Latest News Update: Jan 3, 2011

Monday, January 3, 2011

[ZESTCaste] Vocational course at madarsa

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/varanasi/Vocational-course-at-madarsa/articleshow/7206566.cms

Vocational course at madarsa

Jan 2, 2011, 09.28pm IST

VARANASI: To provide vocational training to Muslim and dalit girls, a
30-day course on fashion designing and garment making was started at
Madarsa Khwaja Garib Nawaz, Rahimpur, Lohta, on Saturday.

"The course is supported by the Rural Training Centre (RTC) of the
Union Bank of India," said Naushaba, woman facilitator of the Human
Welfare Association (HWA). According to her, 32 women were enrolled
for free training. Out of them, 28 hail from Muslim community.

HWA director Rajni Kant said after the completion of the course, those
women would be given certificates by the bank. They could then take
loan from banks to begin their own garment making units.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits pay the price for supporting BJP

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hubli/Dalits-pay-the-price-for-supporting-BJP/articleshow/7206781.cms

Dalits pay the price for supporting BJP

Basavaraj F Kattimani, TNN, Jan 2, 2011, 11.07pm IST

HUBLI: Hundreds of innocent dalit families residing in Harijankere of
Antur-Bentur village of Gadag district were ostracized from the
village. All for supporting a BJP candidate in the just concluded
ZP/TP election.

Dalit families who spent a chilly night in a temple on the outskirts
of the village on Saturday night after being ostracized alleged that
their only fault was that they stood by the BJP candidate as he helped
develop the temple in Harijankere.

Gadag district minister C C Patil has said that he will hold talks
with the upper caste people to establish a favourable atmosphere in
Antur-Bentur village. Speaking to The Times of India, Patil said that
he also visited the village on Sunday evening to assess the situation.

However, the villagers were being treated as untouchables in the
village even before the polls. Now the ostracism has been given a
political twist. "We have been denied water, entry into temples and
hotels after the election. Finally, we were ostracized from village.
Besides, we were allegedly attacked on Friday night, forcing us to
leave the village," a member of the family rued.

"I will hold a meeting with the upper caste people in this village
tomorrow to bring the situation to normalcy and to establish conducive
atmosphere in the village," the minister assured.

Of the 11 GP members, 8 GP members including dalits joined BJP which
might have annoyed anti-social elements, minister Patil said. Without
mentioning Congress, he said that some youths who are miffed with
dalit families for supporting BJP have allegedly attacked them. As
dalit families sought protection, we deployed adequate police in the
village, Patil added.

He also promised to make alternate arrangements to supply ration to
the dalit families in the village since shops were closed due to the
tension in the village.

Left with no other options, more than 100 dalit families including
children, women and aged spent their night on the premises of temple
on Saturday night. They have lodged a complaint with the Gadag rural
police seeking action but in vain.

When the families were not allowed to enter the village on Sunday
morning too, they held a dharna near the temple demanding action
against those who ostracized them from the village. Police then rushed
to the village and convinced the dalits to go back to their houses.

Speaking to the Times of India, Chandru Hadimani, Kanakamma Sandimani,
Basavaraj Machhigudda and others said that some upper caste people
belonging to a particular party were waiting to take revenge against
them for their close association with the BJP candidate. "We
appreciated his help in helping us repair the temple," they echoed.

Untouchablity still prevails here from many years, they claimed.
Ravikumar Nayak, Gadag SP, said that dalit families have already
lodged a complaint. "After we promised them to look into the matter
and to take necessary action, they got back to their houses. We are
maintaing a vigil on unruly elements who try to disturb peace," he
added.

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[ZESTCaste] 3 of a dalit family charred in fire

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/7208002.cms

3 of a dalit family charred in fire
TNN, Jan 3, 2011, 04.38am IST

PATNA: Three members of a dalit family living at Udan Tola village
under Janipur police station in Patna district died on Saturday night
after suffering severe burn injuries.

