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March 25, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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End to ‘tyranny’, NIOS offers exams on demand New Delhi, March 24 The exam on demand is currently being carried out on an experimental basis in five remote areas and has been implemented for class eight students only. “We plan to introduce later this year for the senior classes as well. The stigma of being a failure is a multi-faceted one and is associated with the personality of the child. We want to do away with the stigma,” added Prof Ambasht. Starting this year, the NIOS has made provisions for students to write their answers in their mother tongue or any language they are proficient in. The students will have to indicate the language they have chosen on the answer booklets. “There is a change in the pattern of the answer booklets as well. We have provided space on the question papers where the students can write the answers. Also this year, we have made arrangements to declare the results within a month from the date of the last examination,” Prof Ambasht added. To check impersonation, the NIOS has introduced scanned photo-admit cards for the students scheduled to sit for examinations. The NIOS Chairman added, “Relative grading has been introduced at the secondary and senior secondary levels from April 2003. In the initial two examinations, the numerical marks as well as the grades will be exhibited in the marksheet.” While other boards are still working out the modalities of implementing the grading system, the NIOS has given shape to its proposal to implement direct grading from October 2003 at the secondary levels only. “The NIOS has also made provisions for students to opt for more than five languages/subjects at the secondary and senior secondary levels. The students can appear for more than five subjects,” the NIOS chief said. |
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WILD WEST Ghaziabad, March 24 The administration and the police set-up appear to be awed by the terrorists who have proved their capability to attract young blood into their network. The intelligence network of the police department seems to be inadequately equipped to deal with the challenge posed by the terrorist groups, which have ultra-modern firearms, communication gadgets and an effective networking. Not only does the special group of the police force lack the matching equipment but most of its members do not have enough training to handle these equipment. Senior police officials, however, are reluctant to acknowledge the inadequacy of the police organisation and the equipment and arms it has to cope with the new challenges thrown up by the ISI-backed terrorist groups. The Ghaziabad district, situated as it is on the border of Delhi, is fast emerging as a safe haven for terrorists. One main reason for this is that the UP police are handicapped with obsolete equipment and poor intelligence network to keep a tab on such activities. A companion of Mansur Dar, who was killed in the recent police encounter in Noida, was able to escape. The STF, Lucknow, had arrested two Kashmiri students, Ijaz and Mehraj, from Shamli town on March 9 for allegedly extending support to the terrorists. They had told the police about Mansur’s involvement in terrorist activities in the country. These students also had links with terrorist outfits. On the basis of information provided by them, two other Kashmiri students, Sajjad Hussain and Itfasual Hassan, were arrested from Sambhawali. The police had also interrogated some other students after a raid. According to police sources, as a number of Kashmiri students are studying in Sambhawali at present, the ultra outfits have once again started a campaign to enlist them in their groups. |
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FOLLOW-UP Faridabad, March 24 There are dozens of agencies supplying the personal to work as security guards, gatekeepers and full-time watchmen in both industrial and residential areas. The demand of private security personnel was earlier mainly in the industrial units, but due to increase in criminal activities including robberies, burglaries, thefts, chain-snatching, the residents of various urban sectors and posh colonies here have not only constructed iron gates in various pockets, but have also deployed round-the-clock security personnel or watchmen. They have been asked to keep the entry gates close at night and record the visits of outsiders and their vehicles. Faridabad has over 30 residential sectors and several others are coming up. As the length of the city spans over 25 km from the border with Delhi to Ballabgarh town along with the National Highway No. 2, the sectors are mainly located in an elongated vertical shape. While these have open ends on both sides, the old colonies and villages have been lying intermingled. This has given an easy access to all sectors. As there had been a steep increase in population, the police structure has not come up to the expectations, feel the residents. According to a resident of Sector 9 here, there had been several incidents of burglaries and thefts in the area where there had been no gates or security guards. He said two houses had been burgled in broad daylight recently as there was nobody present. He said tenants prefer to take those houses on rent where there was sufficient security. He claimed that a fear psychosis prevailed in the residents whose houses had been located along the green belt running parallel to bypass road with Agra canal. A resident of Sector 14 said that the security was the responsibility of the residents and no one should depend on the police to look after their houses. He said the police generally arrive on the spot long after the crime had taken place. As a result, it is reported that a large number of gates have been erected and watchmen posted in a majority of areas. |
