The Beginning of New Era : RTE

Today is day of fulfillment of promise. Nearly one deade after the Constitution was amended to make education a fundamental right, the government today implemented a historic law to provide free and compulsory education to all children in age group of 6-14 years.

The 86th Constitutional amendment making education a fundamental right was passed by Parliament in 2002. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, a law to enable the implementation of the fundamental right, was passed by Parliament last year. Both the Constitutional amendment and the new law came into force from today.

The new law makes it obligatory on part of the state governments and local bodies to ensure that every child gets education in a school in the neighbourhood.

Its implementation will directly benefit close to one crore children who do not go to schools at present. These children, who have either dropped out from schools or have never been to any educational institution, will be enrolled in schools.

According to ministry of MHRD at present, there are nearly 22 crore children in the relevant age group. However, 4.6 per cent of these children (nearly 92 lakh) are out of school.

The school management committee or the local authority will identify the drop-outs or out of school children above six years of age and admit them in classes appropriate to their age after giving special training.

The Act mandates that even private educational institutions have to reserve 25 per cent seats for children from weaker sections. Education will be every child's right . This makes obligatory for the concerned governments to ensure that every child gets free elementary education. But the hindrances are still ahead, certain schools have already challenged the law in the Supreme Court as being 'unconstitutional' and violating fundamental rights of unaided private educational institutions.

The Finance Commission has provided Rs 25,000 crore to the states for implementation of the Act. Government's estimates say, there will be a requirement of Rs 1.71 lakh crore in the next five years for implementation of the Act.

The Act says no school can deny admission to a student and all schools need to have trained teachers. In case of schools not having trained teachers, they will have to comply with the provision within three years.

As per the new law, the schools need to have certain minimum facilities like adequate teachers, playground and infrastructure. The government will evolve some mechanism to help marginalised schools comply with the provisions of the Act.

The government has already prepared model rules which have been circulated to the states for preparing their own rules for implementation of the Act. The Centre has also prepared separate rules for the Union Territories which will be notified by the Law Ministry next week.

As per the Model rules, the local bodies and the state governments will undertake household surveys and neighbourhood school mapping to ensure that all children are sent to school.

The rules say that the state governments or local authorities will determine the neighbourhood schools by undertaking school mapping. Such agencies shall ensure that no child is subjected to caste, class, religious or gender abuse in the school.

The local authority will conduct a household survey and maintain a record of all children in its jurisdiction. The record will contain detailed information about the child and the parents and will specify whether the child belongs to the weaker section or disadvantaged group or having any disability.

The state government or local authorities will identify children with disabilities and children from disadvantaged groups every year.

Unaided and private schools shall ensure that children from weaker sections and disadvantaged groups shall not be segregated from the other children in the classrooms nor shall their classes be held at places and timings different from the classes held for the other children.

The new law will ensure that quality education is provided to children of all community, including minorities and backward classes.

However, the reservation for weaker section will not be implemented from this year as the admission season is almost over. It will be implemented from 2011-12.

The state government and local authorities will establish primary schools within walking distance of one km of the neighbourhood. In case of children for Class VI to VIII, the school should be within a walking distance of three km of the neighbourhood.

WHY EVERY MOUTH IS TALKING ABOUT TV

We know that on 26 th Nov Mumbai attack has not only put grief and sorrow, but it also underlined about electronic media. Which now dubbed as invasionary media.

After the siege was ended we saw Navy Chief Sureesh Mehta lashing out against the media at the annual Navy briefing. The fuming Admiral, who at one point even told reporters that ‘I would have chopped your heads off’ for an alleged ‘breach of privilege’, said a “Colonel was dismissed after he fired an artillery round on requests by a TV reporter that resulted in retaliatory fire which killed three jawans”.

But it was not limited to herewith, Information & Broadcasting Ministry also stepped into and issued an advisory.

The I&B Ministry in its advisory states: “Repeated visuals and stories pertaining to the attack, which would make the perpetrators feel their attack was a success, should be avoided. The media is hereby advised to play the positive role it has in its power to play to instill confidence in the citizens and send a message to the inimical terrorist forces that India is not in disarray.”

So TV journalism should not be heroic on the cost Country, people and society. Thus the disgust about News TV Channels not happening.

TEARS IN MUMBAI

It was start of Shock, Shame and Grief in Mumbai on 26 Nov. It was black wednesday. Terrorist claimed more than 180 lives.
Country was swaying in doldrums. Most of Indian were glued to TV sets. However drama was happened to be stretched more than easy it lasted for 60 hrs. Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare, NSG major Unnikrishnan and many others lost in battle.
The proud was the NSG , ARMY and others who saved life people, taking stake on their life. But politicians were again seen indulged in mudslinging not bothering about what is grievous thing was going on.

