Nursery Class Seats For Rs 4 Lakh?

It's just money that matters!

By Sheetal Sukhija



Bangalore, Apr 19 : While a parent would have had to pay less than R5,000 to get their ward into a good school a decade ago, the ongoing rate is anywhere between a whopping Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. Sheetal Sukhija reports.

It is that time of year when parents can be seen running from pillar to post, with creased brows, in the endeavor to secure a seat for their child at a good school.

However, a seat in a good school these days comes with a hefty price tag.

While a parent would likely have had to pay less than Rs 5,000 to get their ward into a good school a decade ago, the ongoing rate is anywhere between a whopping Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

Shocked: The reporter speaks to parents and guardians, who had come to procure admission at Sophia High School

No bargain
Parents continue to bear the brunt as schools continue to 'fleece' them of their hard earned money. A parent, requesting anonymity, alleged that she had paid to get her child admitted in a well-known school in the heart of the city.

She said, "Agents have a commission arrangement with school authorities and they sold nursery class seats for Rs 4 lakh this academic year." When contacted however, the school authorities chose not to comment.

No so secret agents
In our mission to reveal the cogs that drive the donations for seats theme, we encountered a thriving business running on school admissions through payment of hard cash.

The want for seats in good schools has created a market for agents, who work on commission basis for each seat sold.

MiD DAY contacted one such agent who agreed to sell this reporter a seat for nothing less than Rs 5 lakh at a premium international school. Explaining his business, he said, "We earn all year round as people drop out of school midway and our maximum income comes from NRI families and families who've just moved to the city."

These agents usually target online forums where parents address their problems about school admissions and donations.

Commenting on the matter, Primary and Secondary Education Minister, Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri clarified, "There are rules in place and schools have to adhere to them. In case parents have complaints, they should address it through the right channel."

Show us the money
Even though one approaches through the right channel, it's money that matters the most. A parent said that they are all too aware that the answer to the question of how much donation they are willing to pay, is very decisive in securing a seat for their child.

"School interviews always include a simple question - how much donation can we pay," said the parent. This was a point that most parents agreed to. Many claim that an interview for a seat at almost every school, invariably ended if they quoted less that Rs 50,000 as donation.

Only 30% on paper
We first headed to a school on St Marks Road to investigate whether this was true. Over the years, this school has been the centre point of the donation controversy, always skirting the topic. This reporter spoke to some hopeful parents waiting to attend the second round of the admission interview.

"If you can pay anything above Rs 1 lakh, then your admission process would be smooth. They charge only

Rs 30,000 on paper, but ask for a huge sum under different categories," said K R Ramamurthy, a parent.

When contacted, the school authorities refuted the allegations.

'We don't accept it'

Some parents informed that the so-called categories include building fund, school infrastructure development and a few others were part of the donation.

Educationist M S Sridhar explains, "The situation has worsened in the last few years. I strongly believe that if a school has been built on a government land, like Bishop Cottons Boys School, then there is no need to collect donations. Yet amounts ranging between Rs 1 lakh and to Rs 3 lakh are still being collected, which middle class families cannot afford."

When contacted, principal of Bishop Cottons Boys School, John K Zachariah denied all allegations and said, "We don't charge any donation at all. We just ask for infrastructure development fees and that is completely legal. The ISCE board permits schools under their purview to demand any amount from the students."

Even we do not
Next, we headed to the Sophia High School where a group of parents awaited the fate of their respective wards outside the school.

"They don't ask for it openly, but subtly slip it in during the interview process. I had to pay Rs 75,000 to get my child into kindergarten two years ago. But I have to pay around Rs 1.25 lakh to get my second child into kindergarten now," claimed one parent requesting anonymity.

Authorities of Sophia High School too, denied the allegation.

source: Midday

'There is A Lot Of Rubbish On The Internet'

By Upala KBR



Mumbai, Apr 19 : That's what newbie actress and beauty pageant winner Preeti Desai calls the topless pics of her, doing the online rounds.

It's a malaise most actresses have to put up with. Everyone from Katrina Kaif to Mallika Sherawat has claimed to be a victim of doctored pictures that see them in several states of undress.


Newbie Preeti Desai (who made news for being Abhay Deol's girlfriend) and who makes her debut in Shor In The City, is distraught to learn that topless pictures of her were circulating online today.



The newbie has been claiming that the pictures are morphed and that she never posed for these pictures "There is a lot of rubbish on the internet. I don't think people are gullible to believe everything they read or see! I'm not going to waste time commenting on silly things like this!" she says.


