Jind, May 3
Various agencies have procured about 6, 08,342 metric tonnes of wheat in the district so far, including 2,08,805 metric tonnes by the state, the highest by HAFED. The state Food and Supply Department of the Haryana government has procured about 1,48,432 metric tonnes.

An official spokesman said the highest procurement totalling 74023 metric tonnes had been made at Jind market, followed by Safidon(66976 metric tones) and Uchana (66531 metric tones).

The mandis at Julana, Narwana and Pillukhera had also so far reported about 62513, 62795 and 55975 metric tonnes of procurement, respectively. Procurement had also been reported from the markets located at Nagura, Ludhana, Dhamtan, Chhatar, Alewa, Dhanori, Echrankalan, Barta, Dadrath, Danodakalan and Didwara villages.

Among the procurement agencies, the FCI had so far purchased 46053 metric tonnes, Haryana warehouse- 1,04,681 metric tonnes, Haryana Agro- 42075 metric tonnes and Confed- 57334 metric tonnes so far. The procurement agencies had been directed to complete the procurement with adequate speed so that there was no damage to wheat due to the weather conditions.

Chandigarh, May 3
Power-starved Haryana is always on the lookout for electricity from any source, big or small. Now it envisages generation of power from biodegradable waste, such as kitchen waste, garden waste, horticulture waste and animal fallings.

According to Sumita Misra, Director, Renewable Energy Department and Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA), two consultants--The Energy Resource Institute (TERI), Delhi, and JAB-Green Consultants, Gurgaon,--have been hired for conducting study of biodegradable waste and preparing a feasibility detailed project report for setting up biogas-based power generation plants in four universities of the state, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra; Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak; Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar; and Sir Chhotu Ram Deenbandhu University of Science and Technology, Murthal.

The biodegradable waste is a rich source of organic matter and on anaerobic decomposition, these generate methane-rich gas and organic manure. The methane-rich gas is suitable as fuel for energy generation and organic manure after vermi-composting yields very useful organic fertiliser.

Misra says most of the organic waste found its way into rivers, ponds and low-lying land without any treatment, resulting in odour, pollution of water and air as well as emission of greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide. The problem can be mitigated by adopting environment-friendly technologies for treatment and processing of waste before disposing it of.

Haryana has a substantial number of universities, engineering and medical colleges, which generate enormous amount of biodegradable wastes and disposal of these wastes is a big challenge for them. The universities have a potential for generation of energy from this waste. However, this will depend on the composition of waste and treatment processes.

Panipat, May 3
With the dispatching of first consignment of polymer produced at Panipat refinery’s naphtha cracker unit, the state-run Indian Oil Corporation has entered the polymer business, which till now was dominated by Reliance Industries.

IOC chairman BM Bansal, who flagged off the first consignment, said naphtha cracker unit would be using 2.4 million tonnes of naphtha every year, which would be supplied from IOC's Gujarat, Mathura and Panipat refineries. The unit would be producing 50,000 tonnes of ethylene and 6,00,000 tonnes of polypropylene annually. The chairman said the IOC would be using its national network to lead in polymer business.

BN Bankapur, director refineries, said IOC’s naphtha cracker plant was built at a cost of Rs 14,400 crore and has become the country’s biggest operating cracker plant. At present, the plant was operating at 50-60 per cent of its capacity of 8,50,000 tonnes, but was expected to become fully operational in the next two-three months.

While interacting with mediapersons, Bansal said IOC was fast realising its dream of making the Panipat refinery one of the most advanced and technologically upgraded plant.

The IOC is also planning to expand the refinery by 25 per cent that would increase its oil production to 3,00,000 barrels per day (bpd) by October. This is being done to meet country’s growing fuel demand, said Bansal, adding that most of the modifications for the refinery’s expansion had already been completed and the final procedures were under way. The IOC would be shutting down the refinery during August to complete the process, Bansal said.

IOC had been making efforts to diversify into petrochemicals from liquid fuel business where its margins remain under pressure as it is required to sell products such as petroleum, diesel, kerosene and LPG at government prices.

Initially, the refinery was set up here in 1998 with a capacity of 6 MNTPA which was increased to 12 MNPTA in June 2006 and this is the second expansion of the refinery. The company is investing over Rs 1,000 crore on expanding the refining capacity that would also make the unit capable of producing Euro-III and Euro-IV petrol and diesel.

