IS IT a reflection of the society we live in, or a sign of the times? In the capital alone, on an average, at least 6,000 children and youngsters belonging to both lower and upper economic strata take recourse to psychiatric help every month. In addition, the number of children going in for counseling in […]
Two novels written by dalit writers that chronicled their struggles in the face of all odds are taking Maharashtra by storm. Ketan N Tanna meets the heirs of this legacy What does one say to a father who insists that his son and daughters address him as baap (‘father’ in Hindi) and not vadil (the […]
· The World Bank regularly consults him for his expertise on the cores of pavement and slum dwellers in India, as does the Maharashtra Government and other state governments.· The National Slum Dwellers federation (NSDF) which he heads has 2, 30,000 slum dweller families as its members. · The Slum dwellers and pavement dwellers whom […]
· Baron (Distributors for Aiwa) humbly contributes Rs100 to the families of our fallen patriots on every Aiwa hi-fi music system and Colour TV sold.· For every minute you talk on Max touch tomorrow, a Rupee will go out to the fund that will help the families of the soldiers we lost. · Acme Clothing […]
PUNES CITIZENS ARE PROTESTING ON THE STREETS, KETAN TANNA EXPLAINS WHY IT IS Wednesday afternoon, and very lot. Barefooted Prashant Waghmare, 34, walks agonizingly on the hot, tarred road, towards a union leader who is addressing a demonstration outside the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in protest against the abrupt transfer of IAS officer Arun Bhatia […]
PUNE: Darkness may be their fate. Blindness, however, did not prove to be an impediment for 80 Pune-based children who pitched in their creative bit by staging a play “Freedom Saga” celebrating 50 years of Indian Independence. Swatantrachi Yashogatha (freedom saga) staged here last week by children of the Pune Andhshala (Pune blind home) recounted […]
PUNE, Aug.17. “It was a strange sight at taihoku airport near Taiwan on the morning of Aug.18, 1945. Hot steam emanated from the body of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Clad in tight woolen riding breeches, tight belt, his body was blistered by hot oil from the plane that had crashed minutes ago. Strewn around Netaji […]
PUNE: “Kasturba Gandhi’s health became worse. We sent for oxygen. As her condition worsened, nursing became more and more taxing. She could not breathe without oxygen. She expired exactly at 7.35 pm. On February 22, 1944 with her head on Mahatma Gandhi’s lap, Devadasbhai, her son, put his head on her breast and calling out […]
Mumbai, June 22: Is life fair? Why do many good people suffer due to someone else’s fault? More to the point, what should be done about a person who has no hope for the future and in all probability will wither away like a vegetable for no fault of hers? For the past 23 years, […]
Humsafar reaches out to Mumbai gays through voice mail MUMBAI, March 21 with tears rolling down his cheeks, Sagar Oberoi, a 25 – year – old computer software professional, says, “I feel so unwanted and helpless. It is as if the entire world has ganged up against me. Sometimes I feel it would be better […]
It is late in the evening as the sunsets outside Sant Yadavbaba Temple in the small dusty village of Ralegaon Siddhi, 30 kilometers from Ahmednagar city in south Maharashtra. “I am not going to give up my fight. Let Bal Thackeray come here to meet me or Mahohar Joshi come here to meet me. It […]
For those at Sanjivini ‘people matter’. That is why this voluntary organization has been helping those in need since 1976. What do you do when faced with an emotional problem? When you feel depressed, worried, confused or trapped? What do you do when life becomes unbearable? When you feel empty and find yourself in a […]
Founded after the Indo-Pak war in 1971 the War windows Association is doing a laudatory job helping the windows of those who die protecting the frontiers of our country On January 26, a number of medals like the Paramvir Chakra and the Visisth Seva Chakra are awarded to gallant men of our armed forces. Many […]
It is time to consider all the implications legal, ethical and emotional of voluntary euthanasia A standing joke has it that once an American politician was asked what he had against euthanasia. The politician replied, “Nothing, I don’t have anything against youth anywhere.” However, euthanasia, or good death, is no laughing matter. It raises questions […]
Mumbai: In the new year, Mumbai police will have more than mere words for motivation to take care of their health and cut back flab. Under an incentive scheme to be implemented by the end of December 2005, constables will earn Rs 400 every month if they meet certain fitness standards. Officers could make as […]
Two weeks ago the United States had a Banned Books Week. Ketan Tanna looks back at India’s long and glorious tradition of banning anything perceived to hurt religious, patriotic and other sentiments DH Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover was published in Italy in 1928 and in Paris the following year. However, it was banned in the UK until […]
This may sound like a poor joke, but Ketan Tanna did stumble upon some MPs who are hones An honest member of Parliament, to a common man, would seem like an amusing oxymoron. MPs have always been gawked at for their swagger, upwardly mobile living standards and, of course, sprawling bungalows in Lutyen’s Delhi. Strangely though, there […]
