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Invoking Maya factor to get Cong ticket
Chandigarh, September 14
Various communities are trying to use the “Maya factor” to their advantage while dealing with the Congress, particularly at a time when the party is deep thick in the process of distributing the ticket for the coming Haryana Assembly elections.

Ticket allotment tough task for Cong in Rohtak
Rohtak, September 14
While the total number of Assembly seats in the district has been reduced from five to four due to delimitation, the Congress is set to have a tough time in selecting nominees.

131 in race for Congress ticket from five Karnal seats
Karnal, September 14
The race for Congress ticket from five assembly constituencies in Karnal district has started hotting up with 131 contenders staking their claim. The Congress observer for Karnal, Bhishma Sharma, a former Delhi MLA, was flooded with applications for the ticket during his visit here.



EARLIER EDITIONS



Assembly Poll
In Sohna, it’s Gujjars vs Meos
Gurgaon, September 14
With the implementation of the delimitation order, the Gurgaon and Sohna Assembly constituencies have undergone considerable demographic changes. Sohna has witnessed intense contests between Yadavs and Gujjars in the previous Assembly elections.

SAARC workshop focuses on food security
Karnal, September 14
The need for improved nutrient management to sustain high yields, protecting the environment, making agriculture economically attractive to farmers and paying more attention to the management of acidic and waterlogged soil to fulfill the demand of food of the SAARC countries in the near future was the main thrust of the three-day regional SAARC workshop on “Nutrient Use Efficiency in Agriculture”.

NGO gets national award for social service
Sirsa, September 14
Disha, a local NGO working for the welfare of persons with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities, achieved the distinction of getting a national prize for its services in these fields, when it received the Best Sheltered Workshop Award during the National Trust-2009 Awards organised in Delhi recently.

World Dance Festival-2009
Started with a bang, ended in a whimper
Gurgaon, September 14
The four-day World Dance Festival-2009 (WDF) concluded here on Sunday. The artists enthralled the audiences by grooving on the rhythmic beats of salsa and jazz, along with energy sapping hip-hop and street dance. Offbeat dance forms like zouk, Arabic zouk, capoeira and pagode also attracted the learners as well as the audience. In addition to the popular classical forms like Kathak, pulsating Punjabi tunes and Bollywood numbers, too, were added extravaganza.


Artists perform during the World Dance Festival in Gurgaon. Tribune photo: Sayeed Ahmed
Artists perform during the World Dance Festival in Gurgaon

HR management vital in shaping future strategies, say experts
Gurgaon, September 14
Of late, human resources management is seen as a segment to shape the future strategies of organisations. This should be attributed to the opening up of the economy, besides the presence of more entrepreneurs and MNCs to learn globally acknowledged industrial practices, technology proliferation and greater focus on the knowledge sector.

Hari Nair, chairman, HRM summit, N.S.Rajan from Ernst and Young, P Rajendran, COO and director, NIIT, and Col I.S.Gahlaut (retd), director-skills, HR-IR and Affirmative Action, CII, at a CII-HRM summit organised in Gurgaon
Hari Nair, chairman, HRM summit, N.S.Rajan from Ernst and Young, P Rajendran, COO and director, NIIT, and Col I.S.Gahlaut (retd), director-skills, HR-IR and Affirmative Action, CII, at a CII-HRM summit organised in Gurgaon. A Tribune photograph

T20 league a big draw in Sirsa
Sirsa, September 14
When T20 cricket fever is fast catching up on everyone, then how can Sirsa residents remain far behind. In the recently concluded JCD International Cricket League T20 Championship at the JCD Vidyapeeth grounds here, local people were provided with a heavy-duty dose of close contests and entertainment.

Akal Academy aims at empowering rural students
Ratia (Fatehabad), September 14
Located in the vicinity of Ajitsar Gurdwara on the outskirts of Ratia, Akal Academy, a CBSE-affiliated senior secondary school has been providing quality education to children of the area, mostly belonging to the farming community.
Girls offer prayers in Akal Academy, Ratia.
A Tribune photograph
Girls offer prayers in Akal Academy, Ratia

Students made familiar with nano-technology
Kurukshetra, September 14
Gita Niketan Aavasiya Vidyalaya, Kurukshetra, organised a Science Fair at its school premises here recently. Dr SK Chakravarty, head of the Physics Department, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, was the chief guest.
Biology students of Gita Niketan Aavasiya Vidyalaya, Kurukshetra, collect blood samples during the blood group testing programme organised at a Science Fair in the school recently. Photo by writer

Biology students of Gita Niketan Aavasiya Vidyalaya, Kurukshetra, collect blood samples during the blood group testing programme organised at a Science Fair in the school recently

Sonepat varsity launches wall magazine
Sonepat, September 14
The Department of Computer Science and Engineering of the Deen Bandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal, Sonepat, recently launched a wall magazine, along with its e-version. Vice-chancellor HS Chahal inaugurated the magazine at a ceremony held in the computer centre of the university.

