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Shoddy yarn mills caught in a spin
Panipat, October 27 These yarn mills import raw material from abroad for which the payment is made in dollars. The raw material consists mainly of worn-out woollen clothing that is processed in these mills to produce shoddy yarn used in making of blankets. With the increase in the value of dollar, the mill owners have been forced to shell out extra money to buy raw material. This has increased the input costs by 25 per cent, thus reducing the profitability. Local yarn producers say they are not in a position to increase the cost price of their products due to the arrival of Chinese yarn that is available in the market at very competitive prices. They say local mills are also suffering because of the non-availability of uninterrupted power that affected their production and resulted in reduced profits. Secretary of the All-India Shoddy Yarn Mills Association (AISYMA) Suresh Gupta says under the prevalent circumstances it is becoming increasingly difficult for the yarn mills to earn profits. He says it is high time that the policy makers initiated some concrete steps to help the industry tide over the worst-ever crisis. Some yarn mill owners say they are left with no other option but to take cost-cutting measures by reducing the number of employees. Panipat is the biggest producer of shoddy yarn in the world and also makes a considerable contribution in the national GDP. The city has the distinction of having maximum number of shoddy spinning units at one place not only in the country, but across the world, leaving far behind the second position held by Italy. There are more than 334 shoddy spinning units in the district that produce more than 3.90 lakh kg of yarn each day. The turnover of this industry is worth over Rs 592.65 crore and it provides employment to more than 7,000 persons. Local yarn producers say they are disappointed by the union textile ministry that had dropped its demand for an increase in duty drawback for the textile industry. They say a higher duty drawback and continuation of interest rate subvention at least till the end of this fiscal could help the industry make up for the loss on account of high input costs and depreciating value of rupee against the US dollar.
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Have a blast, without a bang
Chandigarh, October 27 The board has inserted big advertisements in newspapers, which urge people to get Diwali charm without causing any harm to the environment. The advertisements highlight harmful effects of various chemicals. They say copper causes irritation of respiratory tract, cadmium causes anaemia and damages kidneys, lead affects the nervous system, magnesium and sodium could affect the skin, zinc nitrate could lead to mental impairment while nitrite could lead one to coma. Appealing to the people not to burst crackers, minister Kiran Choudhry said as per the direction of the Supreme Court, the use of fireworks would not be permitted except between 6 pm
and 10 pm. Firecrackers could not be burst at any time in silent zones i.e. in the area comprising not less than 100 metres around hospitals, educational institutions, courts, and religious places. Violators of these instructions would be liable to action under the Environmental Protection Act, 1986. This would lead to imprisonment up to five years with fine, which might be extended to Rs 1 lakh or both. She urged the people, especially school children, to launch a campaign against crackers and celebrate a safe and pollution-free Diwali. She said children could bring a sea change in the mental set up of the elders not to burst crackers. The members of eco-clubs should also be roped in to organise rallies in order to create general awareness among public against the bursting of crackers and thereby maintaining clean and pollution free environment. The emphasis should be more on festive spirit, sense of brotherhood and caring for less fortunate brethrens instead of bursting crackers, she added.
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Residents on spending spree before Diwali
Jhajjar, October 27 Local markets are already abuzz with heightened buying activity. Though shopping had begun with Dusshera as per tradition but it has reached its peak these days just ahead of Diwali that marks the end of the month-long festival season. Similar to last year’s trend, this time also people are taking interest in buying items of decoration, household articles and garments. People of middle class prefer buying dry fruits and crockery for presenting to their near and dear ones. The latest in fashion among the upper strata are gold and silver coins and even cell phones. “I have purchased a cell phone with some latest features costing around Rs 6,000 as a Diwali gift for my best friend,” said businessman Narender Sharma, adding that he was also planning to buy gold coins for my other friends. Traders and shopkeepers are also not leaving anything to chance in terms of tempting customers on this occasion by launching various schemes. Garment sellers have gone in for a price reduction by organising sale at their outlets. Such sales are dominating the scene in every nook and corner of the city, with banners and signboards announcing heavy discounts. Children are also in no mood to stay behind. They have their own way to celebrate. For them, the interesting items include toy swords, masks of Lord Rama and Ravana with which they perform scenes of Ramayana. “Me and my brother have bought masks of Rama and other characters of Ramayana to enact the roll of these characters with our friends at my home,” says a schoolgirl Kajal
Saini. Apart from these household items, fusion dresses using striking colours with unusual contrasts, broad silhouettes and low neckline and cosmetics seem to be the hot favourite among women. “This is the best time for bargain buying when a variety of garments and ornaments are available at discounted prices,” says Monika, a housewife, while advising women to beware of outdated stuff packed in attractive packaging.
