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State okays litigation policy
‘Badhte Kadam’ keeps Cong leaders on their toes
Police of six states to join hands
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MNP leaves much to be desired
Success stories, contests mark MDI fest
BJP firm on JPC probe into 2G scam: Hussain
Umed Singh Murder
Budget for Gita Jayanti festival increased over three times
Seminars to promote Haryanavi literature under way
Senior Citizens Council president elected
VC inaugurates biotechnology labs
HAU Bawal research station feted
State IMA chief for better doc-patient relations
Workshop for NET aspirants
Martyrs’ wives honoured
INLD to strengthen women’s wing
Ambala student to present paper on
IT governance
SM Hindu School bags first position
Backward fund scheme boon for Sirsa
Seminar highlights role of knowledge commission
Process to grant citizenship to Pak migrant families begins
Making senior citizens computer literate
Stress laid on managing
pollutants in water resources
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State okays litigation policy
Chandigarh, December 20 Having its roots in national concern over the mounting number of pending cases in the courts, the Haryana policy aims at streamlining and minimising litigation. These include better decision-making, quick response to representations, managing litigation through IT-based decision support system, capacity building, review and dispute settlements and improving infrastructure, quality of manpower, system and procedures. The state-level empowered committee, department-level policy implementation committees, and district-level policy implementation committees would be formed under the policy. The empowered committee would have full powers to take decisions on the policy content and changes in procedures to be introduced. The decisions duly authorised by the committee would be implemented directly by the department. Its recommendations involving core policy changes would be referred to the government. “The Empowered Committee would identify major causes of litigation and recommend suitable measures to minimise cases. The policy implementation committee would regularly monitor and review litigation arising in departments. It would have powers to take decisions on cases where financial implication is not very high. In case the committee feels the need for streamlining some policies or rules, it would make recommendations to the state-level committee,” Principal Secretary, Home, Sameer Mathur, said. Similarly, the district-level policy implementation committee would also monitor and review all cases. The Home or Administration of Justice Department would be the nodal agency for facilitating co-ordination and interaction among these committees. The spokesman said all departments would set up effective grievance-redressal committees which would pre-empt a lot of unnecessary and unwanted litigation. It would be mandatory for employees to seek redressal through this system first before going to the courts. A time limit of eight weeks might be fixed to decide a representation for which a two-tier structure would be set up. In the first tier, each department would have a grievance cell at the state level. The second tier would be at the district level. All cases and issues, at the request of the aggrieved party, would be reviewed to redress genuine grievances. As seniority matters were a major source of litigation, these would be resolved by all departments expeditiously and seniority lists updated regularly. The spokesman said every department would authorise some officers with sufficient powers to take final decisions so that minor disputes pending in different courts could be settled through Lok Adalats with active participation of such officers. The state empowered committee and the litigation policy implementation committee would look into the ways and means of maximising case or dispute disposal through fast track courts, gram nyayalas, evening courts, family courts etc.
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‘Badhte Kadam’ keeps Cong leaders on their toes
Sirsa, December 20 Hooda will be addressing a rally in the local Shaheed Bhagat Singh Stadium on December 25 and will also inaugurate a railway over bride built over the Hisar-Dabwali Road and dedicate some other projects to the people on that day. Earlier, Haryana Minister Gopal Kanda had announced to organise a rally at Sirsa on November 7. However, the rally was later cancelled at the instance of those opposed to him in the ruling party. Now, Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar, former deputy chairman of the State Planning Board Ranjit Singh and Hooda’s former aide Dr KV Singh appear to be hogging the limelight for the December 25 rally, though Kanda brothers and some other local leaders like Bharat Singh Beniwal and Sushil Indora have also been working for the success of the rally. Political observers feel that most of the Congress leaders have certain points to prove through this rally. Tanwar, whose supporters project him as a frontrunner for the post of the HPCC, has been leaving no stone unturned to please Hooda by organising an impressive rally. Ranjit Singh, who wields a considerable support base in Sirsa, Fatehabad and Hisar districts, has been forced into oblivion due to a narrow defeat from Krishan Kamboj in the last Assembly elections. The rally has provided him an opportunity to connect with people again and he too has been campaigning hard for mobilising support for the rally. KV Singh, who enjoyed a substantial clout as OSD to the CM during Hooda’s first term, has also been cooling his heels after his loss to Ajay Singh Chautala from the Dabwali Assembly constituency during the last Assembly elections. The rally provides him an opportunity to test political waters again. Sirsa has a new district president of the Congress after a long time. DCC president Malkiat Singh Khosa got his post, courtesy Tanwar after replacing Hoshiari Lal Sharma, who held the post for long. Khosa too will like to put up a good show through this rally and cement his position further. Gopal Kanda, though not a member of the ruling party, represents Sirsa in the state Assembly. His younger brother is a HPCC delegate from the district. The two brothers have been taking care that their political opponents within the ruling dispensation are not able to sideline them in the rally. Besides them, Bharat Singh Beniwal and Sushil Indora, who lost their elections from Ellenabad and Kalanwali, respectively, also have points to prove in this rally. By mobilising support from their respective constituencies, the two leaders would like to prove that they are still relevant among the electorates despites their loss in the last elections.
