Chandigarh, May 25
The Haryana government has embarked on an ambitious enrolment drive in schools across the state. The unique drive, a part of the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), is being launched with the active participation of other school-going children.

Officials in the SSA say children studying in government schools will now be going door-to-door and exhorting everybody to send their children to school. The fact that the children will be exhorting elders to enroll their children in school will have a far greater impact on parents and ensure high enrolment.

Children of all government schools in villages will also be taking out a procession, carrying placards with the message that education is the right of each child. Children will also be used to communicate the message of education for girl child. These children will be dictated a note on the importance of educating girls and will be asked to read it out to their parents and ask them to implement the message.

The teachers and the head master/head mistress of each school in the villages will also be holding meetings with the members of panchayats in each village, and seeking their support to ensure that all children go to school. “We will be targeting the children between six to 14 years, who have either dropped out or have never been to school.

Special emphasis will be given for the enrolment of girl children, especially in 22 educationally backward blocks of Kaithal, Yamunanagar, Sirsa and Mewat,” said PK Das, project coordinator, SSA.

It may be noted that although 90 per cent children (between six and 14 years) in the state are enrolled in schools, in some districts the enrolment is as low as 40 per cent. At several places in the state, because of prevalent socio-cultural norms, children are not being sent to schools.

Das said they also proposed to seek the support of the district administration to spread the message about enrolling all children in schools. “We will be asking all deputy commisioners to spread the message and take the help of Zila Parishad members.

We will also issue advertisements by the Chief Minister, asking people to send all children to school and telling parents about the scholarships being offered to children from Scheduled Caste, Backward Class and BPL families,” he said.

Chandigarh, May 25
Despite poor showing in the Lok Sabha polls, the president of the state unit of the BJP, Atam Praksh Manchanda, can heave a sigh of relief. His chair of party president seems in no danger.

Sources said party leaders had strongly favoured an extension to Manchanda whose term is set to end in October despite the simmering discontent against him. At a meeting of the state unit, held with the party in charge of Haryana affairs, Vijay Goel, Capt Abhimanyu suggested that since the Assembly elections were expected before time, it would be unwise to replace Manchanda.

Leaders also stated that even if the elections happened as per schedule in February, it would not be practical to have a new man for the job. “A new person in the chair would take time to settle down. We can’t afford to waste time and need to get down to business immediately if we are to make our presence felt in the state,” a senior party leader said.

It is learnt that ID Swami, the party candidate from the Karnal seat, openly criticised the functioning of the state unit without making any direct reference to Manchanda’s removal.

Other leaders, too, expressed their dissatisfaction with the party’s working without being open about it. However, a majority of them favoured his continuation and maintaining status quo as far as the party positions are concerned.

This is not the first time that Manchanda has come under fire from his colleagues. Initially, he was “targeted” for messing up appointments. Later, after the byelection at three Assembly seats in May last year when the party fared badly, the move for his ouster had gained momentum.

Leaders had maintained that the BJP was doomed in the state if no action was taken against “non-performers”. The fact that none of the three candidates fielded by the party were in the reckoning during the byelections opened up a new front for Manchanda, who has been struggling to keep the lid on the simmering discontentment within the party.

Meanwhile, the BJP has decided to hold a meeting of its working committee on May 31 in Panchkula to discuss the party’s performance in the recent Lok sabha polls at length. The idea of the meeting is to seek suggestions from party leaders for the implementation of its programme to reach out to the maximum people.

Fatehabad, May 25
The Haryana police constabulary is no more merely a baton-wielding force. Constables of the state police are computer savvy now. This became evident from the B-1 test organised by the district police for the promotion of constables to the posts of head constables.

Two hundred and ten constables, including 38 lady constables, appeared in the multiple choice questions (MCQs) objective type test held here for the posts of 24 males and two females head constables.

All these constables appeared in the test sitting in front of computers.

