Rohtak, November 23
“Aircraft and the life of defence personnel always fascinated me and becoming an airborne tactician with the Indian Navy is like a dream come true,” says 23-year-old Sub-Lieutenant Ambica Hooda, who has been enlisted as an observer on board Indian Navy fleet of Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) along with another girl, Rani Sharma of Aligarh (UP).

“My joys got doubled when I learnt that I am among the two candidates who have become the first women achievers in the country. The publicity that followed has made me feel like a celebrity,” adds Ambica, who recently returned to her home at Inderprastha Colony here after officially joining her duty following a training and subsequent induction as Sub-Lieutenant in the Indian Navy.

She says the credit goes to her parents. “People in uniform have always fascinated me as my father and my grandfather had donned these and infused enough confidence and love for the uniform and lead a disciplined life. My grandfather fought in the World War-II. Besides, my father and uncle have also served in the Indian Armed Forces for several decades”.

Ambica’s father Jai Kishan Hooda retired as Honorary Lieutenant from the Indian Army in 2005. Her cousin is also a pilot in the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Ambica’s mother Krishna is a housewife and stayed in a village till 2002 when the family moved to Rohtak for better education and career opportunities for children, informs her father.

“Ambica has dealt with all problems one faces while living in a rural area. She has studied in a town and used to travel daily from the village,” he says.

“But my daughter is a fighter as she not only took up sports but also NCC during her college days. Though she scored well in the All India Enginering Entrance Examination (AIEEE), she opted for the Navy,” he claims.

Ambica says there is hardly any reason for discrimination against girls when they can prove themselves in any field. She claims that girls from the state are now more confident and raring to go provided they get sufficient opportunities with proper guidance and training.

“They will not let you down,” she says with confidence.

“We have always encouraged our children to work hard in studies and sports as well. We never acted with discrimination with our children, especially Ambica, who was very fond of uniforms,” says Krishna.

“She has done us proud by not only carrying forward the family tradition but also getting her name in the achievers’ list at the national level,” says her father.

Sirsa, November 23
As many as 1,159 cases of dengue were reported in the state last year of which nine proved fatal.However, these are official figures only and many more cases getting treatment in private hospitals went unreported.

Mosquitoes are responsible for spread of dengue as well as other vector-borne diseases and a strict vigil can save many precious lives.

This year, the health authorities have decided to use the student community to keep a check on the growth of mosquitoes, particularly those responsible for dengue.

The health authorities telecast the recorded discussion in the information, education and communication (IEC) activity and other IEC readymade material through EDUSAT installed in higher and senior secondary schools on November 19 to make students aware about the mosquito menace and to educate them as to how their involvement could help check the growth of mosquitoes .

“Against 1,159 cases of dengue last year, only 68 cases have been reported so far this year,” said a letter from the Director-General of Health Services (DGHS), Haryana, to all civil surgeons .

“The reduction in the number of dengue cases is due to incentives to volunteers and a proactive surveillance by the department,” claimed the DGHS in the letter.

The letter says the civil surgeons, deputy civil surgeons, SMOs and other officers should deliver a talk to students on the issue in a school in their areas of jurisdiction.

Kalka, November 23
Proposed land acquisition in Pinjore by HUDA to set up 31 residential housing sectors is a threat to forests of the Pinjore range of the Morni division and is a violation of the Land Preservation Act, IFA 1927, and the National Forest Policy, stated Vijay Bansal, advocate and MLA contestant of the BSP from Kalka.

He said HUDA, under the notification dated November 30, 2006, published in the Haryana Government Gazette, had issued notices under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act for the acquisition of land for developing residential sectors at Pinjore.

Resentment and fear prevails among the residents of various villages of Pinjore over the issuance of notices of Section 4 and even Section 9 of the Act by HUDA recently to the owners of agricultural land and even to residential houses. Most of the house owners have constructed their houses by taking loan from banks. The houses constructed after the Section 4 of the Act should not be issued under Section 9 of the Act, confirmed sources.

Notably Bansal had filed a PIL in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in March 2009 in this context. Bansal said on hearing the case on November 18, the Court had slapped Rs 10,000 as cost on the Central Environmental and Forest Department for not giving up reply in the case.

