Hisar, February 10
The power supply position in Haryana has improved over the past few weeks with Haryana Power Utilities supplying more power than earlier planned during January and the first week of February.

Against 850 lakh units of electricity planned to be supplied daily, the utilities, on an average, supplied 881 lakh units to all categories of consumers.

A spokesman for the power utilities said the utilities had supplied 735 lakh units of electricity daily from January 1 to February 7 last year. With the average daily supply of 881 lakh units from January 1 to February 7, the utilities supplied 19 per cent more electricity to consumers.

Consequently, the duration of supply had also improved considerably. During the corresponding period last year, the utilities supplied electricity for 10 hours 11 minutes daily to rural domestic consumers, six hours and one minute to agricultural tubewells, 19 hours 30 minutes to industries and for 19 hours 38 minutes to urban domestic consumers.

The duration of supply for these categories this year had been 11 hours 49 minutes, seven hours 50 minutes, 21 hours 12 minutes and 21 hours 30 minutes, respectively.

He said the consumers had to face some power supply problems at a few places on February 2 due to the strike by the employees. The system was being operated efficiently after that and all feeders were working normally.

He further stated that the utilities had already planned the power supply schedule up to September keeping in view the 14 per cent annual load growth if there were normal rains. Adequate banking arrangements had been made to meet the requirements of electricity consumers.

Meanwhile, the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has started handling all store inventories online under the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system launched in November last year at Hisar to bring more efficiency and transparency in its working.

Managing Director Sudhir Rajpal said the DHBVN had introduced online control of all enterprise resources in an integrated manner. He said to launch the ERP system at the corporate level, the SAP-ERP was being implemented at the hierarchal level above subdivisions with a number of base modules.

Rewari, February 10
A special team of the CBI headed by SP Singh, SSP, has filed a chargesheet against five police personnel and three medical officers of Rewari in a case of custodial death of Chhaju Ram, who died here on July 14, 2005, in the court of the Special Judicial Magistrate, Haryana, for CBI cases at Ambala.

The chargesheet has been filed for abduction in order to kill the kidnapped person, wrongful confinement, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, preparation of incorrect record to save person(s) from legal punishment, destruction of evidence of offence and criminal conspiracy.

The accused comprise the then Inspector Randhir Singh (now retired from service as DSP), then ASI Nihal singh, HC Gurdayal Singh, HC Ajit Singh and EHC Rajesh Kumar as well as Dr PD Mehra, Dr JK Saini and Dr Ashok Saini of the local civil hospital.

In the absence of any tangible evidence of their involvement in the crime, the then SDM Sujan Singh, now Estate Officer, HUDA, Hisar, then DSP Pat Ram, now SP, Vigilance, Hisar, and three other police personnel have been given the clean chit.

Acting on a petition filed by Khillo Devi, wife of deceased Chhaju Ram, a native of Manakpur village in Bhiwani district, who was then living in a rented accommodation in Arjun Nagar here, Mr Justice Mahesh Grover of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, had entrusted investigation into the case to the CBI in September, 2009, while ordering the registration of a criminal case against the accused.

The incident occurred when Vinod Sharma,the kingpin of a gang of hardcore criminals and a resident of Mithathal village of Bhiwani district, was apprehended while his accomplice, Umesh of Jahidpur village in Rewari district, was killed in an encounter on July 13, 2005, in Berli Kalan village, 16 km from Rewari.

After Sharma reportedly told the police during interrogation that Chhaju Ram, who supplied illicit arms to criminals, had close links with the underworld, the latter was picked up on July 14 from his home and brought to the CIA police post here for interrogation.

When his condition worsened during interrogation, he was taken to the local civil hospital, where he died.

A postmortem conducted by three doctors- Dr PD Mehra, Dr. JK Saini and Dr Ashok Saini- reportedly accorded concurrence to the police version that Chhaju Ram seemed to have died of cardiac arrest.

However when Karan Singh, brother of the deceased, sought a second postmortem examination, it was conducted at the PGIMS, Rohtak, where the doctors reported that injuries found on the body could have caused his death.

Consequently, Khillo Devi filed a petition in the high court seeking punishment for the guilty.

Gurgaon, February 10
The newly appointed Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon, PC Meena, took over charge yesterday from the outgoing incumbent, Rajender Kataria, who has been transferred to Panchkula as HUDA administrator.

An IAS officer of 2004 batch, Meena was posted as Deputy Commissioner in Rohtak, home district of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, before the present assignment. He also served as Additional Deputy Commissioner at Rohtak before being elevated to the post of Deputy Commissioner.

