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Gurgaon high-rise buildings prone to quakes, warn experts
State to make field maps available online
Differently abled girl brings laurels to
Kurukshetra varsity
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Artistes get pleasant surprise as prize money up in state
UPA govt has made mockery of democracy, says
ex-BJP minister
Y’nagar institute holds annual sports meet
Cancel new pension rules: Ex-servicemen
Criminals have free run in state, says Ajay Chautala
Poster exhibition on women empowerment
Research papers presented at international meet
Providing quality education to children top priority: Minister
Officials directed to display RTI logo
Students told about educational opportunities in US
Chaman Lal is vice-president of bank officers’ body
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Gurgaon high-rise buildings prone to quakes, warn experts
This warning was issued by experts during a recent seminar organised by the National Disaster Management Authority, the apex body on disaster management in the country. Professional experts from IITs, IMD, GSI, CSIR, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Studies and other such institutions deliberated on the prospect of an earthquake of the magnitude of eight on the Richter Scale, which, they maintained, was a high probability in the region comprising north Haryana, including Gurgaon, among other adjoining areas. Learning a lesson from the seminar, the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) authorities have sought the submission of structural safety certificate and contingency-cum-response plans in respect of the high-rise buildings located in Gurgaon. “There is a need to revisit and evaluate the structural designs of such buildings, especially high-rise buildings in Gurgaon in accordance with the statutory provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, No. 53 of 2005 published in the Gazette of India December 26, 2005, and guidelines on earthquakes issued by the NDMA in April 2007,” the MCG said in an official statement issued here. Issuing specific directions in this regard under Section 315 of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994, the MCG administration has maintained that such buildings are also required to have a contingency-cum-response plan to be followed in the event of an earthquake. According to official sources, Gurgaon is supposed to participate in the high-magnitude earthquake scenario preparations leading to a tabletop exercise in the latter half of 2012. For this, the MCG will require information on the structural safety of all high-rise buildings under its jurisdiction. The MCG authorities have
directed the builders and owners to furnish the structural stability certificates by the end of the next month in respect of the high-rise buildings. The required certificate, to be issued by a qualified structural engineer, should certify that the building conforms to the national building code and is sustainable against high-magnitude earthquakes (> 7 magnitude). The MCG authorities have said in case the building has been constructed without considering the structural safety measures vis-à-vis the seismic requirements, the builder or owner must take immediate steps for retrofitting of the building. The managements of the buildings have also been ordered to prepare contingency and response plans for the buildings and submit two copies, including the original of the same, at the MCG office by
May 15. The MCG authorities have warned that failure to abide by this order may invite penal and legal action.
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State to make field maps available online
Kaithal, March 22 This will not only help the Revenue Department in maintaining land records in a better way but also help the department in formulating development plans. This was stated by PK Das, Financial Commissioner and Special Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Haryana, while talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a state-level political science seminar held at the local RKSD College here recently. Haryana would become the first state in the country to make “sijra” available online and the work would be completed in a year, he said. He said this would not only save time of the department officials but also bring further transparency in the functioning of the Revenue Department. He said when the full information about land would become available online, it would be easy for various government departments to make development plans of a particular area. He added that it would save a lot of time, which earlier used to be consumed in physical inspection and measurement of land. The digital map prepared by the Science and Technology Department through the GPS with the help of the Revenue Department will clearly indicate the information about location of canals, drains, roads, populated areas and other important areas. The farmers, too, would get rid of making rounds of offices to get full information about their land records, Das added.
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Differently abled girl brings laurels to
Kurukshetra varsity
Kurukshetra, March 22 Stating this to mediapersons here recently, Prof VK Agarwal, Director, Institute of Law, said she was honoured by the National Commission for Women as an outstanding woman at an award ceremony held in New Delhi recently. Professor Agarwal said Mamta Sharma, chairperson of the commission, while speaking at the award ceremony function, appreciated Mukesh Devi for her strong willpower and desire to achieve excellence in her life in spite of her locomotor disability. She had also appreciated the efforts of the Institute of Law, Kurukshetra University, for managing the internship programme for its students in collaboration with the National Commission for Women, Professor Agarwal added. Total eight students who attended the programme in New Delhi included Kumari Mukesh Devi, Urvashi Choudhary, Ritu, Soni
Dr DDS Sandhu, Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Professor VK Agarwal, Director, Institute of Law, and faculty members congratulated Mukesh Devi for this honour and encouraged her for such achievements in future, too. Mukesh Devi is physically challenged. She is the daughter of a labourer from a Kohand village near Panipat. She is from a rural background having limited economic means but has enthusiasm to excel in legal profession.
