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http://www.dawn.com/2009/01/27/top9.htm
(He did his Masters in 1944 and became the first Muslim graduate of Banaras Hindu University.)
Ace archaeologist Dr Dani dead
By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Jan 26: Internationally acclaimed archaeologist, historian and linguist Prof Dr Ahmad Hasan Dani died here on Monday morning. He was 88.
Dr Dani had been admitted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences five days ago with heart, kidney and diabetes problems. His condition deteriorated on Sunday night and he was shifted to the ICU where he died.
He is survived by his wife, three sons — Dr Anis Ahmad Dani, Navaid Ahmad Dani, Junaid Ahmad Dani — and daughter Fauzia Iqbal Butt. He has left behind a large number of admirers, students and friends to mourn his death.
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed profound grief over the death of Prof Dani and described it as a great loss to the nation. He said the country had lost an eminent historian. His death, the president said, had left a vacuum that would be hard to fill.
He said Dr Dani’s contribution to setting up of several museums in the country and his vast publications had set the pace for future course of action in this vital field.
Prof Dani was a world renowned historian. He was regarded as an authority on archaeology, culture, linguistics, Buddhism and Central Asian archaeology and history. He was Professor of Emeritus at the Quaid-i-Azam University, a distinction bestowed on him after his retirement as Dean of the Social Sciences Department in recognition of his contributions. He was founding director of the Taxila Institute of Asian Civilisations of the university since its establishment in 1997 and founding director of the Islamabad Museum.
During his long career, Prof Dani had held various academic positions and international fellowships and conducted archaeological excavations and research. He received a number of civil awards in Pakistan and abroad. As a recognised linguist, he was proficient in more than 14 national and international languages and dialects.
An ethnic Kashmiri, Dr Dani was born in Basna, in the district Raipur in India, on July 20, 1920. He did his Masters in 1944 and became the first Muslim graduate of Banaras Hindu University. In 1945, Prof Dani started work as an archaeologist with Sir Mortimer Wheeler and took part in excavations in Taxila and Moenjodaro. He was subsequently posted at the Department of Archaeology of British India at Taj Mahal.
After partition, he moved to Dhaka and worked as assistant superintendent of the Department of Archaeology. At that time, he rectified the Verandra Museum in Rajshahi. In 1950, he was promoted to the position of superintendent-in-charge of archaeology. For 12 years (1950-62), Prof Dani worked as associate professor of history at the University of Dhaka and also as curator at Dhaka museum. During this period, he carried out archaeological research on the Muslim history of Bengal.
He also worked as a research fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (1958-59). In 1969, he became Asian Fellow at the Australian National University, Canberra. In 1974, he went to the University of Pennsylvania as a visiting scholar. In 1977, he was a visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Prof Dani was awarded honorary fellowships of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (1969), German Archaeological Institute (1981), Ismeo, Rome (1986) and Royal Asiatic Society (1991).
He moved to the University of Peshawar in 1962 as professor of archaeology and remained there till 1971. He conducted a number of archaeological explorations and excavations on the Stone Age and Gandhara civilisation in the Northern Areas and guided the resetting and renovation of Lahore and Peshawar museums.
In 1971, he moved to Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad where he established the Faculty of Social Sciences and served as its dean until his retirement in 1980.
He received an honorary doctorate from Tajikistan University in Dushanbe in 1993. The same year, Prof Dani established the Islamabad museum. Between 1992 and 1996, he was appointed adviser on archaeology to the ministry of culture. Between 1994 and 1998, he worked as chairman of the National Fund for Cultural Heritage in Islamabad. In 1997, he became honorary director at the Taxila Institute of Asian Civilisations.
Dr Dani took part in exclusive excavation works on the pre-Indus civilisation site of Rehman Dheri in northern Pakistan. He also made a number of discoveries of Gandhara sites in Peshawar and Swat and worked on Indo-Greek sites in Dir.
