Sonia Gandhi releases brochure for ‘Magic of hands’ painting competition

Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi endorsed a national painting competition for schools having a unique theme – Magic of Hands—and with total prize money of Rs. 10 lakhs at her residence in New Delhi. While releasing the competition brochure Sonia Gandhi hoped that it would send out a good message to the students to create the awareness about the use of hands.

The painting competition, which has Rs. 5 Lakh for the school of the winner, Rs 20,000 for the winning student and Rs 10,000 each to 49 finalists, is being held in connection with the forthcoming 12th Triennial Congress of International Federation of Societies for Surgery of Hand (IFSSH) and the 9th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT), scheduled from March 4 – 8 in Delhi.

In a meeting with office-bearers of the Conference organizing committee, Dr. S. Raja Sabapathy and Dr. Rakesh Khazanchi, Sonia. Gandhi also conveyed her wishes for the event. She also enquired in detail about the competition and its terms & conditions.  “We are happy that the painting competition is getting support from different quarters. Mrs. Gandhi was so keen to learn about the competition with such a unique theme, to which nobody gives due attention,” said Dr. Sabapathy, Head, Dept of Plastic, Hand & Reconstructive Microsurgery, Ganga Hospital, Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. He is the Chairman of the IFSSH-IFSHT 2013 Congress Committee.

Top 50 paintings will be selected by a panel of eminent judges. This will be communicated to the winners by 15th of February. The shortlisted students will then need to attend an authentication camp where they have to reproduce their paintings. These 50 paintings will be published in a book, entitled ‘Magic of Hands’, along with the title and names of the artists and their schools.

Sonia Gandhi wants to ensure adequate women empowerment

'Desh ki mahilaon ka samman, baad mein Bharat Nirman' is the slogan the Congress party plans to raise in the Jaipur summit demanding 50 per cent job quota for women. At the behest of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, some senior party leaders are expected to ask the government to explore the possibility of providing 50 per cent reservation for women in government and private jobs, apart from making another effort to push through the contentious women's quota Bill.

Coming a month after the brutal gangrape and murder of a 23-year-old girl in the national Capital that shocked the conscience of the nation, the Congress 's upcoming chintan shibir (brainstorming session) in Jaipur is set to give top billing to "women empowerment". The party brass believes that concrete, long-term "economic and legislative" steps, instead of knee-jerk reactions or piece-meal measures, will go a long way in real empowerment of women.

The mood in the Congress is summed up by the fact that party managers have coined a new slogan: "Desh ki mahilaon ka samman, baad mein Bharat Nirman"(the honour of the country's women first, then Bharat Nirman).

A resolution is likely to be moved suggesting that the government adopt this slogan. "Bharat Nirman may be a flagship programmer  but we want to emphasis our sensitivity to women and the problems being faced by them," a senior leader said. Sources said Sonia Gandhi's speech is expected to forcefully stress the need for major steps for women's empowerment.

The meet is also expected to direct all Congress chief ministers to give top priority to issues concerning women and fast-track measures for their uplift. It is for the first time the party has set up a committee to study gender issues and suggest solutions for a brainstorming session.

The party will also have a detailed discussion on the political challenges and alliances. Congress party wants the existing UPA set-up at the Centre to continue while remaining flexible in other states, except West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.

The party's aam admi-focussed schemes such as Direct Benefits Transfer, Food Security Bill, Land Acquisition and Dalit rights will also be discussed in detail.

Besides, Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi will also address the shivir beginning Friday.

Sonia Gandhi reiterates the need to address the issue of corruption more seriously

Taking serious note of middle class protesters taking to the streets over corruption, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said the lifestyles of leaders is giving rise to questions about the source of their wealth.

Speaking at Congress's chintan shivir in Jaipur, SoniaGandhi said, "Celebrating weddings, festivals and happy events is one thing, what of lavish and ostentatious displays of wealth, pomp and status? Does this not beg the question, where is this wealth coming from?"

Her direct remarks caused a hush to descend on the meeting. "Our citizens are rightly fed up with the levels of corruption that they see in public life at high levels, but equally with the corruption they have to deal with in their daily lives,'' said Sonia Gandhi.

Sonia Gandhi also urged the party not to lose touch with the middle classes that backed the Congress in the 2004 and 2009 general elections. The party cannot afford "our growing educated and middle classes to be disillusioned and alienated with the political process".

The candid references to the middle class drift away from Congress, the need to keep alliances intact, a commitment to make women feel safer, and erosion of party's base in traditional strongholds were key aspects of her speech as she set out the political tasks for her party.