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1. Vienna clash may put caste in global spotlight: Caste fingerprints on the sensational Vienna shootout among Sikhs could result in renewed international pressure for recognition  of caste-based discrimination as a global concern, with many hinting at a revived clamour for treating casteism as racism. The ghost of Durban conference in 2001, where India fought back a determined and coordinated bid by NGOs to recognise casteism as racism, may raise its head again. Only this month, Indian government is said to have rebuffed a fresh offensive from Scandinavian countries underlining their stand on caste-race parity.  The move came in the run-up to two-day review of Durban racism conference last month, taking India by surprise. The Indian stand on the controversial issue has been that while caste system is a form of discrimination, it could not be equated with racism. It has cited its constitutional commitment against casteism as proof of its credentials. But dalit lobbies say that Vienna bloodshed has blown holes in the argument that caste was an Indian phenomenon, firmly showing that it had spilled out on global platform along with the diaspora.  Says Vivek Kumar, who teaches sociology in JNU, "Caste has moved beyond India with Indian diaspora as the latter does not move as individuals but takes its cultural baggage along. There is growing evidence that caste is showing its face in other countries." Dalit groups concede that not much may change on the issue immediately as Indian voice is influential in global fora. But, they add, growing evidence of presence of caste on global platforms, like incidents in Vienna, would put pressure on India. "We will raise the issue through NGOs across the world," said Ashok Bharti, who runs National Conference of Dalit Organisations. The intra-Sikh violence is reported to be a perennial point of conflict as Ravidasi Sikhs have floated their own gurudwaras, attracting hostility from upper caste Sikhs. The hotbed is Europe, Canada and UK. The problem could be serious in future owing to sheer numbers. An estimate puts Sikh population in UK between four to five lakh, of which one-third are said to be dalits. Sources said caste was getting recognition as an issue outside India. There is a strong demand from sections of dalit diaspora in UK, Canada and US that governments enact laws to deal with caste-related crimes as with race-related crimes. These are countries with huge Indian-origin population, including Sikhs. In UK, Caste Watch has been formed to detail cases of caste-related crimes. For India, the pressure from Vienna could be serious in the wake of post-Durban Conference pressure that casteism falls in the category of work and descent and was akin to racism. Massive pressure from NGOs in Durban Conference on Racism in 2001 was resisted by India. However, the UN Council on Human Rights appointed special rapporteurs to report on caste discrimination in India. (Subodh Ghildiyal, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Vienna-clash-may-put-caste-in-global-spotlight/articleshow/4577105.cms accessed on 26 May 2009)

2. Chennai becoming a hotbed of illegal migration: With unemployed youths from interior districts of Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states setting off for overseas destinations in search of greener pastures, often using illegal means, the city is witnessing an increase in the number of immigration offences over the years. Chennai has become one of the most sought after places by illegal migrants, who often use the international airport here as the transit point to overseas destinations, police said. In 2008, a total of 103 cases of immigration offences were registered, an increase of 11 per cent over the 92 cases filed the previous year, City Crime Bureau (CCB) sources said. Apart from people from Tamil Nadu, migrants from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, some northern states and even those from Sri Lanka use Chennai as the transit point to travel abroad illegally, they said. A recent United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) study on Tamil Nadu - 'Smuggling of Migrants from India to Europe and in particular to the UK', revealed agents, who promise youngsters of good jobs abroad, have adopted different methods of operation including forgery of passports and photo substitution in passports. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Chennai-Hotbed-of-illegal-migration-/articleshow/4599860.cms accessed on 31 May 2009)

3. 8 Indian cities among world's 25 riskiest offshoring locations: India may have been hailed for long as the world's top outsourcing destination, but a new study has named as many as eight cities in the country among the world's 25 riskiest places for offshoring, mainly on concerns like terrorism, pollution and geopolitical issues. The national capital region comprising Delhi Gurgaon and Noida has earned the dubious distinction of being the worst offshoring destination within the country, according to a survey in the annual Black Book of Outsourcing.The NCR is followed by Mumbai as the second riskiest offshoring hub within India, while Kolkata has been ranked as least riskiest in the country. The other domestic cities named in the global list of 25 riskiest offshoring destinations include Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Chandigarh.In the overall global list, NCR has been ranked as sixth most riskiest, Mumbai ninth, Chandigarh 15th, Pune 20th, Chennai 21st, Bangalore 23rd, Hyderabad 24th and Kolkata the 25th most riskiest in the world. Meanwhile, no Indian city has managed to find a place on a separate list of 25 safest offshoring destinations. Both the lists have been published in the 2009 edition of the Black Book of Outsourcing, brought out every year by US-based Brown-Wilson Group. The publication is considered as a major independent analysis and advisory research for the outsourcing players and investors globally. The rankings of safest and riskiest places are based on factors like high terrorist or rebel target threats, uncontrolled environment waste and pollution, corruption and organised crime, unstable currency, geopolitical conditions and unsecured networks and technology. In terms of terrorism threats Mumbai has been ranked as the location with the highest risk, followed by Delhi NCR and Jerusalem in Israel. Further, Delhi NCR has been ranked as the riskiest place when it comes to heightening trans-national and geopolitical concerns. Bangalore, another leading outsourcing destination in the country have been ranked as the riskiest place in terms of uncontrolled environmental waste and pollution. Overall, Colombian city Bogota has been ranked as the most riskiest in the world, while Singapore has been named as the safest offshoring destination.  India accounts for the maximum number of cities in the 25 riskiest places, while China and Mexico lead the tally in the 25 safest list with three cities each. There is just one Chinese city, Dalian, among the 25 riskiest places at 12th place. In the safest 25 list, Singapore is followed by Dublin (Ireland), Santiago (Chile), Krakow/Warsaw (Poland) and Toronto/Montreal (Canada) in the top five. The three Chinese cities — Beijing, Shenzen and Shanghai — have been ranked as 9th, 22nd and 24th safest destinations respectively.  In the riskiest 25 list, Bogota is followed by Bangkok in Thailand, Johanesburgh in South Africa, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Kingston in Jamaica among the top five. Besides, according to global management consulting firm AT Kearney, India continues to be the most favoured back- office of the world, but the Middle East and North Africa region is slowly emerging as a promising offshoring destination because of its large, well educated population and proximity to Europe. The survey also stated the global financial crisis has slowed recent offshoring moves, the percentage of companies' staff offshore may very well increase as a result of the crisis.(http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=ca5540ff-a4ef-466d-8b5d-d20ca3a127ba&Headline=8+Indian+cities+among+world's+25+riskiest+offshoring+locations accessed on 31 May 2009)

