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Yamuna looks like an acid pond: CM
Survivors protest against Blueline killings
National Medical Library needs revamp: Doctors
BSES Bill on Email
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AIDS orphans to get new homes
Tanishq ‘Jodhaa-Akbar’ jewellery not for sale
Gandhi memorial lecture today
Metro official returns valuables
Mercury drops to 2.3°C
Record entrants in Wills’ show
NGOs urge to save coral reefs
Masters frame moments
Take care of your posture
Woman dies in accident
Use PPP model for development: CM
IGNOU launches e-books
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Yamuna looks like an acid pond: CM
New Delhi, January 28 The agreement was signed between chief executive officer of the DJB Arun Mathur and chairperson and managing director of the Engineers India Limited Mukesh Rohtagi. Acknowledging that pollution levels in the Yamuna had risen considerably over the years, Dikshit said, ‘’Yamuna has become very dirty, prompting many to call it the ‘drain of Delhi’. If one looks at the river, one almost feels like crying. Touching it gives one a tingling feeling. In fact, it looks like an acid pond.’’ ‘’Today, I don’t think that even birds and animals feel like drinking water from the Yamuna,’’ the Chief Minister lamented. Calling the Yamuna an integral part of life, culture, development and religious practices of Delhi since time immemorial, Dikshit said, ‘’The task for cleaning the river has to be meticulous and time-bound. In fact, the task upon our shoulders should be to complete the process as soon as possible keeping in mind the 2010 Commonwealth Games.’’ The work is to be carried out in two phases. In the first phase, it will build interceptors along Najafgarh and supplementary drains while, in the second phase, interceptor sewers will be built along Shahdara drain. The cost of the project has been estimated as Rs 2000 crore. DJB CEO said that an expert committee constituted by the Supreme Court had found the interceptor sewers project a financially viable option to clean the river. He, however, added that for the success of the project, it was necessary that various stakeholders — the MCD, the irrigation and flood control department and the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructural Development Corporation fulfil their responsibilities in keeping the river clean. ‘’For example, the MCD has to ensure that there is no dumping of garbage and solid waste into the river, while the irrigation and flood control department should ensure desilting and channelisation of drains,’’ Mathur said. Rastogi said, ‘’Yamuna is the lifeline of Delhi. We hope that once the project is completed, the banks of the Yamuna will resemble that of the river Thames in Southern England. |
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Survivors protest against Blueline killings
New Delhi, January 28 “Today’s gathering is both a protest against the paralysed state of the Delhi government as well as a meeting ground for the suffering families of victims,” said Sanjay Kaul, President of People’s Action which has organized the victims into an association to seek redress, compensation and changes in policy to issue driving licences. “We are here to seek damages from the state and to discuss strategies going forward in this fight for justice,” said R.N. Mishra, a victim who lost his daughter to the killer line and is acting as vice president of the association that People’s Action has formed. Over 20 members of different families attended today’s protest meeting most of whom have received no help, compensation or assistance from the government – most of them have not even been able to process their police FIRs into a court case. “We have been meeting at Central Park every Sunday under the aegis of People’s Action over the last month to offer support and courage to each other,” said Rajesh Verma, a survivor who lost a year in recovering from an accident. “It has been decided that victims and their families will collectively petition the National Human Rights Commission on Gandhiji’s death anniversary, on January 30 at the NHRC office”, said Sanjay Kaul. “We want to understand why jhuggi dwellers in an unauthorized colony deserve compensation after a fire which kills many, but victims of state-licensed and managed Blueline buses do not get”, said Atul Goyal of the group. |
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National Medical Library needs revamp: Doctors
New Delhi, January 28 A group of doctors and medical students, backed by some doctors from the AIIMS, have submitted a signed petition asking library officials to revamp the facilities offered by the library. “Doctors coming to the library have been facing several problems here for a long time. Few computers work in the library. Most of them are old and the speed is so slow that it takes 5-10 minutes to open a site. Doctors are being forced to come out now and demand better services,” inform medical students. The complainant said the library doesn’t have even quality water forcing the library users to go across to the AIIMS campus for drinking water. Doctors have also complained about the toilets in the library which are not cleaned regularly and have thus become unusable. The National Medical Library was established with an aim to provide efficient library and information services to the Health Science (HS) professionals and researchers in India. It was declared Central Medical Library in 1961 and the National Medical Library on April 1, 1966. |
