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Sharan Turns 1
Chandigarh, November 1 One-year-old in the city now, Sharan took wings last November when two loners, sharing a neighbourhood, decided to forge a union of those like them. “It all began on a casual note. But soon it became a mission. We began experiencing joys we never had. The concept was simple. Anyone, who was lonely for any reason, was welcome into our fold to find a family, share sorrows and earn joys,” says Chand proudly, who now has a family of 32. For founder members Chand and Ajit Singh, it was not easy to convince others of their dedication to the cause. But then, lonely hearts reached out to one another and the chain of bondage kept expanding. People from all age groups came forward to give the novel concept a try. “Today, none of us is alone. We are together in sun and in shade. Sometimes, it is too overwhelming to realise that you have so many well wishers,” says S.S. Bhandari, Sharan’s 81-year-old president. On the face of it, the efforts being made by the members of this unique group seem simple and easy. But when one recounts the differences these small gestures have made to people’s lives, one can’t but be touched. A striking example of how Sharan is building support system around its lonely members is that of Shreshtha Metha. The noted Congress worker, once regular at all major functions, now leads a lonely life at her Sector-19 residence. Ever since she suffered a paralytic attack, she has been fighting her battle all alone. “She needs love in this hour of crisis. We are helping her in whatever way we can,” says Chand, urging other loners, whatever be the age, to join the movement and make it last. All it takes to enroll is Rs 50 and the returns are huge. Meeting emotional needs of its members is just one part of Sharan’s generous agenda. It also offers financial, logistical, legal and medical help to those who are its part. S.K. Sachdeva, a retired principal from a local engineering college, will perhaps never forget the way his friends at the club helped him win back his disputed property. Everyone at the club is bound together by a solid vow: “In sickness and health, for better and for worst, with utmost sincerity, we are together”. Sharan will soon open a branch in Panchkula. It already has one in
Shimla. |
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Spending public money on pvt companies?
Chandigarh, November 1 The advertisement, which appeared prominently in various local editions of newspapers in the city, must have cost a packet, but the logic of giving an advertisement like this is not clear. Why should a city administration thank private players for expanding their business? And that too, using the public money? The two airline companies are obviously not doing any favour by providing connectivity to the city residents. It is purely a business decision, which is taken once the traffic movement in the area is expected to cross a certain limit beyond which an airline company finds it profitable to run its flights. “The logic is to promote the city as a tourism destination. It has been a long-standing demand of city businessmen and IT professionals who have made their base here to have better connectivity. If private companies do that, we will support it. The least that we can do is to thank them,” said Vivek Atray, director tourism, UT. The advertisement was actually not issued by the Administration but by the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Chandigarh and STEPS, a society that promotes tourism, he added. “The entire money for the advertisement was paid by STEPS. And we would welcome such steps in the future also,” he said. Interestingly, these societies did not thank other airlines when they put Chandigarh on the connectivity map. |
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Bicycles instead of flashy cars for campaigning in PU
Chandigarh, November 1 So instead of those flashy cars, the activists of SOPU, including Govind, found a novel way of showing their support by riding their special trek bicycles to attract attention and garner votes for their group. These trek bikes have 27 gears and are painted yellow which is the colour of the group. “We thought riding bicycles would not only look cool but would also be environment friendly”, says Govind. But before you think they are plain machines and hardly get noticed, they are equally high on fashion quotient. “Girls turn their heads at the bikes and our group gets noticed”, he avers. |
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Ram, Laxman say no to crackers
Chandigarh, November 1 The students were carrying placards with messages like “Say no to crackers”, “Light diyas not crackers”. The most innovative idea was the victorious Ram carrying the message “Meri jeet ki khushi me diye jalana, patakhe mat chalana”. The rally was flagged off by DPI S.K. Setia. Setia apprised the students about the negative effects of bursting crackers on the environment and called it a sheer wastage of money. “The money should instead be used for helping the underprivileged children in their education or providing them with study material,” he said. |
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Need to set up groundwater authorities: Experts