Hisar university to hold farm darshan mela
Chandigarh, September 14
A two-day Farm Darshan Mela will be organised at Ch. Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, from September 16. The theme of this year's mela will be the Integrated Nutrients Management.

This is how an area adjacent to Hathnikund look like after a sudden discharge from the barrage recently
This is how an area adjacent to Hathnikund look like after a sudden discharge from the barrage recently. Tribune photo: Kiran Deep

Campaign to popularise eye donation
Gurgaon, September 14
A series of events were organised by the Niramaya Trust to raise awareness about eye donation among the masses here recently. A run for vision was also organised that was flagged off by cricketer Virender Sehwag.

Bonanza for BSNL customers
Sirsa, September 14
BSNL has issued balance-based tariff for its prepaid customers. VR Kamboj, SDO (Marketing), BSNL, said that customers maintaining a balance of Rs 1000 in their SIM, would be charged 40 paisa per local call instead of the normal tariff of 49 paisa.

NDRI team to probe Kalyani firing incident
Karnal, September 14
A four-member team of senior scientists of National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal, will inquire into the incident of alleged firing by D K Sharma, head of Kalyani centre in West Bengal, from the gun of a security guard.

Letter
HPSC/HSSC should launch websites
Although every state government department/board/corporation/commission is maintaining its own official website, the two recruitment bodies ---. Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) and Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) — are yet to go online.

Gurgaon at night
GURGAON AT NIGHT
— Tribune photo: Sayeed Ahmed
BACK TO HOME ON A RAINY DAY
BACK TO HOME ON A RAINY DAY: A youth with his herd of cattle caught in rain near Paatli village in Gurgaon district
A youth with his herd of cattle caught in rain near Paatli village in Gurgaon district.
— Tribune photo: Sayeed Ahmed

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Invoking Maya factor to get Cong ticket
Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 14
Various communities are trying to use the “Maya factor” to their advantage while dealing with the Congress, particularly at a time when the party is deep thick in the process of distributing the ticket for the coming Haryana Assembly elections.

Initially, it was the Dalit community, particularly its “B” category (Chamars), that left no opportunity to remind the Congress high command that the growing influence of the Mayawati-led BSP was fast threatening the traditional voter base of the ruling party. The Congress, which, for several elections, had remained a silent witness to the gradual erosion in its voter base among the Dalits, felt the real danger when the “social engineering experiment” of Mayawati catapulted her and her party to power in the largest state in the country. Since UP is adjoining to Haryana, the shockwaves for the Congress were more intense in the Jat land than anywhere else.

The Congress immediately launched efforts to contain the spread of the BSP in Haryana. A moderate Dalit, Phool Chand Mullana, was made president of the state unit in the hope that it would stop the Dalit march towards the BSP. Since the Congress put up a good show in the recent Lok Sabha elections by winning nine of the 10 seats, it can claim that its experiment of the Jat-Dalit combination has succeeded to a large extent. But one should not forget that during the same elections, the BSP emerged at the number two slot in terms of the voter percentage in the state, though the party failed to make entry to Parliament from Haryana.

After the Dalits, the Brahmins were the first so-called upper caste community, which tried to use the Maya factor to demand greater share in the power from the Congress. Its argument was that the BSP success in UP was due to the Brahmin-Dalit combine. Certain Brahmin leaders did try to forge links with the Haryana BSP before the Lok Sabha elections but somehow the experiment fizzled out. Now again, just before the Assembly elections, certain Brahmin leaders have quit the Haryana Janhit Congress of Kuldeep Bishnoi to join the BSP.

The latest to join the race is the Vaish community. Its leaders argued before Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and other Congress senior leaders recently that the Brahmin community was not the lone upper caste to support Mayawati in UP; the Vaish community had an equal participation in the BSP success.