As many as 200 residents of Pinjore on November 18 filed their objection before DR Karaon, land acquisition officer, who was present here in the Pinjore Forest Complex recently. In their objection, the people interpreted that they were served with the notices under Section 4 in November 2007 and were given assurance that only the agricultural land would be acquired by HUDA and houses constructed before the issuance of Section 4 would not be acquired. But HUDA has served the owners of residential houses with notices under Section 9 of the Act.

It is pertinent to mention here that HUDA had recently served notices to 1,500 residents of 9 villages of the Pinjore Block.

Bansal said the notices had been issued by ignoring the fact that vide notification dated November 28, 1997, the state government had notified the entire tehsil of Kalka as preserved land, which prohibits fiddling with the agricultural forestland in any way by any authority or for the matter even by the owner. Bansal further said under the notification of January 29, 1993, of the state government, under the provision of the Punjab Land Act - 1900, Kalka tehsil had been reserved for 30 years which prohibits cutting and felling of trees. The land proposed to be acquired (Pinjore and its adjacent area) falls under the purview of Section 4 of the Land Preservation Act - 1900.

Existing forests, habitat of wildlife and their migratory routes should be protected not only for the preservation of fragile ecosystem of the lower Shivaliks, but also as per the provision of the National Forest Policy - 1988.

Development of housing sectors in the fragile ecosystem of Shivaliks would further denude the ecology of the area. It would also cause fragmentation of the habitat of wildlife of lower Shivaliks. As of now, wild animals migrate from the Thadugarh and Banoi Forest area of Kalka to the Khol-hi-din area of Pinjore. Similarly, there was transition between wild animals from the forests areas of Nolta and Bhawana to the Bir Shikargah Wildlife Sanctuary. Bir Shikarhah was notified as a sanctuary vide notification dated May 29, 1987. The notification of the reserved forest areas would also be affected by housing sectors. The proposed plan of the development of housing sectors was against the spirit of the National Forest Policy, he added.

Bansal further said the deputy conservator of forest, Pinjore, had also written in connection with the violation of the Land Preservation Act to the PCCF, Haryana. He said he had already sent letters in this context to the Chief Minister of Haryana, the cabinet secretary, the Ministry of Forest, Union of India, New Delhi, the Department of Urban Development, Haryana, and the Ministry of Forest, Haryana, last year before filing the PIL in this context.

Bahadurgarh (Jhajjar), November 23
Wrestler Praveen Tehlan, alias Beena, who won the bronze medal in the 96-kg weight category of the World Cup Wrestling Championship concluded recently in Canada, received a warm welcome from villagers when he returned to his native Jassur Kheri village here recently.

To make Praveen’s reception memorable, a welcome function was organised in the village in which Member of Parliament Deepender Hooda was present as the chief guest.

Congratulating Praveen for his success at the international level, Deepender said it was not only a matter of proud for the people of Jassur Kheri village, but also for the entire state.

“With a twin aim to promoting wrestling at the grassroot level, besides grooming the players of international standard, the state government has decided to establish a state-level wrestling academy in Jhajjar district. Hence, keeping in view the significant contribution of players belonging to the Bahadugarh subdivision in wrestling, he will recommend the name of Bahadurgarh town to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for setting up the proposed academy here,” disclosed the chief guest, adding that the academy would play a supportive role in imparting technical training to budding players in order to make them competent for the international standard.

He said there was no dearth of talented players in the state. Youths were highly enthusiastic for wrestling. Keeping in view this talent, the government had been making all efforts to make available all kinds of facilities at the grassroot level. The academy at Bahadurgarh would give further impetus and prove a milestone for encouraging young and budding talent to grow in a safe and supportive environment, he added.

Following this sports-friendly approach, Boxing and Cricket Academy were being set up in Bhiwani and Jhajjar, respectively, besides constructing sports stadium and providing facility of coaches at the village level, said Deepender.

Gurgaon, November 23
The millennium city will witness 11 international designers during the India International Fashion Week 2009 (OIIFW' 09) to be organised here in the first week of December.

