DELHI OVERCROWDED???

According to the 2001 economic survey of Delhi, the number of motor vehicles in the city has increased progressively. The figures given by the Transport Department, Government of NCT of Delhi shows that the number of vehicles in the year 1996-97 was 2847695 from which it jumped to 3033045 in 1997-1998, 3210456 in 1998-1999 and 3353038 in 1999-2000 reaching 3456679 at the turn of the century.




The foreign exchange earnings from tourism has been increasing every year. This will result in a near doubling of foreign exchange earnings from Rs 44,360 crore in 2007 to Rs 60,000 crore by 2010, as per an estimate by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, but the tourist influx will also lead to the overcrowding of the city.




“The filth and noise of the crowded streets soon destroy the elasticity of health which belongs to the country boy.” Rutherford B. Hayes




The up rise in the population of New Delhi is mainly due to the migration of people to the capital in search of better living standard. The population of New Delhi is expected to rise to 40% by 2021.




One of the main reason for the birth of Delhi metro was to meet the increasing population of the city.




The official Wholesale Price Index for 'All Commodities' (Base: 1993-94 = 100) for the month of November 2009 rose by 1.3 percent to 245.4 (Provisional) from 242.2.




Any event that takes place in Delhi sees the entire population together. Medical aid is always close at hand for the safety of the crowd.




Is it a motorbike showroom? No, it is a parking slot in Delhi.




The city roads are being used as footpaths too in crowded places, and people so casually walk in the middle of the road without the fear of being hit by a car. No wonder accident takes place on a regular basis.




Amidst all the hustle and bustle in the city, Some people(the boy with his hands in the pocket) prefer to avoid the crowd and hope for another day (bus) which would be devoid of the huge crowd.

THE NIGHT SHELTER STILL AWAITS ITS FIRST GUEST

“Till date there has not been a single woman who has come under this roof for safe haven”, claims Mohammed Arshad, caretaker of the Women’s night shelter located at R K Roy Marg in New Delhi . The shelter, which is under the purview of New Delhi Municipal Council (N.D.M.C), was started in 2005.

It was opened for those underprivileged women who sleep in open air, under the foot bridge. They could come along with their children provided he/she is under 12 years of age. But the women do not come here for shelter as they do not want to leave their husbands on the streets. There are 17 rooms which can accommodate around 150 people. The caretaker further states, “The place opens only for 2 months, starting from 15 December to 15 February.” During this period four guards are assigned to work in two shifts between 2p.m and 6 a.m. The maintenance cost for these two months reaches 25000 rupees.

Some women prefer the closeness of their families and stay outdoor inspite of the winter chill. One such family stays under the Moolchand flyover. Aklima, the woman of the family which hails from Bihar says, “We have been shifting in and around the area (Moolchand flyover) for a convenient place for all of us to sleep”. She works as a sweeper along with her husband Muhammad Ali making their family earning of rupees 4000 per month. They have not been officially employed by NDMC. She further adds, “Sometimes clashes also take place among the people living in the streets, thus we are like Nomads”.

As the place is opened only for two months, it remains closed and unguarded for the next ten months. Arshad says “since the walls of the shelter are not high enough (around 9-10 feet) people can easily jump over them which have lead to some incidents of theft in the past”.

The caretaker, pointing towards the blankets and mattresses, says “we have informed the homeless people in the streets about its existence in the vicinity telling them that they can come and sleep free of cost during the night”. However, people like Aklima are not aware of its existence even when it is just a few miles away.

The empty rooms are testimony to the fact that the NDMC’s effort at helping the homeless women has not proved fruitful.

A year of international sports stars

Sports records were broken, trophies were won, and series of new superstars came on the scene around the globe.