The victims were identified as Belwanti Devi (30) and her two sons
Karan (5)and Arjun (2). Their badly charred bodies were later sent for
post-mortem to PMCH, police said. It has not been established yet
whether the fire was accidental or a result of some conspiracy.

According to Janipur police station officer incharge Lal Bihari
Paswan, preliminary investigations into the incident revealed that the
incident took place on Saturday night when the victims were fast
asleep in their hut. Police are investigating how did the fire break
out in the hut, Paswan said.

Belwanti was the wife of one Raj Kumar, a labourer working in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Buddhu Manjhi, father-in-law of Belwanti, alleged that his
daughter-in-law and two grandsons were the victims of a conspiracy
hatched by three persons. He said these people used to sell county
liquor in front of his daughter-in-law's hut, which she often
protested. It is possible that they set the hut afire on Saturday
night when the victims were asleep, he alleged, adding policemen at
Janipur did not act swiftly in the case.

Phulwari DSP Rakesh Dubey and BDO visited the spot and handed over Rs
10,000 on behalf of Patna district administration as ex-gratia to
Belwanti's family members.

Road mishap: A cyclist was knocked down to death by a speeding truck
on Saturday evening near Danapur station. The incident took place when
the cyclist was going to Naubatpur. The truck was coming from opposite
direction, The identity of the victim is yet to be established.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits face boycott in Gadag village

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/bengaluru/dalits-face-boycott-gadag-village-894

Dalits face boycott in Gadag village
January 3rd, 2011

Jan. 2: People of the Dalit community in the tiny hamlet of
Anthur-Benthur near Gadag, are still facing social ostracism. They are
facing wrath from Congress workers for casting votes in favour of the
BJP during the panchayat elections. The social evil prevails in the
village, despite widespread campaign against it by the government and
NGOs.

Dalits are prohibited from getting their hair cut in the village, and
have to travel 21 km to Gadag to get a haircut every month. They are
not allowed to sit at tables in hotels, and have to sit on the floor.
Separate cups are provided to them to drink tea or coffee in the
hotels. Dalits have to clean the cups and other utensils used by them
in the hotel. They have to beat the hand-drums after the death of
persons belonging to upper class.

Out of the 6,000 population, around one thousand are dalits living in
a separate colony. They have been a vote bank of the Congress party
for the last five decade.

They switched over to BJP in the presence of minister, C.M. Udasi,
after Rs 2 lakhs was provided to them by the local BJP legislator for
construction of a Durgamma temple. Enraged over this, several Congress
workers ransacked houses of Dalit community on Sunday. Two Dalit women
were injured in the incident, and they are undergoing treatment in
government hospital of Gadag.

"We would not be allowed to grow politically, and would be ill-treated
if we go against the wishes of the upper class people. Several
Congress workers also barged into our temple, and threatened to
demolish it. We have also lodged protests several times against social
ostracism," a Dalit, Dyamappa Hadimani said. They have also registered
a complaint at Gadag rural police station seeking protection.

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[ZESTCaste] Political party workers attack dalits

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/125755/political-party-workers-attack-dalits.html

Political party workers attack dalits
Gadag, Jan 2, DHNS :

Activists of a political party barged into a dalit colony at Benthur
near here on Saturday night, and roughed up a number of residents, it
is learnt.

Eerie calm: Police camp in Benthur village in Gadag taluk, where
dalits were attacked on Saturday night, allegedly by the activists of
a political party. DH PhotoThe attack is said to be born out of
rumours that the residents of the colony had supported the BJP
candidates in the polling for the Zilla and Taluk Panchayats on
Friday.

A number of people were said to have been injured in the attack that
has left the residents of the dalit colony in fear.

The dalits gathered in front of the Durga temple in the village on
Sunday morning and demanded protection and punishment for their
attackers.

Superintendent of Police Ravikumar Naik, DySP Suresh Masooti and
Circle Inspector S R Ujjanakoppa rushed to the spot and pacified the
residents. A police team is camping in the village.

A case has been registered at the Rural Police Station.

