THE ASIAN CHRONICLE

Vol-1, Issue-XIX, Published for the period 01-15 January, 2017. 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), Deputy Editor Erum Khan. RNI No. HARENG/2016/67803. Executive Office: 431, Saraswati Vihar, Gurugram-122004, Haryana. Contact +91 9212 46 0446, 9899 73 1532.

Vol I, Issue XIX

01-15 January, 2017 Pages 08, Price Rs. 5/Faridabad (NCR)

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Will women ever be safe in our

country?

Post Nirbhaya rape case the crime against women especially rape has only increased despite the hollow promises and sham endeavors of the government and police. Will crime against women ever stop?

By Saman Bilgrami & Elsie Gabriel

Does the Criminal Law Amendment Bill make the Nirbhaya safe in India?

Faridabad (NCR) | 01-15 January, 2017 www.theasianchronicle.com

issue

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Will women ever be safe in our country?

Post Nirbhaya rape case the crime against women especially rape has only increased despite the hollow promises and sham endeavors of the government and police.

Will crime against women ever stop?

Elsie Gabriel

[The writer is an award winning environmental author, founder of the NGO Young Environmentalists Programme and has been writing on Environment and Climate Change for the last 15 years.]

It has been four long years that the 2012 Delhi gang rape case involved a rape and fatal assault which occurred on 16 December 2012,in a neighbourhood in Delhi. The incident took place when a 23-year-old female physiotherapy intern, who was beaten, gang raped, and tortured in a private bus in which she was travelling. The nation woke up to a India which so far, more than often, had been sweeping its crimes against women under the carpet.

And many a times, women did not emerge to complaint all because of fear.

Fear soaked in shame, taboo and more humiliations!

So it is the end of 2016 now? Do women feel safe, is the question? Write in and tell us how safe/unsafe has the year 2016 been for you?

The majority of sexual assaults still go unreported, cases which surface represent only a fraction of the violent crimes against women. India is slowly just beginning to sense the scale of its sexual violence problem. Gender disparity is looming large, the gap is still wide? The public discussion in the wake of the Nirbhaya case had been encouraging, but until it translates into more heavy duty action and protection

in each and every lane, little will change. The aftermath of these mass protests, the government assembled a judicial committee to recommend legal reforms, and in early 2013, the Criminal Law Amendment Bill was introduced. The changes set out in this new law included the establishment of fasttrack courts to deal with rape allegations and new legislation against sexual harassment, voyeurism, and stalking.

It is often believed that crime rates typically drop as countries develop socially and economically, but are we right here? Just because the country is dragging its feet out of economic backwardness or being catapulted by economic reforms into a modern India, does not mean we have carried the safety of our women forward, have we?

Usually the capacity to enforce laws improves as poverty declines, is a farce.

The highest policing system can often fail if you and me are not vigilant; and if you and me do not keep educating our young. Even today, violence against women remains a problem in many developed countries, and the perpetrators often go unpunished. So, you must speak up! Raise your voice against crime. Wear your voice on your sleeves and your guts around your mouth!

The legal reform was at it’s best when the perpetrators in the Nirbhaya case were, ten months after the attack, found guilty of sexual assault and murder.

Four of the five were sentenced to death by hanging, which is highly unusual in rape cases. The fifth was a juvenile and not eligible for the death penalty; the sixth committed suicide in prison as reported. Since there is a law in India that

does not allow the press to publicize a rape victim's name, the victim has become widely known as Nirbhaya, meaning "fearless", and her life and death came to symbolize women's struggle to end rape and the long-held practice of blaming the victim rather than the perpetrator.

It has now been four years since this brutal assault shocked the world. The government enforced laws diligently.

Now it is up to us to educate our sons and daughters.

Simple awareness about women’s safety can be discussed openly at schools, homes and organizations to help keep women safe at all times. For example, tell your offspring’s and children, if walking by yourself, get off your cell phone, be alert. A lot of people think that being on the phone is safe because the person on the other line can call 100, but that rarely works out, because sometimes we are simple making casual conversation and not totally alert. Chatting can distract you; it's better to be aware of your surroundings. If walking by yourself, hold your cell phone and be ready to make an emergency call. Go a step further and preset one of the buttons on your phone to call the emergency number of the particular state or country that you are in. Learn simple defence methods, ensure that you encourage talks and demonstrations in all housing societies and colleges. Help, the next generation get totally educated on the gender gap, learn to respect and get respect. Bridge the disparity gap. It is an end of a beautiful year, let’s make safety resolutions for 2017!Not only for our women but for all our citizens.

Where women are facing the indecent and insecure environment on the same pitch there are women who made the law a virtual game to be taken for granted as and when required as large number of false and fabricated dowry and DV and rape cases are alleged on the innocent families. A women is raising

where Three days after the New Year’s eve celebrations turned into a nightmare for several women who were allegedly molested at a large gathering in cities.

Is this the faith of the largest democratic country where every year becomes a reason for grief and sadistic war on the freedom of women, the two compare and contrast stories that comes to my mind is one when whole country was aggrieved for the 2012 Delhi gang rape case involving a rape and fatal assault that occurred on 16 December 2012 in Munirka, a neighbourhood in South Delhi, That case brought to the fore, the awful condition of Indian women in terms of safety. It also highlighted the misogyny that is inbred in the Indian psyche. One year later, nothing much has changed as countless women are raped everyday all over the country.