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Police of six states to join hands
Jhajjar, December 20 As per the decision, the states will soon carry out joint operations to tighten the noose around criminals, besides exchanging vital information about interstate crime instantly. Decision to this effect was taken at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Delhi Police Commissioner BK Gupta at police headquarters in Delhi recently. Top police officials of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttrakhand and Uttar Pradesh attended the meeting and discussed the current scenario. They also shared experiences about tackling the crime in their states. Talking to The Tribune, Sourabh Singh, Jhajjar SP, said the meeting aimed at chalking out a joint plan to curb interstate crime so that criminals could not hide in other states. “Those criminals have become a matter of concern for the police of northern states who take shelter in other states. In this situation, the police has left with no option but to depend on their counterparts of other states for nabbing the accused involved in crime in their states. Hence, coordination between the states is required,” said the SP, adding that every state had so many criminal cases unsolved due to the fact that the accused had hidden in
other states. Besides, a strategy to check vehicle thefts was also discussed during the meeting. Incidents of vehicle theft had risen significantly for the past some time and these vehicles were either used in perpetrating crime or sold out in other states. In this situation, it was hard for the police to recover stolen vehicles or to find out the whereabouts of criminals, he said. “In view of the rising incidents, it was also decided that automobile manufacturers should be asked to install GPS system in every vehicle so that the location of the stolen vehicle could easily be traced,” Sourav Singh said, adding that joint checking of commercial vehicles at Delhi's borders would also be carried out as per the decision. Speeding up the arrests of proclaimed offenders and keeping surveillance on criminals released from jail were also discussed. The meeting ended with discussions on security arrangements needed for the Republic Day celebrations next month, he informed.
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MNP leaves much to be desired
Hisar, December 20 While it is easy to get the number ported, the changeover comes nowhere within the four-day outer limit prescribed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The four-day limit was quietly raised to a week within days of the introduction of MNP. Most service providers are offering a package for less than the fee of Rs 19 prescribed by TRAI. The package contains the application form and a SIM card. The consumer has to fill in the details, provide proof of identity and postal address and handover the same to the retailer of the service provider concerned. The consumer has to provide the code for porting in from the current service provider by sending an SMS to 1900. That is where the delay starts. The company representatives take their time to collect the forms, process them and then initiate the porting in process. This could take a few days. The consumer generally has to wait a week before the company sends an SMS regarding the receipt of porting in request and that is when the weeklong deadline begins. Once the number is ported in, the consumer is informed about the change. While the consumer can begin using the new company’s service within a few hours, the consumers find it hard to register for Do Not Distrub (DND) directory at the new company’s website. Devendra Kumar, a local resident, who ported in his number to another company, said the new company’s website refused to accept his number for registration terming it as “not a valid mobile number” even though the same company was now his service provider. He said when all attempts failed, he had to register his request at TRAI’s DND registry and by sending an SMS to his new service provider. Postpaid consumers porting out of their current service providers are required to clear all dues before their request can be processed. However, it is not mandatory for their current service providers to refund their security deposits immediately after the consumer clears the dues. It could take months before the deposit is refunded and that too if the consumer keeps pestering the company. That’s not the end of the travails. Even though consumers have ported out of one service provider, the company’s database at their call centres is not updated to indicate that the consumer has ported out. Consequently, the old service providers keep calling up ported out consumers as usual. Donesh Batra who ported out his number is facing this problem. He said technically, this was a violation of the DND protocol. No service provider could call up another service provider’s subscriber offering help or new tariff plans. A senior manager of a leading mobile service company admitted the deficiencies terming these as teething troubles. He said the software needed modifications to make necessary changes across the portal in one go once a number was ported in or out. He said his company was looking into these issues. MNP is scheduled to be launched nationwide next month. Unless the glitches noticed in the Haryana circle are taken care of, both service providers and the consumers are bound to face harassment.