The event is being organised by Riya Communications Inc. in association with Oxybleach. This was disclosed by Sanjay Kapur, managing director, Riya Communications. He said the event would be held from December 3 to 5.

Kapur affirmed that the event would offering a perfect opportunity for designers from across the globe to come together in cultural unanimity and go beyond the limitless boundaries of fashion, beauty and style.

While talking to The Tribune, he said, “The fashion week would also provide an opportunity to exporters who can deliver international quality products at competitive prices thereby reducing the cost of producing a finished designer garment and in the process helping the designer to market his collections at more affordable prices and still maintaining decent profit margins”.

“It will be a travelling showcase of beauty, glamour, style, culture, grace, fashion and futuristic technology that is bound to gain India recognition, not only as a gateway to Asia, but also as a primary international fashion destination,” Kapur added.

The participating designers include Andres Aquino (US), Ramon Gurillo (Spain), Mustafa Hassanali (Tanzania), Dorian Ho (Hong Kong), Olga Zaferson (Peru), Tina h (Norway), Monica Paracha (Pakistan), Rudy Wolff (Norway), Chen Cohen (Israel), Nedret Taciroglu (Turkey) and Monapali (India).

Andres Aquino, producer of couture fashion week, New York, will be the choreographer of the show. All models for the event will come from New York and Italy.

Kalka, November 23
BSNL has lodged a complaint against a shopkeeper of lower bazaar here in connection with the damage and theft of a main cable worth lakhs of rupees.

Raj Kumar Nigah, divisional telephone officer (DTO), revealed that on November 3, a main cable of 200 pairs was damaged near the Anaj Mandi. The department lodged a complaint against Vinay Kumar, a shop keeper, in this regard at the local police station. Due to the damaged cable, hundreds of landline phones remained suspended for more than two days.

Nigah said the department had repaired the cable, but the same cable was damaged again along with another cable with 800 pairs on November 8, which had been not recovered till date.

Nigah alleged, “This happened due to the inaction by the police, which did not bother to investigate the matter despite department’s repeated requests to the DSP. As a result, more than 50 per cent of landline connections in the town are lying out of order”.

Udham Singh, SDO, says in 1994, with the permission of the Market Committee, Kalka, a 24-way underground duct was constructed by the department and the main PBC cables of 200 pairs, 400 pairs and 800 pairs, which include OFC cables, copper cables worth crores of rupees, were laid. These cables connect Kalka Telephone Exchange with the rest of the city.

“The underground duct also includes main cables on which private mobile companies depend for their network. If these cables get damaged, the whole town would be deprived of telephone connectivity,” he says.

He alleges that later the Market Committee allotted this particular place for the construction of shops. During the construction work at the shop of Vinay kumar, the above cables got damaged. The committee has also reduced the size of the common path from 20 ft to 5 ft, which has resulted in the incident.

The BSNL authorities have urged the local police to take stern action against Vinay Kumar, who has caused a revenue loss of lakhs of rupees to the department. They have also urged officials of the Market Committee to find a permanent solution to this problem.

Gurgaon, November 23
To familiarise students with the functioning of the United Nations and its various wings, the DAV MUN 2009 Conference was held at DAV Public School, Sector 14, recently.

Students acted as delegates representing 109-member nations of the UN. As many as 600 students from 80 schools (DAV only) from all over the country participated in this three-day conference which began on November 14 and ended on November 16.

DAV MUN provided the students a virtual experience of actual proceedings of the UN, especially the working of its different councils and committees, namely, Security Council, Human Rights Council, General Assembly, Economic and Social Council and the International Court of Justice.

President of the DAV College Managing Committee, New Delhi, GP Chopra was the chief guest on the occasion. He said,"The DAV MUN is a noble attempt to foster understanding among youth about issues concerning the world today, i.e. climate change, deforestation, terrorism and population."

Principal of the school Anita Makkar said, "This conference also provides them an unprecedented opportunity to inculcate their skills in negotiation and diplomacy. As international diplomats, our young delegates would experience new insights into the prerequisites of survival into this complex, dynamic world."

