The Daily Observer Volume 14 Issue 5 by IIJNM Bangalore

The Daily

Observer Volume 14 | Issue 5

Friday, November 28, 2014

A granite crib as bosses won’t pay for creche Agnivesh Harshan

emale construction workers are forced to expose their children to hazardous building sites because contractors are failing to provide creches. Indramma works at a construction site behind Christ University in S.G Playa. She is a migrant worker from Bellary. Her child, less than a year old, was lying on gravel just a few meters away from a dangerous tool kit of hammers and shovels. There was cement dust in the air which suffocated everyone around. The child’s cries were drowned out in the loud noise from the machinery nearby. Two other women at the site also had their children with them. There is nowhere else for them to go. Under government rules contractors are legally obliged to provide creche facilities for these infants, but those rules are being flouted and ignored. "You may think I am being irresponsible but I like to keep my child with me. It's a cruel world and I don't trust her with anyone. I tend to her between the work. I feel nobody can take care of her as well as I can," said Indramma, a migrant construction worker. "The government has schemes

A baby, less than a year old, lies swaddled in a blanket on a granite heap as her mother works nearby for the protection of construction workers, especially lactating women and their children. It is the responsibility of the contractors and engineers to build crèches at a safe distance from the construction site. They fail to do so or find loopholes in the law which mandates the construction of these creches. "The law states that creches are only to be installed if there are 50 or more lactating women. They save the expense by hiring slightly less

than the limit," said Srivalli, Deputy Labour Commisioner. "It should be an inclusive programme which includes the labour department, the Woman and Child Development Department, NGO's and whistleblowers. Only then will there be genuine change," she added. District Child Protection Officer, Divya Narayanappa, said: "If the creches are not built a case must be booked against the engineer and contractor. It is also the responsibil-

ity of Anganvadis to take care of these children who have parents who cannot afford to take care of them. "This issue, however, is a concern of the labour department and human rights department. We are helpless because the mother is an employee there and we cannot separate the mother from her child."

Varsha Pillai from CRY (Children's Rights and You) said: "These kids are supposed to be enrolled into a local anganvadi. The

sad fact however is that there are hardly enough anganvadis nationwide. "Plus the parents of such children are usually migrant workers and do not usually have the requisite ID proofs required to enroll their children into such institutions. CRY has a volunteer force which helps such parents to admit their children to such daycare programs." Human rights activist B.T. Venkatesh said, “Construction workers in India are mostly from Orissa and Karnataka. Their migration is a prime example of urban immigration. It’s not only an issue of crèches, They need drinking water, proper wages and accommodation and safety measures which are denied by the contractors. The solution to the issue would be strong labour unions and the state missionary should act with the civil society for the labourer’s welfare.” “Construction workers do not have their own labour unions as they are migrants who usually do not have ID proofs. It is a contract based labour for a specific period and is not a permanent job. Therefore memberships to labour unions are generally denied.”

‘Yelling donkey’ Afrojack ruining Indian culture Suharika Rachavelpula ‘Western style’ concerts could be banned in Bangalore after a council meeting passed a resolution to outlaw them amid dubious claims of drink, donkeys and even date rape drugs. One corporator who cited a recent Afrojack concert in the city claimed he had recorded covert footage of drug dealing and handed it to police, as part of his submission to the council that these events should be banned in the city. He also claimed 1kg of heroin had been recovered and several people arrested during the gig last weekend by the Dutch based music producer and DJ. Police, however, denied ever receiving any recorded material from the corporator, NR Ramesh, and made no arrests on the night of the concert or afterwards. The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike passed a resolution on Thursday asking the state government to ban all western artists' concerts in the city. Shantha Kumari, Mayor, said, “The resolution was passed in the house and is sent to state govern-

ment.” N R Ramesh, BBMP Bhartiya Janta Party corporator, said, “These events are an invasion on our Indian culture. Girls have free entry and boys have to pay up to Rs. 25000. They consume alcohol, drugs and carry brown sugar (heroin) with them to these concerts. They give date drugs to girls and take advantage of them. These artists keep yelling like donkeys and audience does accordingly,” he said. The resolution came after the Sunburn Afrojack concert was held on November 23 in Bangalore. “Police had caught more than 1 kg of heroin and arrested the people possessing it. We also did a sting operation and the video has been submitted to BBMP commissioner” claimed Ramesh. According to him, the people arrested in the concert for substance possession were taken to the Yelahanka Old Town Police Station. But the police there have denied making any such arrest. “No cases of any illegal activities like drugs were registered in any police station in Yelahanka where the event took place,” said Venkatesh, Sub-Inspector of police.

Suresh Patil, a local event organizer, said, “Illegal activities like drug abuse happens only in some events, not all of them.” Sylvester Aswin, who attended the concert said, “It was the best thing I have been to. I don’t know why these political party people have to do this.” Ninad Shah, former head of Sunburn festival and currently the cofounder of muzenly.com, said: “Drug abuse has nothing to do with bringing international bands here. It is more about the atmosphere one is exposed to. International music has always been in India, it's not something new.” He added, “At present, the taxes on alcohol have gone up. That makes it easier for the youth to buy drugs that are available in less than what alcohol could cost. International bands or music has no relation to this.” He added: “Goa has been like the drug capital of India forever now. Psy trance originated there. What about that?”

About international bands coming to India, he said that bands don't think about laws when they plan a concert, but think about the

BBMP Corporator, N.R. Ramesh, called Afrojack a ‘yelling donkey’ audience. “It will make a difference to their organisers maybe, but not the bands,” said Shah, who was

also a part of Percept Live and Percept Sports and Entertainment.

