The Asian Chronicle | JAN 20_1ST

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Vol IV, Issue XIX

01-15 January, 2020 Pages 16, Price Rs. 5/Faridabad (NCR)

Vol-IV, Issue-XIX, Published for the period 1-15 January, 2020. 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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Hooliganism inside

JNU Campus Inside

Skin care tips during harsh winter season

Everyone was waiting for winter. But with the onset of winter, your skin initiates to improve, as well as the skin

Will BJP let the election manifesto of JJP fulfilled?

Sometimes bad luck of one turns to good luck for the other. BJPs not gaining the majority

Government unfazed Waste Management by infant deaths We are the solution Do mere poor children die more? But from where do poor children get money to eat expensive litchi? Or the question

Living as sustainable as possible doesn't sound out of the world because many a time we don't have an idea of how our


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Is today’s digital lifeline turning out to be tomorrow’s doom? Twenty -Twenty i.e.- 2020 has begun with It’s debut. Many dreams were shown about Vision 2020 in the early twenty-first century, but as Twenty-Twenty came closer, all the promises found as if punctured. In today's time, the mere imagination of life without the Internet looks impossible. Due to the modern system of infor-

Limty Khare

mation and technology under the ICT(Information & Communication Technology) industry in providing services like internet, video and many other cloud services throughout the world via worldwide web services astonishingly emit more than 83 million tonnes of carbon dioxide mere in a year. According to recent research conducted by students from NG, Efficient Tele Communications and Bela Labs, it is evident to disclose that the emission of carbon dioxide under ICT could double 83 Million Tonnes across the globe. This particular data of Environmental imbalance was unveiled by a research journal Environmental Sciences and Technology. Earlier for references, people had to save books and other written materials but today everything you need is in your pocket just on one click. Apart from metro cities, even in an interior village of India, if the power cuts and the internet towers stop working, then you must experience the chaos and outrages. Along with mobile, now the internet

on Mobile has turned as if a beloved accompany of people all over the world. Till the seventies, there was a facility to take color photographs only in big cities but in small and medium cities, people had to satisfy with black and white pictures. As technology advanced, so did the cameras. Then came the phase of video cam-

eras! One would hardly have thought that the best photos and videos can also be made from a small mobile phone. These pics or clips can also be sent to each other in seconds. The info of carbon emissions via the Internet may have made people laugh, but in a study conducted a few years ago by Dr. Alex Wiesner Gras, a physicist at Harvard University was unprecedently revealed that twice a search on Google occurs the amount of carbon emission is as much as carbon emission for making a cup of tea once. It is believed scientifically that 15 grams of carbon dioxide are produced in producing a cup of tea or coffee. The matter did trend so much that Google had to give an explanation and in the explanation given by Google, no objection or denial using data emits carbon! It is said that the aviation industry has not affected so much on the layer of ozone as much as by using the Internet. We get any information that we need just by pressing a button. But in

which source this information is kept! And how much energy has to be spent to reach that particular source is also a matter of research. Along with convenience, the Internet nowadays also a matter of worry. Today, the addiction to mobile and the internet is proving to be the most dangerous lifestyle of people across the globe. When you open any site on the Internet, fifty types of advertisements distract you. Apart from this, the threat of your espionage cannot be ruled out with multiple tools and apps in the background. The Internet poses a threat to global warming. The world's so-called BigBrother America emits the most quantity of carbon. In this row, China's comes as No. two and India stands at the third position. Instead of considering how to reduce carbon emissions through the Internet, preparations for 5G after 3G and 4G are going in every country that is advanced in the system of Information and technology. The way the Internet is being held accountable in terms of carbon emissions, its carbon emissions will increase by 24 percent in 2024. At that time, the Internet will emerge as the biggest source of carbon emissions. It is surprising that whenever a debate comes regarding the environment, the role of the Internet not goes unnoticed! Anyway, at this time the conditions regarding the environment are full of worry and distress. Much work still needs to be focused in terms of planting trees. Only the monster of corruption swallows all these schemes. There are many plantation programs in the country, but after a year there is no time to see how many of the plants have survived after those schemes of afforestation. The accountability of the staff of the forest department in the country needs to be checked from time to time, but hardly any of the concerned authorities can get time to investigate whether it is being discharged rightfully or not. The allegations of a 16-year-old girl, Greta Thunberg at the United Nations Climate Conference cannot be dismissed who bravely alleged incapacitates to deal with the emission of greenhouse gases. She was even crystal clear that the way our leaders deal with the global climatic condition is not only betrayed the younger generation but have also taken away our childhood. What is the root cause of the problem of smog in winter in metros nowadays! Many wildlife species are

on the verge of extinction. If we study closely concerning the cycle of the weather, then the winter, summer and rainy season are slowly moving forward. The first winter started from October and used to bid farewell around Mid January during ‘Makar Sankranti’, (14 January) For some years, it has been a bitter winter in the month of February. Similarly, the summer season lasted from the end of March until the middle of June. But for some years, the summer starts in April and lasts until the end of June. This is the rainy season. The rainy season is considered from the second week of June to the middle of September. It rained till October in the year of 2019. Certainly, this can be considered a worrisome situation. At the end of 2018, climate experts also had warned countries around the world that there was no longer time to deal with the crisis of climate change. There is still time till 2030 for this, so whatever efforts are to be made should be done as soon as possible. Even after one year of this warning, countries around the world are found sitting as if mute spectators. Now only a decade has been left in front of us. If efforts are not made to balance the environment in this decade, no one can stop the future generation from suffering its lethal consequences. Still, there is time to awake and identify the life-giving capabilities of the earth on the lines of dawn and try to protect them. Today, the need is felt that how to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. The plan for this should be done globally. If India has to take initiative or lead it, then the rulers of this country should not on the back foot. (The author is editor of the Samachar Agency of India.)


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the number of grossly polluting industries between 2011 and 2018. Groundwater is also reeling under overexploitation, which is running 94.5 percent of all minor irrigation schemes in the country. There has been an unsustainable increase in the number of deep tube-wells that has gone up by 80 percent between 2006-07 and 2013-14.

Karamvir Kamal

Do children die by eating more litchi? Do mere poor children die more? But from where do poor children get money to eat expensive litchi? Or the question does arise, why is August, the month of death for children? Or why are the children dying in the hospitals of the state from where nation’s prime minister hail in the name of the Gujarat Model? In Rajasthan, the death of innocent children goes on in hospitals. So, did the previous BJP government not work on the health system in Rajasthan? Whatever the answer to these questions or excuses, but the result is the death of the children due to the laxity of the concerned agencies as well as for government negligence. Or the Republic of India may term that governments have become insensitive now. As soon as the news of the unfortunate death of more than 100 children in Rajasthan's Kota came, politics of blame game ignited. After UP Bihar, news of the death of children in the hospital started coming from Rajasthan. With this, politics also started on this. While the BJP blamed the Congress on this, the Congress also blamed the previous BJP government for this. The present government, forgetting its responsibility, was also found to justify the numbers of the death toll. After this, reports of the death of children came from the Prime Minister's home state of Gujarat. Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital, which is called Asia's largest hospital. After which the target of blame game initiated on the BJP government of Gujarat. The Congress blamed the BJP for this. In the same hospital, 74 children died in November and 94 children in October. In the last 3 months, as many as 253 children lost their lives in a civil hospital due to the laxity of our system and incapacity of our government. Apart from this, 134 children died in Rajkot. In both the states of Congress and BJP government blaming each other. Unfortunately, 500 children have died in the month of December itself. If the children come to the hospital for the sake of their lives but get death then a natural question does arise on the health system of the country. By the way, there are many reasons for the death of children. Our health sector may have a low budget or lack of execution of government policy Or lack of a doctor. But lack of responsibilities and political will in governance is also a major cause of death of children as well as with other causes.

Role of Health

India's rural health infrastructure is ailing. There is a 35 percent shortfall in the public health centers, where 26 percent of the positions for medical officers are lying vacant. Kerala does not have a single public health center - 24x7. Another worrying trend is that the number of new doctors qualifying every year in the country has decreased by 60 percent between 2013 and 2017. The country also shares the world's largest absolute burden of at least 11 major neglected tropical diseases, which includes diseases like dengue. According to the report which was tabled by the United Nations Interagency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNIGME) is due to lack of access to water, sanitation, proper nutrition and basic health services that resulted in 802,000 infant deaths in India in the year 2017, despite the our government’s various ongoing programs on sanitation, health, and nutrition. “Infant deaths were reported the highest in the world in India, followed by Nigeria at 466,000, Pakistan at 330,000 and the Democratic Republic of Congo at 233,000 (DRC). India recorded 605,000 neonatal deaths in 2017, and the number of deaths among children aged 5-14 was recorded at 152,000," revealed the report. However, the numbers of infant deaths were lowest in five years for India and have come down from 867,000 in 2016 to 802,000 in 2017. In 2016, India’s infant mortality rate was 44 per 1,000 live births. In 2017, the sex-specific under-five mortality rate was 39 in 1,000 live births for males and 40 in 1,000 live births for females, the report added. Last year, more than 125 children died in the same month due to brain fever in Muzaffar Pur in Bihar. The case of death of many children shaped into a political weapon of the blame game in the state of Uttar Pradesh in which hundreds of children died due to lack of Oxygen of Cylinder in a Government Hospital. According to news reports from the region, an additional 300 patients – mostly children between 5 and 10 – were being treated in crowded and germ-infested hospi-

tals in Muzaffarpur by few doctors with limited resources and medicines which was the real reason of Muzaffarpur’s tragedy. In most of these hospitals, there was one bed for 4-5 children for treatment.

Pollution is also a big reason

Increased pollution has also been a major reason for the death of children. According to a report of Global Burden of Disease 2017, every 3 minutes a child dies due to air pollution. According to a study, every year 1 lakh children below the age of 5 die from pollution. Air pollution in India is responsible for 12.5 percent of all deaths in the country, according to the State of India's Environment (SoE) report, 2019. 8.5 percent out of every 10,000 children in India die before they turn five due to poor air quality. According to the think tanks of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the government

scheme in fighting pollution has not been as successful as it was thought and planned. Global reports on air pollution show that 1.2 million people died only due to pollution in 2017. In 2013, India had pledged to phase out non-electric vehicles and achieve a target of cumulative sales of 15-16 million hybrid and electric vehicles by 2020. However, as per the CSE report, the number of e-vehicles till May 2019 was 0.28 million which is much behind the set goal. "While India was one of the first countries to pledge the phasing out of non-electric vehicles, its national scheme to promote the sale of e-vehicles is yet to pick up.