4. Reservation Rigmarole:  The new Government may like to introduce reservation or affirmative action in the private sector also.  India Inc. has already started working against this.  Human resource professionals in manufacturing, hospitality, engineering, automobile and other labour intensive industries such as textiles, gems and jewellery and units engaged in assemblies have started counting the numbers of scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and candidates from other backward communities employed at lower and clerical levels.  The ideas is to show the government that the private sector has already employed a good number of candidates of SC/ST and backward communities in their units.  (Nivedita Mukherjee, India Today 1 June 2009, p. 13)

5. Hungry for action: It happens only in India.  The country is the second largest producer of food in the world, yet over 300 million people go without two square meals a day.  Ironically, food worth Rs. 58000 crore – by the government's own admission – is wasted every year.  Reason:  the country processes just 2 per cent of the produce from its $182 billion food industry.  According to the Ministry of Food Processing, India produces 90 million tones of milk and 485 million livestock annually, the highest in the world, besides being the second largest producer of fruit and vegetables (150 million tones) and the third largest producer of food grain (204 million tones) and fish (6.3 million tones).  Impressive statistics have meant little because a large part of perishables are wasted as the government has failed to creat a farm-to-fork supply chain.  There is a need for seamless flow from what is sown in the fields to procurement, processing, storage, logistics and transport and retailing.  Post-harvest chain is missing.  India has merely 21.7mt cold storage facilities whereas it needs at least 9-10 mt more of capacity.  To cater the food processing industry growth, $50 billion is needed to invest.  It could generate employment to many people.  The processing level of milik is 35 per cent, meat 21 per cent and poultry products 6 per cent.  Banks do not consider cold storages for lending loans.   (Nivedita Mukherjee, India Today 1 June 2009, p. 40-43)

6. Civil Rights: The civil services in India is changing.  If in 2000, the number of women selected was 59, in 2008, it had risen to 166.  If in 2000, the number of OBC students was 61, it was 236 in 2008, largely because of quotas introduced in 1993.  It was the same story of growth in the number of representatives from Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes, from 25 to 130 and 14 to 61 respectively.  The democratization of aspirations and the accessibility of inspiration is reflected in yet another figure.  While 3.27 lakh students applied for the exam in 2007, only 1.61 lakh took it and only 638 were selected finally.  In 2008, all of 3.18 lakh students applied but 1.67 appeared in the exam and 791 were picked up when the results were declared.  Just compare that with 2002, when 1.16 lakh students appeared in the exam and only 457 finally made it.  Of the 791 recruits to the civil services, 166 are women and 10 of them are in the top 25.  Currently the total number of IAS officers in the country is 4538 and out that 609 are women officers.   (Shyamlal Yadav, India Today 1 June 2009, p. 44)

7. Inhuman cells: In Agra central jail, 140 prisoners are jammed in a single barrack whose capacity is just 65.  Most inmates here are under trials some as young as 20.  Estimates say 500 prisoners suffer from malaria, TB, cancer and mental illness in Agra jail.   In the last five years, according to the Asian Centre for Human Rights report, there have been 7468 prison and custodial deaths in India, an average of four a day.  1662 prisoners died in 2008 alone.  The National Human Rights Commission in the last five years has directed payment of comensation amounting to Rs. 1 crore to kin of victims in 75 cases of custodial deaths.  Custodial deaths should be reported to the commission within 24 hours, postmortems should be filmed and magisterial inquiry ordered into.  But not many States follow this instruction.  With 373271 men and women locked up in 1336 jails with a total capacity of 263911, prisons in India are more overcrowded than ever before.  There are 11835 prisoners in Tihar against the capacity of 6250, says the prison's website.  The All India Jail Reforms Committed, headed by Justice Anand Narain Mulla, made 658 recommendations relating to legislation, prison buildings, living conditions, medical and psychiatric services, security and separation of prisoners into different categories.  But they are yet to be implemented.  The financial inability to secure bail or hire a lawyer leaves many prisoners in limbo.  Many inmates commit suicide to escape daily suffering.   (Syed Nazakat, The Week 31 May 2009, p.18-21)

