The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Fate of Haryana police PROs hangs in limbo Ravinder Saini Jhajjar, December 15 The fate of public relation officers (PROs) of the Haryana Police hangs in limbo as the police authorities have so far not issued any guidelines about the renewal of their job contracts whereas the six-month-contract period of some of the PROs has ended early this month. Though they are still discharging their duty as PROs from the district police headquarters concerned, they are also worried about their future as they do not have any idea about their contract whether it would be renewed or not. Moreover, the police authorities have not yet made its stand clear on the issue. In June this year, the Haryana Police had invited district-wise applications for the recruitment of PROs at the district police headquarters on a contract basis for the next six months under its outsourcing policy. The aim behind the move was to bridge the communication gap between the media and the police, besides improving the image of the police in public through the media. This was the first instance when the Haryana Police took such a vital decision to get better its image through associating mediapersons with the department. It was not that the Police Department, earlier, had not made any effort for public relationship (PR). Though the department had assigned the additional charge of the PRO to one of its employees at every district headquarters, they were incapable to fulfil the expectations of the department owing to lack of public relationship skill. In this situation, these makeshift PROs were turning out to be mere informers of the district police as they had confined them to inform the media just about the criminal cases registered at various police stations of the district. Most of the times, they have even failed to tell the media about the official action the police had taken to apprehend criminals. Contrary to these police officials, professional PROs have succeeded in improving the image of the Haryana Police to some extent through their public relations skill during the past six months. While talking to The Tribune, a senior police officer of the Haryana Police said the PROs had done a marvellous job for the Police Department during the past six months. “In this modern era, public relationship is essential not only for the Police Department but also for other government departments because every government department is accountable to pubic, therefore, the real picture of functioning of the department can be present before the public through public relationship,” the official said. He added that the contract period of PROs should be renewed and even the department should recruit PROs at district headquarters on a regular basis so that they could perform as per their capability without concerning about their fate.
	Rs 200 cr set aside for judicial complexes Bhanu P Lohumi Tribune News Service Assandh, December 15 Haryana would have suitable judicial complexes by next two years and a provision of Rs 200 crore for the construction, renovation and modernisation of judicial complexes in the state has been made by the government, said Justice SK Mittal of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Justice Mittal is also the chairman of the Building Committee, Haryana. Inaugurating a double-storeyed judicial complex housing four courts, constructed at a cost of Rs 6.5 crore at Salwan road here, Justice Mittal said the state government had sanctioned Rs 80 crore while a letter would be written to the government for the release of the remaining Rs 120 crore. He said out of the 44 judicial complexes in the state, 38 had been newly constructed and were equipped with modern facilities, including a Bar room, library and canteens. Justice Mitttal said court complexes would be established in Ganaur, Tohana, Gohana and Mahendergarh. He said family disputes which used to be solved at the panchayat level had also started coming to the courts and had increased the work load of courts, adding that districts courts would play an important role in solving the problems at the district level and reduce the burden by 25 per cent. Laying the foundation stone of the lawyers chambers, Justice Mittal exhorted the lawyers to fulfil their social responsibility by ensuring that justice was done to poor people.
	Royal taste for common man Tribune News Service Gurgaon, December 15 With a view to bringing selected exotic royal cuisine from various erstwhile provinces within the reach of the common man, 21 Guns Salute Restaurant here launched a royal food festival recently. Apart from serving a rich variety of delicacies liked by the yesteryears’ kings and queens, the restaurant owners have also taken special care to ensure that the feel of the venue is equally majestic. The ambience with the attendants attired in ethnic dresses and a couple of vintage cars - an Austin-7 and a Chrysler CM6 - complements the tastefully done luxurious interiors and reminds one of the bygone princely era. Three PDRs (private dining rooms) have also been provided for the festival. Madan Mohan, promoter of 21 Guns Salute, said: “The underlying idea behind the fest is to give our customers a glimpse of the true luxury and royalty inherent to the royal families. We offer the craftsmanship of royal chefs to give the best of insights from the kitchens of the princely states.” He also announced that a vintage car rally would be organised on December 18 as a part of the festival.
