Tuesday, November 12, 2013


Sooraj Barjatya style Band Baja Baaraat on Pyar Ka Dard!

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No Sooraj Barjatya story is ever complete without its grandeur & celebrations! And even while the festive season comes to an end, STAR Plus’ show ‘Pyar Ka Dard Hain Meetha Meetha Pyara Pyara’ will continue the merriment as one of the most lavish wedding of the season prepares to unfold. Televisions favourite love birds Aditya & Pankhuri will get married for the second time in the show and this time with elaborate ceremonies, amidst song, dance and more in true Rajshri style!

An excited Disha Parmar who plays Pankhuri says, “I was so disappointed when our wedding was scripted to be a quiet affair. I have grown up watching Hum Aapke Hain Kaun & Hum Saath Saath Hain and the moment I signed up with Pyaar Ka Dard all I could dream of was the grand functions, beautiful costumes, songs and elaborate sequences. I am happy my dream is finally coming true and I get to dress in the finery and have a tele-wedding.”

“With God’s grace, Pyaar Ka Dard has managed to touch a million hearts… when Adi and Pankhuri came together as a married couple the story did not permit us to give the audience a grand Rajshri style wedding… audience has been waiting for this wedding for long…so we have decided to make this wedding a grand and memorable one with lots of festivities and celebrations. Hope people love the Adi-Pankhuri wedding with all its grace, spice and masti that you will see on air during the festive season, “says Producer Mr. Sooraj Barjatya.

“We all are extremely excited shooting for these grand celebrations and almost feels like a real wedding. With all the artists coming together it’s been fun shooting through even the late hours! If this is going to be the mood on the show, we wish to celebrate many more weddings in the show!” says Mansi Salve who plays Avantika in the show.
Viewers are in for a treat as the coming week on Pyar Ka Dard will see the preparations of the wedding and other rituals shown in full swing!  The Sangeet was nothing less than a musical with around 11 songs being recorded and choreographed for the same. The sets of the show will be fully decorated and each character will have uniquely styled costume for each ceremony. Also this is the first time that all the 34 characters from the cast will be sharing the screen space together and end with a family photo like Hum Aapke Hain Kaun! We say let the fun times begin!

Do not miss the grand wedding of the year – Aditya & Pankhuri’s wedding in ‘Pyar ka Dard next week Monday to Friday 10.00 pm. only on STAR Plus!


 

Gurbani Singh and Aditi Ashok in the fray for USHA Eastern India Ladies

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Gurbani Singh and Aditi Ashok in the fray for USHA Eastern India Ladies & Junior Girls Amateur Golf Championship Golf 2013

Kolkata, November 11: After exactly a month and a gap of exactly two tournaments, Gurbani Singh and Aditi Ashok, the country’s top two amateur lady golfers in that order, are ready to cross swords once again at the USHA Eastern India Ladies & Junior Girls Amateur Golf Championship 2013, which is set to get underway at Kolkata’s Tollygunge Golf Club greens. Delhi based Gurbani registered a victory at the USHA Chandigarh Open last month and has been without a win since. She finished outside the top three at the USHA Northern India Open in Gurgaon which followed and then skipped the two subsequent tournaments at the Delhi Golf Club as well as the one played at the same course last week.  Bangalore based Aditi too has skipped the last two tournaments and has not won for a while and will surely be looking to make amends.

The draw has seen acceptance from 46 amateur lady golfers in all. Millie Saroha who is fresh from her victory at the same course last week would be looking to do an encore. The fact that she lies third behind Gurbani and Aditi on the IGU Ladies Order of Merit list for the year and that just about 65 points separate the top three, should egg her on further. Recent success on the golf course always helps.                                                                             

Strong challenge is also expected from ‘seasoned veterans’ of the IGU Ladies Tour like Gauri Monga, Amandeep Drall, Riddhima Dilawari, Gursimar Badwal, Tvesa Malik and Seher Atwal. The event will be played in the stroke-play format over three days and 54 holes. The winner is likely to emerge on Thursday, November 14


 

October exports grows at around 13%

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India’s exports for the month of October 2013 stands at USD 27.27 billion with a (Y-O-Y) increase of 13.47% as compared to USD 27.67 billion in September 2013 with a (Y-O-Y) growth of 11.15%. During October 2013, the imports were USD 37.82 billion with a (Y-O-Y) growth of around (-) 14.50 % as compared to USD 34.43 billion in September 2013 with a (Y-O-Y) growth of (-) 18.10%. The balance of trade stands at around USD (-) 10.55 billion during October 2013 as compared to USD (-) 6.76 billion during September 2013.

