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Foeticide unheard of in Karnal village Karnal, January 15 The village with about 80 per cent Scheduled Caste (SC) population is not connected with a metalled road and has no basic facilities, but the inhuman practice of “female foeticide” is unknown to people here. As per anganwari records, of the 13 kids born in 2008, seven were female and six male. “The sex ratio was gradually improving and 34 out of 71 kids born since 2006 were female while the number of male kids was 37,” says anganwadi worker Manjeet Kaur. Call it ignorance or a blessing in disguise, the people in the village have no knowledge of modern techniques like PNDT and the word “abortion” is alien to them. In spite of a favourable sex ratio and encouraging enrolment of girls in the primary school, the village lacks a middle or high school and girls are required to travel between 5 km and 8 km to go to Chorpura and Ghead villages for further studies, rues panchayat member Sharda Devi. The villagers complain that there is neither proper road connectivity nor transport system and sending young girls to adjoining villages is unsafe. Consequenlty, a majority of the girls are forced to leave studies after class V and the dropout rate at middle and high school level is very high. The plight of the people is so pathetic that not even a single girl from the village has ever seen the college. The Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), aimed at ensuring 100 per cent enrolment at the middle level, also appeared to have skipped this village and not to talk of a girl school, even a co-education middle school had not been opened in the village. The village falls in Karnal tehsil, but is part of the Indri block and there is a common panchayat for Dabkauli Khurd and the adjoining Dabkauli Kalan village. The villagers allege that Dabkauli Kalan being bigger in size and population gets all benefits and Dabkauli Khurd remains a perpetual sufferer.
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Govt wants its PR men to be more professional Chandigarh, January 15 Over the years due to archaic promotion rules, several non-professionals have been promoted to professional jobs, resulting in the serious deterioration of the quality for which the department was once known. When the current boss of the department, KK Khandelwal, took up his assignment for the second time, he found that the department was in dire need of revamping. Since it is virtually impossible to change rules in the government departments, he, with the approval of the Chief Minister, brought professionals to the department on contract. The first batch of assistant public relations officers (APROs), most of whom are former journalists, was put through an induction course during which they interacted with the heads of various departments to have first-hand information of their working. Now the department has again invited professionals to lend their services to it, of course for a price. Recently, the department organised a one-day workshop, “LEAD: Creating Star Performers”, for its public relations officers. Prabbal Frank of The Skills Academy, Delhi, said leadership success depended on 7 per cent intellect and 93 per cent on trust, integrity, authenticity, honesty, creativity, presence and resilience. Balraj Nandwani, a renowned motivator, stressed the need for positive attitude to surge ahead and excel. While Ashok Sharma, former general manager of Air India (PR), gave tips on how to handle the media effectively, Dr C Ram spoke on how to remain healthy to boost performance.
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Disaster management plan for Gurgaon Gurgaon, January 15 The plan proposes to develop a holistic, proactive, multi-disaster-oriented and technology-driven strategy through a culture of prevention, mitigation, preparedness and response. This was revealed by Major-Gen RK Kaushal (retd), senior specialist (policies and plans), National Disaster Management Authority, at a meeting organised here recently. District Revenue and Disaster Management Officer Amir Singh presided over it. He disaster management authority (DDMA) had been constituted in the city under the chairmanship of the deputy commissioner. The local Zila Parishad chairman has been made the co-chairman of the DDMA, while the ADC is its CEO. The local civil surgeon, the DCP (HQ), the DRO and the superintending engineer of the PWD (B&R) are other members of the authority. General Kaushal pointed out that the city had a strategic and geographic importance and it had become a premier industrial hub in the NCR. “At the same time, it is vulnerable to earthquakes, sewage-flooding, fires, road, rail and air accidents, terrorism, health-related hazards, besides chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear emergencies. Prof Abhay Srivastava from the Haryana Institute of Public Administration (HIPA) said as per the meteorological department, Gurgaon falls in the fourth seismic zone, and hence, it is highly prone to earthquakes. He further stated that the natural drainage system in the district had been rendered ineffective due to filling of debris and waste construction material, due to which the threat of urban flooding loomed large on the city. General Kaushal said to overcome the risks and minimise the vulnerability to natural and man-made disasters in the city, the state government had proposed to undertake some projects to help make Gurgaon a disaster resilient district. He said the disaster management plan needed to be upgraded so that it could cater to the present requirements of the city. Kaushal disclosed that the projects would mainly address the functional aspects of the disaster management with a focus on upgradation of infrastructure, technology and the capacity-building areas. Emphasising the need for public-private-partnership in the field, Kaushal said this would be their keynote theme in the developing projects. “The projects will be taken up by the dedicated task forces to be constituted for various activities,” he said, adding that the training of first responders like civil defence, police, fire service personnel, masons, carpenters and structural audit of lifeline buildings would be conducted under the project. “Awareness and sensitisation programmes for students, NCC cadets, NSS volunteers and Bharat Scouts would be taken up to apprise them about their roles in the event of any mishap,” he added.