From 1985 he was involved in research focussing on documentation of ancient rock carvings and inscriptions on remains from the Neolithic age in the mountainous region of Gilgit-Baltistan, along with Harald Hauptmann of Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, University of Heidelberg. In 1990-91, he led Unesco’s international scientific teams for the Desert Route Expedition of Silk Road in China and the Steppe Route Expedition of the Silk Road in the former Soviet Union.
He was awarded Hilal-i-Imtiaz in 2000 and Sitara-i- Imtiaz in 1969 in recognition of his meritorious contributions. He was also awarded Légion d’Honneur by the French government in 1998, Aristotle Silver Medal by Unesco in 1997, Order of Merit by the government of Germany in 1996 and Knight Commander by the government of Italy in 1994.
Dr Dani authored more than 30 books, the latest being the History of Pakistan published in 2008. His other books include Historic City of Taxila, History of Northern Areas, Romance of the Khyber Pass, New Light on Central Asia, Central Asia Today and Human Records on Karakoram Highway.
He co-authored with J.P. Mohen the Volume III of History of Humanity, and with B.A. Litvinksy The Kushano-Sassanian Kingdom.
He was fluent in Bangla, French, Hindi, Kashmiri, Marathi, Pashto, Persian, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Seraiki, Sindhi, Tamil, Turkish and Urdu languages.
His funeral prayers will be held on Tuesday at the Abbasi market mosque, F-8/3, Islamabad, after Zohr prayers. He will be laid to rest at H-11 graveyard at 2pm.
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(Forwarded by: Hari Om Srivastava, M. Tech, Systems Engineering. Email: hariom_ee@yahoo.co.in)
(Dr.Gautam Goswami)
Time Magazine’s ‘Young Asian Achiever Award’ winner Dr. Gautam Goswami died of pancreatic cancer at a private nursing home in Patna on 6, January. He was suffering from the disease for the past several months. He was 43 and is survived by his doctor wife Anuradha Goswami and two children Vishal 11 and Pratigya 8 year old. He was also an MBBS and MD in medicine from Banares Hindu University (IMS-BHU).He later on joined the IAS in 1991 after securing 7th rank in the UPSC.
A media savvy bureaucrat, Goswami, in his first stint as Patna DM, earned laurels for his fair conduction of the 1999 Lok Sabha polls. In 1999 and 2004, with Goswami as the overseer, Patna had the two fairest elections it had seen in years. The former Patna DM first hit the national headlines when he literally put his hand on microphones to prevent the then Union home minister, Lal Krishna Advani, from continuing his speech at an election rally in Patna in 2004. “Sir, your time is up,” the officer told the minister referring to the Election Commission’s model code of conduct which proscribed use of public address system after 10 pm.
Later his exemplary work in supervising the Bihar flood relief operations in 2004 won him the coveted Time Magazine award in September 2004. TIME magazine wrote, “Goswami’s reputation for upholding the law improves the image of a civil service perceived by many Indians as corrupt or inefficient.” But less than a year later, he was accused of involvement in defalcation of relief fund and was later suspended and jailed.
He was later granted a bail by Patna high court in November, 2006.
The wheel of time had once again turned in favor of disgraced IAS officer and ex-District Magistrate of Patna Gautam Goswami when his suspension was revoked by the state government on 8th December, 2008 on health grounds and he was eligible to return to work after the government decides on his posting but destiny had other plans for him. He breathed his last on 6 January, 2009. Utpalendu Goswami, father of Dr.Gautam, said his son was falsely accused in the case and sent to jail. "He was disturbed, worried. Mental tension cost his life."
A pall of gloom descended on the officer’s Exhibition Road residence in Patna. Several of his batchmates visited the bereaved family members, and also went to the Gulbi Ghat where his body was consigned to flames. State chief secretary and other senior bureaucrats attended a meeting held at the old secretariat to condole the death of Dr. Goswami. Patna collectorate employees observed two-minute silence, praying for peace to the departed soul. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also sent his condolences to the bereaved family.
Ironically, Dr Gautam Goswami himself wanted to attend the alumni reunion of his batch held recently during last week of December, 2008 in BHU but his critical condition forced him to opt out of it. However, he addressed his batchmates through a recorded message and narrated to them his journey of ups and down.
