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Kidney Transplant Poor Patient Needs YOUR Help, Let's Save a LIFE

Powai - 15 February 09 : We call upon generous and benevolent Powaiites in helping save life of a poor 10th standard girl whose both kidneys have failed. At present she is on life support system undergoing treatment at Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital.
The patient, Rukshar Yasin Shaikh is a student of Sardar Vallabhai Patel High School, Kandivili. Her mother will be donating her one kidney for her to survive. Her father is a tailor working on daily wages.
The poor family needs Rs.3,80,000/- for surgery and medical expenses urgently. Anyone wanting to see her medical documents can contact us.
Cheques can be made in the name of “Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital (A/c Rukshar Yasin Shaikh)”. Just SMS < Donation > with your name to 9820001918, we shall pick up the same from your place and hand it over to the concerned hospital.
http://www.planetpowai.com/news/1502200904.htm

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Students express concern over Mithi’s condition

Dhanya Nair

Mumbai Two days after NGOs in the city undertook the Mithi yatra, under the leadership of the Waterman of India, Rajendra Singh, 30 students from standard 8th and 9th of Gopal Sharma International School, Powai undertook the Yatra to study the condition of the river.

The students on Tuesday visited the Filterpada embarkment area, Powai, to understand the economic, environmental, health, educational, and geographical benefits of the river. The visit was part of their Environmental Studies (EVS) curriculum and was led by the school’s EVS teachers and environmentalists.

“We have a chapter on waste management in our syllabus. We have heard a lot about Mithi river, considered as a key drainage system of the city and its shoddy condition because of the constant garbage piling in and around the area. Though we have read a lot about it in our classes, the enormity of the situation struck us only when we visited the site,” said a class IX student, Avni Khandelwal.

According to the Principal, Gool Ghadiali field trips rather than classroom learning goes a long way in teaching students about environmental crisis. “The best way to learn about ecosystems in the city is to actually go out and visit the spots. Classroom learning pales in front of field trips. Hence we encourage such visits every year,” said Ghadiali.

“The Mithi spot was selected this year because it has been in news for a very long time. We usually encourage our students to participate in current affairs and this is one way to make sure that they succeed in knowing the ground realities of an issue,” added Ghadiali.

The students said that the trip brought them closer to the state of Mithi. They now plan to undertake steps to do their bit in order to save the river. “Only after the 2006 deluge we came to know about Mithi through media reports. We understood how constant garbage dumping around the area had worsened its condition. The trip was an eye-opener,” said Shruti Modak an eighth standard student.

“We also realised that people around the Mithi slum who have been blamed for dumping did so because of lack of awareness. Hence our next step is to spread awareness in and around the area about the importance of the river,” added Modak.

Elsie Gabriel, Founder President of Young Environmentalists Programme Trust said, “Needless to say Mithi is a very important storm water drainage system which has been reduced to a garbage dumping ground. This has resulted in all sorts of environmental problems for the city. But unfortunately, the students in the city are not aware of this issue. Our plan was to engage them in order to make sure that Mithi gets a fresh lease of life for the coming generations.”

Linked from here

"Khoon Chala" A street Play By IITians.

Everyday, hundreds of people in Mumbai require blood for a transfusion, a surgery or some medical procedure. The blood requirement of Mumbai city is 240,000 units per year. Currently, 82% of the total requirement is met through voluntary blood donation. Voluntary blood donation motivated solely by humanitarian considerations is undoubtedly the safest and most effective way of providing blood of assured quality. We at Mood Indigo believe that youth has the potential to fulfill the blood requirements of not only our city, but of our entire country. Hence, Mood Indigo has taken the initiative to motivate others to donate blood. We will be coming to your college in the 2nd week of December. Make sure you are there. If you miss it, be there to donate blood during the four days of Mood Indigo. Fulfill your duty towards your country, towards humanity. But we do not want you to sit at home and wait for a call to "come and donate blood please". No, that's not what we want.

DON'T WAIT. COME OUT & DONATE. BE A DONOR!

When the need arises you have to run from pillar-to-post because there are more blood seekers than donors. For this reason, we at Mood Indigo aim at inviting eligible people to come forward for this noble cause. Few drops of your blood could bring smile on many faces. The gift of blood is the gift of life. There is no substitute for human blood.