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Fatehabad set to be pink town Fatehabad, January 15 Deputy commissioner JS Ahlawat, who has started a campaign of beautification of the town, has resolved to convert Fatehabad into a pink town. For this, all shops of the leading markets, including the grain market, DSP road, Thana road and Jawahar Chowk would be painted pink and their signboards would be painted in an identical manner. The shopkeepers will get their shops painted on their own as per the specifications and the district authorities have only been exhorting them to do so for the beautification of the town. The work has already begun on the “Pink Fatehabad” project and several shopkeepers have already painted their shops and shutters pink and many more are following the suit. The deputy commissioner addressed a meeting of the traders' organisations at the local grain market, which was attended among others by Balbir Singh Chaudhary, former MLA, Tek Chand Midha, president of the Anaj Mandi Beopar Mandal, and Atam Parkesh Mehta, municipal councillor. JK Abhir, Fatehabad SDM, and Satish Jain, city magistrate, also addressed the meeting and appealed to the shopkeepers to cooperate. The shopkeepers have assured that they will convert the whole town pink in the next few days. Earlier, Ahlawat had started a sanitation drive under which senior officers of the district administration exhorted safai karamcharis by starting the sanitation work themselves with the help of brooms. Ahlawat said he had planned to make Fatehabad the most beautiful town of Haryana. "The authorities have already started widening some inner roads and parks lying unattended have been developed,” he said.
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Wasteland turns into park Fatehabad, January 15 A piece of nearly 2.5 acre near the vehicle parking and opposite the main building of the mini-secretariat had been lying unutilised eversince the mini-secretariat was constructed. The plot was used for holding demonstrations .It was also used for meetings of the families of the estranged husbands and wives, who visited the police family-counselling centre in the mini-secretariat.Dry leaves used to lay scattered and stray animals roamed there. Efforts by Deputy Commissioner JS Ahlawat have transformed this wasteland into a beautiful park in a short span of time. A 480-meter walking track has been laid there. Umbrellas have been put up for giving shade during the afternoon and seating arrangements have been made along the walking path. “We are planning to install a sound system in the park so that the walkers can listen to bhajans in the morning and light classical music during the evening,” informed city magistrate Satish Jain and SDM JK Abhir, who have been personally looking after the project.
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Meltdown Chandigarh, January 15 While no applications for lay-offs by any manufacturing unit have been made to the Haryana Labour Department as is mandatory under the rules by units having over 100 employees, most units have, to tide over the crisis, attempted to cut down their running costs. This has come by way of a temporary shutdown for short durations or by encouraging employees to avail themselves of various labour welfare schemes for vacationing. Some units, mostly located in Faridabad’s industrial belt, even resorted to extending the winter vacation for its employees while still others used shutdowns for training of labour force, further facilitating the cutting down of their operational costs. Sources said while Maruti closed all its operations from December 24 to January 4 in the name of a 15-day maintenance shutdown, Escorts closed plant three making tractors from December 22 to January 4 while its plant making Farmtrac was shut from December 29 to January 4. Then, JCB, which had been closing down for five days on an average in a month since April last year, shutdown for 10 days in December. Similarly, Goodyear was closed for 10 days in December. Some other units encouraged industrial workers, who are also members of the Labour Welfare Board, to avail themselves of various packages of visiting places of religious interest for which the funds are provided by the board. Sources in the department said there had been a sudden spurt in the number of employees who had availed themselves of the scheme and their bills had already begun to flow in for reimbursement. However, their numbers would only be cleared in about three months time since submitting bills was a long-drawn process. “The effort of the entrepreneurs and large industrial houses is to see this recession as an opportunity to re-invent and re-model and improve their processes. It is also being seen as a challenge for survivability and thus they are taking all measures to face the situation,” Rajiv Kapoor, general secretary of the Faridabad Industries Association. If manufacturing units handed the crisis “maturely”, handling of the meltdown by the service sector, especially IT companies, has been far from satisfactory with lay-off reported aplenty though there are no official figures available. Sources said in the IT sector too, BPOs and companies catering to the USA were far worse than those doing business in the UK. The issuing of pink slips to employees in the face of crisis by the service sector has been a bigger shock because of the absence of a social security back up which exists in most countries abroad.
