Daily Archives for May 3, 2012

PHFI – STEPS Media Fellowship for print media journalists in Gujarat

The Public Health Foundation of India is awarding five media fellowships to print journalists working in Gujarat. The fellowships aims to help journalists developing a deeper understanding of tobacco control. Application deadline is May 5th, 2012.
Five media fellowships in Gujarat.

The PHFI – STEPS media fellowship will be awarded to print media journalists working in Gujarat (Anand, Kheda, Banaskantha, Rajkot, Surat, Tapi, Ahmedabad/Gandhinagar districts

Recognizing the crucial role of media in advancing tobacco control, the Public Health Foundation of India,under its Project STEPS (Strengthening of Tobacco Control Efforts through Innovative Partnerships andStrategies), aims to assist media persons in developing an in-depth understanding about various aspects of tobacco control and encourage them to highlight the need for tobacco control, particularly in India by awarding FIVE media fellowships in Gujarat. The PHFI – STEPS media fellowship will be awarded to print media journalists working in Gujarat (Anand, Kheda, Banaskantha, Rajkot, Surat, Tapi, Ahmedabad/Gandhinagar districts) demonstrating interest and/or experience in reporting on issues in public health in general and tobacco control in particular.

The information can also be viewed in English on website  www.ctchp.org . Interested journalists need to apply online using the following link:

http://www.ctchp.org/index.php?option=com_rsform&view=rsform&formId=5&Itemid=363

Last date: The extended date for submission of application online is May 15th, 2012.

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Paid News Business In India: Murdoch & Co.may be praying to be born in India in “agle janam”!

In the “paid news” affair some of Indian media’s market leaders have been named as the major violators, but remain largely unscathed. Should this episode in British media history say something to us in India, asks PADMAJA SHAW. She writes in her column Issue In Media in a pioneer media watch-dog website The Hoot :

……The pattern is pretty much the same with other major issues concerning the conduct of other media houses. No one is willing to cast any “stones” apparently because all perceive themselves to be living in glasshouses. When a media baron is on the verge of being arrested, a lightening phone call would go to all the media houses and the story is killed and the arrest managed. When a CBI charge sheet is filed on a media house, it is buried deep under the spike, even as CBI charge sheets against all and sundry are dissected and individuals are tried and convicted in ten-minute studio discussions.

Well then, are we unhappy that our media houses are grubbing money and not primarily chasing power instead? Is spending better than earning? Since there is no real answer to this ethical dilemma in India, one would like to exit with a fond possibility: Murdoch and his offspring may be praying that they be born in India in their “agle janam”!
……In India, in the “paid news” affair, again it was the market leaders who have been named as the major violators. The news organisations also could put pressure on the Press Council of India (PCI) to prevent publication of the Thakurtha-Reddy report and to keep their names out of public knowledge.

What was the crime? Some major newspapers and journalists were either offering package deals for coverage or taking individual payments to ensure favourable coverage during elections. The PCI-sponsored report on paid news estimates that the unrecorded money earned this way could run into several hundred crores. The newspaper giants involved were earning big illegal bucks for providing favourable coverage. Neither the tax departments nor any other investigative body in India has been asked to look into this affair where there was a secular openness and willingness to accept payments from anyone who is willing and to promote the payers’ cause for the money taken. It is the same newspapers that lose no opportunity to hold forth editorially on democracy and criminalisation of politics.
Read the full column in The Hoot : But who will bell our big guys?
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INDIA: Young Aging Expert Is Editor of “Seniors World Chronicle”

75yrs young Ravi Chawla Founder & Editor of ‘World Seniors World Chronicle.com’ with around 5 Lakh Hits in 6 yrs with 12,000 + post from 250 countries Handing over Ownership & Editorial Rights to Sailesh Mishra.

Mumbai-based Ravi Chawla, Founder Editor and Owner of Seniors World Chronicle, announced today that he is handing over complete charge and ownership of the Internet daily digest of international news and reports on Aging, to Sailesh Mishra of Silver Innings.