Friday, November 28, 2014

The Daily Observer

No job opportunities for visually challenged in the city Aadhira Anandh Visually impaired people in the city find it difficult to get a job because of their disability and lack of awareness among the public. Mr. Zameer Pasha, said, “I am not able to get a job because I am blind. People have a prejudice that I cannot work properly because I am blind. I am educated, I speak good English and I am good with technology, but still they don’t give me job.” Mr. Tausif Ahamed, who is also blind, said, “There are organistaions that help us, but again it’s very difficult for them to cover it on a whole. If there are more organisations working for it and if the government is able to increase the reservation and train us more, we will also be able to live a normal life.” Mr. Venkatesh, the placement officer in Karnataka Welfare Association for the Blind said, "I have been working on getting them a job so that they can make a living. But every time they get rejected because they are blind." He continued, “There are around 70-80 applications with us in the last two months and I was able to place only four of them. All of them are educated and we only look for placement options with call centers as they cannot do anything else. But even then, they are not given jobs." “As of now we have only 5% reservation for disabled in government sector. It would really help them if the reservation is increased a little," he added. Mr. Parashivamurthy, General Secreatry of KWAB, who is also visually challenged said, "The job market is not open for visually impaired because of their lack of knowledge in technology. It’s very difficult for the company to train them due to obvious reasons." "We will have to train them the way people in other countries are trained. If in South Africa, a totally blind person can be a chief justice, why can’t we do that? It’s just that we need more support from the government." "We need more training centers and more people teaching them. With great effort we have brought up the reservation to 5%. But still it is not easy as there are lots of people who are struggling to get a job,” he added. Mr. Indresh, Assistant Commissioner for Disability said, “We are working towards giving them job opportunities. Along with the reservation system, we are working towards implementing the Unemployment Allowance Scheme which provides job opportunities to them.”

Mr. Parashivmurthy, General Secretary of KWAB We are working on various schemes where we can train them. We also have plans to organize lots of camps and counselling for these people. Implementing them will take a little time, but as all these schemes come into action lot of these problems can be solved.” Visually impaired people in the city find it difficult to get a job because of their disability and lack of awareness among the public. Mr. Zameer Pasha, said, “I am not able to get a job because I am blind. People have a prejudice that I cannot work properly because I am blind. I am educated, I speak good English and I am good with technology, but still they don’t

give me job.” Mr. Tausif Ahamed, who is also blind, said, “There are organistaions that help us, but again it’s very difficult for them to cover it on a whole. If there are more organisations working for it and if the government is able to increase the reservation and train us more, we will also be able to live a normal life.” Mr. Venkatesh, the placement officer in Karnataka Welfare Association for the Blind said, "I have been working on getting them a job so that they can make a living. But every time they get rejected because they are blind." He continued, “There are around 70-80 applications with us in the last two months and I was able to place only four of them. All of them are educated and we only look for placement options with call centers as they cannot do anything else. But even then, they are not given jobs." “As of now we have only 5% reservation for disabled in government sector. It would really help them if the reservation is increased a little," he added. Mr. Parashivamurthy, General Secreatry of KWAB, who is also visually challenged said, "The job market is not open for visually impaired because of their lack of knowledge in technology. It’s very difficult for the company to train them due to obvious reasons." "We will have to train them the way people in other countries are trained. If in South Africa, a totally blind person can be a chief justice, why can’t we do that? It’s just that we need more support from the government." "We need more training centers and more people teaching them. With great effort we have brought up the reservation to 5%. But still it is not easy as there are lots of people who are struggling to get a job,” he added. Mr. Indresh, Assistant Commissioner for Disability said, “We are working towards giving them job opportunities. Along with the reservation system, we are working towards implementing the Unemployment Allowance Scheme which provides job opportunities to them.” “We are working on various schemes where we can train them. We also have plans to organize lots of camps and counselling for these people. Implementing them will take a little time, but as all these schemes come into action lot of these problems can be solved.”

No jobs for sporting heroes leaves state struggling to compete Vignesh S.G C.L. Ramakrishnan National level sportspeople are not being given jobs promised by the government of Karnataka. M.S. Ramesh, Joint Director of Karnataka State Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports, said, “There is no permanent job for sportspeople in Karnataka. We want job reservation and sports quota. They do have a sports quota, however, it depends on respective departments but no proper procedure is followed regarding that,” he added.

Athletes practicing at Kanteerava Stadium

Krishna Murthy, President of Karnataka State Hockey Association said, “No government body is recruiting our players. Unless a sportsperson is assured of a government job they can’t pursue sports as a career. “ He added, “Most of the people are dropping out of the sport because the government bodies are not recruiting and the public sectors have also stopped recruiting. University level and state level players are the most affected. "We have spoken to the government many times but they are least bothered. We can only give our representation. If you consider Haryana, the government is giving job offers to sportsmen and that is the reason why the state is flourishing in national competitions.

There is no political as well as government will to put the state forward in the field of sports,” he added. Vivek, a national basketball player from Surana College, said: “There is no confirmation of government jobs for us. The college will take care of our sports expenses until we graduate. After that it’s the government’s responsibility to take care of our expenses by providing us jobs for bringing glory to the state, but there is no job security for players like us.” Karthik, a State basketball player, said, “We request the government to give guaranteed jobs. The government seems to show interest in sports but they don’t give jobs.”

Gopal Reddy, Vice President of Karnataka Volleyball Association, said, “Each year, the postal department recruits 14 international players and the railway department recruits 60 players, both of whom are central government. Still, no job quota is given by the Karnataka government.” Vijayakumar, Kerala Olympic Association Joint Secretary, said, “Every year Kerala government recruits more than 100 national and international players for government jobs. However, According to Abhaya Chandra Jain, Sports Minister of Karnataka, “There are a lot of job opportunities for national and state players in Karnataka. And every year railways recruits lots of players from different sports.”

