Religion, dictatorship and laws in democracies have had a role in persuading, punishing and penalising smokers, who not only endanger their own heath but also pose serious health hazards to non-smokers. Surprisingly, from available history, no religious head, dictator or government have ever thought of banning cigarettes.
    The efforts of health minister Anbumani Ramadoss in inventing a penalty clause for employers if an employee was caught smoking on the premises could be traced to Pope Urban VII’s 13-day papal reign, that included the world’s first known public smoking ban (1590). The Pope had threatened to excommunicate anyone who “took tobacco in the porchway of or inside a church, whether it be chewing it, smoking it with a pipe or sniffing it in powder form through the nose”. Ramadoss, however, does not intend to make chewing or sniffing tobacco an offence.
    In the 17th century, many European countries followed the papal advice and banned smoking in public places in busy cities. The Revolution of 1848, led by bourgeois elite, repealed the ban on public smoking. If Ramadoss followed the healthy papal advice, West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya could cite the 1848 revolution as the personal inspiration not to fall in line with the ban on smoking in Writer’s Building.

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Aminabad historical parks lying in neglect

Lucknow: Good days are ahead for parks. The Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) has chalked out a grand plan for their facelift. These parks would be photographed and their images uploaded on LMC’s website. Apart from classifying them as “developed” and “undeveloped”, the move is seen as municipal authorities’ yet another desperate attempt to put brakes on sprawling encroachments that are choking the parks.
    As per the plan, the LMC would get all the 1022 parks photographed from different angles and get the pictures uploaded on its official website (http:\\lmc.up.nic.in). The images would be updated every two months to keep a tab on the park and fix responsibility on officials in case of encroachment. “We cannot inspect all parks regularly. So, we would get them photographed to have an idea of their status,” municipal commissioner Shailesh Kumar Singh told TOI on Sunday.

Lucknow: School van operators are least affected by the drive launched against them by the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) last month. The drive and subsequent meetings that took place between the RTA and the van operators, came up with decisions which certainly did not favour parents whose interest is totally ignored in the entire process.
    “Van operators have increased their rates. They also threaten to go off the road if we do not pay the increased rates,” a worried parent Saurabh Singh said, adding that “now we do not have any option, but to drop our children to schools everyday.”

Lucknow: Their staccato answers prove they are novices in the political arena. “It has been only two years,” for Pushpa Devi but when she more than happily shared that her ‘pradhani’ brought a job for her husband, she indicated that a sense of power is now not new to her.
    From over 16 districts of the state, women village ‘pradhans’ who had gathered in the city had a different experience to talk about, each of them. Though most still the dabblers in politics, given the grit, guts and gumption, political and public life could be all their’s. Currently, though they all agreed, “pradhani never rolled out a red carpet for them”.
    “I was never criticised so much before in my life. I work for all sections of the society I hail from, still people accuse me of something or the other and the worst part is that despite being a woman, it is a problem to garner support from them”, said Sumitra from a village in Gorakhpur.

Lucknow: Governor and chancellor of state universities TV Rajeswar on Tuesday appointed Dr Saroj Chhoramani Gopal as vice-chancellor of Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University, Lucknow. VK Mittal, former chief secretary of the state, has been made acting vice-chancellor of the Bundelkhand University, Jhansi, and Dr AK Mittal has been appointed as vicechancellor of Ram Manohar Lohia Awadh University, Faizabad. TNN CSMMU gets first woman V-C
Lucknow: For the first time in the history of Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University (CSMMU), a woman has been appointed to the post of vice-chancellor. Governor and chancellor of state universities, TV Rajeswar on Tuesday appointed Prof Saroj Chooramani Gopal on the coveted post for a period of three years.
    The post was lying vacant since September 2007.
    Known for her honesty, simplicity and an unflinching dedication towards medical profession, the former dean of Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS), Benaras Hindu University (BHU), Prof Saroj is not only the first woman to become the vicechancellor of CSMMU but also the first woman paediatric surgeon of the country to have graduated from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Earlier, Prof PK Mishra had served KGMC, now CSMMU, as first woman principal.
    Prof Saroj’s commitment towards patient care could be gauged from the fact that she performed an emergency operation even on her wedding day. “It took her almost five hours in the operation theatre and by the time she came out, the wedding muhurat was already over,” informed a doctor in BHU.

 Anti-encroachment drive of LDA at a graveyard in Gomtinagar area of the state capital on Tuesday.

Lucknow: A piquant situation appeared to engulf Lucknow Development Authority’s (LDA) anti-encroachment drive in Gomtinagar here on Tuesday as locals protested the authority’s move to demolish structures within a land which they believed was a graveyard. The land in the Vijay Khand area, in fact, was surrounded by scores of local shopkeepers, following which the drive came to a halt.
    The drive, carried out under the supervision of executive engineer Om Prakash, later on managed to remove encroachments close to the plot—a boundary wall and a few temporary huts were demolished.
    A similar drive was carried out in Sectors 1,2 and 3 of Virat Khand area of Gomtinagar and Sectors G and H of Kanpur Road scheme. Another drive was carried out in Sector-H of Janakipuram where as many as 40 sign boards and 70 temporary huts were demolished by the squad. 

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