Those who hold candles and march for women safety do they come out to protect one such happing if they see, I have

Saman Bilgrami her voice from city to city and have fought very strongly for the injustice and unlawful misuse by women’s who are falsely fabricating innocent families and people. But do they ever introspect that if it may occur on them then what could be the consequences?

If you juxtapose NCRB data on the crimes registered and persons convicted, it can be safely assumed that nearly 98% of Dowry cases registered in India are false.

Also, w.r.t. Domestic Violence Cases, the common perception is that they are also overwhelmingly false. A study done by a Bangalore based Mens Rights Organization put the no. of false cases upwards of 90%. Though no extensive independent study has been done about it and no data is collated by any government agency about the same.

On the other hand ‘If the country is not left with any shame and law and justice then the Nation is not safe for the women. This year’s beginning started with the BENGALURU the IT HUB

noticed how youth of this country use the language on social networking sites doesn’t this shows the mindset ?

Rape is the fourth most common crime against women in India. According to the National Crime Records Bureau 2013 annual report, 24,923 rape cases were reported across India in 2012. Out of these, 24,470 were committed by someone known to the victim (98% of the cases).

Giving name’s to rape cases for me is an indecent and shameful act or there is difference in rapes or types?

mAruna Shanbaug Case mMathura Rape Case mPriyadarshini Mattoo Rape and Murder Case mAnjana Mishra Rape Case mSoumya Murder Case mMumbai Gang Rape mBhanwari Devi Gang Rape Case mScarlett Keeling Rape and Murder mImrana Rape Case mDelhi Gang Rape

AMU Students Demand CBI Probe into Najeeb Ahmed's Disappearance From JNU

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Erum Khan

AMU Students' Union demanded a CBI inquiry into the mysterious disappearance of JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, who has remained untraced for 74 days.

In a memorandum sent to President Pranab Mukherjee, the union alleged that instead of trying to trace Ahmed, police was harassing the family of the missing student and shielding criminals.

Najeeb Ahmed, an MSc Biotechnology student, went missing on October 15 after a scuffle, allegedly with ABVP affiliated students at his hostel inside the

Faridabad (NCR) | 01-15 January, 2017 www.theasianchronicle.com

JNU campus.

His mother Fatima Nafees and sister Sadaf were detained by police when they along with scores of agitating students tried to take out a protest march to India Gate in New Delhi on November.

Fatima was virtually dragged into a bus by police along with other students.

The memorandum said the same forces which had compelled Dalit student Rohit Vemula to commit suicide in Hyderabad earlier this year were behind Ahmed's disappearance.

AMU students led by their union president Faizul Hasan held a demonstration

short NEWS

Road safety week 9-13 January 2017

Road Safety week organized jointly by Jila Rajaswa and Disaster Management and District Administration will be observed in Gurugram from 9-13 January.

On this occasion a painting competition will be organized in 20 state run schools. A training program on the subject “First Aid and Drink & Drive” will be organized in colleges on the 10th of January. A program will be organized in the industrial units of Gurugram like Maruti Udyog and Hero Group in which the information on the importance of Reflective Tape will be imparted in detail. An orientation program will be organized under the guidance and supervision of the General Manager - State Transport Corporation Depot and DCP Traffic for Autorickshaw Drivers and their Union Head on the coming 12th January and at the local bus stops for Bus Drivers and Conductors on the 13th of January.

West Water Treatment plant inaugurated by the PWD minister

Haryana’s Public works minister, Rao Narbir Singh inaugurated the West Water Treatment Plant based on European technology to purify the polluted water at village Rampura. This technique is a one of its kind technique which has been installed as a pilot project in Gurugram.

The minister stated that this technology is new for Gurugram. This machine can purify 25000 litres of water daily. This water is so clean that it can be used for drinking and the waste collected after purification of the water can be used for gardening and washing clothes.

24 hours electricity supply for Gurugram’s two select villages

Gurugram: From 1st Janary onwards teo villages of Gurugram namely Naurangpura and Baudgurjar have become two villages which will get a 24 hour uninterrupted electricity supply. These two villages have been chosen under the ‘Mhara Gaon Jagmag Gaon’ scheme of Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam. According to Shri T L Satyaprakash, Deputy Commissioner, Gurugram, the CM has instructed to provide 24 hour electricity to Gurugram district’s 11 KV (RDS Feeder) Baudgurjar at par with the city on the occasion of the New Year. Both these villages were also honoured on the Independence Day by the finance minister Capt. Abhimanyu under the ‘Mhara Gaon Jagmag Gaon’ scheme.

national

and threatened to intensify their stir if government did not fulfil their demand.

Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) has also asserted that they will continue with their protest on the issue.

Delhi Police has announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for information about Najeeb Ahmed, while the Crime Branch is trying to trace him without any success so far.

Missing JNU student case: Delhi HC directs lie detector test on 9 suspects in connec-

tions with Najeeb Ahmed’s disappearance

Over the ongoing investigation on JNU scholar Najeeb Ahmed’s mysterious disappearance, the Delhi High Court had, directed the police to conduct lie detector tests of 9 suspects allegedly having connection in the case and the matter had been adjourned till January 23rd, next year. In a status report submitted at the court, the Delhi police had stated that 560 police officials along with the dog squad had conducted search operations at the JNU

campus for two days, in the presence of the missing student’s mother and brother.