The Vaish leaders also asserted that one of the main factors in the recent success of the Congress in Haryana and Rajasthan was the support of their community. Demanding a greater share in the Congress list of candidates for Haryana, the Vaish leaders rued that over the years the number of their representatives in the Assembly had come down from 14 to four. They said it was rare that a Vaish contesting on the Congress ticket had lost the election in Haryana. They said though over the years the Congress had been showing reluctance to field the Vaish candidates, the community never shifted its loyalty.

They claimed that in a bid to woo the Vaish community in the state, Mayawati had asked her confidant, Akhilesh Das, a former Union Minister and a prominent Vaish leader, to tour Haryana before the elections. Das is among prominent Vaish leaders in the country. The Vaish leaders said their community members could be given representation from several constituencies like Jind, Sirsa, Hissar, Panchkula, Kalka, Rohtak, Karnal, Samalkha, Hansi, Bhiwani, Gurgoan, Ambala Cantt., Jagadhari and Thanesar.

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Ticket allotment tough task for Cong in Rohtak
Bijendra Ahlawat
Tribune News Service

Rohtak, September 14
While the total number of Assembly seats in the district has been reduced from five to four due to delimitation, the Congress is set to have a tough time in selecting nominees.

Rebels have already surfaced at some of the seats and have even started campaigning while the party is yet to scan the list of probable candidates, which is perhaps the longest this time.

“The party is likely to announce its first list of candidates by September 17, but lobbying for the ticket has already started with a number of contenders putting up their claims,” said a party activist.

He said the list of contenders was quite long for each of the segment. The fact that the total number of seats had been reduced to four could be a disappointing factor and might lead to resentment among those who failed to get a chance, he added.

The four Assembly seats in the district are Garhi-Sampla-Kiloi, Rohtak, Meham and Kalanaur.

Garhi-Sampla-Kiloi is the constituency of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and he is likely to re-contest from here. The second important seat is Rohtak, which has now fallen vacant after the election of its incumbent Shadi Lal Batra to the Rajya Sabha. Here, several contenders are in race, but the proximity of the candidate to the CM is what which will decide the winner, claimed a source in the party office here.

A majority of the candidates vying for the ticket from Rohtak have urban or semi-urban background and most probably it will go to a local resident, said the source.

The Meham and Kalanaur constituencies are dominated by rural voters. Meham has been in news for various reasons, including poll violence in 1989. It was represented by former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal. Meham is still a hot seat for both the Congress and its main opponent, the INLD. The segment is in news after two Congress leaders announced to contest elections from here as independent candidates. Both of them have already started their campaign.

Ramkishan, a resident of Kharkara village, the lack of development and various other issues prompted Shamsher Singh, a local Congress leader, to enter the fray without waiting for the official nomination. The other leader who has launched his campaign as an independent candidate from this seat is Surender Dalal.

The fourth seat in the district is Kalanaur, a reserved seat, which was represented by former Health Minister Kartar Devi, who died of illness last month. Several claimants for the party ticket from this seat have surfaced and some of them have been claiming to have the blessings of both the state and central leadership, said a party worker.

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131 in race for Congress ticket from five Karnal seats
Bhanu P Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Karnal, September 14
The race for Congress ticket from five assembly constituencies in Karnal district has started hotting up with 131 contenders staking their claim. The Congress observer for Karnal, Bhishma Sharma, a former Delhi MLA, was flooded with applications for the ticket during his visit here.

The situation in the district has changed significantly after the fresh delimitation as the Jundla (SC) constituency, represented by Minister of State Meena Mandal, and the Pai constituency held by Tejinder Singh Mann have been abolished while the Assandh constituency has been opened and Nilokheri reserved. All five sitting MLAs from the district are in the race but Meena Mandal has sought the ticket from Nilokheri (SC).

Besides sitting MLA Sumita Singh from the Karnal assembly seat, 10 other contenders, including former minister Jai Prakash Gupta, Rakesh Nag pal, Parag Gaba, Suresh Gupta, Amritpal Bitto, Ishwar Singh Rod, Shubh Lakshya Bansal, Kawal Bhasin, Bhagwan Das Adhi, Madan Gopal Gandhi and Surinder Jaglan are in the race.

As many as 15 candidates, including sitting MLA Bhem Sen Mehta, Amichand Kamboj, Nahar Singh Sandhu, Sanjeev Kamboj, Suresh Bhardwaj, Ilam Singh Numberdar, Dhanpat Mor, Sunil Pawar, Satya Narayan Sharma, Chaderpal Kamboj, Lakshman Kamboj, Karan Singh Khanpur and Rampal Singh submitted their applications for the Indri Assembly seat.

