Panipat, April 2
Buoyed by the encouraging results of using pipeline network to transport fuel, the Indian Oil Corporation has decided to expand its network to about 1,200 km by June next year.

The expansion will enable the corporation to transport an additional 10 million tonne of fuel each year. At present, the IOC transports 70 million tonne of fuel using its existing pipeline networks.

It will also be commissioning a natural gas pipeline from Dadri in the north of the country to its Panipat refinery. Expected to be completed by the middle of this year, the 132 km pipeline will carry degasified liquid natural gas (LNG) to fuel a power plant under construction here, along with a new naphtha cracker unit at the Panipat refinery.

“The company already has a network of 10,000 km of pipelines in the country. It will be spending another Rs 15 billion by June 2010 on pipeline expansion,” said a senior official at the Panipat refinery.

The official said the company has been expecting that the expenditure on the pipelines might exceed the budgeted Rs 3.3 billion during the current fiscal year. The company has also been planning to add another 4,000 km of pipelines in the five years ending in March 2012. The company at present runs 10 refineries that are situated across the nation with a nameplate capacity of 1.2 million barrels of oil each day.

With the expansion of the pipeline network, not only the company expects to reduce the transportation charges but also the risks involved in transporting LPG through other means.

Meanwhile, the IOC has also agreed upon procuring one million tonne of crude oil from the Cairn India’s Rajasthan fields. The company would be taking one million tonne at its Panipat refinery and another half a million tonne at the Koyali unit in Gujarat. 

Sirsa, April 2
Priyanka Dudi, Parvesh and Priyanka, all students of the Shah Satnamji College for Women, have done Sirsa proud with their excellent performance in a throw ball championship at the international level.

These girls were part of the 12-member national team that won the third Asian Throw Ball Championship played in Kuala Lumpur between March 14 and March 18. The girls were recently honoured by the district administration at the local Panchayat Bhawan where the deputy commissioner SK Goyal gave away mementos and awards to them.

District sports officer Veena Sharma, college principal Geeta Monga, and college administrator Krishan Pal Nain were also present on the occasion.

Six members of the 12-member national team were from Haryana.

Priyanka Dudi told mediapersons that she started playing throw ball only last year and had been able to get selected in the national team.

Karnal, April 2
Inspector Jagdish Singh and sub-inspector Talwinder Singh of the Punjab police may not be big names in the world of sports, but they are certainly celebrities among professional equestrians. Both riders were the star attraction at the 27th All-India Police Equestrian and Police Duty Meet, which concluded here .

Horse riding has been a passion and obsession with both riders. Both have won over 300 medals for the Punjab police and the country at various national and international equestrian championships.

Both riders have big dreams but equestrianism being an expensive hobby and the lack of international facilities are standing in their way.

Jadish Singh and Talwinder singh share the common perception that best quality horses are not made available for training and against the normal price of Rs 3 to 4 lakh for high quality horses, the available horses are priced between Rs 50,000 and Rs 60,000.

With 160 medals to his credit, Jagdish Singh (50) is still riding high. He won gold, silver and a bronze medals at the International Tent Pegging Championship held in Muscat in February 2009. He is now eyeing gold at the Asian Tent Pegging Championship.

Jagdish Singh, joined the Punjab police as a constable in February 1978, and brought laurels to the police force and also to the country by demonstrating his skills, which he continuously honed during the past over 30 years.

Son of Dalbir Singh, also a rider of the Punjab police, Jagdish won three gold and three bronze medals in the International Police Meet held in South Africa in 2003, and made a hat-trick by winning three gold medals in a row at the national championships in 1995, 1996 and 1997. A winner of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh State Award of Punjab in 2005, Jagdish has won several medals in all- India police meets since 1978.

Similarly, the younger rider, Talwinder Singh (42), who joined the police as a constable in October 1986, is son of Kashmira Singh, also a keen rider. He participated in the International Tent Pegging held in Dundlod, Rajasthan, in 2000, and won a silver and two bronze medals.