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Success stories, contests mark MDI fest
Gurgaon, December 20 Addressing students, Sharma reminisced that coming from a humble background, he had to struggle at every step in life. His speech and success story inspired the students to be honest to themselves, embrace their uniqueness and chart their own career paths. He pleasantly surprised the MDI family by announcing that his company would support the ventures of budding entrepreneurs of the MDI in the telecom space and laid stress on the accountability of such support to ensure proper execution. The theme of this year’s fest was “Nuovo Elemento”, an Italian term which means “new element”. Speaking on the occasion, MDI director Prof VK Gupta observed that the fest was a good way to bring out the fun element among the academia and the students and ensure that they were not confined to classrooms. He also read out a message from President Pratibha Patil conveying her felicitations for the event’s success. Social entrepreneur Irfan Alam, who aspired to be a big stockbroker like his father but ended up establishing a foundation for improving the lot of rickshaw-pullers, told the students about his journey and the Samman Foundation. Alam, the first Indian entrepreneur invited by US President Barack Obama for the Entrepreneurship Summit, asserted: “Entrepreneurship is all about promptly grabbing a good opportunity and quickly acting upon it”. Teams from IIFT, IMT Ghaziabad and MDI presented their strategies for RPG Ceat’s Online Advertising Campaign on the lines of Ceat’s current advertising theme “Be Idiot Safe”. “Phalanx”, the flagship event of Imperium, saw a fierce competition among top Indian B-schools IIM-A, IIM-B, IIM-C, IIM-L, IIM-K, IIM-I, MDI, FMS, SIBM, IIFT and NITIE. An interesting feature of the event was noted film producer, director and screenplay writer Mahesh Bhatt’s interaction with filmmaker Ajay Kanchan during the Change Masters Talk Series as part of the fest. Bhatt talked about the adversities he faced in his life and lessons he learnt from those. He believed that the failures in his life gave him the fuel and motivation to make films. He advised the MDI students to embrace failure as it would help in shaping and grooming their lives. A “nukkad natak” competition organised in association with SAB Miller India was based on the themes “Responsible Drinking” and “HIV/AIDS Awareness”. Another session was dedicated to “Ideas for Change” contest on Rural Business Plan, organised in collaboration with NABARD. The night concluded with “Bandish” band performing live at the MDI grounds where students got a chance to let their hair down and enjoy the liveliness of Imperium-20X.
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BJP firm on JPC probe into 2G scam: Hussain
Rewari, December 20 Addressing a press conference here recently, he asserted that if the demand for a JPC probe was not met, the very existence of the Congress-led UPA government would be jeopardised. He said victories in the successive parliamentary polls in 2004 and 2009, had made the Congress stubborn and arrogant and the party was now trying to gag the opposition. Hussain explained that the BJP was rightfully engaged in playing a positive role as a responsible opposition party and it was fully determined to expose the blatant corruption. The MP said mere removal of the tainted Telecom Minister A. Raja, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chauhan and chairman of the CWG organising committee Suresh Kalmadi was not enough as the nation had every right to know the extent of the scams running into several lakh crores. He asserted that after the huge victory of NDA components in the recent Bihar Assembly poll, the so-called charisma of the Congress “trinity”, comprising Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had been severely dented and people throughout the country were now looking towards the BJP with high expectations. Stating that a political scenario like the one in 1974 had developed, he claimed that if parliamentary elections were held under such an environment, the Congress could meet the same fate as the BJP had faced with only two seats in the 1984 elections. As regards Haryana, Hussain said owing to its failure on almost all fronts, the Hooda regime had virtually touched a new low as far as its popularity was concerned. Alleging that farmers’ land was being acquired at throwaway prices and the social fabric had been impaired, he said CM’s tall promises regarding world-class development and welfare had lost credibility among the masses.