	Drive to check child labour from Dec 20 Sushil Manav Tribune News Service Sirsa, December 15 The authorities here will launch a special drive against bonded labour and child labour in the district from December 20 to December 31. Duty Magistrates appointed by the authorities will conduct raids on shops, eateries, tea vendors and brick kilns to check cases of child labour and bonded labour, said Deputy Commissioner Sameer Pal Srow, who chaired a meeting of the Labour Advisory Committee of the district here yesterday. RS Fogat, Labour Officer-cum- Conciliation Officer, Bhim Jhunthra, a representative of the brick kiln owners, Dr Ved Beniwal, OP Anthony and Surinder Bhatia, all members of the committee, were among those who attended the meeting. The advisory committee decided to issue directions to all brick kiln owners to open bank accounts of labourers working with them and make their payments through banks for transparency. The DC said the accounts would be opened jointly in the names of labourers as well as officers of the Labour Department. Complaints of bonded labour often come against brick kiln owners. Srow said the authorities would provide health and education facilities to the labourers working on brick kilns. The authorities will also launch a special drive to issue ration cards to labourers so that they could avail benefits of the schemes under the Public Distribution System. The DC said the authorities would book those found keeping children as labourers and would take action against them under the Child Labour Prohibition Act 1986.
	E-salaries in Gurgaon district from January Sunit Dhawan / TNS Gurgaon, December 15 E-salary system will start in the district from January 1, next year. This will entail online preparation and submission of pay bills of all government employees. District Treasury Officer Satyavir Singh Bhatotia said the pay bills of all government offices would be prepared and submitted online on the pattern of online budget. For this, a database will be created detailing employees’ salary, deductions, bank account and other personal specifications. Bhatotia has asked all the Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs) to collect this information from their office records. The information is to be furnished in ES-1, ES-2 and ES-3 forms, which are available over the Internet. The forms and other information regarding the e-salary system can be downloaded from the stated website www.hrtreasuries.gov.in. For logging in to the website the DDOs can use the user-ID and password already allotted to them by the budget controlling authority. If the DDOs do not have a user ID, they can get information by selecting the district name, treasury name and DDO code on the e-salary link. The password can be obtained from the budget controlling authority. Bhatotia said a training workshop for the DDOs would be organised to make them familiar with this new system. He said with the help of the new system pay bills can be prepared quickly. Special software has been designed for this purpose and the bills will be filled online on that software. The completed pay bills will be submitted online to the treasury office, which will enable the officials of the treasury to make entries quickly. The DDOs will be able to take a printout of the completed pay bills. This hard copy of the pay bills will be submitted to the treasury office manually after the DDOs have checked them and signed them.
	Forest Dept fetches highest rate in auction 70 per cent increase in revenue collections as compared to last year Sushil Manav Tribune News Service Fatehabad/Sirsa, Dec 15 The Forest Department at Hisar has broken all records of revenue generation by quoting highest rates for selling sheesham and kikar wood. In an auction held in Fatehabad on Tuesday, the department sold sheesham for Rs 53,100 per cubic meter (around Rs 1,520 per square feet) and that of keekar for Rs 20,500 per cubic metre. “The rates are the highest in the history of the Forest Department,” confirmed VK Bhatia, Conservator of Forests, Hisar Division, Haryana. “The rates are even more than that of teak which is available in the market in retail for Rs 1,400 per square feet,” Bhatia maintained. It is partially due to more demand and less supply and largely due to the competence of the department, he added. Efforts of the Divisional Forest Officer, Production Division, Sanjiv Chaturvedi have not only broken all previous records of rates, but the Division has also been able to register 70 per cent increase in revenue collection compared to last year. The Production Division collected revenue of Rs 9 crore against the target of Rs 5.50 crore by felling the same volume of trees (16500 cubic meters) in 2010-11. Last year, the Production Division fetched the previous highest price of Rs 45,500 and Rs 17,400 respectively for sheesham and keekar under Chaturvedi’s supervision. Sources in the department said that ‘pool system’ was rampant in the Forest Department where the officers entered into an understanding with contractors to distribute timber amongst them at mutually agreed rates rather than going for open auction. Whenever some honest forest official executes the auction properly, the government timber has fetched good priced to the department, they said. Interestingly, the previous highest prices for sheesham and keekar also stood in the name of Sanjiv Chaturvedi, an IFS officer of 2002 batch, who in 2009, won Manjunath Shanmugam Integrity Award initiated by the IIMs Alumni Association in the memory of IIM alumnus and Indian Oil Corporation officer Manjunath, who was killed by the oil mafia in UP. The award was conferred on Chaturvedi for taking stand against felling off trees from the Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary and opposing the setting up of a herbal park on private land in Fatehabad during his stint at Kurukshetra in 2006.