“Candidates appearing in the test were given a unique examination code (UEC) from the server and after that he or she was allowed to sit on any of the computers installed in two computer labs and on feeding their UEC, they got their picture on one side of the screen and MCQs drawn from the 17,000 strong question data bank started emerging on their screen.

Different candidates got different questions on their screens at a given time to eliminate the chances of copying,” said Dr C. Sambasiva Rao, SP, Fatehabad, who is also the chairman of the Departmental Promotion Committee comprising Suresh Kaushik, DSP, Fatehabad and Dilbagh Singh, DSP, Siwani.

Shatrujit Singh, DIG (Crime), Haryana, was supervising officer for the district.

The candidates got half mark for every right answer and one forth of a mark was substracted for each wrong answer. The candidates also had the choice to skip a question and go to the next.

Marks obtained by the candidates were given by the computer right after the two hours test.

“After passing the 60 marks test, out of which they have to obtain at least 30 marks for passing, they have to go through a parade test and after the addition of marks of the service record, they will be finally called for an interview,” the SP informed.

Besides this B-1 test through which 55 per cent of the total seats of constables were filled, 35 per cent seats were filled through seniority and 10 per cent seats were given to those with extraordinary achievement in sports or other fields.

Three women constables scored the first three positions in the test. Out of the 60 maximum marks, Shiksha Devi with 53.25 marks, Raj Bala, 52.25 marks, and Sauja Devi, 50.25 marks, achieved the first three positions in the district leaving their male counterparts far behind in the merit.

But unluckily for them, at least one of them will have to be disappointed because only two posts of women head constables are to be filled in the district.

Rohtak, May 25
Prof C.S. Pundir, head, department of biochemistry, Maharshi Dayanand University here, has been conferred the Rashtriya Gaurav Award along with a certificate of excellence for his meritorious services and outstanding performance in the field of biosciences and biotechnology.

The award was given away by Dr Bhishma Naryana Singh, former governor, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and North-East states and former union minister for urban development & parliamentary affairs, during a seminar on “Economic growth and national integration” organised by the India International Friendship Society (IIFS) in New Delhi.

Prof. Srinath Baruva, vice-chancellor of Krishna Kananda Open University, Guwahati, Dipeshwar Bohra, former MLA, Assam & vice- chairman,marketing board, Delhi, and Father Wilseent Chinadurai, director, communication centre, Chennai, were also present.

Prof. Pundir has also been included recently into American Biographic Institute’s Hall of Fame for distinguished accomplishments, Who’s Who in the World 2009 and invited by American Chemical Society Washington DC for its membership.

Rohtak, May 25
The department of biochemistry, Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, has prepared laboratory models of a special bucket and brush which have proved useful in providing good and clean washing of clothes by cheaper detergents like those by expensive ones.

The department has called it “magic bucket and brush” keeping in view its significance for providing cheaper and quality washing.

Interestingly, the cost of both of the items will be reasonable and a middle-class consumer will also be able to buy these easily for getting superior washing with cheaper detergents.

These contain those bioelements /enzymes, which have been attached onto their plastic surface with the help of some specific chemicals based upon “immobilised enzyme technology” that got patented by the department recently.

Thereafter, if the clothes are washed with an ordinary and cheaper detergent (non- enzymic detergent), the results come even better than those by costly detergents.

Prof C.S. Pundir, head of the department, says the bioelements/enzymes available in the market are expensive and contribute to the high cost of enzymic detergents. These bioelements /enzymes are added in free form to provide better washing compared to non- enzymic detergents, which are cheaper ones, and it can be used once. But, these bioelements /enzymes in the magic bucket and brush can be used up to 200 times and thus reduce the cost of washing, he claims.

He informs that the department has received a response from Rare Brain Group, Bangalore, stating that some detergent industries are interested to manufacture the “magic bucket and brush”. Efforts are being made to get this washing technology patented globally, he says. 

