The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Providing affordable healthcare his endeavour Sunit Dhawan/TNS Gurgaon, July 29 Tall claims by their promoters notwithstanding, most of the high-end hospitals cater only to those patients who can afford their highly expensive treatment. On the other hand, the government-run healthcare services are bursting at the seams under pressure to provide quality healthcare to the teeming masses. Nonetheless, there are certain medical institutions as well as professionals who are making efforts to bridge this widening gap. Gurgaon-based Dr Satya Prakash Yadav is one such medical practitioner. Born in Thothwal, a non-descript village in Rewari district of Haryana in 1955, Dr Yadav did his MBBS and MS from Government Medical College (PGIMS), Rohtak, and MCh (Urology) from AIIMS, New Delhi. He served his alma mater in different capacities before he became Professor and Head of Department of Urology at the PGIMS. He also worked as a senior consultant in Urology at Batra Hospital and Medical Research Centre, Delhi, and Escorts Hospital and Research Centre, Faridabad. In 2002, he set up a hospital in Gurgaon. As of now, he is a pioneering surgeon from Haryana performing kidney transplants, and his hospital is the only mid-segment hospital in the state where such surgeries are done. “Apart from attaining professional excellence, my endeavour has been to provide quality medical care to the people at affordable rates,” he maintains. Dr Yadav, the managing director of Pushpanjali Medicare Pvt Ltd, is also the founder-president of the Association of Endoscopic Surgeons of Haryana, president of Haryana Urological Services Society and adviser to the Indian Economic Development and Research Association. On the professional front, he has been awarded the WHO fellowship and Hargovind Singh Memorial fellowship by the North Zone Urological Society of India. Dr Yadav has published 41 papers in national as well as international journals, besides having guided several PG students in their MS (General Surgery) research. He has performed as many as 34,000 endoscopic surgeries and also has a Limca Book record to his credit on the surgical front. He undertook an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) project on chemical analysis of 1,000 urinary calculi in Haryana. A book on prostate gland has also been written by him and distributed free of cost for the benefit of the people in general. Dr Yadav has organised and attended more than 100 medical education programmes and workshops and chaired sessions at nearly 50 national conferences. He also organises public-awareness lectures and medical camps for the benefit of villagers in several rural segments on a regular basis.
	Rs 300 crore spent on ‘augmenting’ drinking water supply in Mewat area Sushil Manav Tribune News Service Bhiwani, July 29 The Haryana Public Health Engineering Department has incurred a sum of over Rs 9,654 crore so far to augment drinking water supply and sewerage facilities in urban and rural areas in the state since the present government assumed office in March 2005. In an interaction with The Tribune at her Bhiwani residence recently, the Public Health Engineering Minister, Kiran Choudhry, said efforts had been made to ensure sufficient availability of potable water in urban as well as rural areas in the state. She said a cost of over Rs 300 crore had been incurred up to March 2013 on augmentation of drinking water supply in the Mewat area under the Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Supply Scheme. Out of the total, Rs 205.91 crore had been spent on improvement of drinking water in 503 villages so as to provide 55 litre per person per day drinking water to the residents of these villages. Similarly, work is in progress to increase water supply from 55 litre per person per day to 70 litre in 258 villages at a cost of Rs 94.58 crore under the scheme. The minister said 11 projects costing Rs 300 crore had been approved for southern Haryana and Shivalik areas under 13th Finance Commission. Apart from the towns of Hisar, Jhajjar, Dharuhera, Bahadurgarh, Loharu, Siwani and Tosham, villages of district Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Jhajjar and Bhiwani had also been included under these projects. The work was under progress on all these projects. Similarly, four projects costing over Rs 95 crore had also been approved for the Mewat area under the 13th Finance Commission in which Punhana and Hathin town and rural areas of district Mewat had been covered. Work had been in progress on all these four projects which would be completed by the end of March 2015, she added. Giving details about the Indira Gandhi Drinking water Scheme, the minister said that over 10.08 lakh water connections had been issued so far to Scheduled Castes beneficiaries. Under the scheme, all the expense for providing a water connection, water tank of 200-litre capacity and a tap was borne by the government. Kiran Choudhry said that NABARD had also sanctioned nine drinking water schemes to be completed at a cost of Rs 100.47 crore in district Rewari. Work had also been started on these schemes. Supply of potable water had also been augmented in 34 villages up to June 2013 during the current financial year under various programmes of augmentation of rural water supply, she added.