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Umed Singh Murder
Rewari, December 20 After taking into consideration the circumstances which led to the victim’s elimination, the High Court had converted Section 302 of murder into Section 304-II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and sentenced the five accused persons to rigorous imprisonment for five years each. Besides, the High Court had also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on each of the five convicts. The High Court had pronounced its judgement on October, 2008. However, the family members of the deceased then filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking reversal of the High Court’s verdict and restoration of the verdict of the trial court. The apex court pronounced its verdict on December 16, 2010, in Delhi. Following an altercation over a land dispute, Umed Singh was done to death by his opponents at Kosli village, 35 km from Rewari, on September 29, 1991. The police, which had registered a case of murder against five persons - Desh Raj, Mange Ram Sher Singh, Surender and Harish, had then put up the case for trial in the above court. The local court had then sentenced all five accused to life imprisonment holding them guilty of Umed’s murder. This verdict of the local court was challenged by family members of the accused who filed a petition in the High Court seeking relief and justice for the accused.
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Budget for Gita Jayanti festival increased over three times
Kurukshetra, December 20 The announcement was made by the Chief Minister on the concluding day of the five-day Kurukshetra Utsav Gita Jayanti Samaroh organised by the Kurukshetra Development Board, Haryana Tourism, District Administration, North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala, and Information and Public Relations Department, Haryana. Hooda also presided as a chief guest in a play “Tulsi” composed by internationally renowned dramatist Shekhsen at Purushotam Bagh of Brahmsarovar. The Chief Minister inaugurated the play by lighting a lamp. Hooda said the samaroh offers a glimpse of rich cultural heritage of various states of the country and conveys the message of unity and integrity. Earlier, Hooda performed “deepdaan” on the banks of the Brahmsarovar. He also went around the state-level exhibition and crafts mela. On the occasion, MP from Kurukshetra Naveen Jindal, Rajya Sabha member Dr Ram Parkash, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sultan Singh, political adviser to the Chief Minister Prof Virender Singh, chief secretary Urvashi Gulati, secretary to the Governor Mahender Kumar, Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Aggarwal, SP Sultan Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner Sumedha Kataria and chief executive officer of the Kurukshetra Development Board Hema Sharma were also present.
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Seminars to promote Haryanavi literature under way
Fatehabad, December 20 Dr Mukta said the process started from Kurukshetra earlier this year and so far, seminars in six different genre of literature had been held at different places. A seminar on media was held in Hisar last month and meetings on poetry, short stories, Haryanavi folk poetry, stories and essays have been held in different districts. She said the main objective of these seminars was to have an idea about the present day situation of Haryanavi literature and then find out means to improve the situation. Dr Mukta said the annual budget of the akademi had been increased manifold to Rs 2.25 crore by the state government, making it possible for the akademi to promote poets and writers. She said the amount of award money for littérateurs had been doubled and several new awards had been started. Besides, three books of different writers had already been published while five more were in the pipeline, she added. Later, she honoured poets who participated in the kavi sammelan. Munish Nagpal, SDM, Dabwali, was the chief guest while Udai Bhanu Hans, state poet, presided over. Noted painter and litterateur Om Parkash Kadiyan was the special guest. In his speech, Nagpal called upon writers and poets to come forward and bring about a change in the society. Poets Virender Madhur, Chander Shekhar, Lok Setia, G Imroz, Geetanjali, Randhir Matana, Sant Kumar, Sudama Shashtri, Randhir Matana, Radhey Sham and Parveen Kamboj enthralled the audience with their poems. —
TNS
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Senior Citizens Council president elected
Sonepat, December 20 Dr Arora nominated OP Elabadi as senior vice-president, ML Chawala as vice-president, Jagdish Batra as general secretary, Har Bhagwan Raheja as secretary, Girdhari Lal Girdhar as organising secretary, Desraj Arora as treasurer, Madan Sein Jain as media secretary, Girdhari Lal as senior advisor and Dr DB Rawal as advisor. The executive members included SK Sharma, HK Hans, SK Khurana, Sewa Ram Manchanda, JL Chaudhary, Narain Singh, BL Kakkar, Parma Nand Bedhadak, Prabha Aggarwal and Chander Kanta. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Arora said the council would ensure timely and regular medical check-up of senior citizens in the local civil hospital on a priority basis as well as organise free eye and medical camps for them. Besides, the council would also arrange picnic tours of the members of the council to different religious and historical places, he added.
