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BPL families to get free power connections by June
UHBVN to install 56,070 transformers in Karnal
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State wins accolades for health mission
Minor ordered to serve water at bus stand
Development plans drawn up for 72 towns
Wheat arrivals pick up
Land Acquisition
250 cops take promotion test
Satti regales audience at cultural fest
Mobile towers in residential areas a health hazard: Experts
Direct Kaithal-Delhi train demanded
Fund created for energy conservation
Rs 1.5-cr UGC grant for Fatehabad college
Women exhorted to become self-reliant
BPL families to get training in herbal plantation
Fatehabad engineer to launch debut album
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BPL families to get free power connections by June
Hisar, April 15 Officials of the nigam have been directed to identify such families, visit their homes and release the connections without charging any fees by June-end. Sudhir Rajpal, Managing Director of the nigam, said here that such consumers would not be required to pay even the processing charges of Rs 10 which would be recovered later along with the bill. The security deposit of Rs 500 would also be recovered later along with the bill in 10 bimonthly instalments. Thus, BPL families would be given power connections without having to pay anything at the time of granting such connections. He said the work of releasing BPL connections had been outsourced to contractors on a turn-key basis for which material and labour charges would be paid by the DHBVN. Therefore, no amount towards meter installation would be charged from BPL applicants. He said the job would be completed by June-end even if it meant engaging additional contractors. Rajpal said the Government of India had sanctioned Rs 101.62 crore under the RGGVY for seven districts in DHBVN's area of jurisdiction, including Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Mewat, Bhiwani, Mahendragarh and Rewari. Faridabad and Gurgaon would be covered in the second phase of the scheme. In the first phase, the DHBVN was to release free connections to all 1,13,914 families of which 25,861 connections had already been released. The plan for the second phase amounting to Rs 30.40 crore had already been submitted to the Centre for approval. He directed nigam officers to expedite the segregation of domestic and agriculture load in rural areas for improved power supply. He expressed concern over theft of electricity and asked the officers to lodge cases directly in designated courts for recovery of penalty in cases of thefts detected under the informer scheme of the nigam so that the informers could be given an incentive equivalent to 40 per cent of the recovered penalty without delay.
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UHBVN to install 56,070 transformers in Karnal
Chandigarh, April 15 An independent distribution transformer of matching capacity will be provided under the scheme. There will be significant reduction in the cases of accidents and damage of transformers due to overloading after installation. Simultaneously, it will help ensure minimising interruptions, fluctuations and voltage drop. He said the nigam has also targeted to release 1,156 new tubewell connections to the applicants during the current financial year. The Uttar Haryana Bijli Virtan Nigam and the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam have jointly made a comprehensive plan to further strengthen the distribution and transmission system of the district under which a sum of Rs 700 crore would be spent in a phased manner. A 220KV substation will be set up at Bastara village having two transformers of 100 mega volt amperes each to cater the need of paddy growing area. The power utilities plan to construct 132KV substations at Dabri, Sitamai and Nadana villages. It has also been proposed to upgrade the existing 33 KV substations to 132-KV level at Biana, Staundi and Ramba. Besides these, the UHBVN plans to construct 33KV substations at Kaimla, Chochra, Kalram, Shahpur, Gullarpur, Barota, Raipur Jattan, Dadlana, Rindle and Rasulpur Khurd. He said it has been planned to augment the existing capacity of 33KV substation of Manjura, Nigdhu and Rahra by installing one more transformer. Similarly, the capacity of Biana, Ramba, Shamgarh, Jamba, Assandh, Popra, Bahri, Kachhwa, Taraori, Chorkarsa, Uplani, Thai and Buddenpur substations will also be augmented by installing additional or higher capacity power transformers. It has been decided to create the High Voltage Distribution System and Aerial Bunched Cable-Based System in seven residential colonies and 36 villages at a cost of over Rs 5.65 crore. It will minimise the damage to distribution transformers and reduce interruptions and also give a new look to the areas concerned. The nigam has segregated the domestic and agricultural load of 11KV feeders supplying power to the rural areas. As many as 108 new feeders have been created to supply power to tubewells. Electricity consumers of 517 villages have been benefited by this
