Ballabagarh, September 29
Scotching all speculations, at least for now, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) today stressed that it will not forge any electoral alliance in the state for the coming parliamentary and subsequent assembly elections in the state.

Addressing a well-attended public meeting organised by the Faridabad unit of the party here, the national general secretary of the party and in charge of Haryana, Pubjab, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh affairs, Man Singh Manhera, said that his party will contest the parliamentary and assembly elections in the state on its own.

He said that the party has already announced its nominees for the Lok Sabha elections in five of the 10 parliamentary seats and would announce the remaining names soon.

He further revealed that his party will organise a state-level rally at Jind on October 9, which will be attended by all the members of the party. He said that the party aims to enroll a total number of one lakh members by November.

Manhera came down heavily on all the political parties alleging that they had all joined hands to prevent their leader Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati from becoming the next Prime Minister of the country.

Referring to the debate on the confidence motion in Lok Sabha in the wake of the N-deal controversy, he said that it was a “matrimony” between the Congress and the BJP in which others took part and speaker Somnath Chaterjee played the role of a high priest. It was all done to prevent Mayawati from becoming the Prime Minister. He claimed that after the next general elections no one would be able to stop her from becoming the Prime Minister.

With regard to the affairs in Haryana, he said that if his party came to power, it would provide three canals to those below Below Poverty Line (BPL).

Criticising the Congress goverment in Haryana, he charged that the ruling party had plans to gift away 100 sq yards of land to its supporters showing them as people BPL. He tried to bolster his argument by pointing out at the alleged large-scale complaints of omissions in the BPL list in the state. He further said that the Congress government in the state had failed on several fronts, including law and order.

On the occasion, about a dozen small time workers claiming to be members of the BJP and the INLD joined the BSP.

Among others, former cricketer Chetan Sharma was also present on the occasion. He also addressed the gathering. He said that he would not mind contesting from Faridabad parliamentary seat if asked by his party leadership. Chetan had joined the BSP more than a month back. He alleged that Ranbir Singh Mahendra, the former president of the Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) had promoted only players form Bhiwani and other places in the state and ignored Faridabad. He also assured to rectify the error if his party came to power at the centre.

Ballabgarh, September 29
Congress leaders of the district today urged people to be on their guard against the fundamental forces.

Speaking at a public function on the occasion of Iftaar party thrown by local Congress MLA and secretary of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, Sharda Rathore, party leaders praised the state government for “working for the welfare of all sections of the society”.

Speaking on the occasion, local Congress MP (member of parliament) Avtar Singh Bhadana said that some forces in the society were bent on disrupting the secular fabric in Faridabad. He praised Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh for his initiative on the N-deal and said that it will help the country in a great way in times to come.

Sharda Rathore accepted the demands put forward by the Muslim community.

They include a public place for consummating marriages of members of the community and opening up of the burial ground at village Uncha Gaon.

The district president of the Faridabad unit of the party, B.R.Ojha assured that the demands will be given a positive consideration.

Greater Noida, September 29
The Congress is all set to start new innings in Uttar Pradesh with All India Congress Committee (AICC) chairperson Sonia Gandhi slated to address a public rally in Dadri on Tuesday.

According to young Congress MP Sachin Pilot, this will virtually launch the Congress election campaign in the state.

It is expected that Sonia Gandhi would talk about the plight of farmers and industrial workers, who have been an aggrieved lot, in the area.

The rally would voice the concerns of farmers and workers who have gone through trying times during the last two months at the hands of the state government and the local administration. In a way, it would project the concerns and problems of Kisan Mazdoor to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government in UP.

State and district Congress leaders are trying their best to make Sonia Gandhi’s rally a success.

It is believed that with the Gujjars supporting congress, the party will launch its offensive against the ruling BSP.

Residents of the area would, however, demand solutions to delay in the sanctioning of airport in Javer, sanctioning of a railway station in Greater Noida by the centre and land acquisition. 

New Delhi, September 29
The Delhi government plans to open seven more ‘Aap Ki Rasois’ in the next one month to provide free and nourishing food to the destitute and the homeless.

This was announced by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit while inaugurating the 13th ‘Aap Ki Rasoi’ at Lajpat Nagar in South Delhi last evening.