Basketball players who represented Karnataka State at national level tournament

Friday, November 28, 2014

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Lathi charge on villagers leaves News Digest women and children hurt Darshan D Rane Elizabeth Mani Police lathi charged 8000 villagers gathered to protest against the creation of a garbage dump in Gorur village. According to villagers, there were 800 policemen from Ramnagar, Kumbalgodu, Solid and Khudur present and they beat women and children. Gangamma, a villager, said, “My three year old boy, Pavan, was going to his Anganwadi school. The policemen stopped him and beat him with

A woman who was injured in the lathi charge

Pavan, 3, the youngest beaten by the police

lathi. He is injured.” Hema, 28, said, “They did not leave women also. We ran into our houses but they dragged us out and beat us mercilessly. When I asked Shiv Kumar, the Tehsildar and ACP, Mahesh about protecting people, he replied, ‘We have better work to do.’ Srinivas Murthy, was taken to Jaya Prasad Hospital as he slipped into a coma, according to the villagers. “The police is meant to protect the public. If they treat us this way, it is better that they give us poison and let us die,” She added. The protest started at 6am. According to the

villagers, the agricultural land that belonged to Shivrudrappa, former Zilla panchayat member, is going to be turned into a garbage dump. They were protesting against the new owners Sataram. Pradeep, 18, was beaten and injured his right eye, but was not taken to the hospital. He was kept inside the police station till 3pm, according to the villagers. Mahantaiya, 65, said, “They lathi charged on me and I have so many injuries.” Inspector of Ramanagara Police station, said, “We sent some men there.” He declined to comment further.

5 conmen arrested for cheating Soumya Chatterjee Sreemoyee Chatterjee The City Crime Branch Fraud and Misappropriation Squad (CCB F&M) has arrested five conmen in a case of cheating and duping. The five men – Jai Kumar(44), Raja(43), Althaf(36), Srinivas(50) and Srinivasulu(46) – used to produce duplicate documents to fool small

The arrested conmen held for duping trusts

trusts/business owners that they had a lot of black money. They would then feign interest in these small trusts, saying that they would donate to them to convert their cash into white money. These charitable institutes were asked for advance payment in terms of commission, liasion fee and other expenses. Once they paid, they never received the promised donation. One of the trusts, ‘Magar Maraids and Natural

Social Service Trust’, fell into the trap. DCP Crime Abhishek Goyal said, “The accused were arrested yesterday afternoon and are now in Bangalore Central prison. The five conmen, pretending to be investors, promised several trusts hundreds of crores but escaped with a large amount of commission without paying any donation."

A spin bowler talent hunt was held in the city to ﬁnd next talent by TENVIC Company. It is open to all in Karnataka in 10-19 age groups. It will be held in 3 cities Bangalore, Mangalore, Hubbali. According to Anil Kumble, top 25 from each city will get to attend training camp which includes workshop with Anil Kumble and they will receive cricket kits also. Top 4 will get 1 Lakh cash prize to support their talent and schooling. Talent search will be focused on attitude towards the game, skills, style of bowling. A Narayanaswamy, former social welfare and prisons minister and BJP State SC Morcha president launched a website of Atalji Seva pratishthana. It is an initiative by K Palanivelu, BJP MLA of Pulakeshinagar. There will be sport and cultural activities for dalit students, which will be held from 1st to 25th December. This year they will felicitate social workers like RTI,RTE activists and those who were in prison during 1975 emergency. This NGO was launched for providing education, welfare, sports facilities for dalit students in school.

Friday, November 28, 2014

The Daily Observer

First in HIV drug exports but failing at home Kimaya Varude India is treating HIV/Aids but failing to prevent it, according to a leading control body in the country. According to the National Aids Control Organization of India, there has been a steady rise the cases of HIV/AIDS in India. Dr. I. S Gilada, President of AIDS Society of India, said, “Poor administration has led to the increase in HIV/ AIDS cases in India. The medical equipments used in the free treatments are not sterilized properly or single equipment is used for more than one patient.” Many preventive measures are mainly conducted by the NGOs, but even they are not provided enough support by the government. “Government does not fund our activities and programs. "This is one of the many reasons why NGOs have started recommending more HIV positive people for treatment,” said Manjunath (name changed), who works at a city based NGO for HIV positive people. Dr. Gilada explained the three phases of preventing and curing HIV/AIDS. “The first phase is known as the Information Education Commission (IEC). This phase was from 1992-1997 and was later

“India has enough drugs to treat HIV all over the world,” says Dr. I.S. Gilada extended to 1999. The second phase dealt with intervention. This meant working with high risk population to intervene and prevent HIV by regulating their day-to day activities like providing condoms and spreading awareness about Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD).” “The third phase involves care and support to HIV affected victims.”

He believes that the government has conveniently ignored the first two phases and jumped to the third. “One cannot treat HIV without even trying to prevent it.” “It is necessary for the government to regulate funding in the departments of NACO,” added Dr. Gilada. Shortage of drugs A month ago there was an acute

shortage of HIV drugs in India. The National Human Rights Commission had also sent a notice to Union Health Ministry to regulate the supply of life saving HIV drugs. The situation in Karnataka had been so bad that the Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society (KSAPS) had to write a letter to Andhra Pradesh AIDS Control Society asking for HIV drugs.

“There is always a frequent problem of HIV drugs in the state. Every two months, we do a survey to understand the shortage and accordingly send requirement list to NACO. But if NACO itself is facing a shortage, we can’t help it,” said Raveendra, Project Director at KSAPS. Dr. Gilada however, refuted the statement saying: “India is the world’s largest producer of ARB HIV drugs. We export these medicines to 168 countries all over the world and we earn 1-5% of the international cost. They are also in fact stamped as ‘Made In India’.” He added: “The problem lies in the funding of HIV treatment. The government wants the treatment, drugs and also the travel expenses to be solely incurred by it. This results in severe funding issues and indirectly affects the distribution of drugs in the country.” Blaming the Public Distribution System, he also compared the treatment and services of HIV/ AIDS to LPG gas distribution system in India. To avoid such issues, Dr Gilada suggests that the government provide subsidies in gradations. “If one can afford their hypertension and diabetic treatment, then there is no harm in paying for the treatment of HIV,” he said.