EVERYDAY ALMOST 50,000 people make a beeline to get a glimpse of Jain Muni Shree Sahanjunili. Politicians like Atal Behari Vajpayee, Shankarrao Chevan, Najma heptullah, Ashok Singhal, Rajmata Scindia and a host of Maharashtra statesmen have visited him. Top police officials too pay their obeisance everyday. Any why not? Come Sunday and the Jain Muni […]
THERE HAS been a slow but steady rise in the cases of teenager’s girls opting for Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP). While it is difficult to compute the exact number, on an average more than 1,500 teenage girls are going in for abortion every month in Delhi alone. According to the figures available, more than […]
MR VISHWANATH Pratap Singh could not believe his ears. “Really? No, I was not aware that my paintings have been sold. How much? Rs 90,000? How do I feel? Kya bataoon (What should I say?). I was living the life of a parasite. Bap dadaon ki jameen jaidad per jee kha raha tha (I was […]
LEADING FILM actress Manisha Koirala was murdered on Monday. At least that is what Bombayites believed for the greater part of the day after an afternoon paper ran a story on its front page giving sketchy details of the alleged incident. Even as thousands of Bombayites read with horror that the beautiful actress had been […]
“WHERE ARE the millions that I am said to have stashed away? Where is the exquisite jewellery that I am said to possess? And look there, they are my Rembrandts,” says Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat , angrily pointing to two nondescript paintings on one of the walls of his single-bedroom home in Colaba here. Anger and […]
Is it Right-wing fanaticism? If it is not, what does one make out of the fact that there are lusty slogans of Vande Mataram and an all pervading anti-Mahatma Gandhi feeling among the audience after each show of a Marathi play called “Me Nathuram Godse Boltoy” (I, Nathuram Godse am speaking), a play that has […]
Forget IT for a while. Spare a thought for the newest Indian trans-nationals. But they aren’t listed on the stock exchange yet. Just chew on their management style: the planning is done in Karachi, ‘skilled’ manpower contracted from amchi Mumbai, and the job is executed in distant Bangkok. The Indian underworld of Mumbai origin is […]
Media Management United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 7_8_July 2003_UVERP_Workshop_Press_cutting Reports of Earthquake Rehabilitation Project by Tata Group (UNDP) In Gujarat Earthquake Reconstruction Programme Report 7-8 UNVERP 2003 Workshop Report
Interview with Dilip Mehta , CEO, Rosy Blue Dilip Mehta, CEO of Rosy Blue, spoke with Ketan Tanna of Rapaport News in Mumbai, India, for the “Mines To Market” conference. Excerpts from the interview follow: On rising rough prices that the polished market does not keep pace with. It is a challenge. The market has […]
FORMER CHINESE premier and now a senior leader Li Peng could not believe his eyes. In front of him was a hand-written 1945 citation by the legendary Mao Tse Tung praising late Indian doctor Dwarkanath Kotnis for his yeomen service to Chinese soldiers during the Sino-Japanese war. “He said it is up to the new […]
THE MAHARASHTRA government’s decision to convert Mumbai’s Tarapore Aquarium into an underwater world has annoyed both environmentalists and animal rights’ activists. The government had signed a joint venture with a Singapore based company, ATD, on December 2, to set up the project. Environmentalists argue that the lives of more than 100 fishes in the aquarium […]
PUNE, June 4, Did Mahatma Gandhi deserve to be “murdered “as he was out to ruin the nation” at the cost if his “baby” (Pakistan)? Equally, were the assassination of Indira Gandhi and her son, Rajiv Gandhi who was blown in to pieces, justified? Preposterous as the questions may sound many, it is evident that […]
MUMBAI, Sept.12: “I will not contribute five paisa, leave alone five lakh. What do they mean by issuing circular asking Ex-Chief Ministers to contribute Rs 5 lakh to the party fund? There should be some logic, some mechanism. I am not a jadugar (magician) to produce rs 5 lakh in one month,” says former Maharashtra […]
Did India really lose against Sri Lanka in Calcutta on Saturday? After all, the match was abandoned when 15 overs were yet to be bowled, notwithstanding Clive Lloyd’s decision to give Sri Lankans a walkover. One may find this argument inane but for the fact that a fair number of punters in Mumbai who had […]
Not many realize that encounter killings are the natural way of dispensing justice to hardened criminals who, if caught, invariably seek or jump bail. Most gangsters owe their allegiance to either Dawood Ibrahim or Arun Gawli, says Ketan Tanna At the height of terrorism in Punjab Mr. Julio Riberio, as the State’s Director-General of Police, […]
It is strange how while in the West the leaders are kicked out of public life at a whiff of a scandal, in India no one seems to bother about them at all. Having another woman is one’s life is accepted here without much ado. Is it because we have become cynical and uncaring? Or […]
