Chandigarh, April 1
Continuing its vigil on unscrupulous owners of fair price shops, the Haryana Food and Supplies Department cancelled the licences of 351 depot holders and forfeited security deposits worth over Rs.9.73 lakh of 882 dealers for committing various irregularities in the distribution of essential commodities from April 1, 2009, to February 28, 2010.

According to Food and Supplies Minister Mahender Pratap Singh, the licences of 23 depot holders were cancelled and security deposits amounting to about Rs 75,000 of 39 dealers was forfeited during February, 2010, alone.

He said essential commodities were being provided to the people through 9,296 fair price shops, which were located near industrial units, student hostels and far-flung areas of the state. Out of the total fair price shops functioning in the state, 6,626 were located in the rural areas and 2,670 in the urban areas. Besides 77 fair price shops were located near industrial units and 22 fair price shops near schools/hostels.

He said during February, 2010, 39,562 metric tonnes of wheat was distributed through fair price shops among the below poverty line families and the beneficiaries of the Antyodaya Anna Yojana. As much as 2485 metric tonnes of levy sugar was allocated to the state for February, 2010, to be distributed through the fair price shops.

Hisar, April 1
The Haryana Agricultural University's Board of Management (BoM) has approved a Rs 214.56-crore annual budget for the university for the next fiscal. The Haryana Government will contribute Rs. 190.91 crore and the rest the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) and other agencies. The shortfall, if any, would be met from the varsity's own income.

Accepting the recommendations of the finance committee the BoM has set aside 36.77 per cent of the total budget for research. Teaching and library expenses will constitute 26.73 per cent of the budget. Extension education has been allocated 11.98 per cent of the outlay. Buildings, maintenance and landscaping will account for 11.25 per cent of the budget.

The BoM has accepted a proposal of the university to fill 18 posts of assistant professor and equivalent and four posts of associate professor through direct recruitment with the permission of the government. The board has authorised the Vice-Chancellor to engage or re-employ retired HAU employees below 65 years of age on a contract basis against vacant teaching and non-teaching posts.

The BoM allowed the promotion of three associate professors - Dr RS Bisla (veterinary surgery), Dr Bimla Dhanda (human development and family studies) and Dr Beena Kumari (chemistry) as professor under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS).

Pursuant to a decision of the Supreme Court, the board has allowed the university to grant the pay scale of Rs. 700 - Rs. 1600 to 167 teaching, research and extension associates from their dates of joining.

The BoM also approved enhancement of the internship allowance for B.V.Sc & A.H., B.Sc. (Agri.) and B.Sc. (Home Science) students from Rs 4500 to. Rs 8000 with effect from November, 2009. Likewise, it has allowed the university to raise the merit stipend from Rs 1000 to Rs 2000 per month for M.Sc./M.V.Sc. students and from Rs. 1500 to Rs 3000 per month for Ph.D. students. The Board of Management has approved a recommendation of the Finance Committee regarding grant for purchase of textbooks and help books for the children of Class-III and IV employees belonging to the SC category.

The BoM has also accepted the recommendation of the finance committee to double the amount of honorarium for the SDE (Electrical) and supporting staff for upkeep and management of Indira Gandhi Auditorium. It has also approved an incentive of Rs. 500 per month or 5 per cent of the basic pay and grade pay which ever is less to sweepers deployed for the sewer system. 

Chandigarh, April 1
The annual credit plans for Palwal, Karnal and Gurgaon districts have been approved by various banks.

The credit plans of Rs 900 crore, Rs 2,730 crore and Rs 1,175 crore have been approved for Palwal, Karnal and Gurgaon districts, respectively.

According to an official spokesman, the pace of development in these districts would accelerate with the approval of the credit plans. Banks would provide loans to farmers, labourers and other needy people under various schemes introduced by the government. Schemes providing heavy grants were formulated and implemented by the government in public interest and it was necessary to take the benefits of these schemes to the poorest of the poor.

He said the government would take serious note if the banks failed to give loans to the farmers, poor people and members of the weaker sections of society. Complaints against such banks would be made to the Reserve Bank. Mentioning heavy subsidy being given by the government to the agricultural sector, he said the banks could easily achieve their loan target in this sector.

He said the schemes like the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana, Swarnajayanti Shahari Swarozgar Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Swarozgar Yojana were very helpful in reducing unemployment and banks should give maximum loans to the people under these schemes.