Seniors World Chronicle.com was launched in 2005 by Ravi Chawla, who has worked all his life as reporter, editor and publisher of specialist journals. This journal has already published nearly 12,000 reports from 250 countries and attracted an estimated 500,000 visitors up to end March 2012.
Chawla is completing 75 years of age in a few weeks and has opted out in favour of the dynamic young Sailesh Mishra to continue operations of Seniors World Chronicle.
Mishra has 15 years of hard core marketing experience and since the year 2006, has dedicated himself to work with Senior Citizens.
Says Mishra: “I am Social Gerontologist by Experience and Founder President of Silver Inning Foundation, Not for Profit and ‘Silver Innings,’ a Social Enterprise working with Senior Citizens.”
For increasingly internet savvy senior citizens everywhere,Seniors World Chronicle serves as a single source of international coverage of all issues concerning older persons. Access is free to all internet users and no registration is required.

More information from:
Ravi Chawla 91-9322 633 718
Sailesh Mishra 91-9987 104 233
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Horn Bajane Ki Bimari : A novel social campaign spreads all over Maharashtra!

Social campaign titled Horn Bajane Ki Bimari, began the initiative in Nagpur that gradually covered the state of Maharashtra across Aurangabad, Ahmednagar, Nasik, Jalgaon, Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur and Solapur.

Started in Nagpur, the social campaign called Horn Bajane Ki Bimari soon became a state wide initiative receiving recognition from senior officials in the administration and the police force as well.

Many complain. Few act. Lokmat Media has taken up a cause that has long irritated citizens – unnecessary, excessive honking on the streets. With a social campaign titled Horn Bajane Ki Bimari, Lokmat Media began the initiative in Nagpur that gradually covered the state of Maharashtra across Aurangabad, Ahmednagar, Nasik, Jalgaon, Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur and Solapur.

The objective behind the campaign was to educate the people about the ill effects of honking that adversely affect the physical and mental health of the people, particularly in the metros and Tier II cities of the country.

To create curiosity, Lokmat launched a teaser campaign across media posing the question – ‘Are you suffering from HBKB (Horn Bajane Ki Bimari)?’, ‘Have you got yourself treated for HBKB?’ and ‘Stop the spread of HBKB’.

Having generated interest about the ‘disease’, Horn Bajane Ki Bimari was revealed on a single day on all media across Maharashtra. Lokmat Group Publications carried a two-page innovative jacket about HBKB, detailing the ill effects of excessive honking.

With the initiative being noticed in Nagpur, the campaign spread across the state on the request of corporators from the respective cities.

The teaser was first launched in Nagpur on March 29 and the campaign was revealed on April 8. In other cities, the teaser released on April 16 and the complete campaign on April 25.

The campaign has been welcomed by the common man as well as municipal corporation chiefs, seniors in the police force and politicians.

The campaign has been backed by editorial content and field activities, too. People were appealed to pledge their stand against HBKB by sending text messages to a short code.

Among other on-ground activities, one involved employees of Lokmat coming together at each unit, vowing to shun honking. Group photographs of the same were published in the Lokmat publications to drive the message to the masses. About one lakh bumper stickers were printed and pasted on vehicles, too.

Students from prominent schools and colleges also were approached, making the youth a part of the campaign. Signature campaigns were also launched across the state involving citizens, mayors, collectors and police commissioners.

The campaign has been supported across media by Bright Outdoor (OOH), Radio Mirchi (radio) and IBN Lokmat (television). Lokmat Media also took the campaign to its digital properties such as Lokmat.com, Lokmat on Facebook and Twitter.

Devendra Darda, managing director, Lokmat Media dedicates the success of the campaign to the people of Maharashtra and also expects that the campaign will make people think twice before honking and help to bring down noise pollution in the state.

Mandir Tendolkar, vice-president, marketing, Lokmat Media tells afaqs! that the campaign’s success was further triggered by the way the marketing and editorial worked together.