	Patients left in lurch due to shortage of doctors in Kaithal hospital Satish Seth Kaithal, July 29 The local Indira Gandhi Multi-Speciality Hospital having a huge building infrastructure can leave an impression on any one passing through the National Highway 65. But anyone coming for treatment in this hospital will be in for a rude shock when he comes to know that the hospital is facing an acute shortage of doctors and other supporting staff. No specialists are available here and patients are frequently referred to the PGIMER, Chandigarh, or PGIMS, Rohtak, or other metro cities for treatment. People say that the government has miserably failed to provide even basic health facilities to the residents of the town: Specialist doctors and essential and good-quality medicines. The ultrasound centre is non-functional here and the patients have to travel to private clinics, three km away in the town, and spend Rs 300 to Rs 500 for this facility. Women coming to this hospital for treatment and delivery are the worst sufferers. While there is a long queue outside the OPD, the women requiring the help of lady doctors during delivery do not get the desired care due to shortage of expert doctors. The Civil Surgeon, Dr Aditya Sarup Gupta, who joined here a few months ago, said the government was aware of the problem of shortage of doctors and other staff and steps were being taken to cope with this problem. He said the building was now neat and clean as compared to earlier time. At present, only 14 doctors are working against 42 sanctioned posts for this 100-bedded hospital. It is known that some doctors remain on leave while others have to attend to court and other official work. In this situation, only five or six doctors are available to attend to 700-800 patients who come to the OPD. Many patients waiting for doctors squat on floors. Against eight sanctioned posts of Deputy Civil Surgeons only three are occupied. The district as a whole has nine sanctioned posts of SMO, but only five are filled. Against the sanctioned strength of 104 doctors, 39 posts are filled and 66 remain vacant. The plight of patients can be well understood due to shortage of doctors. This district hospital is without a physician for long whereas at least two physicians are required here. At least six medical officers are needed to run the Emergency Ward smoothly. The posts of general surgeon (1), radiologist (2), gynaecologist (3), anaesthetist (2), paediatrician (2), pathologist (1), eye surgeon (1), chest specialist (1), have been lying vacant. The posts of 31 staff nurse and 17 ward attendant, chief pharmacist, lab technicians and multipurpose health workers also have been lying vacant . The position is not encouraging in rural areas of the district too. The Community Health Centre, Rajound, has four sanctioned posts of doctor but three are vacant. The Primary Health Centres in Karora and Jakholi have no doctors and in the Kithana PHC, only one doctor is posted against two sanctioned posts. In Kalayat, one doctor is posted against the sanction strength of seven. The PHC, Batta, has no doctor. Balu and Deoban PHCs have one doctor each against the sanctioned strength of two each. The CHC, Siwan, has a sanctioned strength of five doctors and three are working. One post has been lying vacant in Padla PHC. The Guhla CHC has the sanctioned strength of seven doctors, three posts are vacant. PHCs, Kangthli, and Bhagal have only one doctor each against the sanctioned strength of two. The effects of shortage of lady doctors are visible in the gynaecology wards where the patients face a lot of inconvenience during routine check-up and those admitted for delivery are inconvenienced due to shortage of staff. At times they are helped and taken care of by the staff nurses and ward attendants.