The free food distribution centres are being run jointly by the Delhi government and the International Society For Krishna Consciousness (ISKON) under the Bhagidari scheme of the state government. ISKON director for Delhi, Brajendra Nandan Das was also present on the occasion.

The idea behind ‘Aap Ki Rasois’ is to provide at least one full meal to those who live below the poverty line in the sprawling metropolis.

Dikshit said that intensification of Hunger-Free Delhi Campaign would go a long way in curbing malnutrition. The Chief Minister said that the city-government would continue to facilitate NGOs/business houses in distribution of cooked food at specified centres. She expressed confidence that fresh food would be provided everyday. The government under its new initiative would give permission to utilise night shelters for distribution of cooked food whereas the donors would bring hygienically cooked material for distribution to the poor.

Twelve such centres at Nizamuddin Basti, Jhandewalan, Chandni Chowk, Yamuna Bazar, Guru Gobind Hospital Raghubir Nagar, Shahdara, Janpath, Mangolpuri, Regarpura, Trilok Puri, East Arjun Nagar and RK Puram are already functional.

New Delhi, September 29
With the Capital in the grip of fear following the bombings that have claimed 25 lives so far and left over a 100 injured, the Delhi police today assured citizens that it would do its best to secure the city during the festival season of Eid and Durga Puja that begins this week.

The police has also asked organisers of Ram Lila and Durga Puja to wrap up their programmes before 10 p.m. or face legal actions, including fine or imprisonment or both.

Home secretary Madhukar Gupta held a meeting with senior officials to discuss security arrangements. Delhi police commissioner Y.S. Dadwal was asked to intensify patrolling during the festival season.

Dadwal later held a meeting of his senior officers to discuss the security measures to be adopted especially in temples, pandals, busy markets and other important places.

Though police officials said that there was no specific threat, they were extra vigilant due to the recent bombings in the Capital.

On September 13, five synchronised bomb blasts — one at Karol Bagh, two at Connaught Place and two at Greater Kailash-I — killed 25 people and injured 124.

Exactly a fortnight later, one crude bomb exploded in a small electronic market of Mehrauli in South Delhi, killing a boy and injuring 22 people.

“We have adopted unprecedented security measures to avoid any terror incident. But also appeal to people to cooperate with the police in identifying any suspicious object, person or vehicle,” Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said. During the nine-day festival of Navratri beginning on Tuesday, people in large number will be thronging temples, and markets. It will end with Dussehra on October 9 while Eid-ul-Fitr is on Wednesday or Thursday.

The police has issued guidelines to markets and religious organisers.. — IANS

New Delhi, September 29
Male students of the age group between 18 and 26 years generally outshine their female counterparts in reading habits but it is the female students who score better in academics and competitive examinations.

This is the finding of another survey conducted by Assocham recently. “Why females are doing reasonably better in academics and even competitive examinations with their limited participation is because they are more focused against young boys whose reading habits are more diversified in nature” further reveals the survey.

According to it, the concentration levels of girls in whatever they attempt to read in pursuit of their careers is much more intense and is driven by sincerity to accomplish goals, while boys generally lag behind in it and cannot concentrate on one specified area for longer periods.

This is so because boys have many options and things on their platter which they chase according to their priorities and preferences, said the secretary-general Assocham, D S Rawat, while releasing the findings of the survey.

The survey which was conducted by the Assocham Social Development Foundation interviewed 900 girls and 1200 boys in a fortnight in all metros and cities like Pune, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Indore, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Ajmer, Chandigarh, Shimla and Dehradun. It was discovered that because of higher concentration levels, career-oriented girls do much better in their desire to excel in life as against ambitious young boys who have the benefit of gender superiority.

New Delhi, September 29
There is good news for students opting for IGNOU. The university will soon begin providing information regarding its courses, examination dates and results via SMS. The facility will get operational within 15 days.

Kicking-off the first level of the service, prof. P.V. Suresh, senior lecturer at the School of Computer and Information Sciences, said, “This service will make information gathering and other exhausting procedures very simple and instant. It is a first-of-its-kind experiment to be used by a university or educational institute in India. Most of the students enrolled with IGNOU are either those who are along side pursing regular courses or students who are working. The service will save their time.”

