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I India
1. Live-in, pre-marital sex not an offence, observes court: The Supreme Court opined that a man and a woman living together without getting married could not be construed as an offence. “When two adult people want to live together what is the offence? Does it amount to an offence? Living together is not an offence. It cannot be an offence,” observed a Bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices Deepak Verma and B.S. Chauhan. The court said even Lord Krishna and Radha lived together according to mythology. The Bench said there was no law which prohibited a live-in relationship or pre-marital sex. (Source accessed on 24 March 2010)
2. 35 inspector posts vacant across Chennai: Keeping vigil over Chennai city is becoming an increasingly tough task with nearly one-fifth of inspectors’ posts lying vacant at present. There are at least 180 inspector posts in the law & order and crime wings, apart from those in the traffic section, all-woman stations, central crime branch and armed reserve. Of these, 35 are waiting to be filled, including 13 in the crime wing. Sources said law and order inspectors in Vyasarpadi, Flower Bazaar, Esplanade and Elephant Gate stations (north Chennai); Nolambur, Egmore, Vepery, Secretariat Colony and Chetpet (central Chennai) and Guindy, Thoraipakkam, Marina and Ashok Nagar (south Chennai) were simultaneously handling duties meant to be taken on by their counterparts in the crime wing. Law and order personnel are usually in charge of investigating cases of murder and assault, but due to the staff crunch, these inspectors are saddled with the additional responsibility of probing frequent incidents of robbery and theft. Part of the reason for the vacancies in the force is that sub-inspectors of the 1997 and 1998 batches are yet to be elevated as inspectors. According to statistics of the Union ministry of home affairs, India has one of the lowest policemen-to-population ratios in the world — just three police personnel per 2,000 people. (A. Selvaraj, Source accessed on 29 March 2010)
3. India’s mountains of shame: Covered by plastic sheets in a football-field-sized area, the black mountain is a formidable presence amid the rolling fields of wheat ripening under a warm March sun. Under its tarpaulin sheets, Fatehgarh Sahib’s mountain, 40 km west of state capital Chandigarh, stores wheat harvested three years ago. The wheat bags have holes and rats run riot. This is part of India’s federal reserve of grain, to be stocked in a warehouse to feed the poor. Out in the open, it quietly turns to garbage in a granary state that has more hungry people than 33 developing countries. As India prepares for a record 2010 wheat harvest, many times more than the nation’s needs, the field of grain here in the eastern district of Fatehgarh Sahib is one of hundreds across Punjab. The black mountain — if it doesn’t completely rot away — holds enough grain to feed 300,000 people. It hides the nation’s inability to store its plentiful food, one of the challenges ahead for Congress President Sonia Gandhi as she prepares to pilot a national effort to get food to the poor where and when they need it. The annual test begins on April 1 as procurement, the process of buying foodgrain from farmers for national food stocks, begins at Ludhiana’s Khanna Mandi, Asia’s biggest grain market. The portents for this year are as grim as ever. Officials expect 11 million tonnes of wheat from a bumper harvest from Punjab alone. With the state's storage capacity being 18 million tonnes (of which space for 13 million tonnes is already occupied), Punjab needs to create room for 6 million tonnes. Across India, unless the government finds a solution, rot and rodents will claim 20 million tonnes, or a tenth of the total harvest. These lost grains are keeping millions hungry: India ranks 66 out of 88 countries on the 2008 Global Hunger Index. “We are doing our best to prevent further damage,” said Rattan Mittal, general manager, procurement, Punjab Agro Ltd, one of seven agencies that buy wheat and rice for the Food Corporation of India (FCI), which never moved the mountain at Fatehgarh Sahib for distribution. Mittal said Punjab Agro hopes to hire panchayat (village council) land to store the grain that will spill out of warehouses this year. Nearly 20 km north of Fatehgarh Sahib, a whole stadium-sized depot of openly stored grains risks contamination from a junkyard of food debris. Punjab stores 80 per cent of its grain in the open, said Mittal. How much foodgrain does India waste every year? The FCI, the government company that manages foodstocks, isn’t particularly willing to answer that. It took a right-to-information query in 2008 to force an answer: between 1997 and 2007, more than 1.3 million tonnes of grain (130,000 truckloads) decayed in storage. The government spent Rs 2.59 crore just to get rid of the rotten food. The problem is more formidable today. India’s federal reserve of foodgrain is about 45 million tonnes, double the stocks held last year and 17 million tonnes more than FCI’s storage capacity. If the stocks were to be distributed, every Indian, all 1.1 billion of us, would get 45 kg. State-run companies and cooperatives have a capacity to hold about 109.2 million tonnes and need an additional 35 million tonnes of space to fill the gap with an investment of Rs 7,687 crore, according to the Planning Commission. It costs the FCI Rs 15,000 to buy and store a tonne of wheat; Rs 19,000 for rice. Distribute the surplus grains to more people at subsidised prices, not just to those below the poverty line. That’s a better solution than letting grain rot in a country hungry for food. (Zia Haq, Source accessed on 31 March 2010)