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BSES Bill on Email
New Delhi, January 28 Now customers need not wait for their BRPL/BYPL electricity bill to be delivered to their doorstep. BSES’s latest offering, “Bill on Email”, offers customers the flexibility and convenience of receiving their electricity bills directly in their email. The service will offer a plethora of benefits to its customers. Some of them include-Speed - Since electricity bills are delivered directly in your inbox, you save time convenience - Physical copy of the bill no more required. A customer will now have the option to click and print the electricity bill at their convenience. Electricity Bill is a bar coded bill almost akin to its physical counterpart . Another innovative service being launched in conjunction with the Bill on Email is the SMS. In the first phase, this service will offer customers the convenience of receiving current billing information (bill amount with due date). In the second phase, to be launched shortly, the customers will also be able to receive acknowledgement of their electricity bill payments made through non cash payment modes (Cheque, Demand Draft, Electronic Clearance System, and Online Payment). Initially the Bill on Email and SMS will be available only to domestic and commercial customers (MLCC) “comprising the bulk of BSES” customers. Over the next few days, these initiatives will be also extended to other categories of customers. A spokesman said that it was very easy to register for Bill on Email and the SMS. There are three ways by which a customer can register for any one or both of these services. They can simply login on to BSES website www.bsesdelhi.com and fill up a simple online form or visit their local BSES customer care centre or by simply calling BSES helpline numbers 39999808 and 39999707. At the time of registration, a customer will be required to provide their CRN number, Root Sequence Number (R.S. No “mentioned prominently in the electricity bill), in addition to their email id and mobile number.” According to Lalit Jalan, “Introduction of Bill on Email and SMS service is part of an ongoing and continuous process at BSES to constantly upgrade the level of customer services and convenience offered to our customers” in line with what is offered globally. Last year, BSES introduced a new revamped multi colour bill benchmarked against the latest global trends across services utilities. BSES customers today have the convenience of paying their electricity bills at over 2000 locations through a wide spectrum of options including Cash Collection Centres, Easy Bill outlets, ITZ Cards, Skypak drop boxes Project Nikat Drop Boxes, Credit Card, Net Banking, Auto Debit and even through SMS. |
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AIDS orphans to get new homes
New Delhi, January 28 The NGO Francois-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) was set up in memory of Boisrouvray’s son, a helicopter pilot who died during a rescue mission. “In that spirit of rescue, we’re stitching together a safety net for AIDS orphans around the world,” Alvina told IANS Saturday. Boisrouvray was here as part of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s delegation and gushed about the “wonderful Republic Day parade” she had seen Saturday morning. Straight from the parade, she rushed to Sanjay Colony, a slum in a corner of the capital’s diplomatic enclave Chanakyapuri, where FXB runs one of its earliest projects in the country. A small computer centre that the NGO set up there has led to some of the slum children getting jobs. Boisrouvray was just as admiring of them as she was of the parade. Since starting in Goa in 1990, FXB works in many areas in the country , but helping orphans, especially those orphaned by the AIDS epidemic, is closest to Boisrouvray’s heart. “We work at the grassroots,” Boisrouvray said. “So we know the problems. And the worst problem is the situation faced by those orphaned due to AIDS. Many of them are HIV positive themselves. “All of them face huge discrimination, as the stigma associated with AIDS is still very prevalent in this country. Very few of them get a chance to go to school. These are the children we try to help.” The NGO does that through a model developed by Boisrouvray in Uganda. “We set up FXB houses,” she explained. “Each house has (foster) parents, maybe grandparents and some orphans they take in with our help. “Then we extend this into an FXB village. We help start income-generating activities. We set up some education programmes so that the children are able to get into schools. We provide healthcare support and access to basic needs for the first three years. We have found that in 86 per cent cases, people are able to look after themselves by the fourth year.” In each “FXB village” in India, about 80 families would look after an average of five AIDS orphans each, Boisrouvray said. That would mean 2,000 orphans would live in five villages. The India office of FXB has not yet finalised the states in which the five villages would be set up, but Boisrouvray said they were likely to include West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram and Manipur. “Then in the second phase, we shall set up villages in Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar and at Noida in Uttar Pradesh,” she added. The NGO’s India budget for the 2008 calendar year is $1.3 million, and much more will be needed to transform this dream into reality. But lack of money has never deterred the FXB head. Apart from starting the organisation with her own money, she has raised funds from all over the world, including Indian corporate houses. Taking advantage of being part of the Sarkozy delegation, Boisrouvray was busy telling fellow delegates from French industry that they should help this project as soon as they sign contracts with their Indian counterparts. “I keep pointing out how it will be good public relations for them.”