	School boards ‘cannot be detached from elementary education’ Sushil Manav Tribune News Service Bhiwani, July 29 School Education Boards in the country can play a very meaningful role in the successful implementation of the Right to Education Act-2009. These views were expressed by Dr KC Bhardwaj, Chairman, Board of School Education Haryana (HBSE), while delivering the welcome and introductory speech at the seminar, "Right to Education Act : Reinforcing the Role of School Education", organised jointly by the Board of School Education Haryana and the Council of Boards of School Education (COBSE) here recently. He said the boards were educational bodies dealing with a wide spectrum of school education. “In fact education boards are the central shaft on which school education revolves and culminates into nation-building by human resource creation for further excellence. “Though, the boards’ role is assumed to be limited to secondary education, it cannot be detached from elementary education as there is a continuum through out and quality of secondary and senior secondary education is determined substantially by it. "The primary education lays the foundation of the competencies and skills that play a crucial role in the quality of learning at the later stages, Dr Bhardwaj said. In his keynote address, Prof DV Sharma, General Secretary, COBSE, said the council was very much concerned about the quality of the education, whether at the elementary level or the secondary level. He said the national and state-level boards had been periodically modernising the school curriculum to reflect contemporary trends as well as national and international concerns. They have been central to the improvement in the quality of text books. They have been instrumental in bringing out examinations reforms considering the challenge of the phenomenal increase in the number of examinees and in improving the quality of question papers and the reliability of students' assessment. A well-known educationist from the NCERT, Prof SP Srivastva, who has done commendable work in the field of education and is called the father of Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE), said the School Education Boards were capable of tackling challenges at all stages of school education whether it is primary or secondary. He said there should be education-oriented examination and not otherwise. And learning is more important than teaching. He said the board should take responsibility of conducting diagnostic tests for Classes VI, VII and VIII and they should not follow the same pattern as that of board examinations. These diagnostic tests will exhaust all the facets of learning and first there should be diagnostic tests then second stage should be of remediation of errors and third stage should be of improvements. The Director of the Board of School Education Haryana, NK Salwan, in his thanksgiving address hoped that the seminar would be a successful step towards quality education at the primary as well as the secondary level. . Others who participated included Puran Chand, Joint Secretary, COBSE, CC Gwal, Chairman-cum-Director, Board of School Education, Uttrakhand, Prof. M. C. Sharma, School of Education, IGNOU, Dr. A. D. Tewari, Associate Professor, NCERT, Dr. Kiran Mayee, Joint Director, SCERT, Gurgaon, Neerja Gupta, Director, Board of Secondary Education, Rajasthan, Dr Sandeep Berwal, Associate Professor, BPS Mahila Vishvavidyalaya, Khanpur Kalan, R. S. Rana, a member of the Board of School Education, Uttrakhand, Paramjeet Kaur, Deputy Director, Punjab School Education Board, G. L. Verma, Deputy Secretary, HP Board of School Education, Shiha Sharma, Assistant Director, Board of Secondary Education, Rajasthan, Seema Chawla, Subject Expert, Punjab School Education Board, Randhir Singh Yadav, Subject Expert and M.P. Yadav, Joint Secretary, Board of School Education Haryana, also participated.
	‘Naughty Jatts’ star cast visits Ambala Tribune News Service Ambala, July 29 The star cast of the latest Punjabi flick ‘Naughty Jatts’ visited the city to promote the movie, which is a perfect blend of romance, comedy and action. “The movie is an unabashed celebration of everything which is Punjabi in nature and chock-a-block with some refined humour,” said Pankaj Batra, director of ‘Naughty Jatts’. Already in hype, the movie is set to release next week. “A high-quality drama spiced with a lot of confusion and free-flowing hilarity is what the audience can expect from this flick,” added Arya Babbar, the lead actor in the film. Addressing mediapersons, producers Satish Katyal and Sandeep Bhalla and the stars of ‘Naughty Jatts’ - Neeru Bajwa, Arya Babbar, Roshan Prince, Binnu Dhillon and singer G-Deep from the USA - shared their excitement about the movie. The star cast was seen having fun-packed laughter sessions with each other. Neeru Bajwa plays a budding singer in the movie, Arya Babbar, a neighbour prying her. Roshan Prince enacts a ‘desi munda’ with an amazing voice while Binnu Dhillon plays a witty and an eloquent character. ‘Naughty Jatts’ has a wonderful script and I just fell in love with my character,” shared Bajwa, an ace actress. A venture of Multiline Entertainment Pvt Ltd, ‘Naughty Jatts’ is a delightful comedy, replete with soft romantic songs in addition to the soulful beats. “Dekh Shoukina, Lagdi Katrina’ is a peppy number with the right elements to rule the charts,” says G-Deep. Singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has also made a significant contribution to the film. Harshdeep Kaur, Jaspinder Narula, Yugraj Singh, Adrija and Penny Garewal have also sung songs in the film. Niraj Gera has done well in the sound designing whereas Mangesh Dhakde has done the background music. Batra, said: “The music, performances as well as the technicalities are absolutely fantastic. I hope viewers have an amusing time watching it.”
