As Haryana BJP State President Subhash Barala’s son Vikas Barala and his friend landed into a controversy of allegedly stalking and attempting to kidnap Dj Varnika Kundu, daughter of a senior IAS officer, chasing her by his SUV, he must not be feared that the girl who he is behind of is trained in Choi Kwang- Do, which motivated her to teach a lesson to the stalker. She didn’t resort to hide her identity. She called SOS and tried to file a complaint of kidnapping and stalking. Initially, Chandigarh UT police booked the men under charges of Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 345 D (Stalking) and Section 185 (Motor Vehicle Act Drunken Driving) as well as serious non-bailable offences under Sections 365 (Kidnapping, 511  (attempt to commit offences punishable with imprisonment) and 341 (Wrongful Restraint). Later as the reports suggest, the two charges were reduced and the accused got bail. 
Varnika Kundu wrote on Facebook that the men blocked her way, banged on her windows and even tried to forceful door open. A police patrol team came, responding to her SOS. The daughter of senior IAS officer said that she feels lucky to not lying raped or murdered in ditch somewhere. Speaking to a private news channel she said, “After being caught the two said that it was a mistake but I ask that a mistake cannot be stretched for kilometers. The cops should not have to come to stop you.”
Subhash Barala’s Deputy Ramveer Bhatti targeted the girl for roaming at night. The BJP leader aide also said that her parents must not allow them to roam at night and keep a watch on them so that they could return home on time. Well, it also applies with boys. Varnika resorted back, “It is none of his business, it is my business and my family’s what I do and where…..If it was not for men like these, I would not be unsafe going out..whether it is 12 am or 2 am.”
Every time after such harassment takes place, the powerful goons are set free because of their approach in the political sphere and power to manipulate the FIR report.  When nothing is left to defend the accused, the relatives jump into character assassination of the victim. They take big shameless advantage of feudal mindset and the patriarchal division. And the same is being reflected in Varnika’s case. Defenders are digging out her old facebook posts where she is allegedly enjoying a party time with her friends.
The Chandigarh UT police are in major controversy to drop two serious charges against the two accused who got bail after that. Initially, Chandigarh police had said there was no CCTV footage of the incident. Deputy Superintendent of Police Mr. Satish Kumar had said that they tried to get footage along the route, from Sector 7 to Housing Board traffic light point, but all CCTVs were found out of order.
Amid the allegations upon the police to shield and cover up the Haryana BJP Chief son and for the weaker action of the UT police, the opposition is targeting the Manohar Lal Khattar led BJP state government and mounting pressure on the Subhash Barala to resign in the wake of the incident. CM Khattar said, “I came to know about this incident. Chandigarh Police has filed the complaint and I believe they will take appropriate action. This matter is not related with Subhash Barala but with an individual. So action would be taken against his son.”
“On one hand, the BJP boasts about its various schemes for women and giving them honour, and on the other hand we have a BJP leader whose son is stalking a woman. It is very embarrassing,” Shiv Sena leader Manish Kayande told ANI. Congress leader M. Afzal also demanded Barala’s resignation on moral grounds. (Courtesy, NDTV) 
Senior Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka said, “The girl has handled a nightmarish situation very bravely. To deter such occurrences in the future, the criminal justice process must be fast-tracked. The brave father should not be victimized for the support to his brave daughter. The political party must demonstrate determination in Beti Bachao through real action.”

“The Union home ministry, which directly controls UT Administration and UT Police of Chandigarh, is conspiring to hush up the entire matter so as to protect the Haryana State BJP president and his son,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala. BJP refuted the allegations made by the Congress party.
Senior BJP MP Subramanian Swamy alleged the UT police of doing a “somersault” on the case Chandigarh Stalking case. He tweeted, “With my associate lawyer AP Jagga on attempted abduction of an IAS officer’s daughter by two drunken goons, I will file a PIL in Chandigarh.”

(Views are personal.)

To create awareness about the advantages of mother’s milk; nurses from the hospital prepared posters that mentioned the importance of breastfeeding. As it is the most nutritional and safe form of milk for the child, the creative posters were exhibited within the hospital premises. Demonstrations on various lactation methods were also provided for mothers who find it difficult to breastfeed. Also the nurses had created the trending Sonu song ‘Aai Stanpan war bharosa nai kai!’ to make new moms understand about benefits of breastfeeding.
Not only medical facilities, but also mother’s milk is required for babies to recuperate. Breast milk is not only rich in proteins but also provides better immunity to the baby. Milk banks come to the aid of these pre-term children in case their mothers are unable to feed them.
 Â“Wadia Hospital’s milk bank reserves 500 litres of milk every year. Each day, approximately 15 to 20 preterm babies benefit from this milk bank facility. All infants should be given mother’s milk as it has long term benefits for the baby and will also help in the child’s health. The milk bank benefits those mothers who are unable to feed their babies. Consent is obtained from donors and families of recipient children who are fed this milk,” said Dr Minnie Bodhanwala, CEO, Wadia hospitals.