For info check out http://www.moodi.org/khoonchala/

Discrimination By Housing Societies (Against Minorities) - Possible Legal Responses

 

TARUNABH KHAITAN

Recent months have seen several media stories on discrimination against Muslims by housing societies, especially in some western states. A Jain majority housing society in Mumbai denied water and power to its Muslim resident family in March this year. Around the same time, Madhavi Kapur of Pune wanted to sell her apartment to a Muslim family and faced incredible resistance. TV actor Aamir Ali could not find a house in Mumbai because of his religion. Even Saif Ali Khan confessed that he went to a Muslim real estate agent for fear of facing prejudice. Similar stories of forced ghettoisation have come from Ahmedabad as well. The problem is not restricted to Muslims. Other groups have faced similar discrimination in Delhi and elsewhere.
Sometimes, the pretext for denying housing to Muslims is vegetarianism. Paromita Vohra’s short film ‘Cosmopolis: Two Tales of a city‘ captures the issue brilliantly. More shockingly, sometimes the pretext is terrorism. In the aftermath of the recent Bombay attacks, some 300 real estate agents in Surat declared in a meeting that they will not rent or sell houses or shops to any Muslims, apparently because the terrorists who attacked Bombay had ‘local supporters’.

In this post on another blog where I contribute regularly, I lament the fact that we don’t have any systematic study of the problem, only these dispersed stories. Even the Sachar report does not have any data on discrimination on the grounds of religion (or other grounds, including food-preference, marital status, sexual orientation, caste, gender identity and ethnic identity) in the housing sector in India. Can anyone point to any systematic study in this area, even if it is for a small geographical region? If none exists, such data needs to be produced.

THE LAW

Surprisingly, this discriminatory trend received endorsement from the Supreme Court in its decision in Zoroastrian Co-operative Housing Society Limited v. District Registrar Co-operative Societies (2005), where it allowed a housing society to rent and sell accommodation only to members of a particular religious community (in this case, Parsees) citing the freedom of association under Article 19(1)(c) of the Constitution. The Court held that the co-operate was not ‘State’ under Article 12 and therefore was not bound by the duty not to discriminate on the ground of religion under Article 15.

POSSIBLE LEGAL RESPONSES

What can be done? Article 19(1)(c) of the Constitution is subject to ‘reasonable restrictions’. Any prohibition of unfair discrimination will definitely be reasonable, and therefore nothing prevents the Parliament from making such a law.

There have been recent reports which I have studied in this recent article in the EPW. To quote from the article:

“Sachar Committee’s (2006) ‘Report on Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India’ … made two specific recommendations designed to benefit all vulnerable groups, not just Muslims: (1) …the Committee recommends that an Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) should be constituted by the government to look into the grievances of the deprived groups, (2) enhancement of diversity in different spaces should be seen as a larger policy objective… The idea of providing certain incentives to a “diversity index” should be explored… … …Two separate expert groups were set up as a follow-up measure to look into these two suggestions in further detail. The first expert group, chaired by Madhava Menon (2008), was asked to “examine and determine the structure of an Equal Opportunity Commission”. It submitted its report in February this year. The second expert group, chaired by Amitabh Kundu (2008) to “propose ‘diversity index’ and to work out the modalities for implementation” submitted its report in June 2008.”

The Menon Committee Report proposed an Equal Opportunity Commission Bill, which outlaws discrimination on several grounds (including religion) in the education and employment sectors (whether public or private). The main flaw in the Bill is that it leaves out the housing sector from its ambit, with the possibility of inclusion in the future. If the Bill becomes law, and includes the housing sector within its ambit, denying housing because of someone’s religion will become unlawful. The Bill is astute enough to cover ‘indirect’ discrimination as well - therefore, discrimination on grounds like food preference which have a disproportionate impact on Muslims will also be prohibited. 

The Kundu Committee Report complements the Menon Committee Report. It starts from an assumption that in a non-discriminatory world, all public spaces will be diverse (public “spaces” include privately owned business, housing societies and schools since the functions they perform are of a quasi-public nature). If hiring, admitting, leasing and selling policies are non-discriminatory, the social mix of a workforce, students or housing society will roughly reflect that of the society itself. Since this is not the case, positive action is needed. It therefore recommends that educational institutions, businesses and housing societies which improve their diversity ratio (based on caste, religion and gender) of their students, workforce and residents respectively will get financial incentives from the state.

The most important discursive leap in these reports is that they transcend the majority-minority divide. Menon Committee offers help only to objectively determined ‘deprived groups’ (which theoretically can be a majority group as well). The Kundu report encourages diversity in both directions - a Muslim-only workforce will get the same incentives to diversify as a Hindu-only workforce.

One important drawback of the two reports is the fact that they recommend independent enforcement mechanisms in the form of two separate commissions. There is already a plethora of commissions dealing with several aspects of equality. More commissions will mean more turf-wars and red-tape. What is needed is a single, streamlined and powerful Equality Commission which can deal with all issues of discrimination, diversity and affirmative action on all grounds, including caste, religion, tribe, race, sexual orientation, language and gender. The existing commissions can be merged into this single and efficient commission.