Findings of the report

Environment think tank CSE's report said that on an average, 8.5 Percent out of every 10,000 children in India die before they turn five, while the risk was higher for girls as 9.6 percent out of 10,000 girls die before five years of age due to bad air. "Air pollution is responsible for 12.5 percent of all deaths in India. Its impact on children is equally worrying. Over 1,00,000 children below the age of five die due to bad air quality in the country," the CSE report said.

Role of Water

Both surface and groundwater in the country are under stress. 86 water bodies are critically polluted. The bulk of the polluted water bodies are in Karnataka, Telangana, and Kerala. One of the reasons is the substantial increase (136 percent) in

Role of Cities

By 2050, India is projected to add 416 million urban dwellers to the world's urban population and about 58 percent of the total global population. Keeping this in mind, India in 2015-16 announced its ambitious plan of creating 100 smart cities. Four years later, only 21 percent of the allocated funds for smart cities have been spent. In the meanwhile, most urban cities have a sizeable population living in slums, which are unfit for habitation. India has 2,613 towns with slums. Of them, 57 percent are in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. Antibiotic resistance is also a major cause of death of children. Dirt spread in hospitals in small towns. One reason for not paying attention to cleanliness etc. Due to the problem of waste, dumping of the hospital, the children get affected very quickly.

Role of Budget

The health budget for 2019-20 was kept at 62659 crores. 6400 crores were kept for Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (AB-PMJAY). But good hospitals did not have much interest in this scheme. People from poor sections cannot get their treatment in a good hospital. Due to a lack of knowledge of the scheme, apathy of the government, the administration will not be active and people are also not able to take advantage of a good health system. Although there has been a lot of improvement in these death toll figures, the figures that exist is also a matter of worry. The country is in a state of bare need for a good budget along with a good health system.


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Will BJP let the election manifesto of JJP fulfilled?

JAG MOHAN THAKEN

Sometimes bad luck of one turns to good luck for the other. BJPs not gaining the majority win in October, 2019 Haryana Assembly elections bestowed a sunny glowing day upon Jannayak Janta Party (JJP ) in the murky political scenario. After winning all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in May,2019 on the air wings of Modi, the over confident state BJP declared its target of 75 plus seats out of 90 in Haryana Vidhan Sabha, but failed to read the ground report. When election results were declared, the BJP which was flying high in the sky on the gas filled balloons, dashed to the ground and got only 40 seats out of total 90. The main opposition party congress got 31 seats, the newly formed JJP caught 10 seats, whereas the independents and others succeeded in getting 9. With a clear motive of getting power by hook or crook and keeping in mind the popular saying “Better give the wool than the whole sheep”, the just ousted BJP caught the butterfly JJP hovering over the flower garden to suck the power pollen juice and made it the partner in

the power game. BJP’s Manohar Lal Khattar once again got King’s crown and JJP in lieu of its King maker role got

the Deputy CM post for its field supremo Dushyant Chautala. It has been noticed in different elections, that in Haryana, the voters don’t take on top priority the development through “Sabka Saath –Sabka Vikas”, rather they want “Mera Saath –Mera Vikas”. It is generally quoted that had

Both partners have made nearly 400 promises, out of which 70 are common and are being considered for their common minimum programme.

they liked the general or public development works, the former Chief Minister late Chaudhary Bansi Lal never had lost the elections. It is also noticed in the just held assembly elections, the former state finance minister, Captain Abhimanyu lost the race despite his multilevel development works in his Narnaund constituency. Generally to get the elections and defections favourably the high side promises are made and if one sees the least chances to win then sometimes the political leaders bless everyone with a son. JJP did so and made 160 promises in its

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manifesto during elections, which require a huge fund to fulfill these. Some of these are high side promises which even not possible to implement due to the paucity of funds with the state and other restrictions. JJP knew this beforehand, but it promised these just to bend the voters towards it. JJP had not even thought of its getting the power share so soon. Now their own promises have put BJP-JJP alliance government in a dilemma. Both partners have made nearly 400 promises, out of which 70 are common and are being considered for their common minimum programme. JJP’s some major promises are-- Increase in the monthly old age pension from the existing Rs 2,000 to 5,100, lowering down of eligibility age for the old age pension from present 60 years to 55 for women and 58 for males, to reserve 75 per cent of jobs for the local youth which constitute a sizeable chunk of nearly 1.83 crore voters of the state, to give a monthly assistance of Rs 11,000 per month to unemployed youth while student from rural areas to be given extra ten marks when they appear in competitive examinations in the state, for the farmers, a bonus of 10 per cent or Rs 100 to be given over MSP, minimum wages to be fixed at Rs 16,000 and to waive loans taken by farmers from the cooperative banks. If we have a sight on loan to farmers, 823811 farmers are yet to repay the loans amounting Rs. 3748 crore as on 31 December, 2019 to the cooperative banks in the state even after the recovery. Haryana Cooperation Minister, Dr. Banwari Lal, while announcing the last date of 'One Time Settlement Scheme' till January 31, 2020 for the loanee members and farmers, who have an account with cooperative banks to facilitate the members and farmers to take advantage of the scheme, told that the total amount of short term loan of Harco Bank is about Rs 3091 crore and there are about 6,99,804 beneficiaries, out of which Rs 1136.36 crore has been recovered from 2,51,481 beneficiaries till 31 December 2019. He also added that the total loan amount of District Central Cooperative Banks is about Rs 608 crores and there are about 31749 beneficiaries, out of which an amount of Rs 150.74 crores has been recovered from about 6925 beneficiaries till 31 December 2019. He further informed that the Land Mortgage Bank has a total of 92258 in-


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debted beneficiaries and a total loan amount of Rs.1577.75 crores, out of which an amount of Rs. 242.18 crores has been recovered from 9151 indebted beneficiaries till January 2, 2020. Haryana Power and Jails minister Ranjit Singh divulged while addressing mediapersons during the first bijli panchayat in Hisar on Sunday Jan 05,2020, “According to the data of rural domestic consumers, the total pending amount is Rs.2,900 crore, of which Rs. 95 crore is of farmers using tubewells. We are meeting the panchayat members of villages that are on the defaulters’ list and will ask them how they will pay the amount.” It is pertinent to mention here that the farmers had stopped the repayment of loans and electricity bills believing on the waivement promises of different political leaders. During this assembly election also, JJP and Congress both made the farmers’ loans and electricity bills as election issues. During assembly election campaign, Congress leader and former chief minister of Haryana, Bhupender Singh Hooda had alleged that due to wrong policies of BJP government the Haryana had become debt ridden state. In a tweet on October 15,2019, Hooda alleged, “BJP government had emptied the state treasure and burdened the State with a loan of Rs. 164076 Crore during BJP’s five year tenure from 2014 to 2019, whereas during the 48 years regime from 1966 to 2014 the state availed of a debt of Rs.76263 Crore.” To start with, the alliance government declared implementation of its first promise of enhancement of old age and widow pension from present Rs. 2000 per month to Rs. 2250 by giving an increase of just Rs. 250/ per month. Now Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday, January 03,2020, announced increase in all monthly social security pensions, including the old age pension, from Rs. 2,000 to Rs.2,250.

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Since 2015, the state government has extended an increase of Rs 200 in these pensions every year. The old age pension which was Rs.1,000 in 2014 was increased in the last five years at the rate of Rs.200 every year, giving a last slab of Rs. 2000 per month. However, BJP’s power partner, JJP had promised an ambitious increase in the monthly old age pension from the existing Rs 2,000 to Rs.5,100,whereas the BJP had promised to increase the old age pension to Rs.3,000 per month during the assembly election campaign. If we consider this increase of Rs. 250 per month as a routine yearly increase by BJP led government, then what the JJP did ? What about its promise of Rs. 5100 per month ? Commenting on the increase, Congress leader and three times Member Lok sabha, Mr. Deepender Singh Hooda reacted on January,03,2020, “The BJPJJP alliance government has given a Lollypop to the public by just enhancing old age pension from Rs. 2000 to Rs. 2250 against a promise of Rs. 5100. The public will never forgive the alliance government for this betrayal. Is this the common minimum programme?” Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala took a dig at the BJP-JJP coalition government in Haryana and said their common minimum programme had become "common mess of parties". "Because neither any farm debt was waived nor old age pension of Rs 5,100 was given. Yes, the JJP did get 11 departments and the BJP managed to retain power. But what 2.50 crore population of Haryana got," he asked. Indian National lok Dal supreme operator and former leader of opposition in Haryana Assembly, Abhay Singh Chautala tells the pension increase as ‘A drop in ocean’ and questions JJP leaders, without naming them, “ Where are the persons, who were claiming to extend Rs. 5100 per month pension to the old age citizens?”

But still the JJP appreciating the step. Speaking to the media in Bhiwani on January 4, 2020, JJP supremo and Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala said, “We have increased the pension by Rs.250 just in a short span of 67 days, this will lay a burden of Rs. 1000 crore on the state exchequer.” He claimed that during these 67 days the BJP-JJP alliance government has fulfilled four promises of JJP manifesto and three from BJP manifesto under common minimum programme. After the first meeting of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) Committee held in Chandigarh on November 28,2019, CMP Committee chairperson and senior cabinet minister Anil Vij said that many promises of both the parties – BJP and JJP are similar and implementation of many has already been started.

Will the Alliance govt run for full five year term?