Besides, the complex would enable the company produce paraxylene and PTA that are used in making polyester staple fiber and polyester filament yarn and other resins.

Sirsa, May 3
Exhibiting innovative skills, students of the final year of mechanical trade of Jan Nayak Chaudhary Devi Lal Polytechnic here have developed four-wheeled vehicle by assembling discarded parts of different vehicles.

The vehicle has the engine of a Kinetic Honda scooter, steering of a Maruti 800 car and discarded parts of some other vehicles. The vehicle weighs 83 kg and has the provision of seating three persons.

Owing to its lightweight, the vehicle can cover a distance of 30 km in a litre of petrol. The maximum speed of the vehicle is 50 km per hour.

Manpreet Singh Bhasin, a lecturer in the polytechnic, who provided guidance to the students for this innovation, said students Inderjit, Jubin, Vinod, Kulwant Singh, Pritam Singh, Lavpreet, Deepak and Sukhbir Singh had worked hard for this innovation.

Dr Kuldeep Singh Dhindsa, director general of the Jan Nayak Devi Lal Vidyapeeth said the vehicle might not be taken to roads due to the want of roadworthiness certificate, but it could be used in playgrounds and agriculture fields. 

Hisar, May 3
Attempts to assuage the feelings of victims of Dalit violence in Mirchpur village of this district by Congress stalwarts Rahul Gandhi and Bhupinder Singh Hooda notwithstanding, the affected families are not inclined to stay put in the village.

About 50 families have temporarily shifted to the Mini Secretariat here where they have been staging a sit in for the past several days. Women too have joined the protest and have been participating in a relay fast programme.

These families are seeking resettlement in some other village as they fear that the violence will erupt sooner or later. They want the government to allot them residential plots anywhere in the state where they can live in peace.

Their fears stem from the recurring violent clashes with upper caste villagers during the past decade. The April 21 violence, which claimed two lives and left more than 24 houses, gutted has proved to be the last straw for these families.

When Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi visited the village, the Dalits were adamant on shifting. They clearly told the Congress leader that if he was concerned about them, he should use his influence to settle them elsewhere.

Gandhi was stumped by their resolute stand and assured them he would do his best for them in consultation with his mother, Sonia Gandhi, and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The villagers had raised this demand when Hooda visited the village last week. His assurances that a battalion of the police would remain deployed in the village, failed to allay their fears.

Union Minister Selja, who visited the victims, faced a similar situation. She too was sympathetic but could not readily accept their demand for settlement in some other village. The Dalit families are hoping that by squatting at the Mini Secretariat here they will be able to build pressure on the government.

Official sources say it is not advisable to shift these families as it could lead to similar demands from other parts of the state. They think that providing adequate security till the caste groups resolve their differences is necessary to tackle the problem.

The Dalits of Mirchpur had shifted to a local dharamsala a few years ago after violent clashes with upper caste villagers. They ultimately returned, but this time they are in no mood to settle in Mirchpur itself. 

Chandigarh, May 3
The Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) plans to increase its power transmission capacity by 137 per cent in the 11th Five-Year Plan.

Delivering the keynote address at a workshop on "Transmission Planning here nigam MD Jyoti Arora said the corporation would add 8000 MVA transmission capacity at the 220-KV level during the 11th Plan while the state had just 5,810 MVA capacity in the past 20 years.

She said the HVPN, apart from being the state transmission company, was also performing the functions of the state load despatch centre as required under Section 31 of the Electricity Act, 2003.

The HVPN had already awarded transmission projects with a contract value of Rs 499 crore under World Bank funding. The transmission projects were at various stages of execution. In all, two 400-KV substations, 19 220 KV, five 132 KV and two 66 KV grid substations were proposed to be constructed with loan assistance from the World Bank.

Arora stated that some of the major constraints in erecting towers and setting up new substations in the urban areas were availability of land and the right of way. In view of growing concerns about the environment, the financial and regulatory assessment of projects might not necessarily coincide and there were numerous parameters that needed to be optimised for the success of the power transmission project.

Marcelino Madrigal, Senior Energy Specialist, World Bank, gave a detailed presentation on "Transmission Expansion: New Challenges and New Approaches". He said the transmission companies should prepare three types of plans for strengthening the system on a five-year, 10-year and 15-year basis. That was required to be reviewed periodically. He also emphasized the need for private sector participation in the transmission sector.