Dumped on the doorstep, positive about life Sridevi (name changed),6, who studies in grade 2 has been living here for the last two years. She said, "I really like it here."

Ridhi Agarwal Shruti Suresh A gloomy Friday morning was brightened when the children at the Desire Society greeted us in unison in a lively chorus, “Good Morning sister.” The children, neatly dressed in their blue uniforms, sat on mats laid on the floor and sipped hot milk from their yellow mugs. The happiness on their faces was like sunshine on a cold winter morning. We visited the Desire Society located in JP Nagar a little after 7am. It was an early start to the day. The compound had a few cars which are used to ply children to school. There were swings and slides which further adorned the compound. The guard led us in to the building where the children were. Satish, a six-year old lad, wanted the two ladies visiting their home to check his room out. He led us to the children dormitories. This little welcoming place has two dormitories: one for the boys and one for the girls. The place is very colorful. Big teddy bears rested lazily on the lockers and dolls slept on the beds. Children have used the walls to display their talents. Craftwork and drawings done by them adorn the

Children happily talking about their lives at this home yellow walls. Yellow and pink charts on the walls exhibit the artistic interests of these young ones. They are dance enthusiasts who also love sketching and singing. This organization is home to 34 children. Looking at the 34 bright faces with happy smiles, one cannot know that 15 of these children are HIV positive. The children who were infected by their mother were left here as their parents couldn’t afford to take care of them. Mostly coming from poor families of laborers and daily wage workers, the children now have a new family here. Also, they have many siblings.

The children with AIDS and without AIDS live together like one big, happy family. The glimmer in their eyes and the smiles on their faces aren't dampened by their health problems. To be infected with HIV at such an age is a sight of sympathy. The HIV infected children seem lean in appearance, which is due to the large doses of medicines they take. Out of the ten children under medication, a few take six to eight pills every day. Mrs. Shilpa, the caretaker of the children, said, "Many children here are either orphans or have a single parent. These children are sent to a local government school where the confidentiality of the children is respected.”

Rakesh (name changed),15, from Mandya is currently preparing for his board exams. He had lost both his parents to AIDS. He said, “Initially when I came here, I had difficulty interacting with the children. I missed my village life." He added, "But now I am happy. Life is more comfortable. I am very satisfied with everything." Asking him about the best part of Desire, he replied, "I have to think about it because I like everything about this place."

The children are put on strong dosage of medication which leads to weakened immune systems. The 15 children here who are infected with HIV are not aware of the disease they have, but are happily living with the other 19 children in the home. Mr.Manohar, the programme Manager at Desire said, “These children do not know that they have AIDS. All they know is they are suffering.” According to him, the government has been spreading awareness about HIV transmission through programs like National AIDS Control Organization (NACO). Every month, these children are checked and counseled to

know the status of their health. The children here live a life like no other child. They have their schedules planned out. They start their day at 5a.m with prayers followed by yoga and exercises and end their day at 9p.m. They are also given a healthy diet. Recreational activities also take place on a regular basis. Volunteers from many companies come and engage with them by conducting various activities.

A group of volunteers teach them dancing at the weekends. They are permitted to watch television only at weekends. Kannada movies and cartoons are enjoyed by all of them. With World's Aids day on December 1, Mr.Manohar said, "We have a special programme coming up for these children.

Artwork is one of the hobbies which the kids here love indulging in

Friday, November 28, 2014

The Daily Observer

Transgender sex workers beaten up by customers

Harsha, 20, a transgender sex worker Elizabeth Mani Saheli Sen Gupta Transsexual sex workers are beaten by ‘customers’ inside brothels known as hammams. Most of these brothels are located near major bus stops and toll gates. While these are not banned, there is no law that protects these workers from any kind of ill-treatment. Abitha, 25, said, “I want to have

a decent job but nobody wants to hire us. When we go for collection, the police stop us from begging which leaves us with no choice but to take the torture by the customers at hammams.” “Sometimes they don’t pay us and beat us. Some want to have sex twice saying that they were not satisfied,” added Abitha. She claimed that most of the customers force them into intercourse

without condoms and beat them if they try to refuse. “Our main goal is money and we don’t have much choice,” she said. The hammam at Ulsoor houses at least 20 transsexuals. Most of them became transsexuals at the age of 12 to 15 years. While 20-year-old Harisha gets paid only Rs. 200, 25year-old Akila gets Rs. 500 from each customer. “The more we look like women, the more they pay us,” said Akila. She also added, “Problems are never gone. People catcall, rowdies try to grab us and neighbours give us dirty looks.” Chandrakala, a 30-year-old sex worker, paid Rs. 15,000 for an operation in order to cut her genitals in order to look and feel like a female. “Many of us do this as it makes our lives easier,” she said. Many of the sex workers have regular customers while new ones keep coming every day. Mamtha, 36, first arrived 20 years ago and is considered to be the madam of this hammam. She said, “No one here has any kind of identity proof.” Sangama, an organisation which works for the welfare of sex workers, tries to help them obtain identity proof and also looks for available jobs. However, Mamtha said, “There is a lot of politics inside Sangama. They don’t help everyone.” Mamtha also said that even begging wasn’t safe for them. “Once I was begging and eight men grabbed me and tried to rape me. I went to

the police to lodge a complaint but they refused to file it and just laughed.” Almost all of them claimed that if they are ever caught by the police while begging, they are kept in the police stations and tortured for at least a day or two. Nisha Golur, Advocative Officer of Sangama, said, “Transsexuals do not get houses to rent nor get any job. They have no choice except to beg or be a sex worker.” Blaming the government for being merely sympathetic to their cause, she added, “They don’t create any opportunities for them. What good will pity do?” Nalini, a lawyer at Bangalore High Court, said, “After Delhi High

Court declared transgender to be the third gender, people expected their lives to get easier. It is only a violation of their basic human rights for which they can approach the law.” Kanagamma, 37, said, “The police never listen to us and spare no opportunity to torture us themselves. We have no one to turn to.” She arrived at this hammam a year ago and considers it as home. “This is where I live now. Even if we get jobs, guys won’t stop harassing us,” she added, “I like my body but I only get sex torture.” A transsexual beggar and sex worker at the Ulsoor signal, Babita, said, “I will die doing this but even then the government will not help us.”

