Chandigarh,April 6
In a bid to increase the information technology (IT) literacy across the state, the Haryana Government is set to replicate the Maharashtra model.

It has decided to set up Haryana Knowledge Corporation Limited (HKCL) in collaboration with Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited (MKCL).

“As the initiative taken up by the Maharashtra authorities has proved successful in imparting IT skills on a mass scale through the MKCL, the Haryana Government would follow the Maharastra model to create IT literacy at the grassroots level,” said an official source.

The HKCL will be a public limited company, not a government-owned company, with an authorised capital of Rs 5 crore and a paid-up capital of Rs 2 crore. Besides the Haryana Government and the MKCL, other promoters of the corporation will be HARTRON, the Technical Education Society, the HSIIDC and independent directors from industrial and educational fields.

Except the initial equity support, its operations will be self-sustaining and it will carry out its operations without the financial support of the state government. The company’s professional operations, including certification of authorised learning centres, recruitment of faculty and e-learning and continuous evaluation of learners, will be independent.

Haryana State Certificate in Information Technology (HSCIT) and other courses of the corporation will be recognised by
the Board of Technical Education, Haryana, so that students enrolled
in these can get government jobs.

Officials said the HSCIT would be a recognised qualification for computer efficiency for all government appointments. Besides, they said, the state government will make it compulsory for all its newly-recruited employees and the in-service employees to obtain the HSCIT within a specified period.

They said the government would also use the support of the HKCL for running computer labs in ITIs, polytechnics, schools, colleges and universities. It will also use the corporation's aid for the implementation of a number of e-governance initiatives at competitive rates.

Besides improving IT literacy at the state-level, the HKCL will create self-employment opportunities for thousands of young entrepreneurs wanting to establish authorised learning centres.

Sources said senior officers of the state government had recommended the Maharastra model for the state looking at its success rate. The MKCL has so far (2002-2012) imparted training and issued certificates to about eight million persons.

Keeping these facts in mind, senior officers of the Haryana Government had recommended the Maharastra model for the state, the sources added.

Hisar, April 6
The Haryana government wants to develop the Delhi-Dabwali National Highway 10 as the new industrial corridor in Haryana on the lines of Kundli-Ambala stretch on NH 1 and Gurgaon–Manesar–Bawal on NH 8.

Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda said today that after four-laning and six-laning of the NH 10 from Delhi to Rohtak, work on the Rohtak–Hisar stretch of the highway would begin soon.

He said work on the Rohtak–Meham–Hisar railway line would also start soon.

The foundation stones of both these projects are likely to be laid in May.

Deepender Singh said the Rohtak–Meham–Hisar railway line would be extended to Agroha–Fatehabad–Sirsa later, as the government had already approved it.

He said that while Rs 1,350 crore had been approved for the four and six-laning of the Rohtak–Hisar stretch of NH 10, its extension up to Dabwali had also been sanctioned by the government.

The MP said bypasses would be constructed at Hansi, Meham, Madina and Kharkhra on the Rohtak–Hisar stretch of NH 10. 

Fatehabad, April 6
Social activist Anna Hazare today said his Jantantra Yatra was aimed at making the government answerable to people, while former Army chief General VK Singh, who was accompanying him, asked people to oppose the proposed Gorakhpur nuclear power project coming up in Fatehabad.

Anna, who addressed a series of public meetings at Barwala and Agroha in Hisar and Fatehabad today, said though India attained freedom in 1947, power had gone in the hands of a few families, who had been treating common people as their slaves.

"I strongly advocate the right to recall, because in a democracy, people are the masters and they must have the right to recall them if their elected leaders do not work as per their aspirations," he said at Fatehabad.

He said it was a pity that the government supported big companies by acquiring farmers' lands for their industries. He added once the farmers parted with their lands, they had no stake in the money being earned through their lands. He said it should be made compulsory for the government to take the Gram Sabha's consent before acquiring farmers' lands.

Former Army chief General VK Singh termed the proposed Gorakhpur nuclear power project coming up at Fatehabad as a potential threat of deadly diseases to people and urged residents to oppose it. "Ever since a thermal power plant and a refinery have been set up in Bathinda, trains loaded with cancer patients have been going towards hospitals for treatment. An atomic power plant is even more dangerous and it will pose a great threat to the people," he said.

He asked youths to join political process to eradicate poverty, hunger and illiteracy. 

Kurukshetra, April 6
Haryana Chief Minister B. S. Hooda today dedicated the second phase of the Dharohar (Heritage) Haryana Museum on the Kurukushetra University campus to the public. He hoped that the museum would "save Haryana's culture and revive our ancient culture and rich heritage for preservation and celebration."

The glittering ceremony at KU was marked by a traditional welcome by Haryanvi folk dancers, musicians and folk artistes, presenting a glimpse of the 'dharohar'.

Expressing concern over the dilution of our rich culture, traditions, folk music, art and craft, customs, vocabulary and ceremonies due to rapid industrialisation, Hooda said the Dharohar museum would familiarise the present generation with Haryanvi folk, life, society, history and traditions.

Stressing that Haryana's cultural history was more than 5,000 years old, the Chief Minister said excavations at different places in the state were evidence of the existence of civilisations of the Indus valley, Harappa and the Saraswati.