Every year, an estimated 15 million babies are born preterm in India as per World Health Organization (WHO). Not all hospitals are well equipped to handle premature babies, leading to nearly 1 million deaths in 2015. A 150 bedded Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Nowrosjee Wadia Maternity Hospital cares for approximately 1100 preterm babies every year. At Wadia Hospital’s milk bank service, trained nurses extract, process, store and feed the milk to babies. Excess milk is put in cold storage between 2-4° C for 3 days, during which time it is bacteriologically tested. Later pasteurized at 67° C, it is put in cold storage at -8° C. It stays consumable up to 100 days. Mothers are counseled to donate their excess milk to the bank. The Gynecology department at Wadia Hospital focused on the enhancement and fortification of minimal access surgery. Often high risk patients require endoscopy, as it hardly leaves any scar and is becoming the trend. They are also focusing on poor patients to be able to avail this service and hence are introducing new machines and equipment that can enhance the minimal access surgery in Gynecology.

The Forum to Engage Men (FEM), a national level alliance of organisations and institutions working with men towards gender justice, has opposed the Ministry of Women and Child Development Ministry’s recommendation to the National Commission for Women (NCW) to open a window for men to register complaints of false cases against them in the NCWs online complaint system.
It has demanded withdrawal of the WCD Ministry’s directive to the NCW and has also opposed other recent attempts to dilute laws for women, such as the directive by Supreme Court to set up an extra legal body -the Family Welfare Centre /Committee– to examine and filter every complaint under Section 498a of the IPC before action is taken by authorities. “The FEM would like to point out that there is absolutely no data to back the concern by a vociferous section of men that they are increasingly being victimised by women through misuse of the law. In fact, data shows that violence against women has been increasing and the hard-fought laws in support of women’s rights provide a huge umbrella of protection to women against domestic violence, rape, sexual harassment and harassment for dowry, among many other gender-based crimes,” the organization has said in a letter to Ms Maneka Gandhi, the Union WCD Minister.
These laws already provide enough safeguards and remedies for the accused to prove their innocence. Giving further safeguards to men and other accused will make the laws ineffective for the protection of women and result in a victory of patriarchal forces that brand women as liars and downplay the severity of crimes against them. The low conviction rates of these cases, cited to support the argument that the cases are largely false, does not stand as all crimes have low conviction rates and there is no reason to only single out cases related to crimes against women, the letter has said.
The FEM stands in solidarity with women’s rights organisations that are demanding better law enforcement and strengthening of the criminal justice system and is in favor of the government resisting pressure by a group of’ ‘aggrieved’ men, according to Satish Kumar Singh, Convener, Forum to Engage Men (FEM) – Working with Men and Boys to Achieve Gender Equality.

NEW DELHI: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday recalled the crucial role played by eminent author Khushwant Singh in defusing tensions in Punjab in the wake of Operation Bluestar in June 1984.
Turning nostalgic as he recounted several of his personal interactions with Khushwant Singh while launching a book on the well-known writer and editor at the Press Club of India here, the Chief Minister said a general feeling of bitterness prevailed in the state at that time and a team was appointed to bring down tempers, with Khushwant being a prominent member of it.
One of the important legacies left behind by Khushwant Singh was that he believed in truth, and what he wrote was simply truth, said Captain Amarinder, adding that Khushwant and his books would live in the hearts and minds of people till posterity.
In response to a question on Khushwant’s decision to support the imposition of emergency and sterilisation in India, the Chief Minister said while one could agree or disagree with the methods adopted at that time, the fact is that population is a matter of serious concern and needs to be dealt with. Khushwant was a man who spoke straight from his heart and that was a quality everyone admired, said Captain Amarinder.
The Chief Minister, who released Vitasta Publishing’s new book ‘Khushwant Singh: In Wisdom and in Jest’, co-authored by Vijay Narain Shankar and Onkar Singh, described Khushwant as a man who could get away with the most outrageous of statements.
Taking part in a discussion after the book launch, the Chief Minister said he did not endorse Khushwant’s projection as an agnostic and believed it to be his mere public posturing, considering that he was well versed with the Sikh religious paaths (prayers) of `Jap ji Sahib’’. In fact, said Captain Amarinder Singh said that Khushwant’s translation of `Jaapji Sahib’ was the best he had come across. He also cited from the book to point out that the author used to visit Bangla Sahib gurdwara at night, indicating that he did believe in religion though he was opposed to ritualism.
Captain Amarinder, who was joined on the dais by former Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee, said he had known Khushwant for a long time and the book did full justice to the man. He remembered how he went to Khushwant’s house after becoming chief minister for the first time and was turned back as he was late by an hour and a half. Not one to mince his words, Khushwant refused to welcome him into the house as it was his dinner time when Captain Amarinder came for this much-delayed meeting.
The Chief Minister recalled another incident when Khushwant did not spare him out of any sense of politeness. On the release of Captain’s book on the Lahore Darbar, the author told him “this is the first book of that period where I have not been quoted,” recalled the Chief Minister.
Soli Sorabjee described Khushwant as an extraordinary person who could crack jokes on Sikhs despite being a follower of the Sikh religion. He was a rare gem with the strong courage of conviction, along with a great sense of humour, said Sorabjee. 
Montek Singh said Khushwant had enriched Delhi in many ways and was much admired by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Considering that he had not achieved much till the age of 40, Montek said he was an ideal for youngsters who could learn from his example that success could come at any age.

