Anna Stops Fast, Mumbai Blamed

NGO India Against Corruption's estimates of hosting 50,000 people on Day One of Anna's fast at MMRDA ground seemed over the top, after not more than 5,000 showed up

He came. He saw. And by what he saw, it was apparent he hadn't conquered. Not on Day One at least.

In the days prior to the Anna Hazare's fast, extensive media coverage set the tone to give the impression that the activist would take the city "by storm". But if there is any truth in numbers, a rumbling was all that the inaugural day of Hazare's 3-day protest fast saw.


Wait and watch: Team Anna's supporters are expecting the crowds to
swell on the last day of the protest at the MMRDA ground in Bandra-Kurla
Complex. PIC/Sayed Sameer Abedi

While Team Anna expected a crowd of about 50,000 to be present at MMRDA ground, BKC on day one, there was not more than one tenth of that number on the grounds. At any given point, there were no more than 4,000-5,000 people throughout the day.

Did Mumbai disappoint Team Anna? The India Against Corruption (IAC) members claim they had nearly 16,000 people yesterday. One of the NGO's spokespersons said, "It's the heat that has kept the people away. We are sure people would come back."

At 4 pm, the NGO said they had nearly 16,000 people registered who promised their support and presence, but not even half that number was present at the ground.

Why they left
What kept the anti-corruption champion's supporters away? "I had come to mark my attendance and after it was done, I decided to leave," said Babli Mohite, who had bunked office to attend the rally and left by 4.30 pm.

A group of youngsters who had come to participate in the agitation left around the same time, citing work. Another attendee, Bhavesh, said, "I was here for some time, then I got some urgent work and had to leave."

Unforeseen circumstances, emergency, urgent work, prior engagement -- the response from followers beating a retreat from the ground had the same undertone when they were posed the question.
Some got impatient when asked if they would come back the next day. A woman who didn't give her name said with knitted brows, "I came to have a look and the moment I did that I decided to leave," she said.

Rekha Udar spent a few hours on the ground with her husband but decided to leave by evening. Asked whether she was coming again the next day, she said, "I was here for the first day, we haven't yet decided about coming tomorrow."

A TV journalist said that in the morning she had zeroed in on some potential interviewees for her show in the evening. But by then, none of the chosen candidates were seen at the venue.

Expect more on Day 3
But IAC members are hopeful that people would show up in huge numbers on the last day. Anjali Damani, one of the IAC coordinators, said, "In the evening, the crowd has grown in size. There are nearly 15,000-16,000 people at the ground now. We are sure there will be a heavy turnout on the last day of the protest as the movement will gain momentum."

One of the protestors, on her way out, summed it for her fellow citizens. "We Mumbaikars cannot afford to spend the entire day at the ground. It is far away for most of us, and it takes a long while to return home. We will have to leave early if we are to get a spot on the crowded trains back."

Told you so
Munna Tripathi, who has dragged Anna Hazare to court claiming that his agitation is unconstitutional, said, "This shows the lack of the common man's trust in Anna's agitation. Many have realised that he isn't fighting for a cause. That is why Mumbaikars aren't turning up."

Every 60 Seconds: Apple Sells 925 iPhones, 2 Million People Watch Online Porn, More

By Zach Epstein

Apple sold 925 iPhone 4S handsets each minute during the device’s debut weekend, and it sells 81 iPads every 60 seconds on average. Research In Motion sells 103 BlackBerry phones, Amazon sells 18 Kindle Fire tablets and Microsoft sells 11 Xbox 360 consoles every minute. More than 700 computers are purchased around the world every 60 seconds, and 232 of them are infected by malware. That malware stat seems surprisingly low, however, when you consider that 2 million people watch online porn every minute. Read on for more.

Website design firm GO-Globe recently spread a variety of technology-related stats out across an infographic and the result helps us put a lot of things in perspective. Beyond the scary amount of Internet porn watched around the world, we can see just how entrenched various consumer electronics and digital goods and services have become in modern life.

Eleven million conversations take place using various instant messaging platforms every 60 seconds, 2,100 people check in using foursquare and 1,100 acres of virtual land are farmed in FarmVille. Thirty-eight tons of e-waste is generated around the world every minute, though we’re not sure if that stat includes all of the virtual land in FarmVille.