LAWN TENNIS
Pete Sampras’ long standing record of 14 grand slam titles came to an end when Roger Federer won the Wimbledon title in United Kingdom. It was his 15th Grand slam title. Andy Roddick lost a hard fought battle in the finals.
Earlier in the year Nadal took over the world number one crown from Federer which hurt him. As champions don’t waste time in accepting the challenge, Federer before the yearend was world number one again showing his class. His long unquenched thirst of claiming the French open title was gratified this year. It also silenced his critics about his clay court title. Del petro won the U.S open at the flushing meadows centre court in United States of America. It helped him in secure the title of the best Argentinean athlete of the year.
The tennis fraternity was shocked when the legendary Andre Agassi in his book “OPEN” stated that he had used a performance enhancing drug called ‘Crystal Meth’ during the 1997 season. The book increased in sales but lowered his respect.
The final grand slam of the year (U.S OPEN) grabbed the headlines for two reasons:
1) The comeback of Kim Clijsters and winning the title.
2) The outburst of Serena Williams with a lineswoman will not be easy to forget during her semi-final match.
In spite of all these Serena finished the year as number one woman in the ranking charts.

FORMULA ONE
As expected the year of 2009 was full of surprises after few alterations in the rules and regulations. Indeed it turned out to be a year to remember.
The year had a new entrant in the form of Brawn grand prix team. It came about as team Honda was no longer a Formula One team. It won the first race of the season with Jenson Button in the driver seat. He finished the season with six first position finishes. The team had a fairytale run as they won the constructors championship with 172 points, and Button eclipsing the driver championship with 95 points.
The Hungarian grand prix will be difficult to be erased from people’s memory as one witnessed a major accident when Felippe Massa had been hit on the helmet while racing in the circuit by a spring that had come out of a Brawn grand prix car to which he was trailing. He thus crashed his machine on a pile of tyres.
Michael Schumacher was requested to fill in Massa’s shoe for the remaining of the season. It later turned out to be unsuccessful as he found himself unfit for the challenge after test driving the Ferrari car.
The year ended on a fitting note when Schumacher declared that he would be driving for McLaren Mercedes for the year 2010.

FOOTBALL
The world’s most awaited event, the “world cup” 2010 finalists have been finalized through some tough qualifying rounds. Some well known football playing nations failed to qualify. Croatia, Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia, just to name a few. The event is expected to be a humdinger.
The 2009-10 seasons saw some huge mega bucks being spent by top domestic clubs on their targeted players. Christiano Ronaldo, kaka, Benzema were all bought by Real Madrid from different clubs.
Manchester city too spent lavishly inspite of the Global recession. Players like Abedayour,Santa Cruz, Barry were brought into their squad. Manchester United is defending their title this season. Till date they have been trailing Chelsea by two points.
In Spain, the la liga has been a fight between Real Madrid and Barcelona with the latter winning the coveted title in 2008-09 season. The fight is on between the same two sides for the elusive title during 2009-10 seasons. In Germany, Bayern Leverkusen, Schalke 04 and Bayern munich are the strongest teams to lift the title In 2009-10. In Italy, Inter Milan seems to be the hot favourite to seal the authority in the championship.
Henry’s handball during a match against Republic of Ireland became a talking point as it lead to the ouster of Republic of Ireland from 2010’s big event, the World Cup in South Africa.
India also had a reason to smile as the national team was automatically selected for the next Asia Cup owing to their victory in the Nehru cup 2009.

ATHLETICS
Lightning indeed struck twice in the year 2009. The man with the golden feet, Ussain Bolt broke his own world record in IAAF world championships, 2009 at Berlin in 100 metres and 200 metres. He was clocked at 9.58 seconds and 19.19 seconds in 100 and 200 metres respectively.
His “bow and arrow” style of celebration has become a common sight since winning gold medal during the Olympic Games, 2008. He also received the “best Male Athlete of the year”, and Sanya Richards “best Female Athlete of the year” by his amazing runs in the 400 metres at Brussels in 48.83 seconds.
The Women pole-vaulter Isinbayeva, known to break her own records surprised the world as she failed to win a medal in the World championship. She, later in Zurich cleared 5.06 metres breaking yet another record of her own. She won a Gold medal.
The commonwealth games preparation was declared ‘unimpressive’ as they were not meeting set deadlines. The organizing committee has promised the higher authorities of hosting a good Commonwealth games in Delhi.
Rio De Janerio was declared to be the host of the 2016 Olympics shocking Chicago and Madrid, who were the favourites to host the mega buck event.