Among others who spoke were Luiz Augusto Barroso of the World Bank,and AK. Singhal and Dilip Rozekar, both DGMs of the Power Grid Corporation of India. 

Gurgaon, May 3
NAVTEQ, a leading global provider of maps, traffic and location data enabling navigation, location-based services (LBS) and mobile advertising, organised an awards ceremony to honour LBS innovators here recently.

The company announced that Eterno Infotech was the grand prize winner of the India edition of the 2010 NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge competition. Eterno Infotech will receive over $735,000 in cash, data and tool licences and services.

Eterno Infotech won the competition with its location-aware mobile application, NewsHunt-Local, which incorporates local search and location-based advertising with information from India’s most popular mobile news services in local languages. NewsHunt-Local also brings together leading Indian dailies from major Indian languages. It also offers user-generated news and blogs, taking advantage of citizen journalism.

Two runners-up selected by the judging panel included MaxMobility and Genesys International. While MaxMobility had developed Child Tracker - a GPS and RFID-based bus-tracking and child-safety solution for parents; GenesysGolf developed by the latter is a solution for GPS-enabled smart-phones that eliminates the need for golfers to separately carry a range-finder device.

Rich Shuman, senior vice-president (Asia Pacific-sales), NAVTEQ, said the applications were evaluated by a panel of 13 judges comprising executives from leading wireless, technology and venture capital companies, including Aircel, Bharti Airtel, deCarta, Digital Globe, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Helion Advisors, HTC, Intel, Microsoft Bing Maps, Nokia, Samsung, Tanla and Vodafone.

Rewari, May 3
Invoking the provisions of the Child Marriage Prohibition Act, 2006, additional district judge JR Chauhan has passed an order annulling the marriage of Renu Yadav, now 17, to a young man here. The verdict was pronounced by Chauhan here recently.

According to the ingredients of the case, Renu, daughter of Bir Singh Yadav of Daroli village, 16 km from Rewari, got married to Amit Yadav of Manesar town of Gurgaon district, on May 7, 2006, along with her elder sister Rachna Yadav, who got married to Amit’s elder brother.

At the time of her marriage, Renu was 13 and had just passed her class VIII examination.

However, when the bridegroom’s family pressed for the consummation ceremony of the wedding (which formally paves the way for wife’s solemnised entry into her husband’s house) to be performed in 2009, Renu firmly refused to go in for the ceremony while stating that she wanted to continue her studies.

Subsequently, when Renu’s stubbornness in the matter grew stiffer, her mother, Bimla Devi, along with Renu, approached district protection and child marriage prohibition officer Neelam Sharma on February 18, 2010.

Consequently, Neelam, along with Bimla Devi, filed a petition in the court of the District Judge here seeking an annulment of Renu’s marriage under the Child Marriage prohibition Act - 2006.

Simultaneously, Renu’s husband, who had now attained puberty, too, stated before the court that if his wife, Renu, wanted cancellation of the marriage, he had no objection to the same.

Renu, who is now awaiting declaration of result of her class XII examination, said she would now pursue her studies uninterruptedly and happily.

Sirsa, May 3
The listing of houses and preparing National Population Register (NPR) in Sirsa district as part of the Census began on May 1.

Deputy commissioner Yudhbir Singh Khyalia said in this two-phased exercise, listing of houses would be done by enumerators in the first phase and after that NPR would be prepared.

During the first phase from May 1 to May 3, maps would be prepared after the numbering of houses by the enumerators.

From May 4 to June 4, the work of preparing the list of houses, NPR and issuing receipt to all owners of National Population Register’s houses would be done, he added.

He said from June 5 to June 8, the work of listing of houses and NPR seat would be outlined.

Enumerators would submit the record to supervisors on June 9 and 10 and after the inspection of record by supervisors, it would be submitted to in charge officers on June 11 and 12.

The record would be checked by in charge officers from June 13 to June 15 and the entire record would be sent to Data Centre, Chandigarh, on June 16, he added.

The deputy commissioner said for the smooth conduct of Census operation, the district has been divided into 2,057 blocks and enumerators as well as supervisors have been assigned the duties at the block and village level.

Census assistance centres would also be set up for the assistance of enumerators as well as supervisors.