Every minute, $219,000 worth of payments are made using PayPal, $10,000 of which is sent from mobile devices. EBay is used to purchase over 950 items each minute and more than 180 of those purchases are made using mobile phones or tablets.

Surprisingly, perhaps, physical media maintains a huge presence in our lives despite the advent of the digital age. Four hundred and fifty Windows 7 discs are sold, 1,400 Redbox DVDs are rented and a staggering 2.6 million CDs containing 1,820 terabytes of data are created each minute. Four thousand USB devices are sold every 60 seconds as well, along with 2,500 ink cartridges.

It’s amazing how much happened every 60 seconds in 2011 and as the year draws to a close, we can’t wait to see what each minute will hold in 2012.

India's Love For The 'Missed Call' Phenomenon

By Rati Chaudhary

Mumbai, Dec 26 : The new phenomenon of missed calls has been gaining popularity. It was used in popular forms of protest during the Anna Hazare movement as well. Stingy or not, we Indians love giving missed calls.

A missed call can be a pre-arranged signal or pre-arranged message to mean something specific like, "I have left the office and headed home," or "could you please bring the car to where you dropped me off?"

There are 900 million mobile phone users in India,but the average revenue per user is only Rs 150 because when it comes to getting the message across, missed call is our first choice. In fact, so profound is our love for missed calls that a Bangalore based company called ZipDial has actually used missed calls to generate business.

ZipDial Chairman Sanjay Swamy said, "Instead of using texts we now make people convey the message by a missed call. Say our client will send you a message asking if you liked their service or not. You can give missed calls on specific numbers to convey a yes or a no."

According to a study from the Learning Initiatives on Reforms for Network Economies a couple of years ago, over half of Indian cellular subscribers made missed calls to convey a message.

Manipur Gets Into Election Mode

By Sobhapati Samom

Imphal, Dec 27 : Election-related activities of political parties in Manipur has begun with the launch of house-to-house poll campaign yesterday.

The State has suddenly gone into election mode after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the poll schedule for Manipur on January 28 next.

Chief Electoral Officer PC Lawmkunga told the media today that Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) will be used in the forthcoming Assembly poll.

So far, more than 98 per cent of the voters have been issued the EPIC, he said and appealed to those who are yet to get the EPIC to submit their photographs within January 5.

The officer also informed that besides the existing State forces, around 325 companies of Central paramilitary forces will be deployed during the ensuing polls.

Street junctions here have been decorated with flags, etc., of the political parties as the aspiring candidates began to open their election booth offices.

The last date for filing nominations is January 11 while the scrutiny and last date of withdrawal of candidatures is January 12 and 14 respectively, as per ECI notification.

With 30 MLAs in the house of 60, Congress is steering Manipur’s Secular Progressive Front Ministry in its second innings with CPI as its lone partner.

Manipur People’s Party President Dr Nimaichand Luwang said the party will release a 10-page brief history of the party today.

Meanwhile, the People’s Campaign for Assembly Election with an objective to hold the political class accountable to the electors will hold a day-long public deliberation on “Towards Public Issue Based Election” at Manipur Press Club hall here on December 26.

A total of 16,77,270 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise at 2,325 polling booths. The counting will be done on March 4.

PTI adds: Unlike in the past, expenditure of candidates for the Manipur Assembly elections would be closely monitored by the IT department, officials said today.

About 55 officials from Directorate of Income Tax would arrive here in the next few days to oversee expenditures and excesses of poll candidates.

The officials would work in groups and shall be deployed at all district headquarters to do their monitoring work.

Chief Election Commissioner S Y Qurashi had directed candidates to open new bank accounts for making all poll- related payments.

Bribe And Rip-Off Barb Over Mizoram Fence

By Kumar Rakesh

National Building Construction Corporation executive director R. L. Mehra.

New Delhi, Dec 26 : A huge chunk of the government's money, which is being poured into the north-eastern states for fencing the Indo-Bangladesh border, is apparently being siphoned off by corrupt officials.

A Mizoram contractor, assigned with fencing a section of the International Border, has accused a top official of the National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) of continuously harassing him for bribe. The contractor quit the project midway after suffering huge losses.