He was a brilliant student and an outstanding scholar. The way life treated him was totally unexpected. May his soul rest in everlasting peace.
A flawed genius or hapless victim of an abrasive twist of fate, one will never know…
TIME MAGAZINE LINK:
http://www.time.com/time/asia/2004/heroes/hgautam_goswami.html
COMPLETE BIODATA:
http://persmin.nic.in/ersheet/MultipleERS.asp?HiddenStr=01BH042600
AN INTERVIEW (Source: TIMES OF INDIA)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2586730.cms
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17 Jan 2009, 1923 hrs IST, TNN
VARANASI: "The Central Library of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has set milestones for other central universities for digitisation of manuscripts and is fast emerging as the ideal seat of learning in the country," said Harikesh Singh, national professor in the National University of Educational Project and Administration (NUEPA), New Delhi during the concluding function of advanced level national workshop on manuscripts and photography on Saturday.
The Sayaji Rao Gaekwad Library (Central Library) of BHU has many precious volumes which have enlightened the academic fraternity over the years, Singh said, adding that the rapid pace of its modernisation has only helped in making it more beneficial to readers.
Presenting certificates and awards to around 50 participants who participated in the 40-day programme (which began on December 10 last), Singh said it was very important to upgrade and update skills to keep pace with recent developments in the field.
Earlier, BN Singh, deputy librarian, BHU said the Central Library will soon have a fully digitised manuscripts section. The section has already been recognised as the Manuscripts Conservation Centre (MCC) by the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM), ministry of culture, Government of India and the process of digitisation is also on the verge of completion, he informed.
The workshop was organised by BHU Central Library in association with NMM, Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, ministry of culture.
DK Singh, organising secretary and deputy librarian, BHU Central Library and other staff members were also present on the occasion.
Recent developments in BHU Central Library:
*National Mission for Manuscripts, ministry of culture, New Delhi has recognised the library as Manuscripts Conservation Centre
*University Grants Commission (UGC) INFLIBNET has recognised it as Electronic Document Delivery Centre
*The library has become member for creation of National Database for Books under RECON project in the country
*So far, digitisation of over 7,550 manuscripts (out of total of 12,556 manuscripts in the university) has been completed.
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Varanasi/BHU_alumni_award_function_from_Jan_29/articleshow/4017743.cms
22 Jan 2009, 1905 hrs IST, TNN
VARANASI: As many as 18 past students of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) will be honoured with the Distinguished Alumni Award during the two-day alumni meet of the university, to be held on January 29 and 30.
This decision was taken at a meeting held by the chairman of alumni cell, Prof DP Singh, on Thursday. According to the BHU spokesperson, chief guest of the inaugural function will be Union minister of state for human resources Purandoreshwari.
Prominent recipients of distinguished alumni award include Prof Lalji Singh of the Centre for Culture and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, Dr JS Yadav, director, Institute of Chemical Technology, Prof RS Rao, Prof Rewa Prasad Dwivedi, Dr Hemlata Swaroop, Dr Mangala Rai, Prof Anand Krishna and others.
Nomination: The member of Executive Council of BHU and vice-chancellor of Indira Gandhi Kendriya Janjatiya Vishwavidyalaya Amarkantak, Prof CD Singh, has been nominated a member of the Indian Institute of Higher Studies Society, Shimla. Singh is also the alumnus of BHU.
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'Drug-resistant TB growing in country, including East UP'
21 Jan 2009, 1920 hrs IST, TNN
VARANASI: 'There is a growing need to evolve new research methods to counter the menace of multi drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) cases in the country,' said Dr VM Katoch, Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and secretary, department of health research, Government of India.
(Dr. V M Katoch)
Addressing the senior doctors and medical students during his presentation on 'TB research in India: Challenges and Opportunities' at the Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University
(IMS-BHU) on Wednesday, he said that as many as three to eight per cent of TB cases were responding poorly to the drugs and one to three per cent cases had already developed resistance against the infectious disease in the country including the East UP region.