Parliament is divided over the BJP’s demand that Vande Mataram be played at the beginning of each session. It is a controversy that would have cheered the hearts of the country’s erstwhile British rulers. Once a powerful weapon against colonial exploitation, the national song, Vande Mataram (salutation to the mother), has ironically begun to divide […]
Doordarshan gears up to face the challenge from foreign channels If Mandi House wasn’t so short on wit, its mandarins could well say that reports of the imminent death of Doordarshan (DD) have been greatly exaggerated. And certainly, such reports have done the rounds with unfailing regularity through the better part of this year. Alarms […]
The BJP is rushing to revise Indian history for school children A story is being made. Or rather, we should say remade, for the textbooks in the four BJP-ruled states. Himachal Pradesh, Madhya, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The RSS game plan of rewriting the of India, up to the present times is taking shape. Despite […]
Whoever remembers the Prasar Bharati Bill? Does anyone remember the Prasar Bharati Bill? The highly publicized Bill, Which was meant to free Doordarshan of government control and make it an autonomous corporation, has now been put in gold storage, at least for the time being. Apparently, the information and broadcasting ministry had proposed some amendments […]
Politics, ambition and corruption are corroding the iron frame of the Indian civil service Victimisation. Politics and corruption. The old enemies of the bureaucracy have returned. And going by the evidence of the last two years to an unusual extent. More than any time before, the civil service that Sardar Patel endearingly described as the […]
‘India should take up Baha’is’ concerns with Iran’ 9 Jun 2008, 0057 hrs IST The five and half million-strong Baha’i community across the world is extremely disturbed over the arrest of their top leadership in Iran. Bani Dugal, principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations, spoke to Ketan Tanna: Q: Why […]
Vraj Patel, a central excise and customs inspector, runs a library for students who want to appear for competitive examinations but do not have adequate resources By Ketan Tanna/TNN Like thousands all over the country, Vraj Patel wanted to join the Indian Administrative Service. And, like thousands (minus a few dozen every year), he […]
BRAVEHEART: Nirbhay enjoys a game of cards with his mother Kirti Someshwar on the eve of Child Cancer Day Ketan Tanna | TNN Mumbai: Two years ago, Kirti Someshwar, a middle-class Gujarati housewife from Dombivli, was stunned when doctors said that her nineyear-old son Nirbhay had abdomen cancer. “What should we do, we asked […]
This retired BARC scientist spends time with those needing medical help Ketan Tanna I TNN Mumbai: In 1988, Vaman Kadam became the first living liver donor in Mumbai. He donated a portion of his liver to his ailing daughter Pallavi, whose lifespan increased by four years with the transplant. After she died, the […]
A year and a half ago, an eightyear-old speech and hearing impaired girl, Smita was raped in Mumbai. She was taken to Nair Hospital bruised and bleeding. The girl was raped a day earlier and treated at a small civic hospital. The doctors and the police later decided to transfer her case to Nair Hospital, […]
Techie case: State govt, policemen get MSHRC notice Ketan Tanna | TNN Mumbai: Taking suo motu cognisance of a report in the The Times of India on how Bangalore IT professional K Lakshmana was jailed for 50 days on false charges of defaming Shivaji, the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) has issued […]
Mumbai: The Pune cyber police have squarely blamed Bharti Airtel for the ordeal undergone by K Lakshmana Kailash, the Bangalore HCL employee who was arrested in September 2007 for allegedly defaming Shivaji on a website. Kailash, who spent 50 days in jail, was arrested on the basis of a wrong computer address provided by Bharti. […]
On August 31, Lakshmana Kailash K was picked up from his Bangalore residence by Pune policemen and put in Yerawada jail. According to the officials, Lakshmana had uploaded an insulting picture of Chhatrapati Shivaji on a networking site. On October 20, after spending 50 days with 200 undertrials at Yerawada jail, Lakshmana was released. Bharti […]
The two-para news item dryly said that a young IT professional, who had been mistakenly picked up, had been released after 50 days behind bars Ketan Tanna | TNN Mumbai: The case of Bangalore-based techie Lakshmana Kailash K, who spent 50 days in jail because of the twin bungling of Bharti Airtel and the […]
Techie recounts the trauma, social disgrace Mumbai: Lakshmana Kailash K, the techie who had to undergo the horror of Yerwada jail for no crime of his, says that Bharti Airtel’s CEO in Bangalore, Prem Pradeep, did meet him once after the case was in the news. Pradeep insisted that the police were to blame; however, […]
Cites His Ordeal After Being Wrongly Jailed For Net Crime Ketan Tanna | TNN The Bangalore-based software engineer Lakshmana Kailash K, who was wrongly jailed for 50 days last year by the cyber cell of the Pune police, has demanded Rs 20 crore in damages and slapped a legal notice on the various […]
Wrongly Accused Of Defaming Shivaji On Net Ketan Tanna | TNN Mumbai: In the early hours of the morning of August 31, Lakshmana Kailash K was asleep in his home in Bangalore. He was woken up by eight policemen from Pune who came knocking on his door and waved the Information Technology Act, 2000, in […]