N. Joshua of J. R. Construction on November 23 lodged an FIR against NBCC executive director R. L. Mehra for "cheating and misappropriating funds" amounting to over Rs.5 crore. The FIR was registered in Aizawl under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by a government official) and 420 (cheating). Investigating officer inspector O. U. Majumdar said Mehra escaped jail after getting interim bail from a local court.

Mizoram shares over 318 km of border with Bangladesh, of which only 68 km has been fenced. To check smuggling and the influx of illegal immigrants, including terrorists, the government has been trying to fence as much area as possible along the border, but the lack of official and public scrutiny in this remote region has resulted in the siphoning off whopping amounts of public money, an official said.

Some NBCC officials have faced corruption charges in the past and this is not the first time that the name of Mehra - the senior-most corporation official in the north-east - has figured in a corruption case. His premises were raided last year by the CBI after his name cropped during a probe into a National Projects Construction Corporation scam related to some works on the Indo-China border. After his questioning, the CBI officials said he had been evading them since. The then joint secretary (border management), Sadakant, was repatriated to his cadre prematurely after his name appeared in the probe, but Mehra continued unscathed.

An NBCC spokesperson claimed that Joshua's complaint was "motivated" since his contract had been foreclosed for failing to fulfil his contractual obligations. On the CBI probing Mehra, he said no action was required since the agency had not informed them of any adverse report.

Mehra said Joshua stopped working on the fencing project three years ago after losing money in other enterprises. "I spoke to him several times but it did not work. When we realised there was no way for him to fulfil his obligations, we acted against him. He is being vindictive now," he said.

Regarding Joshua's complaints to the Mizoram governor and the CM, Mehra said he had already replied to the governor and would file a reply to the CM too "in some time". About the CBI probe, he said: "It had nothing to do with me. A CPWD official took my name to justify the money found on him and the CBI had questioned me in this regard. I am in the clean."

But Joshua alleged that Mehra, who has been in office in the region for over nine years, was "very powerful" and had developed a "nexus" with the contractors and others. "He manipulates the system… Crores of rupees are being pumped in here for fencing and other works," he alleged.

J. R. Construction was awarded the contracts in 2006 for fencing two stretches along the border, totalling over 15 km. The works were for Rs.12.37 crore each, Joshua said. He claimed that Mehra wanted three per cent of the commission on the payments made to his firm. "I gave him the money but the problem started when my bills piled up and I had to spend from my pocket. The bills were finally paid after heavy deductions, sometime more than 60 per cent… and so I could no longer work on the project," he told MAIL TODAY over phone.

"My contract was then foreclosed because it suits the NBCC officials to bring in new contractors and make more money from them," he added. Joshua said the government should order an audit of the "real work" done in the region to discover how public money was being looted in the name of "sensitive border work".

 

Naga Dream Still Distant

By Pradip Phanjoubam

December is an auspicious festive month for most of Christian Northeast. In the Christian states of Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and to a great extent Manipur, red ‘Star of David’ lanterns on numerous rooftops light up the cold evenings in the streets of Kohima, Aizawl, Shillong and Imphal, setting the mood for celebrations and soul cleansing, and much reflections on the year that was. In trouble torn Nagaland and Manipur, however, the celebratory mood is subdued.

Hanging in the backdrop is the 11-year itch of the unsettled peace negotiation underway between the underground Naga group, NSCN(IM) and the Indian government. Ceasefire between the two entities began in 1997, and peace negotiations followed but the talks are still in dreadful stalemate, though each side continues to claim approaching a breakthrough and then blame each other for it not happening.

The reasons are not far to seek. One, the Naga insurgent movement is badly fragmented, with factional fights consuming much of the energy and public patience. A reconciliatory move commendably brought some of these factions together this year, but not every issue is settled and internal strife and sporadic bloody mayhems still mark the scenario. But the second reason should be much more frustrating for those pursuing a happy reconciliation to a problem that is as old as the Indian state. It speaks of a looming shadow of doubt of a possibility of the Naga dream if it is not moderated by an acceptance of modern realities.

Equally, at this moment, this moderation and the compromise called for seems too much for the Naga underground leaders to accept. The Naga leaders’ foremost goal is the creation of a greater Naga homeland that they have christened ‘Nagalim’ by merging territories of other states neighbouring Nagaland (and Myanmar) that they believe traditionally belonged to the Nagas. Once this is done, the degree of autonomy ‘Nagalim’ is to enjoy within the Indian Union is to be negotiated.