He created a history of sorts by winning three gold medals at the International Tent Pegging held in Imphal in 2008, and has been participating in all police meets since 1994.

Talwinder Singh, with 135 medals to his tally in various national and international championships, was adjudged best rider four times in 1998, 2004, 2005 and 2008 and 2nd best rider twice in 1999 and 2003.

He was bestowed the State Award of Punjab for excellent rider in 2007 and won a silver at the National Tent Pegging in Madhuban last week.

Panipat, April 2
The presence of Dera Sacha Sauda in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections seems to have become a cause of concern for leading parties in the state.

The fact that votes of around 45 lakh dera supporters in the state could play a crucial role in increasing the winnability of contestants, is appealing enough for the parties to get its support.

However, the parties have adopted a cautious approach in seeking direct support from the dera as it could alienate the state’s Sikh community. The constant tussle between the dera followers and the others has put the parties in a state of dilemma. A senior politician on condition of anonymity said no party would like to lose the support of Sikhs in the state by approaching the dera directly.

As per the reports, the dera on the other hand, is expected not to support any party in particular, but is most likely to back individual contenders depending on the pros and cons of supporting that person.

According to the sources, the independent political wing of the dera has already stepped up its efforts to decide as to which party or individuals it would be supporting. A final decision in this regard is likely to be taken at a meeting of the dera to be held in a few days at Sirsa. The members of the political wing of the dera had been visiting places across the state and holding meetings with the followers to draw a clearer picture of the prevailing political scenario in Haryana.

Leaders of the parties also admit that the dera has a strong presence in at least six to eight parliamentary constituencies in the state where the support of its followers could prove decisive for the contenders.

Undoubtedly, the dera had played a significant role during the last assembly elections in Punjab where it had outrightly gone in support of the Congress. With the dera’s support, the Congress had registered convincing victories on a number of seats in the Malwa region, which was considered to be a stronghold of the Akalis. But the SAD-BJP combine had managed to get a majority in the other areas and form the government in Punjab.

According to political observers, the dera would also be adopting a cautious approach and instead of getting associated with any party directly, it would be supporting individuals. Getting associated with a particular party would mean annoying other political groups, which may not be the strategy this time. 

Jhajjar, April 2
“Razia Ki Diary”, a play based on the Partition of the country, was staged by the Haryana Kala Parishad during a state-level theatre festival organised at the Olympic Club Hall in Narnaul recently.

Mahendergarh deputy commissioner Mohammad Shayin was the chief guest on the occasion.

The play not only refreshed the memories of the Partition but also succeeding in depicting the condition of the people, political leaders and emperors at the time of the Partition of India and the creation of Pakistan in 1947.

Shayin said such activities were necessary not only to give a fillip to cultural activities and promote budding artistes, but also for making the people aware of the country’s past.

Appreciating the performance of the artistes, the deputy commissioner maintained that all artistes did justice to their roles and displayed great skill by attempting several novel ways in staging the play. The administration was contemplating some projects with a view to promoting cultural activities in Mahendergarh district, he added.

Balwant Saini and Kanta Sharma were the coordinators of the programme while deputy director of the Haryana Kala Parishad VD Trikha was among those present on the occasion.

Gurgaon, April 2
Bhajan samrat Anoop Jalota feels that the results of reality shows are biased and he will never accept any offer to act as a judge in any such show.

“It is the viewers who choose their favourite participant as a winner by sending SMS. They select them on the basis of their physical presentation and not on their ability. It is only judges who can actually find a talent out of so many candidates, but nowadays they have just become eyewitnesses who keep fighting for their favourite singers,” he says.

The singer was here to perform at the inauguration of the Alka Noopar Centre for Performing Arts.

“One cannot become a good singer by merely performing a nice dance or presenting himself well. He should have good voice too,” he affirmed and added, “There are singers who are the products of talent shows and have done fairly well. Shreya Ghosal is one such singer. She has set a good example, as she was judged on the basis of her ability and not by SMS system. This is the reason that I never feel like judging any singing contest as I feel that music is insulted this way,” Jalota asserted.

