DELHI with a DIFFERENCE

As Me and My city gears up for the Commonwealth Games i have begun to feel the DIFFERENCE and change has come to Delhi.After years of listening that Delhi will be transformed before the CWG ,the city is experiencing makeover to cater the needs of its own people and our lovely guests who would be visiting during the ongoing Hockey World Cup and Commonwealth Games in October.

With fleet of Low- floor and air-conditioned buses marching all around the city the public transport seems to have come par with the public transport systems of the global cities of the world.And how can we forget our very own Metro services which have now become a part of our daily lives and our existence as a Delhite. Plus the Delhi is one of the very few cities of the world where public transport system is totally Eco-friendly considering the needs of the times and vision for a greener and cleaner Delhi.The most important of all is that how all these services have made our lives so easy ,travel which cheap,comfortable and readily available and experience which is one of its kind .

From better roads to series of newly constructed Flyovers at various junctions to foot-over bridges have reduced the time to reach our destinations in a more safer and convenient way.Another significant change which has come to the city is newly appointed young police officers and especially women which i have noticed over some months and who are visible at most busy roads,near girls' colleges etc.This is a very interesting change as city is not considered a safe paradise for women.

The concepts of Bhagidari and E-governance has paved the way for new age governance where government believes that successful and meaningful governance cannot be achieved without the participation of people.It has given way to less corrupt and transparent systems where citizens can question,get involved,monitor progress of projects and free of red-tapism .

But the best change or transformation i should call it is the in attitude of People of Delhi and AWAKENED and ENLIGHTENED youth who believe in "MY DELHI-I CARE".With large number of non-government organisations looking after various issues to last week protest of young girls of Kamala Nehru College for "trees are our neccesity ,pavements are our right" to hundreds and thousands of Delhites registering to volunteer for commonwealth games to people filing loads of RTI's to keep a check on various government departments and their work .I can certainly say that this responsible citizenry would help in many folded progress of the city in an all-round manner .

With this i can certainly be proud of being delhite and can assert that Delhi is a city with a DIFFERENCE.Though there is still loads of work to be done with 'joint-ownership' with the government but Delhi has set an example for other Indian states and is all set to become one of the most GLOBALISED and VIBRANT cities of the world.And i would like to end with saying that "SHERA IS ON TRACK OF PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY"

A Date With DEVELOPMENT

My date with DEVELOPMENT was an enriching experience, where i walked in as concerned Indian and after hours of discussion ,interaction,alternative solutions and out-of-thinking came out as an enlightened citizen with plethora of new ideas and vision for a BETTER INDIA and BETTER WORLD.

In leadership summit the topic under consideration was "INDIA'S DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES AND THE ROLE OF YOUTH".The seminar was organised for students of

Delhi University who were interested in exposure to the realities of India and for opportunities other than the corporate sector and white -collar jobs.

The summit was addressed by three eminent journalists namely Pankaj Pachauri(Manging Editor-Special projects and Prime time anchor NDTV-INDIA) , Vipul Mudgal(Resident -Editor Hindustan Times) and Binoy Job (Director and Media Adviser to PMO) who have over the years engaged themselves in balanced reporting and have been committed towards developmental issues which concerns the millions in the country.

Interacting with the leaders or more precisely the entrepreneurs of tomorrow Mr Pachauri

stressed that 2010 was a defining decade for the country which has full of energy and youth and pointed out on the changing times in each sector as even the last two lok sabha elections were also fought keeping in mind the AAM-AADMI of the country.He motivated us to look beyond which is easily available and towards alternative sectors such as Food sector(as by 2050 Indians are going to spend 46% of their total expenditure on food ),Health sector(second largest expenditure by indians by 2050)and to rely on entrepreneurship.

Mr Mudgal focussed on the "shifting paradigms in our times "where development has become a RIGHT .He called for JANKARI, NIGRANI and BHAGIDARI from this vibrant youth where the democracy has transformed itself from the electoral to a participating one .He also emphasised on youth's services to bridge the gap between the rural and urban population and opportunity to monetarily gain from these opportunities lying ahead.

