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Padho Punjab-a mission to spread literacy in rural Punjab

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Amritsar, Sep.18 (ANI): Education in government-run-schools of Punjab has been found to be lacking the kind of quality and standard expected of it.

A survey conducted under ‘Padho Punjab’ programme revealed that most of the primary kids in the State could not read or write. Over 50 per cent of the standard V children cannot read a story in Punjabi, over 25 per cent cannot write Punjabi letters and almost 40 per cent cannot subtract and almost 70 per cent do not know how to divide.

To raise the standard in the government-run schools, especially in rural areas, ‘Padho Punjab’ or, Study Punjab, a joint venture between the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, a literacy drive of the Central Government, and a non-governmental organisation is being carried out. It is hoped to transform the lives of underprivileged children.

Training is being given to teachers and block primary education officers under ‘Padho Punjab’ to improve education standard in government-run primary schools.

Being conducted under ‘Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan’ (education for all) in collaboration with ‘Pratham’, a non-government organization, the project aims to improve teaching abilities of government schoolteachers.

Initially, the trainers are teaching students for two hours a day. Later, they will include this pattern in their routine teaching as well.

‘Padho Punjab’ project has made a huge difference to a number of underprivileged students. The students of primary schools, who are being taught Hindi, English, Punjabi and arithmetic, have shown tremendous progress since its launch on July 7, 2008.

“Besides regular classes, the students have been divided into three groups, on the basis of their abilities. A group consists of children, who are weak in studies and they are given special attention as per ‘Padho Punjab’ scheme. It helps strengthen their abilities and skills. Now, English is also taught to these students,” said Sandeep Seyal, Center Master Trainer.

“We want children to take admission in government-run schools rather than private schools. The children are now being taught to recite poems in English. We are teaching how to greet people and as they change and grow they motivate others as well. People now know that we teach English in government schools. The children have started doing well because of the hard work put in by teachers and an improvement in infrastructure,” said Gurpreet Singh, Block master trainee.

“The children are now showing keen interest in studies. There is a play-way method being used for children who earlier used to consider studies a burden. They are now curious about learning new things. English has played an important role in bringing about this transformation,” said Suman, a teacher at Primary school in Village Kameerpura.

In academic year 2008-09, the Punjab government had spent 40.6 out of 53 million dollars, sanctioned for the implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in the State.

The amount was spent on developing school infrastructure, recruitment of teachers and providing stationary to children.

The ‘Padho Punjab’ project has given a fillip to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in Punjab, by significantly improving the quality of primary education in the state. By Ravinder Singh Robin (ANI)

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Absence of teachers keeps literacy rate low in Bihar

September 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Patna, Sep 8 (ANI): Even as the world’s observing ‘International Literacy Day’ on Tuesday, Bihar continues to suffer from rampant illiteracy.

Despite the government’s repeated efforts to improve standards of teaching, schools are grappling with a lack of teaching staff and creaking infrastructure.

“We want to increase the number of students in our school, but this is only possible if there are more teachers. We want accommodate 2000 students in the school but we are not able to give admission to the students who come here as there are no teachers and no place to sit,” said Kamlesh Kumar, a teacher.

He added that their school has appealed to the authorities to take a notice of their condition.

The parents prefer keeping their kids at home. They feel that their kids are better at home playing.

“We don’t send our kids to the school because there are no teachers and if there are no teachers what will our kids study in school. That is why the children go to school, play for sometime and come back as there is no one to look after them in the school. Hence, my kids don’t go to the school and play on the streets,” said Mohammad Sarfuddin, a slum dweller.

The eradication of illiteracy has been one of the major programmes of successive Indian governments since independence.

The National Literacy Mission, launched in 1988 by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s government, has greatly helped in increasing the rate of literacy in the country. Besides the universalisation of primary education, steps were taken to promote adult literacy. (ANI)

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National Literacy Mission to substantially focus on women: Sibal

August 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug 21(ANI): The Government on Friday said that the National Literacy Mission is being recast, so that, 80 per cent coverage of the mission is of women, whose literacy rate at present is at an unacceptable level of 54 per cent.

Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal said this while chairing the 11th Meeting of the National Literacy Mission Authority (NLMA) here on Friday.