District in-charge minister C C Patil visited the spot and spoke to the victims.

Addressing a public meeting at the village, Patil said the attack on
dalits was politically motivated and promised the residents that
action would taken to ensure that such incidents would not recur.

Regardless of how any person voted, residents should live in harmony,
he said. The Constitution conferred the right to vote on every citizen
and no political party should make an attempt to take away that right.

Legislator Shylappa Bidaroor and City Municipal Corporation president
Shrikant Khatavate were present.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits allege attack by Congress workers

http://expressbuzz.com/states/karnataka/dalits-allege-attack-by-congress-workers/236389.html

Dalits allege attack by Congress workers

Express News Service
First Published : 03 Jan 2011 03:52:51 AM IST
Last Updated : 03 Jan 2011 10:47:38 AM IST

GADAG: Political rivalry came to the fore just after a day of zilla
and taluk panchayat polls in Benthur village of Gadag taluk. A group
of Congress workers allegedly attacked dalits who are said to be BJP
supporters. A complaint has been filed against 10 Congress workers in
Gadag rural police station on Sunday.

After polling, some hoteliers of the village denied dalits entry to
their hotels. On Saturday night, some Congress workers allegedly
attacked dalit houses and abused them. To protest the Congress
workers' extortion in the village, on Sunday morning a group of dalits
started an agitation in front of the Durgadevi temple in the village.
They alleged that Congress leaders who belong to the upper caste have
imposed a social boycott on them.

Senior BJP leaders of the district rushed to the village to help their
party supporters and asked the police to provide them security. When
the incident came to light, Superintendent of Police Ravikumar Naik
visited the village and promised that an inquiry would be conducted.
Gadag tahsildar DB Konnur also rushed to village and questioned the
villagers on the social boycott.

SP Ravikumar Naik told Express that there was no social boycott of
dalits in the village. Some miscreants attacked dalits and some minor
injuries were reported, he said. An atrocity case has been filed
against 10 persons, but the accused have escaped. "I hope they will be
arrested within the next 24 hours," he said.

District Minister CC Patil visited the village and requested the
villagers to maintain social harmony and peace.

The minister promised that the miscreants would be punished.

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[ZESTCaste] Naxals ‘recruiting’ SC/ST students in urban areas

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Naxals--recruiting--SC-ST-students-in-urban-areas/732351

Naxals 'recruiting' SC/ST students in urban areas

Vivek Deshpande Posted online: Mon Jan 03 2011, 10:01 hrs
Nagpur : As Naxalites shift focus from rural to urban and semi-urban
areas, investigations reveal that for the past two years, the outlaws
have started concentrating on students' hostels and slums in towns and
cities, including Mumbai.

Targeting mainly young Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe teenagers,
they have already started recruiting them into their dalams (squads),
investigations reveal.

Between 10 and 15 hostellers from Chandrapur city and slum dwellers
from Mumbai, including 3-4 girls, have already been recruited, sources
said. The information came to light during the interrogation of some
senior Naxals arrested recently in Vidarbha, sources said.

The Indian Express had last month reported about the Naxal plan to
recruit youths from urban areas.

"While most are from backward class students' hostels in Chandrapur,
some were picked up from Mumbai slums," sources said.

"They attended a lecture on Marx, Lenin and Mao's philosophy at a
remote place in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh, delivered by
state committee members, including senior cadre Milind Teltumbdein,"
sources said.

"It's easy to lure these fellows when they are young... They are first
inducted into front organisations and then slowly indoctrinated before
being recruited into dalams," sources said.

Some students belonging to a local organisation in Chandrapur were
apprehended a few years ago. "Some of these new recruits actually
belonged to this organisation that had come under the scanner then,"
sources added.

Some recruits are from Wani area of Yavatmal.

"The Naxals have started focusing on students' hostels in places such
as Rajura, Brahmapuri, Mul, Saoli and Nagbhid in Chandrapur district
and Wani in Yavatmal," sources said.

The sources said the parents of the boys and girls have no idea that
their children are being trained and recruited as members of the Naxal
army.