—IANS |
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Tanishq ‘Jodhaa-Akbar’ jewellery not for sale
New Delhi, January 28 Tanishq, the leading jewellery brand, unveiled the jewellery worn by Aishwarya Rai, who plays the Rajput princess Jodhabai and Hrithik Roshan, who features as Mughal emperor Jalaluddin Akbar, in the film. The exquisite pieces include sarpech (feather pin), archer’s ring, arsi (mirror ring), bhor (head jewel like in Indian tika) and hansali (choker). “The wedding set, which Aishwarya wears in the film, is very heavy. It weighs around three-and-a-half kg. It was difficult for her to wear them. In fact, in the interviews she said the hardest part was to wear the jewellery.” “But that was how women lived those days and it is authentic,” Alpana Parida, head marketing & merchandising at Tanishq, told IANS at the unveiling of ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ jewellery in the Capital. A blend of Mughal and Rajasthani designs, the handcrafted jewels on display are breathtakingly beautiful and give an insight to India’s glorious past. “I think if everything is put together then the total weight will be about 300 kg and it is a huge investment on the part of the company. We have made 13 ensembles for Aishwarya and eight for Hrithik. We have used gold and gems like — emeralds, pearls, ruby, tourmaline, jade…” added Parida. However, she refused divulge the budget. This is Tanishq’s second film venture. Earlier, it had collaborated with Shah Rukh Khan for his home production ‘Paheli’. “We had done jewellery for ‘Paheli’, which was at a much smaller scale because it was Rajasthani jewellery and there was not any other definition.” “‘Jodhaa Akbar’ became a design and research challenge because it had to be the specific Rajput and Mughal traditions of the 16th century and there was very little available from that time. It was a research from the combination of miniature paintings, ‘Akbarnama’ and old royal families. We also did a lot of research in museums and archives, private collection of various royalties and at the Chitrakala Parishad,” Parida said. Ask her about the basic difference between Mughal and Rajput jewellery, Parida said, “The basic difference was that Mughal jewellery was much finer in craftsmanship and Rajput jewellery was more rustic. At that time - Mughals used a lot more pearls than the Rajputs did.” “Akbar’s favourite gem was the emerald. In ‘Akbarnama’ there are actually blue prints of emerald mines, which Akbar had started and wherever you see him, he wears emeralds, which is the symbol of power.” Ornaments were created keeping in mind its relevance to the two rich Indian traditions. It was a tedious job for the team working on the jewellery to find details about Jodhabai’s jewels. “For Akbar, we had a lot more literal references, but for Jodha there were very few. We got references from Rajput designs of that time, used motifs that were prevalent at that time, architecture, miniature paintings and through existing pieces from that time.” In the 16th century, Rajput women use to wear 12 pieces of jewellery. “Starting with the ‘borla’ (hair pins) to anklets and we have made sure that we follow the same definition of an ensemble.” In India, there is a tradition of passing the skills from one generation to other. “We have unearthed craftsmen. In one particular case, we hired three generations of craftsmen to work on the jewellery. The older generation was not even making jewellery anymore, but we found him in Rajasthan and got him to work for us.” The designs are mostly “kundan and meenakari”- inlay work common to Rajasthan. “The interesting thing about most ‘kundan’ and ‘meenakari’ is as many as five craftsman worked on one single piece. One made the mould, another set the stone, one inlaid the pearls and others made the colourful ‘meenakari’ work. So, each jewel takes a long time to craft. It is not factory-made. The jewellery was handcrafted. “Women used to wear large thumb rings with mirrors so that they could see their faces in the mirror. Now, setting a mirror in that mould is a special skill and it doesn’t exist today. So, we had to find craftsman, who could recreate it,” Parida said. Tanishq has no plan to sell these jewels. “This is a labour of love. Second, it’s not wearable because the jewellery is heavy. We have launched the prêt collection, which is inspired from the ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ line but as of now, we do not intend to sell it.” Currently, Tanshiq has 102 stores across the country. “We will open 30 to 35 stores this year. We are also opening two stores in the US in the next six to eight months.”—IANS |