4. From today, education becomes a fundamental right On April 1 — India joins a group of few countries in the world, with a historic law making education a fundamental right of every child coming into force. Making elementary education an entitlement for children in the 6-14 age group, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 will directly benefit close to one crore children who do not go to school at present. Nearly 92 lakh children, who had either dropped out of schools or never been to any educational institution, will get elementary education as it will be binding on the part of the local and State governments to ensure that all children in the 6-14 age group get schooling. As per the Act, private educational institutions should reserve 25 per cent seats for children from the weaker sections of society. The Centre and the States have agreed to share the financial burden in the ratio of 55:45, while the Finance Commission has given Rs. 25,000 crore to the States for implementing the Act. The Centre has approved an outlay of Rs.15,000 crore for 2010-2011 for the purpose. The school management committee or the local authority will identify the drop-outs or out-of-school children aged above six and admit them in classes appropriate to their age after giving special training. (Aarti Dhar, Source accessed on 1 April 2010) Hard Act to Follow: The implementation of the Act would bring great change in India. The State Governments should do the needful. The State Governments are expected to pay 35% of the cost while the Central Government pay the 65% of the cost. The existing 550000 teachers vacancies ought to be filled and 740000 new teachers ought to be recruited to have 1:30 teacher student ratio. 25% quota in neighbor hood scools for weaker sections and economically poor would be difficult to implement as private schools may approach courts to restrain this Act. The Government would reimburse the fees to private schools for these children. It is estimated that 93% students study in Government schools and only 7% in private schools. (Kaveree Bamzai, India Today 19 April 2010, p. 30-34)
5. Smugglers make ration rice killing: Selling ration rice in the black market has become big business these days. According to a senior official of the civil supplies department, more than 1,500 families in Tamil Nadu make a living by re-selling ration rice to traders. “Selling ration rice has become an organised business in our state,” said the official, who did not want to be named. According to him, many families sell the rice to small traders. The chain continues and smugglers, who have networks across the state, receive thousands of rice bags and smuggle them to neighbouring states in trucks. “Black marketers use innovative techniques. Rice bags are carried in cycles and mini vans and then transferred to lorries in interior villages. There is another set of people who make money by selling rice to shops, which prepare instant idli batter. The department had jailed 120 smugglers and dismissed over 100 ration shop salespersons last year,” said the official. Statistics show that 18,636 cases were registered against smugglers and 61,031 quintals of PDS rice was seized in 2008. Over 1,236 people were arrested and 135 detained under the Prevention of Black Marketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act. When contacted, food secretary K. Shanmugam said the department needed more “reliable” staff to cut down smuggling. “We learnt that ration rice gives good incentive to smugglers. Though reports are flooding in about smuggling of rice, we have not received even a single complaint that ration rice is denied to a card holder,” he claimed. (Source accessed on 1 April 2010)
6. Beyond the count: The 2011 Census will be unique as a special form will be filled with data for the National Population Register (NPR). After the NPR data is ready, every citizen would be allotted a Unique Identification Number (UID). About 800 million (80 crore) citizens above the age of 15 would be allotted this number. India’s population is estimated to be 1.2 billion by March 2011. The NPR data would have several information including photograph, fingerprints of all 10 fingers and iris would be scanned. The first phase of NPR is already being done in certain selected regions as pilot project. The first Census in India was conducted in 1872. (Shyamlal Yadav, India Today 5 April 2010, p. 26-28)