	Fortis conducts CME on endoscopic ultrasound Tribune News Service Yamunanagar, July 29 Fortis Hospital, Mohali, conducted a Continuous Medical Education (CME) programme on endoscopic ultrasound, which is a new modern diagnostic tool and computerised navigational knee replacement that has yielded excellent results. Dr Mohinish Chhabra, Senior Consultant, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Fortis Hospital, Mohali, spoke about the role of endoscopic ultrasound in clinical practice. While Director, Department of Orthopaedics and Joint Replacement, Fortis hospital, Dr Harsimran, updated about computerised navigational knee replacement. Delivering the lecture, Dr Harsimran said patients who had undergone computer navigated joint-replacement surgery could walk unaided just after three weeks of surgery. Innovative technique had not only revolutionised joint-replacement surgeries, but had also decreased rehabilitation period of patient. “Post surgery, a patient was able to walk within 48 hours with the help of a walker. He can climb stairs after two weeks and walk without walker or any stick as early as three weeks, which enables him to return to the previous job in four weeks. Even blood loss during surgery is significantly reduced,” he added. Knee surgery entails two basic steps including bone cuts and ligament balancing. In conventional joint replacement surgery, surgeons rely on alignment rods to place bone-cutting blocks. Earlier, the surgeons had to align them visually and hence it leaved larger scope of human error leading to misalignment. On the other hand, a computer-assisted knee surgery used computer software program to calculate angles of knee, helping surgeon to place cutting blocks and balance ligaments more accurately. Dr Mohinish Chhabra discussed about benefits of endoscopic ultrasound. “Accurate diagnosis from endoscopic ultrasound enables to ensure treatment for specific cancers and enables doctor to examine walls of intestinal tract as well as adjacent organs such as liver, pancreas, and gallbladder, without any surgical access,” he said.
	Rohtak IIM to organise HR Summit 2013 on manufacturing industry Bijendra Ahlawat Tribune News Service Rohtak, July 29 The theme of the Annual HR Summit of the Indian Institute of Management Rohtak (IIM-R) to be held here on August 3 will not only be the challenges regarding the managing of the new- generation human resources but also the problems faced by the manufacturing industry in the country. Stating this, a spokesperson of the IIM Rohtak said here recently that the summit titled as “HR Challenges of Managing New- Generation Employees in the Manufacturing Industry” could be instrumental in paving new ideas and recourses towards tackling the problem, which had been a pivotal issue in the sector. Claiming that the summit comes at a time when the Indian manufacturing industry was faced with a slowdown in growth, he said the sector’s share in the national GDP, which was stagnant at 15 to 16 per cent since 1980 and pegged at 15.2 per cent for 2012-13, was gradually declining, which was a cause of concern. The National Manufacturing Policy 2011, he said, sought to increase the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25 per cent within a decade and create a 100 million jobs. At present, the Indian manufacturing sector was increasingly being staffed by new-generation employees or Generation-Y employees in HR parlance, he said, adding that this could prove to be a potential game-changer, as the new breed of employees was far more different from the existing or those who were on the verge of retirement. A faculty member of the IIM said the HR professionals today were venturing into uncharted territory, when it came to managing the Gen-Y employees and the HR Summit 2013 aimed at bringing together HR practitioners, industry representatives and academia in examining critical issues experienced by HR professionals while addressing Gen-Y employees in the manufacturing sector. The summit will provide a platform to review current HR practices and to share experiences in dealing with the challenges associated with managing new-generation employees, he said, adding that underscoring the industry relevance of the summit, senior executives from different industries in the manufacturing sector were scheduled to attend the summit.
	Now, help in disaster round the clock Sunit Dhawan / TNS Gurgaon, July 29 Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Shekhar Vidyarthi called a meeting of the departments concerned to review preparedness for flood, fire and other exigencies in the district yesterday. The officials concerned of HUDA and Municipal Corporation assured the Deputy Commissioner that all precautionary measures had been taken for flood control. Reviewing the arrangements, Vidyarthi directed the staff to shift disaster management helpline number 1077 to Deputy Commissioner’s camp office, where employees will be deputed round the clock. Presently, the helpline number is operational in the DC's office at the mini-secretariat. Anybody can call up on this number to inform about a flood-like situation or fire or any other exigency which requires attention of the district administration. Though there is no history of floods in Gurgaon district in the recent past, yet Vidyarthi asked the officers to identify the areas which were prone to water-logging or fire incidents and send a list to him. He directed to constitute a joint team comprising officers of Municipal Corporation, HUDA, HSIIDC and District Revenue Officer which would swing into action in the event of any exigency in the district without consideration of their jurisdiction or area. He also directed HUDA, HSIIDC and MCG authorities to ensure that all drains were cleaned and de-silted in their respective areas and send a report in this regard in the next 10 days. The DC directed the HUDA and MCG authorities to get the potholes on roads filled as these are not visible due to accumulated rainwater and may cause accidents. Vidyarthi asked the authorities concerned to ensure that the pumping sets, boats, life-jackets etc were in a working condition and place these at the disposal of the SDMs and Block Development & Pancahayat Officers. Officers of the HUDA Department requested the DC to direct the Power Utilities to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the sewage treatment plants at Dhanwapur and Behrampur so that water could be pumped out continuously and the problem of water-logging could be dealt with promptly. Vidyarthi also directed to constitute a team of officers for checking fire-fighting arrangements in high-rise buildings and submit a report to him. He asked the Civil Surgeon, Dr Pushpa Bishnoi, to form a team of doctors who should be ready to deal with any eventuality.
