Dadupur Khurd (Karnal), February 23
The National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal, has claimed to have achieved the highest-ever milk production of 59.5 kg from a single cross-bred cow in one day.

Informing mediapersons about the achievement at Dadupur Khurd village, Dr AK Srivastava, director, NDRI, said it could be a major breakthrough in increasing milk production in the country under field conditions.

He revealed that scientists of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) and the dairy cattle breeding division organised a farm trial at a scientifically maintained dairy farm owned by Rajbir Singh in Dadupur Khurd village. Two cross-bred cattle were produced using different genetic stock from the NDRI herd, while the semen used was of pure Holstein Friesian.

The two cross-bred cows christened as “Yamuna” and “Ganga” in the age group of 42 months to 54 months and in the second and the third year of lactation yielded 51.5 kg and 59.5 kg of milk, respectively, in a single day, he added.

The earlier best performance at NDRI was of Karan Fies and Karan Swiss cross-bred cows, which yielded 46.5 litre (total of 8,400 litre in lactation) and 44 litre (7,600 litre in lactation) of milk, respectively, in a single day.

The milk recording for the two cows was done by Dr Dalip K Gosain, head, KVK, and Dr Satyapal, senior veterinary officer, on February 21 and 22 and one cow yielded 59.5 kg of milk in 24 hours.

He disclosed that the cattle farm of Rajbir Singh was being maintained scientifically and his father Jeeta Ram, who served at the NDRI for 30 years, could adopt dairy production technologies with ease.

Rajbir Singh, who has bagged many awards, possesses a herd of 84 animals but only 30 cows and one buffalo give milk and the average milk production is around 710 litre per day.

India is the largest producer of milk but its average milk yield was 1,014 kg as compared to 8,225 kg and 5,657 kg, respectively, of the UC and European Union in 2002.

Karnal, February 23
A three-day exhibition, “Rice Pro Tech Exhibition-2009”, on rice processing industry organised at anaj mandi, Karnal, proved a boon for rice millers and dealers from various parts of Punjab and Haryana, who got a platform to discuss their problems.

While farmers and millers evinced keen interest in machinery and technologies displayed at the exhibition, rice millers and dealers organised a meeting to discuss their problems.

The rice millers and exporters were agitated over the ban on export of non-basmati rice and uncompetitive minimum export price (MEP) of basmati rice fixed by the government. They discussed their problems and decided to send a high-level delegation to meet Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and press the demand to lift the ban on export of non-basmati rice, lower the MEP and discuss other problems faced by the millers.

The focus on lifting the ban on export of non-basmati rice relegated other issues to the background and the demand for reducing the MEP was highlighted mainly by the All-India Rice Exporters Association led by their president Vijay Sethia.

President of the All-India Rice Millers Association Tarsem Saini made a strong plea for immediate lifting of ban on the export of non-basmati rice as the rice industry was reeling under immense pressure of “tight and inflexible policies” of the government.

The rice millers pointed out that due to sudden increase in the demand for rice in the global market in the recent months, various countries were also asking the Union government to lift the ban.

Rice millers claimed that lifting of the export ban would not affect the prices of rice in the domestic market. Saini also demanded an increase in PDS quota for wheat as procurement was much higher this year due to bumper wheat crop.

President of the Haryana Rice Millers and Dealers Association Azad Singh Rathi referred to storage problems and cautioned that the country would face a serious stocking problem if this problem was not sorted out.

Surinder Gupta, organiser of the event, claimed that more than 800 rice millers visited the exhibition.

Chandigarh, February 23
To put the Congress in the election mode, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has convened a meeting of party workers here tomorrow. Those invited to the meeting include district unit chiefs, block unit chiefs, district presidents of the frontal organisations of the party, Congress chairmen of zila parishads, municipal bodies, improvement trusts and all those who have been active for the past four years.

According to Hooda’s political adviser Prof Virender, the Chief Minister would brief the party men about achievements of the government and how to project them before the people before the Lok Sabha elections.

He would give them tips on what and how they should do to fine tune the party machinery so that not even a single voter of it was deprived of his voting right. The meeting will be held at the official residence of the Chief Minister here at 11 am. In the afternoon, Hooda will flag off 50 “Nav Haryana Raths”, five for each Lok Sabha constituency.

Virender said specially formulated on Tata-407 chassis, the raths would be equipped with latest audio-visual equipment. Starting from February 25, each rath would visit a number of villages each day.They will be sufficiently stocked with booklets on various schemes launched by the Congress government for the welfare of various sections of society.

A 70-minute documentary highlighting achievements of the government has also been prepared. In one month, all villages of the state would be covered by these raths, which would be manned by district-level party workers, MLAs and other party leaders.

