The Asian Chronicle

Vol IV, Issue XVIII

16-31 December, 2019 Pages 16, Price Rs. 5/Faridabad (NCR)

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Vol-IV, Issue-XVIII, Published for the period 16-31 December, 2019. Printed & Published by Virender for and on behalf of Karamvir Kamal (Owner) from 2569, Street No. 2, Jawahar Colony, N.I.T, Faridabad, Haryana and printed at Joy Printers, 3G-142, N.I.T. Faridabad-121001, Haryana. Editor Karamvir Kamal* (responsible for selection of news under PRB Act 1867). RNI No. HARENG/2016/67803. Executive Office: 431, Saraswati Vihar, Gurugram-122004, Haryana. Contact +91 9212 46 0446, 9899 73 1532, Email: asianchronicleindia@gmail.com, WWW.THEASIANCHRONICLE.COM | WWW.THEASIANCHRONICLE.IN

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We also the people of India PHOTO COURTESY: Huffington Post

Inside

10 things creative people do daily that lead to success

If a wizard came to you and said you could be either the most creative person in the

The 15 second celebrities

Tik Tok, the social media video sharing app has taken everyone by storm, especially the youth. Personally i feel it can

Stubble burning -Special Story

Over the past decades till date so much of noise is being heard all over the country from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi during

Rules & regulation my foot

How long people will continue to spend their lives at the expense of administrative negligence.

Faridabad (NCR) 16-31 December, 2019 www.theasianchronicle.com

nation

2

Fire accident leaves 40+ dead; No lessons learnt After the fire in the ‘uphaar’ cinema in Delhi, people felt that lessons from this would pave the way for the arrangements across the country to be of the same standard, but one fire after another proved that the country’s ruler has neither taught any lesson nor has any heart for humankind or a Human being’s life.

Limty Khare

The melody of disaster management in the country has been kept alive from time to time. In the name of disaster management, once in a year, either at the national level or at the state level including District level, Disaster Management authorities only do show off by taking snaps with some life jackets along with showing bunches of Mock drill.

People even aren’t able to remember a mock drill are organized in the name of disaster management! Whenever there is a big accident that jumps on the national plank after that such resolution is repeated so that such accidents do not happen.

Some culprits are erected in the dock. After this, as soon as everything goes normal, then the rulers dispose of everything. After Sunday's fire in the grain market of Delhi, something similar seems to be happening.

Even the elected representatives will not be honored in this regard. No MP or MLA should not ask for the periodic mock drill so that such incidents do not happen again.

Recently, 43 people were killed in a fire accident in a factory in the ‘Allah Subbah Grain Mandi’ area. This fire has once again opened the door of the rotting system.

After the fire in the ‘uphaar’ cinema in Delhi, people felt that lessons from this would pave the way for the arrangements across the country to be of the same standard, but one fire after another proved that the country’s ruler has neither taught any lesson nor has any heart for humankind or a Human being’s life.

There is a need to take lessons from the events happening across the country. There is a need to start a national level debate on such incidents. Mandated nominees will have to talk about the causes of such accidents in the Parliament and Legislative Assemblies and to take effective steps to prevent them.

After all, based on which permission is granted to operate the industry in residential areas across the country.

Who gives a license to settle in industrial areas! The list of security arrangements on the establishment of industries is very long.

When the security arrangements for the wedding lawns go through the corridors of very strict rules, then the security arrangements for the industry will certainly be much more stringent.

Ironically, security arrangements are put on hold because of vested interest by the officers and employees of the department responsible for this.

Now it is certain to fall on the guilty factory operator, but first, the officers of the department who keep the security arrangements in the dock should be put up. After all, for what they are being paid a huge salary every month!

The matter of issuing notices for evacuating factories running in the grain market of Delhi is also coming to light. After all, what is the reason that just a week before the accident, the officers' deep sleep broke down and issued notices?

It is also being revealed that the operator running this factory did not have a ‘no objection certificate’ given by the fire department and also was not having proper arrangements by the operator for the fire safety in the factory.

An example of how the rules were being defied is also seen here. The rules say that the number of employees in domestic (cottage etc.) industries should not be more than nine and the electricity connection gave here cannot be more than 11 kW. Both these standards were being violated here and there for years, but the responsible concerned departments were in just deep-sleep.

Small and large buildings in domestic areas across the country, including

the capital, are reportedly operating factories secretly.

Whenever such accidents arise, only then the investigation starts and such discrepancies come to limelight. After this, things go somewhere. In a few days, when the news of such incidents starts to die, once again everything returns to the old pattern.

Apart from Metro cities, the situation of many small cities is also very bad in this regard.

Whenever a new colony is inhabited, its map is passed by the Municipal Corporation or Municipality. While constructing roads and drains in these colonies, why does the local body not bother to see how wide the road is on the map and how much width it has left?

In many places, the width of roads in the new settlement is so narrow that firefighters or ambulances have to struggle to enter here. Everything is happening arbitrarily. If an arbitrary exemption is to be given to arbitrary, then why pay the rituals of rules and regulations while passing the map!

GST has been implemented in the country in the name of one country one tax concept.

The central government is calling

this GST system as a full-proof tax system. After conducting business activities in such non-business areas, will the Commercial Tax Department take the plunge to estimate how many workers worked in the factory where the fire was and the monthly salary of these employees! This salary

And where are the other expenses extracted by the operator of the factory? Is the factory operator earning as much production as is being spent! If all this is correct, is it filling the correct GST! If not, the rotting system needs to be rebuilt yet again.

If the government of the country considers all such aspects and enacts a new law and fixes the accountability of the officers to ensure compliance with the law, then the matter should be kept, otherwise if the accidents like Delhi are repeated throughout the country So no one should be surprised!

(The author is the editor of Samachar Agency of India.)

3

Hyderabad encounter, Faridabad (NCR) 16-31 December, 2019 www.theasianchronicle.com

nation

justice or justified killing?

Anjan Samal

Hyderabad rape and murder case. A case that sparked a debate on law and order and judicial system across the country.

How an innocent lady doctor was burnt to death as a pile of garbage after repeated rape, questions arose on the security system in the states as well as the delayed justice system in various heinous crimes throughout the country.

Nirbhaya case of 2012, the convicts in this case had not been punished so far. People were then starting to question why the justice system is so sluggish?

The government and the Supreme Court often speak of speedy justice through fast track courts. Where such system is?

But in which kind of cases and in how many cases should go on fast track and what’s the actual time frame, all these doubts have remained intact.

Now let's talk about the Hyderabad case back. In this case, the

way the first state of Hyderabad again stood in favor of the victim, the government was forced to act quickly. When questions were raised about the police action, the police were also pressured to act quickly.

Suddenly news came in that morning, the four accused of the Hyderabad rape were confessed and Hyderabad Police took all the culprits to the spot to investigate into the case of rape and murder. Whereas per police version, four accused were trying to flee after attacking police in return of which all the four accused were encountered by Hyderabad Police on the spot. This encounter had created the image of Hyderabad Police as a hero. People welcomed the police with flowers.

So some of organizations also opposed it. Human right activists and organizations took cognizance of this matter demanded action against the police officers.

The said encounter started trending in social media. There was a perception in the general

public that the encounter is the only way left for the culprits of heinous crime. So that the victim can get justice immediately. But the law experts are raising questions on this. It is legitimate to raise the question too.

Is it justice to kill the culprits in an encounter like this?

Is it Murder or Justified Encounters?

The answer to this question is divided into two sides. A party who is suffering and who wants justice immediately. This aggrieved side got support from the general public and they stood in favor of this encounter.

Hurt by the long process of faulty judicial system, the common civil encounter is justified.

The other side is with the judicial process there is a deep relation with the constitution of the country. Experts say that if the encounter is the only solution, then what will be the need of the court and judicial process? In this way the state will remain as a police state.

The principle of law is that

many guilty should be left out, but no innocent should be punished. This is an excellent system of our law. If the police had caught the culprits of the Hyderabad case and they had enough evidence to prove it, they should have proved it in the court.

If convicts are punished by the convicts under the legal process of the country, then the common man's faith in the law would have increased. Our country is a country run by the Constitution and the judicial system.

Such quick and one-sided justice system can prove harmful for the country, the public and the entire judicial process.

According to an article by Professor Kalpana, Director of the Council for Social Development, Kannabiran Hyderabad, “what did the police get by killing four unarmed accused under tight security? Value of a life cannot be returned by taking another’s life”.

This story is in complete contrast to Article 21 of the Constitution of India. According to Article 21, a person will be deprived of his life or personal freedom according to the procedure established by law, otherwise not. And in this incident, because of the police's own arbitrary, pre-planned procedure and guarantee of not getting punishment, it is completely illegal.

In the end, how many corpses did we find in this doctor's rape and murder case? A woman was brutally murdered, but four of the accused were caught and killed in a week's custody without any criminal investigation.

These accused were killed while recreating the crime at the scene - ie even that phase of the investigation was not completed.

Can hi-profile people be punished similarly?

After the Hyderabad encounter, there has been a debate on social media whether Kuldeep Sengar, Ram Rahim, Asha Ram can be punished in the same manner soon. I will term this question as political. Because the state needs to carry out any legal proceedings and its fulfillment depends on political will.

And history is witness that political parties seeking power had

kissed the feet of all these types of ‘Babas’. So that they can win with their blessings. In such a situation, the political powers of these so-called Babas can be easily estimated. So those who raise such a question can only express their anger against the government and political party.

Therefore, in a civilized and peaceful country like India, the justice system has a special place. It is not only the duty of the common citizen to respect the court of justice, but they should also follow the rule of law, which has the responsibility of making the law and getting the law done.

In a civilized country, the police cannot be allowed to murder justice like this under any circumstances.

If convicts are punished by the convicts under the legal process of the country, then the common man's faith in the law would have increased.

Our country is a country run by the Constitution and the judicial system.

Such quick and one-sided justice system can prove harmful for the country, the public and the entire judicial process.

Faridabad (NCR) 16-31 December, 2019 www.theasianchronicle.com

issue

Stubble burning

Over the past decades till date so much of noise is being heard all over the country from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi during the paddy harvesting season. Stubble burning isn’t an act of ignorance or illiteracy but of rebellion and helplessness.Rebellion towards government lethargy and helplessness because they are threatened by increasing economic marginality and eventual extinction. According to the Economic Survey of India 2018, the incomes of farmers in India have been stagnant since last three years bringing some kind of a morbid sense into the statistic of 45 farmers committing suicides every day in the country.Machines are unaffordable to ailing farmers and there isn’t any facility to dump crop residues. In spite of being known as the wheat bowl of India, Punjab doesn’t acquire the notorious distinction of a wheat stubble burner because it’s converted into chaff and sold as animal fodder. Representatives and experts from almost ten states of India, including Punjab and Haryana have participated in the National conference on agriculture for Kharif campaign, 2017 inaugurated by ShriRadha Mohan Singh, former Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in the presence of ShriPashottamRupala&ShriSudarshanBhagat, the then Ministers of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare chaired the conference. Integrated

farming approach, planned and concerted work approach between different departments of agriculture and allied sectors was insisted by the minister. Crop residue management alternatives to prevent stubble burning was discussed and debated.