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The best part was the last part when the responsible and active young students put forth their doubts,asked critical questions ,interacted and indulged in out-of -box thinking with the eminent panels.Equally enthusiastic was the panel who shared their expertise,knowledge and experiences with us while satisfying our inquisitive minds.Another interesting part of the session was that politician bashing,media criticism and blaming the system and government for everything was strictly prohibited.

At the end i would like to say a big congratulations and hearty thanks to leaders for tomorrow (not-for-profit youth leadership movement mainly working in college campuses),their founder

Mr. Binoy Job ,national president Ms. Anchal Dhar and the whole lft team who behind the scenes worked very hard to make this event a grand success .Special mention to my friend Mr. Chaahat Khattar who sent the invite almost 1 and half months ago so that i can attend such a wonderful event and be part of change.At the end i would like to say i m a PROUD member of lft .keep up the good work guys.

IPL catches eye-balls,who cares about winter olympics

In a cricket obsessed nation like ours where Indian Premier League grabs all the eye-balls and media attention even before it's start, courtesy the controversies and tweets emerging on a day-to-day basis we have actually forgotten to cover an ongoing international sporting event called the winter Olympics.

The 21st winter Olympics are currently being held in Vancouver,British Columbia and Canada and includes 15 winter sports and 82 teams from around the world are participating in the Olympics and most astonishing fact is that even the Indian contingent is part of the event ,still no Media coverage of the event .They Media is highly content with covering cricket and what Mr Lalit Modi is tweeting and what new controversy is being raged about IPL by Shiv Sena and MNS.

Our Media is more interested in providing all-round coverage of IPL from cheer girls to new brand ambassadors of IPL teams as we hardly find any pictures ,articles,coverage or visual footages of the Olympics in newspapers and news channels.

The most heartening part is that the media is depriving the people from the newsworthy information about and international sporting event .Even the players who are participating in the event would be disheartened by the absence of the coverage and support from the people of their country.As most people of the country do not know about the event or the players.

So at the end i sincerely request all the media organisations to please cover the event for all sports lovers including me ,so that we get an exposure to interesting winter sports like Alpine Skiing ,Curling,Luge and many more .And most importantly to gather support ,love and fan following for players who despite all odds participate in the event .

All my best wishes Ski athletes Tashi Lundup and Ski athletes Tashi Lundup and Luger Shiva Keshavan and guys hope u rock and get medals for us .

Security for STATUES,not for people

Mayawati plans to dig yet another unnecessary hole in the state's treasury by setting up Special Security Force to protect her beloved statues,parks and mansion.

Uttar pradesh government on Thursday tabled a bill called State Notified Area Security Force 2010 .The bill focuses to raise a force which would be deployed at Ambedkar memorial Lucknow and Noida);kanshi ram memorial and sanskritik sthal ;ramabai ambedkar maidan;buddha vihar;kanshi ram green eco park.Setting- up of this force would cost rs 53 crores with an annual recurring budget of rs 10 crores.

A state which faces serious threats from terror attacks and naxalism wants to protect the dumb and mum statues instead of worrying the security of its people.When all other states are gearing up to moderinise their police and equip them with latest technology weapons to deal with this modern day terrorism all that concerns mayawati is her 6,000 crore monuments.Even the supreme court has stayed construction on some of the sites which mayawati wants to taken care by the special force.

A state with alarming crime rates and very low police-to-people ratio precisely 83 policemen per lakh citizens of UP ,the state do not want make Uttar Pradesh a safe and secure paradise but is only concerned about the these stone structures instead of living beings.In my opinion this money can be used more judiciously in modernization and makeover of uttar pradesh police .May be the matter of concern for the CM should be the 35,ooo vacant posts in uttar pradesh police .

But the only reason i see that Mayawati is so much concerned and worried about the security of these statues because i think see remembered the visuals of the similar statues of Saddam Hussain being pulled down by the american forces in Iraq and she would not like to see the similar treatment to her own monuments after state elections in 2012.