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Listen to docs before binging on sweets
Jhajjar, October 27 Senior professor of cardiac department in PGIMS Rohtak Kuldeep Singh Lallar said cheese prepared using acid and cheap colours was being used in sweets, which had very harmful effects on human body. Assistant professor of medicine department Raj Kanwar Yadav said, “It is an established fact that colours used in preparing sweets though add to its taste could harm kidneys and lead to food pipe or stomach cancer. The best option is to consume sweets in its pure form”. The district health authority said the department had taken more than a dozen samples under a special drive keeping in view the festival season. “But no action could be taken against the erring halwais till the reports were out and adulteration was proved.” A prominent sweetshop owner, however, denied the use of any substandard ingredient in the preparation of sweets. He claimed that only approved edible colours were being used.
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Birender keen to contest LS elections
Fatehabad, October 27 The minister said though the decision in this regard was to be taken by the party high command, he was interested to contest the parliamentary elections. However, he refused to name the constituency from which he would prefer to contest. Talking to media persons recently in the PWD rest house here, Birender Singh also advocated change of candidates in some parliamentary seats in Haryana. “The youths should get a chance to come forward and serve the country for its betterment. Even, Rahul Gandhi has advocated more representation to youths in politics,” the minister said. When asked on which parliamentary seats he wanted change in candidates, he
refused to divulge names but maintained that the party would have to change some candidates to increase the winning prospects of the party. Indians in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra as most unfortunate, Birender Singh said preference to local people in the jobs was justified but at the end of the day all residents of the country had the right to settle anywhere in the country. Birender Singh ridiculed the INLD-BJP alliance in Haryana and said they should include Kuldeep Bishnoi’s Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) too in the alliance so that they were in a position to give a semblance of fight to the Congress. Commenting on the recent action of some HJC (BL) leaders joining the Congress, Birender Singh said in his view such leaders should not be considered for party tickets, as it would be injustice to old party workers. He said he had been looking after the party affairs in Rajasthan, where a number of BJP leaders, including some MLAs were willing to join the party but they had been bluntly told that they would have not right over the party ticket this time. The minister also announced that the state government would give New Year’s gift to its employees by implementing the recommendations of the sixth pay commission. Birender Singh said the state government could implement the commission’s report at an earlier date too in case the committee on removal of anomalies set up under the chief secretary submitted its report at earliest. He maintained that in case any anomalies still remain after the implementation of the commission’s report, the employees would be free to meet him and represent their case.
