Chandigarh, November 15
Maneesha Sharma of Ambala is among the few Indians who have made their mark outside the homeland. At 24, Maneesha is perhaps the youngest Indian to complete the Phd degree and that too in just two and half years in computer science from University of Exeter, England, this July.

Maneesha was also nominated this year for the Marquis Who's Who in the World for her outstanding achievements. Marquis Who's Who in the World lists the contributions of individuals who have made significant contributions to a particular field of study.

She did her schooling at Bhartiya Public School, Ambala cantonment, and later graduated with Bachelors in Computer Science (with distinction) from Kurukshetra University, Haryana, in 1999. Maneesha also excelled in co-curricular activities, inter-college writing contests, debates, dance competitions and poetry contests.

In 1999, she was awarded the British Council Scholarship in computer science and completed her M.Phil in a record time of 15 months from the University of Exeter in January 2001. Her M.Phil thesis title was "Performance Evaluation of Image Segmentation and texture algorithms for Scene Analysis".

Maneesha said she then worked as a research assistant on National Air Traffic Control, UK. The project on "Cloud Recognition", obtained from this project, was highly appreciated by National Air Traffic Control Experts.

She was then awarded Millennium Scholarship to pursue PhD in computer science from the University of Exeter in 2001 which was also partially funded by the British Home Office. The focus of the PhD was to improve the quality of the X-Ray hand-luggage image at the airports and to detect dangerous objects automatically from the hand-luggage items. Her work consistently proved to produce better results as compared to those currently available at the consoles in various airports. Her Ph.D thesis title was "A Machine Learning Approach for Image Enhancement and Segmentation for Aviation Security".

Maneesha's work also got published in various international journals and last year she was invited to present her work in International Conference on Pattern Recognition, Cambridge U.K., IEEE International Conference on Computational Intelligence for Homeland Security and Personal Safety, Venice, Italy and 5th International Conference on Intelligent Data engineering and Automated Learning, Exeter.

Her professional activities include organising Chair, BCS Summer School on Pattern Recognition organised at the University of Exeter, UK in 2003, then Summer School on Pattern Recognition organised at the University of Plymouth, in July, 2004.

She has also been the Volume Editor of the Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Advances in Pattern Recognition organised at the University of Bath, UK, in August this year. Maneesha moved to Loughborough, near Leicester, where her husband Sameer Singh is a lecturer in Loughborough University.

At present she is working on the Automatic Rail Track Inspection Project funded by Department of Transport and Industry, UK. The main collaborators of this project include Corus Rail, Oxford Lasers and London Underground. Maneesha, however, misses India and her native place Ambala where her parents live. She says, it was The Tribune group, her long-time favourite newspaper which helped her in reaching this level in life.

Chandigarh, November 15
Haryana and Maryland State of the USA today signed a "declaration of cooperation" aimed at interaction between institutions and organisations of the two for strengthening economic development.

The declaration was signed by the Chief Secretary, Mrs Meenaxi Anand Chaudhary, and the Joint Secretary, Mrs Deepti Umashankar, for Haryana and Senator John A.Giannetti Jr., and the Executive Director, Maryland-India Business Roundtable, Mr Elisha B.Pulivarti, for the State of Maryland. It was signed in the presence of the Haryana Governor, Dr A.R. Kidwai, and the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The declaration said : " The two sides recognise the need for cooperation in furtherance of the declared policies of the Government of India and the Government of the United States of America. The two sides also appreciate that detailed understanding of areas of cooperation can lead to participation of organisations, academic institutions and business in Haryana and Maryland. It is agreed to work towards identifying concrete areas where such cooperation would benefit the people of Haryana and the people of Maryland within the overall context of friendly relationship between our two countries".

Dr Kidwai said it was good that both Haryana and Maryland had entered into a direct agreement. The constitution of roundtable agreements materialised only when concrete steps were taken.

He said that as Haryana was a leading producer of garments, textiles, automobiles, automobile parts and shoes immediate trade could be started in these areas. The agricultural university, too, could start some projects with the similar university in Maryland. Haryana also looked forward to cooperation in the setting up of special economic zones and the construction of an expressway.