From retention of crop residue as mulch to government’s responsibility by giving reasonable subsidy on equipment such as happy/super seeder, laser levelers, mulcher so on and so forth, everything was expected to be sorted out with measurable objectives and overall goals as far as the welfare of the farmer and his contribution to the society is concerned. Still, the ‘burning issue’ seems to be on the back burner even while humans choke. Adapting to changing needs of the society which is nothing but embracing farming techniques with a touch of humanity will end slash and burn.

Farmers reeling under debts, penury and poverty will opt for easy and quick ways of clearing their fields which is nothing new but an ongoing crisis since the 80s. With facts and statistics at our disposal we ought to believe that farm fires can be blamed for 40% of the total pollution in the Capital. Still, it can’t be ignored at least twice a year just as we can’t turn a blind eye to a governance deficit. Attributing this deficit to the present state government alone is nothing but a blamegame shift. Rules and laws in place, lackadaisical attitude in implementing laws, bribes demanded and given, huge fines being slashed on

the already debt/loan ridden farmers, government paying fines to (NGT) National Green Tribunal, incentives as a mere Rs. 2500/ acre and machinery banks will never yield solutions. Multi-pronged strategies devised two years back at the conclusion of two-day National Conference on Agriculture for Kharif Campaign–2017 to double farmers’ incomes by 2022 and the eight groups that were formed to discuss in-depth on the best mechanisation practices to avoid burning of straw in addition to market reforms, effective role of the electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM), Sustainability of pulses production, utilisation of a corpus fund under the PradhanMantriKrishiSinchayeeYojana and many more hasn’t lighted any lamp at the end of any tunnel.

It all goes back to the Green revolution of 1965 that introduced high yield varieties of rice and wheat with unintended ecological and socioeconomic repercussions. Yes, Punjab’s ‘story’ of prosperity in disguise once began with green revolution and government programs/incentives/ guarantees/subsidies. Undisputed fact is nature abhors monoculture.

Moreover, the practice of relying heavily on just one or two crops – has always been a terrible idea. For instance, during the great potato famine in Ireland close to a million people died. Granary of India resorted to rice-wheat rotation after displacing other traditional crops in-

cluding barley and pulses more suited to the region. Is the miracle of green revolution still making sense?The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in Ludhiana, India that has emerged as a center of excellence in agriculture research and its applications for progressive farmers can always pitch in with their expertise as part of its extension initiative to find feasible alternatives to stubble burning and convince farmers and government too if need be.

“It's through that diversity that we can sequester carbon [and] put that carbon into the soil. That carbon, in turn, through the soil biology, is what produces healthy crops, healthy animals, and eventually healthy people.” In the land of five rivers, agriculture should never have shifted from a diversified, climate adapted crop choice to a predominantly rice-wheat rotation with much higher water use.

Unfortunately, today, stubble burning alone doesn’t plague this land which was once hailed as the ‘temple of modern India’. Dry/contaminated dug wells, intermittent supply from tube wells, reduced storage capacity in water reservoirs and depleted ground water looms over the farmers as the smog over our capital. A bad omen! Reliable source of food grains and intensification of agriculture should not tell on human wellbeing. Stubble burning is also a reflection of the agrarian crisis hitting India’s granary.

Fool proof solutions offered by R&D institutes and entrepreneurs to handle wheat & paddy stubble are aplenty ruling out the need for conferences, national & international and symposiums on crop residue management. Governments that encouraged mono-cropping and double cropping with all enthusiasm must ensure alignment between different ministries to end stubble burning, advocate and promote notill farming practices with all possible resourcesinstead of doles and fines, encourage industries that can use crop residue as raw materialby incentivizing them and if necessary form a committee under BhureLal. Timely intervention with judicious solutions during that short window between harvesting paddy and preparing the field for sowing the successive wheat crop will pave way for pollution-free states.

Swiftly and promptly does our government work to prove a point to other developed nations that our country is no less. Be it building statues or launching satellites or procuring arms or modernizing nuclear arsenal, no government had wasted a moment to ape the grandeur of another country, successfully or in vain. It’s a pity that governments are helpless about helping poor farmers. We can take enough lessons on crop residue management from Philippines and countries where paddy cultivation is done extensively with appropriate crop residue management in place.

In 2017, while attending the ASEAN summit in Philippines PM Modi had also visited the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) as well as PRRI (Philippines

4 Rice Research Institute) to donate two varieties of rice to IRRI to bolster their rice-gene bank. Operationalizing the South Asian centre of IRRI, Varanasi was in the agenda as also infrastructure for research collaboration, training and service provision to institutions, scientists and other stakeholders from India and other south Asian and African countries was put in place. PRRI & IRRI are already conducting research to find ways to sustainably manage paddy straw and fortunately or unfortunately the ‘Burning issue’ in India didn’t figure in the list of priorities of our Indian delegation. Since we are known to rely only on indigenous resources and solutions, we can only hope something from IRRI, Varanasi will surface before humans die of choking.

Massive institutional support by the state including assured price and marketing support addressed food security needs since the green revolution in Punjab. What’s preventing the same institution from helping farmers to stop stubble burning?

Four months back, a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel asked the three states to file progress reports indicating the "strategies and proposed action plan" to tackle this issue. Reports by the Agricultural ministry mentioning schemes and subsidies were referred followed by NGT’s suggestions which included the need for developing an app in coordination with ISRO's geoportal 'Bhuvan' to alert village-level officer or local police when crop burning is noticed.

Composting crop residue or maize as an alternative to paddy or no-till farming or making a happy/superseeder affordable are all possible feasible solutions with an effective vigilant monitoring network.Citizens can wish, pray and hope the government think-tanksto come up with clear/level-headed permanent solutions to this perennial problem and most urgent is to eliminate those cartels of middlemen and agents thriving in markets established under the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act-1963.

Overall growth objectives should never clash with sustainability concerns and never with human welfare.

Upcycle or re-cycle, don’t fire the stubble.

Elsa Lycias Joel

5

An Interpretation of CAA

Faridabad (NCR) 16-31 December, 2019 www.theasianchronicle.com

cover story

We also the people of India

Karan Singh Thakur

Why is Citizenship Amendment Act Very Much important for Integrity, sovereignty and economic stability including unity of the Nation?

In fact, the proposed CAB does not violate Articles 15 and 21 as these provisions of the Indian Constitution are only applicable to those who “live in India, residing in India, not those who want to enter India. those arguing that the proposed law violates Article 14 has completely ‘misused the inner understanding’ of the Constitution of India.

On the question that the bill discriminates against the Muslims in three neighboring Islamic countries, that somebody belonging to the religion of the state itself cannot be subjected to religious persecution.

This is not to open the gates for the cause of economic migration.

If somebody wants political asylum because he is being politically persecuted in that state, he’ll come under the general rule of asylum, This law doesn’t say that Muslims of neighboring states will never be given citizenship and it doesn’t mean that Muslims live in India will be neglected and atrocities will be done against them.

On the question of persecution being faced by Shia, Hazaras, and Ahmeddiyas in neighboring states and why aren’t they included in the bill, In those states, you may have sections. The Shias and Sunnis have the problems, the Ahmeddiyas and the Shias and Sunnis have a problem, that the different sects of Islam have intra-religion problems and that the religion divides on the basis of who follow Islamic faith and those who follow non-Islamic faiths.

The purpose of this law is not to address the governing problems in our neighboring countries that the proposed law provides for the relocation of those people who do not follow the Islamic faith, which is the majority religion in the neighboring states.

India owes no obligation to the neighboring states to go and find people who are being badly treated and allow them to make home in India.

It should be well known to those, who argue that Parliament should not discuss the bill because of the lack of legislative competence.

Addressing the moral argument against the bill, that in the three Islamic Republics mentioned in the bill, there is a problem faced by minorities and a narrow-tailored bill to address the problem is not against the secular nature and structure of the Indian Constitution.

(The writer is an Advocate & MemberStanding Council for Himachal Pradesh Govt. at Supreme Court)

Karamvir Kamal When I took snaps of some children begging on the pretext of selling paints at the metro station, the children started running away.

Another girl who might be around 9-10 years old told other children that someone is taking their snaps. Hearing this, all the children did flee from the spot where they were begging. Children are the future of the country. But at least these kinds of begging children should not be the future of the country.

How can children be the future of the country who are begging on streets and red lights? If the children begging is the future of the country, then how can that country be perceived.

Is this the future of tomorrow who are begging here in the vicinity of a Metro station for 2 ROTIS. But law and order have been kept on hold here. In such a situation, it is necessary to remember the Ministry of Child Welfare as well as all those NGOs whose duty is to rehabilitate these children and women in the streets of the capital as well as another part of the country.

Now come to the other side of it. Now a day, there is debate and protest about the citizenship law in the whole country.

But here it is about that aspect of the law in which people of one religion have been kept separate. Or to say that this law has been made to promote only one religion.

When Hindustan and Pakistan became separate countries, then it was announced to create a secular nation in India, following all religions.

Hindustan, the country of Gandhi and Nehru, has equal faith in all religions. In such a situation, keeping away one religion or promoting another religion spoils its secular image and character.

The issue is not to give citizenship to people

of religion other than Muslims from neighboring countries. The issue and opposition are that the BJP government at the center has been doing the politics of Hindutva.

Today, when the big issues like economic slowdown, unemployment, and inflation are dominating in the country, the intention of the government to bring this bill is like diverting the common people's minds from the mainstream issues.

Now let's talk about the head line "we are also the people of India". This line is said by those thousands of Hindustanis or millions of Indians or those poor Hindus about whom the government is not taking care of them.

If you look carefully at the railway station, metro station, market as well as small children and women and elderly people standing outside the red light, then you must realize that they are citizens of India too. The daily laborers who work all day and sleep on the footpath of the road are also citizens of this country.

These are the citizens from whom the government has taken a U-turn. They have to beg on the streets to fill UP their empty stomachs. You have to work hard day and night to fill your stomach. Small children roam barefoot in winter, summer, rain and to find a space for their livelihood.

Supervisors of the law and order of our nation like Police and other security personnel always watch these kinds of street baggers either at Metro Station or at Red Light but observe them as mute spectators without following the law of this land. Neither they intend to prohibit them from begging nor they desire to rehabilitate them.

There are 4,13,670 beggars out of which 2.2 lakh males and 1.91 lakh females in the country as per the Minister of State for Social Justice Vijay Sampla who said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on August 2015.