Value of foreign trade                                                    USD billion
Period
September
October
Apr-October
Exports
FY 14
27.67
27.27
179.37
Growth (%)
11.15
13.47
6.32
Imports
FY 14
34.43
37.82
270.06
Growth (%)
(-) 18.10
(-) 14.50
(-) 3.80
Trade balance
FY 14
(-) 6.76
(-) 10.55
(-) 90.68
 Source: PHD Research Bureau, compiled from Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Govt of India

The cumulative figure for the period of April-October FY2014 shows exports at USD 179.37 billion as compared to USD 168.70 billion in April-October FY2013 with a growth of 6.32%; while the cumulative imports for April- October FY2014 stands at USD 270.06 billion as compared to USD 280.73 billion in April- October FY2013 with a growth of (-) 3.80%. The cumulative figure for the balance of trade for the period of April- October FY2014 stands at USD (-) 90.68 billion as compared to USD (-) 112.03 billion in April- October FY2013.


 

Kejriwal Failed Commissioner Will Never Succeed As Politician

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Kejriwal Failed Commissioner Will Never Succeed As Politician
November11, 2013
With over 40 years experience I can say that when Arvind Kejriwal
failed as commissioner of Income Tax which is very light job with
little accountability answerable to none kind of situation – I was
responsible security of biggest electrical store – I didn’t even blink
before ‘Order Was Recorded’.
-    Politics is 100 times more difficult. There are Pushes and Pulls in
all directions. Surrounded by 99% IDIOTS and he himself is more than
half idiot – I think he will MISERABLY FAIL.
-    But most likely he will not heading Delhi Government and shall be
number 3 position.
-    Politically also he is Not Mature.
-    Contesting against sitting Chief Minister for 15 years there is good
chance he shall lose the election and with it he shall not be leading
AAP in assembly.
-    Thereafter losing control of AAP. Already there are 4-5 Splits in
IAC since founding in 2011.
-    Since he has Poor Skills to manage projects and problems and on top
of that he had to view all problems through CORRUPTION MICROSCOPE –
shall make it even more difficult and every MISTAKE shall be
TRANSLATED in SCAM by rivals the way he himself did it.
-    When operating from Ramlila he could Offer 100 Solutions every day
but in Government or in Assembly he will find it difficult to even
solve one problem in years.
    He shall be one of the members in Cabinet taking decisions – can’t
ignore views of others.
-    His own friendly RSS BJP NGOs shall be digging his grave.
Ravinder Singh
Inventor & Consultant
Ex. Moderator Indian Thinkers,
IHRO,
Progress India
Progressindia008@yahoo.com
AAP does not have road map to keep its promises: Rakesh Agarwal
Darpan Singh, Hindustan Times  New Delhi, November 11, 2013
Aam Aadmi Party member Rakesh Agarwal has said the party did not have
a road map to keep the promises it was making every day and expressed
concern over its “sinking fortunes”.
“There is no discussion around issues, plans and policies, about how
we will take Delhi forward. Every action is centred on winning votes,”
Agarwal said in an open letter to AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal and other
party leaders.
“We have been using simple-sounding solutions to capture the hearts of
the people, without considering the what, how and when of the
fulfillment of promises made,” the letter read.
“I am hoping that you will take this letter seriously, and ask the
right questions. My criticism is not personal but constructive,” it
said.
Agarwal has been instrumental in mobilising support of auto-rickshaw
drivers for the party.
Kejriwal and party spokesperson Manish Sisodia did not respond to HT’s
phone calls and text messages.
The letter also claimed that a large number of volunteers were getting
disillusioned. “The volunteers sensed the fragrance of change in the
air and trusted that if they joined in and lent their shoulders, they
could help move the mountain. They reposed their faith in you, Arvind
— your idea of Swaraj, your promise to root out corruption.
They were inspired by your sacrifice of an IRS job, and your perceived
ability to deliver good governance and provide a viable political
alternative. Alas, their dreams lie shattered,” the letter read.
“Attracted initially by your sheer energy, the volunteers who looked
for an intelligent vision, a roadmap for development and the mechanism