7. Only Rs 12,500 'fine' for gangrape: In Uttar Pradesh, a woman's honour is worth only Rs 12,500. For this is the "fine" imposed on each of the three accused in a gangrape case. The verdict, not surprisingly, has come from a village panchayat in Rampur district of the state. Allegations are that the issue came up before the village panchayat after the police initially refused to register a rape case on the complaint of the victim. But after the matter was highlighted by the media, the police quickly registered a case but only that of molestation and not rape. A woman of Khera village under Mnaik Khanam police station of Rampur was allegedly raped by three local goons hailing from the neighbouring Noorpur village on March 27 last. Though the village panchayat concluded that the victim was gangraped, as punishment it directed the accused to collectively pay Rs 12,500 to the victim's family. After the news about the village panchayat's decision was brought to the notice of the district police chief, he assured a thorough probe into the incident, apart from stringent action against the accused. (Source accessed on 3 April 2010)
8. ‘Spitting’ headache for Mumbai cops: Chain snatchers have been known to come up with innovative ideas, which involve startling or grossing out the victim before they are looted. This time, the police are miffed by the 'thook patti' gang which is known to spit on the targets before snatching their valuables, and already has more than 100 cases of chain and bag snatching in the area registered against them, in the past few weeks. The bikers spat on the victim as soon as her rickshaw slowed down near Hub mall in Goregaon (East) , snatched her chain, and zoomed away on the bike. The police are clueless except the name of the gang. Beat marshals and detection teams of the respective police stations have been ineffective. While 73 cases have been registered with the Goregaon (East), 15 with Dindoshi police station, 16 at Samta Nagar along the Western Express highway. A police officer said, "We have no sketches or descriptions of the accused. The victims say that they were wearing helmets and so it's difficult to identify them. They ride fast, making it difficult to take down the bike numbers. Most of the victims are women travelling alone." (Source accessed on 3 April 2010)
9. Corporate India doth murder sleep: A quarter of corporate employees are so much burdened with work due to tough targets set by employers that they get less than six hours of sleep every day, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) said in a health status survey. As a result, employees suffer from high stressed levels, hypertension, diabetes and other ailments. Loss of sleep has also wide-ranging effects, including daytime fatigue, physical discomfort, psychological stress, performance deterioration and low pain threshold and even increasing absenteeism, the report said. The report said 30 percent of respondents hardly exercised and a further 25 percent said they exercised less than an hour in the entire week. Sleep deprivation costs US $150 billion a year in higher stress and reduced workplace productivity. Findings further revealed that 21 percent of respondents said they felt fatigue on a regular basis due to sleep disorders and close to 17 percent of participants in the survey admitted that they suffered from regular headache. Sleep disorders caused depression among 13 percent of respondents. (K.S. Narayanan, Source accessed on 8 April 2010)
10. Cracks in the Silo wall: Food security legislation will be meaningless if Public Distribution System (PDS) is not revamped. It is estimated that there are 20 million bogus ration cards. Maharastra has an estimated 5 lakh fake cards while Kerala has one lakh. In some States, the number of cards issued is larger than the state population. The study of PDS in 12 states by Dr. Pramod Kumar, Institute for social and economic change reveals ‘inclusion error’ – people who do not deserve get cards. 75% undeserving people got cards in Mizoram; 50 to 60 percent in Assam, Delhi, Maharastra; around 50 % Rajasthan and Bihar; around 35% Chandigarh and 20-30 per cent in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, MP and Uttarakhand. There is ‘exclusion error’ that the deserving families are excluded and cards not issued. (Outlook 12 April 2010, p. 22-24)
11. Health Care Boom: India’s health care is estimated to be Rs. 200000 crore – increase from Rs. 102600 crore in 2005 and it is expected to expand to 300000 crore by 2012. 80% of health care is in private hands, the highest in the world. Four million people are employed in the health care sector, the largest among service sector. 16 per cent of of 15393 hospitals in India are in the private sector. 10% hospitals are owned by corporate hospitals. In metros, there are 32 beds per 10000 which is close to global bench mark of 35 beds. 80% of qualified doctors are in private sector as they are offered 5-10 times more salary. India needs to add 100000 beds every year for next twenty years. 5% of household budget is spent on health care. Insurance is growing and has penetration in cities. Wellness market is estimated to be Rs. 5400 crore. (Damayanti Datta, India Today 12 April 2010, p.34-48)
