Chandigarh, February 21
Haryana, like many other Congress-ruled states, is yet to respond to the call given by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to reduce local taxes on essential commodities to fight inflation.

The Prime Minister had given the call while addressing the second annual conference of chief secretaries in Delhi on February 4. He had said the states should consider waiving mandi, octroi and other local taxes for taming inflation "which affects the poor harder and poses a serious threat to the country's growth momentum."

He had said: "There seems to be a strong case for waiving mandi taxes, octroi and local taxes, which impede the smooth movement of essential commodities." He had also pressed for a review of the Agriculture Produce Market Committee Acts of the states.

Haryana Finance Minister Ajay Singh Yadav says that various taxes on essential commodities in the state are much lower than those prevailing in other states. Haryana abolished octroi years ago, the VAT on essential commodities is the lowest while many commodities have been exempted from it. There is no ban on movement of essential commodities.

He says there is no proposal to reduce local taxes on essential commodities further. Sources say not many states would respond to the Prime Minister's call as almost all are facing a severe resource crunch.

An opposition leader said while the Prime Minister wanted the states to reduce taxes on essential commodities, he himself was not coming forward to reduce excise and custom duty on petroleum products.

Gurgaon, February 21
The sex ratio in some villages of Gurgaon district has shown some improvement with the number of girls having exceeded that of boys during the previous year.

Deputy Commissioner PC Meena said as per the data of 2010, Dhankot village had excelled in terms of sex ratio. The number of girls born in this village during the said period is 1,238 as against 1,000 boys.

Chakkarpur village, with 1,095 girls against 1,000 boys is not far behind on the second pedestal. The third position has been bagged by Kasan village, which has 1,060 girls against 1,000 boys.

On the darker side, Garhi village recorded the poorest sex ratio in the district with merely 580 girls against 1,000 boys. Daultabad village also got a poor report card with 736 girls, and so was the case with Sukhrali, which had 779 girls against 1,000 boys.

The Deputy Commisioner maintained that with a view to spreading awareness about the significance of having a girl child in view of the skewed sex ratio, the Department of Information, Public Relations and Cultural Affairs launched a 15-day statewide publicity campaign from February 1.

The objective of the campaign was to highlight the welfare schemes of the government meant for the welfare of girls as well as the families having girls among the rural populace.

"The state government has launched various schemes like “Laadli”, provision of allowance for persons having daughters only, free education up to graduation to girls, and reservation of seats in technical institutes and in recruitment of teachers . However, self-motivation is a key factor to give the girls their due status in society, which is the need of the day," observed Meena.

It may be pertinent to mention here that Mullahera village of Gurgaon district was the frontrunner in terms of sex ratio in the year 2009. The number of girls was 1,188 against 1,000 boys during that period.

Under a scheme of the state government, the panchayat of Mullahera was honoured for this achievement and rewarded with a cheque for Rs 1 lakh.

Hisar, February 21
The embattled father-son duo - former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal and his son Kuldeep Bishnoi - has received an unexpected shot in the arm with one-time confidant and former legislator from Hansi, Amir Chand Makkar, quitting the Congress and indicating his intentions to join their bandwagon.

Makkar, who has represented Hansi in the Vidhan Sabha for three terms, had been sulking after he was denied the ticket from Hansi in the 2009 Assembly poll. The Congress had then put up former minister Chhatarpal Singh from Hansi, who lost the election.

Vinod Bhayana, who was then in the Haryana Janhit Congress, had humbled Chhatarpal Singh. Later, Bhayana defected to the Congress with four other HJC legislators, leaving Bhajan Lal and Kuldeep Bishnoi in the lurch.

With Bhayana in the Congress and Chhatarpal Singh not showing any inclination to find another political abode, Makkar had been in political wilderness. Kuldeep Bishnoi sensed his unease and visited his residence a few weeks ago. That was the first indication of Makkar having a rethink on staying in the Congress.

On Sunday last Makkar announced his decision to quit the Congress. Though he has yet to formally announce his decision to join the HJC, he gave clear indication that he intended to do so soon. As Makkar was announcing his departure from the Congress, his vociferous supporters raised pro-Bhajan Lal slogans.