CRICKET
The award for the “choker” team 2009 goes to India following their dismal display during the Champions trophy and also the Twenty20 World Cup. The country was brimming with the hope that the team would fare well enough to applaud but it was not to be. The absence of Virender Sehwag and Zaheer khan was truly felt as they were not in the team owing to their injuries. India salvaged some pride as M.S.Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir won best player of the year in One Day International and Test cricket respectively.
Pakistan on the other hand outclassed all other teams to lift the twenty20 World cup. It was a much needed win for them after the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankans at Lahore. It was for the 1st time that the terrorists targeted cricketers. The Australians dominance in world cricket is on a decline, though still their performance in the year was decent enough with a major Champion’s trophy in their cabinet. South Africa, Australia and India were the best teams of 2009. New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies had a mixed bag of a year.
After a long hue and cry the IPL 2009 (Indian Premier League) had to be shifted to South Africa as the Lok Sabha election and the IPL matches were clashing. It was a huge success in South Africa where the stadiums were chock-a-block with energetic spectators. The Deccan chargers turned out to be the winner. It was for the first time that the top cricket clubs from the best cricket playing nations fought in India for the prestigious Champions league Twenty20. It was the brainchild of Lalit Modi, also the architect of IPL. New South Wales from Australia won the inaugural edition.
The year also ended on a sad note for India when the Kotla pitch in Delhi was declared to be unfit for playing so the Test match between India and Sri Lanka had to be abandoned in the 1st day itself.

GOLF
Tiger Woods, one of the richest sportsperson had come into public eye as news began to spread around the world over his relationship with different other women. The world woke up with this news in utter dismay. Many of his sponsors also ended their sponsorship deals with him, like AT& T and Accenture, Gillette etc.
Tiger Woods had a pretty good year in the golf course. He finished of the year with a ranking of No. 1. The 4th ranked English player from England, Lee Westwood was declared the European player of the year which he had previously won in 1998 and 2000.

FEW IMPORTANT EVENTS SCHEDULED FOR 2010
The year 2010 will be a challenge for all those champions as they have an additional pressure to stay at the top. Some of the most awaited events of the year 2010 are World Cup (Football) at South Africa, the Commonwealth games in Delhi, Lawn Tennis Grand slam Majors etc.

EN ROUTE TO END CORRUPTION?

