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Enjoying ‘free’ power for years
Sanskrit Awards
Violent incidents in Punjab, Haryana |
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Overcoming physical disability with willpower
Encroachments
Partition-based plays still popular
Doctors to get training in examining rape victims
KU don honoured
New bus stand sought for Rewari
Best rover Tajender honoured
Letter
Women trained in making sanitary napkins
State to reward hockey team
IOC project at Panipat to be commissioned soon
School holds motivational workshop
Need for drip irrigation stressed
Dos and don’ts to tackle monkey menace
District officials, jail inmates donate blood
Stress laid on promoting quality education
MDU committee to be reconstituted
Remuneration of electoral officials hiked
Campaign to save aeroplanes from bird strikes
HMT employees start dharna
More land for Kalpana Chawla Medical College
New KU dean Kaang takes over
Workshop on documentary making
Water shortage: Team visits tail-end villages
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Enjoying ‘free’ power for years
Hisar, March 8 According to DHBVN sources, special teams carried out checks and found that meter readers had not been recording power consumption for years as a result of which no bills were issued. The special team inspected premises on Surajkund Road in Faridabad where the meter reader had not recorded reading since the release of the connection and the consumer had not received any bill for the past three years. As many as 1,43,123 units were found consumed. The consumer has been charged a bill amounting to Rs 6,90,275. The meter reader is being issued a chargesheet for the lapse. In another case, consumption of a consumer had not been recorded for nine months. The bill for the consumer concerned was being raised on an average consumption basis. On overhauling the account, the consumer was charged an amount of Rs 9,985. In yet another case, reading of the meter installed at a residence had not been taken since the release of the connection and the consumer was being charged on the basis of the sanctioned load. An amount of Rs 28,614 was charged from the consumer for unauthorised use of load as the connected load was found to be 4.306 KW whereas the connection was taken for 2 KW. In all these cases meter readers are being issued chargesheets for dereliction of duty. These teams also found that certain consumers were using domestic connections for commercial purposes. In the Housing Board Colony of Sector 10, the teams found two cases of non-domestic use of power and a penalty amounting to Rs 7.80 lakh was imposed on the erring consumers. After this the DHBVN officers launched a drive in the area and detected 215 cases of use of electricity for non-domestic purposes. Penalty amounting to Rs. 26.59 lakh was imposed on these consumers. As a result, 208 consumers in this area have applied for non-domestic connections now. In Gurgaon, the teams detected 1502 cases of power theft in the area and imposed penalties of Rs 4.55 crore on the erring consumers. FIRs were lodged against 255 consumers who did not deposit the penalty within the stipulated period. The teams have recovered arrears amounting to Rs 21.51 crore from 10,702 defaulters, including 117 already disconnected consumers. Meanwhile, Anurag Agarwal, Managing Director, DHBVN, said the nigam would disconnect the power supply to all those consumers who had not paid their bills. The supply to consumers who had accumulated large amounts of arrears would be disconnected first. The DHBVN chief has directed officers of the operation wing of the nigam to raid the premises of those consumers repeatedly who were caught stealing power. He said criminal cases should be registered and penalties imposed on such consumers. However, in the case of the first instance of theft, criminal cases would not be registered if the penalty and compounding charges were paid.
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Rambhagat gets Maharishi Balmiki Puraskar
SD Sharma
Panchkula, March 8 Maharishi Balmiki Puraskar of Rs 1 lakh will be conferred on Capt Rambhagat Sharma, Khudana (2008-09) and Vijyapal Vidya Varidhi (2009-10). Maharishi Ved Vyas and Mahakavi Ban Bhatt award of Rs 51,000 each will go to Swami Nigam Bodh, Kurukshetra (2008-09) and Dr Rambhagat Langyan, IAS (retd) (2009-10). Mahakavi Baan Bhatt award of Rs 51,000 will go to Prof Baldev Singh Mehra, Rohtak (2008-09) and Prof Shri Krishan Sharma (2009-10). Acharya Puraskar: Guru Virja Nand Acharya award of Rs 31,000 goes to Sadhu Ram Shastri, Kalka (2008-09) and Vijya Pal Vidya Varidhi (2009-10). Vidya Martand Pandit Sita Ram award of Rs 21,000 goes to Dr Daya Krishan Pant Pataudi (2008-09), Ranjit Mishar V. Jamala (2009-10). Yudishtar Meemansak Acharya award of Rs 11,000 goes to Devi Dutt Vats, Jind (2008-09) and Ram Swaroop Shastri, Hisar. Besides this, Dr Satya Pal Sharma gets Rs 21,000 for his book while Dr Naresh Batra of Ambala and Dr Chitranjan Dayal Kushal get Rs 10,000 each for their literary works. Literary luminaries, however, feel that certain deserving litterateurs have been deliberately ignored on one pretext or the other. Former director, Sanskrit and Hindi Sahit Academy, Dr Chander Trikha opined that the decision of the jury must be respected as the awardees had been selected on merit. But, the government must honour those Sanskrit scholars and bona fide residents of state who have been honoured by other states and even President of India with top awards, says Trikha. However, when names of some deserving persons for top awards were brought to the notice of RD Sharma, he said he had full respect for the choice of jury. The awards would be presented by the Chief Minister at a function shortly, he said.