8. The epic test of 2009, in little twenty20 capsules:  The number of tainted Members of Parliament went from 128 in 2004 to 150 in the 15^th Lok Sabha – 73 of these have serious criminal charges against them.  Twenty seven MPs come from prominent political families.  There are the two mother – son pairs from the Nehru-Gandh (Sonia-Rahul; Maeka-Varun) clan, two father – son pairs (H.D. Deva Gowda-H.D. Kumaraswamy; Mulayam Singh Yadav-Akhilesh Yadav and one father – daughter pair (Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule).  300 MPs are crorepati, a huge leap from 154.  Haryan tops the charts with 10 MPs from the state having assets over Rs. 18 crore.  Although the new Lok Sabha has a higher number of under 40 members (81) compared to the last (77), the average age of the house is higher – at 53.03 years.  Ram Sundar Dass from Hajipur, Bihar is oldest – 88 years old.  Muhammed Hamdulla Sayeed from Lakshadweep is the youngest – 26 years old. The percentage of women MPs in the Lok Sabhas is at its highest now at 10.7.  The 14^th Lok Sabha accounted for 8.7.  In 2004, about 75% of MPs were post graduate and above as compared to 71% in 2009.  (Outlook 1 June 2009, p. 12-13)

9. Just Wet Tears: Finally, the Supreme Court had to intervene.  Acute water shortage across Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,  Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu has forced the apex court to direct the Union Government to come out with a plan for tackling the problem by August.  Water shortage has led to violence as well as panic.  Tourists have begun fleeing Shimla because of water scarcity.  There is water supply only on alternate days.  On May 14, three members of a family in Bhopal were killed in a fight for water.  Half of water dependent industries closed due to water scarcity in the month of March.   (Chandrani Banerjee, Outlook 8 June 2009, p. 18)

10. Indian bureaucracy ranked worst in Asia: Survey: Singapore's civil servants are the most efficient among their Asian peers, a business survey on 12 economies. But they tend to clam up unhelpfully when things go wrong. India's "suffocating bureaucracy" was ranked the least-efficient by the survey, which said working with the country's civil servants was a "slow and painful" process. "They are a power centre in their own right at both the national and state levels, and are extremely resistant to reform that affects them or the way they go about their duties," the report said. Singapore was ranked first for a third time in a poll of 1,274 expatriates working in 12 North and  South Asian nations on the efficiency of bureaucrats in those countries. The poll was last held in 2007. "During normal times, when the system is not stress-tested, it operates very well," Hong Kong-based Political & Economic Risk Consultancy said in a 12-page report of Singapore's bureaucracy. "However, during difficult times - or when mistakes are made that reflect badly on the system - there is a tendency among bureaucrats to circle the wagons in ways that lack transparency and make accountability difficult," the report said. Thailand, despite four years of on-off street protests and a year of dysfunctional government was ranked third. "For all the country's troubles -- or perhaps because of them -- respondents to our survey were impressed with the way Thai civil servants have been carrying out their duties," PERC said. It said state offices associated with corruption presented the most difficulties for Thai citizens and foreigners. The survey ranked Hong Kong second. China, which has been campaigning to fight corruption in its bureaucracy and improve efficiency in the civil service, was ranked 9th in the 2009 poll, two places down from 2007. Ranking by most efficient to least efficient economies: Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, China, Philippines, Indonesia and India. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Indian-bureaucracy-worst-in-Asia-Survey/articleshow/4612918.cms accessed on 3rd June 2009)

11. 76% schools use low-quality grain for mid-day meal, says CAG: The recently released annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General states that around 76 per cent schools in the state use low-quality foodgrain for mid-day meals. It also highlighted several irregularities in the implementation of the scheme. The report, which contained the audit observations of the scheme for 2006-2007, states that the state government did not conduct the baseline survey during 2004-05 to determine the enrollment of children as directed by the Centre. The data relating to attendance and retention of children was also not collected. "Inspection of the foodgrain used revealed that broken grains in excess of permissible limit, foreign matter and damaged grains were used in 243 schools of the 320 inspected," read the report. "Improvement in the nutritional status of the children was not ensured by providing micro-nutrient supplements and de-worming medicines. No periodical health check-up of the children was conducted either."

(http://www.indianexpress.com/news/76-schools-use-lowquality-grain-for-midday-meal-says-cag/469808/ accessed on 3 June 2009)

12.  MMS terror hits trial rooms in Ahmedabad: In a trial room, checking out that new outfit? Be careful. Pictures of you changing in and out of your clothes can become an MMS clip for the porn market. That's exactly what has happened to hundreds of customers in Ahmedabad. undreds of MMS clips were clandestinely shot in trial rooms across shops and showrooms in Ahmedabad. As customers were trying out clothes, they were shot and clips found their way to the porn market. Ahmedabad police has busted the racket and have arrested its kingpin Ashfaq Chhipa. "Preliminary investigations show many of these clips are shot in trial rooms. But we still don't know the exact locations," said investigating officer R G Patel. Police say men in Chhipa's gang, most probably, are the cleaning staff who have easy access to changing rooms. They installed spy cameras, not just in malls, also hotels rooms and restaurants. Video clips were circulated and sold at Rs 50 to Rs 100 per clip. "In stores it's difficult to track spy cams unless a customer suspects something amiss. Even for the police, it's difficult to search every trial rooms," said Anshu Mathur, General Manager, Himalaya Mall. So next time you are trying out that new dress, beware. Scan the room carefully, or else you could be the next victim. (Rohit Bhan, http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/mms_terror_hits_trial_rooms.php accessed on 3 June 2009)