for ensuring probity in public life are now turning their backs.
Arvind, they are disillusioned,” Agarwal has said.
He also talked about the issues of autorickshaw drivers in his letter.
“You never spent a minute on discussing their problems or solutions.
You just wanted a list of things that we can show the auto drivers
that will make them happy,” Agarwal wrote in his letter.
“Hopes have been raised so high that they are bound to shatter. I
shiver at the thought of being part of such a government — or a
citizen under such a government,” he added.
Arvind Kejriwal a dictator, hurting party, says AAP leader
Darpan Singh, Hindustan Times  New Delhi, November 11, 2013
As the Aam Aadmi Patry rides high on its growing popularity and
projections of a dream debut in the December 4 polls, an internal
crisis is threatening to bring it crashing down.
A senior party leader, Rakesh Agarwal, has called AAP chief Arvind
Kejriwal authoritarian and, in an open letter to him, referred to
weaknesses “that could kill our dream”. He has accused Kejriwal of
building a personality cult and “relentlessly moving towards snatching
defeat from the jaws of victory”, as a result of which “betrayed,
dismayed and disillusioned volunteers are turning their backs (on the
party)”.
Agarwal, who has been associated with Kejriwal since 2000 and was key
in mobilising autorickshaw drivers to drum up support for AAP, wrote
the letter (HT has a copy of it) on October 28 — hopeful that there
was still time for course correction.
But having received no reply, he plans to hold a hold a press
conference on Tuesday “to make an important announcement”, details of
which he refused to divulge.
Pointing out that the rookie party was already paying the price for
vote-bank politics, political immaturity and adhocism in
organisational structure, Agarwal has written: “Delhi has been
witnessing a crass personality cult built around you. I am yet to see
a poster, banner, pamphlet, press conference or radio advertisement
that doesn’t bear your name, image or voice.”
He goes on to hint that there could be more dissident voices: “It is
the façade of swaraj (an idea close  to Kejriwal) behind which
authoritarianism rules that has alienated several key personalities. I
need not name them.”
“Nothing moves without your nod. Power is delegated to those who
quietly do your bidding instead of raising red flags. Are we seeing a
repeat of the sycophantic ‘Indira is India and India is Indira’? Will
we soon have party faithful mouthing ‘Kejriwal is kismet and kismet is
Kejriwal’,” the letter reads.
“There is no roadmap to keep the promises being made every day. There
is deafening silence on governance. Intelligence is missing in our
campaigns, which have failed to touch the people.”
Phone calls and text messages to Kejriwal and his lieutenant Manish
Sisodia went unanswered.


 

Call CM Prithviraj Chavan and urge him

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 DSCN1999
Dr. Asha Andyal
To Nksagar_1@yahoo.com
Today at 10:26 AM
Change.org

Call CM Prithviraj Chavan and urge him to prevent the 102 families of the Campa Cola Compound from becoming homeless today.

Dear Naresh -
They are going to demolish our houses today. Your support can stop this.
In the next few hours, I could be homeless along with 101 other families of the Campa Cola Compound. CM Prithviraj Chavan is the only person who can stop this demolition.
Last Friday, we met him with more than 25,000 signatures on the petition, including yours. He agreed to take a legal opinion on issuing an ordinance to stop the demolition. However, we have not heard from him yet.
Naresh, this is very urgent. Here is what you can do to help save our homes.
1. Call the Chief Minister’s office and ask him to stop the demolition.
  •  Call these numbers – (022) 22025151, 22025222, 23680184
  •  Ask for the CM. (You might get his secretary or other official.)
  •  Tell him/ her that you are calling to express your support for the residents of Campa Cola compound.
  •  Urge the CM to prevent the 102 families from becoming homeless today. Ask him when will he pass the  ordinance to stop the demolition?
2. Forward this mail to your friends. Ask them to sign the petition and spread the word.
Naresh, this is our last hope. It will only take you a few minutes, but you can help save 102 homes in the Campa Cola Compound.
Thank you for your support,
Jai Hind.
Dr. Asha Andyal via Change.org
Mailing Address: Change.org · 216 W 104th St., #130 · New York, NY 10025


