across only entreaties and prayers, but has heard of Rs 100 notes being attached.

Letters inside answer scripts written by students requesting examiners to give them pass marks are found almost every year in school-leaving exams like Madhyamik and Higher Secondary as well as in undergraduate exams of Calcutta University.

The examinees generally do not give money. In most cases, those who write the letters plead for pass marks in a desperate attempt to get through the exam, Onkar Sadhan Adhikari, president, West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, said.

Currency notes are found usually attached to answer scripts only in undergraduate exams held by Calcutta University. Noting this increasing tendency among the students, the university authorities have issued an instruction to examiners: that they should deposit the amount — no matter how small it is — with the university’s cash department.

Students writing university exams sometimes also write letters threatening the evaluators with dire consequences if they do not give them pass marks.

(with inputs from Mita Mukherjee in Calcutta)

[via Telegraph India]

Experts Seminar on Northeast Sports

Champions such as Mary Kom are few and far between

Guwahati, Apr 20 : A daylong seminar will be organized by the Assam Sports Journalists Association (ASJA) as part of the 2nd Airtel North East Media Sports Festival 2010. The programme will start from tomorrow at RG Baruah Sports Complex.

Expected to participate in the seminar on Sports Culture in North East India are several Arjuna awardees from the region, including Bhogeswar Barua, Kamlesh Mehta, Monalisha Baruah Mehta, N. Kunjarani Devi, Thoiba Singh, Meena Bora and Montu Debnath.

Olympian Dipankar Bhattacharjee, cricketers Bimal Bharali and Prabir Hazarika will also be present.

Assam forest minister Rockybul Hussain will be the chief guest during the inaugural ceremony.

“This is our second edition and it is going to be very different and enriching for media persons, sportspersons as well as administrators. We have tried to bring everyone together to debate the issues, suggest a roadmap and act on it. We will be sending the resolutions to all the eight states of the region. We are expecting 250 to 300 participants from the states, plus their sports directors,” S.M. Baruah, president of ASJA, said here today.

Another feature of the festival will be a sports photo exhibition-cum-contest from April 23 to May 1, which the ASJA will organize in collaboration with the Assam Photo Journalists Association.

The DoNER ministry, Oil India Ltd, Numaligarh Refinery Ltd, Satyam Group of Companies, Assam Cricket Association, Leo Advertising, Coca Cola, Board of Sports of Assam, among others, have extended a helping hand along with title sponsors Bharti Airtel in organizing the festival.

Altogether five sports disciplines — cricket, football, badminton, chess and table tennis — will be part of the festival.

The women’s badminton and table tennis events, introduced in the first edition, has gained immense popularity and women shuttlers and paddlers from different states have confirmed participation this time too.

The events will start with football (April 20 to 23), followed by table tennis (from April 24), chess and badminton (simultaneously on April 25 and 26) and cricket (April 27 to May 2).

[ via Telegraph India ]

Northeast Games Fever Grips Shillong

Four-day meet from today

By Imtiaz Ahmed

games shillong Shillong, Apr 20 : All roads led to the Polo Ground here on the eve of the 24th Northeast Games and the much-hyped Shillong Lajong FC-Mumbai FC ONGC I-League match tomorrow.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium complex at Polo Ground was abuzz with hectic activities this afternoon as sportspersons from across the Northeast poured in since this morning.

Altogether 1,350 sportspersons from all the eight states of the region, including Sikkim, had registered till this evening for the tournament starting tomorrow.

The meet, sponsored by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and organized by the Meghalaya sports and youth welfare department, will conclude on April 23.

Meghalaya additional chief secretary P.B.. Warjri will inaugurate the event tomorrow at 9am that will be followed by karate and basketball matches. Football, however, will precede the opening ceremony and commence from 7am with hosts Meghalaya playing Manipur in the opening encounter.

The other disciplines in the tournament include athletics, archery, boxing, badminton, table tennis, wushu and judo. Barring football, all the other disciplines will be for both men and women.

