Govt school teacher clears IAS exam against all odds

New Delhi, May 7 (UNI) Monica Rani, a school teacher who hadto balance between taking care of her three-year-old child and her job, now finds that she has cleared the Civil Services examination.

It is all the more commendable as she did it without any special coaching and took care of her child single-handedly asher husband is posted in Kolkata.

''It is amazing. It was a difficult journey for me. I have athree-year-old child to take care of. I did not take coaching,despite that the result is amazing,'' Ms Rani told UNI. It was her third and last attempt for the prestigious civilservices.

''Many a times it had come to my mind that I should abandon mypursuit as it was too demanding for me. But I continued and finally with god's grace I succeeded,'' she said.

A Commerce graduate and a Masters degree holder in Economics, MsRani teaches Economics to 11th and 12th standard in a GovernmentGirls School in Bijwasan here. She took up History and Philosophy as her subjects of preference for the Indian Administrative Service(IAS) examination.

''Actually I used to teach History to students of sixth to tenth standard till 2008. It consolidated my base for the history. So Idecided to take up History as one of the two subjects,'' Ms Rani stated.

And about the second subject she said, ''I got interested in Philosophy during my pregnancy. I used to read Philosophy books and found them very interesting. So this way I decided on Philosophy as second subject,'' she added.

The success was hard earned for the 29-year-old woman as she started her day early in the morning. After coming back from school in the afternoon, she took care of her child. After completing all her chores, she hardly got 3-4 hours to study in a day.

''Before the exams, I sent my child to my mother's place, took leave from school and studied for 12-14 hours a day,'' Ms Rani said.

Her husband works in an IT company and has been posted in Kolkatafor the last three years.

She was ranked 70 in the Civil Services examination but it hardlyshows the efforts and sacrifices she had put in her pursuit of success.

Yoga imparted to youngsters in J&K

New Delhi, Apr 11 (UNI) Yogic principles are being imparted to youngsters in trouble-torn Jammu and Kashmir.

Besides yoga's proven mental and health benefits, the Chairman of Criminologists Society of Jammu and Kashmir (CSJK) Rameshwar Singh Jamwal is a firm believer in its powers to

prevent crime by altering the thought process of people.

The organisation is working on the project 'Safe J&K, Safe India' which aims "to create a force of millions of youngsters who believe in the rule of law and are ready to work to bring about change in the current scenario of J&K."

At present, the CSJK is working in the main Jammu city and its periphery in collaboration with the J&K Police. The CSJK is also educating school children in around 20 schools in Jammu city and its periphery.

"We teach them about the legal implications of their wrong doing as well as the moral aspect of their actions," Mr Jamwal said.

The group consisting of 22 people, mostly advocates, has taught around 500 teachers about Yogic Crime Theory (YCT).

"During my research I realised that most people get involved in criminal activities because they do not know about the legal implications. The fear of legal action against them works as a

deterrent with common people," he added.

He also claims that it can be effective in tackling the Naxal menace severely affecting the country. "Basically it works as a counter theory. For instance, the Naxal leaders also use

some kind of theory to influence these innocent tribals and manipulate their thinking process.

Similarly, the YCT manipulates the thinking process of these people for the betterment of

the society," Mr Jamwal explained.

Mr Jamwal is also Deputy Advocate General of J&K and has been working on curing the criminal behaviour of the people who have been involved in some kind of unlawful activity at some point in the past. He termed it as Yogic Crime Theory (YCT) and claimed to have cured 93 per cent of the people he had used the theory on.

He holds an invitation from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for its 12th Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice to be held in Salvador, Brazil from

April 12 to 19. However, he regretted his inability to attend the Congress, being held after a gap of five years, due to visa related problems.

"I have not received my visa yet. It is supposed to reach me by Monday (April 12) only, which will increase the cost of the return ticket to Brazil by two times."

"I cannot afford such high expense. If I had got my visa by today I could have managed but I have not got it," he added.

Mr Jamwal said earlier attended the 11th Congress in April 2005 held in Bangkok, Thailand.

As he was participating in the UNODC Congress as an individual expert, he had to bear the expenses. A total of 88 top criminologists was expected to attend the Congress and

Mr Jamwal was the sole Indian representative to be invited.

Now, as his visit is ruled out, he has requested UNODC to accept his reasearch papers for publiction in its journal which happily for him UNODC has agreed to do.

AIIMS doctor provoked student to commit suicide: Family alleged

New Delhi, Mar 22 (UNI) The family of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) MBBS student, who had allegedly committed suicide earlier this month, today alleged a senior

AIIMS Doctor of provoking him to take such a extreme step and demanded CBI enquiry into the matter.