He urged the banks to give maximum loans at a concessional rate of interest to the unemployed youth to enable them to start their own ventures so that they did not depend on government jobs for livelihood.

The banks should also adopt backward and poor villages to turn them into model villages. Bank should extend loans at concessional rates to the people of these villages so that they could raise their living standards by starting own ventures. 

Kaithal, April 1
Veteran Congress leader Shamsher Singh Surjewala, president, All India Kisan-Khet Majdoor Congress, who has been championing the cause of farmers, has now expressed concern over the poor traffic management by police personnel which results into frequent traffic jams and chaos on roads.

Addressing a press conference here recently, Surjewala said it had come to light that ill-trained police personnel or home guards deployed to regulate traffic had failed to perform their duty in a professional manner, which caused inconvenience to road users.

He said it had been seen on several occasions that while traffic cops sat leisurely, home guard personnel regulated the traffic.

Surjewala demanded that only well-trained cops should be deployed so that the desired result of ensuring smooth flow of traffic on highways in towns or other important intersections could be achieved. He said those performing their duty should be rewarded and erring cops should be punished.

Surjewala also decried the increasing tendency of road block incidents and attacks on power houses and government buildings and vehicles by unruly crowds, demanding fulfillment of their justified or unjustified demands.

He said such acts not only caused loss to state exchequer but also caused great inconvenience to people. He said that all those indulging in such acts should ponder over the consequences of their irresponsible acts.

He said vigilant and well-trained cops could help in better implementation of traffic rules and deal effectively with unruly crowds and those creating hurdles in the smooth flow of traffic.

Kaithal, April 1
The state government has provided special financial assistance to carry on development work in municipal wards having more than 50 per cent Scheduled Caste population.

Deputy Commissioner Amneet P Kumar emphasised that many municipal wards having a majority of SC population lacked basic civic amenities; hence, they lived in subhuman conditions which added to their woes.

Keeping all this in view, at the intervention of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the scheme of providing special funds for development of such wards had been introduced. The development work carried out under this scheme had brought about dramatic change in the living standards of the people living in such wards. Giving details, she said streets and drains had been constructed at number of places.

Rs 2.93 lakh had been spent on the construction of 75-metre road and 180-metre long drain in ward no 3 of the municipal council Kaithal. Rs 2. 88 lac had been spent on the construction of 64 metre long road and 170-metre drain in ward no 31.

In another MC ward, 58-metre long road had been built at a cost of Rs 1,26,410 and another 173-metre long road at a cost of Rs 2,77,050 in another ward. Under this scheme, toilets had also been constructed in Lepers Colony.

Elaborating further, the DC said under this scheme during the financial year 2009-2010, Rs 30 lakh had been received for development work in ward nos. 5 and 10 of Cheeka and Rs 30 lakh for work in ward nos 3 and 12 of Kalayat Municipal Committee.

Sirsa, April 1
Industrial model towns (IMTs) will be set up in each district to facilitate entrepreneurs and give a major impetus to industrialisation.

Haryana Minister of State for Industries Gopal Kanda announced this here recently.

He said the state industrial policy was reexamined and the new policy would be directed towards giving more facilities to the entrepreneurs and investors.

“Several schemes have been prepared and will be introduced to promote small-scale industries in the proposed IMTs. The state government has already set up an IMT at Manesar and IT parks at Rai and Panchkula, besides Manesar,” said Kanda.

He said a provision would be made to give incentives and privileges to IT industries at model townships of each district. Besides, the physically challenged would be given 2 per cent reservation in the allotment of industrial plots in the IMTs.

Under the new policy, stress would be given on investment, besides employment generation.

“In the present tenure of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, direct foreign investment of Rs 10,000 crore has been made possible while projects worth Rs 40,000 crore have been implemented,” said Kanda, adding that at present, projects of Rs 1 lakh crore were in the pipeline.

Today, Haryana was ahead of all states in per capita investment and it had become the cynosure of foreign investors.

Kanda said the state government had also drafted a policy for regularising the already established industries of controlled areas. The owners of such industries would be given three months to apply for the same.

Informing about the procedure, he said the owner who wanted to regularise his industry, would have to apply in the prescribed form, CLU-1 to the concerned district town planner.

He said April 3 would be an important day for Sirsa as the Chief Minister would lay foundation for a number of projects in the district. Projects costing Rs 500 crore had been approved for the development of Sirsa town, he added.