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1857 Revolution hero Faridabad, January 15 Speaking at a function held here on the 151st martyrdom day of the hero, several speakers underlined the need to propagate the values held by him. Raja Nahar Singh was executed along with his four associates by British rulers for indulging in activities against them. All five were hanged to death at Chandni Chowk in Delhi on January 9, 1857. Organising secretary of the state Congress Satbir Daggar demanded that the palace of the Raja in Ballabgarh, which had been converted into a restaurant-cum-bar by the Haryana Tourism, should be converted into a museum to propagate his ideology. He lamented that activities that were alien to the consciousness of the Raja were taking place in the restaurant. Daggar and others also demanded that a statue of the Raja should be installed at the main entrance of Ballabgarh town as the Raja and his contribution to the freedom struggle had historical value and were part of national heritage. They also demanded to add the word “Raja” to Nahar Singh Stadium, which was set up in Ballabgarh in the mid eighties and named after the hero. Besides, they also sought that a statue of the Raja should be installed in the stadium. There were allegations that Congress MP from Faridabad Avtar Singh Bhadana had been trying to popularise his father whose name was also Nahar Singh through the stadium. Bhadana, however, said although the general perception was that the stadium was named after his father, he wanted that the word Raja should be added to the name to emphasise the fact that it was named after the hero. President of the Jat Samaj JPS Sangwan said Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda belonged to a freedom fighter family and he hoped that the CM would give consideration to the long-pending demands of the local people. President of the Faridabad unit of the Congress BR Ojha said they would take up the matter with the Chief Minister.
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Samiti plea to PM on roads Chandigarh, January 15 President of the samiti Darshan Lal Jain has written an open letter to Manmohan Singh that recently the tercentenary of the Zafarnama was celebrated. The Zafarnama is a letter of victory written by Guru Gobind Singh to Aurangzeb, admonishing him for his treacherous act in first assuring the Guru, under his own signature put on the first leaf of the Quran, of safe passage for the Guru and his family from Chamkaur Sahib Fort, and then breaking his word, attacking him and his entourage and killing his two elder sons and some trusted soldiers, separating the younger sons and subsequently bricking them alive at Sirhind. Jain said it was an insult to the great Guru that all the vandals named by him in the Zafarnama continued to be honoured in our country and many New Delhi roads had been named after these barbarians. He said this was also an insult to all fighters of the great medieval freedom struggle. It was “our pious duty to respectfully cherish the collective memories of our great warriors and not the suppressors of the Indian people”. Jain, who is former senior functionary of the RSS in Haryana, said that he sincerely believed that Manmohan Singh was a leader much above the petty politics, and a true Sikh, far removed from the class of ordinary politicians. “Therefore, I appeal to you to undo this historical injustice and rename the Babur Road as Maharana Sangram Singh Marg;the Humayun Road as Rana Pratap Marg, the Akbar Road as Samrat Hemchandra Vikramaditya Marg, the Jehangir Road as Guru Arjun Dev Marg,the Shahjahan Road as Guru Tegh Bahadur Marg and above all, the Aurangzeb Road as Guru Gobind Singh Marg”, he urged the Prime Minister.
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Rs 187 cr for water, sewerage in NCR region Rohtak, January 15 This is in addition to the state government’s Rs 770 crore, which it has allocated during the current financial year for water supply and sanitation services. According to a spokesperson for the state government, the budget would help in overcoming the basic sanitation services which had been in lacking with a large number of population still having no sewer and potable supply at their doorsteps. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has recently The cost of this project has been Rs 59 crore and it was likely to cater the needs of the city up to 2020. The residents of city would be able get 135 lt per capita per day potable drinking water. It is stated that this waterworks was the second such facility in the country after Sonia Vihar in Delhi which had been completed within a record time of merely 18 months and operational with fully computerised system. The government has directed the water supply and sanitation department to construct two more reservoirs in the city so that water could be reserved for two weeks as against one week at present. It is reported that the government had sanctioned Rs 18 crore for this purpose.