Listing his priorities after taking over, Meena said after studying the present mode of grievances redressal in Gurgaon, he would try to provide a speedy grievance-redressal system to people.

“I will focus on the ongoing development projects in the district and ensure their timely completion,” he asserted, adding that efficient and effective implementation of the poverty-alleviation programmes of the state as well as central governments would also be his topmost priorities.

After completing his degree in electrical engineering from the Delhi College of Engineering, Meena cleared the Indian Engineering Services exam and served the Indian Railways for three years.

Thereafter, he was selected for the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 2003 and did one-year training at the Indian Police Academy. He cleared the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) exam in 2004.

Kaithal, February 10
An industrial zone will be set up over an area of 200 acres in Kaithal district and the HSIIDC is likely to acquire land for this purpose soon. Those farmers whose land will be acquired for this purpose will be fully compensated and will also get industrial plots.

This was stated by PWD and Industries Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala while addressing a public meeting at a school near the Old Anaj Mandi here recently.

He said the construction work of Rs 28-crore railway overbridge in the town would be completed within the next two months and a modern market under the bridge would be constructed and roads in its vicinity would be laid down. A provision would also be made for draining waste water from this area. He said Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda would inaugurate the project.

Giving the details of other development works, he said a new bypass would be constructed in the Kaithal area which would have three overbridges. There was also a proposal to construct an overbridge on the Kaithal-Karnal Road.

As many as Rs 50 crore would be spent on the widening of the stretches of the Kaithal-Karnal road, Kaithal-Ambala Road, Kaithal-Kurukshetra Road and the Kaithal-Cheeka Road falling in the Kaithal town area.

He said the construction work of girls senior secondary school opposite the local ITI at a cost of Rs 5 crore was in the last stage and a community centre for public use would also be constructed and this work would start shortly.

He said land measuring about 100 acres had been acquired and the Chief Minister would lay the foundation of this project shortly.

He announced that the newly constructed Transport Nagar would become functional in the next six months as shops had already been allotted in the area.

He added that the work of the Khanouri road bypass and the Haryana Roadways was in full swing and would be completed shortly. Two more parks would be constructed and a media centre would be set up in the area adjoining the under-construction library.

Chandigarh, February 10
The state government has decided to set up 2,600 computer labs in the government schools and for this purpose 52,000 computer tables would be purchased from the State Forest Department.

This was decided in a meeting held under the chairmanship of Finance and Forest Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav regarding the procurement of furniture for the government schools from the Forest Department here recently.

Capt Yadav directed officers of the Forest Department that while implementing the orders of making computer tables and dual desks for the schools, quality and durability must be ensured.

He said 52,000 computers tables would be purchased by the Education Department from the Forest Department and for this purpose, the capacity of units of the Forest Department would also be increased substantially to meet the growing demand by installing new sawmills.

He said efforts would be made to provide computer tables to the Education Department by the Forest Department within the next three months after getting the orders for the same.

Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal said there was no dearth of funds with the Education Department for the purchase of furniture. She pointed out that no compromise would be made with the quality of computer tables and dual desks.

She further said there were about six lakh students studying in senior secondary schools in the state and efforts would be made to provide the best quality of dual desks and computer tables to them.

Bhukkal said if the quality of the Forest Department was found up to mark, then the furniture for the colleges and industrial training institutes would also be purchased from them. She said education was among the priority of the government and efforts were being made to provide all basic amenities to the students in the government schools.

She further said about two lakh dual desks would be purchased by the department so that these could be provided to all students.

Yamunanagar, February 10
To preserve and promote the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi in the 21st century, the Department of Gandhian Studies in collaboration with the Department of Political Science of the local DAV College for Girls organised a two-day seminar recently.

Around 60 speakers from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, and Chandigarh took part in the seminar, which was inaugurated by Prof ML Sharma, chairman, Department of Gandhian Studies, Panjab University. Abha Khetrapal, head of the Department of Home Science of the host college, welcomed the guests.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof Sharma said, “Gandhian thoughts hold significance in the modern times and due to Gandhi’s foresightedness, he has been honoured as the ‘Man of the Millennium’. He always wanted that politics should remain free from corruption and it should be completely devoted towards the social welfare. But nowadays, politicians are indulging in corruption by neglecting social uplift. Thus, there is an immediate need to generate awareness among the people about the path of peace and harmony shown by Mahatma Gandhi”.

TR Sharma, a former head of the Department of Political Science, Panjab University, said cut-throat competition and excesses of commercialisation had started giving rise to immense problems and in near future, “we will be the ones who will suffer due to it”.