12. About 100 crorepatis in Rajya Sabha; Rahul Bajaj richest: According to an analysis by an NGO, renowned industrialist Bajaj has declared his movable and immovable assets worth over Rs 300 crore followed by Janta Dal (Secular) MP M A M Ramaswamy (Karnataka) and T Subramani Reddy of Congress (Andhra Pradesh) who have declared assets of more than Rs 278 crore and Rs 272 crore respectively. Samajwadi Party's Jaya Bachchan from Uttar Pradesh and expelled SP leader Amar Singh have admitted wealth of Rs 215 crore and Rs 79 crore respectively, the data said. The analysis was done by Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW), an umbrella body of about 1,200 NGOs worldwide, after analysing self-sworn affidavits filed by 219 members at the time of their elections to Rajya Sabha by exercising Right to Information Act. According to the data, a total of 98 MPs have declared their assets worth crores and 37 MPs have pending criminal cases against them. Congress has the highest of seven MPs with pending criminal cases followed by six from BJP and four each from BSP and Shiv Sena. Interestingly, two Rajya Sabha MPs - CPI's D Raja from Tamil Nadu and Saman Pathak of CPI(M) from West Bengal - have declared zero (0) assets. CPI(M) Parliamentarian Brinda Karat from West Bengal has declared assets worth Rs 1.74 lakh and Revolutionary Socialist Party's Abani Roy (West Bengal) Rs 72,000. The highest of 33 crorepatis are from Congress, 21 from BJP and seven from Samajwadi Party, it said. The association also made an analysis of education details of the members. Out of the 219 Rajya Sabha MPs, whose affidavits were analysed, 179 are graduates, 18 are class XII qualified, 11 are high school passed and two have attended school only till class eight. (Source accessed on 11 April 2010)
13. India has more mobile telephones than toilets: UN report: More people in India, the world's second most crowded country, have access to a mobile telephone than to a toilet, according to a new UN study on how to cut the number of people with inadequate sanitation. "It is a tragic irony to think that in India, a country now wealthy enough that roughly half of the people own phones, about half cannot afford the basic necessity and dignity of a toilet," said Zafar Adeel, Director of United Nations University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health (IWEH). India has some 545 million cell phones, enough to serve about 45% of the population, but only about 366 million people or 31% of the population had access to improved sanitation in 2008. If current global trends continue, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) predict there will be a shortfall of 1 billion persons from that sanitation goal by the target date of 2015. "Anyone who shirks the topic as repugnant, minimizes it as undignified, or considers unworthy those in need should let others take over for the sake of 1.5 million children and countless others killed each year by contaminated water and unhealthy sanitation," said. Adeel. ( Source accessed on 15 April 2010)
14. Human sacrifice at temple in West Bengal: In an unprecedented case of human sacrifice, the beheaded body of a 35-year-old man was found outside a temple of Goddess Kali this morning about 6 km from Bolpur in West Bengal's Birbhum district. The body was found outside the temple by the priest who went there for prayers around 5 am. The temple is two km away from the nearest village called Donaipur. Confirming a case of human sacrifice, SDPO Bolpur Kalyan Mukherjee said the victim is not a local man. According to Chandan Mukherjee, the priest of the Kajjala Kali Mandir, he had performed puja at the temple till about 9 last night. When he returned this morning, he saw a body lying just outside the temple. When a closer look revealed the man had been beheaded, the scared priest ran to the nearest village for help. Inside the temple were some burnt incense sticks and blood splattered near the idol of the goddess. (Source accessed on 15 April 2010)
15. Malls not well: Malls are being abandoned by retailers and customers alike. ‘Temples of consumption’ are deserted. A majority of the 200 odd malls, which emerged in the last five years plagued by high vacancies of shops and low footfalls. Some malls are converted to commercial office spaces. Globally, malls are under one company’s ownership and are managed well. In India, the spaces were sold to individuals and there is no unified management model or promotion of malls. Over 6.57 million Sq. ft. of mall space is lying vacant in India across eight cities. Post meltdown, retail sales dropped by 11% and rentals by over 40%. (Malini Bhupta and Nandhini Vaish India Today 19 April 2010, p. 46)
16. Families on the faultline: 290 family suicides were reported in the year 2008, of which, 102 occurred in the State of Bihar. In Bihar, the individual suicides are less, while family suicides are more. More minor girls die in family suicides than minor boys. Psychiatrists and sociologists consider break down of community structure as the cause for such suicides. Experts feel that family as support system still exists, but it’s healing ability has diminished due to individualism. The gap between ambition and reality has widened. The social and psychological impact of failure is also high. (Amitabh Srivastava, India Today 19 April 2010, p. 86-89)