If there were any doubts still left about his future political plans, Makkar made it clear by saying that Bhupinder Singh Hooda was foisted as Chief Minister by Sonia Gandhi whereas it was Bhajan Lal who had ensured the Congress victory in 2005. He said loyalty to the party had taken a back seat in the Congress.

Makkar was originally a staunch supporter of the late Devi Lal. But he parted ways with the former Deputy Prime Minister in the early eighties. In time he became a confidant of Bhajan Lal.

The Congress denied him nomination from Hansi in 2009. However, he did not desert the party, hoping that after Chhatarpal Singh’s defeat he would be given his due in the party. That did not happen. Instead, political expediency led to Vinod Bhayana becoming a Chief Parliamentary Secretary.

That left Makkar with limited political options. His formal induction in the HJC could be the beginning of the revival of the political fortunes of the Bhajan Lal family.

Kaithal , February 21
The land acquisition policy of Haryana is comparatively better than that of many other states but it still needed some changes to suit farmers who are opposing the acquisition of fertile land, said Birender Singh, a Rajya Sabha member and former HPCC president, here recently. He said the government should acquire land only for public utility services like building hospitals, roads, canals, drains, power houses, laying of railway lines and other infrastructure for government or public use but should avoid acquisition for setting up industrial estates, residential areas and setting up big industries by big entrepreneurs. He said about 83 per cent the country’s foodgrains were produced in Punjab, Haryana and UP as land in these states was fertile and acquisition of such land caused resentment among the affected farmers. Moreover, this could also adversely affect foodgrains production.

Birender Singh said party workers should be given due respect and accommodated as chairmen of various government corporations to strengthen the Congress. He said he had sent a letter on this subject to Oscar Fernandes, who was looking after the party affairs in Haryana.

He said corruption in public life was a matter of serious concern and youth could play an active and purposeful role in eradicating this menace.

Jind, February 21
The gruesome murder of three women, including two minor girls, at Khokri village in the district on May 10 last year, continues to pose a challenge to the state police, besides causing resentment among kin of the victims.

Though a request has reportedly been made by the state government to the CBI to probe the case, it is learnt that the central agency is yet to start the work. The decision to hand over the case to the CBI was taken after the district police had failed to get any breakthrough in the case.

The victims Mukesh Kumari (29) and her nieces, Seema (16) and Tannu (10), were lynched while they were sleeping on the roof of their house on the intervening night on May 9 and 10 last year. Mukesh had come to her parental house along with her son, who was also injured in this incident.

The failure of the police to solve case has left the family of the victims and members of the Brahmin community resentful. Community members and the village panchayat held a demonstration in June and August last year, respectively. The Kandela khap panchayat had also staged a demonstration in front of the district headquarters here to demand the arrest of the culprits.

The probe was transferred to a crime branch team in June last year, but no breakthrough could be made even after that, police sources said. The department had also set up a special investigation team (SIT) to conduct the probe, but it too could not succeed, they added.

According to the district police chief, the matter had remained unresolved so far and it was the main reason behind it being handed over to the SIT.

Khokri village is located nine km from the district headquarters. Though some persons were detained on the basis of suspicion and polygraphic test was also conducted, officials could not get any clue of their involvement in the crime, the sources said. A total of over 60 persons have so far been rounded up or interrogated in this connection, they added.

Kurukshetra, February 21
The Department of Electronic Science of Kurukshetra University has been awarded a project of Rs 2.96 crore by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) to strengthen its M.Tech course in nano-science and technology.

Lt-Gen DDS Sandhu, vice-chancellor, congratulated Prof Dinesh Aggarwal, programme coordinator of the project, and other faculty members, and said the university would provide all kind of support to the department that strived for excellence and research.

Prof Aggarwal informed the mediapersons that the project had been sanctioned by the Nano-Mission Council in its meeting held in Bangalore under the chairmanship of Prof CNR Rao, principal scientific adviser to the Prime Minister. The amount had been granted for the purchase of equipment like atomic force microscope, nano particle size analyser, de-ionised water plant etc. From now on, the students would be awarded a fellowship of Rs 8000 per month along with the contingency grant of Rs 25,000 per year.