NEW DELHI: Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday condemned the alleged incident of stalking of a young girl in Chandigarh by the son of Haryana BJP President and said that no attempt should be made to dilute the charges against the accused.
Talking to journalists after a book release function at the Press Club of India here, the Chief Minister said that the girl had clearly stated that there was an attempt to abduct her, hence charges should be registered under the relevant sections of the law.
Describing such incidents as extremely unfortunate, he said that he admired the courage shown by the young girl who is daughter of a senior IAS officer. The stalking incident has hit newspaper headlines and grabbed attention of all major television news networks over the past two days, highlighting the vital issue of women’s safety and security in cities. 
In response to a question on Chandigarh police’s claim that CCTV footage of the alleged stalking incident was not available as the cameras were “non-functional”, the chief minister, “so what if the footage is not available. The girl has made her statement and the police must act on it”.
Referring to the issue of safety of women in Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh said that his government was taking steps to curb petty street crimes like snatching to make roads safe for the women. He said that drug addiction in Punjab had led to a rise in such petty crimes, making streets unsafe for women.
“We have cracked down on drugs and are constantly increasing police presence on the roads to make women feel safe,” he said, adding that his government had cut down on VVIP security in a big way and put policemen back on the streets for public duty. 

Kumari S. Aparna, an IAS officer from Gujarat cadre and the Principal Secretary to the state Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, has been appointed as the Executive Director, World Bank headquartered in Washington DC, United States. She will represent India and its neighboring countries Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka for three years period. The order was issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (Dopt). 
Apart from Principal Secretary, she served as Economic Affairs, Surat Municipal Commissioner and Joint Secretary, Urban Development at the centre. At the top financial institution, she will replace Subhash Garg, who was recently appointed as Economic Affairs Secretary, Ministry of Finance.

Sound of Bansuri

In cultures across the world, it is that one piece of reed that causes man’s innermost realm to transcend the mundane and that is the Indian flute called Bansuri. Since time immemorial, bansuri has possessed, deep within it’s  ethereal sound, that elixir which clams the distraught and heals wounds.

The bansuri through its myriad forms inspired and captivated the hearts of yogis, poets and seers for centuries. The Indian flute holds a unique place among musical instruments. Not only it is the oldest among instruments, but is also found in cultures all over the world. 

Indian flutes were discovered in Arizona in 1931 that dates as far as back as 620 AD. The legend has it that a man saw a tree limb on the ground that has been split in two. Each end was hollowed by a wood pecker who then pecked several holes in one half of the limb, when he took to the medicine man, he suggested the man brave out the two pieces together and the bansuri was born.  

The bansuri was developed into a classical musical instrument by legendary flutist Pannalal Ghosh. He transformed the folk instrument  with 32 inches long with seven holed flute and introduced it to the world.  

That it is the only instrument connected to God can be gauged that pictures of Lord Krishna is usually depicted as a cowherd serenading swooning milkmaid with his flute. 

From 32 inch seven holed flute to world’s smallest 6 inch flute, the bansuri has come a long way. And the credit for transforming the Indian classical instrument goes to Rohit Anand, the master craftsman who made the world’s smallest flute that can play up to two octaves and is only six inches long called Anand Vansh.  Rohit’s painstaking efforts found him a place in Limca book of records for the year 2000.