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Artistes get pleasant surprise as prize money up in state
Chandigarh, March 22 Bollywood actor-director Shashi Ranjan, hailing from Bhiwani, and winner of the Lakshmi Chand Lifetime Achievement Award for contribution to Haryanavi cinema was in for a surprise as his original prize of Rs 51,000 was raised to Rs 1,51,000. The Chief Minister conferred an award of Rs 51,000 (raised from Rs 21,000 as notified earlier) to well-known artistes. Here is the award list: Best Actor Award, folk theatre ---Ram Sharan Sharma; Best Music Award--Dulla and Dhan Singh; Folk dance -- Madan; Fauji Jaat Mehar Singh Award - Ragini; Lyrics -- Raj Kumar Dhankar and Pt Jagbir Badwasniya. Besides, Krishan (rhythm playing), Gulab Singh (best composer), Devi Shankar Prabhakar (Lok Kala Avam Jan Sanchar Puraskar), Janardan Sharma received an award for outstanding acting and the Manjit Bawa Award in fine arts went to Mahesh Dalal and Raj Kishan Nain. Sunita Chaudhary and Kiran Khayalia were jointly awarded for singing folk songs and Ankit Balhara was awarded for acting and singing; Piyush was awarded for encouraging local artistes for promotion of Haryanvi Culture. Vishnu was awarded for ‘song direction’ and consolation award went to LR Gandhi. Arjun Jaipuri (composer folk music) and Dr Harvinder Sharma were awarded for excellence in classical music. Speaking at the award ceremony organised by the Haryana Information, Public Relations and Cultural
Hooda said the government had not only taken various steps to promote the culture of the state, but also given due respect and honour to its artistes. He said the Haryana Kala Parishad was set up to preserve and promote rich culture of the state. A multi-art Culture Centre was also set up in Kurukshetra at a cost of about Rs 6 crore. The state government also honoured those artistes who had contributed significantly in the field of art, culture, history and folk music. Bhal Singh Balhara, Additional Director, Public Relations and Cultural Affairs Department, Haryana, Dharmapal of Jind and Ishwar Sharma of Karnal were also awarded for their significant contribution to the promotion of the state’s culture. Shiv Raman Gaur presented the vote of thanks. He said the increased award money reflected the encouragement of the chief minister to the artistes. Dr KK Khandelwal, IAS; Mahendra Kumar, IAS; Virender Singh, Political Advisor to the Chief Minister; Haryana Kala Parishad director Usha were also present on the occasion.
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UPA govt has made mockery of democracy, says
ex-BJP minister
Karnal, March 22 For the first time in the history of Indian parliamentary democracy, the Railway Minister was being forced to quit after presenting the Budget, PMC supremo Mamta Banerjee was pressing for dropping the Railway Minister but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was not acting and people were confused, he said. “What is the status of Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi. Is he a minister in the Union Cabinet or not”, he asked Sharma, who is also the convener of the Haryana Janhit Party and BJP alliance, said the Prime Minister had failed to deliver key issues like inflation and corruption, affecting the common man had not been addressed. Maintaining that the campaign by Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev did impact the Assembly elections in five states and the Congress lost miserably. The Samajwadi Party won in Uttar Pradesh in spite of its poor record during the last tenure as the massive corruption at the Centre weighed heavily on the minds of the people, he observed. Referring to the student parliament being held at Kurukshetra, he asked that whether the student parliament would be copy of our Parliament and state assemblies and corruption and inefficiency would rein supreme. Criticising the Union Budget for 2012-13, he said it would only fuel inflation and the problems faced by the people would aggravate. Kurukshetra: The Congress is making a mockery of the poor by not accepting those who are earning Rs 28.65 in urban and Rs 22.42 in the rural areas per day as poor. This was stated by INLD state president and Kurukshetra MLA Ashok Arora at a party workers’ meeting of Thanesar Halqa on the premises of Jaat Dharamshala here recently. He said the Planning Commission had said those who earned Rs 28.65 in the urban and Rs 22.42 in the rural areas daily do not come under the category of poor. “It is proved that the Congress is not wiling to prepare BPL cards and, similarly, eligible old persons are being debarred from getting pension by implementing income conditions,” he added. He said the INLD had launched an awareness campaign and the party leaders had been organising public meeting at 15 villages daily.