Referring to the new approach for drug resistance TB, he said that new methods were being evolved that included profiling by genetic groups and advent of recombinant gene technology to trace new proteins and new antigens to prepare effective drugs. "We are working on genomic approach (that includes development of DNA kit for identification of over expressive genes) and proteomic approach for development of recombinant drug for the disease," he added.
Rector, BHU, BD Singh, director, IMS, Gajendra Singh, dean, faculty of science SC Lakhotia and other senior faculty members were also present on the occasion.
Later talking to reporters, Katoch said, 'We need to establish more Intermediary Referral Laboratories (IRL) across the country to study drug susceptibility and drug resistance cases for tuberculosis. We already have as many as four National Referral Laboratories (NFL) that cover most parts of south India and some parts of north India, he said adding that additional 13 IFLs would be set up in different parts of the country that would cover the entire country by 2010.
Saying that there would be no change in the directly observed treatment short course (DOTS) under Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP) that has achieved almost 95 per cent success rate (in fresh cases) and virtually covered every part of the country (two years ago), he added that the DOTS Plus programme was also in the pipeline that would focus on multi drug resistant (MDR) TB cases.
Sharing his experiences during his stint at National JALMA Institute for Leprosy and OMD, Agra that covers 35 districts of UP (more than 800 million population) besides states of Uttarakhand, Assam and Himachal Pradesh under DOTS programme, he said recent studies had suggested that congested colonies in urban areas were becoming more prone to emerging TB (MDR) cases. Referring to recent studies regarding prevalence area in Banda and Kanpur districts, he added that while three cases out of 1,000 urban populations witnessed MDR, rural areas witnessed one case out of the same population.
Speaking about new initiatives to combat TB (MDR) cases, he stressed the need for revised training and reactivation of studies in medical colleges in the country. "There is a proposal to establish modal units imparting new methods of teaching in remote places of the country to eradicate the disease," he said.
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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090122/jsp/frontpage/story_10424937.jsp
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IIT Kharagpur: Talent glue |
New Delhi, Jan. 21: The Indian Institutes of Technology are considering starting combined masters and doctoral courses for engineering and science students to entice potential researchers to stay in the country.
The IIT council, the highest decision-making body of the IITs, is scheduled to discuss and possibly decide on starting the courses at a meeting here on January 28, The Telegraph has learnt.
Many of the brightest of Indian students interested in pursuing research in the sciences or engineering leave the country to study combined MS/PhD or MTech/PhD courses in the US and other western countries.
These combined courses, offered by most US universities and in many countries of Europe, often work out to be shorter in duration than the time required for a postgraduation followed by a PhD.
Combined courses also save students interested in research the trouble of applying afresh for doctoral degrees after completing their postgraduation.
But Indian science students need to complete their postgraduation before they can apply for the PhD course.
“That is where we hope to capitalise,” a senior IIT Kharagpur official said.
The IIT combined courses, if approved by the council, will be open to students immediately after their graduation. The IIT courses will also be cheaper than corresponding courses abroad.
Combined courses were recommended by an IIT review committee headed by former science and technology secretary P. Rama Rao in 2004.
A senior IIT Bombay administrator said the institutes had been contemplating the combined courses for “some time now”. “There were concerns about the combined courses earlier. But there is now greater consensus,” the official said.
If approved, the courses could start this academic year itself, the official said. The IIT course, it is proposed, will offer an MSc/PhD degree. The engineering course will offer an MTech/PhD degree.
The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai is the only established premier educational institution in India that offers such combined courses at present.
The TIFR programme consists of fixed coursework that students are required to complete for the masters segment before the start of the PhD component. Like in many US universities, TIFR allows students to quit the programme midway with a masters degree if they have completed the course requirements for the postgraduate degree.
The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, allows select students the opportunity of pursuing a PhD directly after their graduation. But students who leave midway are not granted a postgraduate degree.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has, on more than one occasion, asked the IITs to focus more on research.