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[ZESTCaste] Punia: SC-ST panel can probe backward girl rape case

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Punia-SC-ST-panel-can-probe-backward-girl-rape-case/articleshow/7207640.cms

Punia: SC-ST panel can probe backward girl rape case
TNN, Jan 3, 2011, 08.18am IST

LUCKNOW: Reacting to cabinet secretary, Shashank Shekhar Singh's
statement at that the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes had no right to investigate the Neelu rape case as
the girl was an OBC and not the SC or ST, Punia said that the
commission was well within its rights to probe the case.

Once the principal secretary to Mayawati, Punia said that the
commission was empowered under article 338(10) of the Constitution to
investigate cases of atrocities against the backward castes including
the OBC.

Taking a pot shot at the cabinet secretary, Punia said that Singh was
acting like a BSP spokesperson. "He is a government functionary. If at
all he wishes to act like a BSP spokesperson, then he should first
resign," Punia said.

The Congress MP from Barabanki, termed Shekhar's allegations as highly
offensive and misleading.

Addressing a press conference earlier in the day, Shashank Shekhar had
said that Punia was indulging in petty politics regarding the case. He
said that Punia's demand of a report from the state government was not
under the purview of the commission, since the victim was an OBC.

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[ZESTCaste] Malaysia book causes rift over Indian caste system

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/malaysia-book-causes-rift-over-indian-caste-system/139284-40-100.html

Malaysia book causes rift over Indian caste system
Associated Press
Posted on Jan 03, 2011 at 03:13pm IST

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: A high school text book that highlights
multiethnic Malaysia's racial harmony has riled the main ethnic Indian
party, which wants it banned because it refers to the Hindu caste
system, an official said Monday.

The Malaysian Indian Congress, which is part of the ruling coalition,
has asked the Education Ministry to withdraw the book "Interlock," or
at least revoke portions referring to the caste system, because it is
seen as hurtful to minority Indians, said party deputy president S.
Subramaniam.

The spat emphasizes the difficulty of running a multiethnic country
such as Malaysia where minorities are hypersensitive to suggestions
their culture is not being respected, or they are being ridiculed by
others.

Malaysia book causes rift over Indian caste system

The caste system is an outdated concept that Malaysian Indians want to
forget, and it was "unnecessary" to include the reference in the book,
Subramaniam said.

"It's irrelevant to modern day life here," he told The Associated
Press. "With this kind of image, (some Indian Malaysians) feel hurt
... It's not touched upon or talked about by anybody."

Deputy Education Deputy Wee Ka Siong told the AP the ministry is
waiting to hear the party's arguments before making a decision.

The book, required reading for literature classes starting this year,
tells the stories of three families — Malay, Chinese and Indian — in
British colonial times. Malays, who are Muslims, make up 60 percent of
Malaysia's 28 million people. Chinese are 25 percent and Indians, who
are mostly Hindus, make up 8 percent.

The book, written by a Malay author, shows the "integration of the
various majority races" and how they contributed toward the
independence of Malaysia from Britain in 1957. Most of the Indians in
Malaysia were brought from India by the British colonialists as
labourers in rubber plantations or for construction.

The portion that angered the party is from a chapter that tells the
story of a poor man from India's "Pariah caste." He travels to Malaya,
as it was known then, to find work and is surprised at the absence of
a caste system.

Under the Indian caste system, Hindus are divided into four main
castes according to their line of work. In addition, there are people
outside the system called "untouchables" who are supposed to do
unclean jobs dealing with excrement and the dead.

Although the caste system is banned in India, it is still practiced in
villages. Malaysian Indians continue with most traditions of their
ancestors, but the caste system is largely obsolete here.

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[ZESTCaste] Madiga Warns Government

http://www.fullhyderabad.com/hyderabad-news/sc-categorisation-madiga-sets-deadline-for-government-3142

Madiga Warns Government

Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi President Manda Krishna Madiga
warned the government of serious consequences if an all-party
delegation was not taken to Delhi.