Prof Aggarwal said due to recognition of the Department of Electronic Science at the national level, it had already been chosen to set up a national facility on microelectronic mechanical systems through NPMASS project awarded to it in 2009 by the Aeronautical Development Agency, Bangalore.

He said nanotechnology was an interdisciplinary field and required a strong backbone of microbiology, chemistry, biotechnology, electronics and physics. For this, M.Tech students from physical as well as biological sciences would be admitted against 20 seats.

"It has immense potential for its applications in medicine, aerospace, engineering and healthcare. Hence, in the past few years, tremendous efforts have been made by developed countries for its commercialisation. In view of this, there is a need for trained manpower in India which will help popularise nanotechnology in states like Haryana by its application to reap rich harvest in agriculture and diary farming, which will help put India in the global map of nanotechnology."

Kurukshetra University was in the vicinity of the National Physical Laboratory, Delhi; Solid State Physics Laboratory, Delhi; and Central Scientific Instruments Organisation, Chandigarh. Therefore, expertise of these labs would also be used for running the course. The trained manpower from this course would have job potential in India and abroad, he added.

Bhiwani, February 21
Bhiwani will soon come on the world map when a Jain temple to be constructed without using iron will be opened for public soon. According to the temple management, such temples had been set up in America and Canada by the Jain community.

This temple would be second in the country after a similar Jain temple was constructed at Mount Abu in Rajasthan about 1,200 years ago. About 70 years ago, Saint Phool Chand Maharaj had set up Jain Muni Ashram across Railway lines at Hanuman Gate in Bhiwani. Then, Sampatmal Muni took the charge of the ashram in 1984 and he gave a new identification to the ashram in the country and abroad.

Dr Usha, the manager of the ashram, said Sampatmal started a hospital for patients suffering from stone and stomach-related ailments. Since 1990, Usha is managing this hospital. Manak Muni followed Sampatmal after the latter's death.

The ashram is being given a new look and a temple of Sri Mahashakti will be built in it. Bhoomi poojan for the temple will be performed on February 18 and an idol of Guruji will be installed at Sri Guru Samadhi Temple.

The foundation stone of Sri Mahashakti Temple will be laid on the same day under the guidance of Manak Muni. The temple will have three sections of Mahashakti Chakraveshwari Devi, Mahavidya Saraswati Devi and Mahalaxmi Padma Devi.

Architect Suresh S. Sompura and Manoj Kumar Haran of Sirohi town in Rajasthan will display their architectural skills. According to Usha, no iron would be used in the construction of the temple and it would be completed within the next three years.

Chandigarh, February 21
To improve supply of electricity, the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) plans to shift consumers being fed from rural domestic feeders or agriculture feeders to nearest urban, mixed urban feeders or industrial feeders.

At a meeting of the operation review committee chaired by Managing Director Arun Kumar here, it was observed that many educational institutions and industrial category consumers were willing to get electricity on urban or mixed urban mode or at par with industries in the urban areas. It was decided that the facility would be provided to the consumers having 50 KW or more load in the first phase.

The consumer will bear the total expenditure to avail the benefit. However, the plan would be approved keeping in view the system constraints. The field officers have been directed to streamline the distribution system in their areas so that uninterrupted power is supplied to the consumers in the summer season. The nigam had supplied 23 per cent more power to consumers in January as compared to the corresponding period last year. On an average, the electricity was being supplied to industries for 21 hours and for 22 hours 30 minutes daily to urban domestic consumers.

He said the nigam had identified 8260 tubewell connections connected with other than agricultural tubewell feeders. The nigam has already started the process of feeding tubewells in the urban area through agriculture feeders instead of urban or industrial feeders. The nigam has shifted 4744 connections so far. It was decided to shift the remaining connections by the end of March.The special teams had checked 31826 permanently disconnected consumer premises so far. As many as 11380 cases of theft of power, new connections in someone else’s name and cases of unauthorised resale of power had been detected. The nigam imposed a penalty of Rs. 6.06 crore on the erring consumers.

