[Assam] News from ToI
When I saw the headline, I thought: Oh No, here we go again,Assam :-)! cm Illegal arms factories' order books full [ 27 Feb, 2007 0320hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ] RSS Feeds| SMS NEWS to for latest updates KANPUR: Even as the Election Commission has directed the state government to seize all the licensed weapons in the wake of the ensuing assembly polls but no one seems to be bothered about busting the illegal arms factories thriving across the state. Cocking a snook at the administrative machinery, a rough estimate based on the inputs from the local intelligence units suggests that more than 1,000 illegal arms manufacturers are active in the state. And these manufacturers of illegal arms (katta) were existing in most parts of the state with Central and the eastern UP having a slight edge over the rest of the regions. The existence of these illegal arms manufacturers was a major threat to the fragile law and order situation in the state where assembly polls were scheduled in the months of April and May. A visit to a few such factories suggested that ever since poll dates have been declared in the state, the supply orders for the illegal arms has suddenly increased and most of the manufacturers are working overnight to meet the deadlines. We have been asked to delivers the arms latest by February end, said Ram Narain (name changed), an illegal arms manufacturer active in the Katri area of Kanpur. The arms manufacturers informed that besides professional criminals, their customers included political workers and student leaders. Even policemen come knocking their doors on a few occasions. Policemen take defunct arms from us and show them during the fake encounters, he added. The cost of the illegal arms varies from Rs 500 to Rs 10,000 and is sold through a group of middlemen involved in this illegal trade. The 12-bore katta is the cheapest and can be purchased for Rs 500 but the revolvers and rifles cost more than Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000, respectively, informed one of the middlemen. The same middleman had allowed the TOI photographer access a few illegal arms factories functional in the Ganga Katri area of Kanpur. Majority of our clients mainly during the polls include student leaders and we have a regular network with them as how and where to deliver the arms, he added. Locals informed that the Katri area of Kanpur-Unnao districts was the most notorious in making of the illegal arms as almost every third family was involved in this unethical practice. As Katri area has no road connectivity and one can reach there only by boat, police rarely try to tighten the noose around the families involved in the business. Besides, the CTC-Colony in Kalyanpur on Kanpur outskirts, a Habura Basti in Naubasta, Awas Vikas Colony are a few other localities in the district known for the illegal arms factories. The arms manufactured at Panahi village in Fatehpur district and Maurava in Unnao district are renowned for the best finish and are costliest in the region. The manufacturers also informed that they use steering wheels mainly of trucks and jeeps to make the gun barrels and equipment needed for the manufacturing are a LPG cylinder, stove, wielding machine, screw-drivers etc. IG-Kanpur zone, Rizwan Ahmad, however, says that a large number of the illegal arms manufacturers had already been arrested and extensive campaigns were being launched to nab the remaining few. ___ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
[Assam] News from ToI
Title: News from ToI More Indians hungry now than in 1990s http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2021594.cms Highlighting mine. cm NEW DELHI: Falling agricultural wages, increasing landlessness and rising food prices have severely undermined the right to food in rural India with foodgrain availability falling to 152 kg per capita, 23 kg less than in the 1990s. Over half of India's women and children are suffering from severe malnutrition and chronic undernourishment. Over 47 percent children are underweight and 46 percent stunted in their growth figures higher than most countries in poverty stricken sub-Saharan Africa. The poorest 30 percent of households eat less than 1700 kilocalories per day per person, well below the international minimum standard of 2100 kilocalories per day, even if they spend 70 percent of their income on food. These are among the findings of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Jean Ziegler, who presented his report on Extent of Chronic Hunger and Malnutrition in India before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Friday. Ziegler's report was based on his visit to India from August 20 to September 2, 2005,motivated by the fact that India has the largest number of undernourished people in the world and one of the highest levels of child malnutrition. The report, which reviews the situation of hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity in India and whether the theory of hunger amidst plenty stands, has made some startling revelations. ___ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
Re: [Assam] News from ToI
thats a revealing bit of data. The earlier World bank report only talked about Indian eating habits being responsible for mal-nutrition -even in affluent families. Umesh --- Chan Mahanta [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: More Indians hungry now than in 1990s http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2021594.cms Highlighting mine. cm NEW DELHI: Falling agricultural wages, increasing landlessness and rising food prices have severely undermined the right to food in rural India with foodgrain availability falling to 152 kg per capita, 23 kg less than in the 1990s. Over half of India's women and children are suffering from severe malnutrition and chronic undernourishment. Over 47 percent children are underweight and 46 percent stunted in their growth figures higher than most countries in poverty stricken sub-Saharan Africa. The poorest 30 percent of households eat less than 1700 kilocalories per day per person, well below the international minimum standard of 2100 kilocalories per day, even if they spend 70 percent of their income on food. These are among the findings of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Jean Ziegler, who presented his report on Extent of Chronic Hunger and Malnutrition in India before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Friday. Ziegler's report was based on his visit to India from August 20 to September 2, 2005,motivated by the fact that India has the largest number of undernourished people in the world and one of the highest levels of child malnutrition. The report, which reviews the situation of hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity in India and whether the theory of hunger amidst plenty stands, has made some startling revelations. ___ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org Umesh Sharma 5121 Lackawanna ST College Park, MD 20740 USA Current temp. address: 5649 Yalta Place , Vancouver, Canada 1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone] Canada # (607) 221-9433 Ed.M. - International Education Policy Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Class of 2005 weblog: http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/ ___ The all-new Yahoo! Mail goes wherever you go - free your email address from your Internet provider. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html ___ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