Sources within IGNOU inform that the project will operate at three levels. The first level will be started within 15 days, wherein bulk messages will be sent to millions of students enrolled with IGNOU. These messages will contain information about various courses, subjects and also about the SMS service. The second level will involve enabling students to send SMSs to the university to get information on various courses, subjects, related projects, examinations and its results.

In the third level, students will be able to update their personal details in their profiles, like address and phone number directly through the software designed especially by IGNOU.

Students staying abroad or in far-off areas will be the main beneficiaries of the service provided by the university.

The SMS will be in a proper format prescribed by the university and it will ensure privacy and credibility of information.

New Delhi, September 29
IGNOU will launch over 150 scholarships for students of certificate programme on community radio from the coming January 2009 session. This was announced by IGNOU vice-chancellor V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai on Monday.

“The scholarships will be given in partnership with the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA). It will act as an encouragement, not only for IGNOU, but for those who wish to learn the arts and crafts of community radio broadcasts,” said Pillai.

Pillai was addressing a two-day conference on community radio from September 29 to 30, which was inaugurated by O.P. Kejariwal, information commissioner, Central Information Commission.

Pillai emphasised that it was the first conference on community radio organised by an academic institution in India to bring together community radio practitioners, communication experts and academicians of the field on one platform.

Pillai informed, “Community radio is not only about participatory broadcast, but it is a new form of information dissemination at the grass root level. It follows India’s age-old tradition of oral learning and combines the use of tradition with technology by using the FM transmission mode. In fact in many ways community radio is what an open university aspires to achieve — teach without the confines of classroom and without the discipline of time bound structure.”

IGNOU’s programme includes a ten-day internship, a compulsory component, during which students will interact with the councilor, get an opportunity to see the functioning of a full-fledged community radio station while understanding a community from the point of view of a radio station, he added.

Pillai invited suggestions and ideas for taking forward the certificate programme for community radio to people who live in remote areas of the vast country and who will benefit most by this.

IGNOU has decided to rope in experts from different fields to assess how this communication tool can become a tool for development and empowerment of communities.

New Delhi, September 29
Indira Gandhi National Open University on Friday launched a new programme on acupuncture in collaboration with the Institute of Acupuncture and Natural Medicines (IANM). The course will commence from November this year.

IGNOU vice-chancellor prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai said: “The course would help medicine students to learn a new kind of therapy and use it for treating chronic diseases.”

The programme can be completed in a minimum period of 1 year and a maximum period of 3 years and is available to medical graduates and graduates in alternative medicines like ayurveda, unani, siddha and homeopathy.

This is the first time that a medical programme will be offered online with contact sessions for practical training.

Internal assessment for the programme will be done through online tests and term-end examinations. Acupuncture is a traditional method of therapy which is very well recognised world over and well accepted by people, as it does not have any side-effects.

This method has been found to be useful in all types of diseases especially chronic diseases. Moreover, the cost of the treatment is less as compared to the other branches of medicine.

The theoretical component of the course will be available online and for practical training, students can opt for any of the eight centres in India specified by the university.

These centres are located at New Delhi, Kolkata, Indore, Chennai, Hubli, Kota, Rourkela and Thiruvanathapuram.

New Delhi, September 29
Cardiologists here have advised the people on World Heart Day not to ignore any pain spreading to the shoulders, neck, jaw or arms as this could be a sign of an impending heart attack.

As much as chest pain, which seems to be the most common symptom of heart attack, discomfort in jaw and neck can also be the signs of an heart attack. It is more common for heart-related discomfort to affect the lower jaw than the upper jaw. It cannot be emphasized enough that a heart attack can have symptoms other than chest pain and these symptoms should be checked immediately. Very often, even physicians mistake anginal pain as “gas “or “acidity “or “heartburn”. It is important to get evaluated by your doctor to know the cause of your discomfort says Dr (Col) Anil Dhall, senior consultant cardiology, Max Healthcare, here.

Men’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly back or jaw and sometimes neck pain.

Dr Praveer Aggarwal, principal consultant, interventional cardiologist, Escorts, here says, “Even the smallest of the efforts sometimes is the sign of an impending attack. Some times this pain in the jaw may occur while eating. If this persists, one should immediately consult the doctor.”

