Archive for the 'Activism' Category

Slums razed for beautification, but none to look after the displaced

Sunday, December 9th, 2007

Pulkit Vasudha
Ahmedabad, December 9 One fine morning in November 2005, Pathan Shamshad was getting ready to go to work, when he suddenly heard bulldozers thundering through the narrow lanes outside his house.
Without any notice, the workforce of the Ahmedabad Urban Development Board (AUDA) had descended in the Bakra Mandi area of Ranip to demolish houses.
The [...]

Where primary teachers barely complete secondary education

Friday, November 30th, 2007

Pulkit Vasudha
Ahmedabad, November 30 The next time you enroll your child to a new school, please make sure the teacher knows his alphabets.

According to data released by the state’s education department in reply to a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by academician Deepak Patel, over 60 per cent of Ahmedabad’s primary school teachers have [...]

Blind and borderless – Tenberken shows the light

Friday, November 23rd, 2007

Pulkit Vasudha
Ahmedabad, November 23 Sabriye Tenberken can read and write in the dark. She even teaches her students to do the same. No, Tenberken does not possess miraculous powers, nor does she belong to the world of wizardry. She is blind, but as she says, that doesn’t prevent her from being a visionary.Along with her [...]

Junior cops wait for re-recognition of their Assn by HC

Wednesday, November 14th, 2007

Pulkit Vasudha
Ahmedabad, November 14 Low ranking police personnel in Gujarat are now eagerly awaiting the re-recognition of their association by the Gujarat High Court, which was dismissed by the erstwhile director general of police of the state on grounds of low strength and attendance.

The association of police sub-inspectors, head constables and constables was formed [...]

Only a day’s wages for cop’s bereaved family

Tuesday, November 13th, 2007

Pulkit Vasudha

Ahmedabad, November 13 If their father had returned home from patrolling on November 8, nine-year-old Kiran and five-year-old Jaydeep would have celebrated Diwali the next day. But that was not to be. Vinay Yadav (32) was shot dead by two miscreants when he was keeping a vigil in the vicinity of LG Hospital.
“So far, [...]

Fresh blood

Wednesday, October 24th, 2007

Ahmedabad, October 24 Here’s a look at the fresh blood fighting the elections in Gujarat this year. Whether they stand a chance agaisnt the prominent, politicial heavyweights or not, it is surprising how determined they are in their political stance.

Pravin Mishra, 31 The youngest of eight siblings and born into a poor family in Murshidabad, [...]

A fledgling party of the literati that hopes to make a poll statement

Monday, October 15th, 2007

Pulkit Vasudha
Ahmedabad, October 15 While parties like Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) are making their first forays into Gujarat’s political battleground, there is another party — the New Socialist Movement (NSM) — that is sending ripples trough the masses. Though the NSM was formally registered barely [...]

For poor Muslim students, this school brings ray of light

Saturday, October 13th, 2007

Express News Services, Pulkit Vasudha
Ahmedabad, June 6:A Philanthropic idea that germinated during the Gujarat riots has now taken shape in the form of a swanky school for the Muslim children in Salam area of the city.
Fearing that the children of the community may face discrimination in other schools and could miss out on posh [...]

Gram Nidhi is helping rural women milk profit, literally

Tuesday, August 28th, 2007

Pulkit Vasudha
Ahmedabad, August 28: Until 2004, Kanuben Katesia, of the remote Gundala village in Rajkot district, earned Rs 50 a day as an agricultural labourer on others’ farms. On her own 2 acres of land, she grew cotton, a water-intensive crop, completely unsuited to the drought-prone arid zone in South Gujarat. The meagre savings Kanuben [...]