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Farmers rue slow lifting of wheat
Ambala, April 15 The farmers have expressed worry over the poor response from government agencies when huge stocks are lying unsold even as bulk stocks are yet to arrive in the market. Some commission agents have even alleged corrupt practices by officials of government agencies who are charging Rs 2 per bag from the farmers, which is severely affecting the purchase, although Sameer Pal Srow, Ambala DC, had warned of strict action against those involved in irregularities and corrupt practices. Balwant Rai, a commission agent, said it had been seen that those who oblige officials were able to liquidate their stocks easily. The government was going slow on procurement as there was a shortage of space for storing the same. Besides, procurement agencies were also facing a shortage of gunny bags, he added. Devinder Singh Billa, a farmer who brought his stock in Kesri anaj mandi, said, “My stock has been lying unsold for the past four days. I have even paid extra money to the combine operator to harvest it”. Earlier, Srow had directed officials of purchase agencies to lift stocks immediately due to limited space in grain markets, but the orders are not being followed and huge stocks are lying in the market. Commission agents said there was no storage space in the grain market even as peak season was yet to come. They said farmers were compelled to dump their stocks in the open. The quantity during the first few days of official procurement had been much less than last year, they added. The deputy commissioner has made an appeal to the farmers to inform him if any official demands bribe for lifting stocks. Srow said stern action would be taken against corrupt people. He ordered immediate lifting of stocks from the grain market after procurement, failing which action would be taken against those violating instructions. Srow said in all 14 mandis in the district, 54911 tonnes of wheat arrived during the current season up to April 12. He further said out of total, 54,857 tonnes had been procured by the government agencies while 54 tonnes by the traders. He said 13,301 tonnes of wheat was procured by the Food and Supplies Department, 25,661 by Hafed, 13,513 by the Food Corporation of India and 2,382 by Confed.
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State wins accolades for health mission
Chandigarh, April 15 As one of the best performing states under the NRHM, the state was given the second award in the non-focus states category recently. From giving free medicines in OPDs across the board to creating a referral transport service to providing economical surgery packages and introducing monthly recruitment of doctors, the innovations have begun showing results in the state. Under the free medicines scheme, all OPD patients, patients from BPL families and those from urban slums are given medicines free of cost. The government’s recently started 102-ambulance service ferries patients from BPL families, pregnant women and emergency cases free of cost. The ambulance service is available to others at Rs 7/km. So far, over 50,000 calls have been attended, of which 48 to 50 per cent have been from pregnant women. The government has also extended this service free for any medical emergency for up to one-month-old babies. Under the surgery package, free surgery is provided to BPL families. Though there is shortage of doctors in the state, the department to cut delays, has introduced the process of ongoing recruitment. On the 10th of every month, the department holds interviews of doctors after the selection process was taken out of the purview of the HPSC. As many as 1,400 doctors have been recruited so far. Since the implementation of the NRHM, the state has achieved overall improvement in its health system. All districts have prepared their Integrated District Action Plan and almost 14,000 accredited social health activists have been selected. During the first three years of the NRHM, institutional deliveries increased from 28 to 69 per cent in 2009-10. Out of 21 district hospitals, nine are being upgraded as per the Indian Public Health norms from the state fund at Bhiwani, Hisar, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Karnal, Sonepat, Panipat, Panchkula and Rohtak. Swasthya Kalyan Samities have been formed and registered at 21 district hospitals, 25 sub-district hospitals, 91 community health centres and 337 primary health centres.