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VC inaugurates biotechnology labs
Sonepat, December 20 Inaugurating these laboratories Vice Chancellor of the university HS.Chahal emphasised the importance of biotechnology-based researches, stating that it was a frontier area offering a new technological base for the provision of solutions to some of the major problems confronting mankind. Professor JS.Rana, Chairman of the Department of Biotechnology, elaborately explained about the facilities created, mandate and objectives and the ongoing research in each of the six newly renovated laboratories for research in bioinformatics, immunodiagnostic techniques, industrial biotechnology, genetic engineering, animal plant tissue culture and enzyme biotechnology. He said the objectives of various laboratories covered major thrust areas of biotechnology, including molecular modeling and drug designing; antibody engineering and development of diagnostic kits for various diseases; screening and characterisation of industrially important micro-organisms; genetic transformation for trait improvement; among others.
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HAU Bawal research station feted
Rewari, December 20 The award comprising of a citation and a trophy was presented to Dr CK Yadav, Regional Director of RRS, Bawal, by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at the 23rd convocation of the university at Hisar recently. Furnishing details of the accomplishments of scientists of the Bawal RRS, Dr Yadav enumerated technologies generated for evolution and development of varieties for rain-fed and irrigated situations, progressive agronomic practices for different crops as well as integrated pest management, horticulture, agro-forestry and animal improvement programme. Specifically mentioning about the two new varieties of mustard- RB-24 and RB-50, which were developed here and released at the national level for farmers of rain-fed areas, Yadav gave a graphic account of the RRS scientists' involvement in the development and introduction of certain new varieties of wheat, barley, mustard, guar, pearl millet and field pea for greater economic stability and enhanced production. Stating that certain practices and techniques had been developed by the scientists for enhancing productivity and financial status of the peasantry of the region, he said the RRS was also producing quality seeds and nursery plants.
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State IMA chief for better doc-patient relations
Ambala, December 20 Talking to The Tribune, she expressed concern over the incidents of violence and attack on doctors and nursing homes in the recent past. She said during the past one year around six such incidents had occurred in various cities in the state where nursing homes were ransacked by relatives of the patient. She said the state government had already passed a Bill to protect medicos, but it had not been implemented. She said the government should direct the administration to provide security to doctors and nursing homes so that they could provide better services. Dr Jaspal said, “The life and death of a person is not in the hands of doctors. They just provide medical care to his patient best of his ability. Every death in the nursing home is not an act of negligence. Many times in spite of best efforts of the doctor, death becomes imminent”. “After such incidents, some doctors now do not take risk and they have started doing offensive practice. They generally refer serious patient to bigger hospitals which sometimes is not in the interest of the patient”. Referring to the future programme of the IMA, she said the IMA was concerned about the falling sex ratio in the state and it would launch a campaign to check it with the help of NGOs, religious leaders and government agencies. She said the IMA would also ask its doctors to visit villages for creating health awareness among rural populace.
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Workshop for NET aspirants
Kurukshetra, December 20 Stating this to mediapersons here recently, a university spokesperson said the candidates were given information by the experts about the nature and style of the NET, formats of question papers and how to attempt them, issue of negative marking and how to write precise answers. The University has also prepared a blueprint for preparing students for NET from February 2011 onwards by conducting workshops, mock tests, guest lectures by specialists and preparation of question banks by all 46 departments and institutes. The candidates raised genuine questions about their deficiencies as NET aspirants during their discussion with the experts in the workshop. The experts informed the students that they would submit their suggestions to the vice-chancellor so that the deficiencies and queries of the students were addressed in a professional and time-bound manner in the future programmes.