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Ravi Varma paintings seized New Delhi, March 24 The paintings depict Mohini and Sita in exile, image of Rama when he leaves Ayodhya, Bal Krishnan and Yashoda Shankar, Vitobha and Rukumayai, portrait of Nizam of Hyderabad (Mir Mehboob Ali Khan – Asaf Jah VI), Shri Dattatreya, Ganesha with companions and Krishna killing his uncle and Ram breaking the bow. Another painting is a nude by P Gerhardt. Even though no arrest has been made in this case, the CBI said that the firm had already sold about 73 precious paintings to various persons through auctions in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore without acquiring permission from the ASI. |
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PUC certificate with numberplate photo New Delhi, March 24 The decision follows the recent upgradation of pollution checking facilities in Delhi through computerisation of PUC centres. In this system, the photograph of the vehicle registration number plate is printed on the pollution checking report. Mr Maken said there were 345 computerised centres where this facility had been made available.
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Carrot and stick policy for tax collection Sonepat, March 24 Besides, the house owners would also be required to pay an interest of 12 per cent per annum on the amount. An important development this time is that the house owners have been deprived of the opportunity to appeal against the assessment of the fixed house tax. However, as claimed by the Municipal authorities, the tax has already been assessed according to the collector’s rates of land for the year. The fire tax amount, which has been fixed as 20 per cent of the house tax, has been clubbed with the house tax in the bills. The fire tax amount will remain unchanged irrespective of whether the house tax is paid on the due date or later. Meantime, the daily wages employees of Gohana Fire Station have decided to appeal in the court for payment of their salaries by the Municipal authorities. Since the inauguration of the fire service at Gohana by the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, on October 10, 2001, the employees have not been paid their salaries. |
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Loangate: Bank managers lining their pockets Sonepat, March 24 The situation reflects too badly on the working of these banks. The awful irresponsibility with which the bank officials have been offering credit facilities to unscrupulous entrepreneurs, leading to bungling of public money, stands exposed. The story goes that a number of small entrepreneurs, who secured loans from banks on furnishing security in the shape of plants, machinery and raw material in their units, were audacious enough to surreptitiously dispose these later on. The bank authorities are thus in a fix and they find it almost impossible to recover the loan amount from these entrepreneurs. The legal process to recover the loan is not very helpful in such a situation. There is a great need, it is felt, for putting a stop to this scandal, more so because the government has pushed through measures to squeeze bank credit. Unless such shady bank deals are curbed public money will continue to pass through the banks into the hands of unscrupulous entrepreneurs for whom industry is not the means to producing goods for the country but amassing wealth through questionable means. Meanwhile, the general public is not happy with the day-to-day functioning of the nationalised banks which, it is alleged, are fast becoming centres of inefficiency, delay and maladministration in terms of their services to the public. The people are critical of the working of the State Bank of India as they face inconvenience in depositing money in government accounts. The working of the Haryana Financial Corporation has also become the subject of public criticism as many industrialists had failed to repay the loan instalments. Lack of proper planning and processing of payments under the Prime Minister’s self-employment scheme have rendered the programme a hoax in this district. The needy have been left out and the greedy have lapped up the cream with the active connivance of politicians and bankers. According to official sources, the ambitious programme of the Prime Minister of giving loans to the educated unemployed did, in fact, achieve its target. It educated the unscrupulous elements in the art of defrauding the banks. It is difficult to pinpoint the institution or the individuals responsible. Official sources have revealed the banks had fixed a target of 1,010 educated jobless youths to be given loans under the Prime Minister’s self-employment scheme during the current financial year. However, the banks had sanctioned the loan amounts for 976 educated unemployed youths till November 30 this year but these