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Unique punishment for rape bid
Jhajjar, April 15 Principal judge of the Juvenile Justice Board Harish Gupta said the convict would have to undergo the punishment under the supervision of the in charge of the bus stand. Notably, the police had registered a case of attempting to rape against the boy, Rishu, a resident of Jhajjar, on March 7, 2002, on the complaint of the victim’s grandmother. In her complaint, she said the boy entered her home in her absence and attempted to rape her granddaughter. Assistant district attorney Kiran Chaudhary pleaded before the Board to award a stringent punishment to the boy. In her argument, she said the crime of Rishu was of a serious nature and such kinds of incidents were considerably increasing in the society. To curb the tendency to commit such crimes, stringent punishment should be awarded to The defendant lawyer argued that it was the first crime of the boy and he was the only bread earner of his family, the court should be lenient towards the boy. On hearing the arguments of both sides, the Board delivered this decision. As per the decision, the convict would have to serve water at the bus stand for one year without fail. He has been instructed to report to the in charge of the bus stand on April 25. The boy was also directed to deposit a security of Rs 10,000 with the Board.
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Development plans drawn up for 72 towns
Kurukshetra, April 15 A sub-regional plan under the National Capital Region Planning Board Act, 1985, for facilitating development of the sub-region in a harmonised manner is being prepared. Scott Wilson India Ltd, consultant for preparing the plan, has already submitted its inception report and interim report-I. The study is likely to be completed in four months after which the consultant will submit its final report. The NCR Planning Board Act and Regional Plan-2021 make it obligatory on the part of each constituent state of NCR to prepare a sub-regional plan.
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Wheat arrivals pick up
Chandigarh, April 15 Stating this Food and Supplies Minister Mahender Partap Singh said a total of over 22.25 lakh metric tonnes of the crop had arrived at various mandis of the state as compared to about 1.90 lakh metric tonnes of wheat that arrived in the corresponding period of the last year. The minister said of the total wheat arrival, mere 222 metric tonnes had been purchased by private traders, while the rest of the quantity was purchased by various government procurement agencies. He said over 6.74 lakh metric tonnes was purchased by Hafed, while the Food and Supplies Department purchased over 6.16 lakh metric tonnes, the Food Corporation of India uplifted 4.12 lakh metric tonnes, the Haryana Warehousing Corporation over 2.20 lakh metric tonnes, Confed over 1.53 lakh metric tonnes and the Agro Industries over 1.48 lakh metric tonnes. He said Karnal district was leading in wheat arrivals, with over 3.52 lakh metric tonnes of the crop deposited at various mandis, followed by Kaithal district, where 3.28 lakh metric tonnes of wheat had arrived. Palwal district had recorded an arrival of over 2.49 lakh metric tonnes of wheat, Kurukshetra over 2.40 lakh metric tonnes, Jind over 2.24 lakh metric tonnes, Sonepat 1.50 lakh metric tonnes, Panipat over 1.14 lakh metric tonnes, Sirsa over 1.05 lakh metric tonnes and Fatehabad over 1 lakh metric tonnes of the crop.
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Land Acquisition
Kalka, April 15 Vijay Bansal, an advocate and a local politician, said a double Bench of Justice MM Kumar and Justice Jitender Chauhan granted stay on a writ petition filed by Tara Chand and others. The order mentioned dispossession stay, developers cannot create third party interest, construction will not be raised and the government and developers cannot change the nature of land. Notably, the state government had recently started acquisition of land in Bhagwanpur, Islam Nagar, Bakhshiwala , Bhogpur and several other villages of Pinjore block. During the process, the farmers have been given a very low rate for their land while the government granted relaxation to property dealers. The farmers had alleged that the main motive of the government was to facilitate the private builders and property dealers. The government was to acquire 673 acres in the above said villages after issuing notices. But during the process, the government exempted private builders by releasing 352 acres of land and issued licences for the construction of colonies, in violation of orders of the Supreme Court, according to which the government cannot adopt a “pick and choose” method to acquire private land as it would be in violation of the constitutional right of equality, allege farmers.