Afroz Alam Sahil, a student of Jamia Millia Islamia University, India has filed more than 2000 RTI (right to information) petitions since its inception in 2005. He has seen major success through the RTI act.
The RTI Act has become a tool to curb the malpractices prevailing in the various Governmental departments. It empowers each and every citizen to get any information they want from the government, inspect their work etc.
RTI Act has proved to be an effective mace to fight corruption. As published by the Transparency International, (a global society organization leading the fight against corruption) “India’s corruption index showed a decline from 88th to 70th position”. This development credit goes to RTI Act.
A group of women in Uttar Pradesh, in India ensured that their children get free school books and uniforms under the Central Government education programme. So they filed an RTI seeking details of free books and the uniforms. There was an instant response within a month after the RTI had been filed and every child was provided with free school books and uniforms.
Several NGO’s (non-governmental organization) have been working to make people aware about the RTI Act. One such NGO is Yuva Koshish,formed in 2009. It recently also conducted RTI awareness campaign in Jamia Millia Islamia. Ali Akthar, President and Founder of Yuva Koshish said “The campaign was attended by around 1000 people per day.” He further adds, “We specially catered to the weaker section of the society and educated them about it”
Ajay singh, a Cab driver attended one such campaign where he was encouraged to file RTI petition. He said “I was not aware of such kind of acts”. He had been requesting the government officials to renew his driving license but to no avail. After he attended the RTI awareness campaign, he filed RTI petition and after a month or so he received his driving license without any hassles. He says “Filing an RTI is an easy process and less time consuming, so I filed the petition which later turned out in my favour”. Ajay Singh has knowledge about the RTI Act now so he has been spreading the message around among his fellow Cab drivers.
India is a democratic country where every citizen pays tax. Even while purchasing a pack of chocolates one pays tax to the government. They deserve to know where does this money (taxes) go and other similar questions about the working of the government.
Afroz, a resident of Bihar too filed RTI petition, where he requested the chief electoral officer of Bihar to provide funding details of the political parties. According to Election commission Rule 24(a), political party which has more than Rupees 20,000(US $ 445 approx) in their fund are to provide their funding details. He himself had to face some obstacles while filing the RTI petition. He says “It was at first ignored by the Chief electoral Officer of Bihar, India. I then filed a first appeal and later a second appeal to the State Information Commission (SIC)”. The SIC directed the election division of state to provide all the required information. The information provided also brought into light the political parties which were being funded by big industries and Public schools.
Raghunath Jha, a politician from Bihar had never lost during the elections. He won the MP (Member of Parliament) seat around 7 times. This made Afroz question the development taking place of those areas from where he won the Parliamentary seat. He did not see much development in those places. So he filed an RTI petition. “I received the information required through the powerful RTI Act”. The facts that Afroz had with him clearly indicated that Jha had been misusing government money. The work sanctioned had also not progressed. After the exposé it was being tracked by many media houses and people came to know about his misdeeds. This story exposed Raghunath Jha to the public eye. Hence, he lost the elections in 2009.
The RTI Act is powerful enough to change the face of the nation. Since its initiation, it has brought laurels to many sections of the society and development of the country on larger scale.

The Richness of Nepali culture

RICHNESS OF THE NEPALI CULTURE

Dusshera, the most awaited festival, injects a new lease of life into the residents of Dajeeling(India) every year.
Dusshera is popularly known as Dashain(according to the Nepali calendar) in Darjeeling. It is one of the longest and the most auspicious festival celebrated in Darjeeling. It is celebrated by all castes and religion in Darjeeling.
People paint and beautifully decorate their house during Dashain. New curtains, flowers of various kinds are brought from the market to decorate the interiors of the house. It is painted as an invitation to goddess Durga, so that she visits the house and blesses it with good fortune (it is just a belief which is mostly followed in Darjeeling).
The first nine days of Dashain is collectively called Nawa ratri. It is considered to be very religious day where many religious rites and process takes place. The first day of dashain is called “ghatasthapana”. It is on this day that the pot or locally referred as lota is kept in the room where the image of Goddess Durga has been kept. This room is also known as Dashain Ghar. The local religious priest P.Dahal said “These rituals are slowly fading away and people are not following it seriously too. It’s a matter of concern because the younger generation is not learning from their ancestors about it.”
The most awaited day is the 7th day of dashain. It is called fulpati. It is on this day that people from different places walk upto a common place called Chowrastha in their traditional attire as a form of religious procession. They rejoice by singing, dancing to the local tunes played by the local tribes.
Dashmi is the tenth day of Dashain .During this day relatives who stay far away from their elder ones come and meet them. The elders bless them by applying tika on their forehead. The tika is made up of rice (uncooked) and pink colour powder. It has to be mixed with jamara. The holy water placed in a pot is covered with a cowdung, to which seeds are sown. On the 10th day the seeds placed, grow upto three to five inches long yellow grass. This yellow sacred grass is called jamara.
The tika is also mixed with curd to make it sticky. Before anyone applies tika it is very important that this tika should be applied on the top of the main entrance of the house symbolizing protection to the family from all harm and evil. As a blessing to the younger ones, elders in the family give some money along with the blessings.
The Buddhists and the Christians use white tika . Prashanna tamang, a Buddhist who observes this festival said “we apply white tika as a sign of peace for the years to come”. Roseline rai , a Christian says “ We are often invited in the neighbourhood to celebrate dashain and they put tika on our forehead, which makes us feel great to be a part of the festival”
After the blessings have been received by everyone, food is served to the family members. It basically is a non-vegetarian meal. Shopkeepers enjoy a huge amount of profit as people buy new clothes in huge numbers. Long queues in the ATM are a regular feature.
Wangyal a jeans and a tee shirts retailer say “I wish Dashain would come at least two to three times a year. It is during this time that my sales go up by 100%”. It is not only these garments store that earn high profits, but the butchers and the restaurants earn on the same lines.
The way Dashain is celebrated in Darjeeling is different compared to how it is done in other states of the country. The rituals are different. In Darjeeling many sheep’s, goats, ducks, chicken and buffalo are prepared for the great slaughter. In other parts of the country the Ramayana is staged. It is called the ram Lila.
People do not have a clear understanding of these rituals, but still it is followed. These rituals are awaiting their death and no one is even willing to learn especially the youth.