2nd Jan, 2011: Demanding that it made its stand clear on
categorization of SCs, Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS)
President Manda Krishna Madiga on Sunday warned the government of
serious consequences if it did not take an all-party delegation to New
Delhi over the issue.

Talking to media persons, the MRPS leader demanded that the state
government honour its commitment by sending an all-party delegation to
New Delhi to push for the categorisation of SCs.

Krishna Madiga warned that the MRPS would intensify its agitation if
the government did not act on its promise and lead the all-party
delegation by January 31st.

The MRPS leader demanded that the government show its sincerity by
putting pressure on the centre so that a Constitutional Amendment Bill
was introduced in the Parliament for categorisation of SCs.

He warned that the MRPS leaders and activists would picket the
Assembly on February 22nd and obstruct the proceedings of the budget
session if the government did not make its stand clear by January
31st.

"It will have to face the ire of SCs if it does not initiate measures
to implement the Usha Mehra Panel recommendations which favoured
categorisation of SCs," Krishna Madiga said.

Courtesy: INN

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit Millionaires Hold Biz Meet

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2011/01/03/dalit-millionaires-hold-biz-meet/
January 3, 2011, 2:03 PM IST

Dalit Millionaires Hold Biz Meet

By Tripti Lahiri

At a dinner Sunday night for Dalit entrepreneurs, Montek Singh
Ahluwalia—the man who sets India's spending priorities in its
five-year plans—looked on benignly as Dalit businessmen (and at least
one businesswoman) were called forward by name to meet him.

He asked one young man, Harsh Bhasker, who runs a coaching institute
in Agra that preps students for engineering and medical college exams,
what his institute's success rate was.

Planning Commission deputy chair Montek Singh Ahluwalia, left,
businesswoman Kalpana Saroj, center, and activist Chandra Bhan Prasad,
right, attended a party to celebrate Dalit entrepreneurs.

He asked Sanjay Kshirsagar, who makes audio equipment but is also
involved in real estate development, about a slum renewal project he's
working on in Mumbai.

He then crowned two businessmen with tinsel crowns, including one who
was billed as "the youngest CEO" at the gathering although the young
man in question was quick to clarify that actually he heads a
nonprofit.

"This definitely shows that with the new economic policies, which have
led to new opportunities, there are social changes taking place that
are not negative for Dalits," said Mr. Ahluwalia.

The people at the gathering agreed, praising India's economic
liberalization and globalization for giving them new opportunities.
Historically Dalits fall at the bottom of India's caste totem pole,
and were confined to hereditary jobs considered menial or dirty by
other caste groups.

"These are products of after globalization," said Milind Kamble, who
runs a construction firm. In 2005, he started a business forum for
Dalit entrepreneurs like himself. "In the open market everybody can
enter provided he has competency."

The dinner Sunday was organized by Mr. Kamble and activist and writer
Chandra Bhan Prasad.

On Monday afternoon, the group of Dalit entrepreneurs—the Dalit Indian
Chamber of Commerce & Industries—is set to visit Mr. Ahluwalia at his
office. Folks at the gathering Sunday night said this was the first
time a Dalit business forum was meeting formally with a government
official ahead of the budget in February, and that they intended to
ask for help—though not quotas for employment in private sector firms,
they were quick to add.

"I expect to have a very full interaction with them," said Mr.
Ahluwalia, adding that he planned to ask them what government policies
they had found beneficial. The commission will soon be beginning work
on its next five-year plan.

The planning official said he wanted to know: "What was it government
did when they were younger, which they now find was really crucial?"

The entrepreneurs at the gathering, many of whom seemed to hail from
families that were already educated or in some way ahead of many
others in the community, said one of the big challenges for Indian
business—financing—is even harder for them.

"We are from a community where we don't have any assets and we are
first-generation businessmen," said Mr. Kamble, who started the
chamber in 2005. Mr. Kamble's father was a primary school teacher but
the 43-year-old said that he saw the earnings in a job like that as
too limited. He carried out the construction work on his first
contract by borrowing money from friends.