Yamunanagar, February 21
The local Guru Nanak Girls College recently organised a seminar on "Media: Views, Facts, Career and Trends" to discuss the role of media in society, and career opportunities in the media sector.

Speaking on the occasion, Gobind Thukral, consulting editor, Haryana Review, spoke on career opportunities in online media. He said internet journalism was popular among the youth. Different views and interesting news were increasing the popularity of web journalism. "If a person has creativity and technical knowledge, then many career opportunities are available on the internet".

Dr Uday Bhan, head of the Department of Mass Communication of the college, and Manoj Thakur, bureau chief, Danik Bhaskar, Yamunanagar, presented their views on different aspects related to media.

Dr Bhan discussed the role and importance of the RTI and said corruption was prevailing everywhere in the administration. He said it could be eliminated with honest and constant efforts by the public. According to him, RTI was an important tool which could be used by the media to eradicate corruption. He focused on the general awareness on RTI among common mass and said there was a need for starting a revolution against corruption.

Dr Varinder Gandhi, principal of the college, honoured the speakers and said media was the mirror of the present scenario. He thanked the participants and staff of the mass communication department for organising the seminar.

Karnal, February 21
Dr. Mangala Rai, a former secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), and director-general, ICAR, has stressed the need for “land husbandry” for increasing food production by 70 per cent to meet the rising demand.

Delivering the second Dr D Sundaresan Memorial Lecture at the NDRI here, he said it was a common knowledge that land was basic source for survival, but “we hardly talk of land husbandry”. Even eroded, barren, forest and rocky land, hills and slopes contributed to agriculture. Hence, in a wider perspective, a long-term view would have to be taken to manage land resources for the sake of soil, plant, livestock, nutrient and bio resources, he added.

“Our needs are growing, but are we realising that we have to produce more and more from less and less resources and do we recall that the first World Food Summit in 1974 promised to ensure hunger-free world in 10 years and now even after 46 years, the graph of hunger has increased to one billion,” he said.

Dr Rai said as soil and water continued to be degraded and biodiversity continuously getting depleted, “how are we going to meet our growing needs which are on a hot plate of supply side constraints”. He stressed that an increase of 70 per cent would be essential to meet the increased food demand.

Stressing the need to think seriously on evolving newer technologies, he said continuous seed and breed improvement and their complimentary co-evolution would be essential for sustainable agriculture production intensification.

Quoting some vital statistics, he pointed out that leguminous plants and microbes fixed 44-66 million tones of nitrogen annually which was nearly 50 per cent of the total nitrogen used in agriculture and globally, only 3.0 billion hectares was irrigated and out of the total water available, 70 per cent was used in agriculture, which was likely to reduce further due to its other pressing usages. “The agro-ecosystem must evolve in such a way that we continue to receive all such vital services on a long-term sustainable basis,” he emphasised.

Jhajjar, February 21
The state government has urged the Union Government to amend the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) to facilitate the construction of anganwadis with kitchen sheds, providing facilities of drinking water and toilets besides extending ample financial aid to the states.

Haryana Education, Social Welfare, Women and Child Development Minister Geeta Bhukkal said this interacting with mediapersons after listening to public grievances at her residence here recently.

She said the ICDS should be revised to include the component of construction of anganwari centres with kitchen sheds and other basic facilities.

"The Union Government has been providing funds at a rate of Rs 75,000 per kitchen shed under the midday meal programme. Since the ICDS caters to children up to six years of age, this group is even more tender and fragile and calls for at least same treatment by way of assistance under this component as provided under the midday meal programme", the minister said.

She said the state government had provided funds for the construction of anganwadi buildings and made provision for drinking water and toilet facilities. Between 2009-10 and 2010-11, a sum of Rs 85 crore had been earmarked for the purpose.

The minister said colourful and attractive pre-school education kits worth Rs 4.31 crore had been supplied to anganwadis for different age groups. Besides, metallic bins had been purchased at a cost of Rs 6.5 crore to ensure storage of foodgrains.