West Bengal with 81,244 beggars topped the list followed by 65,835 in Uttar Pradesh, 30,218 in Andhra Pradesh, 29,723 in Bihar and 28,695 in Madhya Pradesh. These figures are based on the census of 2011.

According to the Indian National Human Rights Commission, up to 40,000 children are abducted every year. The whereabouts of more than 10,000 of them remain unknown.

What's more, it's estimated that 300,000 children across India are drugged, beaten and made to beg every day. It's a multi-million dollar industry that's controlled by human trafficking cartels across India including the rest of the world. Lawmakers including law-keepers do little to address the problem because they often assume that the children are with family members or other people who know them.

Also, there are inconsistencies in the law on how to deal with child beggars. Many are too young to be punished.

Today, in most parts of India, the revised citizenship bill is being opposed. And the way the force is being used by the government to protest against the bill, it is necessary to mention that people of different religion except Muslims will come from the neighboring country, but what steps the government has taken for these citizens are some million dollar questions?

It is liberty for the citizens of our country to ask this question to the government. Even after 70 years of independence, there is a lot of difference between the rich and poor of the country. Some capitalists own most of the wealth of the country.

Rich are getting richer, poor are getting poorer.

The benefits of government facilities do not reach the people of the lower classes. Government machinery has fallen into the hell of corruption. We can find the condition of government facilities and government machinery’s help to these begging children and women at every square intersection.

Before entering the metro station, you must find these beggars everywhere telling the reality of the citizens living here. Today more than the citizenship amendment bill, a new bill to amend the livelihoods of this kind of poor and beggars needs to be passed in the parliament.

Employment opportunities in the country are steadily decreasing and inflation is skyrocketing. In such a situation, the government should worry about the citizens of our country. It is not appropriate for the government of a great country like India to distribute people based on religion.

If the government is telling this bill in the interest of citizens, then the opposition is standing against it. The question arises in public that what effect will this bill have on the citizenship of the existing citizens?

By the way, this bill has no negative impact on the existing citizens.

But the opposition and many intellectuals are against this law citing the reason is that this Bill is against the secular ethos of the nation.

The constitution of our country does not allow any such law which is made on religious grounds. The opposition alleges that this law is influenced by the Hindutva agenda of the current BJP government. This is the BJP's step towards making the country a Hindu nation.

In such a situation, if we talk about the common man, today the rights of citizens are more important than the law of citizenship. Alike, social security of citizens, free and compulsory education, health facilities including employment opportunities are more important and need than any kind of CAA or NRC.

Faridabad (NCR) 16-31 December, 2019 www.theasianchronicle.com

social

6

The 15 second celebrities

Saumya Sharma Tik Tok, the social media video sharing app has taken everyone by storm, especially the youth. Personally i feel it can be used as a great tool in cross-cultural and visual ethnographic studies however before that it is important to understand why this trend of creating and sharing short lip-sync, comedy, and talent videos, is spreading like wildfire.

Created by Beijing Bytedance Technology Co, Tik Tok allows users to create and share short videos with special effects. It has become hugely popular in rural India, home to most of the country's 1.3 billion people. The reason it is more popular in rural India is because it gives the users an opportunity to connect with the urban or semi-urban population

and keep in touch with the latest trends. It is their ticket to break the isolation, which rural communities sometimes face for not evolving culturally at an equal pace as their modern society counterparts. This needs to be seen and recognised more amongst the youth. For a very simple reason that developing of person's identity goes through a lot of contradictions at a young age in life, one is pulled between personal desires, social norms and emerging trends, especially amongst the peer group. The amount of competition as well as comparison of personalities and societies we are living in now (or perhaps we were always) the youth often gets blinded to social norms and as a result, resorts to the current trending stuff to stay in the game. According to app analytics firm Sensor Tower, Tik Tok has been downloaded more than 240 million times in India.

Deep diving into understanding why Tik Tok has become a cultural trend in India. I think Tik Tok (app's name supposedly comes from the ticking of a clock) is a tangible time constrained expression (15 seconds of fame) of one's subjective response to different sensations. For e.g, when a Tik Tok user sees a new trending song, he or she experiences a sensory response, of seeing and hearing mostly, which further influences the cognitive thinking. Every user desires to be unique in their expression of Tik Tok video, especially if they are mimicking or dancing on a content that already has widespread popularity. Piggybacking on something that is already famous, makes it easier to be recognised by the

viewers of Tik Tok videos.

Subjective response in the case of Tik Tok users may appear confusing at times, the videos that young men and women perform have a certain emotion to it however the emotional, behavioural and cognitive reactions by Tik Tok users is influenced by one's personality and socio-cultural background. A user wants to show what the society at large is demanding for, in a way that they can best express. I think it is being stuck between the need for individualism and social validation.

I would like to mention Carl Jung here, according to him the ego represents the conscious mind as it comprises the thoughts, memories, and emotions a person is aware of.

The ego is largely responsible for feelings of identity and continuity. With reference to Tik Tok, continuity refers to the need of producing content continuously to feed one's ego...after all more content you can generate, the longer you are remembered. This quick, short and easy way to fame is nothing less than digital Darwinism, where one needs to keep at pace with emerging trends and innovations in the field of social media and digital marketing. As Darwin's basic theory focuses on reproducing better offsprings, Tik Tok's better videos are the ones which are more funny, creative or both. Often the content is not suitable for children or teenagers, whichled to Madras High Court asking the central government to ban Chinese video app, saying it was “encouraging pornography�.

Indeed the app and it's content makes the young users very vulnerable to predators and

anti social elements. I asked a 22 year old young advocate, Sushant Singh about his views on the ban. He said, "I would say that it should be banned for many reasons including there is no filter for age groups. Hence, misleading children by showing such content.

Also, free Internet is more like a gun for kids as they don't know how to use it. As a result they are being abused by it without realizing.

Addiction and India is in the top list of killing childhood and these apps are the reason.I would not be surprised if this generation will be participative in criminal activities as they are being competitive about more likes, views & subscription at the age they should be playing and studying. Such competition at this age creates negative mindset."

What drives these young mind towards 15 seconds of fame? In his book "Interpretation of Cultures" Clifford Geertz talks about actor's point of view as the most important and first point of contact in studying cultures.

Here ACTOR refers to the NATIVES being studied in ethnographic research, from whom we gather as much verbal, visual and textual information as possible.

Sometimes the words or actions of these actors may fall in the category of Anthropology of Play or Anthropology of Drama. This representation and expression is very emic from the native's POV. Now anyone viewing, observing, perhaps recording it, would understand, interpret & analyse it from an etic perspective.

Taking the dramaturgy aspects into the real life, we may realise that mostly we remember the face and the attitudes or expressions, not the context. As primates 80% of our understanding of the world comes from what we see and sensory response to it. All thanks to the visual cortex in each hemisphere of the brain, much of which is located in the Occipital lobe. Ofcourse, when a Tik Tok performance is viewed, the audience is quickly reminded of the famous song or the dialogue, evoking a cognitive and maybe even emotional response. This job is done by the Hippocampus which is part of our brain structure, helping in the regulation of motivation, emotion, learning, and memory. Therefore, those watching may experience all or some of these responses to stimulus and end up themselves performing on the same or different song.

Thus enabling a domino of sorts, until the song or dialogue becomes repetitive and off the charts.

Now if we replicate the idea of 'actors point of view' to the Tik Tok users, we will understand that it is this need of dramatization of culture (personal and social) as well as the need to be remembered by the society.

As quoted by Robin Pupneja, a 34 year old theatre actor and stand-up comedian, "I don't use Tik Tok however I feel it is a revolutionary app for people from all stratas of society to showcase their acting and comedy skills, to reach large masses of people, without investing much and getting fame. Also, what's interesting is that people from so called lower rungs of our society are getting mainstream."

Further I asked him, as a performer, how does he see the 15 seconds time limit? Is it enough to be recognised or evoke a response

7

Faridabad (NCR) 16-31 December, 2019 www.theasianchronicle.com

by the viewers?

To which Robin replied, "As a performer, if I do not make an impact in the first 15 seconds i also lose audience at times, their attention. First 15-20 seconds dictate the overall response. Then as a performer, one should present in such a way so its relatable."

To get some perspective on the creative value of the content of Tik Tok, I spoke to Sabyasachi Gupta, an advertising copywriter.

He said, "As a medium, it is great. Very conversational. I would shy away from commenting on the Tik Tok ads in India. But globally, it is quite a thing. Very creative. Very effective. Globally, that is. A way of saying that I don't like most tik tok ads in India owing to poor aesthetic. I mean there is no harm in making videos presentable and the content, tight. But that's just me."

I probed further, "You call it conversational, do you think it is more of an expression stemming from the need of social recognition? I suppose this makes Tik Tok very homogeneous in nature, a trait i suppose most advertisements aim for?"

To which he replied, "Yes, social presence helps. You would want your brand to be relevant to your target audience."

I clarified, "So in this case, the brand becomes the Tik Tok performer?" Sabyasachi, "You can say that."

I wanted to know if as a creative person, he has used Tik Tok or ever considered using it. Sabyasachi said, "I haven't had the scope

‘My name is Rahul Gandhi,

not Rahul Savarkar

MD. Raja yet to use Tik Tok for the brands I handle, as in India, there's an image problem with it. Some brands think it is not so premium as a medium."

I replied, "I think it can be a great qualitative research tool."

Sabyasachi, "Oh, absolutely. I wish I had Tik Tok as an account to handle. I would have tried solving that. And made it potent for Auto brands."

"What would you have solved if you had Tik Tok as a brand?"

Sabyasachi, "The fact that it is often not considered by many premium brands. It's brand personality."

"Yes, i agree brands can consider it for recording responses. It will be something like Fleabag."

He added further, "But what is visible mostly is users finding a parallel space to express themselves, often by performing a hit song or an iconic Bollywood dialogue. Very friendly, a medium.

Provides lot of visual effects."

I replied, "It reminds of Mukbang from South Korea and Hikikomori from Japan. All these phenomenons are about wanting isolation however still being recognised by the society for one's individualism."

Sabyasachi concluded, "Like Tik Tok is at times, in India. Good medium. Attracts all kinds of users from different walks of life.

So the content management must be difficult. They must have some guidelines/mandates, to check on the quality of content getting out."

Taking inferences from the above two discussions in my understanding Tik Tok is a great way of understanding complex human behaviour in different social contexts, helping a researcher to understand similarities and differences in personality as well as culture..something that influences buying patterns. Tik Tok serves the need to maintain an individual identity and not being left out, considering the frequently changing digital and social media trends, whilst maintaining one's position in the society, perhaps an inner call to be a part of the larger collective conscience.

Summing it all up with a quote from Paul Tillich, a GermanAmerican Christian existentialist philosopher - "Individualism is the self-affirmation of the individual self as individual self without regard to its participation in its world. As such it is the opposite of collectivism, the self affirmation of the self as part of a larger whole without regard to its character as an individual self."

nation

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi recently said he “will die but never apologize” for speaking the “truth” as he is a Gandhi and not a Savarkar, and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his “assistant” Amit Shah instead to apologize for “destroying” the economy of the country.