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Good news for patients suffering from Karnal, January 15 The local Mahavir Dal Hospital, which is a charitable hospital, has been able to establish itself as a credible institution offering spinal surgery at a reasonable cost and also offers treatment for spine tumours and tuberculosis. Noted bone and spine surgeon Dr Tarun Goyal, who has so far conducted 18 spinal and disk surgeries, told The Tribune that the cost per operation was worked out between Rs 50,000 and Rs 60,000 against a whopping Rs 3 to 4 lakh in other big cities. Goyal said spinal injuries and tumours almost paralyse the lower part of body and legs and claimed that about 18 to 20 patients suffering from spine TB, spinal fractures and tumours, who had no sensation or strength in their legs, had been cured. Many of these patients had been recovered during the past 18 months, Goyal claimed. Ramesh of Malikpur and Rajkumar of Tikri Kalash, both suffering from spinal fractures, said they had got a new life after being operated upon and knew that after a few months, they could be able walk independently. The technique adopted by Dr Goyal is a different type of therapy, which is called ‘spinal canal decompression with screw fixation’. The success rate of fractures related to the lower dorsal was more as compared to the upper dorsal and the therapy was very useful for new-born kids suffering from spine-related problems, he said. President of the hospital Rajiv Gupta said a trauma unit was being constructed and would be operational by March.
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Consumer panel chief honoured Kurukshetra, January 15 The function was presided over by Punjabi Sabha president Vijay Sabharwal while sabha’s patron Jagjit Singh Virk was the chief guest. Virk said the appointment of Arora was a result of his hard work and sincerity in his profession as an advocate. Sabharwal appreciated Arora, who was the general secretary of the sabha, for his contribution to the body. Meanwhile, former Punjabi Sabha secretary Baldev Raj Bajaj has been promoted to the post of general secretary in place of Arora. Former sabha president AC Nagpal, vice-presidents Gurcharan Singh Aneja and OP Gulyani, and other prominent citizens, including Gulshan Gaba, KL Wadhwa, Krishan Dhamija, Krishan Lal Mehta and Mangat Ram Mehta, were among those present on the occasion.
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Panipat police steps up vigil Panipat, January 15 Nearly 115 persons were placed under arrest in connection with the cases while illegal property worth Rs 14.48 lakh was also recovered. District police chief M. S. Sheoran said the police had registered 72 cases under various sections of the Excise and Taxation Act and arrested 89 persons. It had recovered illicit liquor from the possession of those arrested. He said that 15 different cases were registered under various sections of the NDPS act while 13 cases were registered under various sections of the Arms Act. The police also recovered six pistols, two live bullets and seven knives which could have been used in various crimes. At least, 26 persons were booked under the Gambling Act and Rs 25,000 was recovered from them. The SP said there were 79 cases of theft that had been registered in the district and Rs 6.16 lakh stolen during the crimes was recovered. He said the district police was working to the best of its capacity to keep criminal activities under control. He said the police was also working on various high-profile criminal cases that took place in the district during the past few months.The police had got clues and these were likely to be solved soon.
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Bijli nigam to launch disconnection drive Jhajjar, January 15 The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam has decided to launch a disconnection campaign against the non-payers from February 1. Interestingly, cases of power theft will also be lodged against those found involved in stealing electricity during the campaign. But,the nigam has provided another opportunity to the defaulting consumers to take benefit of the waiver scheme till January 31 by depositing their unpaid bills issued after June 16, 2005. A communication in this regard has recently been sent to all nigam divisions from the office of the general manager. The officers concerned have also been instructed to initiate the process to implement the decision effectively. According to information, though 23,569 of the 35,534 defaulting consumers of Jhajjar division had joined the scheme, 3741 of them had failed to pay the bills after joining it. Now, these consumers can get the benefit of the scheme by paying their due bills issued from June, 2005 onwards. Executive engineer of the Jhajjar power division Rajender Singh said those consumers would not be able to avail this opportunity who had not paid any bills issued after June 16, 2005. “This is the last chance for the defaulting consumers of joining the bill waiver scheme by paying all their dues up to January 31. Thereafter, they will face official action”, he said, adding that the team members, during the special raids, would also check the premises of such consumers frequently to ensure that none of them was stealing power after the disconnection. Apart from this, the load of the energy meter would also be verified and an FIR would be lodged with the police against the consumers found guilty of stealing power, he said and maintained the scheme was meant for domestic consumers as well as farmers.