Prof Saroj Malik from Kurukshetra University highlighted Gandhian views and ideals. Prof Lalan Baghel from Panjab University said youngsters should thoroughly study the Gandhian literature. “This will lead to insertion of extreme positive energy amongst them”.

Harabans Pathak, Kanwardeep Singh, Dr Anil Dutt Mishra, Dr Ashutosh Pandey, Prof P S Arif, Prof Rajveer Chaudhary have enlightened the Gandhian views and presented their thoughts on this occasion. Incharge of Gandhi Studies Centre from DAV College for Girls Yamunanagar, Malkit Singh paid gratitude to all present honourable guests of the event.

Rewari, February 10
INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala has asserted that the frequent scams tumbling out of the Congress-led UPA government’s cupboard are bound to lead to the dissolution of the Lok sabha, necessitating a mid-term poll in the country.

Talking to media persons at Kosli, he said if the current tide of events was any indication, the return of the black money of Indians stashed in the Swiss and other foreign banks was a certainty.

As regards Haryana, he declared that the fall of the Hooda government, surviving on the support of the five HJC MLAs, who were facing disqualification, was only a matter of time.

Earlier, addressing a convention of party activists, Chautala said the INLD alone was capable of ending the “misrule” of the Hooda regime in Haryana.

Alleging that the one-point agenda of the Congress was to promote the interests of the capitalistic class and reduce the poor to non-entities, he called upon party workers in general and the youths in particular to strengthen the organisation to rid the common man of the Congress “misrule”.

Chandigarh, February 10
A committee set up by the state government, under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, to study Haryana Administrative Reforms Commission (HARC) report has set up a panel to make suggestions on how to minimise inconvenience caused to the general public while availing citizen-centric services in government offices.

In a large number of cases, small amounts are required to be deposited by the people while availing entitled services. Under the prevailing system, more often than not, any dues for getting a work done are to be deposited in bank through treasury challans. The panel will suggest how to make things easy for the people.

Headed by the financial commissioner and principal secretary, finance, the panel will also decide on minimum fees to be charged for all kinds of forms and other related issues.

This decision was taken by the committee, which met here recently to hold preliminary discussion on the recommendations made by the HARC in its report entitled as “District Administration”.

Capt Yadav, who presided over the meeting, suggested that postmortem should also be conducted during the night to save the relatives of the deceased the inconvenience. He issued directions that steps should be taken to ease the problems faced by the relatives of the deceased.

He said the postmortem room should be equipped with latest instruments and should have adequate light arrangements so that doctors did not face any problem in conducting postmortem during the night.

He said a model school should be set up in each district to ensure that decent education facilities were provided at every district headquarters.

The management of the school should be vested in a body chaired by the respective deputy commissioner. Preference should be given to setting up of model schools exclusively for girls.

Capt Yadav desired that a coffee/tea vending machine should be set up in each district secretariat. Waiting rooms should be provided with at least two newspapers. Kiosks should be set up at the block level as such facilities were already available at the tehsil and district levels. After successful implementation of this scheme at the block level, it could be extended to the village level on the pattern of Andhra Pradesh. The Hyderabad model should be studied so that it could be implemented in the state, he added.

Chandigarh, February 10
The Health Department has invited applications to fill 373 posts of medical officer (HCMS-II) on a regular basis by February 28.

According to a spokesman of the Health Department, 80 posts are for candidates belonging to the general category, 142 for Scheduled Castes (SCs), 34 for cackward classes (BCs), 73 for ex-serviceman(ESM) and dependents of ex-serviceman(DESM) and 44 posts are for physically handicapped(PH) persons. The benefit of reservation would be admissible to the bona fide residents of Haryana and the relevant certificate of SCs or BCs or ESM or DESM or PH of Haryana issued by the competent authority under the latest government instructions would only be accepted.

In case a sufficient number of candidates of any of the reserved categories were not available, such vacancies would be filled from amongst the general category candidates as a onetime measure. A waiting list equal to 50 per cent of the total advertised posts would be prepared which would remain valid for three months from the date of issue of the first appointment letter.

The application forms, eligibility criteria and other information are available on the official website of Haryana Health Department http: haryanahealth.nic.in. All incomplete applications would be rejected.

Interviews would be held from March 10 and the roll numbers would be displayed on the official website by March 5. No call letter will be sent separately.

Ambala, February 10
The Rs-400 crore project of bringing canal water from Hathni Kund to Naraingarh has become a contentious issue. The matter came up at a rally in Naraingarh last week where Union Minister Kumari Selja and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda were present.

HPCC president Phool Chand Mullana tried to rescue the state government by blaming the Union Government for the delay. He said the Centre did not take this project seriously even as the Haryana government had sent a detailed project report to the Central Water Commission (CWC).