Earlier, yesterday, the police, after their second day of search at the JNU campus, had said that it will conduct lie detector test on Najeeb Ahmed’s room partner Kazim.The police Crime Branch started probe. On the Najeeb Ahmed missing case, at the JNU campus.

However, the JNU students and friends of Najeeb had expressed disappointment over the police investigation citing the delay in tracing the student, who went missing after being beaten up by a mob of 20 students, most of whom were ABVP members. Najeeb’s family member had also been unsatisfied by the police probe in the case and on police claims on the missing student being depressant, his sister alleged the police for giving a direction to the case.

Najeeb went missing on October 15, a day after he had been allegedly slapped by ABVP member canvasing for the hostel elections. With the first year M Sc Biotechnology student’s disappearance, JNU students, along with Najeeb’s family had been protesting at the campus with claims for the arrest of the ABVP students and alleging the police for delayed response.

Has the Samajwadi Party feud split the two wheels of bicycle?

Saman Bilgrami

Is the ongoing Samajwadi Party scuffle is just the formality or a show of good wins over evil ? But who is the evil, Akhilesh Yadav’s Uncle or the party supremo? Or is this the real show of power that how many stands with Akhilesh and how many with his Father or this divide and rule police for the larger benefit in the upcoming elections?

Certain questions are coming up and all eyes are set on the Father Son feud, Akhilesh Yadav emerges stronger from one corner "One thing can be said with certainty, that the BJP will not benefit from the split in Samajwadi Party?

When first the news started breaking up from the SP family it was not certain that the feud will come up till the bicycle. The control of Uttar Pradesh’s ruling party has brought the Samajwadi Party on the verge of a split but confusion and rumors of a further indignity abound on who will get to keep the party’s popular election symbol, the bicycle.

Whether the party splitting is another good way to showcase power and a very strategic move to stand together as two individual bodies but with one soul and purpose to win over the UP Polls, Now when both have moved on to the next level of dividing the party symbol, big question arises who will get the cycle symbol? How Election Commission will decide, when parties split? or the drama will come out with a different strategic division of one party into two parts with their soul united ?

According to the reports that suggested

that the suspensions of Akhilesh Yadav and Ram Gopal Yadav were never officially revoked emerged by Tuesday. This could effectively mean that the developments that took place during the party’s national reunion on January 1, where Akhilesh was named the party’s national president, would stand nullified.

According to ANI reports that their abrogate disqualification from the party was “conditional”. It was decided that their suspension would only be abrogate if they did not go ahead with Sunday’s convention.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Rajya Sabha MP and SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav were expelled from the party for six years on December 30 for “gross indiscipline” by the party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. After a meeting at Mulayam Singh’s residence the next day, the announcement to revoke the expulsion was made by Shivpal.

The fight for the control of the party has now reached the Election Commission.

With Mulayam having already approached the commission, Ram Gopal is scheduled to visit the EC Tuesday to submit Akhilesh’s claim as the new national president of the party.

“Akhilesh Yadav is our national president.

We will tell the Election Commission that we’re Samajwadi Party and symbol ‘cycle’ must be given to us,” said SP leader Naresh Agrawal.

It is unlikely that the EC would be able to resolve the dispute in time for UP elections.

EC hearings are long and detailed, and may

take at least six months. However, the panel may, for time being, freeze the party symbol and provide ad-hoc recognition to the two factions under names similar to the parent party.

The power stroke played by both will showcase the results in the upcoming polls ‘The Election Commission of India has announced the polling dates for Uttar Pradesh. The state will go to elections in seven phases. The polling dates are February 11, February 15, February 19, February 23, February 27, March 4 and March 8, 2017. Counting of votes will take place on March 11, 2017’

Peoples Voice

‘As per the peoples ‘’UP deserves Akhilesh. He has done good work in last few years. It's a natural process. Mulayam should realise. Akhilesh is clean and decisive. The biggest state in the country requires him. Support matters.’

‘That's what Mulayam also wants. To have Akhilesh elected back as CM as his previous term was a disaster and this issue takes away attention from his performance’ ‘As the bulk of the elected representatives and workers of the party seem to be with Akhilesh, freezing of symbol should not make a material difference. When Indira Gandhi split the Congress and was denied the traditional Congress symbol (cow and calf) it did not come in the way of her electoral success. What matter is the support you command?

Om Puri: The actor

Faridabad (NCR) | 01-15 January, 2017 www.theasianchronicle.com

nation

who never got his due

One of India's finest actors, Om Puri, died in Mumbai on Friday, aged 66. Film writer Aseem Chhabra believes he never got the recognition he deserved.

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haryana

Health cards for all 2.5 Crore citizens of Haryana

Haryana Health Minister, Mr. Anil Vij, said that Haryana would soon become the first State to issue health cards to all 2.5 crore citizens. He said that these health cards would facilitate the people in getting treatment for their ailments without repeated checkups. Tenders have been allotted to private agencies to prepare the health cards. He said that the new building was being constructed at a cost of Rs 50 crore. The two remaining blocks would be completed by June, 2017. The air-conditioned OPD block, constructed over an area of 3,248 square metres, comprises 50 rooms, 12 toilets, a lift and has modern medical equipment. While OPD services would be available for different specialties, the AYUSH wing has been established on the third floor to provide Ayurvedic, Homeopathic, Unani and Siddha treatment facilities. He said that 19 Community Health Centres (CHCs) and 72 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) were being constructed. He said that buildings of 10 hospital , 15 CHCs and 15 PHCs would soon be constructed.

