The Frey Norris Gallery will present the American debut solo exhibition for Indian artist Shalinee Kumari. Shalinee Kumari hails from a remote village in one of India’s poorest and most rural states, the Mithila region of Bihar. For centuries the women of Mithila have traditionally adorned their homes with wall paintings, in preparation for engagements, weddings, and births. Kumari continues and expands upon this tradition by depicting current world events as she learns of them through her primary connection to the outside world—the BBC piped into her local café. She focuses on three primary global subjects: capitalism, terrorism and environmentalism—all through her vibrantly colored paintings on paper.
The eldest of four daughters, at twenty three years of age, Kumari was to be promised into marriage but denied her family’s wishes to pursue a career in art. To date, she has received grants from the East West Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and others to pursue her career enabling her to attend a local art school, to exhibit and lecture in Delhi, and ultimately, to leave India for the first time to attend her first solo exhibition at Frey Norris Gallery in San Francisco.
Kumari may be the first artist of this Mithila region to tackle contemporary subjects. The Berkeley Art Museum, the San Francisco Asian Arts Museum and the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles are all advocates, collectors and exhibitors of the work itself.
A 20-page catalogue is available with an essay by David Szanton, the former Director of International and Area Studies at UC Berkeley, a social anthropologist with a long interest in art history and the relationship between art and social change.link
Friday 29 May 2009
Engineer brutalizes wife on road
Hundreds of people rubbed their eyes in disbelief as a 29-year-old marine engineer, earning a monthly salary of Rs 1.8 lakh, dragged his 24-year-old engineer wife by hair on the Warisaliganj-Nawada main road in Bihar and kicked and punched her relentlessly. Even as fisticuffs rained on her, the woman kept trying to save her six-month-old daughter in her lap — till she fell unconscious right on the road.
The ugly drama at the Manjaurs Pasi village did not end even then. When trainee DSP Satish Kumar, accompanied by other cops, arrived at the scene following a tip-off, the marine engineer pompously questioned their authority to “interfere in my family matter”. “Aap ki himmat kaise hui yahan aane ki (How dare you come here)?” he asked.
However, as the cops acted tough, Rakesh Kumar who is posted as Section Officer II on a private cargo ship Kaveri, attempted to flee in his wife’s car, but was overpowered after a hot chase.
Rakesh’s father, Parmeshwar Choudhary, a government school teacher, tried to bribe the cops at the police station by displaying thick wads of currency notes which, he said, totalled Rs 2 lakh. Parmeshwar was also arrested.
Rakesh’s wife Poonam later lodged an FIR at the Warisaliganj police station against her husband and in-laws. She said she married Rakesh in 2005 despite her family’s opposition. She had then just finished her diploma in electrical engineering while her husband was undergoing marine training in Mumbai.
She said she was a victim of regular brutality ever since her marriage, but passively tolerated it in the hope that her husband would reform himself. Her husband, according to her, was a compulsive boozer and blew his entire income on alcohol.
Whenever he came home on leave, he used to brutally assault her in front of her in-laws for not bringing adequate dowry, she said. “Even animals are not beaten so cruelly,” she added, tears rolling down her cheeks.
An engineer with BSNL currently posted in Ranchi, Poonam said she has filed a divorce petition in the Ranchi civil court as her frail body could no longer endure such brutality at the hands of her husband. “I would bring up my daughter single-handedly and would never let her evil father’s shadow fall on her,” she said.
Meanwhile, the father-son duo were forwarded to judicial custody.link
The ugly drama at the Manjaurs Pasi village did not end even then. When trainee DSP Satish Kumar, accompanied by other cops, arrived at the scene following a tip-off, the marine engineer pompously questioned their authority to “interfere in my family matter”. “Aap ki himmat kaise hui yahan aane ki (How dare you come here)?” he asked.
However, as the cops acted tough, Rakesh Kumar who is posted as Section Officer II on a private cargo ship Kaveri, attempted to flee in his wife’s car, but was overpowered after a hot chase.
Rakesh’s father, Parmeshwar Choudhary, a government school teacher, tried to bribe the cops at the police station by displaying thick wads of currency notes which, he said, totalled Rs 2 lakh. Parmeshwar was also arrested.
Rakesh’s wife Poonam later lodged an FIR at the Warisaliganj police station against her husband and in-laws. She said she married Rakesh in 2005 despite her family’s opposition. She had then just finished her diploma in electrical engineering while her husband was undergoing marine training in Mumbai.
She said she was a victim of regular brutality ever since her marriage, but passively tolerated it in the hope that her husband would reform himself. Her husband, according to her, was a compulsive boozer and blew his entire income on alcohol.