Gurgaon, February 23
The Union Ministry for Power has decided to hand over power-related operations at the village level to franchisees selected and trained for the purpose.

The Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) of India has selected the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) for the training of the franchisees selected for the purpose.

A pilot project in this regard had been carried out in the district. Power officials maintain that after the successful completion of the pilot project, it has been decided to get power-related works, including commercial as well as technical activities, done through these franchisees.

In the initial phase, franchisees would be appointed at the village level and the plan could be extended to the block and district levels.

According to sources, the move is based on invoking certain provisions in the Indian Electricity Act, 2003, which allows the appointment of franchisees to handle power operations.

MB Vashisth, chief engineer (operations), DHBVN, confirmed that the local training centre of the DHBVN had been approved for providing training to the franchisees.

“The REC and the DHBVN will sign an MoU in this regard here tomorrow,” he said.

While the power utilities are upbeat over the prospects of handing over the village-level operations to franchisees, certain power employees’ unions see the move as a step towards privatisation, which they have been opposing tooth and nail.

Though the trade unions seem to be lying low on the issue for the time being, according to insiders, possibility of protest against the move cannot be ruled out, especially at the time of its implementation.

Fatehabad, February 23
Finance Minister Birender Singh today ridiculed the opposition charge that the state government has been making announcements without any budgetary provisions and said they knew that supplementary demand could always be approved at a later stage.

He was talking to mediapersons at Manohar Memorial Postgraduate College, where he was the chief guest on the occasion of prize distribution function. The minister said during 2008-09, the government had made a supplementary demand of Rs 3,000 crore, which was later sanctioned.

He further said the report of the committee on removal of pay anomalies was almost ready and would be released soon.

He cited example of Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs), who wanted scale on a par with the Haryana Civil Services (HCS) officers on the basis of equal status enjoyed by them.

He said though the government appreciated their viewpoint, the fact that the HPS is a class II gazetted post, while the HCS is class I came in the way of removal of anomalies.

Later, addressing students at the function, Birender Singh said today was the era of global competition and students must prepare for challenges.

As many as 450 students of the commerce and arts streams and those passing out “A” level and “O” level examinations under the DOEACC were given awards.

The minister also announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh for the college.

Sirsa, February 23
After a series of raids conducted by the Drugs Control Authorities in the town for recovery of cough syrups and other intoxicant material used by youths, local wholesale chemists today took a pledge against the sale of such drugs for misuse.

More than 80 members of the Wholesale Chemists and Druggists Association, Sirsa, took the oath in the presence of Swami Gyananand of Vrindaban Ashram. Dr PR Kayasth, deputy director of the state Health Services, and Dr SK Sharma, civil surgeon, were also present on the occasion.

At a meeting held in the banquet hall of the Laxmi Sweets, chemists also gave a written undertaking to the effect on their letterheads to Swami Gyananand.

“We will forward copies of these letters to the Drugs Control Authorities in Panchkula,” said Mukesh Dhingra, president of the district unit of the association.

The police had booked two chemists, Raj Kumar and Madan Lal Bajaj, under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in October last year, after the drugs authorities had recovered a huge cache of narcotic drugs from an unlicensed godown in the town.

The drugs authorities had also sealed seven chemist shops and got criminal cases registered against some of them, as some chemists allegedly manhandled them during the inspection of these shops in October last.

Recently the drugs authorities from Panchkula had raided two local chemists shops on January 31 after getting a tip-off from Ratia and recovered huge quantities of drugs that contained narcotic contents like codeine.

Meanwhile, the association of pharmacists, who work as qualified persons at shops of retail chemists, met under their president Adarsh Pal Verma at the local Town Park and demanded complete curb on the sale of habit-farming drugs.

Sirsa, February 23
A long-standing grouse of patients visiting the general hospital that they have to go to private diagnostic centres for their CT scan despite the availability of the machine in the hospital will now be removed.

The CT scan facility will now be available round the clock to patients at the Civil Hospital here, according to the health authorities.

An agreement has been reached between the Sirsa Diagnostic Centre and the District Health and Family Welfare Society for providing testing facilities in the general hospital.

According to the agreement, the facility of CT scan will be provided free of cost to the members of families living below the poverty line.

The scan charges for various categories and for different parts of the body have also been fixed.

Chandigarh, February 23
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that the ongoing construction of litigant sheds and lawyers’ chambers at Panchkula judicial complex “shall not be delayed or postponed for any reason, whatsoever”.

The directions follow a petition filed by Jainendra Gurukul against the State of Haryana and other respondents.

In the petition placed before Justice Surya Kant, the petitioner claimed it was the owner of over three bighas and 16 biswas in the revenue estate of Kharak Magoli village in Panchkula district.