A professional music therapist based in Delhi, Rohit’s has crafted Indian flutes for a number of flutists and upcoming students of the art. Rohit’s love for flute drew him away from the world of telecommunication engineering to master the instrument but also research on its various qualities and technical aspects. 

Studying music under the guru-shishya tradition of Malhar Senia Gharana, Rohit learnt the nuances of Hindustani classical music under the tutelage of maestros like Pandit Ravi Shankar, late Sharan Rani Backliwal and ustad Aashish Khan.He has to his credit several concerts in India and abroad. 

As you walk through the bylanes of Vinobha Puri in South Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar, the melodious strains of bansuri rend the air from the house of Rohi who gives lessons to several students to master the instrument, But what does it take to ready such a reed? 

 ” Though not as strenuous as making a Pakhawaj or a tabla, flute-making requires precision, a fine sense of pitch and refined understanding of aesthetics, not forgetting a steady hand,’ says Rohit, ‘ I get bamboos from Assam and to craft a bansuri will take several months,’ he says, 

 Fitting the cork of suitable thickness is very important, Rohit says. Rohit provides bansuris of any pitch and scale from A natural bass to E sharp.Made with lots of care, these instruments are appreciated by many flutists across the country. 

A flute maker requires excellent hearing skills, besides musical knowledge for perfect tuning. The bamboo is chosen both for quality and beauty and requires adequate seasoning, says Rohit. Patience and commitment is what is needed to master this instrument, Rohit sums up.

NEW DELHI: With senior Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu winning the Vice Presidential poll with a record margin, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is at the pinnacle of its political journey. 

For the first time since independence, the BJP now has all the three posts in its kitty. After having its own majority in 2014 polls which saw Narendra Modi being sworn in as the Prime Minister, three years later the BJP has freshly minted President Ramnath Kovind, newly elected Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu — all three hailing from humble origins and RSS-BJP background. 

Starting his career in rough and tumble of student politics of Andhra Pradesh, Venkaiah Naidu gradually climbed the ladder in the party — becoming a legislator, party leader in Andhra Pradesh, general secretary, spokesperson, and rising to become the party president as well. He was in his fourth term as Rajya Sabha member when Modi-Amit Shah combine decided to nominate him as the NDA’s Vice Presidential candidate last month. Mr. Naidu had been Rural Affairs Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and was heading Urban Affairs, Information and Broadcasting Ministry in the Modi government. 

Affable, witty, easy going and known for his acronyms and one-liners, Mr. Naidu once commented on the high command culture in the Congress, saying it would become a “low command and then no command.” His well wishers, admirers and friends cut across all part affiliations and that is the reason behind him bagging a record 516 votes of MPs of both the Houses. His united opposition rival Gopal Krishna Gandhi got 244 votes out of 771 total votes that were cast. 

Mr. Naidu will take oath as the country’s 15th Vice President on August 11 as the tenure of incumbent M. Hamid Ansari who was in his second term ends on August 10. As Rajya Sabha Chairman, Mr. Naidu would need all his skills and persuasive powers to run the House of Elders smoothly. Interestingly, the BJP has also become the single largest party in the Rajya Sabha with 58 members and the Congress lagging behind with 57. The BJP already has a brute majority in the Lok Sabha, first party to have such good numbers in the past 30 years. 

Anger brewing against Bihar CM Nitish Kumar in the JD (U) ranks. Party’s state leaders want a national convention to discuss Nitish Kumar taking unilateral decisions.

There is discernible anger among various sections of the JD (U) against chief minister Nitish Kumar for unilaterally ditching the “mahagatbandhan” and deciding on a ‘ghar wapsi’ to the BJP.  This is particularly so with no less than a dozen presidents of various state units of the JD (U) in the country asking party founder Sharad Yadav to convene a national convention for discussing how Nitish Kumar could have just upped and snapped ties with the ‘mahagatbandhan’. 

Sharad Yadav has been marginalised by Nitish Kumar several years ago and has remained aloof and kept his counsel to himself. He was unhappy that the chief minister decided to abandon the ‘mahagatbandhan’ observing the decision to join hands with the saffron brigade once again as both”unfortunate and unpleasant”. 

Sharad Yadav has decided to tour the battle ground state of Bihar from tomorrow(Sunday, August 05) to hear first hand the views of party leaders before addressing a rally in the national capital on August 17. Leaders from like minded parties including the constituents of the ‘mahagatbandhan’ like the Congress and the RJD as well the Left parties, SP and the BSP will participate in the meeting. 