	Second phase of VIMS opened in Kurukshetra Our Correspondent Kurukshetra, July 29 Kurukshetra is the first district in Haryana where the second phase of the Village Integrated Monitoring System (VIMS) was dedicated to the people by Deputy Commissioner Mandeep Singh Brar before relinquishing his charge on the premises of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) here recently. This second phase of the VIMS software was developed by Brar to make panchayats’ accounts transparent, which could be looked into merely by a click on the computer by a common man. Brar told the newly appointed Deputy Commissioner, Nikhil Gajraj, of every aspect of the software before the latter assumed charge. Brar said on the one hand, the district officers, including the Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BDPO) and the District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO), were engaged in updating the first phase of the VIMS software, on the other hand, the common man could excess the detail of the government grant spent by any village panchayat online through the second phase of the VIMS software merely by a click on the computer. Brar said the work on the next phase of the VIMS software would be started by NIC shortly and this work would have to be completed by the officers concerned within the stipulated period, failing which the officer concerned would get reminder an SMS automatically. SDM Ashok Bansal, City Magistrate Satbir Kundu, DDPO Gagan Singh, DIPRO Dharamvir Singh and DIO Vinod Singla were among those who were present on the occasion.
	Rare cornea transplant surgery restores girl's vision Manish Sirhindi Tribune News Service Ambala, July 29 A rare surgery performed by a local doctor on a patient who had accidentally lost her vision was the first of its kind in the region. The rare, artificial, cornea-transplant surgery was performed by Dr Vikas Mittal at Sanjivni Hospital, Ambala. Rajani (23) of Jalandhar accidentally lost her vision after a chemical fell into her eyes. After getting no positive inputs from private and government hospitals, the victim’s father approached Dr Mittal who is a qualified and registered corneal transplant surgeon. Dr Mittal said the chemical injuries had caused complete blindness to Rajni and her treatment was difficult because of her damaged stem cells. He said the treatment for such a condition was keratoprosthesis or an artificial cornea. For the purpose, they imported a keratoprosthesis apparatus from Boston (USA) and went ahead with the surgery. Elaborating, the doctor said the outer layer of the eyes (ocular surface) had been damaged due to burning effect of chemicals and it took three years and 8-9 surgeries to cover-up the damaged outer layer. After the outer layer had completely healed, she underwent Boston Keratoprosthesis (artificial cornea) following which she regained most of her vision. He said it was a rare surgery as till now it was only available at some of the high-end centres in the country, including at Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi. Rajni said after losing her vision, life had become full of hardships. She discontinued her studies, but now her vision restored up to 70 to 80 per cent and she was looking forward to complete her higher education.
	800-acres panchayat land to be fenced in Panipat Tribune News Service Panipat, July 29 Plantations will be raised to fence more than 800 acres of panchayat land retrieved from encroacher recently in Aasaan village in Panipat. "A committee will be constituted for "open auction" of the land," said Deputy Commissioner Samir Pal Saro. Reviewing the situation after the land was handed over to the village Sarpanch, the DC also issued instructions to DDPO (District Development and Panchayat Officer) and forest officers to prepare plan for planting saplings around the land under MANREGA. He said a committee headed by ADC RS Verma and SDM Samalakha, DDPO, BDO and concerned executive engineer as members has been formed for open auction and the entire auction process would be video graphed. Special care should be taken to protect the grazing land and orders of the High Court should be complied in total, he added. Noting that maximum number of encroachments is on grazing land, Saro said the campaign would be launched to remove the encroachments and the situation would be reviewed fortnightly to ensure that there are no fresh encroachments. The Priyadarshani Awas Yojana was also discussed during the meeting and it was informed that subsidy in respect of 3,317 beneficiaries has been deposited in their bank accounts. Further, 500 beneficiary each in all blocks would be identified and report in this regard would be submitted by August 16.