13. Cases pending in SC top 50,000: In a blow to the concept of "speedy justice", the Supreme Court has for the first time in a decade run up a backlog of more than 50,000 cases. The unholy mark was crossed by the end of March 2009 when the number of pending cases stood at 50,163. With computerization of the Supreme Court registry and use of information technology in docket management, pendency of cases in the 1990s was brought down from more than one lakh to a manageable 20,000. But the huge rush of litigants, despite an increased disposal rate, has proved more than a match for the judges, who hear more than 80 cases a day. The pendency has steadily crept northwards since 2006, when it stood at 34,649. In January 2007, it had become 39,780 with the pendency jumping up by more than 5,000 cases. Justice K G Balakrishnan took over as the Chief Justice of India at this time and tried to put in place mechanisms to arrest the trend of spiralling pendency.  Despite an increased disposal rate of cases, the apex court failed to reduce the pendency as it could not cope with the rising number of cases filed every year. The dockets swelled and the pendency by January 2008 was within striking distance of the 50,000-mark, standing at 46,926. By January 2009, pendency rose to 49,819, before finally breaching the 50,000-mark in March. A similar trend was seen at the level of high courts and trial courts. The 21 high courts, working with a strength of 635 judges as against a sanctioned strength of 886, reported a pendency of 38.7 lakh cases as of January 1, 2009, against 37.4 lakh cases on January 1, 2008. Trial courts, having a judge strength of 13,556 against a sanctioned strength of 16,685, were burdened with an additional pendency of nearly 10 lakh cases by January 2009, when the pendency figure was 2.64 crore. It stood at 2.54 crore cases in January 2008. The CJI has been repeatedly requesting the state governments to increase the strength of trial court judges by an additional 10,000 to tackle the huge pendency, but most of them have brushed aside the only practical solution, citing a funds crunch. (Dhananjay Mahapatra, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cases-pending-in-SC-top-50000/articleshow/4585922.cms accessed on 28 May 2009)

14. 119 schools get zero pc result: The SSC result, this year, reflect poor teaching standards in many schools in Gujarat.  Ahmedabad city also had its fair share of zero' schools their number being 12. Besides, 12 schools each in Vadodara and Surat districts recorded zero per cent pass percentage, while 13 schools from Panchamahal district figured in this category. There are 1,236 schools in the state whose result averaged between zero and 30 per cent this year, compared to 968 schools last year. Of those schools with 100 per cent result, Rajkot district topped the list with 36 schools, while Ahmedabad city and Anand district stood second with 31 schools each and Surat came third with 29 schools. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/119-Ahmedabad-schools-get-0-result/articleshow/4618683.cms accessed on 5 June 2009)
15. 25 divorce cases filed every day:  Between January and June 2009, as many as 1,400 couples in the city have decided they cannot live with each other and have filed for divorce in family courts.  A trend is new as the year 2008 saw only 5,000 cases. When the family court was set up in 1984 because divorce cases in civil courts were taking too long, there were 800 pending cases. Today, say family court officials, there are an average 25 cases of matrimonial discord being filed every day. While a mutual consent petition may be resolved in as little as two months, cases are known to drag on for 5-6 years, and more, in some cases. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Bangalore-25-divorce-cases-filed-daily/articleshow/4618574.cms accessed on 5 June 2009)

16.  30 Corporation schools closed down The Chennai Corporation's decision to merge its schools that lack patronage has led to the closure of 30 schools in various localities in the city. The number of schools run by the civic body has come down to 283 after the merger.. A total of 313 schools – 139 primary, 109 middle, 38 high and 27 higher secondary schools – are run by the civic body. Corporation schools in Chintadripet, Thousand Lights, Chamiers Road, and T.Nagar are among those that have been merged with the schools nearby. "The vacant school buildings will be properly used for achieving educational goals," said Mayor M.Subramanian. The number of students in corporation schools had increased in the recent years and now it was 1,37,000, but in some schools the number had been declining, he said. (Aloysius Xavier Lopez, http://www.hindu.com/2009/06/10/stories/2009061057670100.htm accessed on 10 June 2009)

17. Dignity in Cities: The Planning Commission estimates the urban poor at 80 million.  The rural poor are estimated to be 120 million.  Two studies = by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank – had fixed the required minimum daily earning as $1.25 for rural areas and $1.35 in urban areas.  The Planning Commission defines poverty not just by income alone.  It was also noted that place of residence alone does not automatically qualify someone as poor.  Occupation, nature of employment, wheter casual or self-employed, wages, health – all had to be factored in.  The new Government plans to tackle urban poverty by starting Self-Help Groups.  Government would provide health insurance, education subsidy and impart in  specific skills, such as in the use of computer and in the marketing of traditional craft products, skills surrounding which floating populations often bring when they migrate to cities.   (Anuradha Raman, Outlook 15 Jnue 2009, p. 14.)