	School sans maths teacher for six months Girls lock main gate, stage dharna Tribune News Service Fatehabad, December 15 Irked at the failure of the authorities to appoint a mathematics teacher in their school for the past six months, students of the Government Girls High School at Dhangar locked the main gate of the school building yesterday. Raising slogans against the authorities, the girls and their parents sat on a dharna outside the main gate. The girls alleged that the post of the mathematics teacher was lying vacant in their school since June 2011. Even the post of a headmaster was lying vacant for long, they said. They alleged that no efforts were being made to fill the post and the teacher, who is officiating in the absence of the headmaster, had offered to make an alternative arrangement for mathematics teachers, if the girls could contribute Rs 50 per head. Later, the girls and the villagers opened the gates after the Block Education Officer Bimla Miglani assured them that a teacher would be deputed soon. Meanwhile, villagers have been sitting on a dharna after locking the main gate of the Government School at Phoolan village in the district since yesterday. The villagers alleged that there was no regular headmaster in the school, which was causing impediments in the studies of their wards. The villagers alleged that they had met the authorities several times in this regard, but nothing had been done.
	Hisar General Hospital owes Rs 1.33 cr to Public Health Dept Tribune News Service Hisar, December 15 The local General Hospital owes Rs 1.33 crore to the Public Health Engineering Department for various services, including sewerage and water supply, provided by the department to the hospital. Sources in the Public Health Department said the hospital had not paid its dues to the department for the past five years. As a result, the arrears had mounted to Rs 1.33 crore. The Chief Engineer, Public Health, had directed the Executive Engineer here to ask the hospital to deposit the arrears with immediate effect. They said the department had written several letters to the hospital authorities in this regard but they had received no reply. To provide these services the department had deputed 10 employees for the hospital. Should the department recall them, the hospital would have to employ their substitutes at its own cost. Strangely, the water supply and sewerage charges are regularly recovered from health officials residing in the hospital campus. However, the hospital has not been depositing the same with the department. The Civil Surgeon’s office said the matter had been referred to the government which would take an appropriate decision shortly.
	‘DAV initiated RTE years ago’ Attar Singh/TNS Yamunanagar, December 15 “Education is a magic wand with which a person can achieve great heights in his life,” Haryana Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal said at the annual function of DAV Public School, Yamunanagar. Speaking on the contribution of JN Kapur, a former vice-president of the DAV College Managing Committee, New Delhi, in the field of education, she said the Right to Education, which was being implemented as an Act now, had already been introduced by late JN Kapur in the institution decades ago. Kapur’s legacy is being carried forward by his son, Vijay Kapur, who is motivating people for providing uniforms, sweaters, books, etc, to the needy students to make them avail this right, she added. Chairman of DAV Schools Vijay Kapur said after the partition, his father established a chain of DAV Institutions by arranging donation from public to spread literacy among masses. He said government-aided private schools played a great role in imparting education to the children of all sections of society.
	Renuka promises to develop ‘neglected’ Adampur Raman Mohan Tribune News Service Hisar, December 15 Recently elected legislator from the Adampur Assembly segment Renuka Bishnoi has said her constituency had been a victim of neglect for the past 16 years and it needed a special package from the state government. Addressing electors at Adampur, she said ever since late Bhajan Lal demitted office of the Chief Minister, no development projects had been implemented in the area due to political reasons. Since 1996, successive governments had tried to squeeze the electors by denying them their share in the state’s resources. Renuka said this would no longer be tolerated and she would do everything within her powers to ensure development of the area. She thanked the voters for their support and promised to take the legacy of her late father-in-law forward. She said along with her husband, Kuldeep Bishnoi, she would serve the people with humility. She lashed out against Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and accused him of misleading the people by making false claims about development of various areas. The fact, she said, was that the entire state was suffering in his rule. Renuka also criticised former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala saying under the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), the state government had become a safe haven for anti-social elements. She said the defeat of the INLD in the Hisar Lok Sabha poll and subsequent byelections to the Adampur and Ratia Assembly segments had proved that the people of the state did not want the party to come to power. Likewise, she said the Congress had lost the confidence of the people. The Haryana Janhit Congress-BJP alliance was the future political force and it enjoyed the support of all sections of the society.