He said, “The upcoming music or singers from reality shows have no place to survive. Both are just like bubbles that burst after some time. They do get the star status for a while, but after the contest is over, they all disappear. Even if a few albums are released, their popularity fades away with the time.”

“If a winner has to be chosen by SMS, there is no need of judges on the show,” Jalota retreated.

Comparing the western and classical music, he said, “Western music help us tapping our feet but just for a few days after which it disappears. It is the classical music that actually stays in our hearts for long. I am happy that people still love to listen our old music.”

Jalota, who is running music schools in America, said, “There is a need for opening more learning schools like the centre of performing arts in India or we will lose our tradition.”

On Bollywood stars entering into politics, Jalota mentioned, “No actor can become a successful politician ever as politics already has much more bigger actors. I am related to the BJP but will never enter into active politics.”

His upcoming projects include a film, “Malik Ek”, based on the life of Sai Baba with Jackie Shroff in the lead role; “Boys Are Boys”, a romantic comedy; and “Osama”, a film on terrorism. His production house will also be releasing five Bhojpuri films in a row.

His upcoming albums include a ghazal and religious album titled “Ishq Mein Aksar” and “Krishna Teri Bansuri”, respectively.

Rewari, April 2
Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) candidate and seasoned fighter of many electoral battles Rao Narbir Singh has now started using innovative weapons out of his Travels by train from Gurgaon to Rewari to woo voters electoral armoury to woo voters of his Gurgaon constituency.

Though, he had trounced Rao Inderjit Singh in the Assembly elections of 1987 from the Jatusana constituency, he is leaving nothing to chance this time as well, as recently he, along with senior HJC functionaries travelled by train from Gurgaon to Rewari.

Canvassing for votes from one compartment to another, he exhorted them to strengthen HJC by making him victorious while asserting that the HJC alone could deliver.

The people assured to extend their full-fledged support to him in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls and gave him a rousing reception at the Patuadi station. He wrapped up his train-campaign at the Rewari station where he was profusely garlanded by the party activists and others.

This newly carved out Gurgaon constituency is a blend of three assembly segments of the Mewat region and six segments of the Ahirwal region. Thus, while the Mewat region remained a bastion of late Tayyab Hussain, father of the BSP candidate Zakir Hussain, for five long decades, the Ahirwal region had stalwarts like late Rao Mohar Singh and late Rao Mahabir Singh respectively, grand father and father of Rao Narbir Singh as well as the octogenarian former union minister Rao Birender Singh, father of the union minister of state for defence production Rao Inderjit Singh. If the congress high command renominates Rao Inderjit Singh from this constituency, he would prove a formidable rival for Rao Narbir Singh, who is already pitted against Zakir Hussain of the BSP and Sudha Yadav of the BJP.

Panchkula, April 2
The Aggarwal community will no longer be satisfied with just being financial managers to the politicians. It wants a more active role in politics. This was the consensus at the general body meeting of the Panchkula district unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Aggarwal Sammelan held here recently.

The tone was set by national president of the sammelan Pardip Mittal, when he said the political parties and the politicians generally considered members of the Aggarwal community as “bhama shahs”, only fit for financing their political battles from the background. (Bhama Shah had reportedly given money to Maharana Pratap to continue his war against the Mughals after he had lost his kingdom).

The Aggarwals were generally given the responsibility of collecting and managing the funds of the political parties. Urging his community members to come out of the “lunch and manch (dais)” psyche, Mittal said the community must learn the art of “strategic voting” like certain other communities, so that its votes were not divided.

He expressed satisfaction over the fact that in the past few years, members of the Aggarwal community had started making their presence felt in the electoral politics. He said during the recent Delhi Assembly elections, nine Aggarwals were elected. Similarly, in the last Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh, about 45 members of the community made to the legislature.

He said, five years ago, the total number of the Aggarwals contesting the elections in these states was less than this.

Panchkula district president of the sammelan Kulbhushan Goel demanded that the traders affected by the demolition drive in Kalka and the government should rehabilitate Pinjore. Land should be acquired at the market rate.