Mr Hooda said it was the first such declaration between Haryana and a foreign state after the implementation of the state’s new industrial policy. He assured all assistance to entrepreneurs and the Government of Maryland in further strengthening bilateral relations.

He said the two sides had agreed on mutual cooperation in the areas of agriculture, education, health, trade and infrastructure development.

Later while replying to the questions of mediapersons, the Senator said Maryland had a great deal to do with India and the governments of both states could act as a facilitator for businessmen and entrepreneurs.

While acknowledging that it was economical to manufacture medicines in India, he said the USA would be a partner with India in the manufacture of medicines. "We can learn from India how to manufacture medicines economically."

The Haryana Excise and Taxation Minister, Mr Venod Sharma; the Finance Minister, Mr Birender Singh; and the Education Minister; Mr Phool Chand Mullana, were also present. 

Bahadurgarh (Jhajjar), November 15
Finally, the newborn twins, abandoned by their parents here in a local hospital a month ago, are set to get a home after spending one month in the hospital ward as the state Council for Child Welfare has sought the custody of the children. The hospital would hand them over to the District Child Welfare Council authorities tomorrow who would take them to their creche at Panchkula.

With the hopes of the return of the parents, Neeraj and Sonia, dwindling, people here are cursing them for showing utter insensitivity towards the one-month-old girl children. The Mission Hospital authorities said today that the couple had indeed deserted their children and inability to pay the bill being put forth by them was a false excuse. The children, lying in the nursery of the hospital, are in good condition as they are being looked after properly.

The Deputy Commissioner, Ms Suprabha Dahiya, said the hospital authorities had approached her to intervene and find a way out as the newborn twins had been staying in the hospital for about a month. Ms Dahiya asked the District Child Welfare Officer (DCWO) to get the custody of the deserted children.

Mr Narender Malik, DCWO, said the girls would be admitted to the creche at Panchkula by a team of district officials here. Then the girls could be further offered for adoption to the interested couples, he added.

Dr Ajay Jain, owner Mission Hospital, was a relieved man today as the district administration had come forward to help him. He said it gave him professional satisfaction that he could save the girls despite born as preterm babies. He said even the weight of the children was about 900 gram each, well below the average weight (about 2.5 kg) of the newborn child. He again held that the couple was in fact not interested in having the children. He said though the hospital had to bear the cost for extending medical care to the children, he did not need any money from any one now.

While, Gurudev, the landlord of the house where the couple were tenants, said Neeraj had called him about two days ago and said they would be back on November 15. However, they had not returned till late this evening. He said he had lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police against Neeraj as he also owed him (Gurudev) Rs 13,800. He, however, refused to comment on the controversy surrounding the children. He had deposited Rs 4,000 in the hospital on behalf of the couple. The couple had deserted the children after the mother, Sonia, was discharged on October 18 from the hospital. 

Jhajjar, November 15
The state government and Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) will sign memorandum of understanding (MoU) for supplying gas to the 1,000 MW power plant which will be established in Khunghai village of the district on November 17. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will be the chief guest on the occasion.

While Financial Commissioner and Secretary of the Haryana Vidhut Prasaran Nigam RN Parashar and HVPN MD Jyoti Arora will represent the state government, General Managers of Gail J Wasan and SK Sharma, along with Chief Financial Officer SK Wadhwa and Manager Pramod Singh will be present on behalf of the Gail.

Deputy Commissioner Suprabha Dahiya said here today that the New Delhi Power Limited (NDPL) was establishing the power plant at an approximate cost of Rs 2,800 crore for which about 168 acres had been acquired in Khunghai village. The DC said the process of acquiring the land would start soon and the project was likely to be commissioned in three years.

The Chief Minister will also inaugurate a state-level cattle show in the town in which about 600 animals will be brought from the state. Mr Hooda will also unveil the statue of freedom fighter Shri Ram Sharma in the mini-secretariat on the same day.