18. Big firms love being Bangalored: According to research firm Zinnov Management Consulting, out of the 780 MNC R&D centres currently active in India, nearly 50% are based out of Bangalore. Consider the aviation sector. Many big global players like BaE Systems, EADS, Pratt & Whitney, Boeing, Rolls Royce, Honeywell and Spirit AeroSystems are doing some level of R&D in the city. "Bangalore has end-to-end solutions for the aviation industry," Marcel Hungerbuehler, CEO of Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) said at the second day of CII's India Innovation Summit 2009. For Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, over two million man hours of work has been done out of India to create embedded software, as well as software to test the aircraft on the ground. The aircraft maker's new research & technology centre in the city will also do critical research and development work in creating low-cost titanium and aluminium alloys for the construction of various facets of an aircraft, to make it lighter and less expensive. The city has access to the best engineering talent due to the growing number of engineering colleges in the city. This has helped us become a hub for innovation in machine tools, cutting tools, garment and IT industry. With expertise in the core sciences and IISc, our defence industry and related research is also progressing well.  (Shivani Mody, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Big-firms-love-being-Bangalored/articleshow/4656730.cms accessed on 15 June 2009
19. Crime against elderly: Delhi tops list: According to a study by HelpAge India, an organisation working for the welfare of senior citizens, Delhi has left cities like Mumbai and Bangalore far behind when it comes to crime against older people. In Delhi, home to nearly a million senior citizens, crime against elderly people is four times more than in Mumbai and double than that of Bangalore, the NGO claimed quoting data from the police of the three cities. The total cases of crime against elderly registered in Delhi last year, the highest form of crime was hurting a senior (42.2 per cent) followed by murder and robbery which accounted to 35.5 and 13.3 per cent respectively. The woes of seniors seem to be basically sourced from their own children and relatives with as much as 52 per cent of them facing harassment for property. Nearly 50 per cent of perpetrators of such crimes are children and children-in-law, followed by neighbours and others (27 per cent), the survey said. The maximum number of property-related torture cases have been recorded in South Delhi, known for its posh colonies and tony residential areas, while 20.8 per cent of such cases have been seen in central Delhi. The survey found that while one out of eight elderly said "no one cares they exist", about 13 per cent of them feel "trapped" in their own homes. "Abuse of senior citizens often starts at one's own home. But fear of family shame, continuous harassment and dependency on the abuser prevents the issue from going out of the four walls," said Kapil Kaul of HelpAge India. He said such abuse also comes in various forms -- physical, emotional psychological and financial.  (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Crime-against-elderly-Delhi-tops-list/articleshow/4661239.cms accessed on 16 June 2009)
20. Best cities to work, play and live: The highest number of seats for MBA and Engineering per capita are in Noida.  But it also has the one of worst literacy rates.  Respondents ranked Vadodara highest in the quality of schools while Delhi schools fare poorly.  Patna is ranked at number 4 for having amongst the lowest crime against woman, but then again, in terms of general safety of woman it is ranked at number 22, implying that most crimes are not reported in the city.  Chandigarh's citizens are the wealthiest in India, with the per capita income of Rs. 141863 for urban households, Mumbai residents are next at Rs. 125749 per capita; Ahmedabad and Surat have higher per capita incomes than Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad.  Among the bigger cities, Hyderabad ranks the lowest in the per capita income at number 15.  The boom in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad has meant that few can afford to buy a house amidst souring real estate prices.  The three cities were at the bottom of heap for cities with the most owned houses.  Jaipur, Howrah and Noida top the category of cities with most owned houses.  Gurgaon, Noida and Mumbai has the least affordable rentals.  Nasik, Nagpur and Ahmedabad have higher per capita availability of malls than either Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore.  Gurgaon and Noida has the highest per capita availability of restaurants beating Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai which are next in the category.  Top cities in India: 1. Gurgaon, 2. Chanidgarh, 3. Chennai, 4. Hyderabad, 5. Mumbai, 6. Noida, 7. Bangalore, 8. Pune, 9. Surat, 10. Ahmedabad, 11. Vadodara, 12. Coimbatore, 13. Delhi, 14. Nasik, 15. Faridabad, 16. Kolkata, 17. Nagpur, 18. Vishakapatnam, 19. Cochin, 20. Jamshedpur, 21. Jaipur, 22. Indore, 23. Thane, 24. Lucknow, 25. Ludhiana, 26. Guwhati, 27. Howrah, 28. Ghaziabad, 29. Patna and 30. Kanpur  (Business Today 24 June 2009, p.40-61)

21. Two judges arrested in dowry case, sent to judicial custody: A father-son duo, both judges in Andhra Pradesh, was arrested and remanded to judicial custody by a local court in connection with  a dowry harassment case. T Kiran Kumar, a junior civil judge at Anantapur and his father T Narasimha Rao, a district judge at Mahaboobnagar were arrested on charges of dowry harassment levelled by T Shashikala, wife of Kiran Kumar. The duo, along with the mother of Kiran Kumar, was arrested  and produced before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Nampally criminal court which remanded them to 14 days' judicial custody. Shashikala, who was married to Kiran Kumar in 2005, had lodged a complaint of dowry harassment at the women police station in Central Crime Station (CCS) following which Kiran Kumar was placed under suspension, police said. In her complaint, she charged that her husband and in-laws allegedly began harassing her for additional dowry two years after marriage.  (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Two-judges-arrested-in-dowry-case/articleshow/4680767.cms accessed on 20 June 2009)