Sibal informed NLMA members that while the total budgetary support during the last three plans for the programme was Rs. 2862.95 crore, the outlay for the 11th plan was at a much higher level of Rs.6000 crore.

Sibal said that the Mission would be run in active participation with the State Governments unlike in the past when the mission was run directly from the centre through the different implementation agencies at the district level.

He also said that Adult Education Centres would be set up at the Gram Panchayat, which will be the unit for implementation of the programme.

He also informed that the Panchayat would work in tandem with the community to implement the programme.

Sibal further highlighted that a Curriculum Framework for Adult Literacy will be developed with adequate reflection of locally relevant issues and aspects.

He pointed out that unlike in the past, each learner will be tagged and tracked for the learning achievement. Besides an efficient MIS system, concurrent monitoring systems will be put in place for field validation.

Thirty two of the forty four members of the NLMA participated in the meeting, which passed the agenda put before it.

Union Minister for Rural Development C.P. Joshi, Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandeswari, Secretary for Department of School Education and Literacy Anshu Vaish, were among those present in the meeting. (ANI)

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‘Drones may kill leaders but not eliminate the Taliban’

August 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Lahore, Aug. 8 (ANI): The US missile strike that killed Baitullah Mehsud may not be sufficient to eliminate the Taliban from Pakistan’s tribal belt.

The terror outfit has intertwined the ethnic identity, religion and politics with extremism, and it will take decades to undo, the Guardian reports.

Behind the rise of Pak-Taliban chief Mehsud in Pakistan lie factors that are not going to be resolved easily.

“Firstly, there is the fusion of Pashtun tribal identity with a radical Islamic identity. The latter has only ever really thrived when grafted onto a sense of local belonging. The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were Pashtuns from the Pakistani side of the frontier that has split their tribal lands for over a century,” the report said.

Second issue is that the Pashtun tribes of the FATA have the lowest levels of literacy, economic development and infrastructural development of anywhere in Pakistan, it observed.

They are not considered full citizens. Pushed to the margins, they are, in one sense, trying to fight their way into the centre of national political and economic life, the report added.

Finally, there is religious homogeneity: the conservative southwest Asian Deobandi strand of Sunni Islam that has established itself with its system of mosques and free schools across the region, it says.

Put all this together and it is fairly clear that drones may tackle symptoms but not causes. It is also clear why, as my colleague Declan Walsh points out elsewhere on this site, another Mehsud may well emerge soon, it concludes. (ANI)

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Radio Pakistan’s Dalit propaganda exposed

July 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Abohar, July 14(ANI): Radio Pakistan, in its recent Punjabi Durbar programme, has said Scheduled Castes (SCs) children are being denied admission in schools in India, but nothing can be further from the truth.

Shyam Lal Arora, the district president of the Recognised and Affiliated Schools Association, Punjab termed the report false and malicious propaganda.

“The Dalits are not being discriminated or ill treated here in India. The Dalit children have been given equal rights and status in every school, college, office and department. Pakistan is making such statements to create tension in this country,” said Arora.

“In villages also, Dalit children are being given admission without any discrimination. Pakistan’s statement that the Dalit community is being stopped from taking water from community taps in the country is completely wrong. Here, people of all religions and Dalits take water from the same tap,” Arora added.

Pakistan is trying to create a divide in this country by asserting that casteism is dominant in India.

Radio Pakistan’s propaganda on casteism in India stands exposed by the fact that since independence, the Indian Government has taken several initiatives to improve the socio-economic and literacy conditions of the less-privileged in the country.

For instance, the strategy of the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP), which was evolved in 1979, is one of the most important interventions through the planning process for social, economic and educational development of Scheduled Castes and for improvement in their working and living conditions.

As far as reservation of seats in educational institutes are concerned, the Central Government has reserved 27 per cent of higher education seats, and individual states have been given freedom to legislate further reservations.

In 2008, the Supreme Court had upheld the law that provides for 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in educational institutions supported by the Central Government, while ruling that the creamy layer among the OBCs should be excluded from the quota.

This shows that the caste system as it existed in the past has been formally abolished.

Radio Pakistan, therefore, needs to study the Indian Constitution before airing baseless allegations about India. (ANI)

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Brit primary school kids read to dogs to improve literacy

July 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 9 (ANI): Kids at a primary school in England are being egged on to read to dogs in the classroom to make better their skills – because the pooches do not laugh or get impatient when they stammer.