"Haryana has made widespread changes in conceptualisation of angawadi centres and developed a new vision. We have visualised anganwadi as a place of attraction for stakeholders, namely children, lactating mothers and expectant women. In order to make anganwadi a place of attraction, the state government has spent Rs 90 crore in 2009-10 and 2010-11," Bhukkal said. She said steps had been taken for storing raw material in anganwadis for maintaining hygiene and transparency.

Besides, the state government had also introduced new dishes like aaloo puri, stuffed parantha, methi chawal, gulgule and sevian as hot cooked meals. It had also been decided to purchase pressure cookers for preserving nutrient contents of the recipes and saving energy, the minister added.

Kurukshetra, February 21
Dr Bhagwan Singh Chaudhary, associate professor, Department of Geophysics, Kurukshetra University, has earned the distinction of being nominated as a member of the International Advisory Committee of GEOCHANGE, an international body of eminent scientists with headquarters in London, which looks after the long-term global changes in geological environment and its impact on the mankind.

A communication received from Prof Elchin Khalilov, chairman of international committee, GEOCHANGE, said, “Dr Chaudhary has been nominated as member of the international advisory committee looking to his candidacy as a prominent scientist. He will be entitled to receive scientific papers and reports of the organisation and enjoy the opportunity to publish scientific manuscripts in international scientific journal GEOCHANGE”.

He will also be invited for participation in international conferences at the general assemblies of the forum (like the one to be held in Turkey in November 2011), priority participation in international scientific programmes and formulating the long-term policies of the forum to name a few.

Dr Chaudhary recently co-chaired a session along with AK Bajaj, chairman, Central water Commission, at the International Workshop on River Management (IWRM) held at National Agricultural Sciences Complex, New Delhi, organised by the IIT, Roorkee, where more than 90 scientists/academicians from all over the world participated.

Before joining Kurukshetra University, Dr Chaudhary worked as assistant scientist at the Haryana Space Application Centre (HARSAC), Hisar, for about 14 years and received the Best Paper Award at the 18th International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) Conference held in Vienna, Austria, in 1996.

He is working in the domain of remote sensing and GIS applications for water resources mapping and management for the past more than 20 years. Recipient of the prestigious DAAD (German Academic Exchange Services) Award at University of Freiburg, Germany, Dr Chaudhary visited countries like the US, UK, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland and China for various scientific and academic assignments.

Ambala, February 21
The ICL Group of Colleges jointly organised a seminar with the Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry at SD College, Ambala Cantt, recently.

Embarking upon the unique mission to “transform the latent talent of India into vibrant India”, through this distinctive initiative of his own, motivational guru Sanjeev Chadha, ICL Group of Companies, encouraged the young raw talent to realise their dreams and utilise their inner potentials for fulfilling these dreams.

AD Gandhi, chairman of the Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, after briefing about the association, said the main objective of the chamber was to create the right environment for the industry and provide employment opportunities to the youths.

He added that the Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry was always looking forward for the overall growth and development of the upcoming entrepreneurs.

While addressing more than 300 students and various other dignitaries of the city, he emphasised upon the creative and focused approach for achieving goals in the life. He encouraged the young talent for being entrepreneurs by utilising and enhancing their present set of skills so as to make “India a vibrant India”.

Sanjeev said since the launch of “Mission Dil Se” by film actor Gulshan Grover, the nationally promoted motivational programme was successfully achieving its core objectives through organising “Chadhe Di Pathshala”. As a corporate social responsibility, this unique unconventional teaching programme was an earnest effort to make the youngsters industry ready by grooming and polishing their latent talents through high quality interactive sessions across the country.

JS Virk, director of the ICL Group, briefed the students and acquainted them with the career options and the role of ICL in shaping their careers. He emphasised the need for the overall development of personality in the present global competitive scenario.

Dr Deshbandhu, principal of SD College, Ambala Cantonment, while addressing the students, said: “Youths play an important role in nation building”.

He asked the students to contribute to the growth and development of the country so as to make India a world power. He congratulated Sanjeev and his team for spreading such a rich knowledge to the students across the country.

He said the ICL Group of Institutions were nurturing and churning out the future technocrats and managers by keeping in mind the present demands of the industry and was an exemplary in the field of providing quality education to the young pillars of the country.