466 delegates including 298 foreign delegates registered online for ‘Pravasi Haryana Divas-2017’

In 2007 Om Puri played a significant supporting role in Mike Nichols' Charlie Wilson's War: portraying a near-perfect Pakistani president Zia-ul-Haq. In one scene he spoke in a delightful Punjabi accented English and cautiously suggested to Charlie Wilson, a Congressman from Texas played by Tom Hanks, that covert aide to the mujahideen, fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, should pass through the hands of the Pakistani government.

I wanted to write something on this terrific actor, one of the few from India who straddled so many film spaces - from Bollywood to Indian art house indies, British Asian immigrant stories and big Hollywood productions.

But the publicists for the film and even the studio Universal Pictures informed me that they had no images of Puri.

Sadly this amazing actor had left no impression on the publicists who were mostly focused on promoting Hanks and his co-star Julia Roberts.

Puri acted in over 300 film projects in India and abroad, and yet he did not get the kind of recognition that he surely deserved.

He won two National Awards in India in the acting category (Arohan, 1982 and Ardh Satya, 1983), and was recognised at a number of film festivals, including a lifetime achievement medal at the prestigious Telluride Film Festival.

He was even nominated for a Bafta film award in 2000 for playing the lead in Ayub Khan Din's autobiographical British film East is East.

But unfortunately in the last decade or so Puri, the actor, was largely forgotten in the west and even in India.

He did play one last big role in the west - that of an Indian chef in a remote French town in The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014), opposite a feisty Helen Mirren.

It was a rare moment when Puri was suddenly, albeit briefly, the focus of a film produced by Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey.

No meaty roles

While promoting that film, Puri told me that Hindi cinema mostly concentrated on younger, good looking actors. And the industry had relegated him to roles of the father of a lead actor or a police officer. He was rarely offered meaty roles, he complained.

He was always hungry for more challenging work and recognition.

In another interview while promoting East is East (1999), Puri told me that his big regret was that he would never get the kind of roles given to Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro.

But Om Puri was as great an actor as Hoffman and De Niro.

In fact, one can say he was even better, given the number of films he acted in and the range of his performances.

His comic timing was perfect and we can see that in the cult classic indie Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983) and later on in Vishal Bhardwaj's Maqbool - a modern day take on Macbeth, where Puri played one of the witches, along with his colleague and friend Naseeruddin Shah.

Also in the same time period he played a sleazy photographer in Shyam Benegal's Mandi (1983).

Hollywood calling

He was the voice of an angry, frustrated

cop in Ardh Satya (1983), but was equally charming and seductive with his co-star, the late Smita Patil. And in Aakrosh (1980) he was the oppressed peasant who barely uttered a word.

Puri became one of the first Indian actors of his generation to crossover to the west with his work in British films - East is East, its less successful sequel West is West (2010), the rarely seen Brothers in Trouble (1995), the Hanif Kureishi scripted My Son the Fanatic (1997), and the mini-series White Teeth (2002), based on Zadie Smith's bestseller novel.

That was a time when nearly every Indian or Pakistani role in a British production was offered to Puri.

Hollywood came calling as well.

Mike Nichols also cast him in an important role in Wolf (1994) where Puri shared screen time with Jack Nicholson. And earlier Roland Joffé cast him in a supporting role in City of Joy (1992).

In 1994, Ismail Merchant cast Puri as a hapless college professor who sets out to interview an ageing and overweight Urdu poet (Shashi Kapoor) in In Custody, based on Anita Desai's Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel.

Puri was perfect in the film, displaying his frustration as he observed the decline of Urdu language and poetry.

But it is the sad reality of the film business, that talented men and women find it harder to get juicy roles as they get older.

And Puri had to face that fact.

Om Puri died too soon. But he has left a huge body of work reflecting his four decades as a film actor. He should get the most attention that a master actor of his stature deserves.

Courtesy BBC.com

As many as 466 delegates have so far registered for ‘Pravasi Haryana Divas-2017’ to be held at Gurugram on January 10 and 11, 2017, on the web portal created for this purpose. These include 298 foreign delegates. This was informed in a meeting to review the arrangements being made for Pravasi Haryana Divas-2017, held under the chairmanship of Haryana CM, Manohar Lal. Union Minister of State for Power, Piyush Goyal and Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman, would be the Chief Guests at the cultural evening, whereas Union Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen. V.K. Singh, would be the Chief Guest at the closing ceremony. It was informed that Mr. Gorav Aggarwal, Mr. Dut Attari and Mr. Jagmohan Jindal, who have adopted different villages of the State for undertaking development works, would speak on the occasion.

They have adopted village Dangra, district Fatehabad, village Dhatrat, district Jind and village Sui, district Bhiwani, respectively. It was informed that two-day excursion programme ‘Haryana Darshan’ would be organised for delegates, who would also visit the National Youth Festival at Rohtak on January 12, 2017. Various prominent personalities such as cricketer, Mr. Kapil Dev, wrestlers, Mrs. Geeta Phogat, Mr. Khali, Mr. Yogeshwar Dutt, and Ms. Sakshi Malik, boxers, Mr. Vijender Singh, Mr. Jitender Kumar, and Mr. Akhil Kumar, and filmmakers would also be present on this occasion.