The IITs have also been criticised by a central panel reviewing higher education in India for failing to give adequate focus to research.
The IITs are today little more than “undergraduate factories”, professor Yash Pal, a former UGC chairman who is heading the review panel, said.
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1) Reservation leads to surge in OBC aspirants for IITs
2) Centre's nod for IIT campus at Indore
http://www.centralchronicle.com/20090116/1601102.htm
3) Arjun Singh to laid foundation stone for IIT-Argul for Orissa
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24 Jan 2009, 1731 hrs IST, TNN
VARANASI: The budding technocrats showed their artistic skills in the fine arts competition, featuring clay modelling and other activities, on Saturday during Kashi Yatra- the annual cultural festival of the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (IT-BHU).
Besides the fine arts competition, the other activities of the day included mime and mono-act, debate, kavyamanjari, dance and music. The four-day festivities began on Friday with the recital of sitar by Deobrat Mishra and a kavi sammelan.
A series of competitive events in literary, dramatics, music and dance are being held during the Kashi Yatra. In the next two days, the programme will feature theatre, art and craft, quiz, solo and duo dance, dandiya, tattooing, group song and dance.
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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090126/jsp/frontpage/story_10442234.jsp
CHARU SUDAN KASTURI
On August 2, 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh outlined a plan for what has since become one of the most transformational legacies that his government will be remembered for.
“The time has come for us to create a second wave of institution building and of excellence in the field of education, research and capability building in India so that we are better prepared for the 21st Century,” Singh had said, at the launch of the National Knowledge Commission.
At the time, the statement was seen as just another of the many proclamations that political leaders are required to make, indicative, if anything, of the Prime Minister’s views on what was required for the nation.
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It received the publicity that seemingly innocuous statements at an inaugural launch normally receive. But the Prime Minister was not just sharing his views on the requirements of higher education. The statement, it is now clear, was actually the announcement of an unprecedented expansion in higher education.
Consider this: in August 2005, India had 20 central universities. Today, it has 24, and another 30 have been announced, and are to be set up by 2012 under the Eleventh Five Year Plan drawn up under this government in 2007.
Of the 30 new central universities, 16 are for states that do not have a central university — to ensure that by the end of the Eleventh Plan, each state does have a central varsity.
The President recently promulgated an ordinance allowing the government to launch 15 of these universities from the 2009 academic session — never before have any more than three central universities started functioning from the same year. Goa which withdrew its nomination of Goa University for conversion to a central university will remain the only state in India without a centrally governed varsity.
The remaining 14 new central universities are to be “world class” institutes — a tag assigned by the Prime Minister that is now causing much friction within the corridors of India’s education establishment.
These universities are aimed, unlike the other 16, at building India’s brand abroad as a knowledge destination. The Prime Minister wants them to compete with the best universities of the developed world.
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Two fundamental flaws in the idea are at present holding up the “world class university” project.
First, can a brand new institution start off as “world class”? Oxford, Cambridge or Harvard, for instance, established their credentials as among the best in the world by consistent performance over the years. “I can call my new born son a genius, but that doesn’t make him one,” a senior policy maker joked.
Second, by anointing the new universities “world class”, the implication is that other universities are inferior and that there is no point in trying to improve them — a suggestion unacceptable to existing varsities.
But while both these concerns continue to leave officials cringing at their very mention, there is a broad belief that given time, the government is indeed likely to implement the Prime Minister’s dream — because it is the Prime Minister’s dream.
“The thing is that once the Prime Minister announces something, as he has announced the world class universities, everyone — from babus to cabinet ministers — accepts it as something that has to happen, whatever their personal or collective concerns,” a government official said.
Technical education and research have seen the same, unequalled expansion.
The first wave of institution building under Jawaharlal Nehru, which the Prime Minister alluded to in his announcement at the Knowledge Commission launch, saw India establish five Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
In 46 years following the establishment of IIT Delhi, only one new IIT — in Guwahati — was started and the University of Roorkee was upgraded to an IIT. But in early 2008, the government announced it would start eight new IITs to add to the seven existing then.