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Experts call on agencies to apply for patents
Karnal, October 27 US-based companies have succeeded in getting patent for household names like basmati and neem and in case proper documentation and registration of 80,000-odd plant species is not done under geographical indication parameters and the Farmer’s Rice and Plants Varieties Act, patents of our valuable herbal wealth would be hijacked by foreign-based multinational companies. “Neem and basmati rice have already been patented by MNCs and if we do not wake up, our precious herbal wealth of 80,000 plant species would become property of international companies and the posterity would suffer,” director of the National Dairy research Institute
(NDRI) A.K Srivastav said at the one-day workshop on techniques and procedures for patenting. Striking a note of caution, Srivastav said India’s share in $300 billion global pharma business was a meagre $4.5 billion, less than 1.6 per cent. Most of the traditional medicinal herbs in use had not been patented and after becoming a part of the WTO regime, there was an urgent need to get our herbal products and procedures patented. The process of patenting was costly, research based and lengthy. Unless proper guidance about the procedure was given to the people and research and development agencies play a proactive role in saving these precious plant species, patenting them would be impossible, Srivastav stressed. Informing that the NDRI had got five patents so far and also applied for 62 patents, Srivastav said the agencies should apply for patents immediately after the research and documentation work was complete to thwart the attempts of the MNCs to hijack the
patents. Srivastav, who is also principal scientific officer TIFAC (Technical Information Forecast Assessment Council) of department of science and technology of the government of India also explained its procedure and the initiative taken by the TIFAC for facilitating the patenting of plant species and other innovations by different groups and
organisations. The TIFAC is providing all help in applying for it but the departments should also keep themselves abreast with developments taking place in this crucial area and concentrate on patenting. He also asked the researchers and scientists to read journals for getting detailed information about it and effectively intervene in case any attempt made to hijack patents for our traditional herbal wealth. “The documentation and identification of geographical indications of our products is the first step to pre-empt for claiming patents,” he
emphasised.
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Anti-polythene campaign turns two
Karnal, October 27 A function was organised at Kali Dass Rangshala here today to mark the two years of the campaign, a brainchild of deputy commissioner B.S. Malik. Individuals, groups and organisations actively participating in the campaign and contributing in keeping the environment pollution free were rewarded on this occasion by the deputy commissioner, who donated the cash award of Rs 31,000 given to him by the Chief Minister for successfully launching the drive. Karnal district, consisting of six blocks, was divided into 17 beats and teams were constituted to carry out the drive with support of local groups. The Beat No 1, headed by district town planning officer Satish Punia, was adjudged best and all the team members of sanitation team were given cash prize of Rs 500 each. The beat No 13 was adjudged second best and all the members were given cash award of Rs 300 each while the team members of Beat No 17, which came third, was given cash prize of Rs 200 each. B.S. Malik announced that all the sanitation workers engaged in the campaign would be given cash award of Rs 100 from Red Cross. Besides, 14 Gram Panchayats and 14 NGOs were awarded on the occasion, 146 prizes were given to individuals, school students, Panchayati Raj functionaries and other groups. Speaking on the occasion, Malik said social drives become successful only when individual efforts converted into collective social response and no outside motivation was required. All the municipal areas and more than 300 villages had been covered so far and the response was encouraging even in rural areas, he said. The campaign initially confined to 21 wards in the municipal areas of Karnal, slowly penetrated into the rural areas with deputy commissioner B.S. Malik himself going from village to village to extract used-polythene bags from garbage to motivate the people. A solid waste management plant was being set up at cost of Rs 20 crore in the periphery of the town. The use of cloth bags as a better and environment-friendly alternative was being encouraged and 7,000 such bags have already been distributed. The drive against the use of polythene bags has brought down the sale of polythene bags by 35 to 40 per cent. The response of people was encouraging and soon other activities like weeding out Congress grass, vermin-composting and construction of toilets in the rural areas for making the villages open-defecation free were also taken up. As a result, 90 per cent villages and the district are all set to become open-defecation free. Farmers were persuaded to lay beds for vermin-composting and digging pits for dumping the cow dung, which became a household affair. Hameda village recently achieved the rare distinction of having vermin-composting bed for every household and the village was free from problem of disposal of cow dung and open defecation. Besides, community pits have also been dug in about 40 villages to promote the use of vermi-compost. About 300 villages have been covered under the multidimensional environment protection. The rural women, who were initially reluctant to join the campaign, are enthusiastically coming forward and even leading in some areas. An added advantage of the campaign was “bridging the gap between the administration and the people”. The visits of the deputy commissioner and officers as participant in cleanliness campaign urged people to change their perception about administrators and join the drive. Further, the district administration is planning to shift dairies from Karnal town to nearby Pingli village.
