MISCELLANY

Forced marriages are mainly common among Pakistanis and Bangladeshis in the United Kingdom. Some Indian and African families too resort to it in the name of traditional values. All arranged marriages are not forced marriages. A forced marriage is one in which physical and psychological force is applied and appeal is made in the name of traditional values. Some 65 per cent of forced marriages are reported from Pakistani families, 15 per cent from Bangladeshi families and 15 per cent from other ethnic origin people. Only 300 cases are reported in the UK. But Dr. Nazia Khanum’s report on forced marriages among Asian communities says the actual number must be 10 times more. Just like the domestic violence and rape, the forced marriages are not generally reported. Dr. Khanum heads a group called Equality in Diversity, a think tank.
The British government did think of making forced marriages a criminal offence but decided not to legislate; one of the reasons given was that women wouldn’t want to criminalize their parents and it would force the practice underground.
Excerpts from The Hindu & The Guardian.

After nearly four decades since separating its schools by race, this southern community in the United States says, it wants to divide students again— but this time by gender (boys from girls). Greene County, Georgia is set to become the first school district in the nation to go entirely single-sex, with boys and girls in separate classrooms—a move, borne out of desperation over years of poor test scores, soaring dropout rates and high numbers of teenage pregnancies. “At the rate we’re moving, we’re never going to catch up,” Superintendent, Shawn McCollough told parents in an impassioned speech recently. About 14,400 people between Atlanta and Augusta, are black and working class. McCollough pointed to research showing that boys and girls learn differently, and said separating them will allow teachers to tailor their lessons. Also, boys won’t misbehave as much because they will no longer be trying to impress the girls, and the girls will be more likely to speak up in class because they won’t be afraid to look smart in front of the boys, he said. The measure applies to the high school, the middle school and both elementary schools. It exempts only the preschool and a charter school, which is public but operates independently. Leonard Sax, head of the National Association for Single Sex Public Education, said that while single-sex schools and classrooms are on the increase, he knows of no other community that has converted its entire school system. (Source: The Times of India ).

Russia is the world’s largest country, though it’s territory is just two-thirds of that of the Soviet Union which broke into 15 CIS states in 1990.
Russia’s territory is nearly six times the size of India’s, but its population is eight times smaller.

Russia’s borders are 61,000 kms long. Russia has coasts on 12 seas and shares borders with more neighbours than any other country in the world.
Russia accounts for 38 percent of all natural resources in the world. It is endowed with a quarter of all forests, 42 % of natural gas, 15 % of oil, 43 % of coals, 50 % of vanadium and 100 % of iridium.

Oil and gas exports earned Russia more than $60 crore per day last year.
Russia is the coldest country in the world. The average annual temperature is minus 5.5°C. For comparison, the average annual temperature in Iceland is 1.2°C. Heating accounts for two-thirds of Russia’s energy needs.

Over the past 15 years Russia’s population has come down from 148.5 million to 142 million.

Russia has emerged as the 7th largest economy in the world measured in Purchasing Power Parity. Russia’s average income per capita is $ 5,780 in 2006. For India it is $820.

Russia has more than 100 dollar billionaires, according to Audit Chamber Chairman Sergei Stepashin. This is just next to the US.

Last year Russians bought 2.8 million new cars, twice as many as Indians. There are 166 million mobile phone subscribers in Russia,(population 142 million). India is about the only country that does not partake in the Russian economic boom: Indian exports to Russia hardly amount to $1 billion, which constitutes 0.6 per cent of Russian imports.

Russia is the second most attractive country for immigrants after the U.S. According to the World Bank’s latest report, 12.1 million immigrants, mostly from the former Soviet states, came to Russia in 2005. In the same year 11.5 million people emigrated from Russia.
Vladimir Radyuhin in The Hindu.

The Krishna Chaitanya Special School for Mentally Challenged children seeks mentally challenged children for admission into the institution which is run by the aid of Government of India. The school is situated 25 kms off Bangalore on the Mysore Road. In a press note, chairman of the Krishna Chaitanya Special School has requested the parents or guardians of such children aged between 6 and 16 to utilize the facility. The disability should be of mild and moderate category. They can contact: Office of the Krishna Trust, No. 2, 2nd floor, Sarpabhushana Mutt building, Kempegowda Circle, Tank Bund Road, Bangalore- 560009, Ph: 080-22879644, 28483089, 98440-45744.

A national seminar on” Madrasa and Educational Needs of the Indian Muslims” was organised by the Ark Foundation with support from the National University of Educational Planning and Administration, in Delhi, last month. Scholars from various fields and the Ulema, spoke on the relevance of reform in the Madrasa education system, modernization of Madrasas, experiment with reforms with Madrasa institutions, and media and reform in Madrasa education. Ark Foundation is a socio-clinical research group of teachers and research scholars of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi.
For more details, contact: Dr Shaheen Ansari: Email: arkitect95@gmail.com.