The political analysts predict that it is the hard fact that the BJP will never compromise to fulfill the manifesto points promised by JJP. BJP think tank clearly knows that if JJP succeeds in getting its agenda implemented, it will be an action of digging its own grave for BJP. So, BJP will play its well tested ‘Use-Fuse and Refuse’ theory and downsize the alliance partner JJP with the slow poisoning process. It will neither let it to die nor will give it much strength to raise its graph. The present live example of victim of ‘Use-Fuse and Refuse’ theory is Mr. Lal Krishan Advani. A slight enhancement in old age pension, against a high pitch promise of Rs. 5100 of JJP, is an indication of downsizing the JJP. Now it is upto the JJP supremo Dushyant Chautala, whether he prefers to enjoy the sweet fruits of power for the limited period on the clemency of BJP or to stand up like his great grandfather late Chaudhary Devi Lal and reign for a longer half century.

politics

Missed call crusade in support of CAA by BJP

TAC News: Disapprovals against CAA are being taken place in many states across the country. Consequently, Rallies are also being organized in favor of CAA. Both the Opposition and Government are opposing and supporting CAA in their way and style. People in support and protest are trended in social media by sharing their views with #tag. To show the number that how many people in the country who support the Citizenship Amendment Act-2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party issued a mobile number a few days ago especially to link people of this country who support CAA. BJP claimed that by making a missed call on this phone number, anyone can give his/her support on the decision of the Modi government regarding the new citizenship Act of the country. To get as many as missed calls on this number, some people are posting this number in different social media sites Many people are also making claims to have huge support with maximum missed calls to this phone number. On other platforms of social media including Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp, it is being claimed to have many features in exchange for dialing this number. Many fake accounts have been created in the name of some girls on social media to avail of more missed calls. With whom the BJP's mobile number has been posted, it is written that you can call this number to talk with these girls. The number was announced by the Bharatiya Janata Party on its official Twitter handle on 2 January 2020. The party along with #IndiaSupportsCAA wrote in this tweet, "Make a missed call to 8866288662 to support your Citizenship Amendment Act-2019." After this, on 3 January, Home Minister and BJP Executive President Amit Shah repeated the party's message in a meeting held in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. He said, " Make a missed call to 8866288662 to support your Citizenship Amendment Act-2019and your support will reach to Narendra Modi. My sincere request to all of you to respond to the opposed team of Rahul Baba, Mamta, and Kejriwal. Give all of your support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to support the CAA for the sake of giving justice and rights to minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. Dial 8866288662 and convey your support to Modi Ji. "

What will happen by collecting the number of supports from the Missed call?

Now the question does arise that while promoting this number, Amit Shah has told the party's aim, but he did not say what will be the recognition of the data after submitting by people in support of CAA? Social media users are spreading this number incorrectly in a fake way to get more missed calls. Most of the big leaders of the party also have promoted this number from their social media accounts. But the ground reality is that now people are mocking about this number. Netflix India has had to refute a misleading message being shared with this number. A message for Netflix was posted on Twitter, 'Call 8866288662 to watch free Netflix for six months. This offer is only for the first thousand people to call. In response, Netflix India claimed, "This is a fake news." In this way, the number became a joke that BJP released in favor of CAA.


Waste Management - We are the solution Faridabad (NCR) 01-15 January, 2020 www.theasianchronicle.com

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Living as sustainable as possible doesn't sound out of the world because many a time we don't have an idea of how our actions or thoughts can have an effect, however microscopic it might be, on our planet. Quantifying waste reduction and letting people know it will make inroads into waste management. From times immemorial, humans have lived on earth using it's resources and disposing wastes of many different kinds. Growth meant unrestrained, unwarranted resource consumption and consequent waste generation. More said, researched and done about waste recycling the more careless or clueless we become of the amount and kind of waste we generate. Voices above 120 decibels have been raised against plastic pollution. Hence we fail to hear those voices. Down cycle or recycle, plastic is forever. Coalitions against plastic pollution are on the rise but we will be freed from the sobering reality of plastic garbage only when countries stop producing plastic with immediate effect. If 'stop using plastic' doesn't work magic then 'stop producing plastic' will. When one attempts modeling what small daily actions to save our planet can look like, they are looked upon at askance. Early adopters of anything look weird in the beginning. A few years from now, we hope zero-waste-istas will become heroes. New models and better versions of TVs, cell phones and computers have become a de rigueur for everyone. Hence, the disposals and wastes. Nobody is desperately in need of things that will be good to his/her dying day! Advertisements make us believe that more varied our needs become, the higher our perfection in belonging to an advanced, affluent society. In the malls, people find themselves exposed to as many television screens the place can accommodate and hundreds of commercials in the course of an average shopping trip. Wise choices that don't lead to overflowing trash bins and dump yards should be encouraged at the societal level. The path for a clean India emerges from homes. Every individual must be educated for independent participation in making waste -¬free choices. Masters of discontent are cashing in on the new mood of the parents in wishing to indulge their children's whims. There is much buying for children and the things bought, used, notused and trashed are determined by what the child wants rather than what the child needs or the parents want for the child. Why should we wait on governments to organise people for tackling this problem of waste generation if our lives aren't inter

meshed with acts of consumption to gain a fake feeling of significance in life. Problems and its solutions manifest through people. Hyper thyroid economy that constantly stimulates us to be more prodigal with country's resources would mean a never ending generation of junk. Beware of planned obsolescence. An existing product may look outmoded when a new one is introduced. Even the best of products, of course, wears out sometime. Then the question we ask ourselves is “Was something more than reasonable wear and tear involved in creating this “obsolescence or breakdown?" Model numbers of products are found in hard-to-notice places. No replacement of parts can be made until the model number is located. Manufacturers of products should place the model number in such a way it's visible to the human eye. If at all we locate the model number either replacement parts cost more or ailing parts are inaccessible. Greater number of activists, politicians and businessman are beginning to realize that development with its greed and speed fails to promote the life of a society in its real terms, yet, achieving reconciliation and harmony between the different ecologic and ethical optima seems so far away. Ever expanding dump yards which are very much a part of our ecosystem is our concern and sadly it's becoming a grave one in recent times after smoke from landfills choke humans every now and then. Inviting packaging, cans and wraps that we throw away isn't a free dividend to any consumer. What's so inconvenient about taking along our containers, oil jars, egg holders and bags while we go shopping in our cars? I've known of certain packaging that costs ten times as much as the products inside. Let's learn to avoid or handle looks and gestures when we walk the right path. There is indeed a thing as good friends and positive influence. I'm so proud of the fact that HSMF who opts for high end clothing brands takes home stuff from the shops in his own cloth bag minus the wrapping and packaging and now deliberating on taking his own boxes in case he decides to bring home food from a restaurant to avoid adding on to the heap of eco disposable containers. Ordering milk in reusable glass containers from the local milk booth or taking packed fruits and vegetables into our own bowls would mean educating a fellow being or an onlooker.

Most of us can make a difference on what we choose to buy, use and how. All of us don’t have shares of

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Greater number of activists, politicians and businessman are beginning to realize that development with its greed and speed fails to promote the life of a society in its real terms, yet, achieving reconciliation and harmony between the different ecologic and ethical optima seems so far away. stock in conglomerates and hence vested interests in waste perpetuation. Wake up to the fact, 'We can't run a linear system on a finite planet'? Low- waste lifestyles, noticed and rewarded will encourage everyone to participate in whatever capacity they can. Two massive obstacles that stand in the way of any notable change from the present

n Our belief that our technology can solve all problems which pushes us to ever-greater productivity based on automation and evergreater consumption

n All pervading commercialism

While a handful strive hard to hold on to their judicious attitude, the values they receive from what

they possess in terms of material wealth just to work out some tangible solutions, I wonder if butterflies will flutter by, will the little bird be there to say a word, will beach sands be playable, will the little bee follow us into the field, will throw away mood give way to a 'built¬ in conscience', will we heal the world? Desperate pertinent questions are these. We should stop assuming that the stuff we trash into bins doesn’t just disappear in thin air. So, let us all be cautious about what we trash. ‘Greed not, trash not’ If no, it seems that the world's population and resources can't be brought into a more tolerable balance and the competition by nations for badly needed resources will generate ugly frictions exploding into warfare.

Dr. Elsa Lycias Joel


The Issue of Unemployment Faridabad (NCR) 01-15 January, 2020 www.theasianchronicle.com

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Anjan K Samal There is a growing concern amongst the people due to decline in employment opporunities. Especially the people of the urban areas are most concerned about unemployment. According to the market research

company IPSOS's report 'What worries the World', released on recent past in which 46 per cent of urban Indians consider the issue of unemployment as the biggest concern of the nation. In November in comparison to October, 3 per cent more urban Indians worried about unemployment.

IPSOS conducts this survey among 28 countries every month, which aims to aware of the level of satisfaction and dissatisfaction of the people. As per this survey, amid the concern of immense unemployment, it is also unearthed that 69 per cent of urban Indians believe that the country is going on the right path.

Shop Holders Protest Against MCD for Sealing of Local Shopping Complexes (LSC) in Delhi

Recently, the Market Association of Defence Colony, GK-1&2, South Extension, Hauz Khas and other places in Delhi protested against MCD for the illegal sealing of their shops. The protest was held at The India Habitat center,

outside the office of the Monitoring Committee and the application was submitted to the officials regarding the issue. Shop Holders claim that their commercial property was sealed illegally two years ago by MCD and they were not

given any legal notice before the sealing. On this issue President of LSC, Rajesh Goyal stated, " We have come here to submit the application to the monitoring committee regarding illegal sealing of our commercial plots. We have paid the premium for our shops and we are authorized to run shops in commercial space allotted to us with the permission of the government."General Secretary, LSC, Vishal Ohri elaborated on the issue, " We were not given any legal notice or verbal explanation before sealing the shops. I am here to ask for a legal justification for the same. I request MCD officials and Monitoring committee to take our issue seriously and let us run our shops which are sealed past two years."

issue

This means that they are satisfied with the present condition of the country. Issues such as financial and political corruption, crime and violence, poverty, social inequality and climate change are troubling them, but they are overall optimistic. The message of the survey is loud and clear that unemployment is the biggest challenge for the Indian government now a day. But the problem is that the present government seems to be in a lot of confusion over the issue. On one hand, the Labor Ministry itself states that the unemployment rate in the country was 6.1 per cent in 2017-18, which was the highest in 45 years, but on the other hand, the government representatives on many occasions continue to deny it. Recently, the Minister of Labor and Employment Santosh Gangwar denied in the Lok Sabha that there was a decrease in employment opportunities. While several sources have revealed that due to economic slowdown in the country, more than 2 lakh jobs have been lost in the automobile sector in the last few months. Jobs in textiles and real estate sectors have also declined. Today most foreign or Indian companies are placing a lot of emphasis on skills, but there is still a huge shortage of skilled people. In the last few years, a huge number of youths have obtained degrees

like graduation or post-graduation, but they lack any special skills that can get them into jobs. There is about 47 per cent of educated youth who are not fit for any job due to lack of any special skills along with their degrees and Master degrees in Education. The benefit of Skill India, a scheme launched to provide skills, has still not reached in large scale. The manufacturing sector contributes the most in availing employment, but in our country, there has been more development of the service sector than the manufacturing sector, in which the scope of employment is less. Labour-intensive industries have to be encouraged to provide employment. Such policies have to be formulated so that industrialists can come forward in the field of labour oriented products. But all this will be possible only when the government puts the goal of increasing employment at the top of its agenda. Labour-intensive industries have to be encouraged further to provide employment. Such policies have to be formulated so that industrialists can come forward in the field of labour oriented products. But all this will be possible only when the government puts the goal of increasing employment at the top of its agenda. In which the present government’s political will power in this regard lacks miserably.