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Martyrs’ wives honoured
Karnal, December 20 Ajay, in his speech, applauded the school for its noble gesture of honouring martyrs’ wives every year on the annual day and promised that the Home Ministry would also help the wives of war heroes in all possible ways. He also appreciated the school for adopting four children of Dantewada martyrs and providing free education to them. Satyevir advised the students to run after excellence and said because of this excellence in Indians, the whole world is running after India. Starting with “Saraswati Vandana”, the programme was followed by beautiful show presented by tiny-tots on the song “Aye Watan-Aye Watan”, a patriotic dance on “Hum Indian Humara Dil Indian” and “Mera Rang De Basanti Chola” inculcating a spirit to die for the country. A mesmerising dance by girls presenting Radha Krishna Raas Leela and lively Haryanavi folk dance were other highlights of the show. The school’s four houses named after the nation’s highest gallantry award Paramvir Chakra were introduced to the guests through an audio clip cultural programme and the students presented a PT show, dumbbell show and a yoga show. The show was focused on the spirit of patriotism and overflowing with the emotions of students for the motherland. Harvinder Kalyan, secretary of the School Trust, thanked the guests for giving their precious time to boost up the children.
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INLD to strengthen women’s wing
Sirsa, December 20 Mostly, women members of INLD activists are active in party’s rallies and other programmes, said Padam Jain, district president of the INLD. Sumitra Chaudhary, convener of the women cell of the INLD, recently addressed meetings at Sirsa and Ratia in Fatehabad to mobilise women workers for the membership drive. Speaking to mediapersons at Sirsa, Sumitra said during the next one month, women activists of the INLD would visit house to house to make as much members as possible. She said the organisation would be strengthened to such an extent that it became an example for others. She alleged that crime against women had increased significantly during the Congress regime and incidents like rape and molestation had been happening almost daily. Sumitra regretted that the Hooda government had so far not formulated any policy for the education of women in the state. She said she had already covered several districts of Haryana under the present campaign. Promila Sharma, vice-president of the women wing of the party, said the process of appointment of office-bearers at the state level had been completed and now an aggressive campaign would be launched to make new members. Krishna Fogat and Suman Lata Siwach, both district presidents of Sirsa and Fatehabad, respectively, organised the meetings in their respective districts.
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Ambala student to present paper on
IT governance
Ambala, December 20 The conference is being organised at Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi, jointly with the Board of Studies of the ICAI with the goal to provide a forum for exchange of ideas on a number of topics of professional interests. The conference will present tools to stay efficient and be prepared for challenges posed by the changing economic environment. Sumit did his schooling from the local Convent of Jesus and Mary and passed BCom (Hons) from Shri Ram College of Commerce.
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SM Hindu School bags first position
Sonepat, December 20 The students, Jai Prakash, Sahil Dudeja and Vikas Pawar, were given first prizes of Rs 5,000. Congratulating the students and teachers KR Tyagi and Alok Sharma for the achievement, BK Garg, principal of the school, hoped that the team would give its best performance in the state-level competition also. He claimed that the school had given outstanding performances in the zonal as well as the state-level quiz competitions earlier also. Garg informed that as many as 27 teams from Sonepat, Rohtak, Panipat, Karnal and Jhajjar districts participated in the competition. “Four teams from this zone will participate in the state-level science quiz competition to be held in the first week of January,” he added.
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Backward fund scheme boon for Sirsa
Sirsa, December 20 The fund, designed to redress regional imbalances in development, provides resources for supplementing and converging existing developmental inflows into 250 identified districts of the country, to bridge critical gaps in local infrastructure and other development requirements that are not being adequately met through existing inflows. “The annual allocation for the district for 2010-11 is Rs 15.42 crore, out of which the first installment of Rs 8.50 crore has already been received,” said deputy commissioner CG Rajini Kaanthan. “With second installment of the last year amounting to Rs 4.6 crore, opening balance Rs 1.02 crore and a refund of Rs 11.94 lakh from one head, the total availability of funds with the authorities was Rs 14.25 crore, out of which Rs 14.10 crore has been released for various projects,” he added. The second installment of Rs 6.92 crores is expected soon. Among the major projects being taken under the scheme in the district are provision of solar lights in 53 villages for Rs 1.40 crore, construction of 63 ananwadi centres for Rs 2.89 crore and laying of ground pipelines and installation of tubewells in nine villages for Rs 1.71 crore. For the construction of community centres and solid waste management in the municipal areas of the district, Rs 45.50 lakh has been released from the first installment and an amount of Rs 19 lakh would be released from the second installment. From the second installment, the authorities have planned to spend Rs 70 lakh on projects for providing quality education and employment generating activities in the district. The proposals include a project for providing vocational training by students through the British Council, vehicles for Paryaas, an institute for special children, language lab for Government College, Sirsa, upgrading of library in Government College, ITI and Polytechnic. The proposal also includes completion of veterinary polytechnics and purchase of equipments. Through this scheme, the authorities have been able to provide transport vehicle to girl students in several villages of the district. The BRGF scheme, which provides better flexibility to the authorities in the matter of implementation, has proved boon for this district. The development funds for the district are almost doubled as almost an equal amount comes from the state government under the District Development Plan.