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Violent incidents in Punjab, Haryana
Sirsa, March 8 "Such type of activities in which masked miscreants across the state stop buses in similar manner and torch them after asking passengers to come down cannot be done without formal training," said a senior officer. "The activities seemed to be thoroughly planned and well executed," he added. The biggest surprise people are expressing is that how the intelligence agencies failed to get any clue of such a large-scale planning that involved several towns in two states. The reason being given by a section that the relay of news regarding registration of criminal case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on a television channel of Punjab fanned the incidents does not seem plausible, as the CBI registered the case on February 22 and the incidents were sparked off on February 28. "This cannot be termed as intelligence failure," maintained a senior officer. "The Congress government in the state did not have any issue with the Dera Sacha Sauda and hence the action like this was neither anticipated nor was it called for," he added. Meanwhile, the silence observed by political parties, both in the government as well as in the Opposition, has also left the people perplexed. The Dera Sacha Sauda, of late, has been in news for the political interest shown by its followers, though through a separate offshoot called "political wing". Similarly, the official machinery, too, has been observing silence on the issue and has been sharing little information about the antecedents of persons arrested or identified for these incidents and the information gathered during their interrogation.
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Overcoming physical disability with willpower
Karnal, March 8 His disease was incurable but he did not give up and started practicing yoga for an improvement in his body conditions. It had magical impact on him and he felt more relaxed while writing and performing other actions. Taking his disease as a challenge, Ritesh, who could not move an inch without a wheel chair, completed his studies by regularly attending school and college, secured certificate in computing, postgraduate diploma in computer application after his B.Sc. and Master’s degree in information technology and overcome his disability by becoming computer literate. He was in search of some platform to guide other patients suffering from cerebral palsy, but no assistance was forthcoming from any quarters. But he was not disheartened and created his own blog (ritesh.blogspot.com) and created a community of patients suffering from cerebral palsy on Orkut. “To propagate yogic ‘mudras’ for the benefit of people suffering from cerebral palsy and reaching out to more such people, I turned to online networking sites and blogs,” he says. He has also devised new methods of writing through “mudras”, which helped in speedy cure of body ailments in a wonderful manner. The result of these “mudras” was astonishing in the concentration of mind. It helped in manipulating and redirecting the energy through hands and fingers and back to the body like reflection through mirror and each “mudra” established a different link with specific effect on the body and mind, says Ritesh. He says, “Earlier, I was not able to balance my body and had frequent falls. After practicing yoga, I have better control over my body. My self-confidence has increased and the frequency of incidental falls has reduced drastically”. Ritesh, who developed keen interest in Reiki, numerology and spiritual healing since his childhood, read about “mudras” and their affect on human health. After consulting doctors, he developed “mudras” which made his body relaxed. Ritesh also made a film on “vayu mudra” and participated in the Indian International Disability Film Festival where his film, “60 Seconds to Fame” was screened.
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Encroachments
Sonepat, March 8 Joshi was reviewing the progress of various schemes and programmes being implemented by the government at a meeting with officials of the revenue and panchayat departments here recently. The DC also directed the officials to issue job cards to those who had been allotted plots under the Mahatma Gandhi Gramin Basti Yojna. He told the district revenue officer to ensure that job cards were issued before the registration of plots by the tehsildars. The land acquisition process for the allotment of plots in villages where there was no panchayat land should be completed soon, he added. Referring to the guidelines for the preparation of 2010 census, the DC explained to patwaris and gram panchayat secretaries that they should complete
numbering of the houses ward-wise in national census register in such a way that it was not disturbed in future. Joshi asked the officers to accelerate development works and implementation of welfare schemes and cautioned that any kind of delay would not be
tolerated.