	Kurukshetra, Japan schools sign MoU D.R. Vij Harish Sachdeva, chairman, Wisdom Social Welfare Trust (right), and Takada Yoshikazu and Balaji Panchapakesan, both founders of Tathva International School, exchange the MoU; and (R) Students present a cultural event at Wisdom World School in Kurukshetra. Photos by writer Kurukshetra, December 15 A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Wisdom World School, Kurukshetra, and Tathva International School, Tokyo, Japan, on the premises of Wisdom World School here recently. Harish Sachdeva, chairman, Wisdom Social Welfare Trust, signed the MoU on behalf of Wisdom World School, while Takada Yoshikazu and Balaji Panchapakesan, both founders of Tathva International School, signed the MoU on behalf of their school under the Academic and Cultural Exchange Programme in the presence of Deputy Commissioner Mandeep Singh Brar. The Deputy Commissioner presided over the function, while Subhash Sudha, a former chairman, Municipal Council, Thanesar, was the guest of honour. Brar praised the Wisdom World School management for catering modern education and providing better facilities to its students. Appreciating the working system of the Wisdom World School management, Sudha said this school had been added to the list of better schools in the state. Wisdom School Welfare Trust chairman Harish Sachdeva said under the MoU, the selected students from both schools would visit each other’s school on a reciprocal basis every year, he added. When asked how the language barrier would be controlled, Sachdeva said the teaching of Japanese language would be introduced to the students of Wisdom World School, while the teaching of Hindi would be introduced to the students of Tathva International School. Both, Takada Yoshikazu and Balaji Panchapakesan, who inspected the school after arriving here, praised its infrastructure, academic atmosphere and the education system. Anita Rawal, principal of the school, read out the school annual report. A colourful cultural extravaganza, FANTASIA, choreographed by Sharmishtha Rao, was a successful presentation where Dolly Guleria, a Punjabi singer of international fame, presented Punjabi folk songs.
	37 Kurukshetra varsity students get placements Our Correspondent Kurukshetra, December 15 As many as 37 students of Electronic Science Department, Kurukshetra University, were selected with a maximum salary package of Rs 6 lakh per annum offered to them by a Bangalore-based company Open Silicon at a five-day campus recruitment drive which concluded recently. Stating this to mediapersons here recently, university spokesperson professor Brajesh Sawhney said Kurukshetra University conducted the drive for its undergraduate and postgraduate students in which leading IT and electronic companies visited the campus. The Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Lt Gen (retd) Dr DDS Sandhu, and the registrar of the university, Dr Surender Deswal, congratulated the selected students on their achievement. Dr Sandhu assured the students that more recruitment drives would be arranged in the coming year. Prof Sawhney said out of the 37 students of the university, 18 MCA students had been selected by NIIT; 10 MCA, B.Tech and BA Mass Communication students by HCL; six B.Com and MCA students by Genpact and three M.Sc Electronic Science students by Open Silicon, Bangalore. As many as 13 students of Electronic Science Department of the university had been selected for six months’ training in RF Silicon to be followed by their placement in the company depending upon their performance. Dr Sawhney further said the university had set-up a career and counselling cell with Dr Sunil Dhingra as its coordinator and Dr Rakesh Kumar, Dr Mohinder Singh and Dr Manish Gupta as members for the counselling of students and to provide career opportunities to them. Dr Anil Vohra, Dean, Faculty of Science, and Chairman, Electronic Science Department, and his recruitment team provided support to the career and counseling cell in this recruitment drive, added Dr Sawhney.