The ambiance created in the school provided a perfect milieu for a conference. The symbolic globe, the UN logo, flags, placards, posters, models and country profiles of member countries spawned an aura. The student delegates debated on agendas like trafficking of women and children, rights of prisoners of wars, peace keeping force, impact of the financial crisis on trade and development, Bretton Woods II, etc. After a brainstorming session in the different committees, the sagacious and astute executive board passed resolutions.

The valedictory ceremony was performed by Union Minister of State for HRD D Purandeswari. She felt it was a perfect platform for young students from different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds to come out with practical solutions to the problems faced by the world today.

Kurukshetra, November 23
Mr Dominic Keating, First Secretary for Intellectual Property in the U.S. Embassy, New Delhi, stressed the need for better implementation of the Intellectual Property Rights Law in the developing countries like India.

He was speaking at a lecture organised by the Department of Laws, Kurukshetra University, at University Faculty Lounge here on November 19.

Ms Sanjit Kaur Batra, intellectual property specialist with the United States Patent and Trademarks office in the U.S. Embassy, New Delhi, highlighted the importance of trademarks and geographical indications in India.

Lt-Gen D.D.S. Sandhu(retd), Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, in his presidential address, highlighted the need for WTO members to enact domestic legislation for the protection of intellectual property rights and also to provide administrative as well as judicial system for implementation of the TRIPS agreement. He also encouraged the students to take up the new field of intellectual property as a career.

Earlier, welcoming the guests, Prof. Versha Razdan, Dean, Faculty of Laws and chairperson, Department of Laws, Kurukshetra University, discussed various types of intellectual property rights.

She said that with the rapid growth of industrialisation and trade, the intellectual property laws had become indispensable for the protection of public interest at large.

Prof. S.C. Gupta Director Institute of Law, Kurukshetra University, proposed the vote of thanks.

Sonepat, November 23
The Haryana Rajkiya Adhyapak Sangh (HRAS) has urged Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to initiate action on the demands that were discussed and accepted by him at a meeting of the representatives of the Sarv Karamchari Sangh on August 24, 2009.

Talking to The Tribune here, SS Nirman, state secretary of the HRAS, informed that it was agreed in the meeting that a committee would be constituted for regularising the services of the employees working on daily wages, contract, outsourcing and RCH basis and the committee was to give its report within three months.

It was also agreed that all employees of the boards, corporations and universities would be given the benefit of the Sixth Pay Commission and the pay anomalies were to be removed. Besides, numbers of conditions were imposed in giving the education allowance to the employees and these conditions, which created disparities, were to be removed to give the allowance on equal terms.

So far as the demands of regularisation of the ad hoc employees and removal of pay anomalies were concerned, he said, the Congress in its election manifesto, Haryana Governor in his address in the state Assembly and the Chief Minister in his Haryana Day message announced to meet these demands.

Nirman reminded that it was agreed in the meeting that out of the 60 per cent pending arrears of the Sixth Pay Commission were to be paid before the Assembly elections and remaining 30 per cent after the elections. As the elections were over, the government should immediately release full outstanding arrears of 60 per cent and this amount should be tax-free.

Other demand accepted in the meeting was regarding the withdrawal of letter dated August 18,2009 under which there was monthly decrease ranging from Rs 110 in the salary of a class IV employee up to Rs 6,510 in the salary of a DSP in the new pay scale fixed after the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission.

Kurukshetra, November 23
While Guru Nanak Dev (GND) University, Amritsar, lifted the overall championship running trophy 2009, Kurukshetra University (KU), Kurukshetra was declared the runners-up in the five-day 25th north zone inter-university youth festival - KUNZ Fest 2009, which concluded at Kurukshetra University Auditorium here recently.

Results of other categories are as follows:

Music: GND University; dance: KU; literary: Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Katra; theatre: GND University; fine arts: GND University.

Classical instrumental solo (percussion): 1. Punjabi University, Patiala, 2. GND University, 3. KU and Jammu University (JU), Jammu.

Folk orchestra: 1. Punjabi University, 2. KU, 3. MDU, Rohtak.

Group song Indian: 1. GND University, 2. Punjabi University, 3. University of Kashmir, Srinagar, KU and Himachal Pradesh University ((HPU), Shimla.

