Ghazipur (UP), Oct 25 (ANI): Home Guard personnel took to the streets of Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district on Thursday with begging bowls in their hands demanding regularisation of their service and better pay package. The Home Guard personnel are sent on duty for three months in a year to assist the police in performing their duties. They said that they were not able to actively discharge any work apart from policing because sometimes they were called in for urgent tasks and officers charge them with indiscipline.

"Some of the Home Guard personnel are working as labourers in order to survive. We have placed all our demands before the government and made them aware of our problems. In our department, even expressing our genuine problems and feelings is termed as misbehaviour, " said Shivsagar Pandey, a home guard. These Home Guard personnel in Khaki uniforms are deployed to ensure security of ministers and are on duty at police stations also. However, they have to buy their uniform, shoes and belt themselves. "The person recruited for this service holds a secure, respectable job. This is not just an ordinary service, but a respectful job. The motto of the Home Guards is to serve the country selflessly.

We are working on that only," said Jyoti Kumar Raizada, a Home Guard commandant. The government has recruited them mainly to look after the arrangements during elections, but has not done anything to ameliorate the pitiable condition in which these unfortunate Home Guards live. According to the records, a total of 1,20,000 home guards are in Uttar Pradesh, of which, only 20,000 guards are sent on duty and 8,000, are sent to private places for work.

In Ghazipur, the total number of home guards is 1500 of which, only 300 are on duty. Similarly in Varanasi, only 750 guards out of 3900, in Mirzapur 350 guards out of 1200, in Sonbhadra 300 out of 700 guards and in Badohi 300 out of 600 guards are given work. As a result, at least 80 per cent of the Home Guard personnel remain idle during the year. (ANI)

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Lucknow, Oct 22 (ANI): The Uttar Pradesh Government today transferred ten Indian Administrative Service officers. After the transfer, the Principal Secretary (Technical Education), Sankar Agarwal, and Principal Secretary (Housing and Urban Planning Department), Mohinder Singh, have swapped places.The Managing Director (MD) of the UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC), Sudhir Mahadev Bobade, has been made MD of the UP State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC).He replaces Rajiv Kapoor, who will now be the MD of the UP Power Corporation. The incumbent MD of the UP Power Corporation, Avnish Kumar Awasthi, has been shifted to State Irrigation Department as Secretary. Current, Irrigation Secretary Shambhu Nath Shukla will be MD of UPSRTC and CEO, Noida Balwainder Kumar has been made Principal Secretary (Social Welfare). Principal Secretary of Social Welfare Ram Kumar has been shifted to Rural Engineering Services Department. Commissioner Food and Civil Supplies K S Ataoria and Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) Vice Chairman Harbhajan Singh have exchanged places. (ANI)

Labels: Politics

New Delhi, Oct 2 (ANI): The Centre today announced to confer the Kabir Puraskar, for the year 2007, on Saharanpur resident Khalifa Gufran for playing pivotal role in stopping many incidents of communal riots in his locality. He will be awarded with a cash prize of Rupees 50,000. Resident of Gali Halwaiyan, in Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh), Gufran helped in saving the lives of two Dalit youths in 2006 after Muslims and Dalits scuffled over a petty matter that soon took the shape of communal violence."The timely arrival on the scene by Khalifa Gufran with the district authorities stemmed further escalation of violence and saved both the youths from the clutches of the mob," a release issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs that announces the award said. In March 2007 persons of Hindu and Muslim communities collected at Mohalla Jatavnagar and started pelting stones on each other. Here also Gufran helped the district authorities in restoring peace and normalcy. Kabir Puraskar is a National Award instituted by the Indian Government for recognizing the acts of physical or moral courage displayed by a member of one caste, community or ethnic group in saving the lives and properties of member(s) of another caste, community or ethnic group during caste, community or ethnic violence. The Award is given annually in three grades viz., Grade-I, Grade-II and Grade-III, carrying cash amount of Rs. 2,00,000; Rs.1,00,000 and Rs. 50,000 respectively. (ANI)

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Lucknow , Oct 6 (ANI): Arif Ayyubi, Head of the Persian Department at the Lucknow University has started teaching Persian language through dubbed versions of popular Bollywood movies.This is a unique and an innovative effort adopted by the university administration to promote the language and to make the learning process more interesting.