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250 cops take promotion test
Fatehabad, April 15 The constables, including several women, appeared in the multiple choice questions (MCQs) objective type test held here for the posts of head constables. All these constables appeared in the test sitting in front of computers. “The constables appearing in the test were given a unique examination code (UEC) from the server and after that he or she was allowed to sit on any of the computers installed in two computer labs and on feeding their UEC, they got their picture on one side of the screen and MCQs drawn from a large question data bank started emerging on their screen. There was no question of cheating as different candidates got different questions on their screens,” said Jagwant Singh Lamba, SP, Fatehabad, who is also the chairman of the Departmental Promotion Committee. AK Dhull, IG, Hisar, also inspected the conduct of the test. The candidates got half mark for every right answer and one forth of a mark was subtracted as negative marking for each wrong answer. They also had the choice to skip a question and go to the next. The result was made known to the candidates immediately after the test. “Those who passed the online test by obtaining at least 30 marks out of 60, will have to go through a parade test and after the addition of marks of the service record, they will be finally called for an interview,” the SP informed.
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Satti regales audience at cultural fest
Yamunanagar, April 15 A fashion show by students of MBA, B.Tech, B.Pharma, B.Ed and polytechnic of the institute was another main attraction. Besides, the two-day festival saw many cultural events like choreography, song competitions, plays, skits, mimes, bhangra and folk dances. Earlier, BR Beri, OSD to the Chief Minister, inaugurated the cultural fest. In his inaugural address, Beri said such programmes should be organised at least once a year. In today’s competitive world, academics alone was not sufficient. Such programmes provided a platform to students showcase their talent. Chattar Singh Kashyap, chairman of Ganpati Institutes, said our institute aimed at providing technical as well as professional education to even children belonging to poor families. “We have established this institute in a backward area and have already stepped towards fulfilling the dream by giving scholarships to poor students,” he added.
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Mobile towers in residential areas a health hazard: Experts
Kalka, April 15 They alleged that cellphone towers of various telecom companies have been installed in the residential areas. Residents are worried about the presence of such towers in buildings and their neighbourhoods. They said some of the towers have been installed even in the houses in Kalka and added that telecom companies have ignored the regulations relating to towers which are giving rise to various diseases among human beings as well as birds and animals. They told The Tribune that after the installation of such towers, birds like small sparrows are rarely seen. Health experts opine that radiations from these towers also lead to heart problems and various other diseases. These towers can, in the long run, even cause cancer. According to them, the use of cellphones is harmful to brain and ears. Since the towers emit more powerful radioactive waves, their effects on health would be more dangerous than cellphones, referring to high-intensity radio frequency exposure. Telecom companies have indifferent attitude towards the harmful effects of these towers.
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Direct Kaithal-Delhi train demanded
Kaithal, April 15 The residents of Kaithal, the country's rice bowl and one of the biggest grain markets, contributing crores to the Railway's kitty every year, have great resentment over the area having not been connected with Delhi. To get this longstanding demand fulfilled residents of the town have formed "Rail Yatri Kalyan Samiti". In a recent initiative this samiti invited Ishwar Singh, a Rajya Sabha member from Haryana on the parliamentary standing committee on Railways, and presented a charte of demands, requesting him to get this demand fulfilled. Ishwar Singh promised to pursue this case with the Railway Ministry. But he pointed that prior to a direct Kaithal-Delhi train, electrification of the Kurukshetra - Kaithal- Jind rail track was required and the issue would be pursued vigorously. Ishwar Singh said thelocal MP and MLAs of the area should make efforts to get this demand fulfilled. He also promised to get a survey conducted for laying a new rail track to link Kurukshetra with Patiala via Pehowa, Guhla area. He also assured to get funds allocated for the facelift of Kaithal railway Station.