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‘Mass participation must for total sanitation’
Kurukshetra, October 27 She was addressing representatives of 108 nirmal gram panchayats at a function organised by the District Rural Development Agency here recently. Gulati said this goal could be achieved only by active participation of all villagers in this drive to make the rural areas free from open defecation, as it would also help in eradicating ailments. No government or organisation could succeed in achieving this mission without the active participation of the villagers. She hoped that Haryana would lead the other states in the total sanitation programme. She congratulated the members of gram panchayats and village sanitation committees for their commendable work. She appreciated some of the village panchayats for adopting “Gandhigiri” in executing their mission. She also announced Rs 2 crore for the construction of a new building for the office of zila parishad here. Deputy commissioner Pankaj Aggarwal urged upon the panchayats to render help in executing the development work and maintaining total sanitation, which would result in preparing a good atmosphere leading to decrease in ailments. Additional deputy commissioner Sumedha Kataria hoped that all villages in this district would be free from open toilets by coming Haryana day on November 1. Only the construction of toilets would not help in making the villages clean, the thinking of people also needed to be changed, she added. Sarpanches of Khanpur Kohlian, Bagthala, Kanipla and Munda Khera villages highlighted the achievements of the cleanliness drive.
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Ratnawali fest, flag-bearer of cultural revival
Kurukshetra, October 27 “Our department feels proud to be a flag-bearer of the cultural revival along with the grand vision of establishing high academic standards.” He said since November 1, 1966, Haryana day had been celebrated as a cultural evening on the campus. This continued till 1984. The year 1985 brought grandeur and grace to this celebration when the department of youth and cultural affairs introduced this state-level festival, with literary events at its introductory stage. This sincere initiative has been receiving wide appreciation and support year-by-year. Haryanvi events were added to the list of competitions. At present, it is having all forms of art i.e. music, dance, theatre, fine arts and literary events, spreading over 22 events. Haryanvi folk orchestra, folk theatre, Haryanvi pop songs and ghazals are the jewels in the graceful basket of the festival. All these events receive packed participation of young students from all districts of the state.
These events are organised at six different venues i.e. the main auditorium, senate hall, Radha Krishan
Sadan, open-air theatre, crush hall, khula manch. These venues have a total capacity of about 5,000
people. According to an analysis, 10,000 to 12,000 people from all over the state come to appreciate this four-day cultural festival, along with students, artists. Another milestone has
been reached when the department of information and public relations, Haryana, decided to have the performances of the winning teams of ‘Saang’ competition in the four- day Yuva Saang Mahotsav to be held from November 9 in Panchkula and honour them with cash awards of Rs 51, 000, Rs 31,000 and Rs 21,000, respectively. |
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AIDS panel targets truckers, migrants
Chandigarh, October 27 So far, the target intervention groups that have been identified in the state as high-risk groups for this dreaded disease are the MSMs (male having sex with male), female sex workers and intravenous drug users. Though the bridge population of truckers and migrants is also part of the AIDS awareness drive, the coverage of this population is restricted to 12 per cent and 6.42 per cent, respectively. With the growing instance of disease in this population, the health authorities have decided to sit up and take notice. “This year, we have identified 18 new target intervention projects for the high-risk behaviour groups. We have roped in NGOs for starting awareness programmes for other groups, and will shortly identify NGOs to take up a project for truckers and migrant
labourers. With the massive industrial and infrastructure growth in the state, there is a growing bridge population, which needs to be tapped for spreading awareness on HIV/AIDS,” says Dr Avinash Sharma, director-general, state health services. She adds that there are as many as 60,375 truckers and 1,63,379 migrants that will need intervention by NGOs to bring about behaviour change like practicing safe sex, using disposable syringes et al. It may be noted that as per the Sentinel Surveillance data of 2006, there are as many as 42,000 estimated HIV cases in
Haryana. Till September 2008, the number of full-blown AIDS cases is 1237. The maximum number of cases has been detected in
Jind, Hisar, Bhiwani and Rohtak districts. While the national capital region has the highest number of
MSMs, Rohtak, Faridabad and Jind top the list of highest number of female sex workers. Health officials also say the maximum number of intravenous drug users are in Sirsa district.