However, the basic purpose of renaming the event from the erstwhile Northeast Sports Festival to Northeast Games in order to bring in a competitive spirit has once again been defeated as most of the states have sent second string outfits citing “internal constraints”.

The event was rechristened as Northeast Games in 2005 on the basis of a proposal by the then Assam director of sports, Dhruba Hazarika.

Sources in the organizing body, however, said the criteria set for the event was a factor states fail to comply with in fielding their best teams, especially in football.

“For instance, football is a very professional sport. Every state use to field players recruited from other parts of country and professionals usually switch loyalty to other states quite frequently. Under those circumstances, the criterion of permanent residency of over five years cannot be met,” said one of the football officials, who did not wish to be named.

Besides, he felt the leading players of any state would not prefer to participate in an event where they are accommodated in schools and dormitories and are not adequately compensated.

The players here are being accommodated in various school buildings adjoining Polo Ground, the chef de missions in guest houses and the officials from different states are making their own arrangements in their respective state houses and other establishments.

The SAI, however, has its own argument saying the Northeast Games was meant only for the people of the Northeast. “It is meant for development of sports in the Northeast and its sportspersons. The purpose is to tap talents who could be groomed,” a SAI official said.

China's Diversion of Brahmaputra to Hit Arunachal Power Units

brahmaputra-dam in china New Delhi, Apr 20 : The Government today conceded that the power generation in various hydro-electric schemes in the Brahmaputra would be 'adversely affected' during the lean flow months in the event of China diverting water before the mighty river takes a hair pin bend and flows into Arunachal Pradesh as Siang.

In a written answer in the Rajya Sabha regarding the Chinese plans to divert water from the upper reaches of Brahmaputra, Minister of State for Power Bharatsinh Solanki said no specific study had been made to assess the impact of the proposed diversion of 40 Billion Cubic Metre (BCM) Brahmaputra waters known as Yalun Zanbo in China for Xiangiang and Gansu (Gobi Desert).

A Technical Group headed by Member of Central Water Commission was constituted to study the implication of possible diversion of Brahmaputra water by China.

Tripura Tourism Gets a Helpline

tripuramap Agartala, Apr 20 : The Tripura Tourism Development Corporation Ltd (TTDC) has introduced toll-free digital helpline round the clock to provide information related to state tourism for both domestic and international tourists.

State Tourism Minister Anil Sarkar said here today that the helpline was operational in three languages - Bengali, Hindi and English - and has voice recording system to cater to the needs of tourists and it was the first of its kind in Northeast.

''Any person from any part of the country can call 91-381-2300332 for information regarding the state's destinations, hotels and other relevant details at anytime and the queries would be recorded for further action from the part of the corporation,'' Mr Sarkar said.

He said the tourism sector in Tripura has registered a steady growth over the past few years and it got further impetus with the setting up of separate corporations. Both domestic and foreign tourist arrivals have also increased by 27 per cent over the past two years in the state.

While as many as 2,41,155 tourist footfall were recorded in 2008-09, the number of tourists went up to 3,25,694 in 2009-10 and of the total tourist inflow, altogether 4,763 were from foreign countries like China, Germany, Holland, Canada and the UK and the state had earned Rs 1.6 crore.

The TTDC has already taken a number of steps to boost the tourism sector especially in the field of eco-tourism and religious tourism and the state government had sought a special financial assistance from the Centre to revive Unokati, the immortal sculpture in the state.

Child Trafficking Rampant Through Porous Borders of Northeast India

stop human trafficking Guwahati, Apr 20 : Porous and unmanned International Border along Bangladesh and Nepal not only provides safe corridors to ultras but also acts as easy gates for human trafficking, especially minors.

''Children are easier to smuggle through borders, cheaper and easier to control, which makes them more vulnerable. Further, the unmanned borders along the Northeast region make it even easier for the traffickers,'' Hasina Kharbhih, team leader of an NGO Impulse, said, delivering a lecture on Human Trafficking for child labor prostitution here today.