Yamunanagar, February 21
Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Yamunanagar, recently organised a seminar on “Women’s Empowerment: Rhetoric or Reality” in which Dr ML Ranga, vice-chancellor of Guru Jambeshwar University, was the chief guest. Dr Verinder Kaur, principal of the college, welcomed the chief guest.

Dr Ranga said: “In today’s era, women’s empowerment has achieved new heights by the involvement and help of both the government and NGOs. This is the reason that women in the present era are getting success in each and every field”.

He said though the government had been doing a lot for the uplift of women in the country, women living in villages were devoid of their rights due to the lack of awareness.

“Women are actively taking part in every field, but they don’t get what they deserve. Our efforts must be to empower them so that they get proper position in society,” said Dr Reicha Tanwar, director, Women Study Research Centre, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra.

Santosh Kurra, convener of the seminar, read the report of the seminar and presented the vote of thanks to the chief guest, participants and all members of the organising committee.

At the end of the seminar, Dr Verinder said such types of seminars were useful for the development of faculty, research scholars, students and especially women who were not aware of their rights and powers.

Kurukshetra, February 21
SA Jain College, Ambala City, bagged the running trophy of the Professor Rajeshwar Prasad “Shokh” Memorial Inter-College Poem Recitation Competition held in the premises of Markanda National College, Shahabad-Markanda, 25 km from here, recently.

While inaugurating the competition, Anil Dhantori, MLA, Shahabad, reminded the students of their responsibility with regard to understanding and solving the social problems of the country. He appreciated the young and budding poets for reciting poems on socially relevant topics in a confident manner. He also announced a grant of Rs 2 lakh to the college from his discretionary fund.

In his presidential address, Sudarshan Kakkar, president, Municipal Committee, Shahabad, paid rich tributes to late professor ‘Shokh’ by saying that he was not only an excellent teacher of English, but also a renowned poet of Urdu and Hindi.

Dr Pawan Sharma, convener of the competition, spoke on the theme of poetic recitation and contribution of Prof ‘Shokh’ in producing a number of poets like Kulwant Chawla, Satinder Singh, Surinder Singh, etc. who earned a name for Shahabad-Markanda.

Renowned poets of the region like Dr Harjit Singh, Vivek Nijhawan and Prof Nirmal Singh acted as judges.

Dr Vinay Malhotra, principal of the college, welcomed the participants. Kuldeep Kakkar, general secretary of the governing body, thanked the chief guest, judges and poets.

As many as 55 budding student poets drawn from different colleges and institutes of Punjab, Chandigarh and Haryana participated in the competition. Prof Harpal Singh and Dr Shalini Sharma conducted the proceedings.

THE RESULTS:

Poem recitation (Hindi): 1. Indu, SA Jain College, Ambala City, 2. Madhu, MLN College, Yamunanagar.

Poem recitation (Punjabi): 1. Shiv, SA Jain College, Ambala City, 2. Sonam, SA Jain College, Ambala City.

Poem recitation (English): 1. Mahak, SA Jain College, Ambala City, 2. Manmohan Kaur, Ameer Chand Kakkar College of Education, Shahabad-Markanda.

Poem recitation (Urdu): 1. Ravinder, SA Jain College, Ambala City.

Special prizes: Sushmita, SD College, Ambala Cantonment, Vikas, DAV College, Karnal, Dinesh, DAV College, Karnal, Manpreet Singh, DAV College, Naneola (Ambala), Isha Vadhwa, Arya Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Shahabad (M), Rajender Singh, DAV College, Naneola (Ambala).

Manesar, February 21
Amity Indian Military College (AIMC) organised its 100th seven-day military training camp (MTC) for the postgraduate students of Amity University at the Amity Education Valley here from February 13.

The camp saw the enthusiastic participation of nearly 170 girl students from Amity University (UP) and Amity University (Rajasthan). The seven-day training programme included a drill, shooting, tent-maintenance and tug-of-war contests, besides weapon training, adventure activities, group exercises, games and screening of motivational films.