St. Michael’s Primary School in Bournemouth, Dorset, launched the pioneering scheme in April to help the seven- and eight-year-olds to improve their literacy by reading out to dogs like Yorkshire Terriers, Labradors, and Shetland sheepdogs.

And, according to Martin Ford, the teacher who helped introduce the scheme organised by the Caring Canines charity, the dogs had helped make a “significant impact.”

“The children always looked forward to their sessions and it certainly helped with motivating them to read both at school and at home. There was also a real sense of ownership and pride from the children towards their dogs. Any way to get the children to read is a positive way,” the Telegraph quoted Ford as saying.

Julie Lankshear, from the charity, said: “Ours are special dogs that are good with children. The scheme works because the dogs are non-judgmental; they won’t laugh at stammers or get impatient.

Lankshear added: “They will sit with the child enjoying their time and their reward is to be stroked and played with afterwards. The children who benefit most are those with low self-esteem and often it is not their reading skills that are poor, but their confidence. Reading to the dogs gives them confidence and enables them to communicate.”

But Nick Seaton, the chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, appeared less convinced with the tactic.

He said: “It’s an amusing idea, but if the child makes a mistake the dog can’t correct it. It is simply a distraction from effective teaching. I think that while gimmicks like this maybe enjoyable they are unlikely to raise standards effectively.” (ANI)

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Aborigine child abuse six times higher than non-Aborigine child abuse in Australia: Report

July 3, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Darwin (Australia), July 3 (ANI): The latest two-yearly study of the Australian Government’s Productivity Commission damningly reveals that indigenous children are six times more likely to suffer abuse or neglect than non-indigenous children and 28 times more likely to wind up in jail.

According to The Australian, the report categorically reveals that there has been little or no improvement in many areas of social and economic inequality in spite of federal government promises to reduce indigenous disadvantage.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has described findings of the report as devastating.

“We have to redouble and treble our efforts to make an impact,” Rudd said during the report’s release here on Thursday at a national meeting of federal, state and local government leaders.

The Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report measured 50 indicators, including six areas targeted for improvement by federal and state governments since December 2007.

Their goals were to close the life expectancy gap within a generation, halve the difference in infant mortality and employment rates within a decade and improve indigenous education in three areas: early childhood; literacy and numeracy; and high school graduations.

On each of those counts, no significant improvements were recorded.

Although the employment rate rose from 43 per cent to 48 per cent among indigenous people in the five years to 2006, the rate remained 24 percentage points behind other Australians.

Similarly, high school graduation rates increased to more than a third but made no advance on the 74 per cent of non-indigenous people who completed year 12.

In reading, writing and numeracy, “there has been negligible change in indigenous students’ performance over the past 10 years and no closing of the gap,” the report found.

In other areas, the gulf between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians continued to grow.

Productivity Commission chairman Gary Banks said unacceptable disparities persisted in every area measured. (ANI)

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Computers boost, not suppress, literacy

June 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, June 19 : Computers are helping to create one of the most literate and engaged generations the world has seen, an expert has claimed.

Carl Whithaus, associate professor of writing at UC Davis, has revealed that computers along with traditional print-based literacy methods have proved to be a boon to academic achievement.

The study involving fourth-grade classrooms at elementary schools in the Elk Grove School District in Elk Grove showed that student achievement increased 27.5 percent.

“We”re finding that traditional print-based literacy is important. At the same time, we”re seeing that the new technologies are not just eye candy,” said Whithaus.

“Traditional print-based reading and writing is only part of a much larger set of skills that students need in the 21st century,” he added.

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Too much fast food makes kids ‘stupid’

May 23, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 23 (ANI): Eating too much fast food can ruin your kid’s performance at school, concludes a new study.

The study, which involved 5,500 primary school children, found that pupils achieved lower scores in tests after eating takeaway meals such as burgers and chips more than three times a week, reports The Telegraph.

Some children’s scores in literacy and numeracy dropped by up to 16 per cent compared to the average, the study claimed.

In the research, researchers from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee tracked the eating habits of children aged 10 and 11 – then compared it to performance in reading and maths tests.