banks had advanced the amount to 619 educated unemployed youths only so far. The banks had imparted training to as many as 399 educated jobless youths during the period under review. It is alleged that the non-cooperative attitude of the bank managers and officials and malpractices in the grant of loans to the unemployed educated youths has made the scheme a farce. The processing of applications is abnormally delayed at different levels and the recommendations of the bank authorities are made for pecuniary reasons. The officers are sore at the tactics adopted by the banks and the applicants are disappointed when their applications are rejected without any rhyme or reason. Under the scheme, educated unemployed youths were to be provided loans up to Rs 35,000 to set up industries or start a trade or business. The government, however, liberalised the rules and the applicants were not required to furnish any surety or guarantee for the loans. Meanwhile, the district unit of the Non-Employed Persons Sangh has alleged most of the bank managers harass the loan seekers in one way or the other to extract money from them. |
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FACE TO FACE He eats cricket, drinks cricket and dreams cricket. For 37-year-old Malkit Singh, who is a resident of Kalkaji in South Delhi, the game of cricket is everything for him. His wife and two kids share his obsession virtually turning the home into a cricket stadium. The obsessions with cricket started early in his life and the years have not dampened the zeal. On the contrary, age has only added zest to it. He had played cricket for his school and college. He had also played in the Ranji trophy matches for Delhi. But somehow, his cricket career remained restricted to Ranji trophy level only. This enthusiastic cricket lover decided to devote his entire life to cricket and vowed to promote the game in the countries where it is not normally played. Keeping this objective in mind, he set up his own cricket club ‘New Sports Club’ in 1995 and turned half of his residence into a functional office for the club. Since its inception, different teams of this club have toured many non-cricket playing countries, like the United States of America, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Nepal. He is credited of having popularised the gentleman’s game in these countries. In an exclusive conversation with the NCR Tribune, he talked about different issues related to this game and his association with it. What prompted you to set up your own cricket club? There is no denying the fact that the game of football is more popular in developed countries, like the United States of America and the France and the game of cricket commands more popularity in developing countries, like India and Pakistan. Being an ardent fan of this game, I decided to promote the game of cricket all over the world. Of late, cricket is becoming more glamorous and popular like football in these days. Keeping this in mind, I decided to start my own cricket club. The well-known former cricket players of our country, like Atul Wasan, Rajesh Chauhan, Venkatapati Raju, Vijay Yadav, Salil Ankola and many other Ranji trophy players are active members of the club. However, time to time we form separate teams for different tours for different non-cricket playing countries. What have been your experiences
in playing and promoting cricket abroad? Even in the countries like the United States of America, France, Canada, Germany, Japan and Nepal, the game of cricket is in practice to some extent. However, it is not so popular like other countries. In fact, this game is alive due to the efforts from non-resident Asians living there. Among all games, they like cricket most and due to this reason this game is gaining popularity there. Seeing the increasing popularity of cricket, even other people residing there and their governments have now started supporting and promoting this game. One can gauged the universality of cricket from one example. Of late, in America, at least 35 cricket clubs are successfully running in different parts and they are promoting this game in full swings. Everybody knows that the game of football holds utmost popularity there. Despite the fact, the game of cricket is in the vogue among the new generation of that country. And, I am sure the America will participate in the next cricket World Cup and will emerge as top contender for the trophy. Our club has played a major role in inspiring countries like Canada and Holland to play cricket. Our club teams have toured these countries many times in past. And after the completion of this world cup, we are all set to send our teams to these countries. But the primary games are football, baseball and rugby. Now, they are tilting towards cricket. For the first time, a mega cricket conclave was organised in Canada in 1995, in which teams from India and Pakistan had participated. What are the other activities your club engaged with? Apart from promoting cricket in non-cricket playing countries, our club is engaged in different types of charitable works since its inception. We organise cricket matches for the help of different blind associations, AIDS cell, Save the Children Society, Sawera, Paryas, Navjyoti and so on. There are so many cricket clubs in the country. What are they doing for the promotion of the game? As a matter of fact that cricket club has