Preeti would rather talk about her role in SITC. "I play Shalmili opposite Sendhil Ramamurthy's character Abhay (Sendhil), who is going through a bad phase after moving back to the city. She shows him the city through her eyes and the city comes alive for him."

Preeti who?
Preeti Desai is a model and actress and was Miss Great Britain 2006. She made history by becoming the first woman of colour to ever win the title.

'Forgive Me, I'm A Sinner'

Man repents communal violence

Angel or demon? The ex-BJP leader is approaching Christian families in Shimoga, Mangalore and Tumkur, including those who bore the brunt of the attacks and is apologising

Bangalore, Apr 19 : Claiming that it was a mistake to join the communal forces, former Bajrang Dal activist Mahendra Kumar is visiting members of Christian community shedding 'crocodile tears' asking to be pardoned.

The main accused in the serial church attack case, is in a biblical confessional mode and is going around seeking forgiveness for what has happened in the past.

Mahendra Kumar was a convener of Bajrang Dal in 2008, when a series of attacks on churches rattled the state, following which he was arrested on the charges of leading the mob.
He was also booked under Section 307 for attempt to murder relating to the attacks and is facing seven cases on the charges.

Even an enquiry commission led by Justice B K Somashekar had singled out to implicate him in its controversial report submitted to the government last February, while giving a clean chit to the Yeddyurappa government and the police.

Realisation dawns
Now, he is approaching Christian families in Shimoga, Mangalore and Tumkur, including those who bore the brunt of the attacks and is apologising.

"I realised that I was with the wrong party. BJP is not only communal, but also anti-social. I am going around meeting people from minority communities including Christians and Muslims to convince them about my position.

The response is good and I think they have forgiven me," said Kumar.

The paradigm shift in his behavior was noticed after he joined JD(S) last month, after quitting the Sangh Parivar with the grouse that he was abandoned after being caught in the church attack case.

Vindictive politics
"I joined JD(S), as I realised that BJP will not last long with the change coming under the leadership of Yeddyurappa, who is indulging in vindictive politics. I see his hand in the criminal cases filed against me.

However, there is no politics in my mission to reach out to the minorities. I want to show that I am a changed man and need to dispel their inhibitions," he said.

He claimed that the Christians and Muslims were now with him and a group of 1,500 Christians prayed for him recently in the city. "The atmosphere is cordial. I am meeting and eating with them. They are ready to forget the past. Even Arch Bishop Bernard Morass has blessed me," said Kumar.

However, there are many from the Christian community, who are not listening to his sorry story.

All crocodile tears
Justice M F Saldana, a retired judge of the High Court, who led a movement against the Church attack, said, "It looks like he is shedding crocodile tears. When claimed that he had the backing of the government in the attacks, he said it was a valiant act and he would repeat it. Now, just because he has lost BJP support, he is singing a different tune. Anyway, we won't fall for it."

Following Somashekar's commission submitting an allegedly partisan report on the Church attack, Saldana went on a fact finding mission on behalf of People's Enquiry Tribunal and submitted a parallel report to the Central Government last month.

"He cannot get away by simply saying sorry, as that cannot undo the damage done. The law must take its own course and he has to face it," said Saldana.

However, according to officials in the Arch Bishop's office, Morass seems to have forgiven Kumar.

"He had come here and met the Arch Bishop who offered to pray for the him. After all, Christ has taught us to forgive the sins of one who realises his faults," said Fr Prem, personal assistant to the Arch Bishop.

Facebook Sorry For Gay Kiss 'Censorship'

Facebook apologises after John Snow Kiss-In pic of men snogging taken down 'in error'

By Michelle Loh

A second event has been booked in for the John Snow after its locked its doors last Friday.

The offending kiss, which was fine enough to appear on EastEnders. Picture courtesy BBC

Facebook has been forced to apologise to its users after a picture of two men kissing mysteriously disappeared from its website.

In an email to news.com.au, Facebook’s US-based Public Policy Communications Manager Andrew Noyes said that: “The photo in question does not violate our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and was removed in error. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

The picture in question is a publicity still from BBC series EastEnders, and was used to promote the John Snow Kiss-In - an anti-homophobia event held in a London pub last Friday.

The event was held after Jonathan Williams, 26, and James Bull, 23, were kicked out of the John Snow in Soho, by a woman who claimed to be the landlady accused them of being "obscene".

Both the picture and event notice mysteriously disappeared from Facebook last Friday night, sparking a wave of online protests in support of the event.