They found just over half of pupils had eaten at fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s up to three times in the last week.
n total, children scored between 58 and 181 points in the reading tests, gaining an average score of 141.5. But after taking other factors into account, pupils who ate fast food between four and six times a week scored almost seven points below average.

Children snacking once a day fell 16 points, while pupils indulging three times a day dropped by 19 points.

Similar trends were noted in maths.

Dr Kerri Tobin, who carried out the study, said it found “statistically significant relationships between higher than average consumption of fast food and lowered test scores”.

“It is possible that the types of food served at fast food restaurants cause cognitive difficulties that result in lower test scores,” she said. (ANI)

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US losing information war to Taliban: envoy

May 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 13 (IANS) US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, has said that information war is key to the success of US strategy in Pakistan as it faces a resurgent Taliban.

‘Concurrent with the insurgency is an information war. We are losing that war,’ he said while testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday on the US policy for Pakistan.

Lamenting that the US is falling behind in delivering accurate information about what is happening in Pakistan, he said: ‘The Taliban have unrestricted, unchallenged access to the radio, which is the main means of communication in an area where literacy is around 10 percent for men and less than 5 percent for women…

‘We don’t have jamming; we don’t try to override; we don’t do counter-programming,’ he said.

‘We cannot win the war, however you define ‘win’, if we cede the airways to people who present themselves as false messengers of a prophet, which is what they do. And we need to combat it,’ Holbrooke said.

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‘US cannot win against Taliban, if it loses information war’

May 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 13 (IANS) Saying we are losing the ‘information war’ against the Taliban, Richard Holbrooke, US special representative, has said winning the information war was key to the success of American strategy in Pakistan as it faces a resurgent Taliban.

‘Concurrent with the insurgency is an information war. We are losing that war,’ he said while testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday on the US policy for Pakistan.

‘We don’t have jamming; we don’t try to override; we don’t do counter-programming,’ he said.

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Self-help groups enable women in Tripura to earn

May 9, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Jirania (Tripura), May 9 (ANI): Women members elected to the village council in Tripura have taken a lead in paving the way for a large number of poor women to become self-reliant.

This has been made possible by these enterprising women representatives by setting up Self-Help Groups (SHGs), which generate allied productive vocations for the poor families.

In Jirania region of Tripura, several SHGs are in operation providing ample subsistence to the ‘have-not’ families.

Women who until the other day were just housewives doing domestic chores, are supplementing the family income through their own efforts.

“Our self help group consists of 11 women and right from making incense sticks and packaging to marketing is being done, all by women. Another 200 women work under us and have become self-employed and earn for their families by making incense sticks which are made out of raw natural materials available locally,” said Mithu Chakraborty, a member of SHG, Jirania, Tripura.

Although the Self-Help Groups exist only at the village level, the fact is that these women members of the village councils have played a stellar role in empowerment of women and also in poverty alleviation at the grass roots.

Apart from creating varied vocations, the Self-Help Groups have also been active in other spheres such as education, drinking water and community health programmes.

“We are running it very well. I believe because we know better what shall be more beneficial for the women folk like drinking water facility, literacy, health facility. We are keeping these as priority sectors and are developing with mutual help,” said Juhlera Khatun, a Panchayat member.

The Self-Help Groups have also been instrumental in the construction of link roads in the villages including building culverts across streams and other rivulets. (ANI)

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Poor public education in Pak forcing families to turn to madrasas

May 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New York, May 4 (ANI): Pakistani families living below the poverty line are turning to madrasas or Islamic schools, where their children are fed and housed while being taught a more militant brand of Islam, due to the deteriorating condition of public education in the country.

Though madrasas make up only about seven percent of primary schools in Pakistan, their influence has been amplified by the inadequacy of public education and the innate religiosity of the countryside, where two-thirds of the people live.

The elementary school in a poor village is easy to mistake for a cow shed. It has a dirt floor and no lights, and crows swoop through its glassless windows, The New York Times reports.

The concentration of madrasas in southern Punjab has become an urgent concern in the face of Pakistan’s expanding insurgency. The schools offer almost no instruction beyond the memorizing of the Koran, creating a widening pool of young minds that are sympathetic to militancy.

In an analysis of the profiles of suicide bombers who have struck in Punjab, the Pakistan police said that more than two-thirds had attended madrasas.