become a status symbol in our country. Now situation is that leave renowned cricketer, even petty cricketers have their own cricket clubs. They are mushrooming at every nook and corner of the metro cities. And these clubs have nothing to do with the promotion of the game. Opening a cricket club has become a business and it is totally a money-spinning venture, particularly in the metro cities. And the commercialisation of cricket is becoming more rampant. Their contribution is zero. How many players are inducted into national team from these so-called cricket clubs? The condition and objective of our cricket clubs are really disappointing in comparison with the similar existing clubs in West Indies, South Africa, England, Australia and New Zealand. In these countries, players are inducted in national teams from local cricket clubs. India in the past did well in hockey. But there has been a decline. What according to you is the reason for this? It is a case of paradigm shift. A swift shift from hockey to cricket. Those were the days, when India was a dominant team in hockey for many years. After the late 50’, focus was shifted towards Cricket. And hockey, despite being a national game, came to the sideline and totally neglected. Cricket was dubbed as unofficial national game of our country. It was so extent that in early eighties, even star players of hockey of our country, like Dhanraj Pillai and Bhaskaran could not get due respect and applause. Even from the government side, there is a complete disparity. Now, hockey players are not getting due respect and cheer in our country. And I would say media is plays the big role in boosting the game of cricket. Now cricket players have become celebrities. Today, hockey players can not dream of such status. Due to this newly arrived glamour and glitz inputs into this game, new generation is crazy about the game of cricket. What is your next venture? We are toying with the idea of incepting a cricket academy for the training of promising and poor cricket players, so that their natural talents should be nurtured without giving any financial burden upon their families. For this, we want a good ground for the net practices of these budding cricket players. For this ground, we had approached to Ms Uma Bharti, former Union Sports Minister. And She had given a positive response, but till now nothing concrete has came out. Former Test player Vijay Yadav is running a good academy of its type in Faridabad. He has sufficient ground for net practice. On the lines of that academy, a good ground should be provided to our club from government side, be it in Delhi, in Noida or in Ghaziabad. You have been very close to Maninder Singh and Harbhajan Singh. Can you share some memorable events of this association? Maninder was very promising cricketer. Unfortunately, he could not play more cricket for India. Harbhajan is equally talented. Earlier, his bowling action was questioned by international cricket association, which disappointed him. On my personal suggestion, he went to London for coaching to rectify his bowling action. Now he is doing very well. |
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BRASS TACKS The third week of March every year is eagerly awaited for the Oscar night. This year, however, the build up to the event has been somewhat subdued with the World Cup dominating the pages. Oscars, ever since their inception in 1927, remain the film industry’s most glittering prize. Ben Hur’ (1959) holds the record number of Oscars- 11, with ‘West Side Story’ (1961) closely following at 10. ‘Gone With The Wind’ (1939), ‘Gigi’ (1958) and the ‘Last Emperor’ (1987) had 9 each, while ‘My Fair Lady’ (1964) had eight. ‘Casablanca’ (1943), which was recently voted as the best romance of the century, could not get an Oscar for its famous pair of Humphery Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Other famous names that never made it, are Richard Burton, Charlie Chaplin, Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe. By the time this goes into print, the awards would have been announced but considering the nominations, no record breaking performances are likely. But first cricket Well
done, India:
Losing only to the best team of the World Cup and in the finals is a remarkable turn around in performance as well as fortunes. Several records have been set but Tendulkar, inspite of his failure in the final, has outclassed them all. Tendulkar’s dominance in the 2003 World Cup confirms a pattern where success is built around a superlative performance, inspiring and generating a hunger for victory amongst others. Right from its inception in 1975, every World Cup has seen the imprint of a towering personality, a player who is far ahead of others and held both in awe as well as high esteem. Clive Lloyd in 1975 and Vivian Richards 1979 plundered almost every bowler; 1983 was the year of Kapil Dev, while nothing could go wrong for Border’s Aussies in 1987. Though New Zealand lost in the semi finals of 1992, it was surely not Imran Khan but Martin Crowe and Greatbatch, who would be remembered for successfully reversing the slog overs theory by blasting every bowler in the first fifteen overs, a style which continues to be a match winner even today. The Sri Lankan victory in 1996 was attributed to Arvind De Silva and in 1999, despite the masterly Steve Waugh, it was Shane Warne all the way. This year, apart