These reports have not received the attention they deserve, not even from Muslim leaders and intellectuals. A public debate to identify and fill the loop-holes, followed by enactment by the Parliament can lead the way for a more inclusive and diverse society. Ignoring them and continuing to see social justice only through the much-maligned lens of reservations will be missing the boat.

Tarunabh Khaitan is a lecturer in Law at St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford. He can be reached at tarunabh [at] gmail.com and his personal website is at http://sites.google.com/site/tarunabh/.

Photo: Muslim Rickshaw Driver

 

Article sourced from :http://indianmuslims.in/discrimination-by-housing-societies-possible-legal-responses/

March around the Hiranandani Complex (Powai) on 07.12.2008 SECURITY, BETTER GOVERNANCE

 

For more pictures , you can click here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=62603&id=594201149

J A G O I N D I A (JIM) Powai Chapter

Welcome all Honest Law Abiding Indian Citizens!

Let us unite and FIGHT CORRUPTION inINDIA. The majority of us are followers looking for some one else to lead the way. We, a group of technocrats, doctors & scholars from IIT,IIM & AIMs to REC & RMC's, have created JAGO INDIA   Found- tion and have made it our responsibility to lead the way for others to follow. We hope our countrymen will have faith in our commitment and ability to lead. We will make JAGO the FLAG ship that will spearhead this movement and make our voices heard not just at home in India but all over the world. We will make all law makers and law breakers sit up and listen.

This group is open to all honest citizens who have just about had enough of scams worth thousands of Crores of Rupees with no conviction in sight in decades. It's TIME for a CHANGE. It's Time for all of us to make in roads into governance and politics and try to stem CORRUPTION. 

Join the group and voice your opinions freely without any fear. The group will be moderated to ensure it does not get hijacked. This group is not for the Chicken hearted--When you join, we will assume you mean business, a business to eradicate corruption!

Sourced from :http://jagoindia.googlepages.com/home

 

Click here    to join the Chapter of Jago India (Powai)

Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital Organized Special Awareness Program Jointly with the Mumbai Police

Mumbai, December 15, 2008

Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital, Powai as a part of social responsibility had organized a special awareness program, "Voice of Citizens Against Terrorism" jointly with the Mumbai Police. The program was conducted on 13^th December 08, at Hiranandani Gardens.

Says Dr. Sujit Chatterjee, CEO, Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital, Powai, "We are taking this initiative as we want to start right from the grass root. What we can do in our community that would help the law enforcement agencies to thwart any major plan that may be contemplated by terrorists."

Inspector Shri Rupwate of the Powai Region said, "If people come forward like this they won't mind giving their lives for the country. The good outcome that we see here is that we Indians are united. Terrorism can only be fought jointly. It needs sustained effort. The sad scenario which we saw recently on television and with which we got educated, should be kept in mind and people should take measures to help us (Police) to protect the country"

This awareness program by Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital, Powai educated localities about how one should deal with the situation and how we should help police to protect ourselves. All the queries of localities regarding terrorist, citizens' roles, and police roles were answered by the Mumbai Police. The program commenced by observing a 2 minutes silence and lighting candles in the memory of those people who were the victims of these terror attacks in the city.

This program was a move towards defining one's role as a responsible citizen who will be able to strengthen the hands of the security forces to help protect the city. Our city has been attacked. Innocent people bore the brunt of unprecedented, senseless, barbaric violence which has left many families shattered. The country is unanimous that something needs to be done. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!! In consonance with this sentiment, the Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital had a public awareness program with the Mumbai Police.

ABOUT DR L H HIRANANDANI HOSPITAL

Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital at Powai, Mumbai is a multi-speciality hospital with International Standards. The Hospital is NHS listed and a preferred choice for healing. This 'Family Hospital' is located at the prestigious Hiranandani Gardens complex at Powai, Mumbai, is distinguished by its high international quality standards that elicit a global appeal. A large built up area of 2,10,000 Sq. Ft supporting a bed strength of 130 beds, amounts to a bed-to- space ratio of over 1:1600 Sq. Ft - among the highest in the world. The hospital has outpatient clinics with thirty-five consult rooms, and offers speciality care in all major medical discipline to emulate global standards in all disciplines chosen at affordable prices. The lodestar behind this prestigious hospital, Padmabhushan Dr L H Hiranandani, is a renowned ENT Surgeon who has been honoured as the 'Doctor of the Millennium' by SAARC nations.

Awareness Program on Citizens against terrorism

Here is short video on the event Organized by Hiranandani Hospital along with the mumbai poice at Norita grounds. Would be putting a comprehensive post soon.

IIT-Bombay student's dedication to terror victims

IIT-Bombay students will organise a free rock concert and dedicate it to terror victims. Finnish band Ensiferum will perform on Day One of Mood Indigo on the Powai campus. For more info check out http://www.moodi.org/

Here is a video from Ensiferum.