Faridabad (NCR) 01-15 January, 2020 www.theasianchronicle.com

events

National Achievers Award

Sanjay, Naresh & Koushal

Gurmeet

Kriti Sanon

Recently organised was The National Achievers Award 2019 Presented by Sasha Media Solution Pvt Ltd., in association with Brand Icon Pvt. Ltd. Chief Guest for the evening was Bollywood Actress Kriti Sanon. The evening was hosted to acknowledge by awarding many Achievers from the corporate, fashion and lifestyle industry. Many deserving entrepreneurs were awarded by the actress to name a few were Manmeet Nagpal, Pooja Chauhan, Naveen Chauhan, Mamta Verma, Vishal Verma, Monika Arora and Tanu Arora.

Sashes & Crowns

Divya & Karan

Abhishek & Surbhi

Suhani Singh & Raina

Recently was the Grand Finale of Mrs. Capital of India Season 2 a unit of Fashion Meraki organized by Karan Singh & Divya Jain. The Jury comprised of Mrs Anca Verma - Chairperson Olialia World & Former Miss Romania, Mr Prabhat Ranjan Deo - IPS DGP Haryana, Mrs Rashmi Sachdeva - Dilli Darling Fame -Actor & Model, Dr Varun Katyal Diet & Nutrition Expert, Ms

Recently Shilpi Singh hosted a party for all her friends from the Industry to celebrate her 40th Birthday in a Grand Style . The evening had some live performances by renowned Artists. All the guests were spotted enjoying the outdoor winter chill with delicious cocktails and nibbles. Many well known socialites were spotted shaking a leg on some bollywood tracks to name a few were Pragati Nagpal, Varun Katyal, Yotsana Attree, Shikha A Sharma, Richa Sharma.

Dilpreet & Rainy

Jacqualine, Rashmi & Deepshikha

Jai & Poonam Bargurjar

Pooja & Naveen

Birthday Celebrations in Style

Neha, Nooreen & Sunita Mia Lakra & Anuj

Amit Talwar & Shikha

Akshita & Jitendra Nancy Batra & Shilpi Singh

Shalu Jain and Kavita Arora

Alok Kumar & Nishi Singh

Arpana Jain Agarwal

Preeti Puja

Karishma Sethi

Nancy Dadhwal. The event also had some eminent guests like Mia Lakra, Amit Talwar, Anuj Lalwani, Shikha A Sharma. The Winner for the Divalicious category was Nooreen Alam, 1st Runner up - Neha Chawla, 2ndRunner up Sunita Adya and Curvalicious Category - Winner Kavita Sharma, 1st Runner up - Shilpi Tripathi, 2nd Runner up - Archana Anand.

Anca & Abhishek

Anil & Kirti

Muskaan & Manmeet

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Annkush & Kanchan

Sagarika Deb

Shilpi, Kavita & Archana

Art Inaugural Evening

Recently was the Inauguration of the Solo Show ‘Under a White Cloud’ by Artist Akshita Wasan the show was presented by Gallery Sree Arts and its curator Jitendra Padam Jain at the Galerie Romain Rolland, Alliance Française De Delhi. The Show was inaugurated by Aruna Vasudev, Niren Sengupta, Gigi Scaria. Many well known guests from the art world were seen at the exhibition admiring the artworks to name a few were Kanchan Chander, Nupur Kundu, Biman Bihari Das, Shampa Sircar, Annkush B Sharma.

Rochika & Chitra

Prabhat Ranjan

Pooja & Nikita

Prateek & Diksha Jain

Rashi & Diksha


A Recipe for success

Faridabad (NCR) 01-15 January, 2020 www.theasianchronicle.com

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interview

From electronic and communication engineering to cooking how did this all happen?

Abinas Nayak

Abinas Nayak, the 27 year old lad from Odisha is the young and feisty contestant of the Amul Master Chef, Season 6. His circumstances led him to evolve into a creative culinary expert from an engineering professional. His passion for cooking set him on an uncertain and difficult path in comparison to his much safer and lucrative engineering career. However, his aspiration to see Oriya cuisine at an international level has brought him to a platform which might just be the start to achieve his dream. In conversation with Asian Chronicle, Abinas talked about the important milestones in this interesting journey, his love for food and passion for cooking. By Soma

I was a foodie person from childhood itself. I always used to watch food , travel and cartoon on television. I was always into food. But as career I chose Engineering because I loved science. But after my first job in Infosys. I had to go to Trivandrum, my first posting was there. I used to cook for myself and I was lucky enough as my roommates use to cook good food. But,unfortunately they could not help me much as our shifts were different. I started experimenting with food after watching a few YouTube channels and also asking my mom the recipes of food. I started loving the whole process of cooking and the food that, I used to cook. Then, started experimenting with the plating, as I used to watch food and travel shows like Amul Master Chef and loving the plating pattern. Moreover, I was a painter so was always keen in making my plate beautiful. So, from here, people started appreciating my work and from here my whole journey started.

Tell us about the Haldiram Hungry 2018 contest where you were the winner?

By that time, I was cooking for two years. The challenge was to cook something using haldiram products. I sent my recipe of litti chokha cone. I modified it by making the cone out of the dough and stuffed it with haldiram products such as chanachur, moong dal(Split Green gram) and shev. I made a blend of shattu(Gram Flour) using haldiram products, so I made bharta(Fills) and topped it on a creamy element as an ice cream.

Tell us about the experiments ,you have done with your traditional food?

I started doing experiments when I was in Thiruvananthapuram, as I don’t use to get oriya food easily and I use to search for recipes online and I didn’t get much results online and the only source i had is my home. Then thought why is it happening and I found that we don’t document much especially

our Oriya traditional food. So, then I started experimenting, the idea was to influence our generation as well as the upcoming generation so that, they will take it forward and the way,I thought to connect is by making it Instagram friendly and plating it properly in a modern way.So,I took inspiration from modern plating and modern contemporary techniques to influence the traditional flavours . I created Dalma Ratatouille, Mithi Kichri, Kanika Arancini with Mithi Chatni, Tamatar Katha Jol, Chicken Besara, Stuffed Rasgulla. My main intention is to keep the flavours constant and to introduce modern techniques and new ideas to the traditional dishes.

Who is your inspiration in all these processes?

Talking about culinary things, a lot of people have inspired me. First of all our three judges. They have inspired me a lot because they have taken Indian food to the next level.and talking out regional cuisines , I follow Chef Thomas Jack from Bombay canteen and chef Manish Mehrotra. So,I took bits from all the chefs and then I try to influence my style into that idea and create a dish. So there’s not a single person whom I’m inspired from , each and every chef of food world helped me to do something.

What are your most famous dishes?

The most favorite dishes are meetha khichdi, Karnika bhato (Karnika rice), my favorite daalma.

How did you feel by seeing the expression of three judges after tasting Chicken Besara, your first dish in Amul Master Chef?

Before me, there were many people going in and having half an hour conversation and chefs were asking everything about food. So I was pretty nervous about what questions they will ask and whether they will like it or not. When, I entered Chef Ranbir was

very strict. All the chefs were angry,as they didn’t get any good food . When, he tasted the first bite , he was silent. So I was confused whether they are playing tricks with me or they are actually happy. I was completely puzzled. He gave me the apron , I thought they are kidding with me because people entered the judging room for half an hour and they are coming out happy and sad. For me it’s not even two minutes and they are saying that you are into masterchef, so I thought they are kidding with me and finally when they said you are in masterchef, It was unreal and like a dream. It was magical.

Is it important to take degree from some institute to be a chef ?

No. Not at all. For me cooking is not about degree or culinary post. For me it is about experimenting with what you love to eat and what you don’t like to eat and making yourself comfortable in the kitchen. The process is important and not the degree.

Tell us about your achievement in Masterchef Lookicooks Fellowship 2019?

Loki is an Indian who stays in Australia and started a fellowship where he could support a food dream in which candidates come from Australia, India and Indonesia. When I saw the article, I applied as I was in search of an opportunity that time. So whatever was coming i was applying as i just wanted to cook and experiment.Then the advertisement came and I applied the form. There were two rounds after that- the first was to apply the form , the second was the face to face interview and third was the results. I just gave it a thought and hoped for the best. I was shortlisted for the second round. There were 390 applicants out of which 89 got selected for interview round. I was one of them. After,that conversation I felt Loki’s and my thought process is quite similar-the type of work I want to do, even he wanted to do the same thing with regional cuisines and

cooking with primitive method and taking that to the next level, sustainability and cooking for a good cause were all his ideas.We connected very well during the interview. Finally he declared that I’ve been selected for the fellowship. I was so happy because first of all it was mentor-ship. Whatever ,I was planning to do throughout my food journey he will guide me to pursue that. Apart from that he was sponsoring me 5 thousand Australian dollars. It was like investment from his side and whatever I wanted to do it in food thing, he would sponsor me. I was on cloud 9. I was very confident that whatever,I am planning and wanting to do , someone is there who will officially guide me, mentor me. I’ll get good direction of what I want to do. We are planning a lot of things ahead . When you dream of something, it is like virtual world for you and someone is trusting on that and supporting you is like giving that path that you are doing good.

How did you feel when you got first immunity pill in Amul Master Chef season 6?

It was a pretty honorable challenge because you have to cook along with Chef Vineet. He is very skilled and experienced. But we three did very well and we completed the dish. After that,me getting the immunity pill and start of the Master Chef journey was the biggest confidence booster. I was confident that my dish is good but the other two were also close enough , so getting the pill was a big thing.

