Haryana boy among 15 Google science award contenders

A teenager from Haryana has invented a device to help patients of the dreaded ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease speak through their breath. His project is now among 15 shortlisted for the Google Science Fair Award 2014.

Arsh Shah Dilbagi, a student of Class 12 in one of the three DAV Public Schools in Panipat city of Haryana, has invented "Talk", an innovative augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device to tackle the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) disease.

ALS is a neuro-degenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.

Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to control muscle movement is lost, and patients in the later stages may become totally paralysed, says the ALS Association based in Washington.

Arsh submitted his project online in February.

Hundreds of thousands of projects were submitted throughout the world as there was no fee to participate in the Google Science Fair.

Ninety projects were shortlisted by the judges for further consideration, and of the 90, five projects were from India.

"The 90 participants were interviewed online by the judges, and they selected 15 projects from nine countries, including India," Arsh told IANS.

Arsh is now the only participant from the Asia region.

He said his device Talk will help ALS patients speak through their breath.

The Google Science Fair website says Talk is a patent-pending innovative technology which, using the variations in a person's breath, helps him or her either to dictate letters which are further combined as sentences or speak out specific phrases depending on the mode selected.

Current such devices cost thousands of dollars but Talk can be made accessible under $100 and it also increases the speaking rate by at least 300 percent, it says.

"Earlier, a single access switch device was the only way to help ALS patients, but its cost starts from Rs.10 lakh. Middle class families are not able to afford this device," Arsh said.

He said that over 100 million people throughout world are ALS patients, more than the population of Germany.

However, there was no data available about the number of such patients in India, he said.

Arsh will be leaving for California Sep 19. There will be an exhibition round Sep 21-22, and results will be announced Sep 23.

Six awards will be given among the 15 participants.

There is also a voters' choice award, and Arsh has appealed to the people of India to vote for him.

One can vote by visiting www.googlesciencefair.com., then select Arsh's project and click 'yes' for him.

Voting lines are open up to 12 midnight of Sep 15, said Arsh's father Amit Dilbagi, an executive engineer with the Haryana government's electricity department in Panipat.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has also lauded Arsh for his project.

A developed Haryana- Mr. Hooda’s dream come true!

It has been almost a decade that boosted up the overall growth and development of the state of Haryana manifolds in terms of industry, education, infrastructure, rail network, road, etc. The work done by the chief minister of the state of Haryana in the past 10 years of his work in his chair is not something just in the books but it can be seen by one as soon as they would enter the state. Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, a leader of India National Congress, has been the chief minister of Haryana since 2005. He has supported the sports and athletics in the state so much that in the past few International Game events, the world has seen India doing well in many sports and athletics like Commonwealth Games and London Olympics. In-fact at the time of London Olympics, in order to encourage the youngsters to pick up Olympic sports, he has announced a cash award of Rs. 25 million for the state athlete who would win gold medal in any discipline at the London Games. Cash prize money of Rs. 15 million and Rs. 10 million for silver and bronze medal winners was also been announced.

In July 2012, the state of Haryana got its first Shatabdi Express Train on Delhi-Rohtak-Tohana-Ludhiana route. This route proved it-self to be a boon for the state, as its stoppage at Tohana was no less than a gift for the whole constituency. By the end of the same year, i.e. the month of December, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for development for 151 kilometer long- Rai Malikpur-Narnaul-Mahendergarh-Dadri-Bhiwani-Kharak corridor in the state got signed.  The roads connecting Rohtak- Kalanaur-Bhiwani-Loharu were also converted into the National Highway. Chandigarh- Delhi Expressway & Delhi-Jaipur Expressway that got a nod last year, completed their first phase of construction by 2012. The six laning of Badarpur-Hodal Highway got nod in the very same year due to Mr. Hooda’s constant efforts. The High Speed Trains for Panipat-Sonipat-Delhi and Alwar-Gurgaon-Delhi routes also got the approval from National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB). The survey for Hisar-Rohtak-Delhi High Speed Train also got a nod of NCRPB.

After providing the successful connection to commute easily from Gurgaon to Delhi via Delhi Metro, the govt. had laid down the foundation stone for Faridabad- Delhi Metro Rail this year. The Haryana government gave approval for the extension of Delhi Metro services from Mundka to Bahadurgarh.

There are many leading companies and global giants like Panasonic, Maruti Suzuki, Suzuki Motorcycle and Nippon Carbide that have started their new units in Haryana. The state continues to lead the productions of Car, Tractor, Refrigerators and Motor Cycle, as it is producing approximately  two third of  the passenger cars, 50 percent of tractors, 60 percent of motor cycles and 50 percent of refrigerators of the total manufacturing of these products  in the country. In-fact this state contributes about 25 percent in the total sanitary-ware production of the country. One out of every four bicycles in the country is manufactured in Haryana.