This is our leadership which chants the about national security but when the time of action comes they are bitten by election bugs.

TOP HONCHOS : CONGRATULATIONS OBAMA

HU JINTAO : I look forward to endeavor together with you," he said. "To push the Sino-U.S. constructive and cooperative relations to a new level, in order to better benefit our two peoples and the peoples of the world." Urging Obama to join China in shouldering "important common responsibilities."
SARKOZY Obama's election raised in France, in Europe and around the world "an immense hope" and that the American people "had expressed with force their faith in progress and the future."
Afghan president KARZAI said the American people have taken "themselves ... and the rest of the world into a new era, the era where race, color and ethnicity ... will also disappear as a factor in politics in the rest of the world."
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh added: "The Iraqi government has a true desire to work and cooperate with the elected president for the best interest of the two countries to spread security and ensure Iraq's full sovereignty in a way that this will guarantee the interest of Iraqi people."
German Chancellor ANGELA MERKEL also offered her congratulations and said she would work with Obama to deal with the challenges facing the world. "I'm convinced that through a close and trusting cooperation between the United States and Europe we will be able to confront new risks and challenges in a decisive manner and will be able to take advantage of the numerous opportunities that are opening up in our world," Merkel said.

British Prime Minister GORDON BROWN described a "vital" relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom and said he was excited about the prospect of working with the new U.S. president.
Hailing as "extraordinary" Barack Obama's win in the US Presidential election, Indian Prime Minister MANMOHAN SINGH said he looked forward to working with him to realise the "enormous" potential for bilateral cooperation."Your extraordinary journey to the White House will inspire people not only in your country but also around the world," he said in a congratulatory message to the Democrat leader, the first African-American set to become US President.

OBAMA : MEDIA MANIA, CAMPAIGN & RESULT

On the 5th of November a long and much hyped campaign come to an end. As Democrate senator BARACK OBAMA rose to 44th Prez of world's most powerful democracy.

Now generations will remember him. First black and outspoken. How we would like to remember him as a son of Kenyan economist or a child of single mother. Or as a senator who won the seat in the Illinois state in 1996.

But he will be remembered best as a best hyped presidential nominee who tried to steal the show via every possible manner. He debated his septuagenarian rival and republican senator Jhon Mccain.

In 2oth January 2009 when he will take oath his prowess will be tasted. Because he has to face more challenges. Economy may be big bash. Since 1930's it is very depressingly crunch time. America seems to be under pressure with many fronts like War in Iraq and Afghanistan and on foreign policy.

As we talk full use media and campaign. Will it be set a trend ? It is question of future? Because when he purchased all the time space from television media he pushed people to see only OBAMA and OBAMA. It is not good message.

Absolutely old adage says it is all fair in love and war. After he has won war, rest is upto him. It is hope alive for Kenyan from where he belongs, there president honoured him with one day public holiday in Kenya.

REDRESSAL OR RITUAL

Indian private news and current affairs broadcasters have intended that they are stepping ahead to self-regulate their content. The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has come up with News Broadcasting Standards (Disputes Redressal) Authority to enforce NBA's code of ethics and broadcasting standards. A nine member authority will be headed by former chief justice and former NHRC chairperson Justice J S Verma. Its members are, historian Ramachandra Guha, former Nasscom chief Kiran Karnik, JNU don Dipankar Gupta and economist and ex-under secretary general of UN, Nitin Desai. Its editor-members are, India TV managing editor Vinod Kapri, Zee News group editor B V Rao, Star News managing editor Milind Khandekar and Times Now editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami. The authority, to which the public with grievance over television content can bring their grievances, will become operational on October 2.

NBA "believes that media that is meant to expose the lapses in government and in public life cannot obviously be regulated by government, else it would lack credibility.

Again censure

In Association's " a censure emanating from a jury of peers would indisputably affect the credibility of a channel." The process of censure would not be without its legal ramifications. "A channel acting in breach of established guidelines could hardly defend its motives or suggest that it was acting fairly, if it is censured by a jury comprising its peers."

Is it again a eye wash or something else

Mostly people think channels are not doing any kind of charity work. The TRP bonded force not allow them to stick them must hyped Code of conduct. Because everyone thinks that the comptetition is very high.

So these channels in the name of their USP not relent to come with their awkward contents. So it will take to prove their hyped words.

