mumbai against terror

Mumbai: In the background of the recent Delhi blasts, Mumbai was and continues to remain on its toes once again as being the highly possible target for terror attacks.

The city police in collaboration with a telecom firm have launched a campaign called ‘Alert Mumbaikar,’ which will include a 24-hour helpline for citizens to alert the police about suspicious activities, enlisting the support of the citizens to combat the threat.

Commissioner of Police, Mumbai Hasan Gafoor says, “Mumbai has always been a prime terror target being the financial capital."

The financial capital is getting ready to tackle the terror threat head on.

Additional Commissioner of Police, Protection Vijay Kargaonkar says, “This campaign is designed to create awareness across all sections of Mumbaikars about the things they have to keep in mind."

Even the Bollywood industry is doing its bit for the cause.

Actor Shahid Kapoor says “We all need to be alert about this."

Cyber tech consultant Vijay Mukhi’s initiatives are also underway to create awareness on how to fight terror in cyber space.

Mukhi along with the sheriff plans to develop a cadre of people who would go around and help others secure their networks.

The Delhi bomb blasts has left a sense of apprehension in Mumbai but in the true spirit of the city, Mumbaikars are not giving in to their fears but finding ways to keep their city safe.

chennai universities

visit us at:www.annauniv.edu.
CHENNAI: After a gap of three years, the Anna University (Chennai) has revived the practice of publishing online a comprehensive rank list of engineering colleges based on the performance of students in the semester examinations.

The Sivakasi-based self-financing institution Mepco Schlenk Engineering College tops the performance list with 88.74% of its students passing in all the subjects they appeared for during the April-May semester exams. Of the 1,s750 students of the college who appeared for the examination , 1,553 have cleared all papers. Coming a close second is the Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering (SSN) in Thiruporur, administered by a trust managed by industrialist Shiv Nadar, with an overall pass percentage of 87.96.

Kongu Engineering College in Erode, the Institute of Road and Transport Technology (IRTT) in Erode and the Chennai-based Meenakshi Sundararajan Engineering College bagged the third, fourth and fifth slots respectively.

Last on the list of 242 colleges is the Vellore-based GGR College of Engineering where of the 357 students only 21 managed to pass in all subjects.

In another rank list, which has been prepared on the basis of the number of answer scripts in which the students have passed, the SSN College and Meenakshi Sundararajan College are tied in the first slot with a success rate of 95.4%. In that list, the IRTT is placed seventh, while Mepco, Kongu, Arulmigu Kalasilingam College of Engineering and Chennai-based Sri Sairam Engineering College have secured the second, third, fourth and fifth slots respectively.

The practice of hosting the collective performance of colleges in semester examinations on the internet was introduced five years ago, when E Balagurusamy was the vice chancellor of Anna University . Subsequently, his successor D Viswanathan had discontinued this, allegedly on a request from some college owners who felt that it affected admissions in institutions, which had fared poorly in examinations.

The reintroduction of the practice by the incumbent vice chancellor P Mannar Jawahar has brought cheers to the student and parent community. They feel that this list would serve as a valuable indicator during admissions and also check misleading representation about the examination results in advertisements. Besides, this will bring about a positive change with colleges competing to better their positions next time.

However, the flip side is that in the past some colleges which had figured in the top 25 ranks had hiked their capitation fee for management quota students citing the good academic record. The complete rank list is available on the website www.annauniv.edu..

problem of getting NANO in INDIA

In shifting his factory from Singur, Mr Ratan Tata would do West Bengal’s image much harm, but he would do India a great favour. If indeed Mr Tata follows up on his threat, he would send several signals that our body politick desperately needs.

First, it would say, that while we cherish our democracy dearly, our freedom to protest cannot not become an excuse to intimidate or threaten the state or private parties. This was unfortunately played out during the Gujjar agitation a few months ago and in Jammu and Kashmir more recently over the Amarnath land transfer. We cannot use guerrilla or mob tactics to make a point about public policy—something that is happening with depressingly regularity—and intimidate and inconvenience innocent citizens! A state more preoccupied with electoral calculations than basic governance has thus far been unable to convey this message. Mr Tata should.

Secondly, it would send a message that India’s development is a Herculean task which can no longer be retarded based on misinformation by the press, political propaganda or celebrity activists. There are enough credible think tanks to which even the toughest policy solutions can be outsourced. Lives are at stake here. India needs to grow consistently at over 9% for more than 10 years to lift a sizeable number of people out of poverty. We host a third of the world’s poor. At the rate we are going, we aren’t going to be able to help many of our poor in any meaningful way. If the state is acquiring land at desperately low prices, let the record reflect it and changes be made. If the private player is misusing money power to cajole politicians let that be brought to light. Where are the sting operations on land deals? And where is CBI? Let organisations with impeccable credentials oversee land acquisition and make the state pay them handsomely to do so.

Thirdly, a pullout by Mr Tata would signal that we are dangerously close to going back to the days when private players sought to set up factories outside India because of government incompetence. India’s enclaves of excellence have been privately cultivated. Both Abhinav Bindra’s gold and Sushil Kumar’s bronze stand evidence to the private initiative of those with and without means. They tell the story that a talented India’s worst enemy is an unresponsive and corrupt state itself.

Finally, a pullout by Mr Tata will tell the communists and their bête noire Mamata Banerjee that ideology without concrete solutions has no place in a nation where malnourishment and stark poverty are still widespread. There is a thin line between opposition and obstructionism and crossing it—as we have seen happen in Singur all too often— costs the nation time, money and opportunity.

So Mr Tata, do your company and the nation a favour: Please pull out.