Gurgaon, May 25
Journalist-turned-teacher Dr Pooja Rana, presently serving as a reader with the Department of Mass Communication at Jagannath International Management School (affiliated to GGS Indraprastha University), New Delhi, got the Shiksha Rattan Award instituted by the India International Friendship Society at a function held in New Delhi recently.

Dr Bhishma Narain Singh, former Governor of Tamil Nadu and Assam, presented her the award and certificate of excellence. Pooja has been working as an associate editor with an international media journal, Mass Communicator.

She is also associated with the Educational Media Research Centre of Osmania University, Hyderabad, for producing educational programmes for the UGC.

An alumnus of Saint Bede’s College, Shimla, and Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar, Pooja has also presented research papers at different forums.

Chandigarh, May 25
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has drawn an ambitious annual plan of over Rs 706.25 crore to strengthen and augment power distribution system in its area comprising the districts of Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani, Mahendragarh, Rewari, Mewat, Gurgaon and Faridabad.

Anurag Aggarwal, managing director, DHBVN, said here yesterday the nigam had planned to spend Rs 135 crore to augment and strengthen power transmission and distribution system to meet the growing load. For that, it would construct 47 new stations of 33-KV level and augment capacity of 15 existing stations of 33-KV level during 2009-10.

This project would include erection of new 33 KV lines, installation of capacitors on the stations and erection of additional high tension lines, to emanate from these stations. With the completion of the work, the capacity of transmission and distribution system would increase by about 550 MVA.

Aggarwal said Rs 50 crore had been earmarked for bifurcation and trifurcation of overloaded feeders and erection of new 11 KV feeders. Under the project, 100 overloaded feeders would be bifurcated or trifurcated.

During the rehabilitation of the feeders, their complete system would be renovated to minimise unwanted interruptions in supply and to avoid low voltage.

The director said major stress in the annual outlay had been given to the scheme of strengthening power distribution system by providing the high voltage distribution system in the villages and urban localities. This scheme aimed at reduction in aggregate transmission and commercial losses. An amount of Rs 185 crore had been earmarked for this scheme.

He said an amount of Rs 2 crore had been earmarked for demand side management activities. Impetus to demand side management activities had been given because the lapse between peak demand and lean demand in the state was high and due to increased load during the peak hours, the nigam was compelled to impose power cuts.

Panipat, May 25
The burns unit at the civil hospital is set to become operational soon. The construction of the building was completed recently. A building committee comprising the chief architect, PWD and public health, and other officials pointed out a number of shortcomings in the new building after which the unit was not allowed to be functional.

According to the committee members, the height of the building as compared to the land on which it had been constructed was not appropriate. There was no place to put up iron gates and the airconditioning unit and power plugs had not been put up. Besides, the committee had also stated that almirahs were not in place.

According to the sources, all shortcomings listed by the committee had now been removed and the building could be used as a medi-care facility. Sources said the building committee would be inspecting the burns unit again after which it would become operational.

It would have four beds, one treatment room and one staff room, a storeroom, a bathroom and a toilet. According to medical experts, a separate burns unit would enhance the medical facilities at the hospital that would benefit the patients. 

Gurgaon, May 25
Annamalai University has signed an MoU with the First India School of Business, Gurgaon, for BBA and MBA programmes to be offered from the current academic year.

Dr M Rathinasabapathi, registrar, Annamalai University, and Kamlesh Vyas, director, First India School of Business, signed the MoU recently. Dr SB Nageswara Rao, director, and Dr M Ramanathan, vice-chancellor of the university, were also present. 

The university is one of the largest of its kind in the world with presence in several countries. The business school is an initiative of IIM-XLRI alumni, industrialists, managing directors and senior professors. The governing board of the institute is headed by AR Kohli, a former Governor of Mizoram.

Gurgaon, May 25
The millennium city may soon host a mega shopping carnival on the pattern of the Dubai festival. With a view to bringing Gurgaon on the international tourism map, the state authorities have mooted a proposal in this regard.