Sitting MLA Jai Singh Rana was among 15 candidates in race for the ticket from Gharaunda. The other contenders included Sohan Lal Gupta, Ranbhir Sandhu, Goginder Chauhan, Krishan Sharma Bastara, Nanpal Rana, Nirmal Kalyan, Rajinder Kalyan, Om Prakash Rana, Rajbeer Mokal, Randeep Rana, Ram Singh Bastara, Virender Lambra, Balwan Saini and Bir Singh Pal.

A maximum number of 49 candidates, including sitting MLA from abolished Pai constituency Tajinder Pal Mann, AICC member Kamal Mann, District Congress President (Rural) Surinder Narval, Shamsher Gogi, Raghuveer Singh Virk, Pankaj Punia, Ramesh Choudhry, Thakur Bajinder Singh, and Pratap singh Shori are in the race for the Assandh constituency which had been opened after 32 years.

The Nilokheri Assembly constituency, which has been reserved after delimitation also, received 39 applications with former state minister Meena Mandal, whose Jundla (SC) constituency had been abolished looking for better fortunes in the new turf. Rajkumar Valmiki, Gyan Sahota, Azaad Singh Valmiki, Ramsharan Bhola, Joginder Valmiki, Santosh Kairaliya, Krishan Karsa, Kiran Pal Gher, Pala Ram Valmiki and Gopal Krishan Sahota were among the other contenders in the race.

Surprisingly, national General Secretary of the Youth Congress Virender Rathore did not stake his claim for the ticket before the observer.

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Assembly Poll
In Sohna, it’s Gujjars vs Meos
Sonika Bhatia
Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, September 14
With the implementation of the delimitation order, the Gurgaon and Sohna Assembly constituencies have undergone considerable demographic changes.

Sohna has witnessed intense contests between Yadavs and Gujjars in the previous Assembly elections. However, with a majority of Yadav voters moving to the newly created Badshahpur and Pataudi Assembly constituencies post-delimitation, the battlegrounds have shifted. Now, the fight would be between Gujjars and Meos as a majority of Meo voters from the Taoru Assembly constituency, which stands abolished, have been shifted to Sohna.

In the last Assembly poll, an independent Gujjar leader, Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria, defeated Congress candidate Rao Dharampal, despite a strong Congress wave in the state.

However, in the recently held Lok Sabha poll, he tried for a Congress ticket from Rajasthan but was unsuccessful and had to contest as an independent, but finished third.

Now, it is said that his application seeking Congress membership has been rejected by the party high command.

However, hoardings of Jaunapuria can be seen all over the constituency in which he has claimed numerous achievements during the last four years. He has even praised Hooda for being kind to him despite the fact that he had defeated Congress candidate Rao Dharampal.

With Jaunapuria out of question, there are still many contenders for the Congress ticket, including party president of Sohna block Jitender Bhardwaj. Rao Dharampal, a strong contender for Congress ticket from Sohna, has, however, shifted to Badshahpur. Apart from Bhardwaj, a string of Gujjar leaders are also vying for the Congress ticket.

Similarly, the INLD, too, has a string of Gujjar leaders like Anantram Tanwar, Madan Lal Gujjar, etc., who had unsuccessfully contested Assembly elections in the past. The HJC-BJP alliance is still to mature, but there are rumours that if the Sohna seat goes to the BJP in the proposed coalition, it might field a Gujjar or a Rajput candidate to make the contest evenly poised. But if it goes to the HJC, it is likely to field a Gujjar candidate making a choice between Rohtash Khatana and Mahesh Dayma.

The BSP is in a dilemma as to whom to field as its strong Meo leader Ch Zakir Hussain has not made it clear as to from where he would contest. Sohna is a Hindu-dominated seat and party vote bank will play a crucial role in deciding the outcome. Undoubtedly, many independents from various castes are expected to contest after the denial of ticket.

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SAARC workshop focuses on food security
Bhanu P. Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Karnal, September 14
The need for improved nutrient management to sustain high yields, protecting the environment, making agriculture economically attractive to farmers and paying more attention to the management of acidic and waterlogged soil to fulfill the demand of food of the SAARC countries in the near future was the main thrust of the three-day regional SAARC workshop on “Nutrient Use Efficiency in Agriculture”. It was sponsored by the SAARC directorate, Ministry of External Affairs.