It was later revealed that the event disappeared because it was made private by the organiser. The missing picture is another story.

Niall O'Conghaile, the UK-based DJ and writer who originally posted about the event woke up last Saturday morning to a terse email from Facebook informing him that the photo was in violation of Facebook’s usage policies.

In it’s email, Facebook said that the photo had been removed because it contained “nudity, or any kind of graphic, sexually suggestive content”, and was consequently “violated Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities”.

When LA-based talk show host and fellow Dangerous Minds writer Richard Metzger posted O’Conghaile’s piece to his own Facebook wall, that post also mysteriously disappeared.

Metzger then responded with this angry post questioning Facebook’s decision to remove his original post, which resulted in the PR catastrophe that Facebook is currently facing.

As it turns out, the webpage for the Kiss-In was not taken down by Facebook, but retrospectively made private by event organiser Paul Shetler in a bid to avoid homophobic trolling.

In a comment to Dangerous Minds, Shetler says:

“I just want people to know that FB have NOT removed the kiss-in event page; it’s still there, but I made the event private and only visible to those who had been invited as there were starting to be trolls posting abusive nonsense on it”.

At the time of writing, the event was only available to people who had previously RSVPed yes to the original invitation - a self-selecting group of people who would presumably be unlikely to post homophobic comments on the website.

However, Metzger is still waiting to hear back from Facebook as to why his post on the incident is no longer available.

In an email to news.com.au, Metzger observed that Facebook could have saved itself a lot of trouble by setting up usage policies that didn't default to the most conservative troll on the page.

“It's regrettable” he said.

“I don't think that company is in any way homophobic, I just think they need to review their policies, if for no other reason to prevent things like this happening again, the appearance of a real slight to a lot of people.”

Facebook page for Dangerous Minds now has a picture of Batman and Robin kissing. Another kiss-in has been organised at the John Snow on Friday.

Should Facebook apologise for these pictures? What are your thoughts?

Rio Ferdinand Grilled in Court By His Stalker...

who then does a runner after being found guilty of harassing the England star

• 'I'll see you soon, bye,' she tells the player as he leaves the witness box
  
  

'Disturbed': Suzanne Ibru has been found guilty of harassment after Rio Ferdinand, seen arriving at Macclesfield Magistrates' Court, said he was unhappy that she turned up at his Cheshire home

A woman who repeatedly turned up at the home of Premiership footballer Rio Ferdinand told him: 'I'll see you soon' as she was convicted of harassment yesterday.

But Susanne Ibru, 38, disappeared from court before sentencing, having cross-examined the Manchester United player herself.

Under her questioning Ferdinand had told the court that he felt 'angry and upset' by her appearances at his Cheshire property.

She had twice disturbed the Manchester United player and his wife while they were asleep, claiming she needed to speak to him, the court heard.

As he left the witness box following the grilling, she said to him:  'I'll see you soon, bye.'

However, after being told Ferdinand's wife Rebecca, 30, was excused from giving evidence today after giving birth to their third child at the weekend she left the court without warning.

Ibru was convicted at Macclesfield Magistrates' Court in her absence.

A warrant was issued for Ibru by District Judge Nicholas Sanders, who asked for her to be brought back before him for sentencing.

He said it was 'quite clear' to him that the prosecution case against her was proved.

He said: 'Mr Ferdinand is a high-profile footballer and whilst there will always be occasions where he is exposed to public and press scrutiny, the fact is that when he is in the privacy of his own home with his family he has a right to expect to be left alone.'

Ibru, formerly of Peckham, south London, but now of Queens Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, was alleged to have turned up at the footballer's home in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, three times between February and June last year, the court heard.

Ian Davies, for the prosecution, said the first incident happened in the early hours of February 21.

Ferdinand and his wife, Rebecca, were asleep in bed when she woke him after hearing the buzzer of the intercom at the entrance gate to their home.

Unwanted visitor: Susanne Ibu was said to have turned up at Rio Ferdinand's home in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, on several occasions

The footballer told District Judge Nicholas Sanders that he went to the bathroom window to see who was at the gates and saw a figure wearing a hooded top in the darkness.

He said he shouted down to see who it was and the figure looked up and he was able to see it was Ibru.

Asked by Mr Davies how he felt, Ferdinand said: 'At first I was angry and upset but then disturbed, really, because I have got a young family and this was not the time or the place to be coming to speak to me.'