As a chef, where does your strength lies?

I would say, I am good with experimenting new flavours and new techniques. I’m a very experimental chefs if something new is given I try to adapt the new flavours and the best thing is my plating and the way, I present the food. Those are my strengths.

What does a healthy diet mean to you as a chef?

I’m not a person who cooks lots of healthy dishes. But ,I believe whatever you eat you get to digest it , burn it out. For me, it is eat fresh things and whatever you eat , just try to burn it, that healthy for me. I don’t think, I will tell anyone to not eat sweet food and junk food. Eat whatever you want to eat but burn the calories. Then everything is equal, everything is healthy because people shouldn’t miss out good and tasty food. For nutrition , people tend to miss a lot of food and crave for dessert but don’t eat just for the sake of being healthy.


Skin care tips during harsh winter season

beauty

Faridabad (NCR) 01-15 January, 2020 www.theasianchronicle.com

Everyone was waiting for winter. But with the onset of winter, your skin initiates to improve, as well as the skin starts to dry. So, you need to take special care of your skin this winter. People are now a day’s using more home remedies than chemical-based beauty products available everywhere in the market. What can be home remedies for maintaining soft skin, which you can easily prepare at home? It is good and effective to take care of the skin in a natural way. There is no side effect using the naturally prepared medicinal product at your home. In this way, we are telling you some natural home remedies that help in keeping your skin soft. Skin starts to dry during the winter season naturally. There is no natural glow on the skin. Skin needs special care during the winter season. Dryness is not felt by maintaining moisture in the skin. Here, just know about home remedies to keep your skin glowing in winter.

Drink plenty of water

The cold weather makes the skin dry and at the same time causes internal damage to your skin. Drink plenty of water to maintain moisture in the skin and keep it healthy. It also removes the impurities of the body.

Make Scrub at home

If you use a scrub, do not just buy it from the market, but also make the scrub at home and use it whenever you need it.

Don't forget to moisturize

The skin loses its moisture in the winter season. Therefore it is important that its moisture is retained. Moisturizing is necessary for glowing skin. Extra care and conditioning prepare you to combat winter for your glowing skin.

Take precautions in bathing

In cold winter people take bath with strong hot water. This increases dryness in the skin significantly. So always take a bath with lukewarm water. Immediately after bathing applies a moisturizer on the skin to make it smooth and glorious.

Use almond oil

Always apply almond oil at your bedtime. On waking up in the morning you will find that there is still mosquito in the skin. Skin can get nourishment from it and your skin starts glowing.

Cream and rose water will give benefits

To hydrate cracked lips and skin, mix rose

water and lemon juice in the cream before bedtime and massage the face with it. Then wash after drying. This will benefit a lot.

Coconut is effective for the skin

Massaging with coconut oil daily in winter can also soften and improve the skin. Apart from all these, you can also use some natural face packs. Which are mentioned below?

Papaya face pack

Method of preparation and application

Mash the papaya and banana well, so that there are no lumps in it. Now add honey to it. Then apply this paste on your face and other parts of the body where the skin has become dry. Allow the pack to dry slightly and then wash.

How beneficial is it?

Papaya and banana have antioxidant elements, vitamin-A, and many other nutrients, which are beneficial for the skin. The use of these two fruits will not only bring moisture to your skin, but they can also act as antiaging. Vitamin-A is essential for the skin, as it makes the skin healthy. At the same time, honey acts as a natural moisturizer, which can be very beneficial for the skin. By applying this face pack, your skin will be healthy and the problem of sky dryness will also be re-

duced.

Almond and milk face mask

Materials need One teaspoon almond powder with two teaspoons of raw milk

Method of application

Mix the two ingredients and prepare a paste. Now leave it on for 10 to 15 minutes. Then massage it gently with hands and wash it with water.

How beneficial is it?

Almonds contain vitamin-E, fatty acids and many other nutrients, which are beneficial for the skin. Not only this, but almond peels also have many properties. You can also apply almond oil instead of an almond face pack, which is beneficial for the skin. Almond oil not only enhances the complexion but Rather stains are also less. At the same time, milk can moisturize the skin to a great extent. By applying this face pack, skin dryness can be reduced to a great extent.

Caution: If you are allergic to milk or anything made from milk, do not apply this face pack.

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Faridabad (NCR) 01-15 January, 2020 www.theasianchronicle.com

book review

Book Review: Jo Tum Kaho

book listing

ART | CULTURE | LITERATURE | BOOK REVIEWS | BOOKS LISTING

Book Beyond the Credence Author Manhar Sharma Publisher Rumour Publication Price: 159/Pages:150

Review by: Sneha Prakash

Book Review

Jo Tum Kaho Author:

Prashant V Shrivashtava Genre : Poetry

Available on:

Amazon

Pages:165 Price : 164/My Rating: ☆☆☆☆

In last few months I read a lot of Hindi poetry books and one thing is for sure. Hindi poetry is much advanced than Hindi stories. Poets have good command over language and know how to write in simple but beautiful language. " Jo Tum Kaho " , is a beautiful poetry book and talks about various range of Emotions. The cover is eye catching and totally apt. There are total 100 poem in this collection. Each poetry have different theme ,and each is unique in it's own way. Although I liked the whole book ,few of them touched my heart deeply. First of all ,the title poem ," Jo Tum Kaho", which talks of a lover's promises to his beloved.He promised her sun and moon , and earth and what more. " Diwane hua karte the" is another one in which poet talks of a time when he was used to be in love. In " Phir Teri yaad aa gayi" poet reminisces old days ," Yaad ka Dhuan" also talks

about past memories. Some talks of beauty of his lady love,some talks of beautiful time they spent together. The poet talks at length of his love interest ,her beauty ,their love and separation. Their is poem to suit every mood.This book has poems that will touch your hearts and you can read them when you are in joy, sad, amazed, joyous, jealous, aghast, and everything else! It will be a perfect companion in cosy winter afternoon. I will strongly recommend this to each person ever been in love or love good poetry. Kudos to the poet for language. The language is simple yet flowery. Some words I have read after a long time. This is a blessing for any hindi language lover. My favourite lines from this collection, "Hum tumhare bina ji sakenge kahan Kahne ko kah diya, jao bhi alvida".

Book Review: Finding Audrey

Book A Steaming Cup Of Tea Author Krusha Sahjwani Malkani Publisher Amazon Kindle Edition Price: 49/Pages: 49

Book Children Flying Infinte Author Viikass Jolly Publisher Notion Press Price: 60/Pages: 76

Finding Audrey follows Audrey, a kind and forgiving 14 year old girl who suffers from a social anxiety disorder after a terrible bullying incident that occurred to her at old school. Audrey is now homeschooled. She wears dark sunglasses all day to prevent making eye contact with any other human being, even her parents and siblings because its just so stressful for her. She lives with her family in England. I thought i wasn’t going to relate to her because she is 14 years old but to my surprise, I could. I was able to visualise every scene. I loved the documentary presentation, the script and most of all, the story telling. It is unique in a way that makes the story hilarious and intense, both at once. The opening scene of Finding Audrey was very beautiful. I love that this book dealt with anxiety at all. I’ve read one other book that deals with anxiety (The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart) and honestly, its heart wrenching to see authors spilling even the harshest and roughest emotions so beautifully. For the most part, I really enjoyed the writing style and the presentation. It was light-hearted and riddled with humor; it had me cackling several times throughout. The fact that this book is written in such a light tone makes it so unique. Anyone wanting to read a book about anxiety would expect dark thoughts and dark words. The brother, Frank, is hilarious. She has another brother who is 4 years old and its so adorable to imagine being

around him. Personally, I feel anxiety is nothing to be made fun of, the swaying away process seems to have been taken lightly and that’s why I wasn’t happy with how anxiety and its recovery process was presented-that meeting a new guy will instantly cure the disorder. But for the most part it was overwhelming to see Audrey dealing with her anxiety, living with her family and finding love. It was only once in the story that i felt a little distracted.Audrey’s mom’s fixation with ridding Frank (the brother) off his computer games almost became the center aspect of the plot instead of Audrey’s healing process which took away from the enjoyment of the novel for a while. I would recommend this to someone who would like to read a book that deals with a dark issue in a friendly way and a book that will make you laugh despite the issues being intense.

Title

Finding Audrey Author

Sophie Kinsella Genre

Young Adult, Contemporary Review by: Bhoomika Mohan

Publication

Delacorte Books My Rating: ☆☆☆☆


Faridabad (NCR) 01-15 January, 2020 www.theasianchronicle.com

Hooliganism inside JNU Campus

opinion

Keshi Gupta

The youth of any country is the future of that country, but today the incident of Masked Terror inside the JNU campus in the presence of Law Keepers in the national capital of a country is a big concern. This No 2 Central University of the country is one of the topmost premier education hubs that nurtures our youths for the future of this country. JNU ranks as a well-known university in the country where youth come from all over the country to study. JNU, Jamia Millia University have been unprecedented subjects of discussion due to some reason. The question arises that what has happened so suddenly that the famous universities of the country have become the subject of discussion? The children of Universities appear dissatisfied and took to the streets to protest. The case of violence in JNU on the last Sunday evening has left the whole country in a tizzy. Parents of students here send their children to these big universities of Delhi to study and make their future.

Now after this ugly hooliganism and vandalism inside the JNU campus turns bound to these parents to think over their decision to leave their wards out of the home to be educated as per their wish and will. Questions now do elevate in the minds of many parents those they have not thought yet. Shouldn't parents send their children out of the home to study?