Riding on the quick paced development in modern and administration segments, Haryana's advancement and monetary quality was commended at the national level. The Planning Commission in its most recent report evaluated Haryana's development rate as among the two major states amid the past five years. Haryana also wiped up 192.1 percent funds to its target for eleventh five year plan, which was accounted as the highest in the nation. Haryana has maintained its position as the state with the highest elevated per capita income in the nation barring small state of Goa. Different autonomous agencies like ASSOCHAM appraised Haryana as the employment era state. Information discharged by Income Tax Departmen this year uncovered the fact that Haryana paid more tax than the aggregate tax accumulation by Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.

The country witnessed many students and players from the state of Haryana getting National and International accolades. Shena Aggarwal, a resident of non-descript town Yamunanagar in Haryana, topped the UPSC civil services examination. Arpit Aggarwal, from Faridabad, topped the IIT JEE national entrance examination. In London Olympics grapplers Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt brought plaudits to the country and their state by winning silver and a bronze respectively. Shooter Gagan Narang and shuttler Saina Nehwal, who have their roots in Haryana, also won bronze medals at the Olympics. The four medal winning players and all the Olympic participants from the state were honored by the state government with cash recompenses amounting to over Rs 6 crore, other than being showered with luxury cars and other lavish endowments.

The Census 2011 information for Haryana, whose figures were released this year, demonstrated that around 96 per cent of households are living in good or decent houses with just 4 per cent of the households, that is 2,09,270 are living in feeble houses.

Along these lines, the past few years have finished up on a high note for the state as numerous accomplishments were added to its credit as well as to the credits of Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who has done so much for the state of Haryana and has left no stone unturned in the past 10 years of his working, to make the state of Haryana reach where it is today.

Haryana Government and Policies

Like all other states of India, the head of the state of Haryana is the Governor, appointed by the President of India. His or her post is largely ceremonial and the Chief Minister is the head of the state government and is vested with most of the executive powers.

Haryana’s legislature is unicameral, i.e., it has one house – the Haryana Legislative Assembly, consisting of 90 members. Haryana has 5 seats in the Rajya Sabha and 10 in the Lok Sabha , India’s national parliament. The key political players in Haryana are the Indian National Lok Dal , Bhartiya Janata Party and the ruling Indian National Congress . The present political scenario of the state is clear and it has a stable government under Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Rohtak, who is presently the C.M. of the state.

Social Justice and Empowerment

Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Haryana, is implementing a number of welfare schemes for different sections of the society. Therefore, the functioning of the department is citizen centric. To strengthen Government to Citizen (G2C) services, a dynamic web site containing useful information has been developed to enable the public to access the required information about various schemes on any time and any where basis. It will further improve information delivery system at different levels of administration and efficiency of the office.

Lokayukta

The establishment of the institutions of Lokayukta is part of an ongoing effort to provide clean, transparent and accountable government to the people. Lokayukta today are the institutional manifestations of the need to provide a quasi-judicial body, which would act as a watchdog to pinpoint wrong doings of the administration, look into complaints of the victims of corrupt elements and suggest measures to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our Government. Lokayuktas have been unearthing corruption cases, recommending measures to redress grievances of the people and above all, acting as a much needed safety valve to release the bottled up pressure of aggrieved citizens, which, if allowed to accumulate, would put a question mark on the credibility of our administrative apparatus. The very existence of a Lokayukta helps to generate a feeling of assurance among the public at large, that they have a mechanism to fall back upon when faced with corrupt public servants.

मेट्रो ने बदली प्रदेश की तस्वीर, विकास को मिली नई रफ़्तार

देश की पहली रैपिड मैट्रो रेल गुड़गांव में 14 नवम्बर, 2013 से यातायात के लिए शुरू हुई । इस परियोजना को 1088 करोड़ रुपये की लागत से बनाया गया है।
दिल्ली से गुड़गांव तक मेट्रों रेल सेवा, जिसकी कुल लम्बाई 14.47 किलोमीटर है, 29 जनवरी, 2010 से शुरू कर दी गई थी। इस परियोजना की कुल लागत 1422 करोड़ रुपये है, जिसमें हरियाणा की भागीदारी लगभग 604 करोड़ रुपये है।

Haryana Has Provided Better Judicial Infrastructure: SC Judge

Supreme Court Judge Justice T S Thakur has hailed Haryana as the leading state in providing judicial infrastructural facilities.

"No other state has court complexes, residential houses for judges, Alternate Dispute Resolution Centres, chambers of advocates and other facilities related to courts like Haryana," said Justice Thakur, who is also Chairman of Supreme Court Legal Services Committee.

Justice Thakur was speaking after inaugurating the Sub-Divisional Judicial Courts Complex at Gohana in Sonepat district today, according to a Haryana Government release.