India's pride at stake

The Commonwealth Games (CWG) Federation President Mike Fennel was disappointed with the slow progress of the commonwealth games venue and the infrastructure, facilities etc. This woke up the authorities from their comfortable leather seats in their Air conditioned rooms and speed up the work in the scorching sun.
I remember watching in television, Suresh kalmadi, the President of the Indian Olympics Association exalted after Delhi defeated Hamilton (Canada) to host the CWG 2010. Much promise had been shown then. In India, promises do not last long, a trend set by the politicians. Suresh kalmadi showed his lack of professionalism as he was not present when the delegates from different participating countries had come for inspection of the facilities. He was involved in his personal work. He has to understand that the country pride is at stake and not repeat such acts. . Many of those delegates present felt, the work was “behind schedule”.
In India, there is a problem of all talk and no action. The authorities should have started their work on time so as to avoid the current embarrassing situation. Delhi last hosted an event of this magnitude in1982 when India hosted the Asian Games. The commonwealth games are one notch above the Asian games and one notch below the Olympics. It has to live up to its expectations.
The 11day event (3-14 October 2010) is the most expensive CWG ever. The total estimated budget was a whopping US $ 1.6 billion as compared to the Manchester CWG (US $ 420 million), Melbourne CWG (US $ 1.1 Billion). The budget does not include infrastructure development, airports, roads etc.
The CWG is bound to attract a lot of foreign tourists. According to the ministry of tourism “there is a need of around 9500 hotel rooms” out of which only 4000 rooms have been completed. The remaining rooms are to meet the deadline of March 2010. I won’t be surprised if the Delhi development flats (DDA) are used to provide rooms to the tourist if the deadlines are not met. Anything can happen, after all it is India.
It has been said that out of the 19 venues 13 are yet to be completed. The recent delegates visit to these venues raised some difficult questions to be answered. The games village was liked and appreciated by all and sundry. They even compared the games village with the last two Olympics and said it was "even better" than the last olympics at Beijing. It was flattering to digest these words.
The Delhi CWG has been labeled as environment friendly games. Is it so? I don’t agree as the games village has been set up in the banks of river Yamuna. It is a earthquake prone area. Do the delegates know about it? It also violated the Delhi high court verdict which denies any encroachment on Yamuna flood plains. As if this is not enough, they even cut down 100 trees or more to put up a badminton and squash courts at Siri Fort complex .I wonder how it is environment friendly. It is only on paper and files.
The CWG, if hosted properly would introduce India in the international sports scenario. Inspite of so many drawbacks, I have full faith in the authorities that the CWG would be an event to remember for not only the Indians but also for the rest of the world. It would indeed be very apt to host successful CWG amidst all the terrorism and the recession the world is currently encountering.
I am extremely sure that the CWG will be hosted in our Indian soil (Delhi) in its scheduled date, but the quality of the games is a primary concern . The top athletes of the world have to participate during the games. The likes of Ussain Bolt, Tyson gay cannot be missed. This might be the only chance for the Indian fans to see these athletes in action live in front of their eyes.
It is the success of the games which determines India’s bid for 2020 Olympics. It will be a litmus test.