17. 1,000 private water tankers to go off road on Friday: Private tank owners who supply water for residents and employees of software companies on the Old Mahabalipuram Road, are on strike since 14 April and they are joined by tanker owners in Ambattur, Poonamalle and the western suburbs (who supply water to hotels, companies and residential areas in the city) on 16 April. Each tanker has a capacity of 12,000 litres. Unlike the city that gets Metrowater supply, in the suburbs, the local bodies in Perungudi, Okkiyam-Thoraipakkam, Karapakkam, Sholinganallur, Semmancheri and Navalur are ill-equipped to provide water as they are short of manpower and funds. The trigger for strike was the revenue officials crack down on tankers for extracting water from farm land in Medavakkam, Nanmangallam, Pallikaranai, Sholinganallur, Ottiyambakkam and Kovilambakkam. The tanker owners demand relaxation in the norms for extracting water and exemption from the toll of Rs. 132 per trip on OMR. Along OMR, there are nearly 250 small software firms and 16 IT majors, including Wipro, Cognizant, Infosys, TCS and Polaris, which employ around 1.2 lakh people. (D. Madhavan, Source accessed on 16 April 2010)
18. This 101 yr-old woman is an NREGS worker: Karupayee of Thanakankulam village is one of the first at the Thiruparankundram panchayat union office, hoping there's work for her under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Scheme (MNREGS). Her story is similar to millions of other Indians who have benefited from the government programme providing for 100 days of guaranteed employment. But Karupayee is 101 years old. She doesn't have records to prove her age, but when she enrolled herself in the scheme last year, she told the officers that she was 110 years old. They re-calculated it based on the age of her eldest son Sandhanam, who is 82, and put her age down as 100 on her NREGS card. Villagers call her 'suru surupu paati' (brisk granny) as even at a ripe old age she hasn't stopped working. Karupayee has worked for 60 days so far, between April 2009 and March 2010, and says it has helped her live with dignity. She married Chockanvirumandi, a mill worker, over 80 years ago. He died 50 years ago, after contracting rabies when a street dog bit him. She kept her family afloat by taking up various jobs. Only three of her seven children are alive today, but she has 15 grandchildren and a handful of great-grandchildren. She also avails of the monthly widow pension of Rs 400 given by the state government.( Padmini Sivarajah, Source accessed on 18 April 2010)
19. Heat toll mounts to 48 in Orissa: With three more deaths, the sunstroke toll mounted to 48 on 15 Aparil in Orissa as the western and interior districts continued to reel under heat wave. The three deaths were reported from Ganjam (2) and Dhenkanal (1) districts, officials said. The worst affected area is the western part of the state where the mercury touched 45 degree celsius at Balangir. The maximum temperature was 44.6 degree C, 44.1 C and 44 C at Jharsuguda, Hirakud and Sambalpur respectively, Met office said. (Source accessed on 18 April 2010)
20. New figure for poor: 372m: As many as 372 million Indians will be categorised as poor in the proposed National Food Security Act, the Planning Commission said. The new poverty estimate — based on access to food, education and health — will not change the urban poverty figure but for rural India, the number of poor would increase from 28.3 per cent to 41.8 per cent.It would mean that additional 97 million people would get subsidised food grains, once the proposed law is implemented, increasing the government’s food subsidy bill by around Rs 20,000 crore, to Rs 75,000 crore. The proposed law guarantees 25 kg of food grains only to below poverty line families. As of now, 275 million poor Indians get up to 35 kg in subsidised food grains from the government-run fair price shops.(Chetan Chauhan, Source accessed on 18 April 2010)
21. 66% fire hydrants non-functional: Mumbai continues to neglect its fire hydrants. A report compiled by the hydraulic department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has revealed that close to 66% of fire hydrants present across the city are not in working condition. The fire hydrants, which were set up during the British era, are also known as fire plugs and are mainly used as access points for water supply to douse fires. The report states that of the 9,499 hydrants in the city, 6,223 are not operational and need repairs. The civic body has also been using these hydrants to flush out contaminated water, and to regulate water pressure. Even statistics procured from the fire department throw light on how the city has forgotten about its fire hydrants. Until 2003, the city had over 19,000 hydrants, all spaced at a distance