from the consistency of Tendulkar, the strategy and tactics of Ganguly, and his own form have been applauded by the informed media, who till the other day ridiculed him. Though he was let down by the bowlers in the final, he showed the right amount of aggression and the correct mental attitude, so essential for success. Inspite of their failure to win the cup in the final match, the real find of the tournament has been the striking capacity of our pace trio. Perhaps, under intense pressure from the media and the fans, they could not put in their best in the final match. However, coming from the land of ‘slow turners’, where spinners have always dominated, reaching the final of the World Cup was an achievement indeed. Until the arrival of Kapil Dev on the scene, none had seen genuine pace from an Indian, so much so that sometimes Gavaskar used to open the bowling. In one test match (Old Trafford 1967), even Pataudi and Budhi Kunderan (reserve Wicket Keeper) had to open the bowling. Now, the success of Nehra, Zaheer and Srinath is bound to be infectious and would inspire numerous youngsters and bring out fresh talent. In the prevailing atmosphere of heavy sledging and intimidating body language on the field, and psy-war tactics off it, one has almost forgotten that cricket used to be known as a ‘Gentleman’s game’, where certain norms and traditions were important. In fact, till the early sixties, the match between the ‘Gentlemen’ and the players used to be a regular feature in England. Today, perhaps the over
commercialisation of the game is responsible for the present state of affairs. It is in this context that Adam Gilchrist’s decision to walk, when the umpire had ruled him not out, appears to be a rare gem of a gentlemanly behaviour. Brian Lara also belongs to that rare breed. Our own Gundappa Vishwanath, however, surpasses them all. He had assumed the captaincy of India in the sixth and the last Test at Calcutta during Pakistan’s tour of 1979-80, the series having already been decided in India’s favour under Gavaskar. This was followed by the Golden Jubilee Test between India and England at Bombay in February 1980, also known as Botham’s test. India batting first went cheaply for 242, Botham claiming 6 wickets for 58 runs. In reply, England were tottering at 58 for five, when Botham was given out. While he was just off the crease enroute the pavilion, the appeal was withdrawn by our captain, who was none other than Vishwanath, enabling Botham to score a match winning 114. In India’s second innings, he claimed 7 for 48 to give England an easy victory in less than 4 days. Vishwanath’s action won wide acclaim but it is a different story that he had to step down from captaincy, followed by somewhat premature retirement at the end of the next season. Science of Astrology:
Those who know astrology can indicate the way to various possibilities in future, but who else except the creator alone, i.e, Brahma, can say with certainty what will happen. Towards the end of last year, it had become quite clear that Iraq was fast hurtling into a situation where war would almost be a certainty. However, several deadlines were shifted and finally, a deadline of March 17 was assigned by the U.S.A, with war actually commencing on the morning of March 20. The annual panchang published last year, has an interesting entry for the fortnight March 19-April 1, 2003, which can be translated as follows: “Efforts at world peace will not be successful. Mutual trust amongst nations would diminish and at some places military action leading to widespread bloodshed would be there”. Now is it a mere coincidence or destiny that the deadline of March 17 was extended by 48 hours to be relevant to the fortnight under reference. (Dr.K.K.Paul is
Special Commissioner, Administration, Delhi Police) |
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NCR BRIEFS Faridabad, March 24 Lack of fire-fighting equipment Ghaziabad: This industrial town badly needs to strengthen its fire-fighting equipment and arrangements. Even the Collectorate and other departments woefully lack fire-fighting facilities. This is a sad commentary on the apathy of the administration 26 years after the formation of Ghaziabad as a separate district during which period there has been a heavy increase in the population of the district. The number of industrial and commercial establishments have increased and the size of the city has also registered a great expansion. But the number of fire stations has not increased. Ghaziabad, Modi Nagar, Hapur and Sahibabad are the only four fire stations in the district. OC
Dept heads appointed Rohtak: The Vice-Chancellor of Maharshi Dayanand University, Maj-Gen Bhim Singh Suhag (retd), has in terms of Statute 21 and 21-A of the MDU Act appointed five heads of different departments. A press statement issued by the university administration on Monday stated that Dr Rajinder Singh, Reader, has been appointed Head of Computer Science and Applications, Dr (Mrs) Indira Kumari Dhull, Reader, Head of the Education Department, and Dr S. S. Chahar, Reader, Head of the Public Administration Department with immediate effect. Dr (Mrs) Rameshwari Devi and Dr Dalip Singh Bajia, both Readers, have been appointed Heads of Physical Education and Defence and Strategic Studies Departments, respectively, with effect from April 6.All these appointments have been made for a period of three years.