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Y’nagar institute holds annual sports meet
Yamunanagar, March 22 Anju and Baljeet were adjudged the best athletes in the women and men categories, respectively. SB Sehgal, District Sports and Welfare officer, was the chief guest and Dr Dharmender Mehta, boxing coach, was the guest of honour at the prize-distribution function. Dr MK Sehgal, chairman and CEO of the institutions, who presided over the event, said more than 500 students participated in the sports meet. In 1,500-m race, Dharmesh, Pankaj and Rafaq Rasal bagged first, second and third positions, respectively, among the boys’ section, while in 800-m race Anju, Neha and Nitu Soni got the first three positions in the girls’ section. Mankit Sharma, Rinku and Vikas Balyan among the boys and Anju, Raman and Nitu among the girls were adjudged first, second and third, respectively, in the high-jump event. Akshay, Sushant, Amit and Renu, Navika, Geeta secured first three positions in discuss throw, respectively, in the boys’ and girls’ sections. In javelin throw (boys) Jishan Ali, Amit and Sahriq got first, second and third positions, respectively, while Ateeta, Geeta and Navika secured first, second and third positions, respectively, in the girls’ section. Baljeet, Usmaan and Vikas Saini among the boys and Anju, Raman and Geeta among the girls were adjudged first, second and third, respectively, in the long jump event. Virender, Robin and Arvind in the boys’ section and Sarika, Neha and Shruti in the girls’ section got first three positions, respectively, in chess, while Dharmesh, Atul and Ikshek Mishri among the boys and Divya, Kumud and Shruti among the girls got first three positions, respectively, in the badminton event.
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Cancel new pension rules: Ex-servicemen
Gurgaon, March 22 In a communiqué to Union Defence Minister AK Antony, the federation maintained that the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (DESW), MoD, had issued a fresh version of pension regulations without incorporating the changes necessitated by the Sixth Central Pay Commission and “in total disregard to the laid down procedure”. The federation said, “The DESW has not been able to deliver satisfactory welfare service to the defence veterans, while the Armed Forces Grievances Redressal Commission (AFGRC), which had to become operational by January 15, 2011, is yet to be commissioned”. Alleging that the defence personnel were being ill-treated and harassed and their genuine demands were not being considered by the government, the federation has urged the Defence Minister to address their concerns. In a letter, Major-General Satbir Singh (retd), vice-chairman of the movement, has sought the cancellation of promulgation of the freshly-issued pension regulations (Army-2008) and review of the Pension Regulation-1961 as per the laid down procedure, incorporating the latest changes required in consultation with the stakeholders. They also demanded that an ex-servicemen commission be established at the earliest and the DESW be headed by a serving defence officer and manned by serving as well as retired (re-employed) defence officials. The federation alleged that the bureaucrats at the helm of affairs had been creating hurdles in the consideration and acceptance of the demands of the defence personnel, which was a cause of concern, discomfort and anguish to them.
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Criminals have free run in state, says Ajay Chautala
Hisar, March 22 Addressing a series of public meetings in villages of the Hansi assembly segment of this district, he said the government had failed to ensure the safety of lives and properties of its citizens. Criminals were having a free run as the police was Chautala said five murders taking place in 10 hours in the Chief Minister’s home district of Rohtak was proof enough that the law and order situation in Haryana had been deteriorating rapidly with the government not taking any steps to curb crime. He said Rohtak and Hisar districts were the worst-affected areas. Accusing the Chief Minister of being in a constant state of denial so far as the crime situation was concerned, Chautala said crime and development could never survive together. Law and order were the basic prerequisites for development. He said the state was facing an acute shortage of water and power. Farmers were unable to get fertilisers and seeds at reasonable prices. The common man was facing a shortage of essential commodities like cooking gas. Thanking people for supporting him in the recent byelection to the Hisar Lok Sabha seat, he said if his party was voted to power, it would not let a single criminal element stay in the state.
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Poster exhibition on women empowerment
Kurukshetra, March 22 Faculty members of the university, students and even the outsiders evinced great interest in the exhibition which dealt with the subject of women empowerment in society and how the psyche of a woman worked when she plays variant roles of a mother, a sister, a doctor, a nurse, an engineer, a scientist and a teacher. Stating this to mediapersons here recently, Prof Rajbir Singh, Director of the institute, said it was for the first time that an effort was made by any university to involve its teaching community in preparing posters on women empowerment for display in an exhibition. He said a majority of the posters in the exhibition were prepared for display by the women staff of the institute. The exhibition provided a rare insight into the mind of women while performing their duties in various facets of life to provide homogeneity and integration to the activities of human society. For instance, posters depicting a woman saying “I was here, I am here and I will be here” showed the continuity of human life on the earth. Another touching poster depicting the multifarious role of women in shaping society idealised the “Ardh-Narishwar ” incarnation of Lord Shiva. Prof Rajbir Singh said women had played a sterling role not only during the freedom struggle but also in the development of Indian society. Dr Surinder Deswal, registrar of the university, said women were an important part of society. Their negligence could lead to immorality and disastrous consequences.