Tendolkar adds that having taken the thought leadership, Lokmat Media will ensure that the campaign continues further to keep the issue relevant and fresh in people’s minds. (courtesy:  Biprorshee Das & afaqs!)

Goan names: Bendro(parasite), Poko(empty), Bodvo(angel),Kochro(trash),Bokdo(goat), Kolo(fox), kan katro(cut ear)

‘Land of the Sal: Tree’COLOURFUL ‘FAMILY NAMES’, A PART OF THE GOAN REALITY

Land of the Sal Tree: Personality traits also played a part in earning families a
nickname

Street names might be alien in Goa, and house numbers hardly
get used.  But family nicknames — literally by the dozen —
are liberally deployed in parts of the State.

A new book on the Bardez village of Saligao lists
six whole pages of nicknames deployed locally —
mostly in Konkani, and bequeathed from father to
son, across the generations.

This centuries old tradition came up because Catholic
converts might have ended up with identical names, and needed
ways to distinguish themselves from each other, suggests Fr
Nascimento J Mascarenhas, the author of ‘Land of the Sal
Tree’, a just-published book on Saligao.

So, households were given nicknames “that reflected either a
peculiar physical characteristic or a personal trait of the
homeowner”.  This led to an abundance of “colourful” family
nicknames, which have also been taken overseas by some who
migrated there.

Some names are unusual — like ‘bot modi’ (broken
toe), ‘kan katro’ (cut ear) or ‘fujao’ (chicken
pox).  Some families got described as ‘caulo’
(crow), ‘goro cul’lo’ (white crab) or ‘cauo cul’lo’
(black crab).

‘Pinglo’ (or, blonde) was the nickname given to a household
with light coloured hair.  Some families got nicknamed after
animals, birds and fish “presumably because of their
perceived resemblance to their non-human counterparts”.

There was the ‘bokdo’ (goat), ‘tal’lo’ (sardine), ‘combo’
(rooster), ‘bebo’ (toad), ‘manko’ (frog), ‘dukor’ (pig),
‘kolo’ (fox), ‘vagio’ (tiger) and ‘soso’ (rabbit).

Personality traits also played a part in earning families a
nickname.  Such as ‘Sourac’ (hot curry), ‘Saibin’ (Blessed
Virgin), ‘Godgoddo’ (thunder) and ‘Kochro’ (trash).

“The deportment of some villagers didn’t go unnoticed either.
There was ‘Dando’ (rod), ‘Raza’ (king), ‘Girgiro’
(propeller), ‘Bodvo’ (angel) and ‘Devchar’ (devil),” notes
the book.

Villagers got named after the work they were
involved in — as hatters (Chepekan), florists
(Fulkar or Fulkarn), lawyers (delegad), evil-eye
removers (dishtikan), ginger-man (alekar),
candlemakers (menkar), coconut climbers (madkar),
among others.

Then, there was Munkoto (firewood), labelled thus because an
ancestor used a piece of firewood to chase away kids whose
game of marbles disturbed his siesta.  There were also some
inexplicable names like Bendro (parasite), Poko (empty) and
Porque (‘why’ in Portuguese).

“A few other nicknames wouldn’t be appropriate to
use in a family-oriented publication.  But they
were used quite freely, and without malice, by
villagers,” says the book.  It adds that a nickname
was never viewed with derision, but instead was a
prized symbol of a family’s recognition and
acceptance as an entrenched member of the village
community.

The book also describes a range of Saligao village issues of
yesteryears, among which are some quaint and rustic
traditions, customs, folklore and even superstition.

###

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/7126619367/in/photostream

Discuss these and other Goan issues by posting your comments
to goanet@goanet.org

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Useless Vatican missionaries in India

Jorge Monteiro from Mumbai writes in Goa’s only newsletter  Goanet subscribed by around 50,000 Goans worldwide:

The strongest opposition to birth control & population control in the world is from the Pope/Vatican as though planet earth has unlimited resources to satisfy the wants and needs of everyone???? If  Pope/Vatican love more human beings then they should be kind enough to allow 1 Lakh slum dwellers from Bombay to permanently settle wherever there are open spaces in Vatican city! And also instruct the catholic missionaries caritas catholic relief services in India to utilize their foreign funds to hire passenger ships to transfer the 1 Lakh Slum dwellers from Bombay to Vatican city..