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Sirsa lad shines in lawn tennis Sirsa, January 15 Local people and many voluntary organisations have congratulated this budding player on his feat. Shubham is presently studying in the third year of graduation in MLN College, Yamunanagar. He started playing the game from the age of 12 and has never looked back since then. His father, Ravinder Singh, inspired him to excel in the game and always encouraged him. As a result, he was able to win not only at the state level but also at the national level in the junior category. He said he studied up to class XII in Central School, Sirsa, and later took admission to MLN College, Yamunanagar, where he further excelled in the game. He said he had been practicing regularly under the guidance of his coach, Rajiinder Gupta. Due to his love and dedication for lawn tennis and his abilities, this boy from the small town of Sirsa was able to win the inter-university championship consecutively for the third time. Now, his aim is to represent the country at the international level and he has been working hard to achieve this and make the state proud. |
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Shampy hopes to make waves with ‘Chardi Jawani’
Gurgaon, January 15 Upcoming singer Shampy Singh is also ready to take it to new heights and with different ideas. He has just launched his second album “Chardi Jawani”. Ludhiana-born Shampy is very passionate about music and wants to remain as a learner so that he can serve the Punjabi pop industry for a long time. He has an album named “Jind” to his credit whose song “Matke Waliye” created buzz amongst music lovers. Regarding his journey of becoming a Punjabi pop singer, he said, “My father Pritpal Singh was passionate about music and used to play ‘tumbi’, which inspired me to become a singer. My first album ‘Jind' was appreciated by people and now I have come out with a new album”. On being asked why he took three years for launching his new album, Shampy retreated, “Being a singer my aim is to provide good music that can be listened for a long time and if you want to make an impact with your work you need time to do a lot of research. This was the only reason for the delay. I have done maximum research to make ‘Chardi Jawani' happen”. “My new album is released by Saga Music and has 10 songs of different moods, including two remixes and four by my friend Lalit Baba. The lyrics have been penned by Sunny Kainth and music is created by Manpreet," he said, adding, "We have made the video of the title song 'Chardi Jawani' which is on air, this is a UK-style video, featuring model Muskan alongside me. Apart from this, second video 'Billori Ankhiyan' is ready and is dedicated to all Punjabis”. “Although I love each and every song of the album, the song 'Tere Saha Utte' is very close to my heart," Shampy said. "Mika Singh is the best singer and my idol. His chemistry and passion towards music is ultimate. He is an all-rounder who always tries to give something new with sincere effort. As a performer he's awesome and I see him as a rock star because he has the intensity, art, and the magic to make audience crazy to his tunes as well as to set the stage on fire," he said. Shampy is confident that his new album will do well, as he said, "Every song has its own taste and magic and if you try to repeat the success sometime audience gets bored. 'Matke Waliye' has lots of masti whereas 'Chardi Jawani' has the feel of emotions of a guy after seeing a beautiful girl but still the craziness is there and I hope people will like it". He said, “Reality shows are an excellent effort for the young talents, but it is only the winner who takes all the limelight and those who remain on second and third positions get unnoticed”. While everything is going the corporate way nowadays, what's his strategy of getting success and limelight, he retreated, "Your efforts, hard work, dedication and research are the basic fundamentals of success. Besides, media and PR exercise are very important in creating the right image. If your PR is good and your project gets promoted in a proper way it really helps because you cannot reach the audience without the help of media”. Will he ever like to do a playback singing as every singer wished to do, Shampy said, "Every individual dreams to become an all-rounder and I think if you have variations and versatility in your singing you can create new highs and gets the opportunity to move ahead in the right direction. I want to do playback for movies if I get good songs. I have recently sung a song 'Chhora Jaat Ka' for a Haryanavi movie. I have some offers from Bollywood but none has been finalised as yet”. "But one must know the art of performing and if you can make audience singing and dancing to your tunes you are a rock star. The fact plays very important role while you perform in a live concert or a stage show," he added. "One must concentrate on training and keep trying for the opportunity whether it is small or big. One of the most important things is that don't compromise with yourself or your art for attractive contests and talent shows," he concluded.
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Movie This Week
Producers: Ramesh Sippy, Rohan Sippy and Mukesh Talreja This one is 2009’s first biggie shot in China and Bangkok. It will see a release today at K.C.-Panchkula, Suraj-Sonepat, Sheila-Rohtak, Paras-Kurukshetra, Radhika-Rewari, Sun City-Hisar, Inder Palace-Karnal, Fun-Ambala City, Fun-Panipat, Cinemax-Panipat, Fun-Karnal Movie Time-Karnal, Minerva-Ambala Cantt, OHM-Sirsa, PVR MGF, PVR Ambience, PVR Sahara, SRS OMAXE, Adlabs, DT City Centre, DT Mega Mall (All Gurgaon), INOX, SRS, SRS Shubham Tower, SRS Pristime, PVR Crown Plaza, Movie Time, Movie Time City Mall, (All Faridabad), Capital-Ambala Cantt. What to watch out for: Deepika Padukone’s two drastically different looks, outdoor locations of Bangkok, China, action scenes, comedy of errors coupled with swashbuckling kung fu and Akshay Kumar’s action comedy. — Dharam Pal
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