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Doctor-writer pens another book
Rohtak, October 27 Dr Khosla, who has served as professor and head of a medicine unit at the local PGIMS for nearly 30 years, has been writing for the benefit of medical students as well as people in general. His book “Essentials of Medicine” meant for undergraduate and postgraduate students of medicine has been released recently. He has also authored “Typhoid Fevers”, “Digestive Disorders”, “Everyman’s Guide to Perfect Health”, “Digestive System and Liver Ailments” and “Medicine for Dental Students”. This senior physician has been writing articles on various aspects of health in various magazines, including “Imprint”, “Caravan”, “Alive”, “Debonair” and “Mirror” etc. He also writes a fortnightly health column “Your Body” in “Woman’s Era”. Dr Khosla has a keen research interest in the area of typhoid fevers and was among the first faculty members of the local PGIMS to be invited to chair a workshop on typhoid fever at International Congress of Tropical Medicine and Malaria in Calgary (Canada). A recipient of several awards and honours, Dr Khosla has around 200 research publications to his credit. He has also been an active member of different educational and scientific societies as well as university bodies.
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Investment potential high in media: Expert
Kurukshetra, October 27 The seminar, organised by the Peoples University of China in collaboration with film, TV and media research institute, Shanghai University, deliberated upon the new challenges and opportunities, emerging due to unprecedented growth in media all over the world. In his presentation on the impact of globalisation on Indian media, Kuthiala stressed that there was gold rush in Indian media and expressed confidence that foreign investors, if informed appropriately, could be persuaded to make heavy investments in Indian media. “Media business is steadily opening up to foreign investors and despite recession in other sectors, Indian media has the potential to attract huge foreign investments provided the union government fulfils its assurances in this regard,” Kuthiala said, adding that investment in Indian media would bring highest returns. Kuthiala, who recently made presentations on Indian models of media with focus on newspapers and television in Brisbane, Australia and Manila, quoted various studies to bring home the point that in terms of monetary returns, investment in print and electronic media have given the highest growth rates. This growth is likely to enhance during the next five years as per the projections made by PricewaterhouseCooper report for the period 2008-2011. Emphasising that the new media like DTH, mobile, telephones and internet are growing in India at a rate that surpasses growth in media in any other country. Kuthiala said according to him every adult working male would be using mobile telephone and 70 per cent of them would be having an internet connection within next seven years. The growth rate of new media amongst females is slightly lower than the males but going by the projections, it would be comparable to males within three years. Unfortunately, females living in the rural areas were still far behind their male counterparts in the use of new media. In case of Haryana, one female out of 10 was able to operate a mobile telephone, he informed.
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HUDA to upgrade power infrastructure
Gurgaon, October 27 HUDA would bear 75 per cent expenditure for the upgradation while the rest 25 per cent would be borne by the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN). Disclosing this here recently, a spokesperson told the Tribune that special sector-wise schemes are being prepared for upgrading the power infrastructure in all sectors developed by HUDA. “The nigam has decided to provide power supply to streetlights through exclusive electricity lines by installing independent transformers so as to have better control and reliable supply,” he said, adding that, field officers of the nigam had been asked to prepare estimates for the plan at the earliest. Besides, the DHBVN had mooted a plan to revamp power distribution system in 17 towns in its area under accelerated power development and reforms programme–II (APDRP-II) of the government of India. The plan would soon be sent to the central government for approval. The spokesperson said, “A special plan has been prepared to strengthen power supply infrastructure for industries at a cost of Rs 31.56 crore in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Dharuhera, Bawal and Rewari. Under this plan, domestic and industrial load would be segregated to give supply to industries through exclusive feeders, overloaded feeders would be bifurcated and old conductors would be replaced to renovate the distribution system.” The nigam had also decided in principal to bifurcate all feeders in urban as well as rural areas having over 150 ampere load. Under an ambitious project to give