About 60 delegates, including SAARC representatives from India, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan, dignitaries, delegates and experts participated in the workshop.

The participants also discussed sustainable crop production to meet the demand of food security as well as managing the natural resources sustainably in the SAARC region. Coastal soil management and fertiliser use scenario of the SAARC countries remained in focus during the discussions and it was suggested by the experts of the SAARC countries that water flowing down due to the melting of glaciers should be utilised for crop irrigation. Concern was also raised about the widening of nutrient use ratios in favour of nitrogen in the SAARC countries (ideal being 4:2:1 for N:P2O5:K2O).

AK Singh, deputy director-general of the ICAR, expressed concern over the declining productivity in the SAARC region and called upon the SAARC countries to examine the challenges emerging from intensive cultivation and explore means to meet them. The affected countries should focus on improving nutrient management plans to sustain high yields and address the problems of Sulphur deficiency, particularly in the pulse and oilseed crop segments, he added.

Dr Singh also raised concern over burning rice and wheat residues and cautioned that in addition to the loss of nutrients, this practice also caused environmental degradation.

Gurbachan Singh, director, CSSRI, Karnal, emphasised that rational and balanced use of nutrients in sustainable crop production was a must for meeting the food requirement of the SAARC countries. He said the soil in the SAARC countries was generally low in organic matter and had been subjected to consistent nutrient depletion due to continuous cropping.

Dr PD Sharma, additional director-general, ICAR, said the use of high salt/alkaline water for irrigation also resulted in severe reduction in the capacity of soil to sustain high yields. Negative nutrient balance in the absence of organic manure use was being rated as the potential limitation in achieving sustainable production in the region, he added.

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NGO gets national award for social service
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, September 14
Disha, a local NGO working for the welfare of persons with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities, achieved the distinction of getting a national prize for its services in these fields, when it received the Best Sheltered Workshop Award during the National Trust-2009 Awards organised in Delhi recently.

D. Napoleon, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, gave away the award to Geeta Kathuria, director, Disha. The award carries Rs 50,000 in cash, a shield and a citation.

The function was organised in the World Youth Centre auditorium in Chanakyapuri, Delhi.

“It is for the third time in the past four years that the NGO has received an award at the national level. Earlier, Disha has been awarded in 2005, 2006 and 2008 under different categories. This year, we have been awarded the Best Sheltered Workshop Award for workshop set up by the NGO, where persons suffering from disabilities prepare various kinds of items to sell them in the market and become self-reliant to some extent,” said Surinder Bhatia, secretary, Disha.

The National Trust for the welfare of persons with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities is an autonomous body set up under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment that provides grants-in-aid to various NGOs working in the field of welfare of special children and also encourages the organisations doing good work in the field.

“We started a vocational training for special children four years ago where these children are given training in candle making, packing of spices, tea and detergent powder and making papad,” informed Bhatia.

He said the NGO had purchased a 1,800m plot from the Haryana Industrial Corporation, where a permanent sheltered workshop for these children would be set up soon. Construction work on the workshop had already been started, Bhatia added.

Caption: Geeta Kathuria, director, Disha, receives the Best Sheltered Workshop Award from D. Napoleon, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment.

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World Dance Festival-2009
Started with a bang, ended in a whimper
Sonika Bhatia
Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, September 14
The four-day World Dance Festival-2009 (WDF) concluded here on Sunday.

The artists enthralled the audiences by grooving on the rhythmic beats of salsa and jazz, along with energy sapping hip-hop and street dance. Offbeat dance forms like zouk, Arabic zouk, capoeira and pagode also attracted the learners as well as the audience. In addition to the popular classical forms like Kathak, pulsating Punjabi tunes and Bollywood numbers, too, were added extravaganza.

The festival saw dance workshops and performances by artists, who presented a perfect integration of cultural vibrancy and vivacious dances. Uma Sharma and Radika presented Kathak and Bollywood dances, respectively. Jazz, hip-hop, street dance by Tati, Kabelo and Henrique; cha cha cha and salsa cubana by Kaytee and Minette were few of the other dances that were liked by the crowd. The event hosted 72 workshops and was inaugurated by Clelia Angelon, president of Surya Brasil - hair care and skin care manufacturer from Brazil. She said: “India is the starting point and from here we plan to go across the globe.”

Though the organisers claimed that the dance festival included dancers from all over the world, dancers from only two countries performed in it - one the organising country Brazil and the other host country India.