Sreemathy, 55, a transgender sex worker

Paying 300% extra for a pair of Levis? Nikhil M Babu Customers are paying up to four times the actual cost for a pair of Levis. A Daily Observer investigation has found huge variations in the price of denims. Levis doesn’t have its own factories in India. They have small and large private companies manufacturing for them. China is on top of the list with more than 150 factories followed by India with 48 factories, out of which 50% are in Bangalore. “Levis gives us an order and we manufacture jeans for them,” said one manager of a company in Bangalore. After getting the order these companies buy raw materials from different suppliers and make the jeans. Our sources from one of the manufacturing centers in Bangalore confirmed that they sell jeans to Levis at “one-fourth to one-third of actual MRP of the jeans.” “We sell normal jeans to Levis at Rs 700 while Levis’ flagship product - Redloop is sold at Rs 1500 – 1900,” said the manager. This is not just the case with Levis alone. Other major brands also do the same. A pair of Lee jeans actually costs only Rs 850 - 1450 to the company. For wrangler it’s slightly higher at Rs 900 – 1650 depending upon the style you choose. Another major company Jack and Jones’ manufacturing costs varies from Rs1000 – 1900. While all these global brands are made in our backyards, we pay about three to four times the actual price to buy it from a fancy outlet.

“Well we all have a mental block, when we go to a fancy shop and pay huge prices only then we feel that it’s amazingly good” -Monisha,Bangalore

“I have a feeling that I have been cheated” - Saugata Ghosh, Kolkata

“When I hear that there is a 300400% increase in the price, I feel that the customer is ripped oﬀ” - Kathleen, Kuwait

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Friday, November 28, 2014

Football, ﬁnance and follo TEAM OBSERVER SPECIAL REPORT

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The Daily Observer

Friday, November 28, 2014

owing the money in the ISL

behemoth of companies stretching into everything from industrial to conmunications. It's hard to buy anything in India that doesn't somehow put f Mukesh Ambani, one of the world's richest men and the Chairman of Re-

mber 2010, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) signed a 15-year deal Rs. 750 crore with Reliance Industries which gave the latter exclusive access ommercial rights and full freedom to create a new football league in the counry, the Indian Super League (ISL). Eight teams were created for this league and franchises were put out to auction. A huge bidding war ensued and global household name football stars descended on India to help publicise the tournament - on salaries running into millions of dollars. The Daily Observer decided to follow the money and look at the funding models behind each of the eight teams. Interestingly, six of the teams in the Indian Super League have direct connections to Reliance, one of the three franchise holders in the multi-crore rupee 'beautiful game'. Hardly surprising, given the scope and reach of such a huge company, but some of the connections raise questions over transparency in sport, business and money in the Indian model. There are eight teams, Atlético de Kolkata, Chennaiyin, Delhi Dynamos, Goa, Kerala Blasters, Mumbai City, North East United and Pune City. Almost all the teams except Mumbai City and North East United are owned by conglomerates like DEN Network, Videocon group, Dempo Mining Corp., PVP ventures, Ambuja Neotia Group and Wadhwan Group. CHENNAIYIN FC Chennaiyin, the current leader in the ISL charts, is jointly owned by Bollywood actor Abhishek Bacchan, industrialist Vita Dani and cricketer M.S. Dhoni. Their title sponsors are Ozone Group in which Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries, has a stake of 15% as well as Reliance Digital which is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. Vita Dani is the director of Dani Finlease and Geetanjali Trading Private Limited, which have tie-ups with Reliance Industries. M.S. Dhoni was the brand ambassador for Reliance Communications, then a subsidiary of Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG) Abhishek Bacchan has acted in movies like Paa and Dhoom - both produced by Reliance Entertainment, an arm of Reliance Industries. ATLETICO DE KOLKATA Atlético de Kolkata, the current second runner-up, is owned by former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly, businessmen Harshavardhan Neotia, Sanjiv Goenka, Utsav Parekh and Atlético Madrid Football Club. Their title sponsor is Aircel which is owned by Sandeep Das, who is the present President of Reliance Communication. Sanjiv Goenka is one of the directors of Emami - of which Yogendra Premkrishna Trivedi is also one of the directors of Reliance. Harshvardhan Neotia and Adil Zainulbhai, one of the directors of Reliance, are also directors of the Harvard Business School of India. DELHI DYNAMOS FC Delhi Dynamos is owned by Den Networks under Sameer Manchanda. Manchanda was connected with Reliance in setting up its subsidiary, Network 18. FC GOA FC Goa is jointly owned by cricketer Virat Kohli, businessmen, Venugopal Dhoot, srinivas Dempo and Dattaraj Salgaocar. Team Goa has a lot of sponsors including Ponds Gardre Marine, Kenstar, Adidas, Wockhardt Hospitals, Radio partner, Big FM,Print -partner, Navhind Times, Videocon D2H and Usha International. Big FM is owned by Anil Ambani while Mukesh Ambani's daughter Deepti is married to Dattaraj Salgaocar. KERALA BLASTERS FC Kerala Blasters is owned by Sachin Tendulakar and PVP Group. Sponsors are Puma, Muthoot Pappachan, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, Air Asia, Synthite Industrial Chemicals, Federal Bank, Malayala Manorama,Ticketgenie.in, Aster Medicity, Sportico and Justickets. MUMBAI CITY FC Mumbai City is owned by Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor and by Mumbai-based chartered accountant Bimal Parekh. Movies like Karthik Calling Karthik, Luck by Chance, Asoka, Dhobhi Ghat, Jaane Tu ya Jaane Ya, Rock ON!! - audited by the financial advisor Bimal Parekh’s company, Bimal Parekh & Co., were distributed by Reliance Entertainment. Some of these movies were produced by Reliance Entertainment/ Reliance Big Pictures for which the financial advisor is Bimal Parekh. Ranbir Kapoor was the brand ambassador of Reliance Communications in 2013 and has appeared in several movies like Besharam which were produced and distributed by Reliance Entertainment. NORTH EAST UNITED FC North East United is jointly owned by Bollywood actor John Abraham and I-League team Lajong. Its sponsors are Adidas and HTC. Adidas is also the sponsor of Lajong FC while its subsidiary, Reebok, has John as its brand ambassador. Reebok is advertised and distributed by Reliance Footprints, a subsidiary Reliance Industries. John is also the brand ambassador for HTC which in turn, has a deal with Reliance Communications for CDMA phones. Thangboi Singto, oach of Lajong FC is also the Assistant Coach of North East United. CITY FC ranchise is co-owned by the Wadhwan Group, Bollywood star, Hrithik Roshan and Italian giants, ACF Fiorentina. Its primary sponsors are DHFL and DLF which Wadhwan Group. dorsed many of TOD's products in his movies which is owned by Diego Della Valle, co-owner of ACF Fiorentina. vies like Luck By Chance, produced and distributed by Reliance Entertainment and was also the brand ambassador for Reliance Communications in 2013.