All concerned village patwaris, panchayat secretaries and panchayats were directed to make people aware about the importance of Census, he added.

Earlier, Neerja Shekhar, director, Haryana Census Department, convened separate meetings with the district census officials at Sirsa and Fatehabad.

She said for Census exercise, Sirsa district had been divided into 2,057 blocks in which same number of enumerators and 354 supervisors had been appointed.

She said Fatehabad has been divided into 1,609 blocks and an equal number of enumerators and 272 supervisors have been appointed in the district.

Deputy Commissioner Yudhbir Singh Khyalia and CG Rajini Kaanthan were present in the meetings held in Sirsa and Fatehabad, respectively.

Yamunanagar, May 3
In a significant move to empower women, the district administration has started a scheme of making schoolbags, which enabled women of BPL families to earn Rs 150 to Rs 300 per day with just 15-day training.

Within a month of the launch of the scheme, the state financial commissioner rural development has asked the district administration to send details about the scheme so that it could be sent to the Union Rural Ministry to consider it for implementation in all states for the upliftment of BPL families.

The scheme was lunched last month with 120 women of the rural areas trained in making schoolbags that cost almost half the price as compared to market rate at SGSY training centre at mini secretariat. Recently, the administration got an order worth Rs 3 lakh under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to provide schoolbags to girl students belonging to the minorities.

The success of the scheme even attracted the attention of Kumari Selja, Union Minister, and Anuradha Gupta, additional principal secretary to chief minister, who had also visited the training centre and assured all possible help to BPL families.

“My husband is working as a labourer in a factory and we have three children. Earlier, it was not possible for us to have three-time meals a day. After getting training for 15 days, I am earning Rs 150 to Rs 200 per day by making schoolbags. Now I am helping my children get proper food and education,” said Preeti (30) of Kansapura village.

“The training has helped me a lot. My husband does not have any regular job. Now, I hope for better life as I am earning Rs 200 to Rs 250 per day,” said Baby (25) of Ratauli village. “We can also get contracts of bag manufacturing in bulk from private parties,” she added.

Narender Singh, additional deputy commissioner, told The Tribune that the DRDA Yamunanagar would not buy schoolbags from other manufactures. It has rather placed an order worth Rs 3 lakh through the District Supply and Marketing Society (DSMS) to self-help group federation of BPL families to supply schoolbags to be given to girls of the minority communities.

“We have also requested the authorities to get the contract of supplying schoolbags in government schools from all districts for self-help groups. Women from rural as well as urban areas have shown an overwhelming interest. As a result more that 120 women have been involved in the scheme. While more than 320 women have already been imparted training in different trades. All of them have been provided tool kits and machines for starting production activities in their own areas,” he further said.

Rewari, May 3
A function was held for the beneficiaries of the Indira Awas Yojna (IAY) at Nahar village, near Kosli, recently. While Rao Yadvender Singh, MLA, Kosli, was the chief guest, Sarla Yadav, chairperson of the Nahar Block Panchayat Samiti, presided over the function. Rao distributed cheques of Rs 25,000 each to 94 beneficiaries of the IAY. He said while the IAY was proving a boon for poor families to have houses of their own, the state government had launched various other projects as well for the welfare of economically weaker sections of society.

Exhorting the beneficiaries to utilise the amount purposefully, he asserted that development works were now gaining momentum in the Kosli segment. Rao also listened the grievances of villagers and directed officials to initiate measures to provide an approach road to the residents of Chhawwa village, drinking water in Harijan colony of Ahmadpur Partal village and adequate power supply to Eye Hospital of Sadat Nagar village. 

Panchkula, May 3
While the Haryana State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) continues its successful journey in its core activities, it is also promoting a field, about which its name does not even remotely suggests.

According to its MD, Rajeev Arora, as part of its social responsibility, the corporation had promoted a volleyball team, which includes players who had donned national colours in the past.

Now, the volleyball team of the corporation ranks amongst the top teams in the country. The team has a string of successful performances at the national level to its credit.

The HSIIDC team recently won the All-India Volleyball Tournament held at Begusarai in Bihar, which was organised by the Navbharat Sports Club. Eight top volleyball teams in the country had participated in the event and the HSIIDC won the tournament by defeating the Punjab Police in the final.