Better sports facilities and quality education under ‘Khel Sang Shiksha’ at Motilal Nehru School of Sports

Haryana Sports and Youth Affairs Minister, Anil Vij said that the aim of Motilal Nehru School of Sports, Rai would be ‘Khel Sang Siksha’ (Sports with Education) under which arrangements would be done for providing better sports facilities alongwith quality education to students. Vij was speaking at the 42nd Annual Function of the School at Rai district Sonipat. The Minister said that Motilal Nehru School of Sports, Rai would soon be given the status of Sports University and approval to this effect would be taken from the State Cabinet. He said that this school is one of its kinds in the country and the present State Government would work towards making it as one of its kind university. He said that the previous governments had started considering the School as a public school which had a negative impact on the players. He said that the present State Government has changed the previous state government’s notion of ‘Shiksha Sang Khel’ to ‘Khel Sang Shiksha’. Speaking on the occasion, Union Sports Minister, Vijay Goyal assured every help for the progress of the school.

Tertiary care cancer centre coming up in Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantt.

Haryana Government would soon set up a tertiary care cancer centre in Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantt. with the assistance of the Central Government. This centre, which cost Rs 45 crore, would provide advanced treatment facilities to the people from all over north India.

Anil Vij told catheterisation laboratories would be set up in all district hospitals to facilitate people suffering from heart-related diseases.

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Faridabad (NCR) | 01-15 January, 2017 www.theasianchronicle.com

PHD Chamber’s “Swachh Paryavaran Campaign” hosts Recycling Awareness Workshop At The Ahlcon International School

PHD Chamber’s “Swachh Paryavaran Campaign” under the aegis of PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry hosted Recycling Awareness Workshop to conserve resources & environment.

The activity which took place at Ahlcon International School, Mayur Vihar was attended by around 1000 students. On the occasion Mr. Ashok K. Pandey, Principal said “I would like to congratulate the team of the campaign for addressing this pressing issue as each one of us should take the onus to ensure clean environment.

Our motto “Global Perspective Indian Values” is a driving force to pitch our students and their thoughts and creativity with their counterparts in the different time zones of the world.This particular workshop by PHD Swachh Paryavaran Campaign is an path breaking initiative for students to imbibe a habit change within themselves.

PHD Chamber Swachh Paryavaran Campaign activities lay emphasis on recycling drive in Schools and colleges which is aimed at social transformation of young minds. This campaign is supported

by Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change under Government of India.

This campaign aims to impart a powerful message to the society on CLEAN ENVIRONMENT by empowering schools to become agents of social change. Students are becoming ambassadors to promote the idea of recycling waste and making environment Ecofriendly.

The recycling awareness workshop under “Swachh Paryavaran Campaign” has been conducted for over 20000 students in various Delhi Schools by imparting them knowledge of waste segregation and recycling of plastics, paper, glass, metal, cardboard, old exam papers etc among other waste material.

Hero No. 1 launch “HERO NO-1”

Mann Dua, Govinda & Amit Dua

Leena Bidani

events Bollywood’s Hero No 1 and Dancing sensation Govinda is all set once again to take the restaurant business in the capital by storm just the way he set the big screen ablaze. Known for his penchant and predilection for good food, music and entertainment Govinda teams up with Restaurateurs Amit & Mann Dua to cook up a culinary storm and stir sensation in the palate of epicureans with the launch of HERO NO 1, Restaurant & Lounge in El dorado of gastronomy Rajori Garden.

Ecstatic during the launch Amit and Mann Dua, directors of the place, said,“ We are proud to open hub of fine dining lounge in the heart of West Delhi. Place will offer a lavish gourmet experience to food connoisseurs. Guests can enjoy food from a multi-cuisine menu with live music. Food and party lovers will now have a chic new place to hang out & chill with friends and family in West Delhi. We aim to redefine the perception of eating and entertaining out in the city. Place will set the benchmark for parties and events.

The outlet’s interiors are plush and classy and has been designed with a view to provide Delhi with the best of entertainment and lavish food choices. Right from the concept of the place to the delicious food, wide variety of drinks & lavish menu.

Art exhibition: Realms of peace-II

Bhaskar Singha: There are two great goals a human can have. He or she can seek enlightenment or work to words a world of peace, love and happiness, at the best, we combine the two.

Traditionally, Hinduism has adopted ancient Sanskrit phrase VASUDHA EKA KUTUMBAKAM, which translate as 'the world is one family" the essence of this concept is the observation that only base minds see dichotomies and divisions. The more we seek wisdom, the more we be come inclusive and free our eternal spirit from worldly illusions or maya. World peace is hence only achieved through eternity means - by librating our selves from artificial boundaries that separates us all, as with all dharmic religions hindusim jainisum Buddhism and Sikhism I thing every creation is bound in a cycle which revolves every where in the universe as a wind, as wind blows up and changes its shape in different ways so our life goes on to reflect the various moods of our emotions. Painting is mediation to me and I achieve pain, pleasure enjoyment and satisfaction by getting involved into this process of creation, space, colour, form and figures are my serious balance there by giving spiritual satisfaction.