Light vocal solo: 1. KU, 2. JU, 3. Rohel Khand University (RKU), Barailly, and Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh.

Classical instrumental solo (non-percussion): 1. GND University, (santoor), 2. Punjabi University (sitar), 3. RKU and PU.

Classical vocal solo: 1. PU, 2. Punjabi University, 3. JU and RKU.

Semi-classical vocal solo: 1. PU, 2. RKU, 3. GND University and Ch. Charan Singh University, Meerut.

Western vocal solo: 1. Punjab Technical University (PTU), Jalandhar, 2. PU, 3. JU and GND University.

Western group song: 1. GND University, 2. JU, 3. PU, KU and Lovely Professional University (LPU), Phagwara.

Classical dance: 1. KU, 2. GND University, 3. Punjabi University, and PTU.

Creative dance: 1. GND University, 2. Punjabi University, 3. MDU, CSJM University, Kanpur, and LPU.

Folk/tribal dance: 1. MDU, 2. KU, 3. Punjabi University and Ch. Charan Singh University, and HPU.

Poetry recitation: 1. Somveer, MDU, 2. Taha Mugal, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra (J&K), 3. Pooja Hooda, KU; Prabhat Kumar, BR Ambedkar University, Agra; and Rajesh Pratabh Singh, RKU.

Elocution: 1. Himanshu Singh, Dyal Bagh; 2. Rishu, MDU; 3. Taha Mugal, SMVDU, Katra (J&K).

Debate: 1. University of Kashmir, 2. PU, 3. KU.

Quiz: 1. Aligarh Muslim University, 2. SMVDU, 3. GND University.

Skit: 1. GND University, 2. PU, 3. Punjabi University, JU and HPU.

One-act play: 1. MDU, 2. KU, 3. PU, GND University, and Punjabi University.

Mime: 1. GND University, 2. Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 3. KU and LPU.

Mimicry: 1. KU, 2. JU, 3. Punjabi University, and SMVDU.

Poster-making: 1. Karamvir Singh, GND University; 2. Raj Kumar, KU; 3. Tasaduq Hussain, University of Kashmir.

Spot photography: 1. Manoranjan Kumar, Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi; 2. Abhay Parveen, Punjabi University; 3. Akhilesh Gaur, Dr BR Ambedkar University, Agra, and Aligarh Muslim University.

Cartooning: 1. Neetu Narwal, MDU; 2. Arvind Singh, Dr BR Ambedkar University, Agra; 3. Dilip Sharma, Aligarh Muslim University.

On-the-spot painting: 1. Jamia Milia Islamia University, 2. GND University, 3. University of Kashmir and KU.

Collage: 1. GND University, 2. MDU, 3. Punjabi University and KU.

Clay modelling: 1. Tejinder Singh, GND University; 2. Puneet Kumar, Punjabi University; 3. Manjo Kumar Swain, MDU; and Vidya Sagar, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi.

Rangoli: 1. Pooja, Dr BR Ambedkar University; 2. Navneet Kaur, PU; 3. Aanchal, PAU and Manoj, MDU.

Installation: 1. Dr BR Ambedkar University, 2. GND University, 3. MDU and KU.

Panipat, November 23
First orientation programme hosted by Academic Staff College of Bhagat Phool Singh Women University ended at the university premises recently.

The programme that stretched over four weeks had participants from the university and other universities and colleges. Twenty-three participants witnessed lectures and presentations from resource persons which included some big names in academics like Prof Ved Parkash and Prof Ranbir Singh, administrators like Dr Abhay Singh Yadav and leaders in social work, including Prof Bal Gopal.

The valedictory function was organised solely by the participants and the occasion was graced by Lt. Gen. (retd) OP Kaushik, also former vice-chancellor, MDU, Rohtak. The functioned was also graced by vice-chancellor Dr Pankaj Mittal, registrar Dr Balbir Kaur, deans of various faculties and principals of the institutes affiliated to the university.

The vice-chancellor made a presentation of “Higher Education in India: History and Scope”. In her hour-long presentation she outlined the history of higher education in the country during the British rule and then tracked the higher education post-Independence in the country.