better power supply for longer duration in rural areas, the DHBVN had completed the work of erection of 266 rural feeders for the segregation of domestic and agriculture load. The DHBVN would erect 554 new 11 KV feeders to segregate rural domestic and agriculture load in its area. Total existing feeders having mixed load are 879. He said the work had gained momentum and would be completed at the war footing so that better supply for longer period could be given to the rural domestic consumers and the agriculture sector could also get quality power supply for a fixed period. With the creation of this system, there would be three-phase power supply for whole of the scheduled period and as such there would be no shortage of supply for drinking water purposes and for other activities dependent on three-phase supply in the rural areas. The spokesperson affirmed that high-voltage distribution system (HVDS) was being laid in all villages in the areas of the DHBVN. He mentioned that managing director of the nigam Anurag Aggarwal had asked officers to select 10 feeders of high line losses in each operation circle to give priority for creating this system of international standard for improving power supply system in villages. Under the plan of relocation of meters, priority would be given to the urban areas and consumer meters in all towns would be brought out of consumer premises by the end of this financial year. A sufficient number of meters are being purchased by the nigam to mitigate shortage. The meters on distribution transformers would also be installed first in the urban areas and then in the rural areas. The DT meters were being installed to ensure energy audit. The officers had been asked by the managing director to ensure proper functioning of meters on all 2,615 feeders emanating from 276 substations and replace remaining 250 meters immediately.
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After Sirsa, Rohtak also wants public transport
Rohtak, October 27 Failure to adopt any strategy regarding the local transport has resulted in chaos and traffic jams. The cheap means of transport functional at present are
autorickshaws, which are also the main source of pollution on the city roads. The number of such rickshaws has gone up to 10,000 while official records state the figure at about 6,800. Moreover, the unrestricted movement of other commercial vehicles including mini trucks, tempos and maxi cabs, has increased not only the overall volume of the traffic but also led to acute congestion on the roads. While several development works, including construction of some flyovers, is in progress, the overall space for the movement of commuters has gone down sharply. “The absence of any local bus service has been adding to the problems of the residents,” claims Naresh
Maggu, a shopkeeper in the model town area. He says the city bus service withdrawn long back, which adversely affected the commuters here, as they have to depend on either private vehicles or the polluting three-wheelers. He says the majority of auto rickshaws hardly follow traffic rules and pose as a serious risk to the safety of the passengers. The authorities have failed to adopt a policy to keep a check on the number of such vehicles. There is also no regular check of the papers and pollution levels of such vehicles. Average number of passengers carried by the autorickshaws plying on the city roads at any given time was just two persons, claims Sunil, a resident of Prem
Nagar. He says due to rising traffic the government should introduce an efficient local transport system in the city to provide a safe and efficient system of conveyance. He says this move will also put a curb on the movement of unwanted private and commercial vehicles. The urban population here has been hovering at about 3 lakh while the population of the district had been around 10
lakh, according to the local authorities. As the district has no CNG supply at present, all commercial vehicles run on diesel or petrol. There is no restriction on the plying of old and outdated vehicles. It may be recalled that the district administration had introduced a unique system of plying of the auto-rickshaws on basis of odd and even registration numbers in 2001-02. The authorities had fixed alternate days to run such vehicles on the basis of numbers. Though this system had brought some relief to the people, due to political pressure it had to be withdrawn after some time. The plying of the local bus service of the Haryana roadways, which had been in operation for many years, had also been missing for the past about seven or eight years. This has also promoted the plying of three-wheelers in an unchecked manner. Some of the social bodies, including the residents welfare association of sector-3 here have raised demand of introducing government-owned mini-bus service to eliminate the menace of three-wheelers. The district administration should immediately introduce such a system to provide much-needed relief to the commuters, says president of the association Katar Singh
Hooda.