	Govt to plant 3 crore saplings this year Our Correspondent Kurukshetra, July 29 The Haryana Government has chalked out a plan to plant saplings on both sides of state highways and on farm lands. As many as 3 crore saplings will be planted in the state this year and each sapling will be sold at Re 1 so that maximum people can plant them, said Haryana Electricity, Forest and Environment Minister Captain Ajay Singh Yadav on the sidelines of the 64th state-level Van Mahotsav at Anaj Mandi here recently. Yadav said according to the scheme, different types of saplings would be planted on the land adjoining to roads and the department would maintain these saplings for three years and then they would be given to the farmers who would be the owner of these grown-up plants. He said as many as 50 herbal parks had been established in the state so far. To save the vanishing species of vulture, a Jatayu reproduction centre had been established while for a peacock, preservation centre had been opened in Rewari and mini zoos had been developed at Rohtak, Bhiwani and Pipli. In his presidential address, MP Naveen Jindal called upon the people to plant as many as saplings as they can. Chief parliamentary secretary Parhlad Singh Gilla Khera, Haryana Van Vikas Nigam president Javed Aslam and Haryana Chief Forest conservator CR Jotriwal were also present at the event. On the occasion, Yadav flagged off a ‘Chetna Yatra’ to create awareness among the people about plantation and forest conservation. He also visited an exhibition organised by the Forest Department. Yadav honoured gram van samities from Rewari, Jind, Fetehabad, Yamunanagar and Sonepat and gram panchayats of Panchkula, Karnal, Hisar, Mahendergarh and Mewat for their contribution to the plantation, environment and forest conservation in the state.
	Murthal varsity holds workshop on technology development Our Correspondent Sonepat, July 29 The Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering of the DCR University of Science and Technology, Murthal, organised a one-week workshop on ‘The Power of MATLAB’ in collaboration with Design Tech Systems Limited. The workshop was funded by the Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) of the World Bank to scale up the demand-driven research and development activities and innovations. HS Chahal, Vice-Chancellor of the university, had congratulated the department for organising such a meaningful and research- oriented workshop in industrial collaboration. He expected the outcome of the workshop in the form of real technology development from the participants. Addressing the participants in the concluding programme of the workshop, the university’s Registrar, RK Arora, said the workshop had an overall vision of bringing together the researchers and mentors of the industry and academia on a common platform for deliberations on use of MATLAB for technology development. “The workshop has provided exposure to all participants regarding the applications and the use of MATLAB in various domains,” he added. Prof Rajkumar, Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Technology and Nodal Officer (TEQIP), said that under the TEQIP scheme, the university had been granted funds of Rs 12.5 crore for carrying out Research and Development activities. Prof Manoj Duhan, Chairman of Electronics and Communication Engineering Department, Dr Pawan Kumar Dahiya, Coordinator of the workshop, also spoke. As many as 38 participants from various universities and colleges attended the workshop. Various attributes which were covered during the workshops were Basics of MATLAB, Simulink, Graphical User Interface, Optimisation, Fuzzy Logic, Signal Processing, Filter Design, Communication, Neural Network, and Genetic Algorithm Toolbox.
	Minister conducts surprise visit to govt schools Our Correspondent Jhajjar, July 29 State Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal carried out surprise visits to several government schools here in order to check the quality of mid-day meals being served to schoolchildren, besides educating students about the benefits of iron and folic acid tablets. During her visit to Government Girls’ Senior Secondary School, Jhajjar, the minister interacted with the students about their school-related issues. She told them that the iron and folic acid tablets were being administered to improve their health and these tablets had no side effects. “Under the Indira Bal Swasthya Yojana, the health check-up of children studying in government schools has been conducted and health cards have been issued to them. During check-ups, various health issues have been detected, therefore, the state government is providing medicines to them from time to time,” Bhukkal said. She also asked children if they face any issues after taking these tablets to which the maximum number of children denied having any problems. “The weak children should be administered 60 mg dose instead of 100 mg as their bodies have less capability to absorb these tablets, but they should continue taking these for their good health,” said the minister, adding that children should avoid taking these tablets empty stomach. They should have the same with full glass of water after 15 minutes of their meal. Later, while interacting with mediapersons, the minister said she had directed officials of the Health Department to take the samples of tablets being administered to children under the Weekly Iron Folic Acid Supplementation campaign. Besides, officials of the Education Department had also been directed to apprise the children about the same from time to time, she added. The campaign had been launched to check anaemia among children, she added. Bhukkal also visited Government Boys Senior Secondary School of Jhajjar city.