“We are at the beginning of a great storm that is about to sweep the country,” said Ibn Abduh Rehman, who directs the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent organization. “It’s red alert for Pakistan.”

President Barack Obama said in a news conference last week that he was “gravely concerned” about the situation in Pakistan, and asked Congress to more than triple assistance to Pakistan for non-military purposes, including education.

But education has never been a priority here, and even Pakistan’s current plan to double education spending next year might collapse as have past efforts, which were thwarted by sluggish bureaucracies, unstable governments and a lack of commitment by Pakistan’s governing elite to the poor, The NYT says.

Pakistani families have long turned to madrasas, and the religious schools make up a relatively small minority. But even for the majority who attend public school, learning has an Islamic bent.

Literacy in Pakistan has grown from barely 20 percent at independence 61 years ago, and the government recently improved the curriculum and reduced its emphasis on Islam. But even today, only about half of Pakistanis can read and write, far below the proportion in countries with similar per-capita income, like Vietnam. (ANI)

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Students most informed about environmental science more realistic on future problems

April 23, 2009 By admin 1 Comment

Washington, Apr 23 (ANI): Students who are well versed about environmental science and the geosciences are the most realistic about the environmental challenges facing the world in the next 20 years, according to a new study.

The analysis also found that students who are least informed in these areas are the most wildly optimistic that things will improve.

The study of student performance on PISA 2006-an international assessment of 15-year-olds-looked at knowledge and attitudes about the environment among them.
The study, titled ‘Green at 15?’, has been conducted by sociologist David Baker and colleagues at Pennsylvania State University

“PISA is a very large study, and there is a lot of material that’s not covered in their final report. It seemed to me that, given all the attention the environment has captured, it would be useful to know what 15-year-olds know and think about the environment, particularly environmental science and geoscience,” said Baker.

The report looks at two broad areas: achievement, or “scientific literacy,” and students’ attitudes about the environment.

In the area of achievement, American students’ performance was typical of other PISA assessments, with scores in the middle of the pack.

The assessment used a combination of multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions to give students an opportunity to analyse and interpret data.

For example, a question on the Greenhouse Effect included graphs showing carbon dioxide emissions and the average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere over time and asked students what information in the graphs supported a relationship between temperatures and carbon dioxide emissions.

Seventeen percent of American students demonstrated the highest level of proficiency (referred to as Level A), indicating that they could consistently identify, explain and apply scientific knowledge to a variety of environmental topics.

They also demonstrated the ability to link different information sources and explanations and use evidence from those sources to justify decisions about environmental issues.

On the other hand, 42 percent of American students performed at or below Level D, and showed difficulties answering questions containing scientific information relevant to basic environmental phenomena or issues.

In addition to gauging students’ level of optimism about the environment, the portion of PISA dealing with attitudes about the environment assessed students’ familiarity with and sense of responsibility for environmental issues.

‘Green at 15?’ showed that the vast majority of students were familiar with issues including air pollution, energy shortages and extinction of plants and animals.

For most countries, there was no strong association between the students’ sense of responsibility for environmental issues and their proficiency in environmental science. (ANI)

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Rotary Plans Polio Walk; To Spend $200 Mln By 2012

April 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

In a declaration, John Kenny, Rotary International president-elect said, Rotary has committed 200 million dollars to polio eradication in the next three years and we hope to see the world free of polio by 2012.

Kenny, who was in Pune for two-days, made this announcement during a press meeting on Friday.

Kenny also said that all projects backed by Rotary in the zone will never be short of funds and Rotary has committed $200 million to polio annihilation within the next 3 years and wish a polio free world by 2012.

He added that the support of its 1.2 million members and 30,000 clubs in over 200 nations, Rotary has been heading the global effort of abolition of Polio since 1985.

“From 35 lakh cases in 45 countries in 1985, polio is now confined to only three countries India, Pakistan and Nigeria. I feel Rotary will play an important role in tackling the problems of literacy, water, sanitation and education in the times to come,” Kenny further said.

Ashok Mahajan, director, Rotary International said that Rotary club is keenly devoted to annihilate polio from India.

Till last year, Rotary had spent around 90 million dollars on polio eradication in our country. In the next one year, it will spend over 50 per cent of its budget for polio eradication in India, he said.