Justice Thakur said that he has worked in many states of the country and "at some places, conditions are so worse that judges even carry out hearings under trees whereas in Haryana, there are air-conditioned courts and chambers for advocates".

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said "the judicial system is a strong pillar of democracy and it is necessary that people should have faith in it."

He urged the advocates to charge less fee from the poor.

Bhupinder Singh Hooda

The Acting Chief Justice, Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Ashutosh Mohunta, said, "The construction work on the maximum number of courts at all district headquarters and at sub-divisional level has been completed and ADR centres are being constructed in 17 out of the 21 districts."

"The state government has provided Rs 500 crore for the construction of judicial complexes in the state," he said.

Justice S K Mittal, Judge, Punjab and Haryana High Court, said that there were 49 judicial complexes in Haryana, out of which 21 were at the district level, and 28 at the sub-divisional level

Haryana has produced the best Indian Players in a variety of Sports

Haryana has produced some of the best Indian players in a variety of sports. In the 2010 Commonwealth Games at Delhi, 22 out of 38 gold medals that India won came from Haryana. During the 33rd National Games held in Assam in 2007, Haryana stood first in the nation with a medal tally of 80, including 30 gold, 22 silver and 28 bronze medals. In team sports, Haryana has been the national champion in men's volleyball and women's hockey. Haryana is a traditional powerhouse in games like kabbadi, kho-kho,judo, boxing, volleyball and wrestling. Sports in the state are managed by the Department of Sports & Youth Affairs, Haryana.

Sishil Kumar

Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar won bronze medal in 2008 Beijing Olympics and silver in 2012 London Olympics and made a world record at the 2010 Commonwealth Games by winning a game in just 11 seconds. At the 2012 Olympics, another wrestler named Yogeshwar Dutt won bronze medal. At the 2008 Olympics, boxer Vijender Singh Beniwal won a bronze medal in the middleweight category. Vikas Krishan Yadav, a boxer from Bhiwani district, won the gold medal in the 2010 Asian Games in the lightweight category. Manoj Kumar of Rajound village, Kaithal district won athe gold medal in light welterweight category at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Former Indian volleyball player Balwant Sagwal also hails from Haryana.

Cricket is very popular in Haryana. Former India World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev is from Haryana. Nahar Singh Stadium was built in Faridabad in the year 1981 for international cricket. This ground has the capacity to hold around 25,000 people as spectators. Tejli Sports Complex is an Ultra-Modern sports complex in Yamuna Nagar. Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Gurgaon is a multi-sport complex. It came into prominence because of the Indian Cricket League's inaugural 20-20 tournament. There are Astro-turf hockey grounds in Nehru Stadium, Gurgaon and Shahbad, Kurukshetra. Haryana even has a dedicated sports school MNSS at Rai, Sonipat which is affiliated to Sports Authority of India.

Manufacturing Industries in Haryana

Faridabad is a biggest industrial city of Haryana as well as North India. It is home to hundreds of large-scale companies like Orient Paper & Industries, JCB India Limited, Nirigemes, Agri Machinery Group (Escorts Limited), India Yamaha Motor Pvt. Ltd., Whirlpool, ABB Group, Goodyear Tyres and Knorr Bremse India Pvt. Ltd.

The headquarters of DLF Limited, 
India's largest real estate company, 
in Gurgaon, Haryana.

Yamuna Nagar is the largest industrial town wholly within Haryana. It has Asia's largest paper mill, BILT, and Asia's largest sugar mill. Yamuna Nagar has Asia's largest timber industry, an HPGCL thermal power plant, a hydro power plant and India's largest railway workshop. It is also famous for its old steel and brass industries.

Bahadurgarh is an important developing industrial town with glass, steel, tiles manufacturing and biscuits production.

Panipat is a city of textiles and carpets. It is the biggest centre for cheap blankets and carpets in India and has a handloom weaving industry. The pickle "Pachranga International" is well known. Panipat has heavy industry, including a refinery operated by the Indian Oil Corporation and a National Thermal Power Corporation power plant.

Hissar is another developing city and home town of Navin Jindal and Subhash Chandra of Zee TV fame. Savitri Jindal, Navin Jindal's mother, has been listed by Forbes as a 3rd richest woman in world.

Ambala is the largest manufacturer of scientific apparatuses. It is named 'Science City' of Haryana. Ambala is one of the biggest exporters of education instruments in the country.

Rohtak- largest wholesale cloth market of Asia known as shori market. It is also emerging as a major industrial hub with the presence of many renowned organizations e.g. Research and development plant of Maruti Suzuki (only one of its kind out of Japan), Suzuki Motorcycles Ltd etc. Minsk Motors state-owned company of Belarus is also planning to start an engine manufacturing plant here. An International cargo airport is being set up