of 150 metres from each other. While a few were dismantled, many others have mysteriously disappeared or got buried underneath pavements after road works have been undertaken. The death knell for the hydrants was first sounded when water supply hours in the city were curtailed a decade ago. Owing to the intermittent water supply and absence of adequate water supply, firemen were not able to draw water from the hydrants at all times and so began using water tankers. Also, many "orphaned" hydrants became victims of carelessness of road contractors, who raised road surfaces without rehabilitating the hydrants. Of the 6,223 faulty hydrants, a majority (4,443) are in the island city, while 851 are in western suburbs and 929 in the eastern suburbs. (Sandeep Ashar, Source accessed on 19 April 2010)
22. IPS Fact: The recent Home Ministry report says that out of 4013 posts of IPS officers there are 3382 are in service. There is dearth of officers in all states: Rajasthan 39, Karnataka, 40, Tamil Nadu 40, Bihar 40, Assam-Meghalaya 48, Uttar Pradesh 58, Orissa 60, West Bengal 71 and Madhya Pradesh 76. (Stephen David, India Today, 26 April 2010, p.14)/p>
23. By 2030, Indian towns may turn dry, stinking hellholes: Dry taps, untreated sewage and piles of solid waste strewn all around. This can become a stark reality of our urban landscape by 2030, when India’s urban population will grow from 340 million in 2008 to 590 million — 40 per cent of the total population — and twice the present population of the United States, predicts a report by McKinsey & Company. But this gloomy picture can be turned around if India invests $1.2 trillion (Rs 54 lakh crore) to keep pace with the growing urbanisation, says the report, India’s Urban Awakening: Building Cities, Sustaining Economic Growth, which was released on Thursday. India’s current per capita spending of $17 (Rs 784) on urban infrastructure is just 14 per cent that of China’s $116 (Rs 6,030). The report states that if existing services are not improved drastically, the per capita water supply to a average citizen could drop from an average of 105 litres to only 65 litre a day in the next 20 years. Also, 70-80 per cent of the sewage generated in the country would go untreated, while of the 377 million tonne per annum solid waste that would be generated by 2030, only about 295 million tonne will be collected because of inadequate facilities. The National Capital — with a GDP of $296 billion (Rs 13.32 lakh crore) — will become the largest economy by 2030, overtaking India’s financial capital Mumbai of $265 billion (Rs 11.92 lakh crore). But India’s IT hub, Bangalore will replace Delhi as the city with the richest individuals. The number of middleclass households in the country (earning between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 10 lakh) will increase from 32 million to 147 million. Thirteen cities will have a population of more than four million by 2030 with five states — Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Punjab — likely to be more than 50% urbanised. Also, 70% of India’s GDP will come from cities — up from 58% — and drive a near fourfold increase in per capita incomes. “India’s approach to urbanisation is likely to result in urban gridlock and chaos, jeopardising the 7.4% growth rate. India needs to act with urgency for the well being of its citizens and economy,” says Ireena Vittal, partner, McKinsey & Company. (Moushumi Das Gupta,, Source accessed on 23 April 2010)
II Diasporao
1. LLos Angeles church to give lessons on Indian way of living: A 100-year-old church in Los Angeles will now propagate the Indian way of life and its spiritual teachings. This historic building is being taken up by the Art of Living Foundation to run its community service, including yoga, meditation, and knowledge programmes. The new AOL centre, a registered national historic monument since 1987, was designed in a neo-classical style by architect Alfred Rosenheim. Its construction began in 1907 and opened to the public in 1910. At the time of construction, it was the largest church on the West Coast of USA and featured what was then the world’s largest poured concrete dome. In a press release on Tuesday, AOL said its leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will inaugurate the centre on Wednesday and the next day it will host a forum on corporate social responsibility called ‘‘Business, Ethics and Spirituality’’ with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, billionaire philanthropist John Paul DeJoria and professional skateboarder and MTV star Rob Dyrdek. The release added that more than 750 Los Angeles high school students are taking AOL’s Youth Empowerment Seminar (YES). (Source accessed on 14 April 2010)
2. The ‘Florence Nightingales’ from India: According to National Medical Council’s March 2008 report, there are 1020 Indian nurses working in United Kingdom; while 262 are from Australia and 249 are from Philippines. More than half the salaries of nurses are sent back to India. (Cynthia Chandran, Media Voice April 2010, p. 14-15)
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