The students are first shown a movie in the original language, followed immediately by the dubbed version."The main problem that students face is that Persian language is not written and pronounced in the same manner. We drop many words, some are silent and pronounced in a different manner," said Ayyubi. The whole exercise is immensely beneficial for the students.“Persian department has made an innovation which is very useful. We can learn the language in a short time along with the pronunciation," said Sheer Ul Saltanat, an Afghani student.Ayyubi, who has already created a library of around 90 dubbed movies, maintains that the initiative has been an instant hit with students. Though learning a language through an audio-visual medium is not new, this is the first time that movies are being used to instruct.The class, which includes 24 Afghani students, is very enthusiastic about these new 'movie classes'.“Learning through movies is very unique. We learn the practical aspects - the dialect and how to speak," Noorzabi, another student.

Persian is also popularly known as 'Farsi'. It was the language of the Parsa people who ruled Iran between 550-330 BC.Today Persian is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and parts of Uzbekistan.(ANI)

Labels: Education

Agra, Sept. 4 (ANI): It is unbelievable. The holy book of the Sikhs, the Guru Granth Sahib, is just an inch long, and this is drawing awe-struck believers to Agra’s Gurdwara Maithan. "We have Guru Granth Sahib of 1 x 1 inches long. The holy book was specially made by the British for the convenience of Sikh soldiers during World War I, as they could not carry a normal sized book in the battlefield to pray. It was manufactured in Germany," said Kashmir Singh, the head cleric of Gurudwara Maithan. The book was handed over to the shrine by a lady in Goa some fifteen years ago."This Guru Granth Sahib has been here for the past 15 years. All devotees, who come here, pray to the book and take its blessing," said Daljit Singh, a devotee.

The Sikhs belief that the book contains the actual words spoken by Sikh Gurus and saints from other religions. The Sikh religion originated with Guru Nanak (1469- 1539 AD), who was succeeded by nine other prophets, Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708 AD) being the last. (ANI)

Labels: Tourism

Bijnore, Oct.9 (ANI): The glass bottle manufacturing industry of Kiratpur in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnore District has made its own special recognition in the country due to its good quality and variety of bottles.

Many of these manufacturing units have existed here for 50 years. With the passage of time, the demand for glass bottles manufactured here has witnessed a sky-scrapping business to the tune of an annual turnover of rupees 20 crore (200 million rupees). Thousands of bottles are produced everyday in these factories. The factories use coal-lit furnaces in place of electricity to save power consumption. "We make up to 55,000 pieces a day and sell them at rupees 90 to 100 per box in the market. Overall, the business is good and many people get employment here. The workers are paid from rupees 100 to 140 per day," said Irfan Ahmed, a factory owner.

In view of the increasing demand over the years for its glass bottles, in specific, the manufactures here have been experimenting with various designs. The manufactures’ specialty includes production of bottles used for perfume, Itr and nail polish, and other assorted varieties for their major clients spread over Kanauj, Varanasi, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.Besides, this glass bottle industry has also been a major source of direct or indirect income for lakhs of people. "It is an age-old business. This is also a primary employment source in the area of Kiratpur and in the absence of this profession, people would have to search for employment elsewhere outside this place," said Tariq Ahmed, another factory owner.

Several families in Bijnore have been dependent on the glass industry."I have been working here for the past two years and I am earning nearly rupees 120 per day after eight hours of hard work. It is really a good place to work and it took me six to eight months to learn the art," said Nadeem Ahmed, a worker. With automation and modernisation of glass blowing systems, the production is anticipated to reach the figure of six million bottles per month. (ANI)

Labels: Business