Jind, April 1
Already known as a hub of poultry farming in the state, this sleepy district has now joined the list of districts that have forayed into the private dairy sector.

A private dairy milk plant brought up at a cost of Rs. 35 crore was inaugurated by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at Kandela village in the district recently. Identified as Lakshya Milk Plant, this is the first of its kind facility in the private sector in the district which will make available processed and packed milk and its products at competitive rates.

A milk plant owned by the Cooperative Milk Federation run by the state government has already been functioning here for the past several years, marketing milk and its products under the brand name of Vita.

Expressing happiness over the development, the Chief Minister said more and more people should join this drive so that the availability and supply of milk products could be increased adequately. This would not only help generate employment but also go a long way in increasing the personal income of the individuals and families as the demand for milk and its products had been increasing rapidly.

Claiming that the government was serious about the welfare and development of cattle wealth, Hooda said an insurance scheme would be launched shortly, besides the setting up of a commission both for farmers and cattle for the first time. According to Hooda, the state had about 60 lakh Murrah buffaloes that were in demand both within and abroad.

The per capita milk availability in Haryana had been 668 gm against the national average of 252 gm. About Rs 11 crore had been spent to motivate and promote dairy farming and boost milk production during the past one year. 

Sirsa, April 1
The Right to Information Act can act as a catalyst for empowering people in a good and participatory democracy.

This is what that came out of the debate and discussion of two-day seminar on “Right to information Act, 2005: Issues and Challenges” organised by the public administration department of Ch Devi Lal University, Sirsa, recently.

Experts emphasised the need to give far and wide publicity regarding the RTI Act, particularly among the marginalised sections and rural folk.

Change in the outlook and perception of bureaucracy was also an issue of the debate so that officials concerned with RTI process may be more people friendly and provide information on their own.

The state public information officers and the first appellate authorities should be the persons fully acquainted with the RTI provisions and goals with a commitment to convert the Act from theory to actual practice. Professor SL Goel, vice-president of the Indian Institution of Public Administration, New Delhi, emphasised the change in the appointment of State Information Commissioner and Central Information Commissioner.

He added that the RTI organisation should be saved from becoming the dens for retired bureaucrats.

“To overcome such type of problems, the committee that recommends their names should comprise some members from judiciary as well as some prominent personalities from the social sector. The information seeker also needs to impose self restrain while using the Act as it has been observed that most of the information sought is of personal nature and not beneficial for society in any way and just mean to create terror among officials”.

Over 150 deligates from various Universities ,Colleges and Government offices participated in this two day National Seminar which was extended in four technical sessions excluding the Inaugural and Valedictory sessions.

Various prominent personalities including Former Vice Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Prof Hoshiar Singh, Chairperson Public Administration Punjabi University Patiala and Vice President of Indian Public Administration Association Prof SS Tiwana , were among the resource person.

Dr Rajbir Dalal, chairman of the department concerned and convener of the conference, thanked all guests. He also assured the delegates to organise such more activities in near feature as the universities are the centre of creation deliberation and exchange of information and knowledge. 

Kurukshetra, April 1
“To improve the quality of education, there will be biometric attendance of all faculty members and students in the polytechnics,” said MP Gupta, director (Technical Education) at the inauguration of the second annual prize distribution function of Prabhu Dayal Polytechnic, Barna village, Kurukshetra, recently.

Gupta said question papers for polytechnic students would be printed bilingually - English and Hindi - so that the students could easily understand the questions. They would also be allowed to answer the question in Hindi or English.

The director thanked Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for enhancing the annual budget of the department by nearly 10 times. He informed that scholarships worth Rs 50 crore were being disbursed among students pursuing technical education. He also claimed that the state was No. 1 in the country in the field of technical education.

Gupta declared that the Technical Education Department and an independent agency were analysing the reason for poor result in the current examinations. He informed that the main causes of poor result were availability of less study time, language problem, strike by the faculty and duties of the staff in the elections. Proposals would be placed in the board meeting for improvement of the results.

He announced that the students getting admission in the first semester would now get four months for studies instead of present three months.

He said a talent search club would be established in all polytechnics and first such club would be formed here. Gupta also announced a grant of Rs 11,000 for the club. The diploma entrance test for 2010-2011 would be held on May 30, 2010.