“The key objectives of the MTC are to inculcate an essence of camaraderie and brotherhood amongst the PG-level students at different institutions of Amity University, to provide facilities for adventure-related training and sports activities in an eco-friendly environment and to expose the students to the essentials of physical well-being and fitness,” said Lt-Gen Bopanna (retd) , Director-General, Amity Indian Military Education Society.

Fatehabad, February 21
Most of the women, who have to travel to reach their workplace or their institutions of learning, have to face situations where they are eve-teased or even sexually assaulted by antisocial elements.

To get oneself out of such a situation safely, women need to be prepared both mentally and physically. Knowing some basic self-defence techniques could help them gain a sense of control when they get attacked.

To prepare students for any such eventuality, Government College for Women at Bhodia Khera in the district organised a four-day training camp to equip girls with self-defence techniques.

The college selected February 1, the eighth death anniversary of Kalpana Chawla, to start the camp. Sahib Ram Godara, district information and public relations officer, Fatehabad, inaugurated the camp.

RK Sharma, principal of the college, Veena Godara, chairperson, and Dr Meet and Veena Rani, both members of the Women Cell of the college, were also present on the occasion.

Nirmala Nain, an NIS-trained martial art expert, and Ritu, a trainer in Shah Satnam Singh Educational Institutions at Sirsa, provided training in self-defence techniques to the girls.

"I have to travel a distance of over 50 km everyday from my Pilimandori village to the college and back and I have to face the problem of eve-teasing many a times.

This training has given me the confidence to travel fearlessly now," said Anu, a student of BA final year in the college.

Kavita, BA final-year student from Bhodia Khera, who cycles to the college from her home, said though she had never faced such a problem, she noticed girls falling prey to street romeos almost daily.

Pooja, BA-I student, and several other girls learning the tricks of martial arts and self-defence techniques, echoed the sentiments of their college mates.

"I cannot teach them complete martial arts in four days time, but what I have been teaching them is the technique by which they can take on bad elements, who dare to attack them physically considering them weak," said Nirmala.

She said the girls had been trained the techniques through which they could give a befitting reply to the attacker, incapacitate the attacker for a while or even make him unconscious for 30 seconds by pressing his cervical arteries and obstructing the supply of blood to the brain.

Sonepat, February 21
Having scaled 10 prominent Himalayan peaks, Narinder Singh (32) is all set to climb the Mount Everest and that too all alone, a challenge yet to be taken by any Indian national so far.

A mountaineer for a decade, Narinder had earlier planned to scale the Mount Everest in 2006, but due to lack of personal funds and finance from the government, he had to abort the climb. This time, he is determined to fulfill his dream even if he has to sell his ancestral land to raise funds for the expedition.

Narinder's father, Balbir Singh, a farmer by profession, has been a constant source of encouragement for him. Narinder already secured a place in the Limca Book of Records in 2004 by becoming the first Indian to pedal from Srinagar to Arunanchal Pradesh in 40 days.

Ajay Bhola, media adviser of Narinder Singh, informed that the Eco Everest Expedition 2011 would be flagged off tentatively on March 15 from New Delhi. Narinder would undergo extensive training for 12 days in Nepal and then move to the Everest base camp around April 1.

"Narinder's manager Apa Sherpa, who has scaled Mt Everest 20 times and team leader Dawa Steven Sherpa will accompany him to the base camp from where Narinder will start his solo ascent to the summit," he said and added that ascent from the south face was likely to start on April 15 and Narinder would be allowed three chances to scale the summit in two-and-a-half month period.

The expedition is sponsored mostly by persons closely associated with Narinder. Noted amongst them are Hawa Singh Chhoker, a social worker from Chulkana, Alok Kumar Sharma from Patna, Haryana government, Allied Petzl and Amarpalli Group. His coach in training is Loveraj Singh Dhamshaktu, who has scaled the Mt Everest thrice.

Kurukshetra February 21
Dr Pradeep Chauhan, president of the Kurukshetra University Teachers Association (KUTA), has demanded immediate notification of the UGC pay package in toto for the university and college teachers of the state. He appealed to all teachers to remain united for the forthcoming struggle to force the state government for releasing the pay package.