“A ticketed event, the dance festival is positioned to be the biggest Latin American expression ever organised in India, bringing people together, narrowing geographic distances,” Clelia had said in her inaugural speech, adding: “We will be including dancers from other countries in near future.”

The festival had lost its zing towards the end, as the expected number of audience didn’t turn up to witness the performances.

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HR management vital in shaping future strategies, say experts
Sunit Dhawan
Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, September 14
Of late, human resources management is seen as a segment to shape the future strategies of organisations. This should be attributed to the opening up of the economy, besides the presence of more entrepreneurs and MNCs to learn globally acknowledged industrial practices, technology proliferation and greater focus on the knowledge sector. This was stated by P.Rajendran, COO and director, NIIT, while speaking at a CII-HRM summit organised by the CII here recently. He made a presentation about a modular HR set-up, having different streams, namely HR compliance, HR services and HR strategy. "This is required as new sources of talent pool are to be identified with a focus on differential management of critical resources," he maintained.

N.S.Rajan, partner and national leader (human capital), Ernst and Young HR advisory, asserted that HR should now focus on the services sector, creating a blend between the service provider and HRM. This should aim at creating niches for differentiating temporary monopolies, he added. He further stated that technology, mergers and acquisitions, outsourcing, changing preferences, internal customers, employees, were the indicators of the industry moving towards a fresh outlook. "The onus of building intellectual and psychological capital and platform for knowledge sharing lies with HR," he pointed out, adding that such challenging tasks should be dealt with extensive participation from industry and services.

Amit Bhatia, founder and CEO, Aspire Human Capital Management, observed that HR already played a very important role in six-seven modes, which included employee communication to the CEO, employee pride etc. HR was an interface between human psychology and business processes and there was growing need to reinvent HR.

Dhruv Shringi, co-founder and CEO, Yatra Online Pvt Ltd, stated that HR had a role of driving cross-functional understanding. "The stream must, therefore, become a moral compass of ethics and business activities," he said and added that HR must facilitate entrepreneurship within the organisation.

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T20 league a big draw in Sirsa
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, September 14
When T20 cricket fever is fast catching up on everyone, then how can Sirsa residents remain far behind. In the recently concluded JCD International Cricket League T20 Championship at the JCD Vidyapeeth grounds here, local people were provided with a heavy-duty dose of close contests and entertainment.

Played in the ultramodern floodlit cricket ground with lush green outfield, all the matches were a big draw. Packed to the capacity of around 25,000 spectators, all nine days were charged with electric atmosphere.

Eight teams - Sri Lanka Tigers, UAE Dynamites, Hong Kong Heroes, South Africa Steelers, LIC Warriors, Indian Air Force Flyers, Sirsa Sizzlers and Chandigarh Challengers - played in this year’s cricket league. Absorbing competition was witnessed between the teams, which produced their best to entertain the spectators.

Cultural programmes were organised on the inaugural and concluding days. Hosts Sirsa Sizzlers defeated LIC Warriors by two wickets to win the JCD International Cricket League T20 Championship at the JCD stadium in the final of the league.

In the finals, Sirsa Sizzler Captain Digvijay Singh won the toss and put LIC Warriors in to bat.

Helped by Shiv Kant Sharma’s 34 runs of 29 balls and Naman Sharma’s 33 runs of 29 balls, LIC Warriors scored 144 runs in its allotted 20 overs.

Joginder Singh and Prem Pratik got 2 wickets apiece.

A display of good batting by Joginder Singh saved Sirsa Sizzlers from collapse after openers Tapan Jain (13) and Lokesh Sharma (0) went cheaply.

Dismissal of Pankaj Bisht (14) and Rajender Bisht (0) added to Sirsa Sizzler’s woes before Joginder Singh took command of the game. The teams were evenly placed when the last ball was bowled.

Deepak Chaudhary scored a single on the last ball of the match to secure the victory for the host team.

Former Indian cricket captain Bishan Singh Bedi was chief guest of the occasion. Former cricketer Yograj Singh presented a cheque of Rs 4.50 lakh to the winning captain Digvijay Singh.

The runner-up LIC Warriors bagged a cheque of Rs 2.50 lakh. Man of the tournament Joginder Singh received Yamha Super Bike.

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Akal Academy aims at empowering rural students
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Ratia (Fatehabad), September 14
Located in the vicinity of Ajitsar Gurdwara on the outskirts of Ratia, Akal Academy, a CBSE-affiliated senior secondary school has been providing quality education to children of the area, mostly belonging to the farming community.