Friday, November 28, 2014

The Daily Observer

Blind cricket team struggles for existence Asmita Kundu In a city where Indian cricketers like Yuvraj Singh can be sold for 14 crore at an IPL auction, the blind cricket team of India is struggling to find sponsors. In an exclusive interview, Nagesh S, President of the Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) says despite successes at the crease, nobody is willing to fund or help aspiring blind cricketers. He blames government, the Board of Control for Cricket In India (BCCI) and lots of other things. “We want limelight like normal cricket. Every other blind cricket association gets affiliation from their country’s cricket board,” he said, “but despite BCCI being one of the richest cricket boards in the world, they cannot recognize us.” He is also the founder trustee of Samarthanam, an NGO for the disabled. He himself played national and international level cricket under ACBI (Association of Cricket for the Blind in India) and is presently responsible for PR and fund raising at the World Blind Cricket Council. They have been approaching BCCI for past three years. “They promised us many things. But they have not done anything. They are just pulling this issue. BCCI is the one of richest cricket board in the world. If they would have given at least 1% of their revenue, it would have been so helpful for us,” he added. Funds have been a constant problem faced by the association. “It is very difficult to get any sponsors for blind cricket. Only some corporate companies come forward to help us, only because it is mandatory to give some of their profit to disabled persons.” He said that for the World Cup 2014 they did not have enough funds to send the team to Cape Town, South Africa where it is going to be held from November 25 to December 7. The Union Ministry has given Rs 25 lakhs. “LG Soft India also has given one lakh as financial assistance.”

Speaking about the struggle that the players face he said, “We did not even have money to provide kits, accessories and accommodation fees etc. It is so pathetic to see our boys struggling. They are very talented but most of them belong to backward classes and poor families. So, for supporting their family, they have to work in private companies in addition to playing cricket.” In 2012, the team brought home the World Cup under the captainship of Shekhar Naik. This year his biggest challenge is to beat Pakistan, besides the financial crisis the management is going through. “After winning the 2012 T20 World Cup, Karnataka government promised to give an apartment to him, but he has not got that yet. But three of the cricketers got apartments in Karnataka,” said Nagesh. After winning the T20 WC in 2012 President Pranab Mukherjee felicitated them and awarded them. “The Karnataka government did not even give permission for the Chinnaswamy Stadium to hold the final match. At last that took place in the Bangalore University ground. And around 20,000 people were present to watch the match,” he confirmed. He said that the media is never interested in covering the matches. “They think it does not have any commercial value,” he added. CABI is presently thinking of organizing BPL by 2016 which might have four teams from India. They have started approaching many corporate firms for sponsorship. They are thinking of starting womens cricket but lack of funds demoralizes them. “Indian national cricketers get crores for playing an ODI or only a Ranji Trophy match. But our captain gets only Rs.15,000 per month,” he said. He concluded saying that if some of the famous players of India like Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni would take the time to help blind colleague in the sport that could help raise awareness and bring in the much needed sponsorship.

Nagesh S, President of CABI, lifting the torch

Indian Blind Cricket Team

Picture Courtesy : CABI website

Wait two years to adopt a child Nikunj Ohri It takes up to three years to adopt a child in Bangalore because adoption centers claim they are running out of children. The government recognized adoption centers in Bangalore have dozens of would-be parents who have been waiting to adopt a child since 2012. Kiran Kumar KK, in charge of adoptions at Anantha Shishu Nivasa, a government aided adoption centre, said, “The sources are not available so people have to wait at least two years to adopt a girl child and more than three years to adopt a boy child. After the availability of a child, the government procedure takes two months which makes the child legal for adoption.” “Most of the parents ask for children below one year of age,” he added. According to one couple, who asked not to be named: “When we decided to adopt a child we were unaware of the fact that the process takes so long. So, after learning this we dropped the idea.” Mohini(name changed) said, “As I wasn’t married when I wanted to adopt a child and didn’t have enough savings in my bank account, which are the pre-requisites to adopt from a state run adoption centre, I adopted a two-year-old daughter of my best friend after my friend died in an accident.”