However, the shadow falls at the very outset on this very notion of territory. This could not have been spelled out louder and clearer than in the tussle over the creation of a new administrative district called SADAR hills (Special Area Demarcated as Autonomous Region) in Manipur. This new district is Kuki tribal dominated and is to be carved out of the Naga dominated Senapati district. The Kukis want it and the Nagas think the idea itself is an aggression on the Nagas. Friction between the two over the matter led to a 121-day blockade of Manipur recently.

The issue is too entangled to present an easy solution. The principal GoI negotiator, a retired bureaucrat, RS Pandey, did give it a shot with a recommendation he purportedly made, as was exposed by a Guwahati-based English daily. His proposal of a ‘Supra State’ status for the Nagas created quite a flutter.
Although the intent to bring to a closure the Naga problem is admirable the pertinent question is has the model taken care of existing realities, some of which can cause extreme strife in the Northeast’s ethnic cauldron? What exactly was the Supra State meant to be, if this proposal exists? Home minister P Chidambaram has since denied any knowledge of the proposal.

Even if his statement amounts playing his cards close to the chest, it does still indicate he too thinks the proposal is problematic.

The ‘Supra State’ in this context in all probability is a non-territorial solution of the nature so many intellectuals, including BK Roy Burman of the Centre for Study of Developing Societies, have advocated in reference to the Northeast’s many ethnic problems, and in particular the Nagas. The model conjures up the Sami parliament in the Scandinavian countries. The Samis are formerly nomadic indigenous reindeer herders living in Scandinavia and the Russian Federation before the region came to be dissected by political boundaries. They now find themselves living in different countries, though their traditional world never had any conception of such national boundaries, precisely because nation consciousness dawned on them late. An arrangement has now been made so that they can call themselves one people and nation but with no territory earmarked for their ‘nation.’

The NSCN(IM) leadership and their supporters everywhere have been maintaining a deafening silence on the proposal. Perhaps it was unilateral, put up by the negotiation interlocutor and not one on which there was a consensus amongst the negotiating parties. For indeed, if the proposal is modelled on the Sami Parliament, the NSCN(IM) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah had in the past rejected it and it is unlikely he would have had a change of heart now.

Even if Muivah agreed, two considerations would have been deterrents. One, if ‘Nagalim’ is not to be, the solution would leave a major section of the NSCN(IM)’s top leadership and cadres out of the core of the solution, as they belong to Manipur and not Nagaland. Two, any solution that does not address the question of sovereignty, even if notionally, would have to be after intense negotiations with the Naga public first, especially in the core Naga territory of the former Naga hills of Assam (now Nagaland), who have had to undergo tremendous hardships and losses for over half a century precisely because of their dream for Naga sovereignty.

While one hopes a solution to the Naga problem comes about soon, as of now, it is difficult to see such blueprints. The reported ‘Supra State’ definitely does not seem to offer one.

The writer is editor, Imphal Free Press

Manipur Christian body appeals for free and fair polls

Imphal, Dec 26 : With the ECI announcing January 28 as the date for the tenth Manipur assembly election, poll fever has gripped the state amidst Christmas frenzy.

Amid the sounds of hymns and church bells, the All Manipur Christian Organization (AMCO) appealed to all voters and candidates to ensure a free and fair election without indulging in proxy voting, booth rigging and bribery.

Of the total sixty seats in the Manipur assembly, twenty are from the five hill districts of Ukhrul, Senapati, Tamenglong, Chandel and Churachanpur, which have a predominantly Christian population.

"On the way to the church and back, everybody was discussing the coming polls in the hills," said Peter M, a resident of the Naga-dominated Senapti district headquarters.

A conglomerate of all Christian bodies of the state, AMCO, has already organized a series of campaigns in the hills for advocating pastors and church leaders to remain neutral during the election period.

"Today is a sacred day for all Christians. Houses and churches are decorated and people pray for the coming of the Lord on this day. We appeal to the almighty to cleanse our hearts and ensure a bright and prosperous future. We appeal to all Christian brothers to ensure free and fair polls," AMCO president Prim Vaiphei said.