MDU Test schedule revised Maharshi Dayanand University has revised the schedule of entrance tests for admission to various courses in university teaching departments and affiliated colleges in Haryana. A spokesman for the university said on Monday that the prospectuses for admission to BE/B.Tech/B.Arch courses would be available from April 9 and those for admission to B.Pharmacy /MBA/MCA courses would be available from March 31.The last date for submitting application forms for the first category of courses was May 9 and that for the other category was April 24. He said the university would conduct entrance test on June 10 for admission to BE/B.Tech/B.Arch courses, on May 17 for B.Pharmacy and MBA and on May 25 for MCA courses.
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DELHI DIGEST New Delhi, March 24 Load-shedding:
Protest outside Pak Embassy:
Led by the President of NAD, Mr Paramjit Singh Pamma, the protesters raised slogans against Pakistan’s involvement in the incident and burnt the effigy of the Pakistani President, General Musharraf. The protesters demanded that Pakistan should be declared a terrorist state, considering its involvement in the massacre that left 24 dead. Addressing the gathering, Mr Pamma said the United States should wage a war against Pakistan if it was serious in fighting terrorism. He blamed Pakistan for causing terrorist attacks in the country and for the brutal killings of Hindus and Sikhs. |
‘Spread
of telephone services to help economic growth’ Rohtak, March 24 He expressed the concern that citizens living in
rural and semi-rural areas have not yet fully benefited from the
telcom revolution. “They use the telephone only for receiving
messages and greetings from relatives and friends,” he said. He said
the telephone, which was considered a luxury in the beginning, has now
become a necessity. Mr Prithpal Singh claimed that the mobile
service launched by the BSNL in November 2002 “has registered a
tremendous growth”. As on date, the BSNL mobile service has nearly two million customers and by the end of the current calendar year, the number of customers would increase to five million, he said. The department was considering the proposal to provide international roaming facility and inter-zone roaming facility to the BSNL mobile consumers. Besides
the main OCB exchange with a capacity of 5,000 telephone lines, Mr
Singh also commissioned three Remote Service Units (RSU’s) with a
combined capacity of 8,000 lines. He also inaugurated an upgraded
customer service centre in the industrial town of Bahadurgarh. The
General Manager, Rohtak Telecom districts, Mr S Bhargava, said three
more upgraded customer service centres would be set up at Rohtak,
Jhajjar and Bhiwani. The Rohtak Telecom District comprises the three
revenue districts of Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar, and is covered by
157 digital electronic telephone exchanges. These exchanges have a
total equipped capacity of 1.60 lakh telephone lines. Mr Bhargava said
that the department has planned expansion of Trunk Automatic Exchange
(TAX) by adding 7,000 more lines. |
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RINA considering
ISO certificate to Sahara Grace New Delhi: Internationally renowned Italian organisation RINA is carrying out studies of Sahara Grace, Gurgaon, for ISO 9001 certification. Sahara Grace is a venture of Sahara Housing, the largest housing company with 19,000 acres of company-owned land and projects worth Rs 51,000 crore in hand all over the country.
TNS
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