	Use quality construction material, contractors told Satish Seth Kaithal, December 15 Deputy Commissioner A Mona Sreeniwas inspected various development works under execution in Kaithal town and the surrounding areas yesterday. She advised the contractors to use best construction material and asked officials to ensure construction as per specification and completion of works within stipulated period. While inspecting extension work of the local PWD rest house building, she was told by the XEN that the work of new block would be completed within next two months. The DC then went to the Kaithal drain and inspected the on-going stone pitching work. She also visited the building of Dr BR Ambedkar Government College near Jagdishpura village on the Kaithal-Ambala highway. The college is being constructed at the cost of Rs 15 crore. She asked the PWD officials to complete the construction work of the bridge connecting college with the highway at the earliest. She also inspected newly constructed additional siphon at the Hansi-Butana link canal near the Kaithal drain crossing which had been constructed at the cost of Rs 1.25 crore. The DC went to the sewer treatment plant in Patti Khot. She asked officials to find solution to stagnant water in villages. She also visited the drivers’ training school at Garhi Padla village and directed the transport department officials to complete all pending works. While inspecting the Rs 6.75-crore under-construction building of Government Girls Senior Secondary School at Jakholi Adda, she directed the concerned officials to ensure completion of this building before the start of next academic session.
	Engg students attend industrial training Attar Singh Tribune News Service Yamunanagar, December 15 A special one-month Business Skill Development Programme for engineering students was conducted at Shree Siddhivinayak Engineering and Management Institutions with the support of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. Speaking on the occasion, Vijay Kumar, Director, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Institute, Karnal, said the Centre provided various financial incentives to the micro, small and medium-level enterprises to start any venture. He enumerated many success stories, especially from Gujarat and Ludhiana, to motivate the participants to initiate new ventures in service centres. “India’s economy is based mainly on the MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) sector,” he said. He told the participants that in India, 40 per cent industrial sector was from MSME and their contribution to the economy was 45 per cent, whereas in China the MSME sector was 90 per cent and in Japan it is almost 99 per cent. He motivated the participants to join jobs initially and become entrepreneurs after 2-3 years in service. In India, the participation of women in the MSME sector had increased. He said banks would offer help if someone wanted to start a new venture. He emphasised that there were less opportunities in the private sector earlier, but now enormous opportunities exist for the youngsters. Dr MK Sehgal, chairman-cum-CEO of the Siddhivinayak Institutions, said entrepreneurship encouraged innovation. He said entrepreneurship development was one of the most important areas for developing India’s economy. He said all essential topics on how to start small enterprise, scope of engineering and non-engineering products, scope of service sector and IT activities, business planning, industrial manufacturing processes, process designing, standardisation, inspection and testing, quality assurance and control etc, were covered during the one-month programme.
	3 KU students selected for NHRC internship Kurukshetra, December 15 Three students of the Institute of Law, Kurukshetra University, have been selected for national-level internship to be conducted by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The students will be paid an honorarium of Rs 8,000 per month during the internship period. Stating this to mediapersons here recently, Professor VK Agarwal, director, Institute of Law, Kurukshetra University, said the selected students were Sumit Rawal of IXth semester, Amarjeet Kaur and Jaidev, both from VIIth semester. The selection had been made on the basis of written submissions made by the students to the National Human Rights Commission. Their internship would start from January 3, he added. Dr Naresh Vats, convener of the Placement and Training Cell of the Institute of Law, said this is a prestigious internship for which the students of the institute had been selected for the first time. He said the institute would make more efforts to increase the number of such students in future. The institute was taking steps to further strengthen the placement cell and invite other national and state-level bodies for training and placement of the students of BA LL.B. (Hons.) five-year course, added Dr Vats. — OC
	Cotton arrival in mandis picks up momentum Sushil Manav Tribune News Service Sirsa, December 15 With its prices still much lower than the last year, arrival of cotton in various mandis of Haryana has picked up momentum in the past couple of days. Prices of raw cotton (narma) hovered near Rs 3,960 per quintal on Wednesday in Sirsa, the biggest producer of cotton in Haryana. This is much less than the last year’s maximum price of Rs 7,500 per quintal. However, heavy production of the crop this year and lesser demand has forced farmers, who had been keeping their cotton stocks on the hold since October, to bring these to “mandis” now. “Initially, I sold 20 per cent of my 400 quintals of cotton produced on 50 acres for Rs 4,500 per quintals in hope that I will sell the remaining for a higher price, but later, I had to sell another consignment of 30 per cent stock for Rs 4,200 per quintals. I have no option, but to sell my remaining crop for Rs 4,000, as market trends point that there is no hope of hike this year,” said Gurdial Mehta, a former president of the Sirsa grain market, who had grown cotton on his land in Dhaba village. He said most farmers like him have started bringing their produce to the mandis, though some were holding a part of the crop with them to sell the same in March next in the hope of an escalation. “After all, they need money for meeting their day-to-day domestic and agriculture expenditures and to repay their loans. They cannot hold their crops for long,” Mehta said. According to figures available with the Agriculture Marketing Board, 11.64 lakh quintals of cotton has arrived in various mandis of Sirsa against the total estimated production of 53 lakh quintals. The official website of the Cotton Corporation of India mentions the present production of cotton in Haryana as 4.90 lakh bales against the total estimated production of 16 lakh bales this year. However, the market sources predict the production to be higher, given the bumper crop this time. Gurpreet Singh Nagpal, a partner in the Royal Cotgin, Sirsa, said the market sources predict the production to cross 50 lakh bales of cotton in the North region comprising Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan against the CCI estimates of 48 lakh bales. Last year, the cotton production from the North region was 39 lakh bales, as per the CCI figures. With the crop being 20 to 25 per cent better than last year, and a downward trend in the prices, farmers have been rushing with their crop to mandis leading to a heavy arrival of the crop these days.