Is today's young generation not safe in their own education institute? Is not this incident, a big question mark on the safety & security of educational institutions including the role of Police? How is it possible for hundreds of intruders to enter the campus without any help from security guards and administration of the Univer-

12

sity? Are the real ring masers of this hooliganism blowing the hatred wave are sitting inside the topmost power corridor of the country? At first AMU, next was JAMIA, now comes the time of JNU. Does the Republic of India understand the chronology of this entire hatred incident in all of these topranked Central Universities? Many such questions arise keeping in view the current conditions of the country especially matters concern with youths and education institutes. According to the statement of JNU’s Union President Aishi Ghosh, the activists of ABVP carried out this violent incident and injured her and her comrades by hitting them with an iron rod, sticks, and stones. Help was sought from the police, but that too was not available to them in time, even the security of the educational institution did not help them. If we look into this issue from a political point of view believing it as a game of politics, then the question does arise that whichever or-

ganization did carry out these incidents but who and how they did gain this encouragement to create an illegal outrage inside an Institute’s campus? Why were JNU students not given protection in time? Why could not the culprits of this incident be caught so far by investigating this incident? Is there no CCTV camera installed in such a large university that can help to investigate the incident? JNU and Jamia Millia University are known as institutes of open think tanks and intellectuals. The status of any premier educational institution depends upon its dignity rests on each and every person works in it including all the students who study there. Now, it is important to note down that our young generation should take every step carefully thinking in the interest of society and country without any discrimination because the youth of today will become the future leaders of tomorrow. (The Writer is also a social worker)

Demonetization, GST, Article 370, CAA, NRC... What’s next??

Anjan K Samal

The new year 2020 comes with key political development such as Delhi and Bihar Assembly Election along with the coming Rajya Sabha Election. At one hand the past 2019 did witness the great ‘Political Mahabharat’ in which Narender Modi led BJP could able to gain as many as 303 seats, on the other hand, 2020 comes with some new political twist of coming Assembly election in two major states including the Rajya Sabha Election. The unprecedented political development in Maharastra and Jharkhand has pushed back BJP two steps behind. At present, the nationwide stir and uproar on the present issue of CAA and NRC along with the wide contradictory statements of Both the Prime Minister and the Home Minister regarding NRC is also a new headache for BJP. Earlier in 2019 BJP led NDA remarkably achieved more than 350 which is also a commendable victory of a decade in Indian democratic politics. In the row of the political battleground, BJP could manage to retain the power in Arunachal Pradesh but lost in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, and Odisha. In the case of Haryana, the expectation of BJP ruined but Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janata Party (JJP)’s undercover tie-up led the BJP to form the Government again.

Indian politics in the second half of 2019 was witnessed some major decisions like abrogating Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories -- J&K and Ladakh. The tussle over NRC, NPR and CAA still are some burning issues and matter of debate at the present political scenario that could also continue going forward. In 2020, all eyes of the nation are set to watch the consequences of the Delhi Assembly Election and Assembly Election of Bihar along with the elections to the Upper House of the parliament.

FOOTPRINTS OF BJP IN THE NATIONAL CAPITAL

Despite BJP’s relentless victory across the

nation, the national capital of India still lacks the presence of the BJP government in the power.BJP has been out of Delhi’s power corridor since 1998. In the last Assembly election in 2014, AK did sweep in the election pocketing as many as 67 Assembly seats out of 70. Since 2014, BJP ‘s Delhi state unit has not left a single chance to attack the AAP government on various issues. As per the press conference of Election commission in the recent past, the Assembly Election of Delhi is likely to be held after mid-January. Amid the pronouncement of Delhi Vidhansabha Election, NAMO has already kicked started the Election Campaign on 22 December in the last year(2019). Just some days after, AAP also geared towards the election campaign with the party’s new tag line, “Achhe Beete Panch Saal, Lage Raho Kejriwal .” In the meantime, Aam Aadmi party interestingly hired the nation’s top political strategist, Prashant Kishor who is also the national Vice president of Janta Dal (United) and has been categorically criticizing CAA & NRC even being an Allie in Bihar with BJP. The role of the congress party in the coming assembly election of Delhi is yet to be observed. After the appointment of Shubash Chopra as the president of DPCC, the party seems to gain its strength. But this strength also at its back foot due to the, as usual,

groups inside party circle.

A ROUGH AND NOISY FIGHT HAS BEGUN IN BIHAR

Bihar Assembly election is to be held just after 10 months from now. But a rough and noisy fight has been triggered up in the state on various issues. In the last Lok Sabha election, BJP and JDU have contested elections in equal numbers of seats but now both parties are trying their best to be a dominating political party of Bihar. BJP’s bad performance in the state poll, Janta Dal United could pressurize for more seats for the coming Assembly election to contest.

ROLE OF UPPER HOUSE

Elections for as many as 73 seats in 2020 will hold in four different phases which is one of the key political development of India. On one hand, BJP secures a Himalayan majority in the Loksabha, on the other hand, it lacks in Rajya Sabha.BJP desperately needs the absolute majority in Rajya Sabha to pass important Bills as per the party’s desire and strategy. Therefore, the nation must witness the political heat in this year of 2020 which is interesting to watch and observe.


13 551 feet high tricolor to be hoisted on Subhash Chandra Bose Jayanti

Gurugram: For the first time in the history of Gurgram, on the occasion of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Jayanti, on behalf of various social organizations, a united march will be held out with 551 feet tall tricolor of India, which will be attended by around 1200 children from different schools and 300 volunteers will coordinate this event. The said march for memorizing the Legend Subhash Chandra Bose will also be welcomed at various places. More than 1200 children of 2 dozens of schools will participate in the 551 feet long tricolor march. At the forefront, there will be a divine tableau of ‘Bharat Mata’ with chanting a patriotic song band followed by a series of school children holding a grand tricolor flag in two lines. 300 volunteers will make this grand journey successful in a disciplined manner by proper coordination. Starting from Bhim Nagar Ramlila Maidan, this march will continue through Sadar road, Gurdwara till Jaun Hall civil line.

FIR will be lodged on negligence in voter verification

Gurugram: An FIR will be lodged against the BLO for negligence in the voter verification program under Public Representation Act1950. For implementing this new rule, Jitendra Kumar, returning officer of Gurgaon assembly constituency and SDM of Gurugram Western, has also started proceedings. Jitendra Kumar has given orders to the District Education Officer and District Basic Education Officer to issue show-cause notices to the BLOs who have done negligence in this important election-related work. He informed that as per the order of Election Commission of India, data is being verified by all BLOs from door to door through the mobile app of all the voters registered in the voter list. To complete this task, officers and employees of the Education Department have been appointed as BLO and Supervisor. BLOs whose work has not been found satisfactory in Gurgaon assembly constituency are being issued show-cause notices through the District Basic Education Officer office. An FIR will be filed against these BLOs while taking action under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act-1950.

Gurugram will soon implement a new scheme of bus service

Gurugram: Transport Minister Shri Moolchand Sharma launched the Km Scheme Bus Service based on Vehicle Tracking System in Gurugram. Under this scheme, he flagged off five buses. On this occasion, the Minister said that the State Government is committed to providing proper transport facilities to the people of the State and the arrival of these buses will provide considerable relief to the passengers. He informed that 150 buses will be run soon in the first phase under the kilometer scheme. Besides, AC buses and Volvo buses will also be operated through the Department of Transport under the kilometer scheme in the coming time. Mr. Sharma informed that buses are also being procured by the state government for Haryana Roadways, under which purchase of 150 minibusses, about 20 Volvo buses and 100 ordinary buses have been approved and all these buses will be owned by the Haryana Government till March 31.

Faridabad (NCR) 01-15 January, 2020 www.theasianchronicle.com

Jal Jeevan Mission – Legalizing illegal water connections in rural India

Haryana Government is preparing action plan to provide potable water to every household in rural areas of the state. For this, a survey is being conducted in the rural areas including district Gurugram by March 31 under the ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ which was launched by Prime Minister Mr Narender Modi on Independence Day. Under this mission, all illegal water connections in rural areas will be regularized and the houses not having connections, would also be issued new water connections, but before that information would be gathered through a survey with the help of Saksham Yuva and Gram Sachivs by 31st March, 2020. Additional Deputy Commissioner Mr Prashant Panwar told about this survey following orders given by Haryana Chief Secretary Keshani Anand Arora. Under this mission, 55 liters of water per person per day will be supplied to every household in villages. During this, quality of potable water would also be ensured. He said that

the Prime Minister has set a target of providing safe potable water to every household in the country by the year 2024 but the Haryana government is aiming to complete the task by 2022. Mr Panwar informed that under the program, Public Health Engineering Department will issue new drinking water connections to those households not having connection or regularize the illegal water connection at a fee of Rs 500 under the Mission. During this time, the illegal water connections will be regularised and new connections will be issued to houses not having a water connection. A consent form will be taken from the house owner and he can pay the fee of Rs 500 in either of two ways. One can pay this amount affront lump sum or pay in installments by adding Rs 10 to their monthly water bill. Presently, the water bill for General Category households is Rs 40 per month while Rs 20 per month for Scheduled Caste category.

Countdown starts for Delhi vidhan sabha election 2020

The election commission has announced the dates with the schedule for Delhi Assembly Election 2020. As per ECI, the voting will be conducted in a single phase on February 8. The fate of candidates by counting of votes will be conducted on February 11. As per the latest update, there are 1.46 Crore eligible voters set to vote for the Delhi Vidhansabha election 2020. There are as many as70 Assembly constituencies in the Delhi Legislative Assembly. The term of the current assembly shall end on 22 February 2020. In Delhi assembly election 2015, AAP had won a Himalayan victory by grabbing 67 seats while BJP was a winner only in 3 seats and Congress could not able to open the party’s account. With the announcement of the election schedule, the model code of conduct will be effective immediately in Delhi. There are a total of 13,750 polling stations for Delhi Assembly Election 2020. The election commission will deploy about 90,000 officers for conducting elections. For this election, voters will be provided with QR code enabled voter slips which will aid in speeding up the polling process.

The poll watchdog, Election Commission of Delhi has already published the final electoral list, according to which 1.46 crore voters are eligible to cast their franchise in the coming Delhi Assembly elections. The term of the 70-member Delhi Assembly shall be suspended on February 22 and a new Assembly has to be constituted before that particular date. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came to power in Delhi in February 2015 sweeping 67 of the 70 Assembly seats Led by Arvind Kejriwal. A new concept of "absentee voters" has been introduced for the very 1st time which shall be implemented from this Delhi Assembly Election Pick and drop facility will be provided for all senior citizen voters along with Divyaangs. Out of total 70, Delhi assembly has 58 general category seats, 12 for SC and none for STs as per Sunil Arora, chief election commissioner. The man in charge, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Delhi Ranbir Singh said the final publication of voters list shows that there is a total of 1,46,92,136 voters in Delhi including 80.55 lakh males and 66.35 lakh females.

haryana

2020 will be "Susashan Sankalp Varsh" Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal announced that the year 2020 would be observed as “Susashan Sankalp Varsh” during which suggestions and reforms in the field of governance would be invited from the people of the State. A dedicated website would also be prepared for this purpose on which the people could upload their suggestions. The best among all such suggestions to be received on the website would be considered by the State Government. Mr Manohar Lal made this and several other announcements to motivate government employees to work hard for the welfare of

masses at the State Level Good Governance Day Programme at Gurugram. The programme was telecast live in all 22 districts, sub divisions, tehsils and blocks through web cast. He also announced three categories of awards for the outstanding employees including three awards within the department, three awards from all offices in each district and three at State level. In all, 500 awards would be given to the employees in the State on December 25, 2020. He said that an arrangement of Digilocker has also been made where the employees could keep their certificates and other important documents. Similar to a bank locker, the facility would provide safe custody of documents to the employees and these could be taken out from the Digilocker as and when required by them.