	TERII holds job fair, 11 get placement Our Correspondent Kurukshetra, July 29 To bridge the unemployment gap, the Technology Education Research Integrated Institutions (TERII) organised a job fair on its campus, 9 km from here, recently. As many as 110 aspiring students of Diploma in Mechanical Engineering, drawn from Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pardesh, Uttar Pradesh and Union Territory of Delhi, participated in the job fair in which two companies, namely Axiom Limited and Fuzion Limited participated. While addressing the students, TERII Adviser Prof MP Gupta promised that he would ensure that these placement opportunities were provided to them from time to time. TERII offered jobs to 400 students during the previous session, he added. Fuzion Limited selected 11 students after a technical and general round of interview and group discussion. Rajeev Aggarwal, General Manager of Axiom Company, who himself was present at the job fair, shortlisted the candidates. The result will be declared shortly. Placement Officer Sagar Gulati congratulated all the selected students and wished them a bright future. Earlier, Neha Gulati, Corporate Trainer of TERII, welcomed the delegates of these companies. The media source person, Dr Tapesh Kiran, wished the selected candidates success for their future.
	Rare feat by NC College professor Bhanu P. Lohumi Tribune News Service Panipat, July 29 Rohit Anand of Israna in Panipat has set a new national record of continuous rendition of the National Anthem by singing it 665 times without any interruption for 10 hours. He performed the rare feat in the presence of adjudicators of the India Book of Records (IBR) in Gurgaon on July 21 and broke the old record of Srinivasan of Andhra Pradesh who had sung the National Anthem non-stop 610 times. Rohit, an assistant professor of electronics and communication at NC College of Engineering, Israna, was inspired by a report published on December 28, 2011, about the record of singing of the National Anthem set by Srinivasan. “It was an instant decision to break the record as I used to teach continuously for three to four hours and my experience helped me to achieve the goal,” Anand said. ‘The words of my daughter God Bless You, best of Luck Papa have instilled a new confidence in me,” Rohit said, attributing the awards to his daughter and other family members. The India Book of Records (a collection of national records in the field which mostly is not included in an organiesd sport) is the second highest award after the Limca Book of Records in India. It is an organisation which provides a platform to the people who want to make or break a record. Born on October 17, 1980, in Panipat to Ramesh and Sushma Anand, Rohit is now aiming for the Asia Book of Records.
	French band performs at DAV college Tribune News Service Yamunanagar, July 29 An extraordinary evening was organised by the local DAV college for their students, in which French musical band La Lass Kapptoss gave an energetic performance on the college premises under a cultural exchange programme. Aimed at sensitising the students about the international music forms and culture, the performance kept the audience glued to their seats as the foreign band filled the air with one composition after another. The 21-member band performed on various French and international songs much to the surprise of the audience. Landovic, one of the band members, said it was a great pleasure to perform in India after having done so in a number of countries across the globe. Elaborating on the songs picked up the band, he said they generally performed songs like Calle Sierpes, which is played on French streets, Nerva, a type of song played during sports, Likevino Griego, Victor Mendes, L Encantada and La Jota De Los Toros which were some of the most popular songs in France. The Principal of the college, Shusma Arya, said the main motto of organising the musical programme was to introduce the college students to international music forms.
	Rewari police fails to crack murder case Rewari, July 29 Roshni Devi, wife of Anand Prakash (50), who had been murdered by unknown persons in a house in Mohalla Bala Sarai here on the night of May 2, along with elders of various villages of the Meham area of Rohtak district met SP Pankaj Nain here recently over the issue. The Rewari police has failed to crack the case. They said it was deplorable that even after 11 weeks, the police had not been able to trace and apprehend Anand’s killers. The district police chief told them that while they had intensively interrogated several suspects, they had not yet been able to get any clue in the case. He said they had now decided that the two suspects, Bhagwan Das and Tuntun, who were at present in their custody, would be made to undergo a lie detector test at the Forensic State Laboratory at Madhuban in Karnal on August 17. Anand, who was a resident of Rohtak district and an employee of the NCC Office, Delhi, had come to Rewari to realise the rent amount from his tenants residing in the house, which belonged to his maternal uncle. He spent the night in a room of this house from where his body was recovered next morning by the police that had then registered a case of murder against unknown persons. — OC
	College gets basketball court Our Correspondent Kurukshetra, July 29 Member of Parliament (MP) Naveen Jindal inaugurated a basketball court by unveiling the inauguration stone plaque at Indira Gandhi National College, near Dhanora village of Ladwa, 25 km from here, recently. Jindal, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said the basketball court was a milestone in the history of the college as it would provide an opportunity to students to explore and nurture their potentiality in this game. He also inaugurated a college bus for girl students. The bus will ply from the college to Dhanora village and other destinations in and around Ladwa. The MP also inaugurated the Van Mahotsav celebrations by planting saplings of rudraksha, neem and amla on the college premises. The other distinguished guests planted about 150 saplings. College governing body president Pawan Garg presided over all functions. College Principal Prem Kumari Gupta welcomed the guests and urged students to work with devotion to accomplish their mission. She also highlighted the achievements of the college.Jindal announced a donation of Rs 2 lakh for the college. Earlier, a hawan yajna was also performed to start the new academic session. In which the Principal, staff members and the students participated.