Akal Academy, Ratia, is one of the 52 such schools set up by the Kalgidhar Society of Baru Sahib in Himachal Pradesh in northern India, four of them in Haryana at Salam Khera (Fatehabad) and Ellenabad and Baragura, both in Sirsa.

A look at the dresses and demeanour of the students as well as teachers makes the spiritual aspect of the institution’s teachings clearly discernible, but the moment one talks to the students, the modernity in Akal Academy’s teaching system, comes up.

Incidentally, a majority of the students enrolled in this school are from the rural areaswhere, it is said, agriculture is the only culture.

However, boys and girls coming from families of rural farmers are good at spoken English.

To avoid any discrimination, both boys and girls wear a similar dresses comprising “kurta pyjama” and a turban or “patka” as the headgear, with white and blue-coloured uniforms prescribed on alternate days.

No earrings, bangles, nail polish, lipstick or any other makeup is allowed to girls. So much so that it is difficult to distinguish between boys and girlstill they attain their teens.

“We have been maintaining the highest standards of education in our school. Teachers are paid as per the pay scales prescribed by the state government, facilitating us to get the best of teachers,” said Indu Sharma, Principal.

“We at Akal Academy are committed to producing future professionals who have balanced personalities with high character and disciplined life and who may become lights of peace for the world. For this, we ensure our students imbibe universal moral values and highest spiritual tenets along with usual subjects,” adds Indu Sharma.

The school has three science labs, an environment science lab, a works lab and a language lab, besides a good library.

District Education Officer Harcharan Singh Chhokar says this is the finest institution he has ever visited, where quality education is provided with emphasis on inculcating discipline and moral values among children.

The Kalgidhar Society of Baru Sahib, headed by Baba Iqbal Singh, a former Director of Agriculture in Himachal Pradesh, runs Eternal University, a deemed university in the peaceful atmosphere in the hills of Sirmaur district of Himachal.

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Students made familiar with nano-technology
DR Vij

Kurukshetra, September 14
Gita Niketan Aavasiya Vidyalaya, Kurukshetra, organised a Science Fair at its school premises here recently.

Dr SK Chakravarty, head of the Physics Department, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, was the chief guest. Rishi Goel, principal of the Vidyalaya, introduced the chief guest as a scholar of international repute to the audience.

While inaugurating the fair, Dr Chakravarty enlightened everyone present on a lesser-known technology called “Nano Technology”. He gave his presentation using a LCD projector and a comprehensible language. He threw open the world of the smallest things to the students.

BBC’s Award-winning documentary on Life Sciences was shown to the students, a majority of whom participated in various competitions held on the occasion like slogan writing, poster making, science quiz, etc.

Experts from Panorama spellbound the students with their Liquid Nitrogen Show. The fair came to an end with the students presenting their papers on Ancient Indian Chemistry1 and Panchgavya.

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Sonepat varsity launches wall magazine
BS Malik

Sonepat, September 14
The Department of Computer Science and Engineering of the Deen Bandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal, Sonepat, recently launched a wall magazine, along with its e-version. Vice-chancellor HS Chahal inaugurated the magazine at a ceremony held in the computer centre of the university.

In his address, Chahal appreciated the initiative shown by the students and Darshna Hooda, system analyst, saying that the efforts were praiseworthy which indicated their interest and involvement in the learning programme.

He stressed that the students should develop software which could be used by small industries.

He suggested that by this way some consultancy project could also be taken up by the centre in association with project work of the students and this would help in the development of the Business Incubation Centre in the university.

He said every student passing out from the university should be well versed with computer knowledge and skills.

The vice-chancellor complemented the staff of the centre. It was also mentioned by the coordinators that two editions of the magazine carrying the latest news from the IT world would be released every month on the wall of the university premises and e-version would be available at www.cwmag.co.cc.

The guest of honour, Dr Yogesh Chaba from GJU, Hisar, congratulated Darshna and her team for their efforts. RK Arora, registrar, deans and chiefs of other departments were also present on the occasion.

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Hisar university to hold farm darshan mela
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 14
A two-day Farm Darshan Mela will be organised at Ch. Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, from September 16. The theme of this year's mela will be the Integrated Nutrients Management.

Dr HD Yadav, convener of the mela and extension education director of the university, said farmers would be informed about the methods of improving the soil fertility during the mela.