Amendment to the scheme for Financial Assistance to Women and Girl Acid Attack Victims approved

Haryana Cabinet which met under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal, here today, gave the approval for the Amendment to the scheme - Financial Assistance to Women and Girl Acid Attack Victims. The existing scheme is giving financial assistance only to any woman or girl victim, who had faced an acid attack on or after May 2, 2011, and those who have been residing in Haryana for at least three

years prior to the date of occurrence. While, after the amendment, any woman or girl victim who has faced acid attack residing in the State of Haryana will be eligible for financial benefit in this scheme. However, financial assistance will be given from the current date after she has applied for financial assistance under the scheme. The Cabinet has also decided that no arrears to such acid attack victims will be given.

Haryana Cabinet which met under the Chairmanship of CM Manohar Lal approved the proposal of Information, Public Relations and Languages Department to change the nomenclature of Haryana Film Cell to Haryana Film Promotion Board and to rename the High Powered Committee as Governing Council including change the designation of Mr Satish Kaushik as its Chairman under the provision of the Haryana Film Policy. Other terms and conditions of Governing Council will remain unchanged as has been envisaged in the Policy. The Govt Council will act as an advisory body to guide the Executive Committee on implementation of provisions of Haryana Film Policy and is an appropriate authority for sanctioning projects and for releas-

ing funds under the Policy. CM announced the Haryana Film Policy in September, 2016, for the development of Haryanvi and nonHaryanvi Cinema and to create a film friendly environment in the State. The Policy aims at development of film industry in Haryana and making available suitable environment for the development of cinema and exploring abundant possibilities existing in the State and tapping them properly for film making. In order to implement the provisions of Haryana Film Policy under the said notification, a Haryana Film Cell (HFC) was constituted. HFC had further constituted an Executive Committee and a High Powered Committee comprising government officers, professionals and experts from the film industry.

Proposal for amendment of Information, Public Relations and Languages Department approved


business/world

Faridabad (NCR) 01-15 January, 2020 www.theasianchronicle.com

Coworking – Top Trends That Will Shape the Segment in 2020 Anuj Puri, Chairman

ANAROCK Property Consultants

More than just a passing trend and a seasonal favourite of millennials, the coworking segment continued to grow and established itself as a buzzing real estate segment in 2019. With hip working spaces high on technology, experience and sociability, coworking is no longer just the goto option for new-age start-ups and entrepreneurs - it has now expanded its reach to mainstream corporates, as well. Even as major coworking players increased their footprint across the country, institutional funding kept the momentum going. 2019 also witnessed a growing wave of consolidation in the sector, in the form of mergers and acquisitions. Despite the WeWork debacle in US dominating headlines and raising questions about the future of the coworking business, the segment has emerged as a viable asset class for landlords and operators in India. The coworking market has grown by leaps and bounds and is a significant factor in the strategy for occupiers. So, what’s in store for the coworking segment in India in 2020? Let’s do some crystal-ball gazing to identify the trends that will push this exciting real estate segment.

Millennials & Start-ups to Drive Demand

As we head into a brand-new decade, millennials are set to form 50% of the global workforce by 2020. This burgeoning and influential segment has been at the core of the coworking story in India and will continue to drive demand for such spaces in the country. India happens to be the world’s youngest startup nation with >70% founders less than 35 years of age. According to NASSCOM, the end of 2020 will see India have more than 10,500 start-ups, ranking third behind US and UK. As cities like Bengaluru, Gurugram, Pune and Hyderabad witness the rise of the entrepreneurial wave, the demand for coworking spaces is only set to grow in the coming years. As already mentioned, the segment is no longer driven solely by start-ups, millennials and SMEs – it now caters to mainstream corporates and large enterprises as well (global tech-giant Google leased office space with coworking operator Simpli Work in Gurugram to expand its operations). Even banks and telecom companies are keen on their teams to operate away from headquarters and closer to entrepreneurs. In 2020, more large companies will opt for flexible coworking spaces for their short-term expansion plans. Supply has been growing with demand – towards 2018-end, the total supply of flexible workspaces was anywhere between 7 - 7.5 mn sq. ft. area – and crossed 12 mn sq. ft. by the end of 2019.

Large Players to Expand Footprint

The Indian coworking segment is currently populated by players of varying size and scale. There are currently more than 200 players operating across the country. The top 7 players in this space alone have more than 350 centres across multiple cities in the country. These players include Cowrks, WeWork India, Awfis, Regus, Smartworks, 91springboard and OYO’s Workspaces. This number is likely to double or even treble in the next two years, given the rate at which these

leading players actively leased spaces across major cities in 2019. The coworking sector has also witnessed the entry of major realty players. Bengaluru-based developer Brigade Group ventured into the coworking segment with the launch of ‘BuzzWorks’. Hospitality player Roseate Hotels and Resorts has also forayed into this space by opening its first coworking centre at its hotel ‘Roseate House’ in Delhi’s Aero City. Even as US-based WeWork’s failed IPO raised doubts about the company’s future, WeWork India’s expansion remained on course. Owned by realty firm Embassy Group, the company has been mainly funded by Embassy so far and pays a management fee to the parent company. With 37 operational coworking centres, the company is currently present in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Gurugram, Pune, Noida and Hyderabad.

(even a basement office with about a dozen seats technically qualifies as a coworking space) but not every coworking business is profitable. The success of the business model hinges on the operator’s capacity to scale up, and not every company may have the financial bandwidth or resources to do that. Survival in such a competitive environment will be a challenge for smaller players, and we will see more mergers and acquisitions in 2020. The consolidation wave had already begun in 2018, with major acquisitions like One Co.Work acquiring IShareSpace and AltF CoWorking acquiring Noida-based Daftar India. The trend continued in 2019 with Oyo taking over Innov8 for INR 220 Cr. In 2020, we will see smaller or cityspecific operators merge with national players looking to enter or establish themselves in tier 2 & 3 markets.

Coworking spaces are fundamentally capital-intensive and revolve around multiple variables such as design, technology, and customer service. For a business that thrives on economies of scale, the backing of institutional capital can be the crucial differentiator. Institutional funding to the coworking space has gradually evolved and grown. While in 2017, most of the deals were driven by angel investors and only a few PE players, 2018 saw the maximum deals driven by large PE players and venture capitalists. This trend continued in 2019, which witnessed strong investor confidence in India’s co-working story with three major deals being inked: PE firm ChrysCapital invested USD 30 million in leading player Awfis. SmartOwner, a real estate investment fund has put in USD 4.28 mn in Workspace. BlackRock & CLSA Capital Partner have invested USD 53 million in GoWork. PE funds and institutional investors will continue to back bigger players in 2020, allowing them to scale up, expand and offer a standardised experience to customers at more economical prices.

There’s no doubt that coworking creates an inventive and stimulating work environment, but it also comes with certain risks and conditions. Such a shared format may not be suitable for companies dealing with high volumes of confidential data. It is up to operators to take steps to minimise such risks and scale up cyber security within shared working spaces. The shared work culture also translates into loss of privacy - a major concern for several companies. To truly realise their potential and grow at a fast clip, coworking players must innovate and restrategize their business models. The current leasebased structure does not offer much flexibility and cost efficiency. 2020 is likely to see the rise of ownership model developed in partnership with landowners, developers or the space providers. This arrangement will create built-to-suit spaces that are customised as per the tenant’s needs. There’s no doubt about the scope of coworking sector and its potential for growth in India, but it will take a few more years for co-working to become India’s most-preferred work ecosystem.

Institutional Funding Set to Grow

More Consolidation Imminent

Coworking spaces come in all sizes and variants

Challenges and Opportunities in 2020

14 The demon of Demonetization swallowed three Lakh Jewelers

The new year has brought a bad time for traders of gold and silver. The Income Tax Department has sent notices to those jewelers who had deposited more cash during demonetization. According to reports, as many as three lakh jewelers across the country have been served notice in this regard. These notices have been sent to jewelers whose transactions were not the same before and after demonetization. At the time of demonetization, most jewelers had deposited more cash than their routine business. Due to income tax notice, there has been a worry in the jewelry world. The association related to jewelry has sought help from the Finance Minister in this matter.

Ayushman Bharat Yojna: Country's largest health service scam

It seems that the Ayushman scam, the country's largest health service, has been caught under the cloud of scam and corruption. The Prime Minister of India had initiated the Ayushman Bharat Yojana to provide free treatment to 50 crore people of the country. But like other states, news of corruption this time from the state of Gujarat. In Gujarat, as many as 1700 ‘Ayushman cards’ have been found from a family. More than 150 hospitals have been excluded from this scheme. Around 1300 bills in Madhya Pradesh and Bihar are fake. According to a report by ‘Dainik Bhaskar’, more than two lakh cards have been found fake under this scheme. This scam was caught and revealed under the IT system of the National Health Authority. The names of states like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand have come to the limelight in this case of grabbing money by using fake Ayushman cards. The names of those who are not eligible are also included in this scheme.


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Faridabad (NCR) 01-15 January, 2020 www.theasianchronicle.com

One Time Settlement Scheme' extended till 31st January 2020 covered from about 6925 beneficiaries till 31 December 2019. He further informed that the Land Mortgage Bank has a total of 92258 indebted beneficiaries and a total loan amount of Rs.1577.75 crores, out of which an amount of Rs.242.18 crores has been recovered from 9151 indebted beneficiaries till January 2, 2020.