Local Member of Parliament Naveen Jindal said phase II was a unique museum as it connected the rich past of Haryana with its dynamic present and future.

The Vice-Chancellor of KU, Lt-Gen Dr. D.D.S. Sandhu, said the university was committed to promoting Haryana's culture. "Dharohar does not just signify our vision to bring together the past and the future, it is also an example of harmony with nature and sustainable development. The architecture of the museum is a marvel inspired by the local heritage and natural surroundings," said Lt-Gen Sandhu.

The curator of museum, Dr Maha Singh Poonia, said, "The second phase of the museum visually depicts Haryana's traditional culture and art and craft."

Craftsmen, their tools, methods and products have been shown in detail to focus on the folk culture. At the entrance, one gets the feel of a traditional village, with a well and a pair of bullocks, extracting sugarcane juice at a kohlu. 

Karnal, April 6
Haryana Chief Minister BS Hooda exhorted the field officers to work with "patience and honesty" and implement the welfare schemes in a time-bound manner. "The field officers are backbone of the administration and they are a link between the government and people. They are responsible for ensuring that the benefits of various schemes percolated to the people," the CM said while speaking at a felicitation function, organised by the Haryana Civil Service (Executive) Officers' Association, to honour him in Karnal today. He also inaugurated the newly renovated Panchayat Bhawan here today .

Hooda assured the association to consider the demand of increasing the pay grade from Rs 6,000 to Rs 6,600 after five years of service on the pattern of other states and said the government had accepted the demands of the HCS officers for promotion, selection grade, supertime scale and their promotion span had been raised to the level of the Special Secretary.

Urging the officers to listen to the problems of the people with "patience", he said the common man expected that their problems would be solved promptly and benefits of welfare schemes would reach him immediately. He said most of the problems could be solved simply by patient and attentive listening.

Appreciating that in the past eight years the HCS cadre has discharged their duties with utmost dedication and honesty, Hooda said it was a matter of pride that the state had established its distinct identity at the international level and in achieving this milestone, their cooperation was laudable.

The president of the association, Bhupender Singh, said the duties of the HCS officers were very challenging as the image of the government was formed on the basis of the performance and efficiency of these officers. 

Madhuban (Karnal), April 6
A batch of 441 constables of the Haryana armed police, first battalion (Ambala), passed out from the Haryana Police Academy (HPA) after completing their training here today. The Director General of Police (DGP), SN Vashish, took the salute at the march past and inspected the passing-out parade.

The training of the batch, for which 92 per cent recruitments were made from the rural areas and six per cent from the urban areas, began on April 10, 2012 and 30 per cent of the constables are graduates or postgraduates, including four MBA and 10 professional degree holders.

Bhagyashali of Baldev Nagar( Ambala), Jasvinder Singh of Abdullah 9 (Ambala) and Gurbaksh Singh of Kheda Kalan (Yamunanagar) secured the first three positions respectively. They were given laptops, computers and digital cameras besides commendation letters.

These letters were also given to Khushi Ram (Inspector), Devender Kumar and Shadi Ram (sub-inspectors), Roshan Lal (ASI), Nirbhay and Ashwani (head constable)and parade commander Ranvir Singh- on the occasion.

Addressing the batch, the DGP said the challenges faced by the police had increased manifold because of changing socio-economic conditions. "The priority of the police is to work for maintaining dignity and ensuring safety of women," he said.

The DGP said the anti-rape law would be implemented in letter and spirit in Haryana. Training courses were being organised in the police academy to educate the police about the provisions of the new law. He said various programmes were being organised to make women aware of their rights. "Our effort is to make the police people-oriented so that people have faith in the police," he said.

The Additional DGP and Director of the academy, Sheel Madhur, gave a brief account of the training programme and activities of the academy. 

Chandigarh, April 6
The Haryana State AIDS Control Society has invited applications from civil society organisations like non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community-based organisations (CBOs) for providing services to implement HIV/AIDS targeted interventions for highly-vulnerable population groups in Amabala, Fatehabad, Yamunanagar, Gurgaon and Faridabad districts.

A spokesman of the society said the vulnerable population groups were high-risk groups. They included female sex workers, transgender population,injecting drug users (IDUs) and migrants. He said services for AIDS prevention would be provided.

Sonepat, April 6
INLD activists paid floral tributes to former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal on his birth anniversary here today.

Dr KC Bagar, state spokesman, INLD, said because of his policies and programmes, Chaudhary Devi Lal became the man of the masses and devoted his whole life for the welfare and uplift of the common man.

“Chudhary Devi Lal was the first Chief Minister in India to introduce schemes like monthly old-age pension and waived of farmers' loans,” Bagar said. He said the

party would keep on following his principles.

Later, the INLD activists took out a march in protest against the hike in electricity charges and raised slogans against the government.

Senior party leaders Telu Ram Jogi, Padam Singh Dahiya, Brig OP Chaudhary, Surender Singh Dahiya, Raj Kumar Ridhau, Kuldeep Malik, Sat Pal Goyal, Babita Dahiya, Pawan Taneja, Promila Malik were present on the occasion.

Karnal, April 6
A 35-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman. The accused has been identified as Ishwar, a resident of Kalampura. The 27-year-old victim, in a complaint to the police, stated that Ishwar entered her house, thrashed her and sexually assaulted her. She said he threatened to kill her, if she reported the matter to the police.