Tags:
Journalism of Courage
20 questions,no answers
Ever since he was given charge of Orissa affairs,Congress leader Jagdish Tytler has been firing salvo after salvo at the Naveen Patnaik-led government,accusing it of corruption and ineptitude. A couple of months ago,he asked Patnaik seven questions over various irregularities in the implementation of MNREGS,on June 7,he followed it up with seven more,alleging that his government was frittering away central funds meant for schemes like the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan,and last week,he asked another six,one of which was whether there are 1,797 cases of misappropriation of funds pending against the government. The BJD has refused to react,not answering even one of the 20 questions so far.
Road Safety on screen
Since June 18,theatres in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack have been showing two three-minute films,Ehsaas and Afsos,before the beginning and during the intermission of films on road safety,drink driving and accident rescue. Nearly 3,800 people died and over 11,500 were injured in 9,395 road accidents in Orissa last year. In Bhubaneswar and Cuttack,274 people died in 2010; this year,299 are dead already. All over Orissa,the fatality rate is 39.9 per 100 accidents; the all-India figure is 30.1 per 100 accidents. The police in Cuttack-Bhubaneswar hope the films would sensitise drivers to road safety.
Congress to go young
Out of power for the last 11 years in Orissa,the Congress seems to have decided that what it needs to fight Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the BJD in the 2014 elections is youth power. During the launch of the Youth Congress membership drive last week,the party announced that 30 per cent of its candidates in the next Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Orissa would be youths. With Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi expected to visit the state soon for a roadshow,Youth Congress leaders say they can get a record number of new members this year.
No mobiles for girls
An organisation of Orissas Khandayat caste has banned the use of mobile phones among unmarried girls of the community to prevent them going astray. The Ganjam-based Paikali Khandayat Samaj has decided that young girls fall in love after they come into contact with boys through mobile phones,and hence should be kept away from the devices. We have advised parents not to encourage unmarried daughters to use mobile phones, said Samaj president Somanath Nayak. There are over 10,000 Paikali Khandayat families in Ganjam district.