 

‘Let’s get Poo to the Loo’ With UNICEF

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‘Let’s get Poo to the Loo’ With UNICEF India’s Nationwide Campaign
NEW DELHI – November 11 – UNICEF India today launched ‘Take Poo to the Loo’, an innovative digital-led campaign focusing on putting an end to open defecation. With this three-month initiative, UNICEF India aims to do more than just create awareness on the issue. The idea is to reach young people and create an active layer of advocates who can speak out against open defecation, further disseminate the message and influence their communities, families and peers to do the same. Collectively, this voice will help to stimulate the creation of a new social norm, one where everyone, always uses a toilet.
Through interactive social media components and initial on-ground activations across New Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai, the campaign will help to create the much needed buzz and noise about the need to see the nation free from open defecation. 
Crafted in the language of young people – quirky, informative and inspiring – ‘Take Poo to the Loo’ aims to promote youth participation and, thus, will give different tools such us games and mobile applications to ‘put poo in its right place’, the toilet. Users will also have the opportunity to participate in interactive activities through www.poo2loo.com,www.facebook.com/poo2loowww.twitter.com/poo2loo - #poo2loo and http://www.youtube.com/takepoo2loo, and show their commitment to end open defecation by signing a pledge to the Honourable President of India.
“In India more than 620 million people defecate in the open; this represents half the population. The other half have become blind to the practice – it is a socially accepted norm. A change is urgently needed. Everyone has to consider the practice of open defecation as totally unacceptable. Human excreta in the environment represent a risk to all of us, and, therefore, we have a duty to raise our voice, view our duty as citizens differently and support efforts to end this practice. The best way to start is to spread the word that this is not acceptable in the India we all want to live in. By creating buzz we aspire to put pressure on all different actors in society who need to act to make change happen,” states Sue Coates, Chief WASH, UNICEF India. 
To help young people open their eyes to the issue of open defecation Mr Poo –the campaign protagonist- will break loose on them. He will be creating havoc in different cities –on ground activation- and online assets. In addition, to amplify the impact of the campaign a series of videos where Mr Poo will be caught in different situations and a song will be released.
Partnerships are crucial to amplify the impact of the campaign. “Open defecation is a pressing public health issue and no sector can address it on its own. Civil society organizations, private sector, youth organizations, government, academia, decision makers, UN agencies and individuals have to work together on this. Everyone’s buy-in is essential to reach out to a wide audience,” says Caroline den Dulk, Chief Advocacy and Communication, UNICEF India.
UNICEF India is working with different civil society organizations, corporates, institutions and key influencers to spread the word about open defecation. For example, the NGO Protsahan is organizing workshops for children on this topic using different forms of art to engage them in the discussion. The Indian Institute of Technology will contribute to the initiative by mobilizing students in the campus in Delhi against open defecation and organizing an event on sanitation technology options to stop open defecation. Domex, through its partnership, is implementing a campaign on open defecation which includes the development of a website, among other assets, and is contributing part proceeds on the purchase of every bottle in India from October to December. The funds will be used by UNICEF on programmes to improve sanitation for children and communities.
Open defecation refers to the practice whereby people go out to the fields to defecate rather than using a toilet that ensures no direct contact with faeces. Where open defecation is practiced, excreta left exposed and untreated pose a significant public health hazard. 
India has made tremendous progress in the provision and use of toilets in the last 20 years, reducing the practice of open defecation from 75 percent of the population in 1990, to 51 percent in 2010. However, it is still home to the world’s largest population of people who defecate in the open. 
Each year nearly 20 million people are starting to use a toilet – breaking the inter-generational habit that was taught to them as toddlers. But 20 million new users a year is not enough to ensure that all children are born into an environment that will not contribute to them being stunted; where they will no longer suffer from repeated episodes of diarrhea; and where girls will be free from harassment and embarrassment as they enter puberty. 
About UNICEF
UNICEF works in more than 190 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org and www.unicef.org/india 