Addressing the Congress’ mega “Bharat Bachao Rally” at Ramlila grounds here, he took a dig at the BJP for demanding an apology for his “rape in India” remark and said, “The BJP asked me to apologize. My name is not Rahul Savarkar, my name is Rahul Gandhi, and I will never apologize for speaking the truth.”

“I will die, but I will not apologise for speaking the truth and nor will any Congressman do so. It is Narendra Modi and his assistant Amit Shah who have to apologize to the country for destroying India’s economy,” he asserted.

Accusing Prime Minister Modi of single-handedly “destroying” the country’s economy, he said, “All of India’s enemies wanted that its economy, which is its strength, should be destroyed.”

“That work (of destroying the economy) has not been done by the enemies, but by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. And, (he) still calls himself a patriot,” he added.

Putting blame gun on the prime minister, a charged Rahul Gandhi said Modi only thinks about one thing – ‘whether he or his power’.

“They will do anything for the

power- making the youth unemployed, destroying the economy along with jeopardizing the unique feature of secularism and many more,” he said.

While approving of media’s criticism of the UPA government, he said, “I respect that and you did the right thing but today you have forgotten your work.”

“It is your responsibility to rise when you are suppressed and attacked as it is not an attack on you but on the very soul of India. This country is being scared and suppressed, but no Congressmen have any kind of fear. I am telling those people in institutions not to fear from anything. The Congress party is standing with them. We will together end this atmosphere of fear in the country,” he said.

The Congress leader alleged that the BJP and PM Modi have set the entire north east region on fire and states like Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura are burning with unrest and violance.

“He (Modi) has burnt all these places. He divides people and works towards weakening the country, while you people, who have come here, don’t divide India and work with your sweat and blood for taking the country forward.Your own country is being weakened and divided and your economy is being destroyed. The reason is that Narendra Modi sees only one thing whether the power is in his hand or not. He (Modi) only works for power. He will destroy everything to achieve power,” he said.

Rahul Gandhi said PM Modi only “wants to be seen on television all the time” and the people whom he has

benefited by giving them the money “snatched from people”, are the people behind funding him for marketing for him on the TV Screens and News Papers.

He said it is only the PM and no other opposition leader who can be seen on television.

The former Congress chief said the country cannot progress as long as there is no money in the pockets of the poor, farmers, labourers and youths.

He also recalled that MNREGA was brought by the Congress as the Congress Party knows this country can not progress without labourers.

He said there are many honest industrialists in this country, and “I believe if farmers and labourers make this country, honest industrialists too contribute” to its growth.

Rahul Gandhi said the GST, which he described as “Gabbar Singh Tax”, has led to the highest rate of unemployment in the country in 45 years and a low GDP growth of 4 pc and that too after changing the way GDP is calculated.

“As per the previous method of calculating GDP, it is only 2.5 per cent,” he asserted.

The former Congress chief alleged that Modi hit the Indian economy hard, so hard by demonetization that it has not been able to recover till date.

He alleged Modi by saying“You were lied to the Republic of India, you were told this is a fight against black money. But, in fact your money was given to Adani-Ambani,” he alleged.

He said the Congressmen are not afraid of anyone and are ready to sacrifice their lives for the country at the time of need.

Faridabad (NCR) 16-31 December, 2019 www.theasianchronicle.com

events

Glam and Glitterati

Babli and Anil Gupta Pavan & Rachit

Ashwin & Meenu

Recently Pavan Suri, Rachit Goel and Rohan Kakkar the owners of Big Bang City by Bunta hosted a fashion “Glam and Glitterati” Theme Party. All the guests who attended the party were glamorously dressed and were spotted enjoying the special cocktails prepared by the management. Big Bang City

by Bunta is known for its Delicious Appetizers and Unique Cocktail Recipes. The Lounge and Bar has been designed to perfection with a very classy look for all age groups to enjoy the ambiance and comfort. Many well known socialites were seen at the party to name a few were Means Malhotra, Rashmi Sachdeva, Sona Sharma, Preeti Jain, Pooja Suri.

Samridhi & Siddharth

Ankit & Azam

Dhruv & Simmi

Kirti & Kunal Kundra

Tanvi Vij & Kajal

Jatin & Priyanka Sangeeta & Dev

Kunal & Suruchi Seth

Raising a Toast

Recently Sumit Soni and Ritu Soni hosted a grand party to celebrate their Wedding Anniversary. The evening was specially hosted for all their family and friends from the industry. There were special Dhol and Percussionist performances arranged as a part of the entertainment for all the guests to enjoy the evening.

All the invitees were seen having a fun time and dancing all throughout the night on commercial numbers while they also enjoyed the Cocktails. Many well known faces were spotted at the party to name a few were Sunaina K Arora, Pragati Nagpal, Guneet Kalra, Surbhi Nagpal, Deepshika Lungani.

Sumit Soni & Ritu Soni

Recently the owner Dev Arora hosted a Grand Launch of Sincity Bar & Lounge in Connaught Place. It’s one of the only venue which will also be like a day club hosting glamorous parties in the city. The lounge and bar’s food was well appreciated by all the guests who attended the party. The interior of the lounge is well designed and conceptualized with a theme.

Many well known faces were seen at the launch to name a few were Pragati Nagpal, Deepshika Lungani, Manya Pathak, Bhawna Gautam, Shilpa Arora.

Rima & Akash

Sambhav & Uday

Twinkle & Manni

Bhawna & Vikram Recently Sunaina K Arora Director of SKA Creative Concepts hosted a grand party at Dontelmama Pub & Kitchen to celebrate her Birthday in Style. The party had a massive attendance over 200 friends from the industry. The evening had a special Dhol performance were all the guests were spotted dancing all night.

Many well known socialites from the Delhi Circuit were seen to name a few were Ritu Soni, Shimar Ahuja, Shilpi Singh, Pooja Suri, Deepshikha Lungwani and Sukham Kanwar.

Rakesh & Savita

Ruchika, Karishma & Shivani

8

Grand Launch - Sincity

Anil & Nitima

Sharad & Anuradha

Karan & Jazz

Vaishali & Varun

Neetika & Aastha

Yotsana & Nitin Soni

Celebration in Style

Sunaina K Arora Avneet & Jatin Grover

Chinky & Rasleen

Naveen & Surbhi

Anumeha, Shweta & Divya

Avneet & Parvinder

9

10 things creative people Faridabad (NCR) 16-31 December, 2019 www.theasianchronicle.com

lifestyle

do daily that lead to success

for the rest of our lives. Successful and creative people search for something they are passionate about and give their best at work in hand.

7. They “get in the zone”

Being focused means that you have clear goals and objectives and your work is dedicated to achieving them. Creative people focus in the present moment. They are solely focused on one activity that they are trying to complete. Anything else is unimportant to them so they shut out all distractions and give their full and undivided attention to the task at hand.

8. They read

The more we read, the more we understand the world around us. And when we read books, the more we discover life beyond what we already know. Reading books is one of the most important activities that successful people do. Creativity boosts and touches heights when more and more is read. Reading gives us an edge. It makes us understand life far beyond our imagination.

9. They stay aware

If a wizard came to you and said you could be either the most creative person in the world or the most hard-working, which would you choose?

I think that most people would choose to be hard working.

If I speak psychologically, creative personality types are difficult to pin down, largely because they're complex, paradoxical and tend to avoid routine.

Creativity requires complex cognition yet is completely distinct from the thinking process.

Creative people come up with mysterious ideas and solve usual problems with not so obvious solutions.

To make it easy for you to understand, here are 10 things that creative people do differently:

1. They take time to introspect

How often do we take the time to introspect?

For some of us, not very often. Introspection means self contemplation, the contemplation of one’s own conduct, thoughts and emotions.

It is a lot easier to blame circumstances than to examine our own role and accept responsibility for our actions. Successful people regularly contemplate to find answers from within. They question themselves and focus

on how they can make a positive difference.

2. They act

Every individual in this world wants comfortable life, smooth relationships and enough money. But to keep dreaming over and over does not yield results. Life can be scary sometimes, at times, you would wonder if this is the right time to take action. The more you try to find an answer to this question, the more you tend to get stuck. This blockage finally prevents you from moving forward. Creative people grab every opportunity that knock on their door and make the best out of it.

3. They seek positivity

Is your glass half-empty or half-full? How you answer this age-old question about positive thinking may reflect your outlook on life.

Positive thinking doesn't mean that you keep your head in the sand and ignore life's less pleasant situations. Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst. This does not happen overnight. With practice, eventually your self-talk will contain less selfcriticism and more self-acceptance. You will become less critical of the world around you.

4. They fail

Failure is not unusual. Every successful story is backed up with failure. It indeed is freedom. Because the worst has happened.

Now, you can relax and rebuild your life. A wise speaker once said, “Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than out-and-out exposure, and the fearful are captured just as frequently as the bold.” Successful people do not shun failure,they embrace it.

5. They take risks

Successful people do not stand out just like that. They are opportunists who are fearless when it comes to risk taking. They pour themselves deep into the sea of risks and possibilities of loss. They face them and most of the times they end up paying huge prices for their dives. They understand that the fruit they seek grows to fullest after extensive pain and loss.

What awareness brings is freedom from fixed beliefs. You don’t think through what’s wrong with your life as if a formula can be applied from the outside. Creative people pay attention if they intend to intensify the qualities that they value most. To be unaware leads to taking far too much for granted. It is far too easy to lock things down in mental boxes and throw away the key but to know your surroundings and even knowing yourself on the inside is extremely important.

10. They save and spend wisely

In the present era, materialistic well-being is considered to be a major ingredient of happiness and to achieve that we invariably have to spend money. Successful people spend money wisely which means they are able to derive more value from their money. This doesn’t happen overnight, spending money wisely is a skill and needs to be cultivated over a period of time.

6. They follow their passion

We are often taught by our elders that we must always strive to do things that make us happy. Your passion is what makes you happy. Most of us are stuck doing jobs we hate just because we need money. Although this may seem to be the right move for our careers now, this shouldn’t be something we do

Bhoomika Mohan

Literature

Faridabad (NCR) 16-31 December, 2019 www.theasianchronicle.com

Chit Chat with Anuradha Prasad

So to answer your question - there was not a definite time in my life that I decided to be a writer. It took shape into a profession. Before to writing books I worked with Times Of India and other notable publications. I was above the rest of the grind I must say. Writing a book was a progression of that process.Writing as a journey was a continuous process.

How long does it take you to write a book?

It takes anywhere between one year to one and a half.

What is your work schedule When did you first realize you like when you're writing? wanted to be a writer?