Six of the eight started classes in 2008. The remaining two will start classes from the 2009 academic session. In addition, the engineering department at the Benaras Hindu University will also be upgraded to an IIT.
Starting with the launch of Indian Institutes of Management in Ahmedabad and Calcutta in 1961, India had built six IIMs in all by 2007. Under the Eleventh Plan, seven more are to be built by 2012. IIM Shillong started classes in 2008, and at least two more IIMs are expected to offer classes this year.
The Eleventh Plan, which the Prime Minister called the “Education Plan”, also promises to build 10 National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and 20 Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs).
The government has also started five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) that are aimed at supplementing research at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.
But Manmohan Singh’s expansion is rooted in a notion of India as a knowledge hub, first conceived under his predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The trigger was a piece of demographic statistics. Over 700 million Indians – well over 60 per cent of the population – were shown under the age of 35 in the 2001 census. The developed world, and India’s closest competitors — China and East Asia — were ageing.
Suddenly, a nation that for years was brought up criticising its vast population as a liability draining its resources, was looking to that very mass of humans as its greatest asset.
A Planning Commission task force was set up under the panel’s then deputy chairman K.C. Pant to prepare a strategy to help India emerge as a knowledge superpower in the 21st century.
The team recommended measures to encourage multinationals to use India as a research and development base. Soon, IBM and other information technology majors from across the globe started research and development centres in India.
But while the team recognised the need to train a largely unskilled population in order to emerge as a knowledge superpower, it focused mostly on information technology — where India was showing prowess — and biotechnology, an emerging field.
By 2004, the doubts surrounding the economic utility of a large youthful population started to return as it became apparent that IT and BT alone could not occupy a burgeoning but largely untrained work force.
“Having the world’s largest young population can be a great asset if you can channel their energy into economically productive work. But imagine if that workforce is untrained and you cannot give them employment. You would have unprecedented unemployment,” a Planning Commission adviser said.
India’s dreams of transforming into a knowledge economy were floundering and needed a fresh shape.
The NKC was set up under Sam Pitroda, who revolutionised telecommunications in the country two decades ago.
In 2008, one of its most significant recommendations, on setting up a National Skill Development Mission, was accepted. Headed by the Prime Minister, the mission is aimed at providing training in myriad skills — from hospitality, cooking, nursing and English language skills to plumbing and fixing electrical appliances and motor vehicles – to 10 million people every year.
The idea is to make India the “go-to” place for the world when it needs trained manpower.
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Within India, its manpower should be trained in skills required by the economy here, according to the vision of the mission. “At present, many of our graduates are unemployable because they do not have the skills required to join the workforce,” Pitroda has said on numerous occasions.
The expansion of top higher educational institutions at the same time increases the access youth have to quality education of a formal nature.
“The new IITs and IIMs are also more visible achievements. The mission will take time to show tangible results, but new institutions of learning are there for all to see. And while the success of the mission remains to be seen, it is unlikely that an IIT will fail,” a government official said.
“The unprecedented expansion in higher education and the skill development mission together form the blueprint for India’s transformation to a knowledge hub,” he added.
The challenge now is to implement the blueprint.
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13 Jan 2009, 0210 hrs IST, TNN
VARANASI: 'Varanasi would soon become a centre for development of Software Technology Park (STP), making it the first of its kind in Eastern UP region', said Omkar Rai, senior director, STP and development commissioner, special economic zone (SEZ) for information technology (IT) and IT enabled services (ITES), ministry of commerce and industry, Government of India while talking to media in the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Banaras Hindu University on Monday.
Saying that the Centre has already given the nod to make the city a STP centre in the region, he added that the process of acquisition of as many as three acres of land in Shivpur area has also started. "The establishment of STP centre in the region is a long pending demand and hopefully it would be completed within one and half year time," said the man who belongs to Azamgarh district and is a BHU alumnus from Statistics department in the university.