Principal Dev Raj Arora read out the annual report of the institution. The students presented a cultural programme after which the chief guest gave away prizes to the meritorious students.

Panipat, April 1
At a prize distribution function of DAV Public School, Thermal Colony, Minister of Tansport and Tourism OP Jain exhorted the students to follow the path of dedication and hard work to attain success in life.

Lauding the role being played by DAV institutes in imparting the value-based education, the minister said students of these institutes had even made a mark in sports at the international level. Highlighting the achievements of DAV schools, regional director of the institutes Dr D Vidyarthi said many students of DAV had bagged honours in the recent time. He said three students of the school had won gold medals in Tai Kwando championship that was recently held in Malaysia. The school was awarded with Green School Award, which was a big feet. He assured the parents that the school management would continue to create conducive atmosphere for the students so that they could go ahead and achieve more laurels in future.

On this occasion, the school teachers presented a ballet based on the theme of continuous and comprehensive evaluation system recently adopted by CBSE.

Later, the meritorious students were given prizes by the minister.

Jhajjar, April 1
Under its ongoing campaign of enabling the youth to compete globally besides meeting the huge requirement of the IT industry for technically skilled manpower, the state government has decided to launch a new scheme of compulsory computer education in government colleges across the state.

For executing the scheme efficiently, at least a state-of-the-art computer lab with 25 computers and internet connectivity would be established in each college. Students of the TDC-1 would be taught syllabus which would include fundamentals of computers. Besides, students of TDC-II and TDC-III would also be able to take up level I course.

Disclosing this here recently, Education and Health Minister Geeta Bhukkal said the scheme aimed at providing opportunities to college students, especially those belong to weaker sections of society, to learn a minimum basic level of computers and skills to enable them get decent employment opportunities.

“The scheme also aims at designing the curriculum on the basis of industry inputs and market needs; ensuring students to acquire skills for higher studies and gainful employment; providing a level playing field to the learners in colleges by way of giving window of opportunity,” said the minister.

She maintained under the scheme, the pattern of utility of lab would be in 180 hours of teaching of computers while three periods per week separately would be of theory as well as practical. In each practical group, at least 50 students could sit in the lab and three practical groups could be taught in a day. Likewise, 18 practical groups would cover 900 students in a week, the minister added.

“The students will have to complete 180 hours of computer training and will be examined by university/college which will award them exam certificate. The certificate will be recognised for job placements,” said Bhukkal, adding that the students passing level 1 exam would be promoted for level-2 and level-3 along with their promotion to the next class in general education and accordingly, they would be awarded level-2 and level-3 certificates.

If a student failed to clear level-I in TDC-I, but cleared TDC-I exam, he/she could again go for level-I studies. One’s failure in computer course would not interfere in their otherwise promotion in general education, she added.

“The syllabus has been adopted by Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, and Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra. The examination will be conducted as per common university date sheet and answer books will be got evaluated by the respective colleges,” said the minister, adding that the college principal would also get the practical examination of the students conducted in the colleges.

Chandigarh, April 1
Haryana has framed a policy for allotting adequate workload to school lectures to utilise their services fully.

According to a letter issued by the Commissioner and Director General, School Education, Haryana, the principals would ensure that school lecturers are allotted a minimum of 30 periods per week. The principals have been authorised to make internal adjustments in the time-table and allocate junior classes (9th & 10th) to the lecturers so that at least a minimum of 30 periods are allotted to them per week.

The lecturers may be allotted such subjects of the 9th & 10th classes, which they have themselves studied at their graduation and post-graduation levels. They should be assigned specific topics as deemed necessary. However, masters would continue to teach classes from 6th to 10th.

The letter said that the principals should frame the timetable in such a manner that at least one period of general knowledge was incorporated for each class from 6th onwards per week. The lecturers and masters might be asked to teach the relevant topics of their subjects, which form a part of general knowledge subject, or as decided by the principals, to junior classes from 6th onwards.

The requisite allocation of subjects or topics in the timetable or adjustment as deemed necessary shall be the sole responsibility of the principal concerned. All lecturers shall be obliged to take up the responsibility in the interest of students as mentioned above. The teaching of SUPW and work experience shall not be included for calculating a minimum of 30 periods per week. 