Writing was a part of reading from a very early age. I was a voracious reader. I read everything I could lay my hands on. Starting from cartoons to fiction to non-fiction.

Thrillers ,romance, adventure everything and anything that I could lay my hands on. In the early process of reading at a very young age, I had started to write after the school hours. I used to write poems in a small note book and did not have a whiff about my creativity. It was at the age of 7. So I must say writing was a part of me forever. It just took shape when I started writing my first novel – two Winters and 365 Days. Otherwise I was into it forever.

I write continuously. Finish my other work and immerse myself into writing. I try to wear my other caps of a mom, homemaker and a working professional all into one with elan and panache. I keep a goal perday. Like- completing 1500 words in a time of say- 4 to 5 hours available to me.Besides when I am writing a book it is playing in my mind continuously. If I get an inspirational thought I pen it immediately even in the middle of the night. I love the process and the whole time it occupies gives me a rush I cannot name it!

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

Book Review

Invisible Ties

by Nadya A. R.

Author Nadya A. R.

10

ART | CULTURE | LITERATURE | BOOK REVIEWS | BOOKS LISTING

Invisible Ties by Nadya A. R. is one of the most beautiful fiction titles on my bookshelf , looking exquisite and attractive from the outside and inside as well. With a cover that is akin to a painting, this book is inviting.

Traversing from Lahore and Karachi to Singapore, Malaysia and London, this book takes us through the journey of Noor - a simple, shy,humble and kind hearted girl who grows up in a high class family of Karachi, Pakistan.

Her rich parents are busy and hence spend very less time with her leaving her lonely and heartbroken. She struggles with this lack of attention and develops a complex relationship with this trauma inflicted upon her.

Noor's story is a journey of self discovery.She is trying to find something but it is not clear what. Noor is at once familiar, yet remains an enigma. The diversity of emotions ranging from love and empathy to advise and responsibility makes this an engaging read. While there are many portions where you feel sad for Noor, a lot of her actions also make you wonder if it is right to feel so.

The journey of her childhood coupled with her experiences of living with her caretakers are a complete contrast to her life in completely different world after marriage, shifting from Pakistan to Singapore. Here she is all on her own. This sudden coming of age is a difficult stage of adaptation for Noor. One witnesses her stumbling and falling as she struggles to find her foothold in this big bad world outside her comfort zone.

The strongest point about the book is the narration. The author has described the story in a poignant manner making the characters come alive. The character of Noor is very simple yet interesting and attractive. She is a mysterious girl with a mirror that she took from her mother's closet as her only mate in the new

I really don’t have a particular peculiar quirk to put my finger to. But yes a obnoxious frenzy to create something beautiful drives me to finish a book.

a number.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I only concentrate on the written word noth-

Do you think in today's world ing else. lots of books and author are What does your family think rising rapidly? of your writing?

Yes.

Where do you get your information or ideas for your books.

In my head. No where else. Its just pure creativity. I also get inspired by real life people and their stories. Ultimately a writer pens what he/ she comes across in life. It boils down to that.

When did you write your first book and how old were you?

In 2013. I would like to reserve the answer to the later but yes I was around 40 at that time.

But as I said writing as a journey started in my childhood not in my adulthood. Many people start writing a book at forty as they compare themselves to others.I am my own competition. I am my own judge.I endeavour to better myself and myself alone. Age is just

world. While the other characters like her parents, husband and friends add layers to the narrative bringing their own eccentricities to the story. Each and every individual with their own unique back story add volumes to the narrative, along with twists and turns. They depict the fragility of human relationships exceptionally well and make the reader wonder, what is the price one pays for love. The title being clearly evident as the story talks about the various bonds we share in life with our loved ones.

Author Nadya comes across as a keen observer of life and manages to capture the complexity of life beautifully in her writing. The narrative is beautiful and can be easily called poetry in prose, which is really very unique.

The blend of history with fiction adds an interesting dimension to the story. Some of the readers may find the plot confusing and over detailed but this also has its positives where author tries to portray culture, diversity, ethnic cleansing and vivid personalities of the characters in details. The characters are relatable and tend to be complex. Their strength and vulnerabilities are equally at display for a reader to connect to them instantaneously.

Bringing in her own observations of living across countries, the author manages to paint an interesting picture of life abroad. Contrary to the popular belief, life of immigrants is full of challenges where survival is a constant struggle. In this story author really does a great job at setting up the whole plot touching upon multiple themes from love and relationships to abandonment and loss ,also weaving in additional elements of mental health and immigrant life. She simultaneously throws light on the apathy of women in South Asian societies where marriages define them and their dreams. The uncertainty of the future is a mat-

They are ecstatic. My spouse thinks no end of it and goes on talking to his colleagues and friends about my books. On the other hand,I am worried about the outcome of a book .Whether someone is going to read it or not?

Even if I would not have published my books, I would be busy writing in some space. My family is very proud and I am humble about this gift.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

The surprising facts about writing books was the process of expressing a story in 200 to 300 pages. The same story can be written in a page. That is what I was doing when I was a feature writer writing shorter versions of peoples stories. Expanding on characters and dialogues was amazing. Another surprising factor was the books came out amazing. They were read and appreciated.

ter of deep concern in such scenarios. Noor's story also talks about the risks hidden in an arranged match. Marriages are a gamble and author Nadya's enigmatic narration just proves this point even further.

Author's writing is lyrical, poetic and mesmerizing. The powerful imagery created by her descriptions, juxtaposing finer nuances of life with Feng Shui elements and other aspects, the author leaves a lot to reader's interpretation of the underlying tones in the story.

Language is descriptive while using figures of speech liberally with deep, connotations and meaning.

The climax scene is gripping making the entire journey till there worthwhile. While it is open ended and left for a reader to understand the ongoing happenings, the very fact that it symbolizes all that Noor stands for is truly inspiring . Overall, an amazing read that fully mesmerized me.

Book Review by Md Akhlaq

Book : Invisible Ties Author : Nadya A. R. Publisher : Roopa Publication Price : 176/Pages : 272 Rating : ☆☆☆☆4/5

11

My Take

The first thing which will attract you to this book " Marrying Happiness " is it's beautiful and cheerful cover. No matter what any one will say, cover plays a strong role in choosing a book. This is a book full of soulful and heart touching Quotes.

Winter Poems

Faridabad (NCR) 16-31 December, 2019 www.theasianchronicle.com

Book Review: Marrying Happiness

The different quotes are perfect for different situation in life.

Each quote is unique and perfect. In our life we often need some quotes to motivate us, guide us or just to make us feel better. If you need comfort, quotes are best thing for it.

Marrying Happiness by Arun Malik is a beautiful collection of motivational quotes.

All the quotes are amazing and one can stay motivated during tough times. This book is just like a guide with lots of life lessons.

There are all kind of quotes. You can relate with them in any situation. You can read them any time you are feeling low or lonely. There are deep meaning in each one of them. I literally read them again and again. These are amazing beyond words. You can feel them in heart.

This book is a collection of 140 quotes in two parts. First part will take you to struggle of the life and the second part will define the true happiness of our life which is not materialistic.

This book is divided into two chapters

First chapter is, " Getting up from down under "-

This section contains inspiring sayings

Book Name

Winter Poems Author

Sabarna Roy Publisher

Frog Books Language: English Pages: 60 Genre: Poetry One line review

Heartmelting collection of poems Review by: Swapna Peri

Poetry is my favourite genre and this being a purely poetry book I enjoyed it the most of all Sabarna's five titles. Yes, I read all of his titles published so far and I still feel Winter Poems is his best, which also happens to be his latest release as well. Does that mean poet Sabarna is more impactful than storyteller Sabarna? May be to ardent poetry lovers like me.

Starting right from the cover, contents, sectional presentation, titles, thoughts captured I liked the book in its totality. The unnamed style of his poems was something I found new and it appealed to me.

To end with Sabarna's lines from the book itself,

book review

"I tried and failed I tried and failed I tried and failed You never lost your smile That keeps me going That keeps me going – far and wide."

My rating for Winter Poems can nothing be less than 5*/5*.

Author: Sabarna Roy

ART | CULTURE | LITERATURE | BOOK REVIEWS | BOOKS LISTING

about getting up from tougher times. My Favourite quote from this section is " Formal education brings only knowledge, the learning comes from life's experience."

Second chapter is, "Happiness is inside" -

This section is about innate happiness. My Favourite quote from this section is 'Those who spread Happiness around others are It's biggest recipient too".

This Book mainly focuses on how you can change your mind-set to a positive one, then improve upon your potential and be more happy. It even throws light on the brighter side of life. It gives you a lesson that Tough times comes in one's life and go, they don't stay for long way with you.

One can draw a lot of positivity from this book. You can feel flow of positivity from its words and it directly hits the target by delivering the right message. The quotes on tough times are really empowering and moulds a positive attitude in the readers mind. The book clearly depicts that tough times are to be embraced rather than waiting for it to pass away quickly.

I am really going to write few of them in bold letters to read repeatedly!!

Book

Marrying Happiness Author

Arun Malik Genre

Motivational Quotes My Rating: ☆☆☆☆ Available on

Amazon

Pages : 153

Review by: Sneha Prakash

about the book

When author’s one of the students committed suicide in 2018, she was shocked and couldn’t believe what instigated that boy to take such an extreme step at such a tender age. Then her friend’s son, her batchmate, her neighbor’s daughter..and list went on. That was the time she thought to do something for those depressed souls and that is how concept of ‘Chase your life dreams’ was born in her mind. Through this book she tried to tell our youths that whatever they are facing at any particular time is not a permanent situation and that phase shall pass too. Through different chapters author deals with the concept by telling short stories and real life experiences, which can guide and inspire the readers to face the hurdles and setbacks of their life with a positive attitude.

What if you dreamt to live in the luxury of a castle and find yourself landing in an enclosed cell? What if your dreams are shattered by your own thoughts and actions?

What if your destiny puts you in a situation that is beyond your own imagination?

Thoughts make the foundations of your life because they are responsible for each and every decision and action you take, for each and every choice you make, in order to chase your dreams. That way, negative thoughts can have a devastating effect on your life, and can ruin your plans for happier living. With the simple Act of choosing the wrong thought, you can be deviated from your life’s purpose. It could trap you in a situation you never wanted to be in. What if we create our own thoughts based on our dreams? We will reach our dream destination sooner or later.

This is an eternal truth and you can see that people who are focused and determined will get success most of the time. Chase your life dreams is a guide to choosing the right, positive thoughts over the negative ones, to find the true purpose of your life, to create your own destiny, and to lead a meaningful and joyous life.

CHASE YOUR LIFE DREAMS : Alka Dixit

Alka Dixit

Rules & regulations... my foot Faridabad (NCR) 16-31 December, 2019 www.theasianchronicle.com

editorial Karamvir Kamal

On December 8, more than 43 people were killed burning in the fierce fire that broke out in a building on Rani Jhansi Road in Delhi and more than 50 people were also injured severly. Despite the tag of the residential area at Rani Jhansi Road and having no FIRE NOC, commercial activities were going on relentlessly under the nose of appropriate lax authorities.