	Urs of Baba Nizamuddin observed Our Correspondent Sonepat, July 29 The annual Urs of Baba Nizamuddin was observed with prayer by the national president of the All-India Imam Organisation, Imam Umer Illiyasi, at Baba’s Durgah near Pinana village recently. The Urs began with the “Tilwat” of Kuran-e-Paki and later the process of Mazar-e-Sharf was performed with the offering of Chaddars and flowers by members of the Hindu and the Muslim communities. Saiyad Wahid Angara of Durgah Ajmer Sharif and Saiyad Ejaz Hashmi of the Durgah Kalender Sharif, Panipat, welcomed the people who participated in the prayer. Speaking on the occasion, Imam Illiyasi said Durgahs were the symbol of communal harmony and Hindu-Muslim unity as this Durgah was also being managed by a committee of the non-Muslim members headed by Praveen Kumar. Though those elders had departed their mortal coil from here, still they were being remembered for their messages of brotherhood, communal harmony, he added. There was special identity of the durgahs of the elders where people from every section of society offer prayers for fulfilment of their wishes, he said and added that communal harmony paved the way for progress, prosperity and a peaceful living.
	KUSC budget passed Kurukshetra, July 29 The executive board of the Kurukshetra University Sports Council (KUSC), at its meeting held here under the chairmanship of its president, Dr JS Kajal, approved its budget for the session 2013-14 as well as the Calendar of Inter-Collegiate Tournaments 2013-14. Stating this here recently, Dr Dalel Singh Chauhan, Arjuna Awardee and Director, Physical Education and Sports, KU, said the board had enhanced DA and cash award for sportspersons by 20 to 25 per cent. He said the expenditure on coaching camps and participation of the university teams in inter-university tournaments, which was about Rs 1,37,00,000 will now be Rs 1,85,00,000. Rs 30 lakh had been approved for the development and purchase of sports equipments like wrestling mats, judo mats, high-jump pit, water sports equipments, strength equipments (multi-gym.) etc while another amount of Rs 15 lakh had been approved for the playing kits of university teams, Dr Chauhan added. — OC
	Blood donors honoured Our Correspondent Ambala, July 29 Commissioner Ambala Range Yudhveer Khayalia said India would be at the top in blood donation soon as the trend of donating blood had been rising in the country. While honouring blood donors of Ambala at a function, he said the life of several people could be saved by donating blood. Youth were also coming forward for this social cause and in the coming years Haryana would be a role model in the same. Dr Khayalia, who is himself a blood donor, said he had also organised several blood donation camps and persuaded a number of people for this noble cause. He said he had been donating blood regularly for children afflicted with thalassemia. The blood donors who were honoured on the occasion include Rajinder Garg, Dr M Majhoomdar, Dr Sushil Kansal, Tarun Kaushal, Sucheta Garg, JJ Singh, and Sudhir Kalra.
	Install fire-fighting system soon, says DC Our Correspondent Ambala, July 29 Following a fire that broke out due to short circuit at the treasury office on Sunday, Ambala Deputy Commissioner K Makrand Pandurang has directed district officers to install fire fighting system at their offices. He said he along with other senior officers would inspect the installation of fire equipment to ensure its functioning. He said during the monsoon, no officer would leave the district without his permission and if any officer had to on a leave, he should seek prior permission from him. He also asked the officers concerned to keep a vigil on the rivers, canals and drains flowing in the district and make all arrangement to face any eventuality.