Kalka, April 1
Students of St Vivekanand Millennium School, HMT Township, Pinjore, enthralled the audience with their performances on their annual function, “Gaiety-2010”, held recently at Dr BR Ambedkar Auditorium, here. Prakash Sharan, executive director, HMT Ltd, was the chief guest. Principal Usha Bali welcomed the guests. Over 400 students showed their talent. Tiny tots mesmerised the audience with their performance. Students gave the message of save environment through the tableau, “Heal the World”.

Through yoga and aerobics, students of classes IV and VI made everybody aware of body balance and control. Song and dance performances appealed to all. Patriotism was enhanced among the audience through a dance number, “Paigham-e-Aman”. A message to save water was given through a Hindi play, “Jeevan Dhara”.

The chief guest gave away the prizes to students excelling in academic and other activities. The school magazine, “Deepayan”, was also released. The programme concluded with exciting performance “Atulya Bharat”, which depicted that despite all the cultural and regional differences, India stays untied. 

Rohtak, April 1
Pawan Kumar Bansal, a local writer and social activist, has urged Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni to ban TV serial “Na Aana Is Desh Meri Lado” being telecast on Colors TV channel.

Describing it as anti-women and discriminatory against the girl child, he claims that it has been putting the Jat community in poor light as “Amma ji”, the lead character, commits all sort of atrocities on women in the name of protecting the honour of her family. At the same time, the character has been projected as part of society and has a social acceptability, he adds.

This, he says, has not been so but the concept in this serial seems to have been exaggerated and blown out of proportion just to catch the fancy of the audience and for higher TRPs.

According to Bansal, any  serial or movie which has a direct impact on the audience, should be guided by some authenticity and principles of daily life and should not be allowed to play with sentiments of any community.

Narrating the events, Bansal states that “Amma ji” tortures her daughter-in-law for not delivering a child and challenges the impotency of her son. She even forces her to have sex with some outsider for this purpose. When there is a revolt in the family over the issue, the lead character asks the poor woman (daughter-in-law) to have sex with the younger brother of her husband.

Another daughter-in-law who marries her younger son against the wishes of “Amma ji” is asked by the latter to avoid sex with her husband for three months as it has been advised by an astrologer. Interestingly, another daughter-in-law gets preferential treatment only because she is the mother of a male child.

The serial is full of instances of atrocities on women and has been showcasing lifestyle of Haryana and neighboring region in a negative and condemnable manner, he states, seeking an action in this regard.

Panchkula, April 1
As an innocent child prodigy, Sukhchain Singh Bhandari at the age of four witnessed the gruesome murder of his father at his native village, Saadewala in Pakistan, and subsequent pre and post-partition horrors which left an indelible impression on his mind.

Later, he became more inquisitive about the ethical values of an ideal life while denouncing the cruelty, hypocrisy, religious prejudices, political upheavals and all factors ailing our society which find expression in his 18 literary publications.

Credited with maintaining a tradition of excellence in various genres, as playwright of seven books, six short stories, poetry, children literature and with over six decades of writing, Bhandari (70), a postgraduate in Punjabi literature from Punjabi University, was the choice to be chosen for the Haryana State Punjabi Gaurav Puruskar of Rs 1.25 lakh for 2009-10.

Expressing gratitude for the coveted honour and elevating the Punjabi language in Haryana, Bhandari claimed that the award had rejuvenated him to bounce back with more quality literature.

Earlier, seven of my books in Hindi and Punjabi had won the Haryana Sahitya Akademy Awards, a record to be relished, said Bhandari, while talking to The Tribune.

An arms dealer by profession and a prolific writer by passion Bhandari said: "During the schooldays at Sirsa I delved into writing short stories and poems often published in vernacular papers, which established me as the youngest stagi-kavi here. However, my aesthetic potential came to the limelight while representing Government College, Sirsa, as a playwright and captain of the Bhangra team".

"My Radio play "Adhoore Sapne" written, directed and enacted by me as a student at GC Hisar won the National Inter-University Competition in 1961 and I repeated the feat again with my second venture "Iqraran Wali Raat" in 1963. These plays were translated in all Indian languages and broadcasted on the All Iindia Radio(AIR). I enjoyed authoring and enacting plays said Bhandari, who was once a long-time casual artist at the AIR, Jalandhar. "I create my characters from common people and choose themes, in poetry too, close to the heartbeat of the general public which probably account for one of my book running into the seventh edition," he said.

"My two books, edited and prefaced by Acclaimed litterateur Dr Satish Verma, are ready for release," Bhandari added.