Times Chennai E-PaperFeb. 27, 2009Page 2
Chennai, Feb 27
Observing thatleading women politiciansAIADMK Chief JJayalalithaa, BSPSupremo Mayawati andTrinamool CongressPresident MamataBanerjee would play a keyrole in the National politicsthis year, eminentJournalist Prabhu Chawlatoday said the future ofIndia was bright in thehands of women.Inaugurating anational-level symposiumin Chennai's suburbChawla said ''AIADMKGeneral Secretary JJayalalithaa, BSPSupremo Mayawati andTrinamool Congress leaderMamata Banerjee willusher in changes inNational politics'', he said,adding, ''These three willbe power Centres at thenational level''.Hinting thatCongress President SoniaGandhi would havecoalition with these threeleaders, Mr Chawla said''Ms Jayalalithaa, MsMayawati and Ms Mamatawill decide on who will rulethe nation (after theensuing Lok Sabha polls).''Speaking on ''Pros andCons of Coalition politics :Its impact on Indianeconomy'', Mr Chawlareferred to the Gandhis inNew Delhi, Abdullahs in Jand K, Yadavs in UP andBihar, Badals in Punjab,Chautalas in Haryana, MKarunanidhi clan in TamilNadu, Karunakarans inKerala, Gowdas inKarnataka and Pawars inMaharashtra and saiddynasty politics wasdangerous in democracy.''Genealogy hasmade ideology redundant,''he said and added thatsince 1987 every year hasbeen an election year and149 elections wereconducted in the past 22years and the governmentdid't work for 90 days eachyear because of polls.Nearly 2000 days(1980 to be precise) Indiawas in poll mode since1987 and in four of the fiveelections, incumbentGovernments were thrownout.Stating thatIndian democracy wasvoluminous and volatile,Mr Chawala said thecoalition led by the BJP-led NDA was the mostproductive and stableand was the only one tolast its full-term, whereasother coalitionGovernments did notsurvive the distance.''This is a shame on ourdemocracy'', he said,adding in theoverwhlemingideological diversity,there was no distinctiveunifying national vision.Averring thatcoalition Governmentshave come to stay andwere inevitable, MrChawla said fringeparties were greater thanthe UPA in 2004 with theCongress having 153and its supportersstrength being 155.''For 13 yearsno single party has ruledin Delhi and theCongress has reconciledto the inevitability ofcoalition,'' he added.''Left wasbecoming Right andRight was sometimesbecoming Left. Big Macco-existed with Big Marxfor four years,'' he saidand added that coalitionexists everywhere andmore states were undercoalition regimes.The journalisthowever, said coalitiongovernments, too, coulddeliver Major reform andpointed out that theboldest economicreforms was introducedby a ''minority''government in 1991.''Unstable polityhad co-existed with afairly stable economicpolicy through the 90s till2004,'' he said.Stating thatthere was no majority in astate like Tamil Nadu, MrChawala in 1967 therewere 10 parties, 234constituencies, 778contestants and none ofthem lost their deposits.''But in 2006,there are 36 parties,same 234constituencies, 2586candidates and 2102 ofthem have forfeited theirdeposits,'' he added.''Tamil Nadu,the once golden state, isnow going down as theCAGR came down to 5.6during 1999-2000 to2007-08, as against theAll India rate of 7.3 percent,'' he said and addedfor the first time keyeconomic portfolios weregiven to the State.Observing thatthe UPA's CommonMinimum Programmewas full of contradictions,Mr Chawla said this wasreason for the slow paceof reforms, despite thegovernment having thebest pedigree ofreformers. ''The Leftpressure was morepronounced that it wasunder the United Frontrule, though the Left wasnot in the Government.''''What's in store in 2009 :It's going to be the year ofwomen and the future ofcountry is bright in theirhands,'' the journalist,summing up his nearly45-minute long address,which was heard withrapt attention by thenearly 5,000 strongpacked audience.