Father of the deceased, Gulab Chand Ahirwar alleged, ''My son became the victim of caste discrimination. He was mentally tortured for five years and finally he broke down and committed sucide.''

Talking to mediapersons here, he said his son, Bal Mukund Bharti, had told his family about discriminating behaviour of one of his professors Dr Krishan Anand.

Bharti did not perform well in his final year examinations and failed in a paper on Community Medicine, an optional subject, along with four other students. He also could not get minimum passing marks in the compartment examination.

However, his family alleged that he was ''deliberately failed by Dr Anand'' because he belonged to ''schedule caste.''

''We have asked the AIIMS administration to provide us the answer sheets of all the five students, including Bharti, who appeared for the compartment examination,'' Mr Ahirwar said.

''Despite three formal requests, we have been denied access to the answer sheets,'' he added mournfully.

According to his family, Bharti had also attempted to change his name twice just to get rid of this caste discrimination.

All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations Chairman Udit Raj said, ''Earlier, we did not want to make this an issue but after seeing laxity on the part of the police and this caste based discrimination against the deceased, we have to enter the scene and fight for the justice for this poor family.''

Calling AIIMS a ''centre of discrimination'', Mr Raj asserted that they would meet Health Minister Gulam Nabi Azad and ask for his intervention not just for this case but for making AIIMS discrimination free.

Saying that there are several flaws in the police inquiry, Mr Raj and the family of the deceased demanded, ''An FIR should be registered and enquiry should be made by CBI in the case.''

The deceased had also attemepted suicide on February 18 by consuming excessive quantity of pills and been treated for depression for 15 days in AIIMS.

Bharti, hailing from Madhya Pradesh, got admission in AIIMS for MBBS in 2004 under Schedule Caste quota.

Shiela urges people to take country to 'summit of glory'

New Delhi, Jan 25 (UNI) Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today urged the people of the Capital to take a pledge to help India reach the 'summit of glory', and saluted soldiers who sacrificed their lives to defend the country.

''Let's take a pledge that we will work for the development of the country and help it reach to the place where it will lead the whole world,'' Ms Dikshit said on the occasion of Republic Daycelebrations in the Capital.

Brass bands, police personnel, National Cadet Corps and students from various schools of the city participated in a parade to mark Republic Day celebrations in a ceremony at Ambedkar Stadium.

Ms Dikshit, on behalf of all Delhiites, gave a 'National Salute' to the Tricolour. The impressive contingents of Delhi Policein their impeccable attire gave a 'General Salute' to the Chief Minister.

On the occasion, students from various schools presentedcolourful cultural programmes with inspiring themes such asCommonwealth Games, Unity and Peace.

The Chief Minister also interacted with the children participatingin the cultural programmes.

During her speech, Ms Dikshit expressed her faith in the children in making Delhi a world class city.

Delhi govt in talks with NAFED to provide cheaper food

New Delhi, Jan 25 (UNI) Delhi government is in talks with NAFED to provide essential commodities to people at cheap prices, Delhi Chief Mininster Sheila Dikshit said here today.

''We are making efforts to provide food at cheaper rates than the market. We are also in talks with NAFED to provide such a service and the decision will be taken within few weeks,'' Ms Dikshit said at the State Republic Day 2010 function in Ambedkar stadium.

Speaking at the function, she played down her earlier remarks during an interview about people coming to Delhi from other states and asserted that Delhi is the capital of India and it belongs to all Indians.

''Anybody can come here. We welcome and are bound to make available all facilities for everyone coming from other states,'' she added.

The Delhi government had undertaken the task for organisingCommonwealth Games here and would fulfil its commitment with all Indians. ''I can say that work is going very swiftly. The Delhi, which we see today as a dug-out place, would be ofinternational standard soon,'' she observed.

The Chief Minister was confidence personified about the successful organisation of the CWG and said by October, Delhi would have 15-16 world-class sporting facilities ''which will also help oursportspersons in future to enhance their skills and perform at the highest level''.

In her address to Delhiites, Ms Dikshit said in 12 years of Congress rule in Delhi, several commendable works have been done by the government.

''The passing percentage of students in schools has risen to 90 per cent which was earlier between 40 and 50 per cent,''she added. ''Ladli scheme also fared good as it has helped in improving the education standards of girls in Delhi,'' she averred.

She further noted that there is a significant improvement in the girls-boys ratio in schools after Ladli. Last year, 1,004 girls over 1,000 boys applied for admission in schools in the capital.

Saying that around 5.5 lakh students were given scholarships last year, she said the government is planning to increase this number.