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Partition-based plays still popular
Kurukshetra, March 8 Written in 1980s, the play revolves around an old Hindu widow who has lost her son in the Partition riots and is then left alone in her haveli at Lahore. The haveli is allotted to a Muslim refugee family from Lucknow who comes and occupies it, but the widow refuses to leave. Despite some confrontations in the beginning, the old woman gradually wins over with her kindness and generosity not only the Muslim family, but also neighbouring local Muslim population. However, there are some wicked fanatics in the locality who concede that Hindus have no place in Pakistan and so want to evict the old lady from the haveli. Eventually, they fail in their nefarious efforts and love triumphs over hate. The plot of the play is uncomplicated yet spellbinding. The content of the play might seem archaic in the first instance, but in the light of the recent riotous situations in the country, it acquires an additional relevance. The play is actually significant for every section of society which has suffered from the problem of communalism in one way or the other. Virender's version of Wajahat's play markedly demonstrated how communal crises can only be overcome by compassion and empathy. What made it remarkable were the form, acting, sets and aesthetics. The opening of the play with the projection of slides showing the death and destruction during the Partition, along with heart-rending background score, gripped the audience's attention. They were immediately transported to the long-gone era. A nostalgic magnetism was further created with costumes and sets designed by Virender which were perfectly reminiscent of the past Muslim social milieu. Virender and his team embraced Vajahat's vision absolutely. Virender made an impression with his exploration of the entire stage by his staging and by having made sure that more than two decades old play with an even older theme remains as interesting as any of the contemporary ones. The success of the play largely depended on the skills of actors portraying lead roles and fortunately they did full justice to them. Deepti Dhamija, Santlal Nirwan, Madhudeep Singh, Abid Ali Ansari, Mahendra Sharma, Shiv Kumar, Ragini and Bawant played the main roles. Background music and ghazals were outstanding. Thus, Virender remained successful in making the show a fulfilling experience for the audience. Dinesh Rawat, director of ABC News, was invited by Vishwa Deepak Trikha, deputy director and in charge of MACC. Besides, journalist Rajeev Sanyaal, president, NEFA, and Rajesh Purohit, deputy director, Srikrishna Museum, Kurukshetra, were among those present on the occasion. Rawat gave away mementos to the cast and crew of the play and congratulated Trikha and Virender on the successful staging of the play.
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Doctors to get training in examining rape victims
Ambala, March 8 Dr Garg said the programme would be of one-month duration and HCMS doctors would be imparted training in proper examination of rape victims. The doctors would be given a kit for the purpose, which among other things would also have a proforma of questions and guidelines that they have to keep in mind during the medical examination. Among others, the meeting was attended by SK Dhapparwal from the PGIMS, Rohtak, and Dr Dalbir Singh of PGI, Chandigarh. It has been observed that women doctors often hesitate to examine rape victims and avoid giving medico-legal opinion in court which may give undue benefit to the accused of this heinous crime against women. Dr DS Bhullar, president of the Punjab Academy of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, a body of forensic medicine experts and medico legal consultants, said this might be due to the fact that women doctors were not properly trained in examining rape victims and their cross-examination by defence advocates in court. He said the Punjab and Haryana High Court had already directed Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh to ensure that men doctors were not assigned the job of conducting medico-legal examination of rape cases and that the directors of health services should issue directions to all doctors working under their supervision and control to the effect that as and when a victim was produced before any doctor for her medico-legal examination, the same should be examined only by a woman doctor or under the supervision of a registered woman medical practitioner. Dr Bhullar said in fact, the Punjab Academy of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology (PAFMAT) had stated that such cases should only be dealt by women public prosecutors and women defence lawyers. According to Dr Bhullar, all women doctors in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh must be given proper training in examining rape victims, evidence collection and handling in the interest of justice. The respective state governments must also ensure proper use of recommended rape victim examination kits by medical examiners for collection and proper preservation of evidence from the sexual assault victim which otherwise are not available in government hospitals.