Chandigarh, November 1 Water being the state subject, the authorities, they said, would enable the planners to check excessive pumping of water for drinking and irrigational purposes and to modify bylaws to conserve it. Painting a dark picture of the groundwater situation in Punjab, Sushil Gupta, regional director, Central Ground Water Board, said: “In major cities like Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar and Sangrur, the water table is between 20m and 40m. It has declined in 78 per cent areas over the past 30 years.” M.P. Kaushal of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, in his paper, claimed that the water table in central districts of Punjab was falling at an average rate of 55cm per year. The maximum fall had been in Moga district (92cm per year), followed by Sangrur (69cm) and Patiala (68cm). The water table had declined to 26m in the Nakodar block and 24m in the Bhunderheri block in Patiala district. In Haryana, out of the 113 blocks, 55 blocks fell in the over-exploited category, 11 in critical and five in semi-critical category. Experts said the groundwater authority would advise the state government on matters relating to the status of water table. It could even prohibit or restrict any such activity if it was of the opinion that such an activity was detrimental to the objectives of conservation. The authority should be headed by a scientist, not a bureaucrat. “Right now, various departments and institutes are collecting data as regards the status of water table, but there is lack of coordination among them. The government should make it mandatory for the builders to adopt rainwater-harvesting measures,” they said. Prof K.P. Singh of the Department of Geology, Panjab University, said: “The recent management problems need to be tackled in a more scientific manner by adopting a holistic approach that can be developed by only a group of experts under the umbrella of a groundwater authority. Even the problem of high arsenic content in groundwater can be addressed appropriately.” Even agriculture minister Sucha Singh Langah said: “The time has come to preserve the existing water resources for the future. If this is not done, there will be wars for water.” |
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Senior citizens discuss traffic management
Chandigarh, November 1 Traffic problems like underage driving, parking problems, overspeeding, drunken driving and issuance of driver’s licenses to untrained drivers were discussed. They asked the UT IGP, S.K. Jain, who was the chief guest on the occasion, to enforce traffic rules in the city. They insisted that policemen should be deployed outside schools to check underage driving. Motorists should be booked for haphazard parking even in paid parking lots, they said. P.H. Vaishnav, former chief secretary of Punjab, presided over the function and said the public should come out with solutions to reduce problems relating to traffic and play a constructive role. The IGP said CCTV cameras were being installed at 20 major junctions in the city and ultra modern cameras would capture traffic violators. He said the traffic police set up 10-12 nakas every day to nab violators. |
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Cultural bonanza for art lovers
Chandigarh, November 1 The lead artiste Subrata De, presented raga vachaspati with elaborate alaap, jod and jhalla on sitar before weaving a crisp composition in medium tempo (madhya lya). He concluded the recital in fast tempo (drut lya) set to a rhythmic pattern of 16 beats (teen tal). The sitar maestro was initiated into music by his father guru BM De. He learnt Hindustani classical music in gurukul for 15 years from his disciples before finally falling in the blessed tutelage of his guru Pandit Mani Lal Nag of Vishnupur gharana. The only artiste to make his debut as a soloist in Seoul, in 1995, Subrato had repeated the feat with series of performances at top music festivals in 35 countries. His album ‘Meditation De La India’ of instrumental classical music was recorded and released from Lema (Peru) after the maiden ‘Swarnjali’. The youthful and versatile couple of Odissi dance maestros Panchnan Bhuyan and Priyambda Samantray, opened up with a “manglacharn” in raga gurjari before delineating the fundamental patterns of pure Odissi in a ‘pallavi’. They were at their best in the concluding ‘abhinya’ based on Geet Govinda in raga mishar khamaj. Well-known Odissi composer Saroj Mohanti rendered vocal support. Young upcoming ghazal singer Kailash Khare delighted after his maiden playback recording for a film ‘Voh Raat Phir Hogi’ concluded the musical soiree. The accompanists who embellished the performances included Saroj Mohanty (Odissi vocal), Susmay Mishra (tabla), Mohan Kumar (mardala)and Ghanshyam Sisodia (sarangi). Earlier, regional director of Ozone Anupam Verma felicitated kathak guru Shobha Koser with a citation, a shawl and cash award of Rs 5,001 for her contribution to Jaipur classical dance tradition. |
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When determination overcame physical limits