She pointed out that the country needed quality teachers and teaching to ensure good products from higher education. She portrayed the plight of education and educators in the present scenario resulting in the production of unemployable youth from the centres of learning. She suggested several solutions to the problems which included assessment of teachers and establishing the centres of excellence.

In his speech, chief guest Lt. Gen. Kaushik emphasised on the impact teachers have on students. He said a child was mainly influenced by two institutions - home and education - and out of the two education was more important because teacher was a part of the institution of education. He gave examples of great men who were created by teachers and then he pointed that teachers needed to revive and inculcate value systems in students.

The function came to an end with the presentation of a memento to the chief guest by the vice-chancellor.

Dr Sanket Vij, director of Academic Staff College, said the university and the college were determined to continue the work and the next orientation programme would be organised soon.

Yamunanagar, November 23
The alertness of consumers has also become evident in this small town, as the district consumer court has been getting an average of 80 cases every month.

The maximum cases pertain to consumers claiming compensation on account of defective household goods like refrigerator, inverter, washing machine, television, and computer. This year the consumer court has so far disposed of 1,080 complaints, including 269 related to household products.

In many cases, the consumer court had directed the shop owners or the companies to replace the defective product and also compensate them for the harassment they had suffered.

Besides, the consumer court has also solved 120 cases related to complaints filed by consumers against various banks, 221 against the electricity department, 69 against insurance companies and 26 cases against doctors.

“I have been settling around 100 cases per month. This year, we got 1,284 complaints out of which 1,080 complaints were solved while 2,018 cases are still pending,” claimed Dina Nath Arora, president of the district consumer court.

He said, “If any consumer feels cheated on account of deficiency in service or defective goods, he can approach the consumer court. He has to file a simple complaint and deposit Rs 100, if he is claiming a compensation worth Rs 1 lakh; Rs 200, if 5 lakh; Rs 300, if 10 lakh; and Rs 500 if he is claiming a compensation up to Rs 20 lakh”.

The consumer court has been set up to provide speedy justice to aggrieved consumers, he added.

Gurgaon, November 23
Experts dwelt upon cyber security technoques at an international conference-cum-training workshop on cyber security organised jointly by Securitybyte, Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP), SANS and ISC2 here .

The inaugural session of the information security event was attended by cyber experts apart from over 200 CXOs from Fortune companies, who discussed various threats in cyber space and techniques to deal with them.

Keynote sessions on the international state of cyber security, cloud hacking, Wi-Fi security and many such topics that require immediate attention from the IT world followed.

Organised in order to enhance awareness on information security in the industry, the conference was inaugurated by Vice-Admiral Shekhar Sinha, chief of the Integrated Defence Staff.

Later in the day, India Technology Leadership Summit -2009 was inaugurated by Ashwani Kumar, Director, CBI.

The evening session was chaired by Howard A Schmidt, former special adviser (cyberspace security) for White House. John Bumgarner, research director for Security Technology, US Cyber Consequences Unit, was also present.

Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Dhruv Soi, chairperson, OWASP India, and advisor, Securitybyte, said: “While IT is dominant sector in India, for millions of developers and IT professionals, information security is still an enigma and area best left to experts. The sophistication of cyber threats and frequency of attacks are ever increasing, making it critical to raise the awareness in the industry and make the source ‘developer and techie’ equipped with right knowledge and tools to develop secure technologies. This challenge has aggregated multifold with our increased dependency on information technology and I am sure that this conference will be a landmark of the new beginning.”

Schmidt observed that the Internet had drastically changed the entire technology space since 1994. “Platforms like this will help in creating awareness in a big way and will also bring the culture of cyber security in the world,” he added.

The conference had three main tracks which focused on security professionals, developers and leaders in the security space. Speakers exhorted the security professionals to talk about techniques used to bypass forensics in databases.

Another interesting session which caught participants’ attention was by Jeffery Carr, CEO, GreyLogic, where he highlighted how China and Russia were gearing up for cyber warfare.

Senior government functionaries, entrepreneurs, IT experts, ethical hackers, other IT professionals and academia participated in the event.