22.  Phone no. promises help against ragging in 15 minutes:  Students can call up a toll-free phone number, 1800-180-5522, to get help against ragging in any educational institute, the government announced, The Human Resource Development announced the helpline would function round the clock and students may also send e-mails to helpline@antiragging.net for support from the authorities and the police. "The helpline will operate round-the-clock and function as a watchdog. Once a student gives a call and registers a complaint, the process of giving him assistance will start within 15 minutes," said HRD Minister Kapil Sibal after launching the helpline in New Delhi. "(Educational) institutions will have their own anti-ragging committees. Once the information about an incident of ragging is received, it will be simultaneously relayed to the head of the institution, warden or officer of the hostel, district authorities including the Superintendent of Police for action," Sibal said. The Education Consultancy India Ltd (Decal) and BSNL will operate the helpline on behalf of University Grants Commission (UGC). The UGC will create a database compiling information provided by students in their affidavits during admission. The information will be stored in an IT-enabled web portal.

(http://ibnlive.in.com/news/phone-no-promises-help-against-ragging-in-15-minutes/95292-3.html accessed on 20 June 2009)

23. HIV+ woman paraded in Jamnagar govt hospital: An HIV positive woman was branded as one at a government hospital in Jamnagar on Saturday and paraded through the wards to warn other patients about her status.  Nurses at the Guru Govind Singh Hospital stuck a label that read 'HIV Serum positive' on her forehead. Labels are pasted on foreheads of dead bodies after post-mortem examination. For the woman in her mid-20s, who is a resident of Jamnagar, the trauma came immediately after the shock of getting to know that she is HIV positive and then going through an abortion so that her baby is not born with the deadly virus. The woman had come to the gynaecology department for a check-up. Tests confirmed that she was HIV positive and doctors  advised her to terminate the pregnancy, which was done. She met the gynaecology department head Dr Nalini Anand. After going through her reports, the doctor told her to stay away from other patients and told the nurses about her health condition. The nurses pasted the label on her forehead and took her around the hospital campus. It was mid-way through the parade that volunteers of 'Jamnagar District Network of People Living With HIV' noticed her. They immediately took up the matter with hospital superintendent Dr Arun Vyas. Expressing shock over the incident, health minister Jay Narayan Vyas told TOI that he had instituted an inquiry and asked two doctors and a nurse to proceed on leave till completion of the inquiry. TOI has learnt that the two doctors under scrutiny are Nalini Anand and Dipti Joshi and the nurse is Prafula Parmar. The NGO took the victim out of the hospital and she is at present with her husband, who is also HIV positive. "She is traumatised and told us she does not want to live any more now that everyone knows the truth," said the NGO's head Preeti Chavda. (Kulsum Yusuf, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/HIV-woman-paraded-in-hospital/articleshow/4681849.cms accessed on 21 June 2009)

24. Every 2nd student in India enrols in pvt college: Despite higher education being vital to a rapidly developing country like India, the government's share in higher education — in terms of number of institutes and student enrollment — has dwindled over time. Simultaneously, academics note, the stake of profit-seeking politicians in the higher education business has risen. In 2001, when private unaided institutes made up 42.6% of all higher education institutes, 32.89% of Indian students studied in them. By 2006, the share of private institutes went up to 63.21% and their student share went up to 51.53%. In other words, every second student in India signed up with a private institute. Globally too, the private sector has seen opportunities in higher education, but there have been few takers in comparison to India. For instance, although there are 39.1% private higher education institutes in China, merely 8.9% students study in them. In the US, private universities constitute 59.4% of higher education institutes, but only 23.2% of American students pursue their education in them. "It does signify that higher education in these countries is predominantly a public service," noted Ved Prakash, vice chancellor of the National University of Education Planning and Administration (NUEPA). Academics in India have researched on how public spending by the Union and provincial governments has fallen. In his work, Prakash notes that between 2002 and 2006, deemed universities — or 'doomed universities' as one academic waggishly described them — grew by a whopping 96%. In the same time span, central and state universities grew by a modest 11% and 22% respectively. This unabated growth without any quality check has forced academics from Harvard University to scrutinize this sector and note, "The rapid expansion of capitation fees colleges came about as a result not of great middle-class pressure or demand, but rather the entrepreneurial activities of politicians."  Even the Supreme Court recently expressed its concern about the quality of education in private institutes and the corruption that is rampant there. Within private higher education, the professional streams have seen the maximum growth. Private engineering colleges, which accounted for just 15% of seats in 1960, now account for over 85% according to data from the All-India Council for Technical Education, the regulatory body for professional technical education. From a tiny base in 1970, medical colleges in the private sector have grown by an eye-popping 900%. The private sector now accounts for over 45% of medical colleges in the country. In 2006, Sanat Kaul in his paper 'Higher education in India: Seizing the opportunity' highlighted instances of a single politician running more than 100 educational institutes. "There are rampant cases of malpractice in the form of illegal charges for allocating seats from the management quota. Income tax raids have revealed that seats are sold for cash, and a medical seat can fetch as much as Rs 25 lakh. The black money involved runs into thousands of millions of rupees," Kaul observes in his study funded by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations. But none of this has elicited any action from the government. And naturally so. In their 2004 paper, 'Indian higher education reform: From half-baked socialism to half-baked capitalism', Devesh Kapur and Pratap Bhanu Mehta, both fellows of Harvard College, argued that politicians who had been sugar and liquor barons had turned to higher education as an industry because of its high returns. "Even as political parties rail against de jure privatization, de facto privatization continues unabated," they noted. Kapur and Mehta acknowledged that while there was no statistical data, "there is little doubt that a majority of private institutions have been supported or made possible by the direct involvement of politicians." (Hemali Chhapia, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Every-2nd-student-in-India-enrols-in-private-college/articleshow/4682368.cms accessed on 21 June 2009)