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Fund created for energy conservation
Chandigarh, April 15 Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the fund would also be utilised to promote energy efficient processes for equipments, devices and systems and renewable energy as demand side measures to conserve electricity. The fund, also called the green energy initiative, would also promote dovetailing energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives in the state. Giving details of the energy conservation activities in the state, Power and Renewable Energy Minister Mahender Partap Singh stated that the government would spend Rs 2.5 crore for energy conservation and energy efficiency initiative in 2010-11. The government had made an initial contribution of Rs 50 lakh and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Union Ministry of Power, had contributed Rs 2 crore towards the fund as the first installment. The fund has been constituted under Section 16 of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001. Madhusudan Prasad, financial commissioner and principal secretary, power and renewable energy, said the state government had identified industry, municipal and building sector as priority areas for energy conservation. In order to fund various activities of energy efficiency in various sectors of economy, the Haryana state energy conservation fund had been constituted and notified. A state-level steering authority had been set up to formulate, review and monitor the activities under the fund. This committee was headed by the financial commissioner and principal secretary, renewable energy department with directors of the urban local bodies department, town and country planning department, industry and commerce department and renewable energy department as members. Sumita Misra, director, Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA), said Haryana had a potential of saving about 500 MW through energy conservation measures by 2012. Haryana had already achieved saving of about 212 MW electricity during 2007-09 period and expected to save about 250-300 MW in the next two years. Elaborating proposed activities under the fund, Misra said in the first phase, the industry sector would be the prime focus area for energy efficiency. In Haryana, about 32 per cent of the total energy was consumed by the industry sector and there was a potential of saving of about 90 million units annually in the SME sector alone as per a study conducted by the National Productivity Council. She said HAREDA would carry out intensive preliminary survey and identification of potential industries and buildings and utilities. Thereafter, selected energy intensive consumers would be shortlisted for detailed energy audit and investment grade energy efficiency project proposal would be prepared. HAREDA would also take up few representative industries for demonstration projects for waste heat recovery. She said HAREDA would also provide financial assistance for energy audits in industries, commercial establishment, government buildings and utilities to implement the energy audit reports for energy conservation.
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Rs 1.5-cr UGC grant for Fatehabad college
Fatehabad, April 15 Principal Dr D. K. Kaushik said the grant included Rs 19 lakh for the purchase of books, equipment and construction and extension of buildings. The UGC has granted Rs 76.2 lakh for other merged schemes, including establishment of a UGC Network Resource Centre, a special grant for enhancement of initiative for capacity building in colleges and remedial coaching for SC/ST/OBC and minority students etc. In another scheme of Epoch Making Social Thinker of India, a grant-in-aid of Rs 35 lakh has been sanctioned for the establishment of a Nehru Study Centre in the college for which Rs 3 lakh in non-recurring grants while Rs 6.25 lakhs per annum as a recurring grant would be released for the next five years. A grant of Rs 14 lakh had been sanctioned for starting two new add-on courses--Secretarial Practice and Internet and Web designing---in the college from the coming session (2010-11). A sum of Rs 4 lakh had been sanctioned to the college for the introduction of a Certificate course in human rights education. In addition to all these grants, Rs 1.10 lakh had been sanctioned for organising a national seminar in English literature, said Kaushik.
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Women exhorted to become self-reliant
Rewari, April 15 Inaugurating the programme, Shakuntala Yadav, wife of Finance Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, exhorted the participants to undergo the training, which, she said, would enable them to lend substantial financial assistance to their families. She also mentioned the efforts put in by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi for the empowerment and welfare of women. Cheques worth Rs 1 crore were also distributed among beneficiaries of the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Vivah Shagun Yojna, Dr Ambedkar Meritorious Scholarship Scheme, Inter-caste Marriage Scheme, Higher Education Incentive Scheme for SC Girls, Indira Awas Yojna and victims of atrocities, on the occasion. Enumerating various schemes launched by the state government for the welfare of women in particular, Capt Yadav advised the beneficiaries to use the amount purposefully. Financial commissioner-cum-principal secretary Sunil Gulati said the government was providing them a platform to emerge as self-reliant members of the society, and they should seize the opportunity.