-Agencies
Jaya, Maya and Mamta will play keyrole in Indian politics in the nextelection : Prabhu Chawla
Chennai, Feb. 27
In a bid to buypeace with the agitatinglawyers and as per thediurections of theSupreme Court the TamilNadu Government hasannounced Thursdaynight reshuffle of seniorpolice officers post theFebruary 19 bloody clashbetween the cops andlawyers..ChennaiCentral Jointcommissioner of policeSandeep Rai Rathorewas transferred andposted as DeputyInspector General ofPolice (DIG) MaduraiRange in the existingvacancy, a release said.The orders inrespect of posting Mr V ARavikumar as DIG,Coimbatore Range, wascancelled and he wasshifted as JointCommissioner of Police,Central Zone in place ofMr Rathore.Mr MRamasubramani, DIG oncompulsory wait, wasposted as DIGCoimbatore Range.Dr M CSarangan, DeputyCommissioner of Police,Kilpauk, Chennai wastransferred and postedas Superintendent ofPolice, Thiruvallur Districtin place of M Pandian, whowas transferred and postedas Deputy Commissionerof Police, Kilpauk,Chennai.Mr Prem AnandSinha, DeputyCommissioner of Police,Flower Bazaar, Chennaiwas transferred and postedas Superintendent ofPolice, KancheepuramDistrict in place of Mr KPeriaiah, who wastransfered and posted asDeputy Commissiner ofPolice, Flower Bazaar,Chennai.
-Agencies
TN Govt effects reshuffleof police officials
Chennai, Feb. 27:
Developmentcommunication is a topicbeing widely discussedthese days. It hasassumed newconnotations over theyears. In view of sharingand analysing thedifferent practices ofdevelopmentcommunication theYoung JournalistsAssociation formed bythe school of Journalismand MassCommunication of theSRM University at itscampus in suburbanKaatangulathur hadorganised a one dayseminar today on thetopic "DevelopmentCommunication -Practices anddilemmas."Mr. PrabhuChawla Editorial Directorof the India Today groupinaugurated thesymposium. Yuhi Sethuof the Kollywood famewas one of the guestsand he received the firstcopy of the deliberationsof the symposiumreleased by ProChancellor P Ravi.Chancellor Pachamuthusaid journalism is nothingbut communicating thehappenings in andaround you and anexcellent communicationis that exact reporting ofhappening in life withoutexaggeration.Vice chancellorP Sathyanarayanan saidthat the School ofJournalism and MassCommunication of theSRM University which isrelatively a late entrant inthe campus is playing avital role in the Campusand the bestcommunicating hub inthe campus and itsneighbourhood.Quoting a Chineseproverb on doing ityourself the schoolenvisages in bringing outa community news paperin the near future so thatthe students can gethands on experience in journalism.Prabhu Chawlain his key note addresssaid that the youngbudding journalists of theSchool should developanalytical habits to analysethe present scenario sothat they can adaptthemselves incommunicating the rightthings in future.At the valedictoryfunction N Ravi Editor TheHindu was the chief guest .He said Developmentcommunication has to beseen as another aspect ofmedia freedom and not adifferent species in itself.He also pointedout that threre wasextensive coverage ofdeprivation issues whichdemocratic system and themedia has filed in shapingup a public policy inaddressing such issueswith a sense of urgency.Film Director YuhiSethu had the audience insplits with his wits andhumour.Ealier Dr.Sethuraman Registrar ofthe University , Dr. R.BalasubramaniamDirector , Dr. Vinay KaulAdvisor and other facultymembers were present onthe occassion.
Special Correspondent
National Symposium on DevelopmentCommunications at the SRM University
Chennai, Feb. 27
In order to easetraffic congestion,especially during peakhours, the Tamil Nadugovernment plans toconstruct another 10flyovers and subwaysacross the city.Announcing thisin the State Assembly onThursday,localAdministration Minister MK Stalin said the flyoverswould come up atPerambur, CenotaphRoad, Rangarajapuram,Kathivakkam HighwayRoad, Alandur Salai, MintStreet and Vysarpadi.Subways wouldalso be built atVillivakkam, RoyapuramManiyakarat and JonesRoad at Saidapet, Stalinsaid. Apart from this, avehicular subway wouldbe built at a cost of Rs 4crore at BhojarajaRailway junction nearKorukkupet at a cost of Rs6.28 crore. Steps werebeing taken to widen thePerambur LocomotiveWorks flyover at Rs 9.50crore, he added.
-Agencies
New flyovers,subways tocome up in Chennai
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