Now the question arises that who is responsible for the death of 43innocents who died in the burning fire in this building where the illegal trade practice was going on?

Is the factory owner who illegally set up the factory Or the fire itself in which people died by burning?

Or the corrupt system of our nation that couldn’t able to perform its duty clutching under the grips of Bribe-World?

Rules and laws in our country are made only for making and breaking. Adherence to these laws is practically not seen. The most difficult thing is when only those who follow the law and rules start filling up their tricks by scaring people with these rules.

There is no doubt that the corrupt administration is directly responsible for illegally constructed buildings and running commercial activities in residential areas. The government considers the citizens of this place not just citizens but as vote banks.

So the administration gives these people their medium of income. Be it the capital of the country or a city of any other state. Different rules and laws have been surfaced for residential and commercial activities everywhere. Any house or factory can be built according to these rules and regulations.

But apart from other states of the country, there are many areas in the capital city where commercial activities are going on along with residential purposes.

After the gap of a period, the result of these illegal activities either gifts some deaths or any unprecedented accident.

Rules and regulations are made by the government so that the system

remains in place. The law not only protects people but also improves the lifestyle of a country. Rules for building houses, rules for the formation of companies and even for running small factories have been made.

But how many people are following the rules in our country? Neither the landlord nor the owners of the factories and the administration, whose responsibility it is to comply with these rules, care about all of these.

Administrative officials willfully see such rules being violated and do nothing. The result of which is a fire or other kinds of accidents.

When a matter reached the Delhi High Court regarding the statue of

Hanuman jee located at Karol Bagh in the National Capital, it was revealed in the investigation that due to the negligence of the officials, the land was occupied and the temple along with the statue was illegally constructed.

The issue of sealing arose vigorously in Delhi last year. The point was that people started commercial activity at the houses built for residential purposes and started living elsewhere leaving that place of commercial activities.

Observing, its legal aspect, the government does not permit to conduct business activities in residential areas.

Despite this, business activities flourished in these residential colonies.

If you talk about residential colonies, then hundreds of illegal colonies were formed in the country's capital. Those who worked illegally got this benefit only. Also, the concerned authority took advantage.

The officers and employees of the concerned department allowed illegal colonies to be built in front of their eyes and no doubt they would have been bribed for this. It is well known that Delhi Police used to take a bribe to put lanterns in illegal colonies. DDA also has a similar situation.

Whether illegal activities are going on, whether it is for commercial activity in residential areas, or it is a matter of settling illegal colonies. In every state of this situ-

12

ation, the citizens here are troubled and the government not only loses revenue but also creates chaos in the country.

The game of these illegal colonies and business activities starts with bribery and ends on bribery itself.

The government machinery first takes bribe from these people to run illegal activities and gives full help and support in running such activities.

Later, in case of any untoward incident, the government tries to cover such cases by bribing them.

The bribe given by the government is financial and compensation to the dying and injured persons.

They did not do all the work that a government institution should have done. Citizens are killed in return. And instead of punishing such a guilty department and officers, the government shuts its mouth by paying a bribe to the dying and suffering persons.

In such a situation, it is pertinent to raise the question that why such officers are not punished if such illegal activities are carried out under the eyes of government and administrative system.

How long people will continue to spend their lives at the expense of administrative negligence. By the way, for this fire accident in Delhi, the government has given a bribe of Rs. 1700000 on an average for each death occurred inside the illegal factory at Rani Jhansi Road in the heart of national capital.

Enough is Enough: Time to Take a stand Sneha Prakash Some incidents left us speechless, numb and our heart filled with disgust for this society we live in. We have heard that humans were animal before evolution but I think only their physical appearances are changed, their animal instincts are still the same.

We Indians take pride in saying that we belong to a rich culture, where we worship Goddess. We celebrate Durgapuja, kalipuja, laxmipuja and many more festival where we worship goddess with hustle and bustle but does it stop Indians to turn into monsters? I guess no.

Every few days we hear about rape and sexual assault on women here and there, we demand justice for the victims but do they ever get it. Do they even deserve such punishment just because they have been born as girl child? I really feel disgusted while hearing such news and see people discussing over caste of the victim and rapist. They debate over kind of protest against last victim and new one. They compare gravity of crime and kind of justify it with their point of view accordingly the caste of accused. Like Really? We have degraded to this level now?

Is there no humanity left in anyone?

Can't they feel the pain of the parents of the

innocent child, can't they hear the wails of innocent women.

How much she had cried, how much she had tried to escape. How many times she had pleaded that monster to let her go.

All matters for people is their tweets and fb posts where they hurl abuses to each other.

Where on every tweet by such so called celebs you spent hours tried to prove that he or she has protested differently last time?

Why you need such celebs to put forward the protest for such incidents.

You can come forward and stand with such families. You can assure the parents that you are with them in their hour of grief. Please think of them, stay United in their hour of need. Because we never know which turn is next time. So, don't feel good that they spare your child this time.

Women are safe no where in this so called civilised society, nor on streets, neither in their home. It feels like we are sitting on a tickling time bomb that who will be next victim of these mentally sick people.

Government and police is doing their bit, but don't you think as a society we are failing somewhere. Government can't teach you morality, they can't guard each child personally. But people of the society can, why can't the neighbours who are involved almost in fifty percent of such cases can treat their

neighbours child like their own. We need to instil morality in our child and family members. They have to learn to respect other women and not only women from their own family. They need to learn to protect other's children too and not only their own blood.

These Criminals who have done such kind of heinous crime, must taught a lesson so the next person who even think to do something like that fear their fate.

But most of all we need to unite as a society and have to think beyond, caste, creed and our thinking that if it's not our child we don't need to stand for it.

It's high time that we sit back and think hard and long what is the root cause of this situation. Because no law, no police and no government can assure 24*7 security. We have to take charge of situation. It's time to teach morality and humanity to our Male members of society. Because this is the only way there is a way out of this drastic situation.

Because our law and it's process is so lengthy and costly. It took ages to get justice.

We have to make sure that at the one hand our daughters are equipped with self defence equipment and training. On other hand we have to make sure that every time we see a girl alone in a deserted places we escort them to their home or at least safe place. We have

to make a society where a girl should not spend her each moment in fear. Where she couldn't trust even her closest relatives and friend. No one can understand the dilemma and constant fear, in which a girl have to spend her each moment.

We need to sensitize our police, who treat rape victim in vulgar manner most of the times. They humiliate her and make her question their decision to seek justice. We need to work on fast track justice for victims.

We have to instill fear of law in such criminals.

We have to make a society where a girl can roam freely and without people staring at her.

We need a society where a girl will not be judged by length of her clothes.

We need a society where we do not have to save our girls from prying eyes of neighbours and family members.

We need a society where a girl child is child only and not easy target of these predators.

We need a society where not only men but women also can roam freely at any time.

Where she doesn't have to rush home before evening. We need a society where women don't have to feel after returning home that, " Thank god I am safe for today".

It's time to change our thinking and most importantly it's time to think where we are going wrong!!

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Faridabad (NCR) 16-31 December, 2019 www.theasianchronicle.com

New recruitments in Police to improve law & order

haryana universal Helpline No. 112 to be operational by March 2020

To improve law and order in the state, recruitment will be carried out in the Police Department soon. For this, directions have been given to make a fresh assessment of the manpower requirement in the police force.

Home Minister Vij said that a full review is being done in this regard and appropriate steps will be taken as soon as the report is received. He said that he has been receiving 500 to 600 complaints per day, which are mostly related to the police department.

Therefore, information about number of pending FIRs and their pending time period has been sought from all the districts. On receipt of the report, strict action will be taken against the employees or officers concerned after examining the reasons for the delay in investigation. Information related to this can be given by any citizen of the state personally to him. The government is taking concrete steps at every level to break the drug chain in the

state, the Home Minister asserted.

The Home Minister said that December 11 has become the golden day in the history of the country with the passing of the Citizen Amendment Bill in both the houses of the country. For this, he congratulated the Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi and the Union Home Minister Mr Amit Shah. He said that in the case of Panchkula, SHO has been given ‘Line Hazir’ and the action has been taken against others as per rules. Meanwhile, the woman has also changed her statement in the court. Despite this, the department is conducting a thorough investigation and has been directed to take strict action against the culprits. Mr. Vij said that the problem of students of World College of Medical Sciences and Research, Jhajjar, is being solved. No student has been stopped from taking the exam, so they should keep preparing for their exam.

All district hospitals to be connected with hotline for uninterrupted power supply

Farm-tourism to be promoted in the State for farmers to earn extra income

For the convenience of patients, all primary health centers, community health centers, subdivisions and district hospitals of the State will be connected to the hotline for uninterrupted availability of electricity.

Mr. Vij said that many times it has been highlighted that how the hospitals, because of the erratic power distribution issue have faced problems in their daily routines, therefore now all the district hospitals will be connected to the hotline for uninterrupted availability of electricity.

The Health Minister said that apart from this, high capacity generator sets, as per requirement will also be made available in all hospitals. He said that in this regard, directions have been given. He said that this facility is already being provided in many hospitals of the State, but some hospitals which are deprived of this facility will also be provided generator sets soon.

Home Minister Mr. Anil Vij said that by March 31, 2020, the universal helpline number 'Dial 112' will be made functional in the State. He said that in this regard, the concerned officers have been directed to immediately resolve all the problems related to this project. The universal helpline number Dial 112, has been started in the entire country for reaching the police, fire brigade or ambulance services.

The Minister said this while presiding over a meeting of Police Department on Dial 112. Vij said that for the modernisation of the police, an effective emergency management system will be implemented in the State and for this new vehicles will be purchased, while old vehicles which are in good condition will also be used. He said that these vehicles will be equipped with wireless and

Haryana Tourism Minister Mr. Kanwar Pal said that farm-tourism will be promoted in the State so that farmers can earn extra income along with their basic work. He said that for this purpose, some places will be identified where tourists from India and abroad can get the information about Haryanvi culture such as making jaggery, cow milking, sowing seeds, plucking fruits in orchards, kite flying, bullock cart ride and Wrestlers arena.

The Tourism Minister said this after taking the review meeting of Haryana

the implementation of the Dial 112 project in the State, police assistance to any needy person or women will be given in just 15-20 minutes

medical facilities, including police personnel.

He said that about 5000 police personnel will be deputed to provide their services and 1600 vehicles will be deployed. He further informed that 600 new vehicles and 200 new motorcycles will be purchased by the police department. This facility will be controlled at the State- Level, and the local officials will also be connected with this.

Tourism Department and Haryana Tourism Corporation, here today. He said that the Haryana Tourism Department has decided to take this initiative rapidly to give the tourist a taste of the authentic Haryanvi lifestyle. He said that with this step of the present government, the State farmers will be able to increase their income by adopting farm-tourism along with their farming.