The coal mines of Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya alone have engaged an estimated 70,000 child laborers, of which many are trafficked from neighboring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal, she added, quoting a study done by her NGO, which works primarily in the field of human trafficking. ''The Northeast is a source, destination and transit region for human trafficking.

The highway networks in the region connect many national and international destinations. The destinations are usually New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Goa and Kolkata and extend as far as Thailand, Singapore and Thailand,'' Kharbhih added. ''Child trafficking, be it for forced labor or prostitution, is very much rampant in Northeast along with the rest of the country.

Within India, there are an estimated 2.3 million women in prostitution, of which nearly six lakh are children,'' she claimed.

She informed that the Northeast states were at high risk of trafficking due to displacement from armed conflicts, quoting a report of the International Displacement Monitoring Centre.

The report states that over 20,000 people are displaced in Assam, 70,000 in Manipur, 60,000 in Tripura and 3,000 in Arunachal Pradesh. The criminal business of human trafficking generates over 10 billion US dollar a year, making it the third largest ''activity'' after drugs and armament.

19 April 2010

Bangla Diplomat Visits Mizoram to Boost Border Trade

Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Tariq A Karim Aizawl, Apr 20 : Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Tariq A Karim arrived at Lunglei town in southern Mizoram this morning, in a bid to boost the Indo-Bangladesh border trade.

Official sources said, Karin accompanied by commercial councellor for Bangladesh, residence commissioner from Delhi's Mizoram House and trade & commerce officials from Aizawl, proceeded the border area to inspect sites for integrated check point and other border trade centres.

''The Bangladesh high officials visit to Mizoram is expected to expedite the much-awaited border trade between Mizoram and Bangladesh,'' said Mizoram Parliamentary Secretary and High Powered Committee-Lunglei S Laldingliana, who accompanied Mr Karin to the border.

As per the 8-point declaration adopted by major trade bodies in Dhaka on February 25, Mizoram is to have direct trade links with Bangladesh through the Thekemukh-Kawrpurichuah check post.

''Mizoram will also be connected by road up to Demagiri and construction of bridges connecting Mizoram with Bangladesh will soon be underway,'' official sources said.

Couple Stranded in Dubai Get Married -- Via Webcam

By Michelle Ruiz

Call it a sign of the times. When volcanic ash over European air space grounded a couple in Dubai, they still managed to make their wedding in London -- thanks to the wonders of modern technology.

As friends and relatives gathered for their reception in east London Saturday, 24-year-old Sean Murtagh, of London, and Natalie Mead, 30, of Australia, were stuck at their hotel in Dubai, delayed by the volcanic ash that has grounded commercial air travel since it began spewing last week in Iceland. Instead of missing their reception, the couple, who tied the knot in a civil ceremony in Brisbane three weeks ago, said "I do" again in the lobby of the Millennium Airport Hotel -- broadcasting it to their London relatives via webcam.

Caroline Black, who officiated -- online -- from London, told AFP: "It was just like any other wedding except the bride and groom weren't there."
Dozens of other stranded hotel guests sang the wedding march as the bride walked down a makeshift aisle in the hotel lobby, wearing a dress plucked from her luggage and purple flowers in her hair. The groom borrowed a shirt and trousers for the impromptu nuptials, which were broadcast via Skype on a laptop borrowed from the hotel.

"Hi Mom! Hi Dad," Sean and Natalie said -- loudly -- into the webcam in video captured by Gulf News. "Yes, it's wonderful. Thank God for modern technology!"

The hotel helped decorate the lobby and even made a three-tier wedding cake for the happy couple.
"We didn't think anything like this was going to be possible," Murtagh told Gulf News. "We had an amazing day and yeah, it's one day that we can't forget whether we want to or not."

While the Murtaghs managed to overcome their travel woes, the larger travel crisis continued today, with safety concerns forcing the closure of major airports across Europe and as far east as Bulgaria. Several European airlines, including Lufthansa, Air France and Royal Dutch Airlines KLM, reported they conducted successful test flights -- without passengers -- over Europe Sunday, urging a lift on the ban that has cost airlines up to $200 million per day.