“Since, the excise duty had been reduced from 16 per cent to 8 per cent, the general VAT rate should also be cut by half to 6 per cent. He said the reduction of the maximum rate of income tax to 20 per cent would lead to greater compliance,” he added.

State president Gopal Sharan Garg said the government should set up a national traders security fund on the pattern of similar schemes for the farmers and the industrial labourers. There should also be a group insurance scheme for the shops and other business establishments against sabotage, incidental fires and burglaries.

Adviser to the Panchkula unit Naresh Mittal said, “There was no place in the town where large functions could be organised. If the government provides suitable land, the Aggarwal community would construct a banquet hall and run it on no-profit no-loss basis. Already the community had shown its expertise in running such community projects in the town.”

Congress and BJP nominees from the Chandigarh Lok Sabha constituency Pawan Bansal and Satpal Jain respectively, also addressed the large audience. 

Sirsa, April 2
Teaching is a profession and not a vocation and needs honest, humane, hardworking teachers in providing real education with proper, productive and practical use of hands, head and heart (3P and 3H programme) to the students at all the levels of education.

Instead of increasing the value of education, the economics of education has devalued the real standard of education. There is a strong case to strengthen the value of education, which is more than making a person capable for earning his or her livelihood.

These were the observations of chairman of the Department of Economics, Kurukshetra University, MM Goel while delivering an extension lecture recently on ‘Excellence models for teachers in a changing economic scenario’ organised by MP College for Women, Mandi Dabwali, recently.

He said the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, Clause 2 (1), has brought schools, colleges and other educational institutions (private or public) under its preview and considers students as consumers, which will have far reaching implications in teacher-student relationship leading to behavioral pollution.

Goel believes that Bhagvad Gita is a treatise on welfare economics and needs to be accepted as a sacro-secular epic for the entire humanity, including the teachers of today and tomorrow.

He said the Sarasvati River has dried because the totality of knowledge was complete and given with no more to come after Bhagwad Gita. But the spiritual river is now flowing so may be the Sarasvati river flow again in order to quench the thirst for proper knowledge, which is required urgently for the international community.

He said that teaching could be student friendly and socially beneficial only if undertaken in accordance with NAW approach, which stands for the need, affordability and worth of the educational services.

He pointed out that an educational institution would be popular only if it satisfy the essential needs of the students, create values and is utilitarian.

Glamour alone cannot be a substitute for the basic requirement of need, affordability and worth (NAW) of the education in an institution.

He said spiritual bankruptcy and the commercialisation of education are the root causes of deteriorating educational standards in India and is a serious issue of concern for polluting relationship between teacher and student of today.

He admitted that to some extent, the teachers are eroding the faith and confidence in Indian education system. Earlier, principal of the college Asha Garg welcomed and introduced Professor Goel. She also proposed the vote of thanks. 

Ambala, April 2
The stalling of the no-confidence motion against the president of the Ambala Cantonment MC by the district administration on March 31 has widened the rift in the Congress at the local level. Upset over the alleged ill-treatment of Congress councillors, the party is now even more divided than ever against the president, Neelam Sharma, who is also from the Congress.

The no-confidence motion was called off at the last minute as the SDM, who was to chair it, reportedly fell sick. The councillors state that they are even more certain that they would not let Neelam Sharma to continue as the MC president whenever the no-confidence motion is held again.

The infighting, however, is on for quiet a while now. This might be one of the few MCs where its own party members are against each other. But the party high command, it seems, have other thoughts on the matter. Insiders inform that the party high command has not taken it lightly that at the time of the elections the no-confidence motion was set into motion by its own party people.

With Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to be held next month and state Assembly elections due next year, such an act will speak volumes of the party position in the Ambala Cantonment area.

Congress councilors, however, feel that the no-confidence motion has been stalled under pressure and they will bring it to its rightful conclusion. Interestingly, the resentment against the MC president has been brewing for over a year now. With the MC elections also scheduled next year, if the no-confidence motion goes through, the MC will have to work with an ad hoc president.