Children who were adopted from one of the adoption centers, Anantha Shishu Nivasa

Chandrashekhar, Project Director at the Women and Child Development Department of Karnataka, said, “This is a sensitive topic and this is the issue in the entire country. We cannot encourage mothers to surrender their children for adoption.” An official from the WCD said that there should be awareness programs from the government which should educate women not to leave their children at streets or hospitals when they cannot raise them but to give them to the adoption centers. Government cancels license of a state run adoption centre. The state has cancelled the license of Vatsalva Charitable Trust because an offense has been registered against them. Kiran Kumar KK, said, “Their license was cancelled because they broke the law which involved some inappropriate money transactions at their adoption centre, Vatsalya Charitable Trust.” Chandrashekhar, Project Director at the Women and Child development Department, said, “This is confidential and we cannot comment on this.” Mary Paul, Director of Vatsalya Charitable trust, said, “We don’t deal with adoption now.” However, she declined to comment on the incident.

Friday, November 28, 2014

The Daily Observer

Fake IT oﬃcials nabbed by CCTV footage Tweets of the day Sreemoyee Chatterejee Soumya Chatterjee

Six conmen were arrested today in a joint operation by City Crime Branch, Bangalore and Kolahpur Crime Branch. Four 1kg gold ingots, one excavator and one lakh rupees in cash were recovered by police. The six were involved in a duping exercise where five of them posed as income tax officials and in the act ‘seized’ gold and fled to Kolahpur with the victims’ cash and mobile phone. DCP, Crime Abhishek Goyal said, "This was a meticulously planned criminal conspiracy by five of the gold looters and Praveen tipped them with information.” Praveen, who also works for a gold merchant, tipped off Sarfaraz Khan and Shalal Mohammad Makandar into following two gold traders Anand and Mahesh, residents of Talacheri Town,Trishur district, Kerala. This ‘inter-state’ gang had driven down from Kolahpur to Bangalore and stayed in a hotel in city market, waiting to trap the gold traders. The victims were carrying 2kgs of gold each in a bus on November 6 for their bosses Manik Kadam and Vikas Kadam. Sarfaraz and Mohammad boarded the bus behind them. Sarfaraz and Shalal pretended to be Income Tax officers showing fake IDs to the victims and told them to get off the bus. The other three accused, Santosh, Javed Harun Sheikh and Ramij Chaus joined in and acted as senior IT officials under cover. They ‘arrested’ the victims who were taken to J P Nagar, in two auto rickshaws acting as if it was an IT raid. In JP Nagar, the accused seized the gold and asked the victims to visit the police station with their owners the next day. As the victims protested, the accused threatened them and snatched the four 1kg gold ingots, Rs.2,000 in cash and one mobile phone and left. The victims Anand and Mahesh lodged an FIR in Madiwala Police Station, which was immediately transferred to CCB. It took them almost a month to nab the culprits by following the CCTV footage at Kalasipalya bus stand and at all important junctions including various shops near Madiwala bus stand and JP Nagar. Along with CCTV footage, the description given by the complainants helped in nabbing the accused. Information was primarily collected from

@Headlines Today: Bangalore police bust high-proﬁle prostitution racket, lead actress of Bhojpuri remake of Dirty Picture & a Punjabi model held.

The arrested fake IT oﬃcials at Crime Branch, Bangalore

@DemocraAsia: Hindu: Police arrest ﬁve for robbing businessman - The Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths nabbed a gang of ﬁve m... http://ow.ly/2Rk1PR @nkaggere: #Karnataka #Kerala indulge in bitter war over owning the #brand #KSRTC! http://goo.gl/sLdCbr

Recovered Items: Four 1kg gold ingots and one lakh rupees in cash all the Toll Naakas along all possible routes of escape after which CCB team identified a suspect vehicle number MH-09-DA-3609 which was registered in Kolahpur and was being used by the accused for escape. Four of the five accused, Sarfaz, Shallal, Javeed , Ramjij and Praveen were arrested from Kolahpur City and produced before the Bangalore court. They will now be remanded in police custody

for further investigation till December 3.One of the accused, Santosh Kalkutigi, resident of Sanjaynagar Sangli, is still absconding. Goyal said, "It was a brilliant collaboration between Bangalore City Crime Branch and Kolhpur City Crime Branch that succeeded in nabbing the culprits." ”One of the accused is still missing. We are trying to arrest him as soon as possible", he added.

Man held after paying guest house used as brothel Natasha Singh The Old Airport police busted a prostitution racket being conducted in a Paying Guest house in Amar Jyothi, Domlur, Bangalore.

The racket took place at Hotel GS Riverstone homestay. The alleged pimp, H.S Kumar alias Vinay Kumar, 53, a resident of Banshankari, who is also the manager of the apartments, has been arrested. His partner, Vijay Kumar, who is the owner of the PG where the racket happened, is absconding. The girls, both 28-years-old, from Mumbai and Chandigarh, have been sent to state-run remand home. DCP Sandeep Patil said, “We found out about these activities from a tweet in the morning. We then planned the raid. We are investigating the matter to find out how the girls came in contact with the pimps.” He further added that one of the girls was a Bhojpuri actress. Police Inspector R.V. Chowdappa said, “The raid took place at around 8p.m on the 26th. An FIR has been registered against Vinay Kumar and he has been transferred to the central jail. The case is in court.”