 

Returning to the History of 19th and Early 20th Century Immigration

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Returning to the History of 19th and Early 20th Century Immigration
A public talk by Dr. Ranabir Samaddar
WHEN: Tuesday, November 26, 2013, 5-7PM
WHERE: 55 W 13th St., 2nd Fl. (Dorothy Hirshon Suite), New York, NY
Abstract:
Recent studies on aspects of welfare state and schemes suggest a different way of understanding modern governance in which the study of the nation is not at the centre of political understanding. Instead, of significance in such studies is the inadequately explored history of governing a mobile, unruly world of population flows. These works have given us a sense of the hidden histories of conflicts, of desperate survivals, and of networks new and old. Studies of hunger in the nineteenth century, of itinerant movements and preaching, transportations of coolies, spread of famines, shipping of children and adult girls, trafficking in sex and labour, and pieces of welfare legislation to cope with this great infamy tell us how actually we have arrived at our own time of subject formation. This is certainly different from conventional nation-centred histories. Working within this new strand of history-writing, labour historians have tried to recognise the political significance of labour migration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Their works suggest a different way of writing the history of the nation-form in the last two centuries, where the extra-nationalist narrative of mobile labour constitutes a different universe.
The late nineteenth and early twentieth century was the period of several changing modes of labour process – the slave, the indentured, the contract, and finally the free. These modes historically never appeared as pure types, because much of the availability of labour depended on labour’s mobility. In fact, it was largely on the condition of making labour mobile that globalisation would proceed at that time. Transit labour then too, as it does now, occupied a crucial place in capitalist production. The late nineteenth and early twentieth century was a period of globalisation when migration controls were put in place. It was in that age that control of mobile bodies began constituting one of the most critical aspects of governance. The emergence of some of the different forms of labour subjectivities marking our world today can be traced back to that time.
Seating is limited - please RSVP.
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Fights against polio started by Dr. Harsh Vardhan

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Fights against polio started by Dr. Harsh Vardhan does India proud, Bill Gates appreciates India’s “Pulse Polio Programme”
Dr. Harsh Vardhan writes to Bill Gates , thanks him for appreciation
Bharatiya Janata Party’s Chief Ministerial candidate for Delhi and former health minister of Delhi, Dr. Harsh Vardhan today wrote to Microsoft founder Bill Gates thanking him for the high words of appreciation for the Pulse Polio Programme of India. The pulse programme originally conceived and initiated in Delhi by Dr. Harsh Vardhan during his tenure as Health Minister in BJP’s regime from 1993 to 1998.
The Pulse Polio Programme is the brainchild of Dr. Harsh Vardhan who has many accolades and is recognised as a global icon due to his path breaking achievements in the field of public health. In an interview recently Microsoft Founder Bill Gates had lavishly praised the Pulse Polio Programme of India.
In his letter to Bill Gates Dr. Harsh Vardhan said “ As you know my country had more than 60 per cent of the world’s polio afflicted children. When we started our fight against polio, we were told repeatedly that we were aiming for the impossible, and, as you have also mentioned that ‘polio would be eliminated in every country before it was eliminated in India’.”
Dr. Harh Vardhan further said that India’s success in immunizing around 170 million children on a single day on special national immunisation days, and to sustain this for years is a testament to the will and commitment of our people. “We are proud that India has not reported a single case of polio in the last three years,” he added.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan has also appreciated Bill and Melinda Gates foundation for their support to this crucial programme. “As WHO prepares to declare India polio-free in the next few months, I want to place on record my appreciation for the immense support extended by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for our efforts,” said Dr. Harsh Vardhan in his letter.

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