Haryana Cooperation Minister, Dr. Banwari Lal said that the last date of 'One Time Settlement Scheme' has been extended by the state government till January 31, 2020 for the loanee members and farmers, who have an account with cooperative banks to facilitate the members and farmers to take advantage of the scheme, said the minister, while addressing the media at Nuh, after the meeting of District Public Relations and Grievances Committee. In the committee meeting, he redressed various grievances and also directed the officials concerned to resolve them. He said that the total amount of short term loan of Harco Bank is about Rs 3091 crore and there are about 6,99,804 beneficiaries, out of which Rs 1136.36 crore has been recovered from 2,51,481 beneficiaries till 31 December 2019. He also added that the total loan amount of District Central Co-operative Banks is about Rs 608 crores and there are about 31749 beneficiaries, out of which an amount of Rs 150.74 crores has been re-

He informed that all the indebted farmers and members of District Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks under Haryana State Cooperative APEX Bank, Chandigarh, all District Central Co-operative Banks, Primary Co-operative

While showering New Year bonanza on the beneficiaries of social security pension in the State, Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal announced to enhance all monthly social security pensions and Old Age pension from Rs 2000 to Rs 2250. These and several other announcements were made by Mr Manohar Lal while addressing a press conference after presiding over the meeting of State Cabinet here today. He said that this decision would put an additional financial burden of about Rs 70 crore per month on State exchequer. Besides, he also announced to enhance the monthly pension of workers of above 60 years of age which are registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board from Rs 2500 to Rs 2750. The increase in these pensions would be applicable with effect from January 1, 2020. At present about 28 lakh beneficiaries are getting the benefit of these pensions, he added. The Chief Minister said

that earlier the State Government has enhanced the pension being admissible to the workers of Other Construction Workers Welfare Board from Rs 1500 per month to Rs 2500 per month. Now it has been decided to further enhance it to Rs 2750 per month. At present, 570 workers are getting the benefit of this pension. He said that it has also been decided that whenever the Old Age pension is enhanced in the future, the pension of the workers would also be enhanced by the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board with the same amount with immediate effect to ensure that the amount of pension of workers always remain Rs 500 more than the old age pension. He also announced that state reservation policy would be implemented in the Post Graduate or MD Courses in the Medical as well as Dental Colleges in the State from the forthcoming academic session.

Monthly social security pensions and Old Age pension increased

Societies and State Co-operative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks, are included in this scheme, including those who could not repay overdue loans due to any reason. He also informed that under this scheme, the overdue indebted members of Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies till 31 August 2019, have been provided relief in full interest. He further said that all such beneficiaries are enthusiastic to take advantage of this scheme, so it has been decided to extend the time of this scheme again. He informed that all the officers of the department have also been directed to make more and more people aware of this scheme so that they can avail the benefits of the scheme within the extended time. Sohna MLA Mr. Kawar Sanjay Singh, Nuh MLA Mr. Aftab Ahmed, District President Mr. Surendra Deshwal, Gau Seva Commission Chairman Mr. Bhaniram Mangla and other senior officials were also present on the occasion.

193 kg of doda post seized in Sirsa

In yet another anti-narcotic drive, Haryana Police has arrested a person on the charges of drug peddling in Sirsa and seized 193 kg of doda post from his possession. Giving this information here today, a spokesman of Haryana Police said that the arrested accused has been identified as Ashok Kumar, a resident ward number 13, Ellenabad. The CIA team nabbed the accused during patrolling and checking. He said that a team of CIA Sirsa was present near the bus station Ellenabad during patrolling and checking drive. After getting a secret information, police team alongwith Block Development and Panchayat Officer Ellanabad and DSP Kalanwali had conducted a raid at a house, where it found a huge consignment of dodapost. During the search, the team found 193 kg doda post hidden in the house. The value of seized contraband in the international market is estimated to be around Rs 19 lakh, which was to be supplied in Ellenabad and Rania.

haryana

New Ex-gratia Scheme approved for family of Govt. employees CM Manohar Lal, accorded approval to the New Ex-gratia Scheme namely the Haryana Civil Services (Compassionate Financial Assistance or Compassionate Appointment) Rules, 2019 for the family members of the Government employees who die or disappear while in service. The new Scheme is to be applicable ex-post facto from August 1, 2019. In the New Scheme benefit of either compassionate appointment to Group C or D post or monthly financial assistance for a period of 15/12/7 years, depending upon the age of deceased employee, has been allowed. Compassionate appointment under the New Scheme shall be admissible provided the age of deceased employee shall not be more than 52 years; He/She should have completed minimum 5 years regular service and Compassionate appointment shall be given on Group C or D post of pay scale lower than the pay scale last held by the deceased employee. The family of Govt. employee who is killed in action while displaying bravery and

extraordinary courage will be entitled to avail both the benefits of Compassionate Financial Assistance and Compassionate Appointment without any condition of 52 years age or length of minimum 5 years service. Ex-gratia Grant for the family of deceased Govt. employee has been enhanced from Rs. 25,000/- to Rs. 1.00 lakh which was not revised since last more than 30 years. House Rent Allowance or Government accommodation has been allowed upto two years instead of one year. Other benefits e.g. Children Education Allowance upto 10+2, tuition fee upto Graduation level and fixed medical allowance shall also be admissible. Family of ‘Missing Government employee’ shall now be entitled to get benefit of compassionate financial assistance only after six months from the date of lodging FIR. All loans and advances of Group C& D deceased employees would also be waived off under the revised Scheme as per previous provision.

Proposal for bringing an amendment to Haryana Official Language Act, 1969 approved

CM, Mr Manohar Lal approved the proposal of bringing an amendment of Haryana Official Language Act, 1969 to get Hindi language authorised as the language for the purposes of proceedings, any judgment, decree or orders passed or made by the Courts and Tribunals subordinate to High Court of Punjab and Haryana. To spread the propagation of Hindi as the language of the people of the State, it is necessary that this language should be used in day to day work. The purpose of justice in a democracy is that the plaintiff should get justice quickly in his own language and should not remain speechless during the proceedings. The Haryana Official Language Act, 1969 was passed by the State Legislature to provide for adoption of Hindi as the language to be used for the official purposes of Haryana. The Act does not make any specific mention about use of Hindi in Courts and Tribunals subordinate to the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. The Punjab Official Language Act, 1967 provided that language in the State of Punjab shall be Punjabi. Punjab Official Language Act, 1967 was amended by Punjab Act No. 11 of 1969 in which Sections 3A and 3B were added providing that in all Civil Courts and Criminal Courts, subordinate to the High Court of Punjab and Haryana and all Revenue Courts and Tribunals, work

shall done in Punjabi. A similar amendment will be brought in the Haryana Official Language Act, 1969 to provide that work in all Courts, subordinate to the High Court and all Tribunals constituted by the State Government, work will be done in Hindi in Devnagri script. A sections 3A will be added in the Haryana Official Language Act, 1969 to provide that in all civil courts and criminal courts subordinate to the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, all revenue courts and rent tribunals or any other court or tribunal constituted by the State Government, work in such courts and tribunals including proceedings, any judgment, decree or orders passed, will be done in Hindi. The Cabinet also decided that all requisite infrastructure including training of staff will be provided within six months to ensure smooth implementation of the proposed amendment. The State Government has also received a demand letter signed by 78 MLAs of Haryana, Advocate General of Haryana and hundreds of advocates. The Chief Minister has also expressed his interest to get Hindi language authorized for use in the Courts so that the citizens of Haryana can understand the entire justice process in their own language and can easily put their views before the Courts.

Recently, in the Diamond Jubilee program of the Kerala High Court, the President Mr. Ramnath Kovind himself also emphasized that the Court decisions should be made available in the language of the plaintiff. The Indian language campaign, started by the advocates, intellectuals and jurists of India, is also working in this direction that work in Indian languages should be started in the Courts of India. Therefore, it was prudent to authorize the use of Hindi language for the purposes of proceedings, any judgment, decree or orders passed or made by the Courts and Tribunals subordinate to High Court of Punjab and Haryana.

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entertainment

Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor launched Illegal Weapon 2.0

Recently, Street Dancer 3D movie stars - Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor launched the lastest track Illegal Weapon 2.0 in National Capital. The launch was held at PVR Plaza, Connaught Place. Street Dancer 3D is an upcoming Dance film starring Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, and Nora Fatehi in the lead roles. The movie will be released on 24 January 2020. The movie is directed by Remo D'Souza and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Divya Khosla Kumar, Krishan Kumar, and Lizelle D'Souza. Varun shared his love for the song, " When the film was offered to me, I heard four songs of the movie and Illegal Weapon one of them. At that time, I was very sure that I cannot let anyone do this song. I love the voices of Jasmine Sandlas and Garry

Sandhu, also a lot of new talent has performed in this song from all over the country." At the Launch, Shraddha Spoke about the song, " I am very happy to be a part of this song with Varun as he is my childhood friend and the

swag we added to the song makes it amazing. Also, Illegal Weapon is already a superhit number which stands as a challenge in front of us to match the visuals and we have tried our best to match up to that level. I hope the audience loves our version."

Faridabad (NCR) 01-15 January, 2020 www.theasianchronicle.com

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Sab Kushal Mangal Starcast Spotted in Delhi for the Movie Promotions Akshay Khanna, Priyaank Sharma ( Son of Padmini Kolhapure) and Riva Kishan ( Daughter of Ravi Kishan) came to promote their upcoming movie Sab Kushal Mangal in Delhi. The press conference was held at Le Meridien Hotel, New Delhi. The movie released on 3rd January. The story of the movie revolves around the life of Pappu Mishra( Played by Priyaank Sharma) and his reality show. The film is directed by Karan Vishwanath Kashyap and produced by Prachi Manmohan. During the interview, Akshay Khanna spoke about the reason behind choosing

Sab Kushal Mangal, " The film gave me a lot of Creative satisfaction. It is written so beautifully and every character has it's own innocence which made me do the film." Priyaank Shared the advice he took from his mother, " Mom never told me what to do specifically. She always encouraged me to be spontaneous and natural while acting, also enjoys the journey to the fullest." Riva spoke about the pressure of taking the legacy forward, " It's a blessing for me to be Ravi Kishan's daughter and I never took it as a pressure. The pressure is what society creates and if I'll let it affect me, how will I be able to perform."


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