Kenny also said that a holistic approach is needed to eradicate this deadly disease. The approach comprises bringing hygiene, sanitation and health care to the people.

Kenny also spoke to a gathering of 500 Rotarians in the city on Friday, and chartered an interact club of blind students and dedicated a science laboratory to Rathi High School.

Vilas Jagtap, Rotary district governor, said it was a significant time for the 84 Rotary Clubs of Pune and Raigad, as this is the second time that a president-elect has visited Pune region during the last 30 years.

Mahajan noted that the minority community has been specifically included in the polio eradication programme.

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Rotary International committed to polio eradication by 2012; $200 million earmarked for projects

April 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

The Rotary International president-elect John Kenny committed at a Friday press conference in Pune that the Rotary-supported projects will receive all the requisite funds, with $200 having been earmarked for polio eradication by the year 2012.

Kenny said that thanks to the support extended by its 1.2 million members and 30,000 clubs in over 200 countries, Rotary has been undertaking international endeavors for Polio eradication since 1985. Elaborating, he said: From 35 lakh cases in 45 countries in 1985, Polio is now confined to only 3 countries-India, Pakistan and Nigeria. Rotary will play an important role in tackling problems of literacy, water, sanitation, and education in times to come.

Talking about the need of a holistic approach to wipe out polio, Kenny emphasized the importance of providing awareness about hygiene, cleanliness and health care to the people. Addressing a meeting of 500 Rotarians, Kenny said he would charter an Interact Club of Blind Students and provide for a science lab in Punes Rathi High School.

Ashok Mahajan, the Rotary International director drew attention to another Rotary project – the polio corrective surgery program, under which the polio corrective surgery committee has worked towards the treatment of polio cases in the last four years. Saying that such cases were becoming fewer by the day, Mahajan too reiterated the Rotary vow of eradication of polio from India.

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Fall in civil suits, rise in criminal cases disturbing: CJI

April 11, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, April 10 (IANS) Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan said there is a new ‘disturbing’ litigation trend in the country – a fall in civil disputes but a rise in criminal cases.

‘Criminal cases have witnessed a three percent rise while there has been six percent decrease in civil cases… This is a disturbing trend,’ the chief justice said late Thursday evening, while inaugurating a function to mark the beginning of the golden jubilee celebrations of the Bar Association of India.

Elaborating upon the new trend, Chief Justice Balakrishnan said: ’87 percent of the total cases pending in India are in the subordinate courts, of which 71 percent are criminal cases.’

In states with higher literacy level, the number of civil cases was 29 per 1,000 people while in states with poor literacy it was as low as 4.6 per 1,000, he said.

Describing the number of civil cases filed as ‘very low’, the CJI wondered why people were not coming forward to file civil suits.

He appealed to the lawyers and legal community to ponder over this issue and help genuine and needy litigants in getting justice at an affordable cost.

The CJI also rued that in recent years there had been some instances of collusion between the defence and prosecution counsel in criminal cases.

The chief justice also disapproved of the astronomical fees being charged by the lawyers from clients and asked them to improve their ethical standards instead and help youngsters during their initial years in the legal profession.

Justice Balakrishnan said statutory bodies like the Bar Council of India and other state bar councils often take too much time in deciding complaints of professional misconduct against advocates.

The CJI wanted the Bar Association of India to set up a panel comprising judges, advocates, academics and others to take up legal research.

Later, BAI secretary Lalit Bhasin said the association had already initiated the process for establishing such a panel.

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Certiport IC³, Microsoft Office certifications help connect India’s most disadvantaged to digital world

April 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Apr 7 (ANI/Business Wire India): Certiport today announced the launch of a pilot that will enable 500 eighth- through twelfth-grade students with little or no computer experience to develop and certify critical digital skills in Certiport Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC³) and the official Microsoft Office certification programs.

Developed by Rotary Club of New Delhi through corporate sponsorship from Intel, SpiceT Telecom and CyberLearning, the program aims to help students to stay in school and arm them with employability skills.

“India has proven its ability to create an IT workforce worthy of outsourcing considerations by organizations around the world. Defining a solid pathway from digital literacy to desktop productivity using Certiport IC³ and Microsoft Office certifications extends an early opportunity to many high school students in India seeking to enter the 21st century workforce,” said David Saedi, president and CEO of Certiport.