Ignoring the neck pain can also be dangerous. It can lead to a heart attack. Neck is the vital passageway through which the spinal cord passes to connect the brain to the arms and legs and key body organs and tissues. The brain and spinal cord, with its important spinal and autonomic nerves, control and coordinate almost all body functions. Since the neck is exceptionally flexible, it lends itself easily to injury and pain. Thus, one should always see to it that a slightest pain in the neck should be immediately treated. “Ignorance is a major factor that aggravates the issue. As soon as some sort of discomfort is felt it is always advisable to meet an expert rather than going in for self-medication,” says Dr Umesh Gupta, HOD, cardiology, Umkal Healthcare, Gurgaon.

Also, when you have neck pain, pillows should be avoided while lying on bed. When there is a swelling or pain in the neck, applying heat on the neck helps. Tension causes pressure on the neck muscles which leads to pain.

Relaxation is the key to avoiding all tensions, advise these doctors.

New Delhi, September 29
The BSES today reiterated its appeal to the consumers to be aware of conmen and not to fall in the trap of imposters.

The appeal was issued after the BSES came across a few incidents of forgery and misrepresentation where impostors masquerading as its officials managed to not only dupe and cheat gullible customers, but also succeeded in extorting thousands of rupees from them.

“What is a worrying trend is the ability of these cheats to increasingly come up with newer set of tricks to dupe their victims. They are not shying away from using forged stationery, letterheads and even fake I-cards”, a spokesman said.

According to BSES sources, Krishan Kumar, a resident of Dwarka, was visited by one Goyal, masquerading as a BSES official, ostensibly to check his electricity meter. On checking the meter, the so-called official supposedly found the meter tampered with and to make it look authentic, pasted a notice on it.

A day later, Goyal again approached the customer and tried to scare him by telling him that since his meter had been found tampered with, he would be liable to pay a penalty of over Rs 2 lakh. Simultaneously, he also offered to settle and close the case, for Rs 20,000.

The following day, Goyal sent one Shiv Kumar to collect the money. Finding something amiss, the customer somehow detained Shiv on some pretext and immediately called BSES’s helpline. Within minutes, a BSES flying squad reached the customers residence and nabbed Shiv Kumar. He has been handed over to the police along with a written complaint from the customer.

During his interrogation, Shiv revealed that he and Goyal were impostors and had nothing to do with BSES. He also revealed that in the recent past, the duo had been quite active and had swindled three residents two from Dwarka and one from Janakpuri. Meanwhile, a hunt is on to nab his absconding accomplice.

In another case involving impostors, Dr Qumrul Hoda, a resident of the Badarpur Jaitpur area, was visited by two imposters claiming to be from the BSES’s enforcement department. In this case too, the masquerading officials checked the customers meter and found it to be tampered with. In this case, the so called officials were a bit more brazen in their approach and threatened the customer with a penalty bill of Rs 2.5 lakh, unless he agreed to settle the case in cash.

The customer, becoming suspicious bought some time to think over the offer and agreed to mee4t the imposters with cash the next day. He, meanwhile, the customer contacted the BSES helpline and narrated the entire episode. He was advised by BSES officials to play along for the moment and meet the masquerading officials as planned. A BSES vigilance team reached the venue before the scheduled time and succeeded in nabbing the conmen red handed. The duo Gopal and Manish Kumar were apprehended and handed over to the Govindpuri police post along with a written complaint from the customer.

Ghaziabad, September 29
A man, in an inebriated state, allegedly shot himself after a tiff with his wife over a trivial matter in Indirapuram on Sunday night. He was rushed to Paras Hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

Dhiraj Yadav, 40, lived in Divine Apartments, in Abhey Khand-II. He reportedly had a fight with his pregnant wife Lakshita, after which he was found lying on the ground in a pool of blood while his wife was hysterically wailing near him.

According to reports, Dhiraj had returned home in a drunken state at around 11 pm. There was an altercation between the two. Some time later, when Lakshita went to bathroom, Dhiraj bolted the door from outside and shot himself with his licensed revolver. Lakshita kept on banging the door, but it was opened only after their son, sleeping in the other room got up.

In another incident, a gas agency employee in Khora colony, after a dispute with his employer on money matter, hanged himself.

Satpal, 45, hanged himself late on Saturday. He had an argument with his employer over Rs 30,000 that he had deposited with him as security. But when Satpal asked his employer to return the security, he denied. The two had a fight over the issue, after which Satpal went back home and hanged himself.