Whenever he came home on leave, he used to brutally assault her in front of her in-laws for not bringing adequate dowry, she said. “Even animals are not beaten so cruelly,” she added, tears rolling down her cheeks.
An engineer with BSNL currently posted in Ranchi, Poonam said she has filed a divorce petition in the Ranchi civil court as her frail body could no longer endure such brutality at the hands of her husband. “I would bring up my daughter single-handedly and would never let her evil father’s shadow fall on her,” she said.
Meanwhile, the father-son duo were forwarded to judicial custody.link
Apex court frowns upon doctor for leaving screw inside patient's body
The Supreme Court Friday frowned upon a section of doctors for their growing negligence to the extent of leaving screws, forceps and scissors inside their patients' bodies.
'Oh! You are the type of doctors who leave scissors and forceps inside the body of your patients,' remarked Justice Markandey Katju.
A bench of Justice Katju and Justice Deepak Verma was hearing a lawsuit by a doctor from Bihar, challenging the state consumer commission's order to pay hefty damages to his patient Pintoo Kumar for leaving a metallic screw in his patient's body after a surgery.
'Doctors can today do anything. They can leave behind forceps and scissors inside the patient's stomach and get away with it,' said Justice Katju.
'It's six months down the line that the patient develops pain and realises he is nursing a scissor left by the doctor inside his body.'
The bench, however, issued notice to the victim on whose plea the Bihar State Consumer Commission had slapped a fine of Rs.400,000 on Mahendra Prasad, who runs the Neha Nursing Home at Buxar in Bihar.link
Pintoo Kumar in his petition had alleged that Prasad had performed an operation on Sep 16, 2004 to set right a fracture in his right leg but left behind a screw in the operated portion.
Kumar had alleged that the doctor's negligence had resulted a 'callus formation' inside his left leg and required another surgery at the Apollo hospital.
He had also alleged that Prasad conducted the operation though he is not an orthopaedic surgeon but has an MBBS with an MS in pathology.
'Oh! You are the type of doctors who leave scissors and forceps inside the body of your patients,' remarked Justice Markandey Katju.
A bench of Justice Katju and Justice Deepak Verma was hearing a lawsuit by a doctor from Bihar, challenging the state consumer commission's order to pay hefty damages to his patient Pintoo Kumar for leaving a metallic screw in his patient's body after a surgery.
'Doctors can today do anything. They can leave behind forceps and scissors inside the patient's stomach and get away with it,' said Justice Katju.
'It's six months down the line that the patient develops pain and realises he is nursing a scissor left by the doctor inside his body.'
The bench, however, issued notice to the victim on whose plea the Bihar State Consumer Commission had slapped a fine of Rs.400,000 on Mahendra Prasad, who runs the Neha Nursing Home at Buxar in Bihar.link
Pintoo Kumar in his petition had alleged that Prasad had performed an operation on Sep 16, 2004 to set right a fracture in his right leg but left behind a screw in the operated portion.
Kumar had alleged that the doctor's negligence had resulted a 'callus formation' inside his left leg and required another surgery at the Apollo hospital.
He had also alleged that Prasad conducted the operation though he is not an orthopaedic surgeon but has an MBBS with an MS in pathology.
Patna University retired teachers allege raw deal
Addressing the Patna University (PU) convocation of 2004 in the presence of the then President A P J Abdul Kalam, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had announced that PU would be provided facilities on a par with Central universities even if it was not upgraded as a Central university. Today, PU is being deprived even of the facilities given to other universities in the state.
The state cabinet recently sanctioned Rs 200 crore for payment of arrears to the teachers of all the universities in the state save PU. University teachers said they fail to understand the rationale behind ignoring the genuine claim of PU teachers.
A delegation of PU Retired Teachers' Association led by its president Bakshi Vidyanand Sinha and general secretary S K Ganguli met HRD minister Hari Narain Singh on Thursday to draw his attention towards this discriminatory attitude of the government. Surprisingly, even the minister was not aware of this fact.
When the minister wanted to ascertain the fact from the HRD secretary, he was informed that PU's claim for government grants was not entertained because of late submission of the proposal from the university.
PU's claim for arrears payment had been ignored even in December 2008 when the government had reportedly sanctioned the same amount for payment to the teachers of other universities.
It may be mentioned here that the Patna High Court has directed the university as well as the state government to ensure timely payment of arrears to the teachers, especially the retired ones.
The minister assured the delegation that a tripartite meeting of PU officials, HRD officials and association's representatives would be held shortly to sort out the matter.