The player called his club's security staff, who alerted police, and then watched on his CCTV as Ibru walked away.

She was stopped by police at the end of the road, the court heard, and later allowed on her way.

Ibru returned to the house on June 16, the court was told. Ferdinand said he spotted her on the road opposite his house as he returned home that evening at around 8pm.

'I'm not just a fan': Susanne Ibru, the woman accused of stalking footballer Rio Ferdinand, allegedly said she urgently needed to speak to him after appearing at his home last year

He called the police and decided to speak to her to ensure she did not leave before they arrived.

'My main concern was to keep her there until the police arrived,' he said.

'I asked why she had come to my house and she told me "things needed to be resolved", and that they couldn't be resolved until we spoke.

'I told her I would speak to her then but she said it would take a couple of hours.'

Asked by Mr Davies if he had any idea, then or now, why Ibru attended his home and wanted to speak to him, the footballer said: 'No.'

Mr Davies asked: 'Did she suggest any reason for coming to your house as opposed to the club, the training ground or Old Trafford?'

Ferdinand said she said words along the lines of: 'I'm not just a fan', and 'Don't associate me with being a fan, I'm more than that'.

He added that the second visit caused him to consider upgrading the security at his house.

'Again, I was disturbed,' he said. 'I had been out of the house and it really alarmed me (that she was there).'

Police attended and Ibru was given a formal warning to leave the couple alone.

But her third alleged visit came just two days later, in the early hours of June 18.

Again the footballer and his wife were woken by the buzzer from their gates so he called police and Ibru was arrested.

'The safety of my family is as huge to me as it is to anyone,' he said. 'Then you have people at your door talking about things that don't make sense.

'You want to be left alone with your family.'

Ibru, wearing a black dress, put it to him that she had been to his home about four or five times during the last four years.

She asked him: 'Do you think that amounts to harassment?'

The footballer replied: 'Yes.'

Concerned: Rio Ferdinand, pictured with his wife Rebecca, said Susanna Ibru's alleged appearances at his home left him fearful for his family

She also asked him if he remembered the first time they met, in 1998 at the home of his stepfather's mother.

He said he did not remember the occasion.

Ibru said: 'I remember that very well - the first time setting my eyes on you, not just in a newspaper.'

She then put it to Ferdinand that, although she admitted visiting his home, it did not amount to harassment.

The District Judge intervened and said the decision to prosecute was not a matter for the witness.

Ferdinand said: 'I called the police because I didn't want you at my house.'

Cyber Attacks, Censorship Threat To Internet Freedom: Study

Washington, Apr 19 : Cyber attacks, politically motivated censorship and government control are among the threats to internet freedom, according to a study, which also said India does not face any such imminent threat.

The 'Freedom on the Net 2011: A Global Assessment of Internet and Digital Media' study was released on Monday by Freedom House, an independent US-based watchdog organisation.

It identifies key trends in internet freedom in 37 countries and evaluates each country based on barriers to access, limitations on content, and violations of users' rights.

The study found that Estonia had the greatest degree of internet freedom among the countries examined, while the US ranked second.

Iran received the lowest score in the analysis.

India does not figure among countries at imminent risk.

China boasts the world's most sophisticated system of internet controls, and its approach has become even more restrictive in recent years, the study said.

Governments are responding to the increased influence of the new medium by seeking to control online activity, restricting the free flow of information, and otherwise infringing on the rights of users, according to study.

"These detailed findings clearly show that internet freedom cannot be taken for granted. Non-democratic regimes are devoting more attention and resources to censorship and other forms of interference with online expression," said David J. Kramer, executive director of Freedom House.

Eleven other 'Not Free' countries include Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand.

Although India's internet penetration rate of less than 10 per cent is low by global standards, access has expanded rapidly in urban areas, generating tens of millions of new users in recent years.

"In the past, instances of the central government seeking to control communication technologies were relatively rare.

However, following the November 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai and with an expanding Maoist insurgency, the need, desire, and ability of the Indian government to control the communications sector have grown," it added.

'Indians Unprepared For Natural Calamities'

Indians need be more prepared for natural calamities: Experts

New Delhi, Apr 19 : Within a month after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck Japan, India experienced two moderate tremors. Were these warnings for something bigger? If experts are to believed, they were and say Indians need to be more prepared to deal with natural calamities.

"Some of these could also be seen as a precursor for something bigger, considering India's vulnerability to earthquakes because of its location in a high risk seismic zone," N.V.C. Menon, former member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), told IANS.