A Fashion Show for a Cause

Visually Impaired Deepika Sood with Pawan Munjal

Sunaina & Ritu

Anamika & Poonam

Tara viva

Naveen & Mamta Rai

Pragati with friend

Dr. Sabit Subasic & Hamza Yahia Cherif

Bharat Reshma Grover

Rechel

Sushma Seth

Reenu Chabra Pooja Chabra

Fashion show for a cause, an event presented by Hero MotoCorp was hosted by Anjanna Kuthiala and witnessed a painting exhibition by SAKSHAM followed by an award show for the SAKSHAM kids.

The esteemed guest list comprised of Chief Guest Pawan Munjal, Chairman, MD & CEO, Hero MotoCorp, along with Ambassador of Algeria H.E. Mr. Hamza YAHIA-CHERIF, and Ambassador of Bosnia & Herzegovina H.E. Dr Sabit Subasic Guest of Honor Smt. Aruna Oswal, and Actress Sushma Seth.

The awardees at the event were Designer Rina Dhaka, Designer Vandy Mehra, Visually impaired Rita Namdev & Deepika Sood, Makeup Artist Aashmeen Munjal,Priya Kataria Puri, Suchitra Pillai, Laxmi Saa, Shobha Tuli, Blossom Kochhar,Parineeta Sethi, Deepa Antil, Bindya Sharma, Parull Mahaajan, Supriti Batra, Poonam Sethi,Urvashi Mittal, Daisy Qazi, Madhvi Advani and Rachna Chadha.

Some of the personalities who walked the ramp included actress Suchitra Pillai, Entrepreneur Ratika Seth, Make Up Expert Aashmeen Munjal, Madhavi Advani, Pooja Chhabra, to name a few.

Democracy in the times of ‘Post Truth’ Faridabad (NCR) | 01-15 January, 2017 www.theasianchronicle.com

opinion

Sparsh Upadhyay Email ID -13bal055@nirmauni.ac.in

Our Democracy looks very weak nowadays; it seems there isn’t good motivators out there to strengthen it from within.The backbone of Democracyhas always been its people and not the Governments or any other element of the state that rule the people.But it appears that Democracy has started to lose its relevance in the ‘Post Truth’ Society. The discussion around the word (used as an adjective) ‘Post Truth’, which was chosen by oxford as the word of the year, is quite relevant nowadays.

The word, post-truth, as an adjective is defined as ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief’.

The adjective in light, pretty much explains the political and social situation in our country as well. The way narratives are shaped and presented in front of the people, it has always a political touch to it, which either distorts the truth or presents a different face of the truth. Truth, though could never be objective, yet its essence remains untouched by different versions of it, however the way things are turning out today, it seems that the changed narratives have swallowed the essence of the truth as well. The problem is simple, people are no more interested to inquire into the objective facts, rather they are influenced by subjective things such as emotions and personal beliefs, to name a few.This new trend has further implications on the way we think and behave, there is an inherent wave of individualism rather than of collectivism, and this is furthered by striking the right chords of people’s emotions and belief by the ones who are in the business of distorting the essence of the truth. I do not intend to target any class of people which does this, rather it appears to be a

Begin 2017 with Positivity and Peace

collective behaviour of most of the people in the country. However, the ones who still rely on the objective truths, are in lot more trouble than the ones who don’t find objective truths to be engaging enough. We are in such troubled times, that it is quite possible that after 20 or so years we would be remembered as the ‘generation which lived in delusions’.

The problems

To start with the problems, we need to look at various instances where we find that narratives are manipulated and thus the perception of the people is changed in large number. And that is the reason why we find, that people are termed either as ‘pro-’ or as ‘anti-’, there is no one who is both or who is none of the two. The problem doesn’t end there, there are people who aren’t supportive of certain views, and thus they are tagged as ‘anti-’ (always in a negative sense). But the question is who forms the majority view and from where does the legitimacy to tag someone ‘anti-us’ or ‘anti-majority’ comes from? I

Let us detoxify the body, mind & heart and begin the year 2017 with positivity and peace and attract abundance in the coming new year. Follow these 3 simple steps as suggested by Spiritual Healer Dr. Madhu Kotiya:

Detoxification is the body’s natural, ongoing process of neutralizing and eliminating toxins. The Liver, intestines, kidneys, lungs, skin, blood and lymphatic systems work together to transform toxins to less harmful compounds and excrete them from the body.

You can do a Salt- Detox for 3 days by not taking any salt and eating only fruits for three days or you can eat four boiled potatoes and two glasses of milk each day. It will make you feel lighter within yourself.

Clear your body of stagnant emotions. Large amounts of stress, broken relationships, traumatic

the difficulty of the people being less than the difficulty faced by the army personnel at the border. Same happened when surgical strike took place, and people wanted to know whether such thing really happened, the people who asked question were termed as anti-nationals.

Both the instances tell us the same thing and that is people have started associating truths with emotions and personal belief rather than with facts and objective realities. No one might have tried to really consider the factual aspect of both the cases, Surgical Strike as well as of the Post-Demonetization effect. And it seems the majority is not even worried to do that.

Democracy in doom?