“Developing globally recognized current and relevant skills among those who would not otherwise have access to this level of training and certification is essential to their success,” Saedi added.

Beginning this week, qualified trainers from CyberLearning will provide instruction to students on essential aspects of computing, the Internet and Microsoft Office applications at participating schools.

After completing the required Certiport IC³ curriculum, which includes extensive hands-on computer training, students will be trained to earn the globally recognized Microsoft Office certification for proficiency in one of five business applications.

The top two performing students from each participating school will be rewarded with an Intel-powered Classmate PC donated by the company.

“Reports indicate that 80 percent of graduates produced by India are not readily employable, so it’s imperative that we start focusing on schools,” said Pankaj Rai, chairman of the Rotary Club of New Delhi Literacy Committee in India and CEO of CyberLearning.

“Keeping students engaged in education through this program will enable them to advance beyond their present circumstances and seize opportunity,” Rai added.

Based on the success of the project, this pilot could be extended to more than 500 schools by as early as July 2009. (ANI)

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South India more attractive for investors: Assocham

April 6, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, April 5 (IANS) Metros in South India are more attractive for infrastructure projects than their counterparts in the other parts of the country, an industry lobby report said Sunday.

According to the report, ‘Indian Metros: Pulling Infrastructure Investment’, released by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham), Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai received 70 percent of the total private infrastructure investment came to the six major metros in the country.

Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi account for the remaining 30 percent.

‘In the past four years, private sector has invested Rs.33,161 crore in three metros of South India compared to Rs.14,240 crore of infrastructure investments in other tier I cities,’ the chamber said.

Assocham president Sajjan Jindal said better state policies and high literacy rate in the southern cities attract most of the investors.

‘Even though these cities are less urbanised with combined urban population of about 16 million, they attract private infrastructure projects primarily due to better state policies, better human talent, high literacy rates, and faster rising in per capita income,’ he said.

Despite the economic slowdown, real estate developers are ready to launch new projects in these cities, the study said, adding that 12 major real estate projects were announced in the last six months in the southern metros.

Out of the 12 projects, six went to Bangalore, when Hyderabad and Chennai got five and one respectively.

Besides, the three cities have attracted investments worth Rs.12,150 crore in five special economic zone (SEZ) projects.

The Assocham has added that three major hotel projects at an investment of Rs.5,375 crore are coming up in these cities.

The south is also moving fast in the power sector. Elango Industries and Toshiba will invest Rs.1,415 crore to set up two power projects in Chennai, the industry lobby said.

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Now, Pak lawmakers using Taliban scare to settle score with ministers!

March 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Peshawar, Mar 13 (ANI): Not only are common people going to seek the Taliban’s help against powerful elements in their respective areas, but Pakistani lawmakers are also now threatening their colleagues in the NWFP Assembly by letting the Taliban loose on them to settle personal scores.

Many attending Thursday’s session of the assembly were stunned when they heard a lawmaker warning a provincial minister of calling the Taliban, if he (minister) continued interfering in postings and transfers in his constituency.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s MPA Muhammad Zahir Shah from Shangla, bordering the restive Swat district, through a call attention notice once again accused the NWFP Minister for Schools and Literacy Sardar Hussain Babak of his alleged involvement in the ‘illegal’ postings and transfers of primary teachers and other officials of the education department.

“I don’t understand the claims of the ANP leaders for following the principles of Bacha Khan, but they are torturing poor people of my constituency by frequent posting and transfers of primary teachers,” The News quoted him, as saying.

Zahir Shah said that if the Education Minister was taking revenge from him then the government should plainly put him in jail rather than punishing the teachers’ community.

“The ANP should terminate the basic membership of the concerned minister or take back ministry from him, otherwise I will submit an application against the provincial minister in the court of Swat-based Taliban,” he added.

Not only the speaker of the NWFP Assembly, but the whole nation should take seriously the request of an elected representative when he is feeling no hesitation, that too on the floor of the assembly, to seek help of outlaws and militants against a provincial minister, the paper said.

Zahir Shah justified his plea when he shared a list of more than 36 teachers and class-IV employees being transferred and appointed by direct involvement of the education minister. (ANI)

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