According to him, it is important to launch an awareness campaign to prepare Indian households to prepare them in responding to natural calamities such as the one that wreaked destruction in Japan.

"We could face massive destruction if a high intensity earthquake strikes India," Menon said, stressing there is the "need for a massive awareness campaign as people here are not clear about the steps needed to reduce the impact of an earthquake."

The government, under the aegis of NDMA, is working to enhance India's preparedness to face an event like that in Japan.

However, people should also prepare themselves to deal with an emergency, Menon said.

Households in quake-prone areas should prepare emergency kits with candles, medicines, match boxes, important documents and other necessary items so that they can evacuate immediately in the event of an earthquake.

Studies have shown that more than 60 percent of India is vulnerable to earthquakes and most of the deaths during a quake are caused by the collapse of buildings.

According to geographical data, Kashmir, Punjab, the western and central Himalayas, the northeastern region and the Rann of Kutch fall under the Zone 5 category, referred to as the Very High Damage Risk Zone.

"Northeastern states like Assam and Meghalaya and cities like Shimla and Delhi are sitting on the brink of a disaster," V.K. Sharma, professor of disaster management at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, told IANS.

"With about 685 slums and congested localities in the old city with maximum number of unsafe buildings, Delhi could collapse in the event of a high intensity earthquake," warned Sharma.

More than 50 percent of Shimla could also collapse, he added.

The biggest problem, according to Sharma, lies in the non-adherence of the prescribed building codes by private builders while erecting any new structure.

The National Building Codes of India contains stipulations for fire safety requirements, materials to be used, structural design and construction, including safety and building and plumbing services.

In cities maintained by municipal corporations it is expected that all building codes are followed for new constructions.

"But very often the builders and contractors violate the codes," Menon said.

This was the reason for the collapse of the buildings in Ahmedabad and Bhuj in Gujarat during the 2002 earthquake even though they were almost 480 km away from the epicentre of earthquake, he asserted.

The condition is least encouraging in rural areas and in those urban areas where private constructors are hired for building purposes.

"In these cases, people employ local constructors who have no engineering background and are not aware of any code," said the expert.

Menon advised a few things that can be done by households to increase the earthquake resistance of existing buildings.

"For existing buildings, rapid visual screening by trained civil engineers can help find its quake resistance capacity," he said.

The study of the soil type and the possibility of sand liquifaction that can happen during quake vibrations should also done, the expert suggested.

Siddhartha Mukherjee Wins Pulitzer

Boston, Apr 18 : Indian-American physician Siddhartha Mukherjee’s acclaimed book on cancer, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, has won the prestigious 2011 Pulitzer Prize in the general non-fiction category.

According to the Pulitzer citation, the book by the New York-based cancer physician and researcher is "an elegant inquiry, at once clinical and personal, into the long history of an insidious disease that, despite treatment breakthroughs, still bedevils medical science".

The Pulitzer for general non-fiction is awarded to a "distinguished and appropriately documented book of nonfiction by an American author that is not eligible for consideration in any other category".

It carries a $ 10,000 award.

India-born Dr. Mukherjee is an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University and a staff cancer physician at Columbia University Medical Centre.

A Rhodes scholar, he graduated from Stanford University, University of Oxford, Harvard Medical School.

He has published articles in Nature, The New England Journal of Medicine, The New York Times and The New Republic.

In his book, Dr. Mukherjee recounts centuries of discoveries, setbacks, victories and deaths, told through the "eyes of his predecessors and peers, training their wits against an infinitely resourceful adversary that, just three decades ago, was thought to be easily vanquished in an all-out war against cancer".

An award-winning science writer, Dr. Mukherjee examines cancer with a cellular biologist's precision, a historian's perspective and a biographer's passion.

The result is an astonishingly lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease that humans have lived with -- and perished from -- for more than 5,000 years.

The "riveting, urgent and surprising" book reads like a literary thriller with cancer as the protagonist.

It is a profoundly humane "biography" of cancer -- from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles in the 20th century to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence.

"From the Persian Queen Atossa, whose Greek slave cut off her malignant breast, to the nineteenth -- century recipients of primitive radiation and chemotherapy to Mukherjee's own leukemia patient, Carla, The Emperor of All Maladies is about the people who have soldiered through fiercely demanding regimens in order to survive -- and to increase our understanding of this iconic disease," according to information on the book on Pulitzer's website.

The book provides a fascinating glimpse into the future of cancer treatments besides providing hope and clarity to those seeking to demystify cancer.