In another All-India Volleyball Tournament, organised at Mau in UP by the Ideal Volleyball Club, the team won the second position. The team also finished second in the National Grand Volleyball Tournament organised by the Ideal NE Balram Memorial Club at Thalassery in Kerala this month.

The team was represented by Rahuveer Singh (captain of the team and senior national player), Dinesh Kumar (senior national player), Darshan Singh, Sube Singh, Surjit Singh (senior national player), Jitender Kumar, Gurpreet Singh, Neeraj Sharma, Sudesh Negi and Jagmeet Singh. The team is managed by Surinder Dangi, senior manager (Sports), who also is the coach of the team.

Congratulating the players for their excellent performance, Arora said the corporation was contemplating recruiting a few more volleyball players in the near future to keep its talent pool full.

He explained that he was also encouraging sports within the corporation and that he had instructed the HSIIDC’s sports cell to organise a few internal sports competitions in games like cricket, badminton, table tennis etc. This would not only spread health consciousness amongst the HSIIDC members, but also further a spirit of competitiveness and camaraderie amongst them, he said.

The HSIIDC had also been organising golf and badminton tournaments at IMT, Manesar, which evoked enthusiastic response from industrialists.

Rewari, May 3
Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, along with Dr Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy, visited the Mirpur Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS) at Mirpur village, near here, recently.

Escorted by Dr SS Yadav, chairman of the MIMS, Ghulam Nabi Azad, along with A. Srivastava, director-general of Health Services, and several other senior officials of the Health Ministry, inspected various wings of the institute.

Besides several other disciplines of medical science, MIMS prominently provides latest treatment for cancer - advanced surgery, radiation therapy (cobalt-60) and chemotherapy.

Later at a samaroh held in the conference hall of the institute, Dr Yadav said during his four-decade-long medical career, he had witnessed a number of poor patients dying a painful death because they were unable to afford proper treatment.

Seeking appropriate medical assistance for millions of poor patients, Dr Yadav asserted that there was an urgency to make laws subservient to the genuine requirements of these hapless patients.

Simultaneously, he urged the Health Minister to facilitate the conversion of the MIMS into a regional care centre (RCC) for the rural poor in Haryana.

Lauding Dr Yadav’s efforts to establish a cancer hospital in a rural set-up here, Dr Abdullah hoped that the MIMS would develop into a fine medical institute for poor in the years to come.

Stating that while doctors, politicians, bureaucrats and others were all hankering after riches in this era of mammon-worship, Azad said it was creditable that while abdicating the lure of gold, Dr Yadav had dedicated himself to the service of poor and needy.

Mentioning about the National Rural Heath Mission (NRHM), a prestigious project of the UPA government to ameliorate health care services in the country, the Health Minister stated that while a fabulous amount of Rs 55,000 crore had been spent on the provision of fine infrastructure and modern equipments in hospitals and other allied institutions during the last five years, the NRHM would now focus on augmentation of specialist doctors, trained nurses and technicians in the next five years.

He went on to say that while the present strength of specialist doctors, which now stood at 13,000, would be raised to 23,000 in the next three years. He said about 275 nursing schools would also be set up in various states during this period to produce over 20,000 trained nurses annually.

Chandigarh, May 3
Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) will float 13,000 residential plots in Faridabad, Hisar, Palwal, Jhajjar, Pataudi, Rewari, Fatehabad, Hansi, Kaithal, Rohtak and Sonepat during the current financial year. It will also offer 92.4 acres for group housing schemes this year.

This was stated at the 103rd meeting of HUDA held here recenlty under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Hooda announced that underground electricity lines would be provided in all new HUDA sectors. The meeting passed the budget of Rs 3,553.72 crore, including Rs 1,043 crore, for carrying out different development works. The new plots would be offered in Sectors 75 and 80 of Faridabad; Sector 12 of Palwal; new urban estate at Pataudi; Sector 19 of Rewari; Sector 3 of Fatehabad; Sector 1 of Hisar; Sectors 5 and 6 of Hansi; Mandi Township Guhla; Sector 21 of Kaithal; Sector 9 of Jhajjar; Sectors 5, 6 and 27 of Rohtak and Sectors 18 and 19 of Sonepat.

Two per cent of the kiosks and booths in shopping centres of HUDA would be reserved for differently abled persons. Such sites would be allotted on the reserve price fixed by HUDA. HUDA would also give preference to organisations constituted with differently abled persons in the allotment of 10 per cent of the social and charitable sites.