	Movie This Week Pappu Can’t Dance Saala Directed by: Saurabh Shukla Saurabh Shukla, the versatile filmmaker, is ready to take centrestage with his new romantic comedy “Pappu Can’t Dance Saala”. The film stars Vinay Pathak, Neha Dhupia, Rajat Kapoor and Naseeruddin Shah in special appearance. Those who have gone through the rushes say it is a different comedy for a select audience. Neha Dhupia is playing the role of a chorus dancer. “Jadoo…”, the song picturised on Neha Dhupia, is the talk of the tinsel world. Watch this rom-com at theatres near you from today. — Dharam Pal
	Sonepat prof, scholars to present papers at Sydney Our Correspondent Sonepat, December 15 Dr Sangeeta Singh, assistant professor of the local Geeta Vidya Mandir Girls College, and two research scholars - Renu Dahiya and Rekha of the college - have been invited to present their research papers in the 5th International Conference on Electroceramics (ICE) at Sydney in Australia. This five-day conference, organised by the University of New South Wales, Sydney in Australia, will conclude on December 16. Dr Jyoti Juneja, principal of the college, said as many as 15 participants from India had been invited to the conference. It was a matter of pride for the college that three of them were from GVM Girls College. The college participants had been given financial grants by the college management and the government institutions, she added.
	School Beautification Awards Ladwa block winners announced Our Correspondent Kurukshetra, December 15 Under the scheme of “Chief Minister’s School Beautification Incentive Awards”, Satbir Singh Kundu, SDM, Thanesar, announced the block-level results here. A cash award of Rs 50,000 will be given on Republic Day to each winner school of each group. Being the chairperson of the selection committee, Kundu declared the Ladwa block winners as Government Senior Secondary School, Barounda, Government High School, Bapda-Bapdi, Government Middle School, Dhanaura Jattan, and Government Primary School, Lohara. Member Secretary-cum-Block Education Officer Bhajan Singh Rathaur informed mediapersons that the winners would compete further at the district level for a cash award of Rs 1 lakh and at the state level for Rs 5 lakh. The school building, toilets, drinking water facilities, the main gate boundary wall, playground, the school campus and cleanliness were the main determinants for the awards, he added.
	Tricycles, sewing machines distributed Our Correrspondent Sonepat, December 15 Tricycles, sewing machines, blankets, jerseys and hearing aids were distributed among as many as 1,000 needy and destitute persons during the 29th annual function of the Samaj Sewa Samiti, one of the main social organisations of the district, here recently. Speaking on the occasion, RC Khanna, president of the samiti, said the samiti was working for the needy since its inception in 1982. “It is also running free ayurvedic dispensary as well as free tailoring and sewing centres for women,” he added. Some of its main social welfare programmes include mass marriages of girls from poor families, free medical camps, blood donation camps, free distribution of books and other study material, cash prizes to talented students, social service during the time of natural calamities and cremation of unclaimed bodies, he said. Shashi Karan Nasa, coordinator of the samiti, said though the samiti had been inviting politicians in its programmes, it had never taken any financial grants from the government. All the welfare programmes of the samiti were being conducted with liberal donations from volunteers, he said and expressed his gratitude to such donors. In his presidential address, Arjun Kumar Popli, a local resident, appreciated the efforts of the samiti in serving the needy in society. He said selfless service always play an important role in mitigating the sufferings of the people. Bhagwan Gupta, senior general secretary of the samiti, and Pandit N Rajenderan Krishnan, a prominent citizen, also spoke. The occasion was marked by presentation of cultural programmes by students of Bal Vikas High School, Sri Ram Day Boarding School, Geeta Vidya Mandir School and members of sewing centres of the samiti.