Its grievance was that the land was being utilised by the respondents for construction of litigant sheds and lawyers’ chambers in the judicial complex at Panchkula, without paying any compensation for it.

The petitioner’s further grievance was that its ownership had not been disputed by the respondent-authorities in the demarcation report. Yet, Panchkula Deputy Commissioner refused to accept “the petitioner’s title over the subject land”.

Counsel had added: “Consequently, neither compensation has been paid to the petitioner, nor the land has been acquired by following the procedure prescribed under the Land Acquisition Act”.

After going through the arguments and the material placed before the Bench, Justice Surya Kant observed: “Keeping in view the fact that there might be some title dispute between the parties, I deem it appropriate to dispose of this writ petition with liberty to the petitioner to make a comprehensive representation to one of the respondents, along with the supporting documents.

“On receipt thereof, the Deputy Commissioner, Panchkula, is directed to consider and dispose of the same in accordance with law. In case the petitioner is found to be owner of the subject land, the respondents shall follow the necessary procedure for payment of compensation to the petitioner.

“It deserved to be noticed that the petitioner has come up with a fair stand that no delay, postponement or obstruction should be caused in the ongoing construction of the litigant-sheds or lawyers' chambers and its claim is confined only to the payment of compensation to which it is entitled in the law.

“It is accordingly clarified that the ongoing construction of the litigant sheds and lawyers' chambers shall not be delayed or postponed for any reason, whatsoever, but the petitioner’s claim regarding payment of compensation shall be considered and disposed of in accordance with law, within a period of three months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order”.

Jhajjar, February 23
Fulfilling the long pending demand of Haryana, the Union government has decided to set up a central university in Jant-Pali village of Mahendergarh district.

The state government will provide 500 acres free of cost in the village for setting up the university.

The decision will not only redress the problem of regional imbalance but also help develop this educationally backward district.

Moreover, the proposed multi-faculty university will also cater to the diverse needs of students.

The construction work will start soon and classes are expected to commence from the next academic session. A medical college will also be set up on the campus of the university besides other academic institutions.

According to information, Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh would lay the foundation stone of the central university on February 25 while Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda would preside over the function.

The stone-laying ceremony will be attended by Union Minister of State for Defence Production Rao Inderjit Singh, Education and Transport Minister Mange Ram Gupta, PWD (B&R) and Irrigation Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav and Parliamentary Secretary Rao Dan Singh.

Chandigarh, February 23
A host of auxiliary services of the Haryana government, including cleaning, gardening, courier work, transport and communications, will be up for grabs for private players.

The state government had modified its policy to allow its departments to outsource supporting services, state government officials said here today.

The supporting services include cleaning of premises, horticultural work, housekeeping services, maintenance of buildings, transport services, courier services, information and communication technology related services and highly technical and professional services.

The officials said only those services could be outsourced for which there were no sanctioned posts in the departments concerned. Other services which essentially did not fall in the ambit of the functioning of respective departments but were required by them could also be outsourced.

The departments could outsource the services at the state headquarters in Chandigarh or in the districts across Haryana, a spokesman said.

The services could be outsourced against the sanctioned budget. No separate allocation was being made by the state government for this. — IANS

Karnal, February 23
The ongoing war of words between the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (ad hoc) and the SGPC over separate committee for the state further intensified today with HSGPC “president” Jagdish Singh Jhinda accusing SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar of creating terror and fearing threat to life from him.

In a complaint filed with the police, Jhinda took exception to an incident of firing at the inauguration of “gatka competition” at a school here immediately after the “ardas”.

While senior vice-president of the SGPC Raghubir Singh Virk described firing of shots by a youth as customary and routine practice, Jhinda described it as an act of “terror” to cow down Haryana Sikh leaders struggling for a separate prabandhak committee.

Jhinda alleged that it was not a customary firing but an indirect attack on him as he had taken offence to injustice done by the SGPC with Haryana Sikhs at “Ajlas” in Amritsar on November 22, 2008, and declared that Makkar would not be allowed to hold any public function in Haryana.

It was a deliberate act to terrorise him and he feared threat to life and property, he said, requesting the police to book Makkar and the person who fired shots from his revolver.

With battle lines clearly drawn after the submission of the Chatha Committee report on separate committee issue, the HSGPC was hopeful of getting a separate prabandhak committee and the SGPC all set to vehemently oppose a separate committee for Haryana and making it a “volatile religious issue”.

However, sources said, it was clear that constitution of a three-member committee to study the Chatha Committee report was another ploy to delay a decision on the issue and hopes of the HSGPC to have a separate committee before the Lok Sabha elections had been grossly misplaced.

It was a political move of the Hooda government to keep the Sikh vote bank of the Congress intact and drag the issue till elections.