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Seminar highlights role of knowledge commission
Ambala, December 20 Vivek Kohli, principal of the college, said the main objective of such type of seminars was to familiarise teachers, teacher-educators, administrators, research scholars and NGOs with the recommendations of the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) and to bring out its implications in improving the system of education and development of the country. KK Sharma, former pro-vice-chancellor, NEHU, Shillong, presented the keynote address. He said knowledge was increasing with a fast speed in response to the process of globalisation, privatisation and liberalisation. In order to move with the time, the education system needed to be revamped with the quantum of knowledge to be taken in various courses, technologies of communication to be applied in instruction and the management of knowledge systems to be adopted in education. Sudhanshu Bhushan, head of the department of higher education, NUEPA, New Delhi, said the commission came into being in 2005 with a view to meet the growing needed of education and economic development of the various areas of knowledge and future requirements of the country to achieve national goals. HR Shaan from the Department of Correspondence Courses, University of Jammu, shared his views on various areas covered by the NKC like libraries, networks, portals, school education, vocational education, higher education, medical education, open and distance education, science and technology and right to education. Rajinder Nath, chairman of local DAV institutions, in his presidential remarks, said knowledge helped in understanding the prevailing issues of society. “The main focus of the commission is to develop human resources and to provide real meaning to the knowledge that is inherent in human beings so that our lives and the educational system become purposeful”.
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Process to grant citizenship to Pak migrant families begins
Sirsa, December 20 The Tribune had earlier highlighted the plight of these families, who migrated from Pakistan between 1992 and 1998. These families have been living under abject conditions, where their children were deprived of opportunities to pursue their studies and the families were not even allowed to take their critically ill members to bigger cities without the prior permission of the police, where the lower rung officials exploited their helplessness to the full. Deputy Commissioner CG Rajini Kaanthan has directed the Ellenabad SDM, Roop Singh, to complete the application formalities of the migrants within five days. “I will send the duly filled applications of the families to the appropriate authorities in the state government with my recommendations as soon as the process completes,” said the DC. The DC said the block development and panchayat officers of Ellenabad had been personally visiting these families to complete the formalities. He said the authorities would do videography of the formalities to ensure transparency in the exercise. Meanwhile, after receiving complaints of some middlemen trying to extract money from these families, the SDM on the directions of the DC on Wednesday called representatives of these families to his office and told them that they should not pay to anyone over the prescribed application fees of Rs 500 per family. “We are very happy that our grievance is being addressed by the authorities. Once granted citizenship, we will be free as other citizens,” said Ram Chander Meghwal, whose family migrated from Rahim Yaar Khan district of Punjab (Pakistan) in 1998. In a recent letter to the Haryana Government, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had asked the authorities to get fresh applications from these residents. The applications, the ministry said, were to be made before the District Magistrate in accordance with the provisions of the Citizenship Rules. The letter said the earlier applications were not acceptable, as these had not been subscribed before the Collector/District Magistrate/Sub Divisional Magistrate, as prescribed under Rule 28 of the Citizenship Rules, 1956.
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Making senior citizens computer literate
Yamunanagar, December 20 Many of them stated that their children are living abroad that is why they want to learn computer so that they can communicate with then through internet. They expressed gratitude to Dr Sushma Arya, principal of the college, for organising such a workshop. Dr Sushma said, “Our college has been organising the computer literacy workshop for senior citizens from the past five years. Most of the participants are retired from their professions. Now, they want to learn how to operate computer and surf internet to communicate with their family members living abroad. KK Sehgal, a retired production manager of a local paper industry, reported that his granddaughter motivated him to learn computer and he wanted to surprise her after learning it. OP Bakshi, a retired secretary from the Foreign Ministry, said both his sons were residing in the US and they gifted him a laptop, but due to lack of knowledge he was unable to use it, but after attending the workshop he could fulfill his desire and chat with his sons. Other participants said computers played a vital role in life and would eventually enable the old ones to rub shoulders with youngsters. The participants are learning typing, MS office, operating hardware such as mouse, keyboard, as well as software. Sanjay Bhardwaj from the computer department said, “Our staff is whole heartedly working to impart computer knowledge to senior citizens. It is an appreciable step taken by the college to spread computer literacy amongst the elderly free of cost”.