Ambala, November 15
The 28th inter-zonal youth festival of Kurukshetra University began at SD College, Ambala Cantt, today. Dr Desh Bandhu, Principal of the college, said in the morning session, renowned classical dancer, Shobha Kosar, was the chief guest, while in the evening session, the Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, Mr J.P. Kaushik was the chief guest.

In choreography, Dayal Singh College, Karnal, was recommended while Maharaja Aggarsen College, Jagadhari, and MM College Fatehabad, were commended. In classical instrumental (solo) percussion, BPR College, Kurukshetra, was recommended while University Teaching Department of Kurukshetra University was commended.

In classical solo (non percussion), University Teaching Department of KU was recommended while IS Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Pundri, was commended. In group song general, University Teaching Department of KU was recommended while GN Khalsa College, Karnal was commended. In light vocal Indian, University Teaching Department was recommended while MLN College, Yamunanagar, and MM College, Fatehabad, were commended.

In group song (Haryanvi), University Teaching Department of KU was recommended while Satyam College of Education, Jind, and SMS Khalsa College, Barara, was commended. In general dance, GMN College, Ambala Cantt, was recommended while Jeevan Chanan Mahavidyalaya, Asandh, was commended.

Karnal, November 15
The farmers of the district, known for the production of export-quality basmati rice, are happy with the record produce of paddy but are getting much less price for their crop this time as compared to last year.

The district president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), Mr Jai Kumar, said the farmers were getting 30 per cent less price for different varieties of the crop, including basmati and duplicate basmati, known as muchal paddy, this time as compared to that of last year.

The farmers were not getting proper price for their crop as proper auction of the paddy had not been done due to connivance of market committee employees with private rice millers, he alleged.

When this correspondent visited new grain market on the Delhi-Ambala national highway here today, Chandveer, a farmer of Shekupur Sohana village, said the farmers were forced to sell their basmati paddy at a throwaway price of Rs 1,000-1,200 per quintal as compared to last year price of Rs 1,600-1,700.

The farmer said he sowed basmati as he had thought that he would get much higher price for the crop but the farmers were not getting even as much money as spent for the production of the crop.

Echoing his sentiments, another farmer Surender Singh, who had come from a nearby village of Uttar Pradesh to sell his crop, said the expenses for producing a crop had increased a lot due to hike in the rates of diesel, seeds, pesticides, etc, but the price of their crop reduced instead of increasing.

Chandveer said he would not sow basmati next time, as the farmers were not getting expected price to their crop.

An arhtiya (commission agent), Mr Anil Wadhwa, admitted that several varieties of paddy was purchased at much less price as compared to last year, despite record production this time. However, he attributed this to “low quality” of paddy due to untimely rains.

On the other hand, farmers’ leader Jai Kumar said the quality of the paddy was as good as it should have been. While 80 per cent of the paddy had already been purchased, even then he demanded that it should be purchased through auction.

Jai Kumar said the crop should be purchased on the same day when it was brought to the grain market to minimise the harassment of the farmers.

While the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Rakesh Gupta, was out of station, the DFSC, Mr K.K. Bishnoi, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Meanwhile, sources said over 5,72,000 tonne paddy arrived in a dozen grain markets of the district. While rice millers purchased 3,08,000 tonne paddy, the rest was procured by different government agencies.

Yamunanagar, November 15
With more than six lakh pilgrims taking a holy dip in the four tanks at Kapal Mochan, the four-day mela concluded here today. The administration hived a shy of relief as its master plan turned out to be “successful” and no untoward incident took place during the mela duration.

Meanwhile, the pilgrims returning to their places chocked all the roads and the situation of jams prevailed on the Jagadhri-Ambala, Jagadhri-Paonta and Jagadhri-Saharanpur stretches of the road. There was heavy rush at Jagadhri bus stand and railway station as thousands of pilgrims reached the two places to return home.

The main “snan” (dip) started at the stroke of midnight yesterday. The Deputy Commissioner, Ms Sukriti Likhi, the SDM (Jagadhri), Mr S.S Saini, and the SP, Mr Sultan Singh, remained present at the mela venue till this morning.

The district administration has claimed that 10 lakh pilgrims turned up at the mela but local people said that the crowd in the mela this time was significantly lower than the last year.