In the review meeting, Additional Chief Secretary, Haryana Tourism Department Mr. Vijai Vardhan informed that till now 17 people have

He said that with the implementation of the Dial 112 project in the State, police assistance to any needy person or women will be given in just 15-20 minutes. He said that after getting the complaint on the helpline number, the the police department is required to reach the complaint within the stipulated time period.

He said that after the redressal of the complaint, complainant feedback know-

been given the license for Farm Tourism in Gurugram, Faridabad, Jhajjar, Sonipat, and other districts and for this there is a lot of trend among tourists. He said the concept of farm tourism is becoming very famous as a Holiday destination for corporate groups.

Additional Chief Secretary, Tourism, Mr Vijai Vardhan said that such farm-houses are attracting the Bollywood film and TV serial makers for shooting. The Tourism Department of Haryana is motivating these farmers to make material and CD

ing about his satisfaction and the behaviour and functioning of the police will also be taken. He said that in case if anyone files a any complaint about the behaviour, functioning , then strict action will be taken against the concerned employee or officer and others.

The Minister has further directed the officers to ensure about the adequate number of the vehicles, required man power and other necessary works immediately so that the helpline number can be started from March 31, 2020.

He said that the State people can lodge a complaint in Hindi, English, Punjabi and Haryanvi languages, on which action will be taken immediately.

Meanwhile, during the meeting, the police department officers also gave a presentation explaining the process of the entire system.

videos related to Haryanvi culture so that their farm-houses can be encouraged from the point of view of tourism.

He said that through farm tourism, tourists will be introduced to other famous cultures of Haryana including wrestlers' arena, dairy farm, floriculture, emu birds farming.

Five new police stations 68 Govt. Primary Schools to be coming up in Ambala upgraded Middle Schools in Nuh

Haryana Chief Minister Mr. Manohar Lal has accorded approval for creation of five new police stations under the jurisdiction of Ambala Range, Ambala. Apart from this the Chief Minister has also approved the creation of 331 posts of police staff in these new police stations.

Giving information in this regard, a government spokesperson said that a police station will be set up in urban area of Gandhi Nagar in Yamunanagar district and in Sector-9 Ambala. Similarly, three police

stations will built semiurban areas, including one in Krishana Gate, Kurukshetra and one in Pehwa city Kurukshetra and one at Sector-17 HUDA, Jagadhri in Yamunanagar district.

He informed that the posts of five inspectors, 12 subinspectors, 24 ASI, 54 HC, 216 CT, 10 cooks, 5 water carriers and 5 sweepers will be filled for the police staff in these police stations. He said that the financial implication will be Rs 1448.25 lakh, for the posts.

Haryana Government has decided to upgrade 68 Government Primary School in district Nuh to the level of Government Middle School.

While 34 Schools would be upgraded to Government Girls Middle School after relaxation of Department Rule/Norms and shifting of boys to another nearest school, 34 Government Primary schools would be upgraded to Government Middle School.

While stating this here today, an official spokesman said that Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal has approved a

proposal in this regard.

The Chief Minister has also approved an amount of over Rs 24 crore to be incurred as salary after creation of 476 new posts after the upgradtion of these schools.

Meanwhile, Mr Manohar Lal has also accorded approval for the creation of seven posts after the upgradation of Government Primary School Neembehra (Mahendergarh) to Middle level and Rs 35,44,056 as salary. The posts which have been approved included one post each of TGT English,

TGT Science, TGT Sanskrit, TGT Art, TGT Physical Education (PT Master) and one post each of clerk and peon.

Apart from this, he has also accorded approval for the creation of seven new posts after the upgradation of Government Primary School Jairpur, Narnaul to Middle level and Rs 35,44,056 as salary. The posts which have been approved included one posts each of TGT English, TGT Science, TGT Sanskrit, TGT Art, TGT Physical Education (PT Master) and one post each of clerk and peon.

What is the use of religion and Pakistan in the citizenship act movement?

Faridabad (NCR) 16-31 December, 2019 www.theasianchronicle.com

business/nation

Anjan K Samal

Isn’t it possible for BJP and our Prime Minister including the Home Minister to pass and implement the Citizens Amendment Bill without triggering the theme of ‘Religion’ and ‘Pakistan’?

What did Mr. Prime Minister say in terms of CAB? He said addressing a Public rally’, “I warn and challenge the Congress party and their allies to provide ‘Citizenship ‘ of India to any ordinary resident of’ Pakistan’ if they have the courage and strength to do so. The nation will teach them a lesson.”

Mr. Modi indirectly means that oppositions are challenged to give citizenship of India to a Muslim resident of Pakistan.

It makes loud and clear that amid every election, BJP including our Prime Minister seems to have no way to cross the electoral battleground without taking names of HinduMuslim, Temple and Pakistan. What’s the justification that a Pakistani Muslim will come to India to get Indian Citizenship.

Since the presentation of CAB and NRC on the floor of Parliament, the top brass of BJP relentlessly has been trying to limit the issue with only Hindu-Muslim.

During the Dumka public rally, honorable Prime Minister suggested security personnel of the nation by commenting on the wearing of protesters to find out the real anti-Indian elements. Here the style of dressing up means who wear Muslim caps during the protest against the government on these issues of CAB and NRC are anti-Indians.

Sitting on such a position of integrity, a

Prime Minister should talk like this in the name of religion is shocking and unprecedented.

But it’s also a matter of Big question that who are those behind this propaganda of BJP? Apart from the Government side, those who protest and destroy crores of values of public property and clipping that shows an attack on a Delhi Cop and stone-pelting on a school bus is not at all acceptable by any civil society.

Many protesters say, some outsiders created this violence, then what we the people are doing to stop this kind of anti-social elements.

Even in this row of violence across the country, relentless attacks have been reporting on many media personalities.

It’s also absolutely not acceptable for a healthy democracy.

People of India are also forgetting that this is not at all an issue of Hindu-Muslim but it’s an issue of saving the holy words of the Indian Constitution.

Once in the past, our Prime Minister on a public platform from the foreign land had urged “ India's glory is reflecting all over the world”.

Is, it that glory under which cops and security forces did show their impatient over the people’s liberty to protest against the Government across the nation?

Is it the glory that even in the lanes of nation’s News Paper agencies, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Internet, and Mobile services have been barred?

Is it the Glory that in the name of NRC and CAB the present government only tries to get a particular class of people forgetting the constitutional word of ‘Secularism’?

Is it the glory of India that in the Nation of Bapu, his killer is termed as a true patriot of India?

On the issue of Present CAA(Citizenship Amendment Act), the MODI Government under the leadership of Amit Shah could able pass the CAB(Citizens Amendment Bill)in both the houses is yet to be implemented in India but just before it’s implementation a huge uproar has been observing not only from the Muslim community but from all most all the communities across India.

Even for the first time, India has experienced police brutality on Jamia Students entering into their hostels late at night like a coercive state of Governance. But in the same city when Delhi Police was brutally handled by some advocates, such counter brutality has not been seen from Delhi Police against advocates.

Then why such coercive actions against stu-

14

dents of Jamia is out of any imagination.

In CAA, Minorities of the Neighboring country will take into account who intends to be citizens of India except for the Muslim Community.

This Act of the government not including the Muslims divides the country into Hindus and Muslims.

Isn’t it against the Fundamental principle of ‘Secularism’ as written in the constitution?

At one hand, the government of India urges people to understand the act as it’s not at all against any particular community or religion but on the other hand thousands of protestors claim, the government knowingly started initiating their hidden agenda of making India into a clear-cut and Pure ‘Hindu Nation’.

So. All of us need to read, know and understand every word of the soul of the Constitution of India, the Preamble...

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens JUSTICE, social, economic and political; LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith, and worship; EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation; IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this 26th day of November 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.

2019: A year of hope and despair for real estate The year 2019 has been a tale of hope and despair simultaneously for the real estate sector. While it witnessed the successful launch of India’s first REIT, opening up new avenues for further investments, commercial office space continued to be the most sought after asset class. On similar lines, warehousing and retail sectors were the next favourites for investors. However, the challenges faced by the residential sector are far from over. The ongoing NBFC debacle and resultant liquidity squeeze and the slow pace of recovery in sales affected by overall economic scenario have added to the woes of the sector. The sector saw some hopes of recovery as the government stepped into to solve the liquidity issue. Overall it was a year of recovery and recuperation.

The year 2020 is expected to infuse growth in the sector. Like the year 2019, commercial office space will again lead, followed by retail and warehousing. On the other hand, the impetus given to the residential sector is expected to yield positive results. The special opportunity fund created by the government is likely to help the completion of stalled

projects, thereby improving the buyers’ sentiment. More commercial REITs are likely to be listed as well in the coming year. More private investments will come in and consolidation, mergers within the space are likely to continue.

Hope and despair in 2019

Residential Market: In 2019, the first three quarters witnessed 14 percent growth in residential unit sales, which was quite promising when compared with the first three quarters of 2018. Most cities have shown moderately good performance.

However, the last quarter of this year didn’t keep up with the growth of the first three quarters. Hence, we expect the year to end at similar levels of 2018. The economic condition, mainly the GDP growth had a negative bearing on the buyers’ sentiment.

This said investments in the residential segment are making a slow comeback in the form of long-term capital commitments with reputed developers at the entity level. This proves long-term optimism in the sector. Residential segment is senti-

ment-driven and we believe that with the economic sentiment coming back or the economic GDP growth rate falling in place, the implementation of RERA will be done effectively in most of the states.

While sales are happening mostly in the ready-to-move-in projects, the delivery of the projects is on par with the expectations of buyers.

However, projects by reputed developers in good locations with proper pricing are getting a lot of attention from buyers. Hence, reputed developers with good track records continue to perform. Affordable housing is still the favourite of masses and the demand is high for this segment. As a result, the segment has been moving on at a steady pace. Luxury and premium markets are yet to come back.

We don’t see much of traction in the primary residential market and it will take another year to see the residential sector registering substantial growth. Till then we will be hovering around with a modest growth rate or maybe just clocking the run rate that we clocked in 2018.

Office Market: When it comes to the office market, it’s moving from

strength to strength. This time also we will see good net absorption across the top seven cities. We strongly believe that we will comfortably cross the 40 million square foot mark in net absorption in the top seven cities. Even though the coworking segment has faced some disruption globally we continue to witness a lot of traction this space in the country. In terms of supply, some smaller cities have shown a lot of promise.

A case in point is Hyderabad, where we see equal supply coming in comparison to Bengaluru which is the largest market in India. But those supplies are majorly supported by pre-commitments which refer to the existing demand. So, in the very short-term we may see a slight increase in vacancy in cities such as Hyderabad where supplies are coming in good quantum.