	Criminal overshoots parole, surrenders Nawal Kishore Rastogi Rewari, December 15 A hardcore criminal Jeeta Gujjar, a resident of the Mohalla Gujjarwara, who had been at large for the past over one month after the expiry of one-month period of parole, surrendered himself, accompanied by his counsel Shamsher Singh Yadav before SP Vikas Arora here on Tuesday. Jeeta, who was undergoing imprisonment in several cases of murder, rape and robbery in the Bhondsi Jail (Gurgaon), was released on parole on October 9. However, even after the expiry of his parole period on November 9, he did not return to the jail. Soon after his surrender, he was handed over to the CIA Police which produced him yesterday in a local court that remanded him to police custody for two days. The CIA Police is interrogating him regarding his susp-ected involvement in several criminal cases which happened here during his parole-jumping period.
	Ex-servicemen bear the brunt of liquor shortage in canteen BS Malik Sonepat, December 15 Over 15,000 ex-servicemen of the district are reaping the benefits through their counterparts in the adjoining areas of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in the supply of the liquor through the local CSD canteen. The reason behind it is stated by the canteen authorities as the difference in the excise duty in Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Number of ex-servicemen when visited the canteen recently to draw their entitled monthly liquor quota were astonished to see that the dealing clerk at the counter, who used to be one of the busiest employees of the canteen, was standing outside his cabin and basking in the sun. When asked to issue the liquor supply bills, he said the entire stock of the rum, brandy and low-priced whiskey has already been sold. The stock of whiskey priced at more than Rs 200 per bottle was available in the canteen. He said the next supply of these brands was likely to be available only after December 23. Enquiries revealed that the price difference in each liquor bottle was reported to be around Rs 50 to Rs 150 and the card-holders from the adjoining areas of Narela in Delhi and Baghpat areas of Uttar Pradesh prefer to draw their stock of liquor from the Sonepat canteen. Talking to The Tribune, ex-servicemen Balwan Singh, Umed Singh, Ramji Lal and many others said under these circumstances, the ex-servicemen of the district were being deprived of the timely supply of the liquor and they had to return to their villages without it. A lot of amount is spent on the journey from their village to the canteen, they remarked and urged the senior authorities in the CSD supplies to take some necessary steps to overcome this problem. Manager of the canteen Major (retd) KC Gahlan said the liquor in the Haryana CSD canteens was cheaper than in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh because of the difference in the excise duty. “We cannot refuse to supply the liquor quota as the smart card issued to ex-servicemen is valid all over India and to the canteen store receives the supply of liquor once in a month,” he said and added that the average monthly supply was of 2,500 cases, each case containing 12 bottles.
	Lions Club holds eye camp Tribune News Service Fatehabad, December 15 Lions Club, Fatehabad, organised an eye camp in the local Lions Bhawan here recently. Prahlad Singh Gillankhera, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Haryana, inaugurated the camp, while Seth Devi Dayal presided over. Dr Rajesh Batra and his team of Eye-Q Hospital examined the eyes of patients visiting the camp and provided them medicines free of cost. As many as 350 patients were examined and provided medicines by the doctors on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, Gillankhera exhorted the people to donate their eyes as this could provide vision to a visually impaired person after the donor’s death. He lauded the role of Lions Club in social and philanthropic activities. Dr Pawan Mehta, president of the club, and Sunil Sachdeva, project director for the eye camp, said the club organised such activities at regular intervals. Vijay Siroha, District Governor of the club, Sanjay Batra, secretary, Kirorimal Garg, Dr Vinod Batra, Ramesh Sachdeva, Vinod Mehta, Rajiv Kataria, Chander Bhan Munjal, Gulbahar Singh, Arvind Sharma, Kailash Batra and several other prominent persons of the town and members of the club were present on the occasion.