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Stress laid on managing
pollutants in water resources
Ambala, December 20 The members paid homage to RJ Garde, founder president of the ISH. Speaking on the occasion, Khetarpal expressed concern over the contamination of surface and groundwater resources all over the world, and said a conferences of such high magnitude were need of the hour to sort out, control and manage pollutants in the aqueous environment. Dr Porey apprised the gathering of the history and the activities of the ISH, Pune. He appreciated efforts of Dr NP Mehta, pro vice-chancellor of MM University in this direction. Dr Setia, chairman of the conference, welcomed the delegates and invited young engineers to come forward to contribute their might towards this critical issue. Dr Vikas Garg, co-chairman, Hydro 2010, deliberated upon the relevance of the conference by discussing the fact that water was a precious resource and its proper utilisation and channelisation was required. Prof BS Murty from IIT, Madras, delivered the prestigious SN Gupta Memorial lecture titled “Contaminant Transport: Experimental and Modelling Studies” in which he communicated that contaminant source activities cannot be completely eliminated but efforts can be made to control and manage it through various studies conducted in this regard. The inaugural ceremony witnessed the presenting of lifetime achievement award to Dr CD Thatte, former secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, for his contribution in the field of hydraulics and water resources.
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Letter The state government would soon have to appoint new Lokayukta as the five-year tenure of the current holder of this office, Justice NK Sud, would come to an end in coming January. In Haryana, this office has been a victim of political and official apathy ever since its inception in the late 90s. The first Lokpal (subsequently designated as Lokayukta), Justice IP Vashist, appointed by the Bansi Lal Government in January,1999, had to face an unceremonious exit after the change of guard in the state. Immediately after assuming the reins of power, the Chautala dispensation promulgated an ordinance repealing the then existing Haryana Lokayukta Act, 1997, for the reasons best known to it although it was contended that the state government wanted to re-enact the legislation. Much worst, Justice Vashist had to approach the High Court for claiming compensation for his unexpired tenure. Then it took three years for enactment of the subsequent legislation viz. Haryana Lokayukta Act, 2002, but the new Act was brought into force only in August, 2004. Even thereafter, no appointment of the Lokayukta could be made under the Chautala regime and the present Lokayukta was appointed only by the Hooda Government in January, 2006. The lackadaisical approach of the state government was evident when the rules to carry out the purposes of the legislation governing the state Lokayukta were made two years after his appointment i.e. in January, 2008. Since then, though the institution is in place, it has not been able to achieve its objectives and purposes in letter and in spirit. The office of Lokayukta has not been able to be so much popular among the people of the state as such a kind of institution ought to have been. A majority of citizens living in rural areas are even unaware of its existence. Although the office maintains its own website, much more needs to be done for bringing the institution closer to the public at large by launching of a widespread awareness campaign. Further, the Lokayukta requires more teeth to tame the menace of corruption and for ensuring probity in public life. It needs to have its own independent investigation mechanism distinct from the state police and vigilance organistions so as to check allegations of any element of fear or favour in inquiry proceedings. The government ought to ensure that the recommendations of the Lokayukta are dealt with urgency and without any avoidable bureaucratic wrangles. 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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Gurgaon, December 20
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has announced to increase the budget of Kurukshetra Utsav Gita Jayanti Samaroh three times thus raising it to Rs 1 crore from the next year. He said the government would also strive to get world heritage status for this holy city in the years to come so that the message of the Gita could be spread among the masses.
The Regional Research Station (RRS), Bawal, in Rewari district has been honoured with the best regional station award for 2008-10 among all seven regional research stations of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (
CCSHAU), Hisar, for its outstanding contribution made towards the development of eco-friendly, economically viable and socially acceptable technologies
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Yamunanagar, December 20