Differently abled persons would also be given 10 per cent concession in the membership fee of Gymkhana Club and sports facilities developed by HUDA.

HUDA had also decided to grant two years of additional extension beyond 15 years of allotment of a plot to war widows and freedom fighters for completing construction on their plots.

Jhajjar, May 3
V. Kamaraja, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Rohtak Range, has recently felicitated a player of sambo wrestling, Lalit Narayan, resident of Jaasa Vaas village in Mahendergarh district, for bringing laurels to the state by winning gold medal in 90-kg weight category in the National Senior Sambo Wrestling Martial Art Defence Championship held at Hisar from April 23 to 25.

With the victory, Lalit has also secured his place in the Asian Championship of the game that is scheduled to be organised from June 16 in Uzbekistan. Earlier, he had won medals thrice in different weight category of this championship in 1994, 1995 and 1996, informed DR Sharma, father of Lalit.

“Lalit had been bestowed upon a certificate of honour and cash reward under a special drive launched by the range police last year with a view to boosting the morale of those people who have been working commendable work in their fields,” said the IGP.

Kamaraja informed that the drive was kicked off with the health sector when Dr Kuldeep Singh Lallar, senior professor-cum-head, Cardiac Department, Pt Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, was felicitated first in view of his outstanding and dedicated work in the field of cardiac medicine during the past several years. Dr Lallar had so far rendered his services to thousands of patients across and outside the state, maintained the IGP.

Thereafter, two middle-aged women belonging to the Schedule Caste, Kanta and Kailash Devi, were also honoured with cash reward and certificates of honour, who had set an example of humanity in this materialistic world. Both women had unsuccessfully tried to protect the life of a minor rape victim who was burnt alive by the accused with the help of his mother in her house. They not only rushed the victim to the PGIMS, but also informed the police and her family members about the incident, said the IGP.

“The special drive aims at encouraging the people doing well in different domains, besides bringing a significant change in their frame of mind which usually develops a negative image of the police as well,” Kamaraja added.

Ambala, May 3
Kendriya Vidyalaya No 1 of Ambala Cantt has won the Ambala City finals of the Limca Book of Records Quiz, 2009, held recently in Convent of Jesus and Mary School, Ambala Cantt.

As many as 206 students from 38 schools participated from Ambala, out of which six schools, including Convent of Jesus and Mary, SA Jain Senior Model School, Gandhi Memorial National Public School, KV No 1, Chaman Vatika Residential Public School, and Army School, were selected in the city finals. Young geniuses from these schools will now compete with the winners from 99 other schools in the semifinals, the sources said.

Speaking on the occasion, Kamal Sharma, manager, Marketing, Kandhari Beverages Private Limited, said: “Following the huge success of the Limca Book of Records, 2009, this year, the quiz is being organised at a large scale to continue its journey of promoting knowledge and awareness amongst young minds of the country”.

He said the multi-city quiz contest has been launched with the partnership of “Know and Grow with Derek” and involves the participation of young geniuses from class VIII to class XII. As part of the initiative, a series of quiz competitions are being organised across 3,500 schools from 100 cities divided into four zones, North, South, East and West. The quiz is being organised in three stages, Inter-school level, semifinals and national finals, starting from April to December 2010, he added. Kamal further said: “As a company committed to sustainability and well-being of communities, we have been contributing in our own way for the cause of education. The Limca Book of Records Quiz, 2010, is an attempt to ignite young minds and make them all a part of the quiz. We received an overwhelming response last year and are proud to take the initiative to the next level,” he added.

Derek O. Brien, founder of “Know and Grow with Derek”, said: The Limca Book of Records Quiz is a great platform to impart knowledge, promote learning and help young minds grow. In addition, such type of initiatives help in inspiring and motivating today’s youths. The Limca Book of Records Quiz, 2009, was immensely successful. Taking forward the same excitement, I am delighted to be associated with the Limca Book of Records Quiz, 2010, and look forward to some great quizzing action this year,” he added. Giving the details of the competition, he said each participating school may enter with a maximum of 3 teams of 2 members each. A 30-minute written preliminary round would be administered to all participating students. Only one team from each participating school could qualify for the stage round. The top six teams depending on their scores would qualify to participate in the city finals and the highest scores would be declared as the city winner of the Limca Book of Records Quiz, 2010.