Just as Dalit political organizers have done in the past (there was
once a Dalit Panthers organization, named after the Black Panthers),
Dalit businessmen look to the African-American civil rights movement
for inspiration.

"The black man in the White House…this did not happen overnight," said
Mr. Kamble as the evening drew to a close. "It is the result of 40
years of struggle."

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[ZESTCaste] Wikipedia stays ad-free; turns 10 on Jan. 15

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/96866/20110103/wikipedia-wikimedia-foundation-wiki-jimmy-wales-larry-sanger-nupedia-encyclopedia-bomis-inc-english.htm

Wikipedia stays ad-free; turns 10 on Jan. 15

By Balasubramanyam Seshan | January 3, 2011 4:03 AM EST

The new year celebrations is over, but the ceremony is not over for
Wikipedia which is turning 10 on Jan. 15. Added to this Wikipedia has
raised $16 million, allowing the service to remain ad-free for another
year.

REUTERS
The new year celebrations is over, but the ceremony is not over for
Wikipedia which is turning 10 on Jan. 15. Added to this Wikipedia have
raised $16 million, allowing the service to remain ad-free for another
year.

The Wikimedia Foundation, parent of online encyclopedia Wikipedia, got
from 140 countries more than 500,000 donations, higher than 240,000
total contributions in 2009, with an average donation size of about
$22.

Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, said the fundraiser was the
'shortest' in the online encyclopedia's history, lasting just 50 days.
Out of the $16 million donations, $13.7 million came via the Internet,
while the rest came from direct checks.

In 2009, the Wikimedia Foundation raised just over $8 million from
more than 240,000 individual donations (up from 139,000 donations
during the 2008 campaign). The average donation in 2009 was $33, and
donations came in from over 100 countries.

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"This year is a little more incredible than most because this year we
celebrate Wikipedia's tenth anniversary. It's so important that we
kick the year off just like this: by fully funding the Wikimedia
Foundation's budget to support Wikipedia and all the sister projects
as we head into the next decade of our work together," said Wales.

Funds raised by the Wikimedia Foundation's annual campaign will
contribute to the 2010-11 operating budget. For the fiscal 2010–2011,
the Wikimedia Foundation has planned for $20.4 million of annual
expenses, over half of which will be spent on technology.

With the official close of the 2010 Fundraiser, Wikipedia will now
kick-off its 10-year birthday celebration, taking place on January 15,
2011. To support celebrations, the Foundation will be offering limited
edition Wikipedia t-shirts, customizable in over 200 languages. The
shirts will only be available until January 15 for a minimum donation
of $25, shipping included.

From the launch of a new outreach project in Kenya to a film screening
in Tel Aviv, there are currently 65 events of all kinds. Most events
are free to attend or very low cost. The complete list of anniversary
activities can be found at Wikipedia site.

Recently, Ukrainian Wikipedia reached 250,000 article milestone that
was officially created on Dec. 21 at 8:45 pm, Kyiv Time. Since it
started in 2004, Ukranian Wikipedia has grown at a steady rate, adding
50,000 articles in just the last nine months, making it the sixteenth
largest language Wikipedia.

In 2010, the Ukrainian encyclopedia experienced a 64 percent increase
in page views -- 860,000 people have viewed 30 million articles in
December alone. Although Wikipedia is available in over 270 languages,
only 35 language Wikipedias have reached the 100,000 article
milestone.

The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization which operates
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, and also operates Wikipedia-related
projects such as Wiktionary and Wikibooks.

According to comScore Media Metrix, Wikipedia and the other projects
operated by the Wikimedia Foundation received 410 million unique
visitors per month, making them the 5th most popular web property
world-wide (November 2010).

The name Wikipedia was coined by Larry Sanger and is a portmanteau
from wiki (a technology for creating collaborative websites, from the
Hawaiian word wiki, meaning 'quick') and encyclopedia.