@ShyamSPrasad: Turmeric not enough for wedding. Mythriya's marriage found lacking evidence by family court http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/others/Mythri ya-petition-dismissed-by-cou @Ram_Guha: A good suggestion; sell CSK to a party with no stakes in BCCI and ban Srinivasan and Meiyappan from cricket for life: http://www.ﬁrstpost.com/sports/bcci s-day-of-reckoningsc-should-punishmeiyappan-srinivasa n-not-csk1824663.html …

Vinay Kumar, the accused pimp

Picture Courtesy : DCP, Bangalore

Friday, November 28, 2014

The Daily Observer

City is not free from racism, claim North-East Indians Shruti Suresh Over a month after Micheal Haokip was assaulted at Byrathi Village on October 15th, another man from Manipur, Samuel Haokip was beaten up in the same locality on November 20th. This happened when he tried to stop few men from harassing a girl who was passing by the place. Two such incidents came to light after violent attacks like these, but there are other instances which show how unwelcome Bangalore is towards outsiders who come and settle here. Michael Haokip, a Manipuri student who was assaulted by goons in October at Byrathi Village, said: “Personally I haven’t faced anything of this sort before, but my friends have. There have been times when we have reported to police but no action had been taken but racism against us had never taken a violent turn. We compromise a lot of times in order to avoid trouble.” “Even after the attack, I don’t feel insecure. I just want people’s mentality to change,” he added. Imran, an auto-driver from Nepal said he was ostracized because local people here felt he belonged to a “poor state” and Nepalis come here to take their money. He said: “I have been driving here for the past 12 years. ‘Chinese’ looking people resemble Nepalis which invokes anger in locals.” Girls from Manipur who come to city looking for jobs get lured into trafficking rackets and enter the flesh trade. They are easy victims as they are unknown in a new place and don’t know the language.

Jasmine Sarkar, a fashion designing student Nongemba, president of MMBA, a Manipuri Association in Bangalore and Michael’s friend, said: “Two years back two tribal girls had been trafficked to Bangalore. They were supposed to be given a job in parlor with a good pay. They ended up working as domestic workers on meager wages without food and proper accommodation. “Almost a year ago they were rescued and sent back but no action has still been taken against the local guys who brought them here. Their rescue was followed by threatening calls to the member of MMBA who helped rescue them,” he added. Serge, 24, an Africa who has stayed in India

for three years now, said: “Yes, racism is prevalent here. We are charged more and people don’t behave well with us. The delivery boys fail to come on time and when questioned, abuse us in local language.” Briyobarta, a member of the Bangalore Manipuri Association said: “Even though the issues have reduced in number but the mindset of people needs to change. Discrimination on the basis of color, appearance still exists. In Michael’s case, it was because of language. Many of such cases go unreported.” Nongemba adds: “Even as the locals tried to pick up a fight with Michael, we all decided to leave it there and ignored their comments.

In a short while, they started making fun and came and slapped Michael. After some time, one of them picked up a stone and hit him on the forehead.” “A similar case happened when one of my friends had gone to buy mutton at a shop in Anjanepalya. A shopkeeper threatened of cutting his throat like goat’s throat is cut. We got pretty scared and filed a complaint at the Ashok Nagar police station but no action was taken,” he added. The residents are not new to racist comments being made against them. Jasmine, a 22-year old fashion designing student and a native of Nagaland has been living in Bangalore for about two years now. Once, when she was walking to her college near Forum mall, a man caught her hand and shouted "Chinki" in an offensive manner. Arun former president of Bangalore Manipur Association said: “The centre when comes up with ideas like imposing Hindi as a national language creates trouble within the society. We are living in a democracy. One can’t just impose any language on people who don’t know that language. People indulging in violence against someone just because of his language, in case of Michael, show a barbaric mindset.” “Atrocities keep happening everywhere

but we live in a multi-cultural society which needs understanding of and respect for each other. We fear that although today this incident is in peoples’ minds, tomorrow it will die down. We all are Indians but we fail to get equal opportunities. Our organization strives to achieve cooperation from people here towards our being a part of the society,” he adds.

A theater where the audience gets to act Apoorva Choubey The National Theater of the Oppressed is working towards creating dialogues between the audience and the play. They enact plays where the spectators can themselves act in the play and shape the script. The main objective of the plays and workshops of the Theater of the Oppressed (TO) is to inculcate critical thinking in people. Sanjoy Ganguly, Founder of the Theater of the Oppressed, said: “We aim to reduce the monologue in plays. When the public acts in plays we get diversity and people get over their oppression. The spectators become activists and I call them ‘spectavists’. “On a broader basis, these acts display social and religious messages to people. We address the immediate issues of politics or violence on women in our plays,” he added. Radha Ramaswamy, Founder of the Centre for Community Dialogue and Change in Bangalore, said: “The TO deals with oppression issues in schools and colleges also. We enact plays and use the methodology of recognition and doubt. “For example, a man watching an act of domestic violence might see

Radha Ramaswamy with other members of the theatre

The actors enacting the play his true self or have doubt in his mind. Hence, it creates a thought process which leads to betterment,” she added. Sanjoy said, “We go and act in villages also. The level of oppression is sometimes higher in cities. The TO has faced a lot political pressure in the past and we were asked to shut our work down in West Bengal.” Radha said, “We deal with oppression issues in engineering and medical students also. They are the most oppressed section I have seen. We face difficulties in getting theaters because of resistance from theater contractors and political

pressures.” Aashima, an actor in the theater, said, “I am a teacher and I have learned to deal with my oppression. Now I carry it forward and teach others. TO has made me re-discover myself.” Mahsood, from Azim Premji Foundation, said, “I am a part of this theater so that I can go back and teach kids how to deal with their oppression.” The theater had a three day work shop in Bangalore headed by Sanjoy Ganguly for the first time where people from various cities participated.

Participants of the three day workshop

OBSERVER Team : Editor - Devdatta Sukhdev, Chief Sub Editor - Pulaha Roy, News Editor - Nikhil M Babu, News Desk - Punita Maheshwari, Natasha Singh, Sub Editors - Darshan D. Rane, Divya Shrivastava, Aadhira Anand, Design Head - Kimaya Varude, Design Desk - Aparna Singh, Nikunj Ohri, Saheli Sen Gupta, Picture Editor - Asmita Kundu, Proofreader - Agnivesh Harshan, Apoorva Choubey, Reporter : Elizabeth Mani