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Research papers presented at international meet
Kaithal, March 22 Around 200 participants from across the country and abroad, including scholars from Germany, US and Australia, participated in the academic event. Addressing the conference, keynote speaker Prof AK Ramkrishnan, Chairperson, Centre For West Asian Studies, JNU, Delhi, spoke on the theme “Locations of the Intellectual: Revisiting Edward Said”. He highlighted the role of intellectuals in society with special reference to Edward Said. Prof Ramkrishnan said the writings of Edward Said ushered in an era of qualitative change in the literary, cultural and political studies all over the world exposing the West-centric bias of knowledge in Indian as well as western academics. Inaugurating the conference, Rajbir Deswal, IG, CID Police, Haryana, an alumnus of RKSD College Kaithal, said the theme of the conference was comprehensive and truly international in nature. Prof Abhay Maurya, former vice-chancellor, EFLU, Hyderabad, in his presidential address said that post-colonial studies are relevant to India. Earlier, principal Dr SK Garg and president of the governing body of RKSD College Satish Bansal formally welcomed the guests and delegates. Garg said the conference would prove to be a major platform for participants. Prof Chetna Sharma, HOD, Dept of English, thanked the guests. As many as 70 research papers on a variety of issues were presented, discussed and debated at the conference on the first day. In the post-lunch plenary session, Dr Nirmala Menon, Assistant Professor of Postcolonial Studies, Saint Anselm College Manchester,US, presented a paper on “Re-mapping the post-colonial canon” and argued that post-colonial studies have now been established as an important academic discipline at the global level. It is important to ‘acknowledge that its international reputation came about the same time when Indian writers in English were also gaining reputation and popularity. It was an exhilarating and enriching time in terms of pushing the borders and boundaries of Indian littérateurs, he said. However, Menon was emphatic that in future the ‘route of multilingual terrain’ should be followed. Dr Pavan Kumar Malreddy, Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany, said, there were no alternative theories of labour outside Marxist political economy in social sciences today. Prof Tejinder Kaur from Patiala presented a research paper on ‘Post colonialism: Major issues and developments’ and Dr Subhash Chander, Dept of Hindi, Kurukshetra University, tried to re-define Hindi literary studies in India. Commenting on the papers presented and the theme of the conference Prof Dinesh Kumar, Dept of English, KU said that the conference had provided international exposure and was likely to set a new trend of inter-disciplinary cultural studies in India. Dr Rajbir Parashar, convener of the conference, said Prof Maria Varela, Alice Salomon University, Berlin; Prof Nikita Dhawan, Goethe University, Frankafurt, Germany; Prerna Bakshi, University of Sydney and Tameer Soyler, Germany were among the participants. Eminent scholar of Theatre and Cultural Studies, Prof Ralph Yarrow, professor emeritus, University of East Anglia contributed a paper published in the souvenir of the conference, in absentia. On the second day, about 80 participants presented their research papers. The session was presided by Dr Ram Niwas, Assistant Professor, KU.
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Providing quality education to children top priority: Minister
Fatehabad, March 22 The school is being run by the Buwan Kothi Charitable Trust, a UK-based charitable organisation set up in the memory of Gurpreet Singh Mundy, alias Gilly Mundy, who worked for a charity, Inquest, and died on March 17, 2007. The minister said Aarohi Model schools had been set up throughout the state and infrastructure facilities in the existing schools had been improved. He announced a grant of Rs 10 lakh to the school from his discretionary funds. Dr Bhim Singh Dahiya, a former Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, and Dr Prem Singh, an associate professor in the Hindi Department of the University of Delhi, South Campus, also addressed the gathering. Trustees of the Buwan Kothi Trust, UK, Deborah Coles, a co-director of Inquest, Janet Alty, Margret McGreevy and Kevin Blowe came from England to attend the function. Mota Singh, a former Mayer of the Royal Lemington Spa and late Gilly Mundy’s father, who strived hard to translate his son’s dream of opening a school for poor children into a reality, said the school management was committed to providing free quality education to poor children. Speaking on the occasion, Deborah Coles, who is the chairperson of the Buwan Kothi Trust in the UK, said Gilly was quite popular among the underprivileged in the UK, as he worked for the cause of custodial victims.