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KU don honoured
Kurukshetra, March 8 Apart from the award, Dr Gupta received a "Certificate of Excellence" on the occasion. The award is presented to the eminent personalities from the field of education for their unrelenting effort to spread the ray of knowledge to every nook and corner of this country. Dr Gupta has been associated with Kurukshetra University since 1982 and with the American Biographical Institute since 2003 as an honorary member (research). He has guided 50 research students with Ph.D.and M.Phil. Degrees. Dr Gupta a set of his books to President Pratibha Patil at Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi, on March 4.
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New bus stand sought for Rewari
Rewari, March 8 Copies of the communication have also been despatched to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Transport and Tourism Minister Om Prakash Jain and several other dignitaries, said Prof Ranbir Singh Yadav, general secretary of the DHVLM. The DHVLM pointed out that the 45-year-old bus stand, which had been established here before the inception of Haryana in 1966, was almost in the heart of Rewari city. The frequent traffic snarls on the town's main roads owing to the location of the bus stand had become almost a scourge for motorists and others. Mentioning about the new modern bus stands constructed in Kurukshetra, Ambala Cantonment, Rohtak, Kaithal and Bhiwani, the manch pleaded for one in Rewari as well. Claiming that the district administration had already adjudged Sector 20 as an appropriate site for the new bus stand after directions from Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to the then Deputy Commissioner on December 16, 2008, Prof Yadav urged the Finance Minister to provide a new bus stand here expeditiously.
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Best rover Tajender honoured
Kaithal, March 8 Bakshish Girdhar, group leader, told mediapersons that Tajender Deep had done commendable work in the field of social service and youth awakening under the aegis of Bharat Scouts and Guides during 2008-2009. Tajender had earlier represented India in international camps in UK (2007) and Phillipines (2009) bringing laurels to the state. He got shields from Vice-President Hamid Ansari (2008) and Prime Minister’s Shield from the then Sports Minister Oscar Fernandes (2005).
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Give pensioners their due
This is with reference to a news item in Haryana Plus on March 1 that members of the Haryana State Pensioner’s Association Bhiwani were constrained to stage a protest to press for their demand for old age allowance of 5 and 10 per cent of basic pension on attaining the age of 65 and 75 years, respectively. It is sad that hapless pensioners had to resort to protest for their just and legitimate demands. Most of the pensioners in this age group were in service in composite Punjab before the formation of Haryana on November 1, 1966. The Punjab government is paying old age allowance to its pensioners, but the same has been denied to state pensioners, repeated assurances by political leaders notwithstanding. It is worth mentioning that as per the Reorganisation Act, expenditure on this account in respect of employees who joined service before November 1966 is to be shared by Punjab and Haryana governments in the ratio of 60 and 40 per cent, respectively. It is indeed paradoxical that the Haryana government is bearing the expenditure to the extent of 40 per cent for Punjab pensioners, but it denying this benefit to its own pensioners. Accordingly, in case of sanction of this allowance to Haryana pensioners, the expenditure on this account will be borne by the Punjab government to the extent of 60 per cent and the liability on Haryana exchequer will be only to the tune of 40 per cent. The Haryana government is again requested to accede to this longstanding and genuine demand and earn goodwill of the elders. Er DP Piplani 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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Women trained in making sanitary napkins
Kaithal, March 8 He further said two units each containing a de-fiberation machine, core forming machine and a napkin finishing machine has been installed at Panchayat Bhawan for manufacturing sanitary napkins. Training to 80 members of self-help groups has already been provided. The objective is that after training, they can start their own venture so as to augment their sources of income, besides proving direst or indirect employment to many others. Besides, by making low cost sanitary napkins, hygiene level among rural women can be improved. Verma said Kaithal had started the production of sanitary napkins under the name "Swachh." "The cost of one packet, which contains eight pads, is Rs 16. The salesgirl gets Rs 1 per packet as incentive. Till now, more than 2,000 sanitary napkins packets have been prepared by the SHGs and the same have been sent at the block level through child development project officers". Further, the district administration had decided that these packets would be provided in all anganwaris and to all adolescent girls through SSA so as to maintain retention in schools and to provide them hygienic atmosphere, he said, adding that any self-help group after getting training could start this activity and the DRDA would provide them subsidy of Rs 1.25 lakh and would also help in getting a loan of Rs 3 lakh from bank to start this business. However, from April 1, the subsidy would be Rs 2.5 lakh and loan Rs 6 lakh.