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Women body to get subsidy on napkins
Sirsa, October 27 Sirsa and Fatehabad are among the ten districts of Haryana, where this scheme is being launched from November 1, 2008. The SMS is a group of ten or more literate rural woman, who get together to start a venture on cooperative basis. The best literate woman of the group is elected president of the SMS while the next best is given the post of secretary. The subsidy will be provided by the state health department, while napkin will be produced by the SMSs working under the district rural development agency (DRDA). The Women Development Corporation is funding the projects of manufacturing of napkins by the SMSs. According to DRDA sources here, these sanitary napkins will be manufactured by the SMSs in villages and the necessary equipment would be procured by SMS on loan basis from the Women Development Corporation. Banks are also funding the projects of SMSs. The production of these napkins will be stated by first week of November, 2008 in ten districts of the state. These districts include Sirsa, Mewat, Gurgaon, Bhiwani, Rohtak,Panchkula, Hisar, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra and Ambala. About 500 sanitary napkins will be manufactured per unit a day. The napkins produced by the SMSs will be provided at a very nominal rate of Rs 2 per napkin to the public. The production cost of each such napkin will be Rs 1.20 out of which Rs 1 per napkin will be given by the government as subsidy. The profit will be kept by the SMS. Besides providing health education and awareness, the scheme will lay stress on the use and disposal of sanitary napkins and significance of menstrual hygiene.
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Mehak wins inter-college debate
Yamunanagar, October 27 The function was organised jointly by the GNKC and Aruna Asaf Ali Memorial trust, Chandigarh. Sakshi and Priti Vats of TIMT Yamunanagar, secured second and third positions respectively. The overall trophy was won by Maharaja Agrasain College, Jagadhri. Abhishek of Mukand Lal National College, Yamunanagar, and Nishtha of D.A.V. Physiotherapy College, Yamunanagar, and Sarvjot of Maharaja Agrasain College, Jagadhri, were given consolation prizes. Speaking on the occasion, former president of the International Planned Parenthood Federation Neena Puri said today’s youth need to be sensitised towards the burning issues, which confront our society. The threat of fundamentalism was a serious threat to democratic institutions in India due to its multi-ethnic society. Former chief secretary of Punjab and a member of the trust P.H. Vaishnav said Aruna Asaf Ali was a social activist who always had a secular outlook and worked for a non-partisan society. He said the trust was committed to propagate the vision of Aruna by undertaking many social and community projects.
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Displaced farmers look for alternative jobs
Chandigarh, October 27 Flushed with suddenly found unwanted riches most of them waste their money on buying luxuries that they could not afford. Some do buy land at places far off from their homes to restart their lives. But most of them do not either want to leave the place where they have been living since generations or the compensation received by them is too meagre to buy land elsewhere. Realising its social responsibility towards such land owners, the State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) has decided to join hands with the Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) to undertake training programs for such persons. According to principal secretary to the Chief Minister and the chairman of the HSIIDC M.L. Tayal the board of directors had already approved that a memorandum of understanding should be executed between the two organisations in this regard. Under the arrangement, IL&FS would train the farmers in skills and attitudinal development programs to enable them to acquire the required skills for alternative employment or livelihood opportunity. It would undertake a socio-economic impact analysis in the area where land had been acquired, based on which the IL&FS would devise appropriate training and skill development programs. Tayal said under a state government policy for acquisition of land for setting up special economic zones, technology cities, industrial parks and industrial model townships, certain obligations have been imposed on the developer for providing social infrastructure. They are setting up of industrial training institutes, vocational training institutes and polytechnics, for providing training to the wards of those of whose land is acquired. Managing director of the HSIIDC Rajeev Arora said the IL&FS is an all-India financial institution with strategic focus on infrastructure development on commercial format without recourse to budgetary allocation. It has worked in partnership with the centre and the state governments across various infrastructure sub-sectors, including transport, water, power and environment. The IL&FS through its subsidiaries such as IL&FS cluster development initiative, IL&FS education and technology services limited (IETS) and IL&FS eco-smart implements several socially relevant projects such as social impact assessment, preparation of resettlement and rehabilitation packages for project affected persons and skill development program for inclusive growth.
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