SAD-BJP alliance sweeps MC polls in Ferozepur, Fazilka

Times of India, 26th February 2015

FEROZEPUR/FAZILKA: SAD-BJP combine won all but two municipal council seats in Ferozepur and Fazilka districts on Wednesday. BJP bagged 19 out of 31 wards while its alliance partner SAD won six seats in the Ferozepur municipal council.

Congress candidates managed to win only two wards while independent candidates bagged three. Election in ward number 14 was cancelled due to some discrepancies in the voting list.

In Fazilka, BJP got 18 seats out of 25, while SAD and Congress got one each and independent candidates won from four wards in the municipal council polls.

In Jalalabad, SAD-BJP alliance made clean sweep by winning all the 17 seats. In Abohar town of Fazilka, BJP won 12 out of 33 seats, SAD claimed 4 wards, Congress 13 and independent candidates got four seats.

Polling in these two districts remained peaceful and no incident of violence was reported.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/SAD-BJP-alliance-sweeps-MC-polls-in-Ferozepur-Fazilka/articleshow/46376549.cms

One Mardaani isn't enough'

Meeran Chadha Borwankar is known as Maharashtra's tough and rough supercop, but tales of minor girls forced to sell their bodies to fulfill others' greed tear her apart. "The story of each minor girl rescued from flesh trade is so poignant, it would sometimes become difficult to stay in the right frame of mind," says she, who sealed 22 brothels during her tenure as Pune police commissioner from 2010 to 2012.

Born and raised in Punjab, Meeran was inspiration behind Rani Mukerjee starrer 2014 Hindi film 'Mardaani' on the sensitive subject. However, she refuses to take credit.

"I cannot say if 'Mardaani' was inspired by me or not, but Rani and the director of the movie did meet me," she says.

She also refuses to take credit for sealing the brothels. "It is true that I had sealed 22 brothels under Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA) as police commissioner Pune, but it was only possible because I had a very committed team that felt very strongly against forced prostitution, especially of minors. My team included inspector Bhanupratap Barge and API Vimal Bidve. And we took active help of local NGOs, informers and interested citizens as the issue is very serious and can't be dealt with single-handedly," says Meeran.

It hurt her to see little girls mired in flesh trade. "Most stories could be traced to poverty, ignorance and greed of a few. A well-coordinated and sustained action plan by different agencies is needed if we want to go beyond talking. And one 'mardani' is not enough," she adds.

Born in Gurdaspur, she studied all over the state. "My father was in Punjab Police and later joined the Border Security Force. We travelled with him all over the state during his postings," she recalls. She studied in Fazilka for five years and also in Ferozepur and Faridkot. She graduated from Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar and pursued MA from DAV Jalandhar.

Having left Punjab many years ago, she still feels a proud Punjaban. "Recently, when a friend's son gave me a T shirt with 'Main Punjaban' written on it, it brought back fond memories of my younger years," she says and adds that if it wasn't for her lecturers in Khalsa College, she wouldn't have been an IPS officer too.

"My ambitious father and disciplinary mother encouraged me and my sister to study hard and go in for civil services. Today, my sister, Anita Kapur, is chairperson of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), but my lecturers in Khalsa College decided that IPS was a good career for me and I didn't want to disappoint them," she says.

Fazilka, the town where she spent most of her growing up years, celebrates her achievements. "She has done us proud and in Fazilka, which had the distinction of the first only-girls school, many young girls aspire to follow in her footsteps," said Navdeep Asija, who runs an NGO to promote the culture of the city.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/One-Mardaani-isnt-enough/articleshow/46214052.cms

Solar park inaugurated in Fazilka

TNN | Feb 8, 2015, 01.25 AM IST

FAZILKA: A solar park set up by French company was inaugurated in a village of Fazilka district on Saturday. French minister Segolene Royal inaugurated the park, using a remote control from New Delhi, which is developed by Soaliredirect at Muradwala Dal Singh village.

The solar park - spread across 40 hectares - has a capacity of 21 MW and will generate 39 GWh per annum, a consumption equivalent to 44,000 residents. French minister for ecology, sustainable development and energy Royal, who is in India for Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, unveiled the project using a remote control.

When contacted, Gaurav Sood, managing director, Solairedirect said construction of the park was started in 2014 and handled by the company's Indian and French teams. The park contains a sub-station which elevates voltage from 11 kV to 66 kV.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Solar-park-inaugurated-in-Fazilka/articleshow/46160413.cms

A Man of one Coat - Late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.

""Nanak nanhe ho raho, jaise nanhi doob,

Aur ghaas jar jaye hai, doob khoob ki khoob"

Foundation of this country is laid by the great leaders who exhibited both their values and their ethics in their leadership style and actions. Here, I am talking about man of the highest integrity,our second Prime Minister Late Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri. Man who impressed global leaders with his "Simple Living and High Thinking" approach .He impressed his Soviet Union counterpart with his coat but in a different way..I am sharing two incidents from his life, i think important to read by all. It has a great connection with our great but self obsessed leadership of present time.

First Incident
Once Lal Bahadur Shashtri was sent to Kashmir by Nehru to help resolve the theft in the Hazaratbal shrine. Nehru asked him whether he had enough woolens for the trip. "Are you aware Kashmir must be having snowfall at this time?" asked Nehru.
Shastri Ji showed him his only jacket he was wearing and Nehru immediately gave his own mink overcoat. Shastri Ji was short in stature so he told Nehru the coat was quite long. But Nehru said woolen overcoats were always longer. That no one would know it was a borrowed one. On his return from Kashmir Shashtri Ji went to him to return the overcoat, Nehru asked him to keep it and but he refused.

Second Indecent
When Shastri left or Tashkent on January 3, 1966 for his meeting with Pakistan President Gen Ayub Khan, it was very cold and he was only carrying his usual khadi woollen coat, the book says.
Kosygin then Soviet Union counterpart realized that the coat Shastri wore was not warm enough to ward off the snowy winter winds of central Asia and wanted to present him a Russian overcoat but was not sure how to do so, it says.
"Finally at a function, he presented a Russian coat as a gift to the Prime Minister hoping that he would wear it in Tashkent. Next morning, Kosygin noticed that Shastriji was still wearing the khadi coat which he had brought from Delhi.
Hesitantly, he asked the Prime Minister whether he liked the overcoat which he gave to him," the authors say.
"Shastriji replied in the affirmative and said, 'It is really warm and very comfortable for me. However, I have lent it to one of my staff members who was not carrying a good woolen coat to wear in this severe winter. I will surely use your gift during my future trips to cold countries'," they wrote. Kosygin narrated this incident during his welcome address at a cultural programme organised in honour of Shastri and Khan.
He remarked, "We are Communists but Prime Minister Shastri is a super Communist."

Jai Hind

Navdeep Asija

References: http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/oct/06spec1.htm
http://indianexpress.com/…/when-kosygin-called-lal-bahadu…/…