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Gandhi memorial lecture today
New Delhi, January 28 As part of the series, the Gandhi memorial lecture would be delivered by Rev. Jesse L Jackson on January 29. Rev. Jackson is a leading American civil rights activist and a successor to Martin Luther King Jr. Rev. Jackson participated in the Selma to Montgomery marches in early 1965, organised by Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders in Alabama.In 1984, Jackson had organised the Rainbow Coalition, which later merged in 1996 with operation PUSH. The newly formed Rainbow PUSH organisation brought the reverend’s role as an important and effective organiser to the mainstream. The lecture would be delivered at the Gandhi Sadan in the Capital. |
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Metro official returns valuables
New Delhi, January 28 According to DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal, train operator Pravin Kumar found a black briefcase in the train that was about to leave the Vishwa Vidyalaya Metro station towards the Central Secretariat Metro station. He immediately informed the station controller following which public announcements were made. When nobody came forward to claim the briefcase, it was opened. It was found that it contained Rs 2,42,300. The contact number of the owner was traced from the briefcase. The briefcase belonged to Neeraj Jain, a resident of Ashok Nagar. It has been returned to him. |
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Mercury drops to 2.3°C
New Delhi, January 28 A slight mist also hung over the Capital in the morning though visibility levels remained normal at 1500m. The Met office said that the coming days could witness an intense chill with the minimum temperature expected to drop to 2 °C. The Met office has forecast a partly cloudy sky during the next 24 hours. |
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Record entrants in Wills’ show
New Delhi, January 28 The autumn-winter 2008 edition of the event is scheduled for March 12-16. “We have the highest number of ‘new’ designers showcasing their collection at the WIFW this year,” Sumeet Nair, executive director of event organiser Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) stated on Friday. “It is an indication that the event is the only fashion platform driving the business of fashion agenda for India’s fashion industry, as more and more emerging and established designers are associating themselves with the event every season,” he added. Towards this end, Amit GT, Azara, Charu Parashar, Ekru by Ekta Jaipuria & Ruchira Kandhari, Gayatri Khanna, Khushali Kumar, Lecoanet Hemant, Nitin Bal Chauhan, and Rahul Reddy be would setting the ramp ablaze with their creative brilliance. Six others - Ankur & Priyanka Modi, Atsu Sekhose, Aruna Singh, Amishi Dhanuka, Kokommo, Rinaldi Designs - would display their collections in the exhibition area. Announcing names of the participants, FDCI director general Rathi Vinay Jha said, “I am extremely delighted to announce the names of these 15 dynamic and vibrant designers, who will exhibit their collections for the first time at the WIFW”. “Some of these include well-known names from the fashion industry, who have showcased their collections in India and overseas,” she added.—IANS |
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NGOs urge to save coral reefs
New Delhi, January 28 The World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy and The Conservation International have urged governments, businesses, scientists and individuals across the world “to vastly increase actions to protect coral reefs”. Seventeen countries and 30 organisations formally launched the International Year of the Reef in Washington on Thursday under the aegis of the International Coral Reef Initiative, a global campaign to raise awareness about the value and importance of coral reefs and to motivate action to protect them. In 2003, the World Parks Congress had urged that at least 20-30 per cent of each marine habitat should be protected by 2012. At current levels of effort, this goal will not be achieved for coral reefs, the three NGOs said in a statement. The three groups have urged that the area of coral reefs under protection be increased globally from 15 to 30 per cent.—IANS |
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Masters frame moments
New Delhi, January 28 The exhibition would be on from January 27 to February 13 at National Gallery of Modern Art and will move to National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai from February 29, 2008 to March 21and then to Rabindranath Tagore Centre, Kolkata, from May 8. The exhibition has been mounted as the maiden initiative of India Photo Now’08 and will be divided into four sections representing photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Magnum Photos, Umrao Singh Sher-Gil and The Alkazi Collection of Photography. IPN’08 – a platform for photography in India is a federative initiative promoting photography in India and encouraging new initiatives in this field throughout the year and the country. Born from the enthusiasm of various Indian and European partners, IPN’08 is a platform to showcase the vitality of photography.