The Democracy is Majoritarian in its essence and it seeks truths that are beneficial and which have their essence, alive in them. Seeing the present situation, the ‘Demos’ (the people) in the word Democracy has remained no more Argumentative. Majority of the people are rather plain acceptor of the truth that is distorted to its core by the other set of people who have the ability and power to appeal to emotions and personal belief. However, that is not the case with Democracy, ought not to have varying emotions and anything ‘personal’ in nature, rather it thinks of collective belief. Amidst all this, the essence of Democracy is being diluted, and that too by the people who form the ‘Demos’.

There is no rule by the people left in Democracy, rather it’s the multiple distorted versions of truths that govern the will of the people. We need to rethink as to which way we are headed and how do we become rational in our choices as well as in our selection of truths.

or removing of unhealthy emotional toxins can do wonders. These can be just as detrimental to a person's health as unhealthy food substances. Most of us tend to carry a major amount of negativity within us, without even realizing.

Clear your body of stagnant emotions by a simple step by keeping your feet in warm sea salt water every day for 15 minutes regularly for a week. It will take off negative thoughts and emotions from your mind. You can even visit a healer to assist you in emotional detoxification using other techniques.

Do a three day food detox to take off all the toxins from your body

With so much uncertainty, pollution and chaos in everyday life, our Mind and Body are subjected to continuous stress, anxiety & pollutants etc. We keep on collecting toxins in mind and body which take a toll on our physical and mental health.

Emotional detox - Get rid of negative thoughts and emotions Dr. Madhu Kotiya (Spiritual Healer)

think, there is no single answer to that; however, the experience from social media has a lot to tell us about this phenomenon of stereotyping. Where trolling has become the trend of present days and there has arisen a new form of moral policing where an indirect check is kept on the people who dare to speak up something which makes the majority uncomfortable. For example, a major chunk of people who support a certain political figure of a ruling party tend to justify the move of Government in every possible sense. The case of Demonetization is a good example where the people were called antinational or Bharat Virodhi, just because they tried to speak up about the difficulties people had to face post demonetization. Ravish Kumar, senior Journalist had to run away from a place where he was reporting about the difficulties of the people post demonetization, because a group of people surrounded him and threatened him to stop the reporting. They called themselves the supporter of the Prime Minister and changed the whole narrative by comparing

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Meditate to keep calm and make yourself ready for the coming New Year childhood incidents, suppressed anger and hurtthere are a variety of emotions and emotional experiences that can take a toll on us. While detoxification is mostly been restricted to diets, cleansing

After getting rid of both, physical and emotional detoxification, it’s time to prepare yourself to absorb the positivity and the abundance from the universe. Meditate on your third eye and try to see a golden light on your third eye on New Year eve for half an hour. This will make your energy and aura prepared to receive all the abundance in the coming New Year.

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Faridabad (NCR) | 01-15 January, 2017 www.theasianchronicle.com

happenings

A world-class exhibition on Early Childhood Education

The present scenario of education system

DR. KAVITA VIKAS Author and Freelancer Email – kavitavikas28@gmail.com

An exhibition on Early Childhood – ‘The Joy of Learning’ will be held at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Mansingh Road, Delhi on 17 Dec, 2016. His Excellency, the Ambassador of Italy, Mr Lorenzo Angeloni, will be present at the occasion. The pedagogists from Reggio Children, Italy will highlight new dimensions of early childhood education during a one-day conference.

A beginner’s guide to Black Money menace, its reasons & solution

Money Worries’ latest offering The Black White & Grey – Re-Coloring The Rupiah penned by a 20 year old CA aspirant Pragun Jindal is a beginners guide to educate Indians especially the Youth on the black money menace and ways to help curb it. The book was unveiled today at New Delhi in the august presence of Mr Manish Tewari, Senior Congress Leader and Mr Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Senior Journalist and Social & Political Commentator par excellence.

Pragun Jindal, Author, The Black White & Grey says “A delinquent like poverty, only affects the poor, unemployment affects those who are unemployed, alcoholism and drug abuse affect those who devour them, black money is a hitch which does not affect persons who amass “black dough” but it affects the common man in the populace”.

A writer & hopeless romantic comes to Delhi

Sudeep Nagarkar, a sensitive & a deeply romantic author visited Delhi on the 17th of August to talk about his new book “All Rights Reserved for you”.

Sudeep has done his Engineering & is an exIT professional, also he we went ahead to secure an MBA after becoming a successful novelist.

These appear to be the telltale signs of a maverick personality. This 28 year old nonconformist is one of the brightest stars in the Indian-English romance novels scene. Sudeep not only writes romance but lives it –in his eighth book “All rights reserved for you”. This book is his personal story, which talks about his love affair with his would be wife Jasmine Sethi. Sudeep included a special surprise for his wife in the storyline. Not only that, it also featured a pre wedding photograph which she was completely ignorant of!

Changes are inevitable. Changes in the economic, social or cultural fields have wide impact in the development of the country. Even in the interiors of the country we can see a wave of changes. Education is an important field where we need changes at the grass root level. A developing nation needs a strong base on which several projects can be taken. A strong base is not possible without an educated mass. Though there is provision of free education with free meal in the primary level so that children could be attracted towards school, but the adulterated and worst quality of food have hardly any charm to pull children in schools. There is child labour abolition act too but about 3.30 million children on the whole are found engaged in some sorts of child labour.