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Officials directed to display RTI logo
Kurukshetra, March 22 A GoI circular has been forwarded to all concerned with the RTI logo designed on tin plates. As many as 30 RTI logos have been delivered to various offices for public display. Stating this to mediapersons here recently, Brar said a guide book in this regard could be downloaded from the www.rtigateway.org.in. The GoI had also directed the Chief Secretaries of states, administrators of the UTs, heads of the ATIs and State Information Commissions to popularise the logo throughout the country.
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Students told about educational opportunities in US
Sirsa, March 22 This was informed by Rupali Verma, an adviser and Gayatri Singhal, an Indian programme coordinator on Fulbright Fellowships at the Delhi-based United States - India Educational Foundation (USIEF), to the students of Chaudhary Devi Lal University here at a programme organised by the Career-Counselling Cell of the university. They told the students about the educational opportunities available in the US. “Nearly 4,000 universities in the US provide education to students from various parts of the world,” said Verma. “The EducationUSA centres at USIEF are an official source of information in India on the higher education opportunities in the US. The US Department of state-trained educational advisers are available to guide students through the process of applying to colleges and universities in the US,” she added. The USIEF coordinates all Fulbright programme initiatives in India, including advising and selection of its award candidates, said Singhal. “The Fulbright - Nehru Awards enable the most outstanding students, academics and professionals in the country and the US to study, research and engage in work experiences with greater potential benefit for the both countries,” she said. India had one of the largest Fulbright Programmes worldwide, awarding more than 17,000 Fulbright fellowships and other grants to Indians and Americans since it began, Singhal added.
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Chaman Lal is vice-president of bank officers’ body
Fatehabad, March 22 SK Mahant from the State Bank of Patiala has also been nominated as a member of the executive board of the confederation. Harish Khurana, chief manager of the State Bank of Patiala, said bank officers from Sirsa, Hisar, Jind and Fatehabad felicitated Mahant during his visit to Fatehabad recently. Speaking on the occasion, Mahant said the 10th bipartite settlement, 5 days week and regulated working hours for officers were the key issues which were discussed in the meeting of AIBOC held recently at Nagpur. He said a good wage revision for the officers was expected this time. Khurana said the AIBOC was the sole bargaining body of officers in the country.
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Movie This Week
Agent Vinod
Directed by: Sriram Raghvan Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor make a striking Jodi for the second time in “Agent Vinod” after “Kurbaan”. Produced by Saif Ali Khan’s banner Illuminati Films, “Agent Vinod” has high-voltage actions and promises to be a full-on entertainer. The film has a lot of scenic delight. It has been widely shot in foreign locations. The climax has been shot in New Delhi on locations like the Red Fort, Connaught Place and the flyovers of the capital. “Agent Vinod” revolves around a undercover agent who is on a mission to hack a conspiracy planned against India. Sriram Raghvan has penned the story of this power-packed film which opens today at Fame Shalimar, KC (Panchkula), Radhika BMG, (Rewari), Glitz - Kurukshetra, Harsha, Movie Time (Karnal), Dimple - Jagadhri, Bangar, Satyam (Rohtak), PVR Ambience, PVR MGF, PVR Sahara, DTCC, DTMM, SRS Omaxe, SRS Celbration, Big Pristine, SRS Eldeco, INOX, SRS Shubham, Q Cinema (Faridabad), Fun, Cinemax (Panipat), Fun —Ambala. — Dharam Pal
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Physically challenged Kumari Mukesh Devi, a student of BA-LLB (Hons) 8th semester of the Institute of Law, Kurukshetra University, has brought laurels to the university.
Haryana seems to be emerging as a pioneer in preservation and promotion of its rich folk culture and its artistes. In a rare and spontaneous gesture, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda announced raising the prize money for all awardees with immediate effect much to the delight of 21 award winners in different realms of art at Haryana Raj Bhawan on Wednesday.
Agriculture Minister Paramvir Singh said here recently that providing quality education to children was the top priority of the state government. He was addressing a gathering at the fourth annual commemorative function of Gilly Mundy Memorial Community School at Lehrian in
Fatehabad.
Fatehabad, March 22
Gurgaon, March 22