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State to reward hockey team
Sirsa, March 8 He also announced to give Rs 1 lakh each to those players of the team who scored goals against Pakistan in the match. The Minister also talked to the family members of Sardara Singh, a member of the team, who belongs to the district. Congratulating the team on the magnificent victory over Pakistan, he said this victory marked the beginning of golden age of Indian hockey. He said the state government was giving a number of cash incentives to promote games on a large scale in the state. Outstanding sportspersons were being appointed in the Haryana police on high positions. As per the new sports policy, a cash prize of Rs 3 crore, Rs 2 crore and Rs 1 crore was given to those players of the state who won gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the Olympic Games. Kanda said Haryana Sports Akademi would be set up on the patron of the Sports Authority of India where training would be imparted to players by international-level coaches. He said the state government had increased manifold amount of cash prizes for sportspersons of the state winning medals in national and international sports competitions. He said the amount of cash prize to sportspersons winning gold medal in national games had been increased from Rs 55,000 to Rs 3 lakh and those of winning silver and bronze medals had been increased from Rs 35,000 to Rs 2 lakh and from Rs 25,000 to Rs 1 lakh, respectively. Similarly, cash prize for sportspersons winning gold medals in Asian Games had been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 4 lakh and for those winning silver medals from Rs 75,000 to Rs 3 lakh and for those winning bronze medals from Rs 75,000 to Rs 2 lakh, he added. The Minister said sportspersons winning gold medals in World Cup would now get Rs 5 lakh instead of Rs 3 lakh and sportspersons winning silver medals would get Rs 4 lakh instead
of Rs 2 lakh. Sportspersons winning bronze medals would be given a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh instead of Rs 1 lakh, he added.
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IOC project at Panipat to be commissioned soon
Panipat, March 8
It is also used in pharmaceutical, surgical, and sanitary products and food packaging articles. After its commissioning, the SBR unit would be producing four grades of emulsion SBR-two oil extended and two non-oil grades. This plant is crucial as the country has only two poly-butadiene rubber (PBR) units at IPCL, Vadodara, while there is no SBR unit in operation currently. According to the sources, the estimated consumption of SBR had skyrocketed over the past couple of years. The bulk of the demand comes from the country's automotive industry. Both automobile and two-wheeler's demand for SBR is projected to double
by 2014-15. The automotive industry constitutes around 92 per cent of the consumption of SBR in the country. With the commissioning of the SBR project, the Panipat refinery complex would become one of the IOC's biggest petrochemical projects of the country.
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School holds motivational workshop
Panipat, March 8 With special emphasis on optimisation of endeavours on part of parents and teachers alike, the workshop was attended by over 500 parents who were introduced to unprecedented guiding tips for parenting. In a clear departure from the practice of having lectures and addresses at such workshops, this workshop, instead, focused upon the challenges and issues vital to parents through power-packed interactive seminar. The experts emphasised upon the importance of time spent with children. Dr Bindu Rana, a noted child psychologist and an eminent educationist, listed sharing responsibility amongst parents, establishing routine in intermingling with children, limiting time spent on TV, newspaper and social obligations were termed as essentials for healthy upbringing from parental perspective. This was followed by a skit “The Time Robber”, which drove home the point that the greatest gift that parents could give their children was a commitment
of time. Accepting the fact that parenting in 21st century was possibly one of the most challenging jobs, the two-hour-long workshop addressed core issues pertaining to upbringing of kids. Stressing the need for positive praise, motivation, approval and endorsement to nice works of children, the experts called for need to set personal examples through parents' conduct to be imbibed and imitated by children.