Naraingarh in Ambala district and some part of Sadhora in Yamunanagar district are dry areas. During elections, canal water becomes a major issue for political parties. Farmers of these areas are dependent on rainwater or deep tubwells for irrigation.

During his last tenure, Hooda had announced a Rs-400 crore canal project from Hathni Kund to Naraingarh. In this connection, the state government had prepared a project report and forwarded it to the Union Government and the CWC. Recently, Union Minister Kumari Selja suggested to the Chief Minister to take the project seriously and send a detailed report of this project. She said only after the completion of formalities by the state government she could pursue the matter with the CWC. She said the Central Government had already asked the state government to complete formalities for expediting the project. Some technical details of this project were yet to be cleared by the Haryana government.

Meanwhile, Hooda said this was a major project and the government wanted to solve the irrigation problem of the area. Earlier also, the project was forwarded to the CWC but it had raised certain objections and now the project had again been sent for clearance, he added.

Ambala, February 10
E-max Group of Institutes celebrated “Basant Panchami” with slum children here recently. Staff and students of the institute went to a slum area and offered kites and balloons to children.

They distributed around 500 kites and colourful balloons. They also congratulated the slum dwellers and offered them sweets.

Students said the aim of this gesture was to create an atmosphere to ensure their rehabilitation as productive members of society.

They said prosperous people should celebrate such functions with the unprivileged so that the latter should not feel ignored.

A function was organised on this occasion in which people from the slum area also took part. Raj Kumar, a slum dweller, said it was the first time that someone had come to their colony to celebrate a festival.

Om Parkash Aggarwal, chairman of this institute, appreciated the students and said such social celebrations brought everybody together.

Sirsa, February 10
Under the Youth Energy Management Programme launched by the district authorities, the British Council started the second phase of imparting training to the teachers recently.

The European Union-funded project on vocational education and training for vulnerable and marginalised groups is being implemented in partnership with the British Council, the Confederation of Indian Industries and the City & Guilds, UK, in two backward districts of the country - Sirsa in Haryana and Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh.

The second phase of the training programme by the British Council began after the selection of teachers from government institutions and it will continue till February 12. The first phase was held at Panchkula in November last.

“Teacher training is an integral part of the project. Trained teachers will deliver the learner model in their respective institutions. During the total three-year duration of the project, 5,400 youths in the district will be trained in English language skills and will find better employment opportunities,” said Parul Gupta, manager, Research and Promotions in the British Council.

She said the responsibility of training under the second phase had been entrusted to Rustum Moody and Dina Muthan of the council who would provide useful and innovative tips to all 40 trainees in written as well as spoken English.

The training would be carried out in four phases and after that, these trained teachers would provide training to more than 5,400 students in different educational institutions in Sirsa. For this programme, a laboratory had been set up in the district in which the master trainer of the council would further train the teachers, she said.

She said under the vocational education and training programme, lecturers and teachers of the local polytechnic and industrial training institutions were being trained. Under the vocational education, training on tourism, manufacturing and agro-processing was being given. For this programme, about 12 teachers in different educational institutions had already been trained.

Parul said for upgrading the skills in English, a 120-hour training would be provided to lecturers. After this, the students would be given a 150-hour training. The teachers would provide this training to the students studying between classes IX and XII and the lecturers would guide them in various aspects of this subject so that the students could speak English fluently.

Sonepat, February 10
Repeating last year’s performance, teams of the local Geeta Vidya Mandir Girl College bagged the overall championship of the three-day state-level model exhibition by winning five gold medals and one bronze medal in five events.

Mitali of the college was adjudged the best model presenter of the exhibition, which was organised by the higher education department of Haryana at Indira Chakarvorty Girls College, Rohtak, recently.

The team members were accorded a warm welcome by Jyoti Juneja, principal, and the teaching staff. Dr OP Pruthi, Chairman of GVM Institutions, also congratulated the teams. According to Dr Jyoti Juneja, the gold winners were Mimansha and Nisha for botany model; Pooja and Nisha for physics model; Mitali and Pooja for psychology model; and Priti and Khushbu for geography model presentation. The team comprising Sonia and Neha stood third in chemistry model presentation.

College teachers, including Rashmi Jawa, Anita Saini, Sunita Arora, Sangeeta Singh, Sunita Batra, Neelam Sapra, Rajni Katyal, Jaismin, Archana, Renu Gupta, Manjula, Nidhi and Sunita Dhawan guided the students during the exhibition, the principal said. Congratulating the students, Juneja hoped that they would continue their winning streak next year. She attributed this achievement to the hard work of the students and proper guidance of the teachers. — OC