Yadav said to maintain sustainability in the agriculture production had become a major challenge for farmers, scientists and agriculture planners.

In view of this fact, the farmers coming to the mela from Haryana and neighbouring states would be apprised of the optimum use of agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilisers, bio-fertilisers, etc., besides giving them information regarding scientific methods of growing rabi crops like wheat, gram, mustard, etc. He appealed to farmers and unemployed youth to visit the mela and get benefit from the latest scientific techniques of rabi and kharif crops.

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Campaign to popularise eye donation
Sonika Bhatia
Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, September 14
A series of events were organised by the Niramaya Trust to raise awareness about eye donation among the masses here recently. A run for vision was also organised that was flagged off by cricketer Virender Sehwag.

Gurgaon deputy commissioner Rajender Kumar Kataria also participated in the run.

Sehwag signed an eye donation form and also requested people to donate their eyes. “I believe that donating eyes would give vision to two individuals after one’s death. I would be happy to provide vision to others through my eyes. I am happy that I am attached with a few organisations for the cause. I feel that people need to be aware about eye donation,” he said.

Around 2,500 participants, including students, youths, corporate employees, RWA members of Gurgaon and NCR, ran for the cause. The participants carried the message of “netradaan mahadaan”. The run started from DT Mega Mall and ended at the Galleria Market.

Dr TN Ahooja, president of the trust, said: “The run was organised to inform more and more people about the cause and motivate them to donate their eyes. We have also organised seminars in schools and corporate hubs to promote the cause”.

Many students of schools like CCA, Blue Bells Model School, Our Lady of Fatima Public School, Lions Public School, Rao Ram Singh School and Royal Public School participated in the run.

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Bonanza for BSNL customers
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, September 14
BSNL has issued balance-based tariff for its prepaid customers.

VR Kamboj, SDO (Marketing), BSNL, said that customers maintaining a balance of Rs 1000 in their SIM, would be charged 40 paisa per local call instead of the normal tariff of 49 paisa.

Those maintaining a balance of Rs 2500, would be charged 30 Paisa and those with a balance of Rs 5,000 would be charged 20 Paisa per local call of one minute.

Even, the STD charges for those with a balance of Rs 2500 and Rs 5000 would become Rs 1 and 60 paisa per minute, respectively.

In another usage-based tariff, BSNL has announced a bonus of Rs 100 worth of talk-time for all consumers making calls worth Rs 500 or more in a month.

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NDRI team to probe Kalyani firing incident
Tribune News Service

Karnal, September 14
A four-member team of senior scientists of National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal, will inquire into the incident of alleged firing by D K Sharma, head of Kalyani centre in West Bengal, from the gun of a security guard.

The enquiry team, consisting of joint directors, S L Goswami and G R Patil, chief administrator JK Kewal Ramani and chief financial officer S George, have left for Kalyani to ascertain the facts.

A K Srivastav, director, NDRI, confirmed that a probe team had been constituted and it would visit Kalyani and submit its report within four days. If necessary, further action would be taken on the basis of the report, he added.

Sharma reportedly fired from the gun of a security guard last week and the matter was reported at Kalyani police station.

Sharma, a resident of Karnal, was transferred to Yard Centre in Nagaland few years back from where he was shifted to another centre in the same state. After sometime he was selected to head the Kalyani centre and posted there.

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Letter
HPSC/HSSC should launch websites

Although every state government department/board/corporation/commission is maintaining its own official website, the two recruitment bodies ---. Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) and Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) — are yet to go online. Lakhs of aspirants apply for various recruitments/posts advertised by these commissions, but due to the absence of any official website, a lot of inconvenience is experienced, especially by outstation aspirants. The commission notices/corrigendums regarding the dates of written exams, physical/medical tests, interviews as well as the final results are usually published in vernacular newspapers or some editions of national dailies for which the intending candidates have to search various newspapers. It is high time that these commissions launch their own websites containing all information for the candidates. If possible, online submission of application forms/fees can also be considered on the lines of banking recruitments. It is really sad that though the state has since long framed its information techonology policy, the HSSC/HPSC are yet to become computer-savvy, though in recent times both have got their own well-equipped and state -of- the-art offices in Panchkula.

Hemant Kumar,
Ambala City

Readers are invited to write to us. Send your mail, in not more than 200 words, at haryana@tribuneindia.com or write in at: Letters, Haryana Plus, The Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh-160030.

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