Says Prof Rajeev Lochan, Director, NGMA; “this comprehensive exhibition addresses individual photographic creative expression on one side and equally celebrates the past with its most deliberated photographers. From Henri Cartier-Bresson to the unknown photographers of this land who have excelled with the frozen moment and equally transformed the surface with their painted interventions. Never has it been in the past that such diversity on one single platform could be made available to the connoisseurs of this country. IPN’08 would continue to celebrate the medium of photography with more such initiatives in the future as well.” The exhibition has been divided into four sections with Henri Cartier-Bresson: Tribute to Henri Cartier-Bresson: Commented Images being the first. This exhibition was imagined and produced by Robert Delpire in 1988, when he was director of the Centre National de la Photographie in Paris, to celebrate Henri Cartier-Bresson’s eightieth birthday. It brings together legendary and lesser known images, each with a commentary offering an intellectual’s or an artist’s point of view on the photographer’s approach. This exhibition is an introduction to the work of an exceptional personality, one of the masters of French photography who believed that photography is putting one’s head, eye and heart on the same axis. His work has influenced and continues to fascinate – photographers all over the world. Then is Magnum PhotOS: India By Magnum - Plural Perspectives. Magnum Photos was established in 1947 by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, George Rodger and David Seymour, four photographers convinced that total independence was the sole means of affirming their commitment and covering the turmoil of the world. This exhibition uses archival images to provide an outline of the work in India of 14 Magnum photographers. From the silent scenes of Henri Cartier-Bresson to the light and shade of Gueorgui Pinkhassov, from the radical portraits of Bruce Gilden and Martine Franck’s empathetic portrayal to Carl De Keyzer’s detached exploration: situated between the political and the poetic, these personal visions of the subcontinent embody a continuous concern with documenting the world while challenging the way it is depicted. Umrao Singh Sher-Gil: His Misery and His Manuscript - A Retrospective, 1889-1949. Curated by Vivan Sundaram and Devika Daulet Singh and organized with the support of Rencontres d’Arles and the Embassy of France, this exhibition is a retrospective of Umrao Sher-Gil’s works spanning from 1889 – 1949. Born in 1870 to the landed aristocracy of the Punjab, Umrao Singh Sher-Gil opted for a more contemplative life than his class had destined for him. He was a Sanskrit and Persian scholar and was interested in the philosophy of religion. When British Intelligence discovered his links with the revolutionary Gaddar Party, he was debarred from active politics and most of his land was confiscated. He went on to fashion a universe around his scholarly inclinations and the felicities of family life – and his camera was there to record it. A large part of this record is made up of self-portraits, which reveal a highly self-conscious auteur-photographer imaging his body, his subjectivity and his melancholy. The remarkable photographs that Umrao Singh took over sixty years, beginning 1889, include auto chromes (almost unknown in India then) and stereographic photographs. Alkazi Collection of Photography: Princely Traditions / Modern Vision Souvenir Albums and The Embellished Image. Organised with the support of the Alkazi Foundation, this is an exhibition of late 19th and early 20th century photographs. It shows how the advent of photography in India marked the beginning of a deeply imaginative form of visual representation that penetrated almost every aspect of the religious, cultural and courtly life of the princely states. The photographs on display contrast the official and ceremonial lives with the more private and religious life of a few princely states in India. A selection of albums from the state of Rewa, for example, elucidate the hereditary transference of power from one generation to the next in a traditional court in Central India. These albums are sometimes the only reminder of the presence of women, who performed very important but completely invisible roles within the confines of the palace. |
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Take care of your posture
New Delhi, January 28 With a large number of people engaged in sedentary jobs thanks to the rapid computerization, complaints of gruelling backaches and back trouble have shown a tremendous increase. While gluing your eyes to the computer for long hours becomes necessary, one can always take simple measures to maintain a correct sitting posture at work. According to experts, posture is the position in which you hold your body upright against gravity while standing, sitting or lying down. Good posture involves training your body to stand, walk, sit and lie in positions where the least strain is placed on supporting muscles and ligaments during movement or weight-bearing activities. “People sitting for prolonged hours tend to develop a bad posture, which leads to irking back problems,” says Dr Sanjay Sarup, orthopedic surgeon at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. The doctor recommends some basic tips to avoid worker’s menace. Sit up with your back straight and your shoulders back. The buttocks should touch the back of your chair. ·Avoid jerky movements while you sit. ·Keep your feet flat on the floor. ·Adjust your chair height and workstation so you can sit up close to your work and tilt it up at you. Rest your elbows and arms on your chair or desk, keeping your shoulders relaxed. ·Try to avoid sitting in the same position for more than 30 minutes. ·Bend your knees at a right angle. Keep your knees even with or slightly higher than your hips. Use of footrest or stool proves helpful. ·Avoid crossing your legs The doctor also suggests regular shoulder blade squeeze exercise which improves the body posture. All you need to do is to sit on a chair with your hands resting on your thighs. Keep your shoulders straight and then slowly move your shoulders backwards and squeeze your shoulder blades together. “Good body posture not only helps in fighting back troubles but also adds poise and smartness to your personality,” claims Dr Sarup. |
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Woman dies in accident
New Delhi, January 28 The incident took place when deceased was on the motorcycle with Deepak Sharma. Deepak has received minor injuries. Meanwhile, the driver of the truck, Suresh, has been arrested. |
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Use PPP model for development: CM
New Delhi, January 28 Dikshit said, “The need for private investment has arisen, as both the Central and the state governments are keen to use the PPP to meet the gaps in the provision of basic services.” She said that private co-operators should do away with the principle of accumulating huge returns against their invested amount. The CM said that the PPP model would help private investors realise their social responsibilities. |
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IGNOU launches e-books
New Delhi, January 28 At the initial stage, the e-books would cover sciences, computer science, humanities and management. |
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