25. 'Txt ur cop' campaign in city rings in a good response: Tapping technology to benefit both them and the public, the city police on Monday introduced a dedicated mobile number (95000 99100) to receive grievances in the form of text messages. Till 3pm, at least 55 people had utilised the facility, texting grievances varying from traffic troubles to public nuisance. And judging from the response on the first day, the facility is only likely to gain popularity among the general public as it spares the complainants the trouble of going to a police station and dealing with the staff there. The complainants promptly got automated replies acknowledging their messages and a complaint registration number, which they can use to check the status of their complaint. Special software installed on the server at the commissioner's office receives the messages and then forwards them. Contact numbers of some senior officers are also included in the database, so that they know about the kind of grievances and are able to keep track of the follow-up action. (A Selvaraj, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Chennai/Txt-ur-cop-campaign-in-city-rings-in-a-good-response/articleshow/4689862.cms accessed on 23 June 2009.)

26. Madhya Pradesh: Epicentre of hunger: Sixty per cent of children under 5 in Madhya Pradesh are malnourished. A medical emergency is building up in districts like Khargone, Jhabua and Khandwa with several children dying due to lack of food.  Even nutrition rehabilitation centres that have been put up are failing to make a difference. 6 million children under 5 are malnourished in MP; 1.3 million children are severely malnourished  and 1 million are moderately malnourished. In Wow village, Jhabua district - at 9 months, Jhalu survives only on his mother's milk. Mother of 8 and malnourished herself, Getu is able to feed him just twice or thrice a day. The rest of the family lives just as frugally, resulting in acute malnutrition. It's the story of every Adivasi and Dalit family in Jhabua, Khargone and Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh. At least three children have died of malnutrition in the last few weeks and things are only getting worse. Crop has failed this year, there is no grain left from last year and once the monsoon arrives, there will be no work. In Bilidoj village, Madi's 1 year-old is severely underweight. An empty kitchen and 4 other children, she can't go to the nutrition rehabilitation centre or NRC for medical help. NRCs, meant for severely malnourished children, are failing to make a difference. There are too many obstacles on the ground. At this centre, the specially made milk powder for malnourished children has run out. The staff is forced to serve local dairy milk, a breach of WHO rules. Many children return over and over again, because even though they improve here, once they go back, lack of food pushes them back to the brink. Not every vulnerable child reaches a NRC because Anganwadi workers are unable to identify them properly. At Domkheda village, out of 100 children, only 9 have reached the Anganwadi. The worker assures us all children are fine.  But the weighing scale doesn't work, nor are births registered, making it impossible to know the status of each child. There is growing consensus that the government must reach children closer home. Communities need to be involved to ensure food security. July to September are the hardest months. The real problem will begin once the rains arrive. With no food and no work, severely malnourished children are likely to fall ill with diarrhoea and respiratory diseases. Last year, 62 children died of malnutrition in Khandwa. This year, a medical emergency is impending. Unless the government intervenes, many lives could be lost to hunger. (Mahuya Chaudhury, http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/madhya_pradesh_epicentre_of_hunger.php accessed on 23 June 2009)