BBC TARGETS LANGUAGE MEDIA

BBC journalists oppose offshoring of programming to IndiaAgenciesPosted
News: Reuters is going in the lap of Thomson Press. Zee Group is going to acquire UNI. And recently offshoring of Journalists from south Asia working in the Hindi, Tamil, Urdu, Tamil, Bengali and Sinhala sections of the BBC World Service in London. They have launched a campaign to protest against offshoring of programming to the Indian sub-continent.
A series of meetings have been held between the affected journalists and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), which is supporting a union campaign against what is described as a "money-saving adventure" of the BBC management.
The offshoring involves new contracts for the London-based journalists who have been told to accept redundancy or relocate to their countries of origin in south Asia, and accept downgraded pay conditions.
Defending the move, the BBC said it had plans to have around 50 per cent of overall language service staff located closer to their audiences.
Mike Gardner, Head of Media Relations at the BBC World Service, said: "The proposed redeployments of staff to India, Pakistan and Nepal recognise the new media realities in those countries."
He added: "It aims to serve our audiences in the region better; equip those services with the qualities that will be successful in these fiercely competitive media landscapes; and use resources more efficiently."
Gardner said, it was BBC World Service's policy that its language services work closer to the audiences they serve for some time.
However, Indian and other south Asian BBC journalists said that the redeployment would "dismantle a broadcasting service that is the envy of the world". They added that it would affect their working and the lives of their families.
Jeremy Dear, general secretary of the NUJ, said after a meeting with BBC's south Asian journalists "We are committed to opposing these offshoring plans which are ill-founded and put at threat not just jobs but editorial quality, integrity and the future of the world service".
Dear said the plans which would have a fundamental impact on staff and their families were conceived without proper consultation and were in breach of agreements, which should worry staff across all BBC services.
"It is unacceptable that staff should be faced with the kind of choices - offshore or go - the BBC are seeking to impose... We're not against new staff, not against being closer to listeners across the sub-continent. We are against jobs being cut, offshored and outsourced to meet artificial budget restrictions.

Gardner noted that there was a rapidly changing media environment and highly competitive market both for radio and on-line in all parts of the world.
"This presents the BBC with new challenges, but also opportunities. It means the BBC can work closer with our local FM partner stations that deliver around one-third of our 183 million listeners a week and allows us to respond more rapidly to changing local media market conditions." According to Arjum Wajid of the BBC Urdu Service, the offshoring process started three years ago when Hindi programming was progressively shifted from Bush House, London, to New Delhi. This included the Hindi online service.
In 2007 end, staff of the Hindi Service was reportedly told that 80 per cent of the programming would be moved to India, while the Urdu Service staff learnt that 50 per cent programming would move to Islamabad.

BBC accused of off-shoring deception BECTU has accused the BBC of misleading Parliament over details of its plan to move finance jobs to India. The union has publicised a major discrepancy between information given to staff about the deal, and submissions made by top Corporation executives to the Public Accounts Committee.
“Parliament appears to have been mislead over whether the XANSA bid was the lowest” At a hearing on November 29th in the House of Commons the BBC claimed that a bid by Xansa, the company which was awarded a contract involving hundreds of jobs going to India, was the cheapest that had been received.
This contradicted a meeting only a day earlier, where the BBC had told BECTU officials that Xansa's bid was not the cheapest.
MPs also heard that all bidders for the BBC's finance contract, currently in the hands of Media Accounting Services (Medas), had included an element of offshore work in their proposals.
However, at the meeting with union representatives, the BBC said that the bid from Medas itself did not include any element of off-shoring, although some jobs would have been moved from London to Swansea if the company had won renewal of its contract.
BECTU Official Luke Crawley said: "The BBC is contradicting itself in its stories about the cost of off-shoring jobs. If what it says to the staff and BECTU is true then the BBC is spending more public money to send jobs overseas than it would cost to keep those jobs in the UK. This also raises a question about why the public purse should fund the resulting unemployment of this exercise.
"Parliament appears to have been mislead over whether the XANSA bid was the lowest bid for the outsourced work", he continued. "BECTU is calling on the BBC to own up and tell the truth, either it has lied to Parliament or it has lied to the staff and Unions about the contract."
The BBC's responded by saying that the winning bid from Xansa included a number of one-off costs that made "one of the other bidders marginally cheaper than the Xansa bid". BECTU has taken this as confirmation that, over the life of the 10-year contract, another bidder, thought to be Medas, would have been cheaper than Xansa
"We're not against additional resources and staff - we are against seeking to get work on the cheap," he said.