"There are as many as 51 STP centrers in the country and almost 18 per cent of IT earnings are coming from software exports," he said adding that the city has potential to become a major IT hub in the region. "We already have STP centers in Lucknow, Kanpur, Noida and Ghaziabad in the state and the city could also play a major role in this field, as it is blessed with adequate human resources and capital," he added.
Highlighting some of the features of the structure of STP centre in the region, he said that the park would be established on the basis of plug and play (minimum hassles and bureaucratic hurdles) facility and development commissioner would administer the establishment besides providing incubation support. The support would be as per provisions of SEZ act, 2005 giving fiscal benefit (tax concession) for 15 years, he added.
While maintaining that software industry can manage the global recession, he also said that development of STP centers was on the verge of seizure in the country.
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http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=157151
Pinki to smile at Oscars!
Amidst Slumdog Millionaire's spectacle at Oscar nominations, one Indian film went unnoticed despite being nominated. 'Smile Pinki' is being nominated in the short documentary section which revolves around poor eight-year-old Pinki from a village.
CJ: Upendra Singh
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIREfinds it ally in ‘Pinky’ to the prestigious Oscar as far as Indian connection is concerned. Pinki is an eight-year-old girl from a village near Varanasi who is getting ready to go for the Oscar awards ceremony. Pinki happens to be the protagonist of a 39-minute documentary film named- Smile Pinki, which got nominated for the Oscars.
Smile Pinki has added something more to cheer for the Indians amidst the strong presence made by Slumdog Millionaire and the Indians attached to it. While people are busy celebrating Slumdog Millionaire’s encouraging display at Oscars nominations, little Pinki from a little village in Mirzapur district located near Varanasi is quietly weaving her own dreams for the big night.
Smile Pinki is the tale of a girl born with a lip deformity which made her a social outcast. Produced in Bhojpuri and Hindi (with English subtitles), Smile Pinki tells speaks about the journey of poor Pinki, daughter of a farmer, from cleft-lipped towards normalcy after undergoing plastic surgery in a nursing home.
This was sort of a dream come true for Pinki, as this simple surgery that can cure such a deformity is a distant dream for the poor folks like her. This change in the fortune of Pinky could only happen with the efforts of Pankaj, a social worker travelling village to village to help such needy ones through a hospital that provides free surgery to them.
This documentary was shot in Pinki’s village and G S Memorial Plastic Surgery Hospital in Varanasi where Pinki underwent the surgery by plastic surgeon Subodh Kumar Singh. Subodh is the project director of ‘Smile Train’, which works in the cause of bringing back smile on the faces of cleft children by performing free surgery.
Before being nominated for Oscars, Smile Pinki, was also short listed in October 2008, by the Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences. Amidst the celebrations of Slumdog Millionaire’s nominations, this fairy tale cure of Pinki almost went unnoticed for an Academy award in the short documentary section. The others in the race with Smile Pinky are- The Conscience of Nhem En, The Final Inch, and The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306.
The documentary is directed by Megan Mylan which also tells the similar story of another boy Ghutaru, who alongwith Pinki were made social outcasts due to their cleft lips. Nomination of Smile Pinki for Oscar is bound to bring awareness about this congenital anomaly among the general public and health agencies.
Subodh Singh, the man behind giving smile to these so called outcasts, is elated with the documentary making a cut into the prestigious Oscar award nominations and believes this as good news for all cleft patients whose life can change.
On Pinki’s front, the family is elated as well as concerned about the arrangements to be made if and when Pinki has to go to Los Angeles for the awards ceremony. The family is trying to do whatever possible soon after the news was disclosed to them by a social activist from Varanasi. It is a tough ask for a poor family to make arrangements to visit US even though it is a matter of pride.
However, Dr Subodh Singh, is trying to help in tackling the issues related arranging visa, passport, and tickets. He has been a sort of God father to Pinki who has not only cured her deformity but has also gifted 400-odd books to the girl and is even in the process of raising funds to add a room for his family. Hats off to Dr. Singh, Pankaj and people like them who are striving to bring back happiness and smile on the faces of people who have forgotten to dream!
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Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University
Varanasi 221005, UP