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BPL families to get training in herbal plantation
Yamunanagar, April 15 The Tribune had carried the success story of Dharamvir with headline “Rags to riches, this innovator shows the way” on March 19. Taking note of the story, Narender Singh, additional deputy commissioner, last week met Dharamvir in his village and got details about his multi-processing machine. Giving details to The Tribune, the ADC said, “After meeting Dharamvir, we have decided that 200 women of BPL families will be trained in herbal plantation and juice extracting by Dharamvir. The BPL families will learn plantation of aloe vera and amla and also extracting juice from these fruits. The BPL families will be provided processing machines for extracting juice by the district administration. I have also assured all possible help to Dharamvir to promote his innovation and also his project.” “Besides, we have also written to the state government to start processing units for potatoes, tomatoes, garlic and ginger that can benefit the BPL families. While these processing units will provide economic opportunities to such families, more area will be brought under diversified cropping pattern to reduce the pressure on groundwater consumed for crops like wheat, sugarcane, paddy etc,” he further said. “In our district, crops like potatoes, tomatoes, garlic and ginger are grown in abundance and sometimes due to the glut of produce in the market, farmers have to bear the brunt and they even fail to recover investment. So I have suggested that there is a need to have processing units for tomatoes for making ketchup, puree etc. In the potato processing plant, BPL women can produce chips, dry powder in tins to be marketed in big cities,” he further suggested.
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472 examined at medical camp
Kurukshetra, April 15 The occasion was the death anniversaries of two social workers of Ladwa- former MLA Om Prakash Garg and Mr Rameshwar Dass Bansal (Kheri Wale). The camp was inaugurated by former Haryana Finance Minister Virender Singh. Mr Pritam Pal, a retired Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and Chairman of the Consumer Forum, Chandigarh, also paid his respects to the two prominent social workers of the area. Paying tributes to Mr Garg, Mr Virender Singh highlighted the great role Garg played in the development of the area. He described Garg as a respected, unblemished and fearless leader with a vision. He also appreciated the social worker's son, Pawan Garg, the chief organiser of the camp and a former AICC member and former Kurukshetra District Congress president, for continuing in the footsteps of his father. Mr Virender Singh also praised late Mr Bansal for his social work. Chancellor of MM University Tarsem Garg was especially thanked without whose cooperation the camp would not have been possible. Mr Pawan Garg thanked the team of doctors and paramedical staff.
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Fatehabad engineer to launch debut album
Fatehabad, April 15 Leslie Lewis of Colonial Cousins has done the music arrangements on the album and Ashish Manchanda, the man behind the sound of movies like "Dev D", "Oye Lucky Lucky Oye", "Om Shanti Om", has engineered and mastered the tracks. The album also features a track in collaboration with 6-times Grammy-winning producer Ken Lewis who has worked with Dilpreet on pre-production phase of the song "Main Pyaar Kar Challi Aan". The album will feature "Aj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu" as a tribute to legendary Punjabi poetess Amrita Preetam. It will be the first of Preetam's poems to be done in rock. Earlier this year, Dilpreet released music album "Saanu Ik Pal-A tribute to Nusrat". This album will be released on Dilpreet's own music label Sur 'n' Soul Records and will be digitally distributed by ArtistAloud.com worldwide. PlanetRadioCity.com (a part of Radio City network) will do the exclusive launch of the video and the title song of the album "Ae Geet". Exclusive teasers from the album are available on Dilpreet's website. "22 No Faatak" is a railway crossing in Patiala, the city where I spent one of the most amazing years of my life. This place made me the person that I am today and that's why this debut album is called "22 No Faatak"," Dilpreet says. "It is a Punjabi folk and rock album and songs are not overcrowded with cacophonous orchestration. It also features some purely acoustic songs like "Saanu Ik Pal-Unplugged" and soul-rock songs like "Rabba Es Dil Nu". Lyrics are inspired from Sufi poets