The Pope/Vatican should also be kind enough to persuade the governments of USA, UK, EUROPE, AUSTRALIA and NEWZEALAND to allow 500 million people from India to permanently settle in Western Countries without any passport visa travel documents.

Majority of the white people in Europe have abandoned Catholicism due to which even on Sundays the churches in Europe are almost empty; instead of bothering about religious conversion activities in Asia &
Africa the Pope/Vatican should be more concerned with reviving Catholicism in their own backyard.

All Jains in India have Hindu names. All Jains apart from worshipping (Lord) Mahavira also worship Hindu Gods especially Ganpati, Laxmi, Krishna & Durga. Many office bearers & activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) are from the Jain community even the International General Secretary of VHP
Dr. Pravin Togadia is a Jain. Many Jain diamond merchants, traders, shopkeepers, builders, Corporates, industrialists donate money to the VHP. VHP has been aggressively involved in anti-muslin &
anti-christian activities all over India for more than 20 years. The cash rich VHP also transfers funds to RSS & Bajrang Dal. Fortunately for the Jain community the Indian news media does not report on the association of the Jain community with the VHP.

The only reason why the rss-vhp- bajrangdal- shivsena stopped bothering Muslims is because many Muslim groups &  youth are associated underworld,etc with the help of Pakistan Army & ISI began retaliating with bombs.

Excluding Goa , Kerala and Nagaland, Christians in all other states in India are under a PERMANENT THREAT from Right Wing Hindu groups & Slumlords & fascist groups & land mafia & hired goons of politicians & some pro-rssvhpbajrangdal hindu ias/ips officers & builders mafia. And are also
finding it extremely difficult to get Central/State Government jobs, govt. housing & other govt. facilities. And finding it difficulty in getting civic facilities. And finding it difficult in preventing the state
machinery from taking away their ancestral agricultural lands. And in the private sector where most of the Christians work they are humiliated & tormented by their Hindu co-workers. But then what is the point in complaining when The command to endure suffering is just another part of a Christian’s life?? Faithful Christians of all ages have suffered; we are not the only ones??We should expect more sufferings to come because we are living in a country where the majority Hindu community is hostile to
Christians.The only sad part is most of the Christian Clergy in India are pre-occupied with misusing church funds, illegally selling away vacant church properties & siphoning off the money, preventing children of poor Christians from getting admission in Christian schools AND most of the Christian missionaries in India are pre-occupied with utilizing their foreign funds to serve poor non-Christians. The Christian clergy & missionaries are turning a blind eye to the plight of poor Christians.

The membership to the Roman Catholic Church in Bombay is good for those who want to live a non-combative non-aggressive non-ambitious unhealthy unhygienic  lazy dormant alcoholic ‘susegaad’ (laidback) politically-inactive & a poor life;  improving the health wealth housing of the catholic community in Bombay is not the priority of the catholic clergy in Bombay. In Bombay Christians
need a different type of church & priests whose mission should be of improving the health wealth housing of Christian parishioners.

Govt. of India can stop the growth of population by strictly enforcing two child policy all over India, abolish polygamy, increase the legal marriageable age from 18/21 years to 25 years. Various NGOs and Govt. depts. have reported that by 2030 India will become the most populated country in the world so expect all these problems to multiply manifold : lack of peace, lack of education, lack of jobs or other employment, lack of hygiene, lack of sanitation medicines and health care, lack of transport, food shortage, water shortage, land shortage, growth of slums, inflation, poverty, anger, fights, beating, shouting, quarrels, crying, breaking of things, arson, rioting, communal disharmony, forced begging, forced labor, committing variety of crimes, various nefarious activities like smuggling, settling personal feuds or in creating trouble during elections, mob mentality and damage and burning of public and private property. “j.m.” <jorgepmntr@gmail.com>

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