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Need for drip irrigation stressed
Rewari, March 8 Besides, about 400 women from various villages of the district took part in the mela. While Dr. K. S. Khokhar, Vice-Chancellor of CCSHAU, Hisar, was the chief guest, Ashok Kumar Yadav, Director of Agriculture, Haryana, presided over the proceedings. Emphasizing upon the urgency of efficacious water management in south Haryana, where the subsoil water level was rapidly declining, Dr. Khokhar urged farmers to go in for the latest agricultural technology as prevalent in Israel and proficiently harness the drip system as well as sprinkler sets for irrigating their orchards and crops to seek optimum yield. Besides, he advised farmers to go in for improved varieties like HHB-67 in pearl millet as well as Geeta and RB-50 in mustard which could provide a good yield under limited water conditions. Similarly stressing upon the need of opting for congenial crops as well as the latest farm technology in view of the declining water table, Agriculture director Ashok Yadav exhorted farmers to purchase sprinklers and drip irrigation sets on subsidy from the state Agriculture Department. Besides he informed that a Radio Station was soon going to be set up at the Regional Research Station, Bawal, which would disseminate valuable information about latest farm technologies to farmers of the Rewari-Bawal region. Simultaneously, a crop competition, an exhibition of agricultural implements and a question-answer session were also held on the occasion. In the concluding session, Dr KC. Yadav, Regional Director, proposed a vote of thanks.
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Dos and don’ts to tackle monkey menace
Chandigarh, March 8 As a precautionary exercise, the department has issued certain dos and don’ts to tackle the menace. While stating that no eye contact should be made with a monkey, the department has cautioned the public against crossing the path of a monkey and its infant and warned against running around a group of screeching monkeys. The other suggestions include avoiding presence near a wounded or dead monkey and making sure that no food items are offered to them in the locality. The instructions also add that before helping an injured on the road, it would be better to make sure that the group of monkeys was not nearby. Keeping a dog as a pet at farm, home and garden helps since monkeys are said to be scared of this species. Also keeping a plastic object that looks like the snake would prove beneficial. The monkeys could also be put off by loud noise hence bursting of crackers would also
be useful.
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District officials, jail inmates donate blood
Yamunanagar, March 8 Seventy units of blood was donated by the officials and employees of the mini-secretariat. The blood will be provided to the needy free of cost. Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar Aggarwal said: “I along with ADC Narender Singh, City Magistrate, SDM and the District Informatics Officer donated blood to promote people for blood donation for a social cause. With the beginning of the New Year, we launched a campaign for blood donation and this was the 10th camp.” He said the main attraction of the camp was Arun Aggarwal, who donated blood for the 182nd time today with his twin sons - Varun and Tarun. Meanwhile, inmates of the district jail here donated 125 units of blood at a camp organised by the district Red Cross Society on the jail premises here on Thursday. The blood will be provided to needy poor free of cost.
“Any person can commit mistake. We too committed heinous crime, but during our stay we have realised so many things. After introspection, we have changed a lot and decided to work for the good cause for the rest of our lives,” said jail inmates Baljit Singh and Hakim Beg.
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Stress laid on promoting quality education
Sonepat, March 8 Inaugurating the seminar, Dr AK Chawla, forcer vice-chancellor, Kurukshetra University, stressed the need for accelerating efforts in promoting quality education at all levels to produce an individual who was socially responsible, globally aware and capable of building the nation. “The efforts to enhance the quality require active contribution and participation of all systems, institutions and individuals,” he added. Dr Chawla exhorted the teachers to inculcate the habit of imparting quality education to the students and was of the opinion that until they were committed to their principles, they would not be able to influence the unorganised life of students. The teachers must imbibe the qualities of a good teacher and then make the students to realise their goals and ambitions, he added. In his keynote address, Dr BP Bhardwaj, Reader in the National Council for Education Research and Training, said the emerging economy based on technological competitiveness demanded the improvement in the quality of teaching learning process and upgrading educational content. “The attention of educationists all over the world has engaged in finding ways and means of achieving high standard of education,” he said and opined that education system should also change in accordance with the demand of the hour. Dr DP Tomar, patron of the seminar and principal of the college, expressed his views on the use of technology in the field of education and new methods of evaluation. Dr Sanjay Jain, chief patron and chairman of the college management, and Dr Pooran Mal Gaur, campus director, welcomed the participants and listed the activities of the institutions run by the Bhagwan Mahaveer Education Foundation. The seminar, which ended with two technical sessions, deliberated on various sub-themes, including curriculum reform in technical education, enhancing teacher proficiency, teachers accountability, research and value inculcation in teacher education and improvement of education system.