This was disclosed by Keshni Anand Arora, financial commissioner-cum-principal secretary (Tourism), Haryana, during a recent meeting with hoteliers and mall owners of the city here recently. Arora floated the idea of organising a grand shopping festival at Gurgaon in December this year.

"The Surajkund Crafts Mela has already come on the international arena and we want that the Gurgaon shopping carnival should capture the attention of the international community right from its beginning," she said, and asked the hoteliers and mall owners to suggest how and where it should be organised.

She exhorted the mall owners to make coordinated efforts and give attractive discounts to attract the buyers towards the event and advised them to organise cultural programmes as well as games for children which could be enjoyed by families besides shopping.

Arora observed that if the idea of organising such an event succeeded, it could become an annual feature. “If the shopping festival gets a good response this year, Gurgaon is sure to take a big leap during the Commonwealth Games scheduled to be held in Delhi in October next because the foreigners coming to Delhi would like to come to it”, she maintained.

Arora said it was the first meeting in this direction and the modalities would soon be worked out.

Gurgaon deputy commissioner Deepti Umashankar and HUDA administrator G.Anupama were also present. Subhash Goyal, chairman of Haryana Travel Mart, said they had declared the current financial year as "Visit India year".

Yamunanagar, May 25
The recent arrest of suspected Maoists in the state has highlighted their deep penetration in Haryana and their plan to launch a massive movement in support of their demands and rights.

Maoist leaders are of the view that conditions in the state are favourable and now it is not possible to root out their movement as it has spread at the grass-roots level, documents recovered from the nine arrested Maoists have revealed.

The documents were discussed by the suspected Maoist leaders at their state-level meeting held in December 2008 with other members of the organisation.

The documents revealed that the Maoist leaders had told the other organisation members that conditions in the state were similar to those which prevailed in 1996. After discussing national and international events, the leaders further pointed out that the conditions in the state were conducive for a mutiny.

Besides, they expressed great concern over the failure of their movement in the rural and urban areas. The group had made efforts to set up organisations of farmer, labourers, women and children in the rural areas of the state.Apart from it, the group had also initiated a move to set up student organisations in the rural areas.

The documents carried the names of many members and leaders of the movement who were sacked for not following the principles of the organisation.

To deal with this problem, the health department had launched DOT PLUS programme in the state for treating MDR TB patients and Haryana ranked among the first five states in the country to provide free second-line treatment. 

Gupta was of the opinion that the new buses might be purchased immediately with a view to meeting the urgent requirement of buses in various depots. He said that it was also decided that the department might get some of the buses fabricated from outside. He emphasised the need for early implementation of computerisation in the department.

Gurgaon, May 25
Film and theatre actor Nirmal Pandey feels that the youth in the millennium city is very talented; the only thing they require is brushing up as “youngsters nowadays are brilliant and know how to present themselves and their skills. The only thing required in the glamour industry is practice. One needs to learn theatre before entering it as many senior actors have performed on stage”.

He was in the city to inaugurate a workshop on acting, dancing and modelling organised by the Yashika Film Institute where he also taught students the basics of acting. “Acting needs experience and if you have the same, you will be able to act more easily without any takes.

For this, one needs to get proper training in theatre as it makes you more confident and helps you to understand the script better. With this, one can also perform easily in front of the camera as it helps in improving speech and dialogue delivery, helps in understanding designing and lighting, too.”

Nirmal had started acting when he was eight and till the time he entered college, he had almost acted in more than 100 plays. After completing his M.Com, he did MA in history and MA (arts).

“I love increasing my knowledge with everything and this is the reason I read so much,” he affirmed and added, “I completed my graduation from the National School of Drama (NSD), Delhi.”

Due to his talent, he was also provided with scholarship from the NSD as well as the British High Council and got a chance to go on world tour. “Firstly, I visited London Tara Arts Studio after that I went to Ireland, Japan, London, Manchester and Australia and learnt a lot,” he said.