Meanwhile, Federation of University Teachers' Associations of Bihar (FUTAB) secretary Arun Kumar has criticised the alleged discriminatory attitude of the Magadh University authorities towards the teachers of fourth-phase constituent colleges. He said though the state government had released less grants to the university for payment of salaries to the teachers, the teachers of fourth phase have been paid only 75% of their normal salary against 94% paid to other teachers. He demanded a fair deal to all categories of teachers of the university. link
The state cabinet recently sanctioned Rs 200 crore for payment of arrears to the teachers of all the universities in the state save PU. University teachers said they fail to understand the rationale behind ignoring the genuine claim of PU teachers.
A delegation of PU Retired Teachers' Association led by its president Bakshi Vidyanand Sinha and general secretary S K Ganguli met HRD minister Hari Narain Singh on Thursday to draw his attention towards this discriminatory attitude of the government. Surprisingly, even the minister was not aware of this fact.
When the minister wanted to ascertain the fact from the HRD secretary, he was informed that PU's claim for government grants was not entertained because of late submission of the proposal from the university.
PU's claim for arrears payment had been ignored even in December 2008 when the government had reportedly sanctioned the same amount for payment to the teachers of other universities.
It may be mentioned here that the Patna High Court has directed the university as well as the state government to ensure timely payment of arrears to the teachers, especially the retired ones.
The minister assured the delegation that a tripartite meeting of PU officials, HRD officials and association's representatives would be held shortly to sort out the matter.
Meanwhile, Federation of University Teachers' Associations of Bihar (FUTAB) secretary Arun Kumar has criticised the alleged discriminatory attitude of the Magadh University authorities towards the teachers of fourth-phase constituent colleges. He said though the state government had released less grants to the university for payment of salaries to the teachers, the teachers of fourth phase have been paid only 75% of their normal salary against 94% paid to other teachers. He demanded a fair deal to all categories of teachers of the university. link
Banks' education loan doubles to over Rs 577 cr
The education loan provided to the needy and meritorious students of the state doubled in the financial year 2008-2009 with banks making the education loan a focused priority.
Bihari students had secured admission in technical institutions, particularly those outside the state, and the banks provided them the education loan after ensuring that the money would be recovered when they get the job.
The education loan to Bihari students doubled to over Rs 577 crore in 2008-2009 compared to Rs 280.93 crore in 2007-08 and this indicates not only the banks' gesture in affording the students more education loans, but is also a parameter to show that Bihari students excelled in getting admission to good institutions.
There was 130 per cent rise in the number of students getting education loan in 2008-09 when 23,348 students were given education loan of over Rs 577 crore for studies in Bihar and other states. In the previous financial year, 10,181 students were given education loan of Rs 280.93 crore.
UCO Bank executive director B M Mittal told on Thursday that banks should give loan to needy and meritorious students after ensuring that the money would be recovered from them once they get employment.
A large chunk of education loan of Rs 204.36 crore was given by the State Bank of India to 10,611 students during 2008-09, followed by the Punjab National Bank which provided Rs 72.60 crore to 2,437 students and Bank of India -- Rs 57.12 crore to 2,758 students. Besides, 19 other public sector banks, a private bank, HDFC Bank, and four rural banks provided education loan.
The Uttar Bihar Khsetriya Grameen Bank provided Rs 13.45 crore loan to 505 students, the Madhya Bihar Kshetriya Grameen Bank provided Rs 11.98 crore to 421 students, Bihar Kshetriya Grameen Bank Rs 7.89 crore to 357 students and Samastipur Kshetriya Grameen Bank Rs 2.68 crore loan to 122 students. link
Bihari students had secured admission in technical institutions, particularly those outside the state, and the banks provided them the education loan after ensuring that the money would be recovered when they get the job.
The education loan to Bihari students doubled to over Rs 577 crore in 2008-2009 compared to Rs 280.93 crore in 2007-08 and this indicates not only the banks' gesture in affording the students more education loans, but is also a parameter to show that Bihari students excelled in getting admission to good institutions.
There was 130 per cent rise in the number of students getting education loan in 2008-09 when 23,348 students were given education loan of over Rs 577 crore for studies in Bihar and other states. In the previous financial year, 10,181 students were given education loan of Rs 280.93 crore.
UCO Bank executive director B M Mittal told on Thursday that banks should give loan to needy and meritorious students after ensuring that the money would be recovered from them once they get employment.
A large chunk of education loan of Rs 204.36 crore was given by the State Bank of India to 10,611 students during 2008-09, followed by the Punjab National Bank which provided Rs 72.60 crore to 2,437 students and Bank of India -- Rs 57.12 crore to 2,758 students. Besides, 19 other public sector banks, a private bank, HDFC Bank, and four rural banks provided education loan.