The government has specially focused on the educational infrastructure in Delhi as several schools, colleges and universities were opened in Delhi during the Congress regime, the Chief Minister stated.

Praising the health services available in Delhi, Ms Dikshit said, ''We have best health facilities in the country and around 35 per cent of the total patients in Delhi come from other states which shows the quality of service we provide.''

She also mentioned about her government's resolve to improve the basic amenities including water, electricity and transportation in Delhi as per the increasing needs of the people.

''As the water and electricity demands were increasing day-by-day, we have been continuously endeavouring to match the demands,'' she noted.

She added the green cover of the capital has registered a significant improvement despite the ongoing construction work all over and stands among world's best cities in terms of green cover.

Sonia flags off AIDS awareness train

New Delhi, Dec 1 : On the World AIDS Day today UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi flagged off the second Red Ribbon Express, which will travel across the country to disseminate information about prevention and cure of HIV/AIDS, at Safdar Jung railway station here.

The Red Ribbon Express is an initiative to spread awareness among the masses about one of the most fatal diseases in the world, HIV/AIDS, by reaching to the people living in far flung areas.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms Gandhi said through this train knowledge would be spread to outreach places and spread awareness about the disease.

She also expressed satisfaction that the fight against AIDS is on the right track.

She opined that 'knowledge is empowerment' and it can save many lives by making people aware. ''We are committed to continue to work towards containing and reversing the HIV/AIDS pandemic,'' Ms Gandhi asserted.

The trian, in Phase-II, would halt at 152 stations in 141 districts across 22 states and would hold awareness programmes in about 10,000 villages during its year-long journey.

Addressing the gathering, Union Railway Minister Mamta Banerjee said, ''If we all work together it is very much possible to eradicate this evil from the society.'' It is necessary to provide economic as well as social security to the victims in order to wipe out the pandemic, she added.

Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad while giving the statistical information about the disease said, ''The idea behind the train was to take the information to the people residing in remote and far flung areas instead of dispensing the information while sitting in one corner.'' There are around 23 lakh HIV affected people in India.

The Health Minister said the number of HIV patients in India have been reducing significantly.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit while praising the initiative said the train would help in providing knowledge to the people about how to prevent and fight the disease besides how to treat affected people.

The volunteers on the train would visit the nearby residential areas and counsel the people about HIV/AIDS. There is counselling facility inside the trian.

The Red Ribbon Express is a joint endeavour of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, National Aids Control Organisation and Railways.

Links:

http://www.patrika.com/news.aspx?id=284308

http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-1846.html

http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/India/20091201/1395567.html

Pension scheme for auto drivers in Delhi

New Delhi, Nov 9 (UNI) In a unique and first of its kind initiative, Nyaya Bhoomi, an NGO, and Invest India Micro Pension Services (IIMPS), today launched a pension scheme for the autorickshaw drivers at the 9th IIEF Annual Pension Conference at India Habitat Centre.

The Secretary of Nyaya Bhoomi, Rakesh Agarwal presented the cheque of Rs 60,000 on behalf of 200 autorickshaw drivers to the Director of IIMPS Renana Jhabvala.

The Micro Pension model is designed in such a way that the driver is encouraged to invest more and more of his savings into pension schemes. ''We are contributing Rs 300 per month for each auto driver, under the aegis of ''Auto Star Club'', towards pension fund and if any driver voluntarily contributes any amount over and above the said amount that will be matched by Nyaya Bhoomi,'' Mr Agarwal said.

He added that after 25-30 years, the driver would receive, depending on his age at the time of joining, around Rs five to 15 lakh, which would be enough for him to get a monthly income of around Rs six thousand. The NGO has taken an innovative approach to generate revenues for the pension scheme, Mr Agarwal said, adding the autorickshaws have been specially modified for display of advertisements so that the brand can get maximum visibility, while the vehicles look aesthetically appealing.

The space has been sold to companies like Tata Indicom, Chhabra Triple Five Fashions and Reliance Communications. Under the Micro Pension model developed by IIMPS, the pension savings of auto drivers would be invested in a Central Government-notified Pension Scheme managed by UTI Asset Management Company called UTI Retirement Benefit Pension Fund.

The scheme, according to the Managing Director of IIMPs, Ashish Aggarwal, is providing an average return of 11.5 per cent for the last three years.

There are around 80,000 auto drivers in Delhi and IIMPS and Nyaya Bhoomi plan to cover at least 20,000 drivers under the scheme within the next six months.

In addition to pension, the drivers would also be provided health and accidental insurance, cash incentives and many other benefits soon.