He started his career with the film, “Idiot”, with Shah Rukh Khan, directed by Mani Kaul. “One of the producers heard me singing and liked my voice and due to this I got my first break on screen,” he said.

Although, everyone related to theatre knew him but people started recognising him from the movies like “Sardar Patel”, “Bandit Queen”, “Is Raat Ki Subah Nahi”, “Train To Pakistan”, “Dayra” and “God Mother”.

He is the only actor who received the Best Actress Award, for the character of a woman he played in “Dayra” (directed by Amol Palekar), at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997. He affirmed, “I am the first actor who visited Cannes to accept the Best Actress award for my film,”, and added he went there regularly for two years but stopped after that as everything started getting commercial.

Pandey has also worked in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada movies.

He would soon be seen in “Lahore”, a film based on Indo-Pak relationship, “Sankalp”, a Punjabi flick “Jassa Singh Ramgarhia” based on Guerrilla War, where he plays a negative character, and a Bhojpuri film “Pandey”. He is also directing a film “Black Cloud”.

Pandey said he had played almost all characters but wants to play a role of a blind.

This was his first visit in the city but he plans to visit here often, as he loves traveling and exploring places. He had also opened an acting institute in Ghaziabad.

Not many know that Pandey is a good singer, painter and a photographer. He had also lent his voice for a Sufi music album “Jazbaa”. “Although I am not interested in Bollywood kind of singing, as I just want to concentrate on one thing that is acting, people will be able to listen me in my new movie ‘Black Cloud’”, he added.

Panipat, May 25
The accumulation of sewer water on the Desh Bandhu Marg has made life miserable for the residents of Desraj Colony. The residents now fear that the continuous stagnation of water could lead to the outbreak of some disease in the colony.

Even as the residents took up the matter with the authorities a number of times, no action has been taken and the conditions remained the same. The residents say if a suitable action is not taken, they would form a struggle committee to fight for their right to clean environment.

In fact, the residents say, they have already initiated the process to form a committee. “It has almost been a month that filthy water is getting accumulated in the colony. Despite having approached the authorities a number of times, no one ever bothered to visit the affected area,” they say.

The accumulated water has been providing a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes that could lead to the spread of malaria. The residents say the road has been rendered useless for walking and only those using vehicles can cross the road. They say the road also leads to the cremation ground and people have to face a lot of hardships to reach there.

Similar is the situation at the railway underpass on the Asandh road in the city. The drainage system there gets blocked quite often and sewer water gets accumulated. This underpass is used extensively by a large number of commuters, especially those using two-wheelers.

The residents say unhygienic environment has become a part and parcel of their lives as the local civic authorities have not done anything to ensure proper cleanliness.

Fatehabad, May 25
Kunal Bhadoo, founder of the Navyug Nirman Charitable Trust, an NGO working towards the social-economic development of the community in the district, has been conferred “Vocational Services Excellence Award” by the Rotary Club of New Delhi. The award was conferred on him by Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit recently.

Kunal, son-in-law of the state Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has been active in the field of social service by taking up a myriad of activities like replacing incandescent bulbs with CFL lamps, installing florescent stickers behind slow-moving tractor trailers and carts to avoid accidents during night time and foggy weather, testing soil of farmers to know its fertility and advise treatment accordingly, cleanliness drive and ensuring proper implementation of schemes like the NREGS.

The citation given to him describes Kunal as “one amongst the rare group of inspired people who give up their life’s comforts to work for the community. An alumnus of the London School of Economics and a chartered accountant, he left the globally renowned firm of Pricewaterhouse Coopers, London, came to India and founded the trust.”

The citation says the mission of the trust is to channelise people’s energy into people’s force, which will in turn lead to a new era of socio-economic development for the entire community.

With the belief that jointly we can change the world, Kunal has been working to make all citizens join together, inspiring them to be model citizens to take the community and the country forward.

Broadly, his initiatives cover energy conservation, environmental protection, community infrastructure projects, medical camps, sanitation drive and education.