"As the church is one of the most powerful institutions for the Christians, we carried out advocacy meetings urging the church leaders to act impartiality during the polls. We also asked the Christian fraternity not to indulge in proxy voting and booth rigging during polls," he added.

Clarifying that AMCO is a purely non-political organization and has nothing to do with politics, the religious leader said the apex church body stands apart from any political parties.

"During the prolonged economic blockade, we could not carry out our advocacy meeting at Saikul area in Senapati district, but we will soon conduct it there," Prim added.

Social Networking Websites Asked To Screen Content By February

New Delhi, Dec 24 : In a major blow to 21 social networking websites including Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and YouTube, a Delhi court on Saturday asked them to remove derogatory content by February 6, 2012.

All the 21 defendants have to submit an order of compliance to the court that they have received the court order and have to remove the derogatory content from their respective websites as directed by the court.

Metropolitan Magistrate Sudesh Kumar took cognizance on a private criminal complaint and had directed the Centre for taking "immediate appropriate steps" and also file a report in the court by January 13.

Earlier, another court in a civil case had restrained these sites including Facebook, Google and YouTube from webcasting any "anti-religious" or "anti-social" content promoting hatred or communal disharmony.

In the fresh case, the court said, "It appears from a bare perusal of the documents that prima facie the accused in connivance with each other and other unknown persons are selling, publicly exhibiting and have put into circulation obscene, lascivious content which also appears to the prurient interests and tends to deprave and corrupt the persons who are likely to read, see or hear the same."

"It is also evident that such contents are continuously openly and freely available to everyone who is using the said network irrespective of their age and even the persons under the age of 18 years have full and uncensored access to such obscene contents," the court said.

The magistrate had summoned the accused companies to face trial for allegedly committing the offence punishable under section 292 (sale of obscene books etc), 293 (sale of obscene objects to young person etc) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

The magistrate noted that in the website material submitted by the complainant, Vinay Rai, a journalist, contained obscene picture and derogatory articles pertaining to Prophet Mohammad, Jesus Christ and various Hindu Gods and Goddesses.

The magistrate said that as per the records placed before the court by the complainant, there are defamatory and obscene articles pertaining to various Indian political leaders which are being webcasted by these sites.

"The contents are certainly disrespectful to the religious sentiments and faith and seem to be intended to outrage the feelings of religious people whether Hindu, Muslim or Christian.

"There are certain degrading and obscene photographs of various political leaders belonging to different political parties and photographs pasted and the language used is also obscene, filthy and degrading," the court said.

It said that prima facie the accused are also liable to be summoned for offences of promoting enmity between classes and causing prejudice to national integration but due to an embargo under the Code of Criminal Procedure, the court can not summon them under these offences without prior sanction of the Central or state government or district magistrate.

"I find prima facie that the accused persons are liable to be summoned for offences under section 153-A (promoting enmity between classes), 153-B (assertion prejudicial to national integration) and 295-A (insulting religion or religious belief of any class) IPC.

"However, owing to the embargo under section 196 of the CrPC which prohibits taking of cognizance under the said provisions except with the previous sanctions of central government or state government or district magistrate, the accused persons are not summoned for the said offences," it said.

Rai, in his complaint filed through advocate Shashi Tripathi, had said that contents hosted on these were "inflammatory" and seek to create enmity and communal violence among various religious communities.

The complainant alleged that the contents on these sites were obscene and may lead to "creation of obscene books, pamphlets, papers which can easily be downloaded from these social networking websites affecting the minds of children and were harmful for social harmony and may lead to increase in crime against women also".

The court also examined four witnesses during the hearing on Rai's complaint to ascertain the veracity of the materials produced as evidence and said, "from the testimony of these witnesses examined on record belonging to three different religions along with the material produced on record, it is evident that the same promotes enmity between different groups and religions, which is certainly prejudicial to the maintenance of peace and communal harmony."

The court had earlier sought response from the Delhi police regarding the authenticity of documents filed by the complainant as the addresses of most of the respondents (website companies) were beyond its jurisdiction.

On December 20, Additional Civil Judge Mukesh Kumar, in an ex-parte order, had directed the social networking websites to remove the objectionable content in the form photographs, videos or text which might hurt religious sentiments.