Many education policies are reformed to make children aware of their rights and duties yet the fatal fact is that they all were adopted on trial basis. Education is the only sector where large number of experiments are done in short durations but none has succeeded.

The continuous comprehensive evaluation programme was adopted with the motive to exploit the hidden talent of a child but in a class of 60 70 students how can a comprehensive system work at its flow. It is possible in public schools only where the students and teacher ratio is thirty to one. Most of the Government schools are overcrowded. Moreover the burden of completing syllabus in time is also on teachers. Many schools were set up for the age group of primary level , i.e age group of 6 to 14 years. These schools still lie but their significance is zero. About 9.90 million students don’t avail going to schools. In a recent survey it was found that 16.7 million children are cursed to live in poverty. They are bound to do some sort of income generating work for their survival.

Let us come to the present scenario of education system. We have found a class viii student not having correct pronunciation. They are even unable to spell correctly while reading. It is true with both the languages, English and Hindi. The ap-

Are you going to lose your entire month’s salary in paying taxes?

Sanjay Chopra Chartered Accountant chopraca@hotmail.com We have entered 2017 and barely three months are remaining in completion of this financial year which leaves us with hardly any time for tax planning. Normally most companies pay their salaries in the first week of the month. Most companies have also demanded the final declaration and documents for tax savings from their employees. This is the last chance to save yourself from tax deduction. At this moment a little carelessness can lead to your entire March month’s salary going into paying taxes. Now it’s important to prepare a statement of savings done in the last year and to collect the premium paid receipts of your saving’s plans.

If due to some or the other reason you were unable to invest in any savings plan then now is your chance to do it. Savings done at this point of time will not only help reduce your tax burden to a major extent but will also help you plan ahead for a brighter future besides benefitting you with your full march salary. Investments should be made keeping in mind future planning. Chartered Accountant Mr. Sanjay Chopra will put some light here on some basic mantras and ways of tax saving and investment.

The basic mantra for InvestmentReturns, Risk and Liquidity

The biggest question for an investor is where to invest. An investor should keep three things in mind when investing – Returns, Risk and Liquidity. It is very important for investors to focus on Risk and Liquidity apart from Returns. The portfolio which has the perfect balance of Risk and Liquidity alongside maximum returns is considered to be the best. It is important that the investor should aim for returns according to his potential for risk bearing. Equity has more risk therefore returns are also more. At the same time there are less returns in Debt & debentures due to less risk. In a portfolio the impact of debt and debentures should be decided as per the investor’s risk bearing potential.

Apart from that it is also important to keep in mind the liquidity of investments. Liquidity means

education pointment of teachers is also questionable. Teachers are devoid of basic facilities. They are not paid salary in time. Moreover they are found engaged in different jobs other than teaching.

It is essential to know that education does not mean a well structured building, books, note books and availability of teachers only. The infrastructure is a outer layer. The purpose behind education is to bring tremendous change in the outlook of students as well as parents. Apart from going through the prescribed syllabus, they should be given moral and ethical values. They should acquire humility and kindness. It is the right of every child to avail education and it should be given to them. One should not impose any course forcibly. Once it is imposed without their interest or without their voluntary acceptance, it might lead to indifference for that subject.

Those attributes which are hidden in a child will come up only when they are given favourable and congenial atmosphere.

Education is a continuous and live process. It is just like an article of a writer. It should believe in its free existence and existing without any control, it should flourish through generations. We should make an atmosphere which makes them sensitive towards human being, animals and nature. This should be the duty of our education department.

The knowledge which joins itself with a society, will exist lively and would aim at bringing welfare to the largest ones.

Society is the best medium of facts and matters.

Once the education policy is free from the hands of bureaucrats and political leaders, it would express in its most valuable contribution. Freedom of expression finds its outlets in freedom of education. Therefore a good amount of annual budget should be allotted to education sector. Some amendments are also required in the context of minimum age for going school and minimum age of childhood. The experts say that the present age of demarcating childhood from teenage is 14 years which can be extended up to 18 years so that the frequency of leaving school and joining the work at the early stage could be lessened. how fast your investment can be converted into funds. A part of investment should be put into a liquid asset such as Gold, so that in case of need an investor can recover funds instantly by selling gold.

Knowingly or unknowingly all of us do certain investments which can help in tax savings such as paying school fee for children and EPF deductions from monthly salary. So let’s find out which all documents can be used for tax saving:

List of deductions:

Following investments provide tax relaxation under sections 80 C, 80 CCC and 80 CCD. The total limit of below investments in financial year 2016-17 is Rupee1.5 Lakh. mPublic Provident Fund (PPF) mEmployee Provident Fund (EPF) mFive year Fixed Deposit in a bank mTuition fee for two children mSr. citizen’s savings scheme mPrinciple amount paid in Home loan repayment mLife insurance policy premium mNSC VIII Issue mEquity linked savings scheme (ELSS) mInvestment done in Sukanya Smridhi scheme

Tax savings besides the Rupee1.5 Lakh investment limit

The following items can also help save tax apart from the Rupee1.5 Lakh investment limit m80 D: Health insurance policy’s premium up to Rs.15000 m24b: On interest amount paid against home loan up to Rs. 2 Lakh m80E: On interest amount paid for repayment of education loan taken for higher education without any limitation m80G: On donations given to any institution.