like Bulleh Shah, Baba Farid and other Punjabi poets like Shiv Kumar Batali, Amrita Preetam," he adds. "As a child in a small town of Fatehabad, I spent most of my time humming in bathroom and rehearsing for school competitions. I went to Patiala for my higher studies and realised that the world was bigger than my hometown and many a times I felt lost, stupid, wonderful, small, liberated and exhilarated and started feeling the need to write it all down. So, I did. And then I wanted to sing it all out," Dilpreet adds going down the memory lane. "I am in Delhi these days...I have my home studio where I produce and mix my own music. I love to experiment with all kind of sounds. I also did some collaboration with Indian and international musicians, including Grammy-winning producer Ken Lewis, UK-based producer Shammi Pithia, producer/arranger Leslie Lewis of Colonial Cousins. It has been a great learning experience and an awesome musical journey so far," he adds. "In October 2008, I started recording my debut album with Leslie Lewis. Leslie and I have spent countless hours deliberating, fighting, and seeking compromise on what would make this album the best it could be. And this album is something that we are both proud of. It represents one of the most tumultuous years of my life that thankfully made a better artist," concludes the singer.
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Letter
Although the Hooda government has accorded Punjabi the status of second official language, only time will tell the impact it would have on the lot of Punjabis and Punjabiat in the state. It is pertinent to mention that though there has been practically no presence of Tamilians in the state, Haryana had also declared Tamil as its second language in 1969 when Bansi Lal was the CM.
Of late, the Punjabi community, a huge chunk in the state's population, has been feeling marginalised owing to its declining share in power and government jobs over the years, coupled with a continued lackadaisical attitude of the successive regimes towards their uplift. Though the incumbent regime is claiming the sole credit for granting due recognition to Punjabi, it was during the late 90sthat the the then HVP-BJP government under Bansi Lal also recognised Punjabi as such and later in December, 2004, the then Chautala government even passed the Haryana Official Language Amendment Act paving the way for statutory sanction for the same, but nothing concrete happened as far as the promotion of Punjabi is concerned. Political considerations apart, it would be wise if in the interest of emotional integration of Punjabi-speaking people with others in Haryana, the promotion of Punjabi is carried out in a real sense. It is heartening to hear from Hooda himself that he is learning Punjabi. His effort to address Punjabi sammelans in that very language substantiates this point. But his statement that Punjabi teachers would be appointed wherever 10 or more students are desirous of learning the language warrants review as the teaching of Punjabi in government/aided schools needs to be made compulsory at least up to the middle, if not matric, standard. Punjabi teachers should be appointed in all such schools at the earliest. A Punjabi Development Board should be set up to oversee interests and problems of Punjabi teaching in educational institutions. The option for Punjabi teaching as a subject should be introduced in B.Ed colleges. Chairs in the names of great men of Punjabi learning and luminaries should be established in Haryana universities. As in May, 2007, the Haryana Government added Sanskrit up to matric as an alternative to Hindi for applying to government jobs in the state, Punjabi shouldbe accorded the same benefit. HEMANT KUMAR Readers are invited to write to us. Send your mail, in not more than 200 words, at haryana@tribuneindia.com or write in at: Letters, Haryana Plus, The Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh-160030.
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As many as 54,857 tonnes of wheat have so far arrived in Ambala City grain market, but farmers as well as commission agents are sore at the poor lifting of produce by government agencies at this initial stage. Huge dumps of wheat can be seen scattered all around in the grain market.
Punjabi singer Satinder Satti gave a heart throbbing performance during UKTARSH-2010, a cultural fest, organised recently at the Ganpati Institute of Technology in Bilaspur town here.A fashion show by students of MBA,
B.Tech, B.Pharma, B.Ed and polytechnic of the institute was another main attraction.
Rewari, April 15