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MDU committee to be reconstituted
Rewari, March 8 A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Academic Council held under the chairmanship of the vice-chancellor at Rohtak recently. Hailing the decision, Dr Sanjiv Kumar, general secretary, and Amit Chaudhary, organising secretary of the Haryana Government College Teachers’ Association (HGCTA), said representatives of the HGCTA as well as the Haryana (Private) College Teachers’ Association (HCTA) had recently explained to the vice-chancellor that the present eligibility norms, which debarred them from PhD supervision, were detrimental to their academic and professional growth as PhD supervision occupied a vital place in the point-based promotion mechanism recently propounded by the University Grants Commission.
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Remuneration of electoral officials hiked
Chandigarh, March 8 The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Haryana, Sumita Misra, said the variable component would be Rs 4 to be paid to the BLOs for each Photo Electoral Roll (PER) entry of photograph made, if PER percentage in the concerned part was less than 90 per cent and Rs 5 for each PER entry of photograph made, if PER percentage in the concerned part was 90 per cent or above. The enhancement in honorarium would boost the morale of the BLOs which would lead to better performance by them, she added. She said electoral rolls were maintained by the ECI under the Representation of People Act, 1950, and Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. Fidelity of electoral rolls was an essential prerequisite for a free and fair poll. The Commission decided in 2006 to appoint BLOs as an instrument for collecting actual field information with regard to electoral rolls corresponding to polling stations assigned to them. Misra said so far the experience had been that the BLOs had performed excellent work in the field, both in maintaining fidelity of roll and in maximising coverage of Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) and Photo Electoral Rolls (PERs). The BLOs were normally employees of the state government. They perform the work of BLO in addition to their normal duties. Work of the BLO involves door-to-door visits in the area of polling station to which they had been assigned. They have to perform this work outside office hours so that it does not affect their normal official duties. She said the Commission, had in 2007, recommended that an amount of Rs 750 per annum might be paid to the BLOs as lump sum remuneration per polling station. For BLOs in charge of two polling stations, an amount of Rs 1,200 per annum and for three polling stations Rs 1,500 per annum was recommended. The expenses incurred in this connection were to be shared on 50:50 basis between Central and the state governments. Again, the issue of payment of remuneration to BLOs was discussed in CEOs’ conference held in December, 2008. There was almost unanimous view that the remuneration needs an upward revision. As a result of this, the Commission issued instructions on February 4, 2009, that a lump sum amount of Rs 1,500 per annum might be paid to each BLO for attending to the work of area covered by one part of the electoral roll. She said there had been significant progress in the coverage of EPICs and PERs in the country. While many states have achieved 100 per cent coverage, the overall achievement of EPICs in the country was approximately 82 per cent and of PERs was approximately 80 per cent.
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Campaign to save aeroplanes from bird strikes
Sirsa, March 8 Yudhvir Singh Khayalia, Deputy Commissioner, Sirsa, said this at a programme organised at Sirsa for ensuring flight safety. He addressed sarpanches and panches of 40 villages in the local Air Force Station recently. Mahila sarpanches were specially invited in the programme. He said Total Sanitation Campaign had already been launched in the state. Now, special attention would be paid in the areas surrounding the Air Force Station. Due to garbage dumping in these areas, birds were attracted and fly in these areas which were one of the causes of aircraft accidents. To prevent these unfortunate happenings, the need was to pay attention to the cleanliness of the area, he added. The in charge of Air Force Station, Group Captain Anil Sabharwal, urged the sarpanches to keep the villages falling near the station neat and clean for the smooth flight of planes as bird strikes were a significant threat to flight safety. The panchayats should discourage the development of garbage dumps and other bird attraction-related activities near the station. The attractiveness to birds like garbage and animals corpses should not lie in open. He said they should also keep a vigil on the activities of any outsider and inform about them to the nearest police station or Air Force Station. He said their cooperation and coordinated efforts of all could further strengthen the safety of the area. He also gave a brief account of the activities of the station.