27. India has most number of domestic terror groups: The CPI (Maoist) swells the list of indigenous terror groups operating on our soil to 27, making India home to the largest number of domestic terrorist organisations in the world. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) named the CPI (Maoist) as 34th terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act; seven of these are transnational terror groups. CPI (Maoist) joined ranks with Ulfa and SIMI and lesser known entities such as Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council of Meghalaya, Kanglei Yaol Kanba Lup of Manipur and Akhil Bharat Nepali Ekta Samaj, which though virtually unheard of are considered deadly enough by the government to be designated as terrorist organisations. Of the seven transnational terror groups, only two —al-Qaida and LTTE — are truly global names. The other five are Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Harkatul Mujahideen, Al Badr, Jamat-ul-Mujahid and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) which are all Pakistan based terror outfits fighting Indian security forces in Kashmir. Since Independence we have seen the rise of a new terrorist movement in every decade, whether it be the Naxals, militants in Punjab, terrorists in the North East or in J&K. It is failure of governance that has led to this situation.  Going by number of organisations that other countries currently designate as terrorist, they too feel threatened by a number of groups. But none of them have as many home grown extremist groups as India does. The list runs into more than 40 in both US and Canada but includes only international names such as Hezbollah, Hamas, FARC, Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional, Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) etc — none of which operate directly on their soil. Amongst developed countries, only UK has a significant number of terror groups breeding close to home in form of nine Irish militias such as the Ulster Freedom Fighters and the Irish Republican Army. "India is a large country with such great diversity and so many grievances. This complexity leads to growth of radicals who survive on extremist ideology and terror. Developed countries have not had to deal with problems like ours that breed extremism," said intelligence affairs expert B Raman. (Kartikeya, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India-has-most-number-of-domestic-terror-groups/articleshow/4694618.cms accessed on 24 June 2009.)
28. 30% Mumbaikars earn less than Rs592 a month: A recent survey conducted by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), and commissioned by the central government, reveals that the urban poor comprises close to 30% of the city's population. Over 10 lakh city families -- roughly 40 lakh people -- earn less than Rs591.75 per person per month, and do without basic urban facilities like television sets, telephones, in-built toilets. These families have claimed to be below the poverty line (BPL) in the door-to-door survey carried out by the BMC in conjunction with authorities from the Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA). The objective of the survey was to identify BPL families, in a bid to pass on to them the benefits of the central government-proposed Suvarna Jayanti Urban Employment Policy. Of the 16.07 lakh families surveyed in slum areas, tribal belts, gaothans, koliwadas and slum rehabilitation buildings, 10.78 lakh families claimed to be BPL. For a family to be classified as BPL, its per-capita monthly income has to be less than Rs591.75. A senior civic official said the questionnaire listed several socio-economic parameters, including income profile, living and education standards, assets and literacy levels. The findings suggest that nearly 30% of Mumbai's population comprises people in the BPL category. In fact, the initial survey reported over 12.02 lakh families. Corrections were made after several cases of repetition were revealed. DMA authorities told DNA they had noticed discrepancies in the filled-out 50,000-odd forms. Yogesh Mahangade, assistant municipal commissioner, planning, said thecorrected lists for almost all municipal wards, except the S municipal ward,had been received. "We are incorporating the changes. The list will be sooncirculated." Under the Suvarna Jayanti Urban Employment Policy, the central government has proposed to provide training, recruitment and employment opportunities for families in the BPL category. Dilip Paygude, deputy director, DMA, said, "After the survey results are circulated among ward committee members, objections regarding the list will be invited. The final list will then be forwarded to the central government." After a similar exercise carried out in 1997-98, 27,331 families were declared as BPL. Officials however clarified that less number of families were surveyed at the time. Besides, the monthly income criterion to qualify as BPL was lower, at Rs497 per person per family. A family's monthly income must be less than Rs 591.75 per capita (Sandeep Ashar, http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_30pct-mumbaikars-earn-less-than-rs592-a-month_1267950 accessed on 24 June 2009)
29. State removes income bar on free treatment: Now, government hospitals will offer free treatment to everyone. Tamil Nadu Health Minister M R K Panneerselvam announced that the department had done away with the income ceiling for treatment at government hospitals. Stating this while presenting the department's demands in the Assembly, he said that until now, government hospitals in the State provided free treatment only to those whose monthly income was less than Rs 1,999. But from now on, government hospitals would provide free treatment to all. Health Secretary V K Subburaj said, "We realised that in many cases, people resorted to forging income certificates to avail of the free treatment, so we decided to remove the income ceiling.'' (http://expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=State+removes+income+bar+on+free+treatment&artid=APswdwjDY3E=&SectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&MainSectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&SEO=Health+Minister+M+R+K+Panneerselvam&SectionName=rSY|6QYp3kQ= accessed on 27 June 2009)

30. City prepares for gay pride march: For the first time, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Chennai city are making their voice heard by celebrating LGBT Pride Month, with a host of events and possibly even a Pride March on June 28. Across the world, June is celebrated as Pride Month to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall riots of 1969, when members of the LGBT community in New York fought against police harassment. The riots marked the start of the gay rights movement in the US and the rest of the world. In India, gay pride celebrations and marches have been held in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata in the past, but for Chennai, it will be a first. Police permission is being sought to have a march, that aims to create public dialogue on gender and sexuality in Chennai. Incidentally, Chennai Pride 2009 has already kicked off with events ranging from bharatanatyam performances and book exhibitions to panel discussions. (Priya M Menon, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Chennai-prepares-for-gay-pride-march/articleshow/4642420.cms accessed on 11 June 2009)
31. Free breakfast for school kids in Thiruvananthapuram: The city corporation here has launched a free breakfast scheme for school children up to the eighth standard in what is billed as the first such programme in the country. The scheme called 'Unarvu" (awakening), which got underway yesterday, covered around 25,000 children studying in government schools and 15 aided schools in the coastal stretch of the state capital. The project is mainly financed by the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation with the support of the Parent-Teachers Association of the respective schools. As a beginning, most of the schools served 'idlis' and 'sambar,' whereas the inaugural fare in some schools included chapathis', vegetable curry and 'vada'. "The scheme was launched as we are keen that no child should fail to attend schools because of hunger. A survey some time back found that there are lot of students who find it difficult to concentrate on lessons in classes as they come to schools without proper breakfast," City Mayor C Jayan Babu said.
    To start with, the Corporation had set apart Rs 50 lakh for the scheme. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Free-breakfast-scheme-for-school-kids/articleshow/4641115.cms accessed on 11 June 2009)