Chandigarh, November 1 Ethos, Swiss watch studios at Sector 8, as part of their campaign “Celebrate Success”, felicitated city-based entrepreneur Pawan Khaitan yesterday. At 2 hours, 20 minutes and 33 seconds, Pawan Khaitan crossed the finishing line on October 28, in a daze of pain and exhilaration. As one of 40,000 runners in the Delhi half marathon that took place on October 28, Pawan, along with two other runners from the city, had been gearing up for the 21-km run for two months. A day before the run, a leg injury was diagnosed as a hamstring pull. The doctors advised him not to run. “But having reached so far, I did not want to give up. Even if it meant walking and finishing the race,” says Pawan. “I have been jogging and running for years now, but had never gone beyond 7 km. I wanted to challenge my limits,” he says. Pawan took to the task with enthusiasm, which, his friends say, is characteristic of him. In fact, what makes his endeavour even more unique is that Pawan is a diabetic. Halfway through, at 10 km, he felt he could not go on. The pain in his leg was agonising. “I saw people running, including senior citizens and women older than me, and I felt I had to go on and finish it,” he says. In fact, the experience has changed his perception of success. “The feeling out there was thrilling,” he says. Today, despite the doctor’s advice, Pawan is looking forward to “many more half marathons.” In November, Ethos will honour a young girl of Ludhiana who has made it to the Beijing Olympic team in shooting. |
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Swimmer Kunal does city proud
Chandigarh, November 1 With over 90 medals in various state and national-level competitions under his belt, this 16-year-old boy of Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, again lived up to the expectations of his admirers by winning silver medal in 100 m freestyle (under 17) event during the 53rd National School Games Swimming-07 meet at Surat which concluded on October 28. “I lost the gold medal by fraction of a second as the timing of the winner was 59.84 seconds whereas I took 1:00:60 seconds to finish second. Thirtysix top swimmers of different states were competing in the event,” said Kunal. Kunal was also adjudged the best swimmer in the recently held CBSE North Zone (I) Inter-School Swimming Competition in New Delhi in September this year. He had also won two gold and one silver medals in the Chandigarh State Inter-School Swimming Tournament held at Chandigarh this year. “In New Delhi, I won three gold medals and one silver medal,” said Kunal, who has been honing his skills under Sports Authority of India coach Gurcharan Singh. “Earlier, we lacked an all-weather swimming pool here which forced the swimmers to discontinue their practice during odd seasons, thus affecting their performance. Otherwise also, the city does not have a swimmer-friendly environment,” rued the budding swimmer. He pointed out many problems being faced by the swimmers here. He, however, is hopeful that the all-weather pool at the Yoga Centre, Sector 23, here would help the swimmers to continue their practice throughout the year. In 2006-07, Kunal won 10 medals - nine gold and one silver - in various inter-school events at the national, north zone and city level. He also clinched three gold medals (100m, 200m and 400m freestyle) during the CBSE National Aquatic Championship, held at Nagpur in October last year. In 2005, Kunal won 19 medals in various competitions in the under-14 category. Thirteen of these were gold medals. Like his idol, Michael Phelps, Kunal wants to shine in the swimming arena worldwide. |
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Give capital subsidy to farmers, says expert
Chandigarh, November 1 Referring to the success of Green Revolution in Punjab, he said, “The agrarian transformation of yesteryear not only brought self-reliance in food for the country but also enabled the farmers to enjoy a higher standard of living. Having become used to that standard of living, the farming community could not reconcile with a stagnating or declining real income. Consequently, its dependence on informal lending increased to support that lifestyle. The mounting debt and illiteracy proved to be a deadly mix, family quarrels and overcapitalisation chose to escape life through suicides,” he added. Dr Kalkat argued in favour of providing capital subsidy and training to small farmers and development of appropriate technology. Earlier, while welcoming Dr Kalkat and the dean, University Instructions, Prof S.K. Kulkarni, the programme coordinator, Prof A.C. Julka stated that the ongoing agrarian crisis in Punjab could be summed up as a case of “tiring lands and retiring peasantry”. With the release of discussion paper “Performance of Indian Agriculture: Variations Across States and Policy Regimes” authored by Dr Gurmail Singh, the department was all set to regain its lost glory in the world of policy making, he added. |
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Environment studies must for class XII
Mohali, November 1 However, much to the relief of students, the subject would be evaluated on a five-point scale in the school and the grades would be sent to the board to be shown on the detailed marks certificate of the students. The decision was taken during a meeting of the academic council of the board held under the chairmanship of board chairman Dalbir Singh Dhillon. For private candidates, environment studies would be listed as an elective subject in the humanities group at the senior secondary level. Practical examination for them would be conducted at the school level, he added. |
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College signs MoU with NZ varsity
Mohali, November 1 According to the MoU, any student with a diploma in nursing from any institute with a licence to practice in India, can take admission. The duration of the course is one year with three semesters. |
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Construction website launched
Chandigarh, November 1 Introduced by Mohali-based Brohowk Info World Technologies, the site was launched by chief parliamentary secretary of Punjab Bikram Jit Singh Khalsa at a function held yesterday.
— TNS |
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