Wikipedia began as a complementary project for Nupedia, a free online
English-language encyclopedia project whose articles were written by
experts and reviewed under a formal process. Nupedia was founded on
March 9, 2000, under the ownership of Bomis Inc., a web portal
company.

Bomis Inc.'s main figures were Jimmy Wales, Bomis CEO, and Larry
Sanger, editor-in-chief for Nupedia and later Wikipedia. On January
10, 2001, Larry Sanger proposed on the Nupedia mailing list to create
a wiki as a 'feeder' project for Nupedia. Wikipedia was formally
launched on January 15, 2001, as a single English-language edition,
and announced by Sanger on the Nupedia mailing list.

Wikipedia has become the largest and most popular general reference
work on the Internet, ranking eighth among all websites on Alexa and
having 365 million readers. There are currently 273 language versions
of Wikipedia.

Of these language versions, English-language edition has about 3.52
million articles with total of 22.75 million, while German language
has 1.17 million articles with total of 3.31 million and French has
1.05 million articles with total of 4.23 million.

Jimmy Wales has described Wikipedia as "an effort to create and
distribute a free encyclopedia of the highest possible quality to
every single person on the planet in their own language."

Other websites centered on collaborative knowledge base development
have drawn inspiration from or inspired Wikipedia. Some, such as
Susning.nu, Enciclopedia Libre, Hudong, Baidu Baike, and WikiZnanie
likewise employ no formal review process, whereas others use more
traditional peer review, such as Encyclopedia of Life, Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Scholarpedia, h2g2, and Everything2.

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[ZESTCaste] CII turns down govt advice on ombudsman for SC/ST jobs

http://business-standard.com/india/news/cii-turns-down-govt-adviceombudsman-for-scst-jobs/420346/

CII turns down govt advice on ombudsman for SC/ST jobs
Press Trust of India / New Delhi January 01, 2011, 0:05 IST

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) today turned down a
direction of the government for appointing an ombudsman to track job
creation for scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs). It
said it cannot create such an institution.

However, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(Ficci) had appointed noted industrialist Y K Modi as an ombudsman for
overseeing employment generation for the weaker sections. Due to his
pre-occupations, Modi had since vacated this post and Ficci was
looking for an alternative, chamber sources said.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham)
has nominated heads of four regional chambers — Madras Chamber of
Commerce, Bombay Chamber of Commerce, Merchant Chamber and PHDCCI — as
ombudsmen.

"The Assocham president will be an arbitrator at the apex level. We
have conveyed this to the Prime Minister's Office," Assocham Secretary
General D S Rawat said.

But CII maintained that it had no mandate to create such an
institution. "A formal position of ombudsman was not created since
industry associations like CII do not have the legal mandate to create
and empower such a person, since discharge of duties of an ombudsman
could need semi-judicial powers," CII said in a statement.

CII said "its decision" had already been made known. In a recent
letter to the industry bodies, the government had sought the status
from the chambers on the issue.

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[ZESTCaste] FREE ONLINE eNālandā Research and Practice UNIVERSITY

Ven.Mahatheros/Bhantes/Upasakas/Upasikas/Ambedkarites/BSP cadres

http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org

is running FREE ONLINE eNālandā Research and Practice UNIVERSITY and sending course materials to around 1100 emails through efreenalandauniversity@gmail.com, tercesasiti@gmail.com,jcmkcami@gmail.com, sarvajanow@yahoo.co.in, bspnow@yahoo.co.in

Some problems are being felt in doing so. It is requested that you kindly visit http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org and forward the course materials to your friends and be a part of a large network for the peace welfare, happiness of all beings.

With kind regards

And lots of metta

MAY YOU BE EVER HAPPY, WELL AND SECURE
MAY YOU LIVE LONG
MAY ALL SENTIENT AND NON-SENTIENT BEINGS BE EVER HAPPY
MAY YOU BE ALWAYS HAVE CALM, QUIET, ALERT,ATTENTIVE AND
EQUANIMITY MIND WITH A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING THAT
NOTHING IS PERMANENT