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HMT employees start dharna
Kalka, March 8 After conducting gate meetings in the premises of Administrative Block of HMT, thousands of workers and officers also organised a march from Administrative Block to HMT main gate to show their resentment by raising anti-management slogans, who were holding banners in their hands in connection with the fulfilment of various pending demands of HMT employees. The demands include wage revision 1997 and 2007, extension of retirement from 58 to 60, payment of wage revision area of 1992, payment of 200 per cent compensation of VRS and 20 per cent HRA to all HMT employees. BSP leader Vijay Bansal also assured them to support in their agitation. Pushpinder Sharma, General Secretary of Karmik Sangh, revealed that on the directions of the Coordination Committee, hundreds of employees of HMT would go to New Delhi for peaceful march in front of Parliament. The dharna is likely to continue after the directives of the Central Committee. Notably, thousands of workers, officers and executives have sought the intervention of the Centre for the survival of HMT Limited, Pinjore, as Hindustan Machine Tools Limited concern was going through a severe financial crisis these days. Official sources of HMT disclosed that due to the apathetic attitude of the higher authorities, HMT was on the verge of close down if it is not provided with some special package. The sources further said before 2000, HMT used to be a profitable unit and was competent even to pay salaries to some of the other units of HMT in the country. IT is pertinent to mention here that despite the assurances given by Kumari Selja, Central Minister, Pawan Kumar Bansal, Minister for Water Resources and Parliamentary Affairs, and many representations to the Central government, including the Heavy Industries Minister and even the Prime Minister, HMT, Pinjore, is going through severe financial crisis these days and crying for its survival. Even the employees and officers of the company had boycotted the last parliamentary elections.
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More land for Kalpana Chawla Medical College
Chandigarh, March 8 A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to review the progress of work of setting up of medical colleges and upgrade of six district hospitals in the state here recently. Hooda directed to transfer the land of police lines to Kalpana Chawla Medical College so that a state-of-the-art medical college is set up. The Kalpana Chawla Medical College will be set up at an estimated cost of about Rs 200 crore. Reviewing the progress of work to set up medical college at Nalhar village in Mewat district, Hooda directed that an arrangement to ensure supply of adequate water for the college be made at the earliest. He pointed out that a provision should also be made for storage of water for a considerable period. He also directed that the road connecting the college should also be strengthened. The building of the college is scheduled to be completed in July 2011. It will have 500 beds and intake capacity of 100 students per year. It will cost about Rs 318.91 crore. The Chief Minister expressed satisfaction on the speedy execution of work to set up another medical college at Khanpur Kalan in Sonepat district. He reviewed the progress of work of upgrading of six district hospitals that are being developed as 200-bedded multi-speciality hospitals with latest infrastructure.
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New KU dean Kaang takes over
Kurukshetra, March 8 Dr Kaang formed the Department of Punjabi in 1979 and remained its chairman for 14 years. Besides, he remained dean, student welfare, for two terms and deputy proctor of the university. He has authored 24 books and is recipient of Bhai Santokh Singh Award of the state government. He is also adviser, National Book Trust of India, and member of the Advisory Committee.
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Workshop on documentary making
Kurukshetra, March 8 A number of documentaries on interesting topics have been prepared. These include “Banyan Beacons”, “Kurukshetra - A Tourist Destination”, “Save Tiger” and “Kali Kamli Murals”. “Save Tiger” is a step to awaken people to conserve wildlife heritage whereas “Kali Kamli Murals” hold the relevance of mural paintings in the state as it draws attention of locals and outsiders towards the rare, splendid and unnoticed work of exemplary artists. Amidst other documentaries, “Hazi Sultan Thanesari, Kurukshetra” has great religious and cultural value. The team members are working enthusiastically with great zeal and gesture to make this documentary.
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Water shortage: Team visits tail-end villages
Rohtak, March 8 The team visited the Mali-Saman link canal and a minor near Bharro-Bhaini village in Meham subdivision. The team found that the level of water was poor at most places. Irrigation officials told the team that the shortage of water at the tail end was mainly due to short supply. “We get water after about 30-40 days as there is no water in the Bhutiana minor,” claimed Mahavir Singh and Ramkumar, farmers of Sundana village in the district. The minor serves several villages, including Kakrana, Masudpur, Kahnor, Garnavathi, Ritoli and Baland. The team asked the irrigation officials to check water theft by conducting raids. According to an official, the SP said criminal cases would be registered against those found involved in water theft from canals.
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Karnal, March 8
Kaithal, March 8
Notwithstanding their drubbing at the hands of Australia on Tuesday, Indian hockey team will receive cash awards from Haryana's Sports Minister for beating the arch-rival Pakistan in their earlier match.
Gopal Kanda, Minister of State for Sports, Haryana, has announced to give a sum of Rs 5 lakh to the Indian hockey team for winning the match against Pakistan in Hockey World Cup.
Sirsa, March 8