The anti-Nitish faction in the JD (U) is keen to play its part in seeing the back of the Bihar chief minister. It is increasingly being felt that if Nitish Kumar did not want to continue with the RJD, he could have called for a snap poll in the state. 

Even though Nitish Kumar had distanced himself from the ‘mahagatbandhan’ citing allegations of corruption by the deputy CM Tejaswi Prasad yadav, an election watchdog in Bihar claimed that 76 per cent of the ministers in the current ministry face criminal 

charges. 

At his first press conference after regaining regaining the chief ministership after a gap barely 24 hours, Nitish Kumar said he firmly believes there is no one who can challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2019 general elections. He insists the opposition has no ideas and is only reactive. In the circumstances he has to set aside his ambition of making a bid for the Prime Minister’s office though he has often claimed he is not in the race for that post. 

What cannot be lost sight of is that the JD (U) has negligible presence outside Bihar. In the assembly elections in 2015, the saffron brigade lost to the ‘mahagatbandhan’ formed by the Congress, RJD and the JD (U). 

The question is can the remaining 17-party opposition pose a challenge to Modi whose popularity rating is much higher than any other leader in the political firmament with less than two years remaining for the next general elections. 

There is no doubt that Modi has his eyes set on a second successive term as the Head of Government especially when the people have kept the Congress in the saddle at the Centre for nearly six decades. 

The BJP is talking in terms of crossing the 300 mark on its own in the Lok Sabha in the 2019 general elections. It won a majority of 282 seats for the first time in the House of the People in the last general elections in 2014 and along with its allies in the NDA crossed the rubicon of 300 finishing with a tally of 340 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. 

The BJP-led NDA which is handicapped being in a minority in the Rajya Sabha will swell its numbers with nine JD (U) members in the House of Elders having a strength of 245. Securing a simple majority in the Upper House continues to elude the ruling dispensation at the Centre. 

The Congress is in a such a bind that it seems to have reached the end of the road. Heir apparent Rahul Gandhi’s leadership leaves much to be desired. The opposition needs to gear up its loins, throw up youthful and energetic leaders exuding confidence in catching the imagination of the people. 

There is no doubt Modi is enjoying an extended honeymoon as the Prime Minister. What is worse farmers have been left high and dry. Caught in the vicious cycle of droughts and floods for the last three years, they are facing immense hardship coupled with unscrupulous money lenders pushing them to the edge of committing suicide for the third consecutive year.  

The focus on the farmers remains paramount and cannot be ignored. They are up in arms in several states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Every politician wants to taste power. This is because of the traditional source of power — the Congress — being in doldrums and BJP being the only alternative in the circumstances. 

What is a matter of concern is that the ruling party and its leaders are seeking to build a new Hindu India of their dreams. After the fifth of August, the BJP will create history by holding the three senior most positions in the country — the President, Vice-President and the Prime Minister — to frame and influence policy. 

( T R Ramachandran is senior journalist and commentator. The views are personal.)

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said “Samvad” or “Dialogue” is the only way to cut through deep rooted religious stereotypes and prejudices that divide communities across the world and sow seeds of conflict between nations and societies. 

In a video message to the second edition of Samvad — Global Initiative on Conflict Avoidance and Environment Consciousness,  being  organised in Yangon this week-end, Mr. Modi  said that societies across the world are facing several questions today, such as:  How to avoid conflict?  How to address a global challenge like climate change?  How to live in peace and harmony and secure our lives? 

He said that it is only natural that the search for answers be led by the humanity’s longest traditions of thought, rooted in various religions, civilizations, and multiple streams of spirituality. 

The Prime Minister said that he is a “product of the ancient Indian tradition that firmly believes in dialogue on difficult issues.” He said that the ancient Indian concept of “Tarka Shastra” is founded on dialogue and debate as the model for exchange of views and avoidance of conflict. 

Giving illustrations from Indian mythology such as Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Lord Buddha and Bhakta Prahlada, the Prime Minister said that the purpose of each of their actions was to uphold Dharma, which has sustained Indians from ancient to modern times. 

The Prime Minister said that if man does not nurture nature, then nature reacts in the form of climate change. Environmental laws and regulations, Dialogue while essential in any modern society, afford only an inferior protection to nature, he added, calling for “harmonious environmental consciousness.” 

“As the inter-connected and inter-dependent world of 21st century battles a number of global challenges, from terrorism to climate change, I am confident that the solutions will be found through Asia’s oldest traditions of dialogue and debate,” the Prime Minister said.