The Uttar Bihar Khsetriya Grameen Bank provided Rs 13.45 crore loan to 505 students, the Madhya Bihar Kshetriya Grameen Bank provided Rs 11.98 crore to 421 students, Bihar Kshetriya Grameen Bank Rs 7.89 crore to 357 students and Samastipur Kshetriya Grameen Bank Rs 2.68 crore loan to 122 students. link
Kosi shows signs of flooding, Bihar worried
The Kosi is in spate again. The water discharge has risen suddenly from 20,000 cusecs to 95,000 cusecs per day because of the pre-monsoon rains, bringing back memories of last year's floods. And to make matters worse, Maoists in Nepal are now hampering last-minute repair work at the Kusaha barrage.
State Minister for Water Resources, Bijendra Yadav says, "The point is that India does not have a good relationship with any of its neighbours including Nepal."
The breach that caused last years floods has now been plugged, but officials say there are more such vulnerable points in the barrage, which might give way once the water discharge reaches last year's levels.
Nepal official, Amar Karki says, "This is very dangerous and so the spur needs to be extended or repaired as soon as possible. And the embankment needs to be repaired urgently."
Since October last year, large scale repair and restoration work has been going on, but as the monsoon approaches, anxiety levels are rising.
A villager, Babu Ram says, "The river has started flooding again and we can see signs of danger."
Meanwhile, Bijendra Yadav says,"The elections came and our, engineers, executive engineers and even the superintending engineer were used as election officials. Because of this, we are two weeks behind schedule."
Once bitten twice shy - that's the story of people in Bihar, especially those residing in the Kosi region. The monsoon thunders have their hearts pounding and assurances from the government fail to bring relief to their mental anxiety.link
State Minister for Water Resources, Bijendra Yadav says, "The point is that India does not have a good relationship with any of its neighbours including Nepal."
The breach that caused last years floods has now been plugged, but officials say there are more such vulnerable points in the barrage, which might give way once the water discharge reaches last year's levels.
Nepal official, Amar Karki says, "This is very dangerous and so the spur needs to be extended or repaired as soon as possible. And the embankment needs to be repaired urgently."
Since October last year, large scale repair and restoration work has been going on, but as the monsoon approaches, anxiety levels are rising.
A villager, Babu Ram says, "The river has started flooding again and we can see signs of danger."
Meanwhile, Bijendra Yadav says,"The elections came and our, engineers, executive engineers and even the superintending engineer were used as election officials. Because of this, we are two weeks behind schedule."
Once bitten twice shy - that's the story of people in Bihar, especially those residing in the Kosi region. The monsoon thunders have their hearts pounding and assurances from the government fail to bring relief to their mental anxiety.link
SBI's emphasis in rural, to open 900 more ATMs in Bihar, Jharkhand
By opening 750 rural and semi-urban branches of the 1014 bank branches in Jharkhand-Bihar, the State bank of India has shown its special emphasis in rural areas of the two still economically backward states, SBI (central office) Deputy Managing Director A.Krishna Kumar said today.
While inaugurating the 1014th branch of the SBI in Bihar and Jharkhand at the Barhi Sub Divisional headquarters of the Hazaribagh District, about 40 Km from here, he said all these new branches have 100 per cent CBS system enabling customer to make transactions from any SBI branches across the country.
By June 30, SBI will open 900 more ATMs in Bihar and Jharkhand for providing better facilities for its customers particularly the rural account holders, he said.
He said the bank has given linkage to one million SHGs (Self Help Group) in the country for facilitating the rural women to earn their livelihood through these SHGs, now playing a significant role in the rural economy.
In Ranchi Circle consisting of South Chhotonagpur and North Chotonagpur Divisions, the bank have provided linkage to 660 SHG units, which provided all facilities to rural women to prepare products mostly through cottage industry.
He said that this year in Jharkhand,the SBI will adopt 27 villages under its 'Apna Gaon' scheme for all round development of the adopted villages.link
While inaugurating the 1014th branch of the SBI in Bihar and Jharkhand at the Barhi Sub Divisional headquarters of the Hazaribagh District, about 40 Km from here, he said all these new branches have 100 per cent CBS system enabling customer to make transactions from any SBI branches across the country.
By June 30, SBI will open 900 more ATMs in Bihar and Jharkhand for providing better facilities for its customers particularly the rural account holders, he said.
He said the bank has given linkage to one million SHGs (Self Help Group) in the country for facilitating the rural women to earn their livelihood through these SHGs, now playing a significant role in the rural economy.
In Ranchi Circle consisting of South Chhotonagpur and North Chotonagpur Divisions, the bank have provided linkage to 660 SHG units, which provided all facilities to rural women to prepare products mostly through cottage industry.
He said that this year in Jharkhand,the SBI will adopt 27 villages under its 'Apna Gaon' scheme for all round development of the adopted villages.link
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