Capital Markets: Investment momentum has taken a breather in the last quarter post a few major deals in office space. The uncertainty of the banking crisis continues to impact the investment climate in the country. The residential segment with stalled projects worth USD 66 bn is

likely to provide an opportunity to invest in this huge pool of stressed assets. 87 cases of real estate sector are undergoing liquidation under bankruptcy law as on 30 September 2019.

Corporates saddled with debt have been liquidating real estate assets leading to new opportunities. Real estate stress assets deals of ~ USD 1bn have been transacted in 2019.

Investors are evaluating various options like acquiring non-performing assets, distress sale and entity-level stake.

Institutional investors are always very keen and the office market is a significant part of the investment.

We believe that this trend of office market will carry on even in 2020 and a lot of options and opportunities are coming up. With India becoming a relatively much more transparent economy, foreign investors are showing interest. We believe that this sector will remain as robust as it has been in the last couple of years.

Samantak Das

Chief Economist and Executive Director- Research & REIS, JLL

Faridabad (NCR) 16-31 December, 2019 www.theasianchronicle.com

haryana

Thousands of students outstretched state level festival 15

Along with schools, parents of children also participated in the state level festival 2019 organized

by Haryana State Child Welfare Council.

On the third day of the festival, 40 to 50 thousand children’s presence in the state-level children's festival made it historic. Even in the wintry weather, children started arriving at the state level children's festival from 9 is in the morning.

This sequence continued throughout the day. The children had fun at the state level children's festival.

The tourists from the state and from abroad also attended the festival.

Painters and artifacts created by the contestants of the state-level Children's Festival captivated everyone.

Different districts of the state put up exhibitions by presenting up different stalls which were the centers of attraction. The children were

Capacity of Cooperative Sugar Mill in Palwal to be increased in two phases

The capacity of Cooperative Sugar Mill, Palwal will be increased in two phases. Cooperation Minister Dr. Banwari Lal said that its capacity has already been increased from 1600 to 1900 TCD and in the next phase it will be increased from 1900 TCD to 2200 TCD. Dr. Banwari Lal informed this while addressing the farmers after the inauguration of the crushing session of the Palwal Cooperative Sugarmills for the year 2019-20 in Palwal.

Dr. Banwari Lal said that farmers, employees and officers works as a link in the functioning of the sugarmill and the most prominent link is the farmers. Keeping this in view, directions have been given to the mill management that farmers should not face any difficulty. He said that the crushing session will go smoothly with cooperation with each other. He said that the recovery in Palwal co-operative sugarmills was 10.61 percent last time, which is appreciable.

He urged the farmers to bring their sugarcane properly cleaned in the mill. The Cooperation Minister also assured to consider the demand made by the employee organization sympathetically. He informed that the state government is actively considering setting up ethanol plant in all cooperative sugarmills and generating energy from the waste of the mills.

Earlier, MLA, Palwal Mr Deepak Mangla welcomed the Cooperation Minister at the inauguration of crushing season for the year 2019-20. He apprised the Minister about various demands of the farmers.

MLA, Hathin Mr Praveen Dagar said that on the initiative of Chief Minister Mr Manohar Lal, the sugar mill of Palwal will operate with increased capacity, which will benefit the farmers of the area.

found to be having fun making them far away from the increasing pressure of their respective education and career.

Haryana Transport Minister Moolchand Sharma termed the state-level Children Festival-2019 being held in the ‘Kingdom of Dreams’ as the ‘Mahakumbh’ of children and urged that the Haryana State Child Welfare Council provided such a platform to the children of the state to showcase their art of talents. He further told that this festival has shown unity in diversity which is the deep-rooted cultural heritage of India.

Transport Minister said that the culture of the Haryana state has a different identity on the world map.

He said that in the state of Haryana, in every 20 kilometers, one can get the varied culture of the entire state in terms of custom, tradition, and food. The culture of such a state has been brought by the Haryana State Child Welfare Council under one roof on the land of Gurugram district.

‘Pataudi’ MLA, Satyaprakash Jaravata said that it is a matter of pride for us that the state-level Children's

Festival is being organized at the holy ground of Gurugram district.

He said that this event is extremely important not only for the district of Gurugram but also for the children of the entire state.

The Director of the GAIL, Banto Kataria said that Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar had said to 'struggle, be educated and stay organized' so that in future India can make the country a bird that lays golden eggs.

He said that the Haryana State Child Welfare Council is working for the upliftment of children and society so that children can become educated in the future and can earn the means of livelihood.

Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Ratanlal Kataria said that the State Level Children Festival organized

by Haryana State Child Welfare Council is playing a big role in improving the skills of children and providing them a perfect platform.

There is no dearth of talent among the children and the activities being organized by the council for bringing this talent to the forefront and for the all-round development of the gen-next of this nation which is ab-

Vanshika from Little Flower Convent from Kaithal caught everyone's attention by singing ‘Ragini’. Vanshika was accompanied by the school's music teacher ‘Jony’.

solutely commendable and highly appraised off.

Request for Proposal invited from interested bidders for treated waste water

Haryana Development and Panchayats dept. has invited Request for Proposal (RFP) from interested bidders (organizations/universities/institutions/fir ms etc.) of repute having capability, expertise for testing of various parameters like Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total suspended solids (TSS) and pH Value of treated waste water in various Villages in Panchayati Raj Circle Gurugram, got treated by the department under Liquid Waste Management Projects.

A spokesman of Development and Panchayats Department said that interested bidders may submit their RFP in sealed covers with all details.

He said that the details, other terms and conditions of RFP could be downloaded from the website “harpanchayats.gov.in” or could be seen in the office of Superintending Engineer, Panchayati Raj Public Works, Gurugram or Executive Engineers, Panchayati Raj Public Works, falling under jurisdiction of Panchayati Raj Circle, Gurugram.

The spokesman said that while submitting RFP, bidders would adopt two envelope system. The first envelope super-subscribed as “Technical Bid” must contain documents like profile of the bidder, notarized copy of power of attorney, copy of PAN Card, copy of GST certificate, copy of registration of firm other than government body, copies of ex-

perience certificates/allotment letters and any other relevant documents if any. Preference would be given to those bidders which have experience of working with Government, Semi Government Departments, Boards, Corporations and Bodies, he added.

He said that the second envelope super-subscribed as “Financial Bid” must contain the signed and stamped RFP and percentage rates either at its appropriate place or on separate sheet, if required. He said that both envelopes would be further sealed in single envelope super scribed as “RFP for 3rd Party testing of various parameters (like BOD/ COD /TDS/ TSS/ pH Value) of treated waste water. The second

envelope would only be opened if the bidder qualifies in “Technical Bid, he further added.

The spokesman said that the RFP must reach in the office of the Superintending Engineer, Panchayati Raj, Public Works, Circle Gurugram on or before December 31, 2019 at 12 am.

The sealed RFPs would be opened on the same day at 1.00 pm in the presence of concerned bidders or their authorized representatives at Panchayat Bhawan opposite to NCERT, Sohna road, Gurugram. He said that the Superintending Engineer, Panchayati Raj Public Works Circle, Gurugram reserves the right to accept or reject any or all the RFPs without assigning any reason thereof.

Losses of power distribution companies to be reduced to 14.53% by Mar 24

Haryana Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy, Mr. Ranjit Singh said that in last three years, there has been a significant decrease of 12.5 percent in the Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses of power distribution companies in the State. He said that in the month of March 2019, the AT&C loss was 17.45 percent, while the target is to bring it down to 14.53 percent by March 2024.

Giving information here today, the Minister said that 2539 dangerous lines of 11 KV and 33 KV have been identified in the State. He said that an amount of Rs 95.96 crore has been spent on the identification of such lines.

He said that out of these, 595 lines have al-

ready been shifted while the work of the remaining lines is being done on a priority basis.

He informed that at present, out of 7045 villages in the State, 4254 villages are getting 24 hours power supply, while 2791 villages are getting a power supply of 16 and half hours.

Similarly, the 24-hour power supply is being provided in urban and industrial areas.

Mr. Ranjit Singh informed that a toll-free number 1912 has been made available for lodging ay power-related complaints. For this, two call centers are already made functional in Gurugram and Mohali, where the feedback of every complaint is recorded. He shared that the concerned officer or employee of these complaint centers has been directed to resolve

every complaint in the set time period of 4 hours in urban area and 8 hours in the rural areas.

He said that the average time for grievance redressal is 3.22 hours in Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam and 2.49 hours at Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam. In addition, efforts are being made to reduce the average settlement time for redressing the grievance in urban areas in less than 2 hours.

The Power Minister informed that 10 lakh smart meters are being installed in the State out of which about 70 thousand meters have been installed in the cities of Gurugram and Karnal. He said that the remaining meters are likely to be installed by 31 March 2020.

Faridabad (NCR) 16-31 December, 2019 www.theasianchronicle.com

entertainment

16

Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior Divya Khosla Kumar ProStarcast witnessed in Delhi For motes her Latest Song " Yaad the launch of Movie Trailer Piya Ki Aane Lagi " in Delhi

Recently, Ajay Devgan, Kajol, and Saif Ali Khan came to Delhi for the launch of the Second Trailer of movie Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior. Director Om Raut and Co-Producer Bhushan Kumar were also present at the launch. The event was held at PVR Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.

Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior is an upcoming biographical period action film starring Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan, Kajol, Jagapathi Babu, and Sharad Kelkar. It is scheduled to be theatrically released in 3D on 10 January 2020.

Kajol spoke about the reason for doing Tanhaji, " One of the reasons is Ajay of course but also my role is film has an innate strength of supporting her husband in going out and fight for the country. It is a story of an unsung hero and I am happy to be a part of such an amazing story."

Ajay shared his thoughts about Tanhaji being his 100th Film, " I didn't even realize that this my 100th film until Om ( Director) told me this while shooting. The only thing that matters is that a person should keep working and the thing which scares is

that this is not your last film."

Saif Ali Khan was amazed to see the trailer, he shared his excitement for the movie, " I seriously have never seen anything like this before. The 3D effects has made the trailer incredible as we have shot the film on sets " Director Om Raut spoke about Producer- actor Ajay Devgan, " I am lucky to have him as a producer because he always stood by me and never said NO to anything.

We have people from all over the world who have contributed to this film and it is all because of Ajay Devgan."

Recently, Actress turned Director, Divya Khosla Kumar released her latest track Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi sung

by Neha Kakkar. She came to Delhi for the promotions of her song, the song is labeled under the banner of Tseries. Divya Khosla is the wife of Bhushan Kumar, Director - Chairman of T- Series. The song is the remake of Falguni Pathak's 90's song.

While talking to media Divya shared her gratitude towards the love she is receiving for the track, " I am thankful to the audience that they have given so much love to the song and it has got more than 110 million views on social media. I am receiving videos from all over the world in the same costume which I am wearing in the song and people reciting the same dialogues of the song."