He said the teachers would go on mass casual leave on February 23 on a call given by the Federation of Haryana Universities Teachers Associations(FEDHUTA). If the government did not take steps to implement the demand, the agitation would be intensified from March 7, and relay dharnas would be held in all universities from March 7 to March 12.

The university and college teachers would hold a protest march on March 27, followed by an indefinite strike from April as decided by FEDHUTA, the newly elected KUTA chief said.

Applauding the higher education policy of the Hooda Government, which had created many more universities in the state and Rajiv Gandhi Education City at Kundli, Dr Chauhan made an appeal to the Chief Minister to intervene in the matter and direct the authorities concerned to release the UGC pay package in toto immediately.

Yamunanagar, February 21
The UGC has sanctioned Hindu Girls' College a major research project for three years. The project, 'Achieve a salutary outcome of earning while learning-- a path towards women economic empowerment through Home Science', besides being a research venture, will help in the economic empowerment of women.

Dr Ujjawal Sharma, Principal of the college, is the patron of this project, and Usha Dua, a retired associate professor, is the principal investigator.

This is not only a research project but will also prove beneficial to women, both students and housewives, as they will be provided vocational training keeping in view the latest trends in the job market.

The study will be conducted in the areas of Hisar, Rohtak, Gurgaon, Ambala, Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar.

Dr Ujjawal Sharma said the main objectives of this project were to prepare the participants for starting their own home-based business and giving opportunities to students to earn while they were still learning.

She said the project would also help in reviving the interest of the students in the field of Home Science and the identification of raw material and new markets for sale of the products.

The project would expose the students to the new ways of promoting business and help them to achieve economic empowerment.

It is the need of the hour to raise the standard of living of the family, and above all, to inculcate self-confidence among women.

After the completion of the training, the women would be able to make various products related to planning of wedding, event planning, interior decoration etc, through the identification of new markets and availability of raw material. They would also learn to adapt themselves to new ways of promoting business.

To fulfil the objectives mentioned above, Hindu Girls' College will open centers on the college campus as well as in rural and urban parts of Haryana.

Usha Dua, who served this prestigious institute for 35 years, has contributed a lot for the development and welfare of the college and students. She studied the economic problems faced by women and was determined to prepare them for starting their own home-based business, thus helping them in their economic empowerment and self-development.

Hindu Girls' College is one of the best colleges for girls and the only one to get this opportunity among the other undergraduate colleges of Punjab and Haryana.

Dua attributed her achievements to the support provided by the Principal, managing committee and staff members of the college.

Chandigarh, February 21
Haryana Youth Congress president Rao Chiranjiv has urged the youth workers to prepare for the forthcoming elections in UP, Punjab and other states. Addressing a meeting of assembly delegates at Congress Bhawan here, he said a membership campaign had been initiated in UP and asked all delegates to make the people aware about the welfare policies and programmes of the UPA Government.

Virender Rathore, general secretary of the all-India Youth Congress, urged YC workers to work unitedly for ensuring victory of the Congress in the elections.

Rewari, February 21
Ramesh Sharma has been nominated president of the reconstituted executive committee of the Bhagwan Parshuram Brahmin Mahasabha, a prominent social organisation of the Brahmin Samaj of the Rewari region.

Besides the following were appointed other office-bearers of the executive committee: Satish Sharma- senior vice-president; Vinod Parik, Jiwan Kaushik and Davender Mishra- vice-presidents; Pawan Bhardwaj-general secretary; Ram Autar Bhardwaj- secretary; Narender Joshi- organising secretary, Satish Mastan and Deepa Bhardwaj- cultural secretaries; Sunder Mudgil- press secretary; Surender Sharma- auditor, Akhilesh Kaushik- legal advisor; and Tribhuwan Kaushik- treasurer.

Mahesh Chand Patsaria, Jai Bhagwan Sharma, Vinod Paliwal, Surender Vashishtha , Rajesh Sharma, Manoj Kaushik, Rajesh Vashishtha, Ravinder Mudgil, Pawan Sharma,Rakesh Bhardwaj, Vineet Bhardwaj, Ritesh Bhardwaj, Amit Sharma , Amit Sharma ( sector 4), Mukesh Sharma (Rajawas), Saurabh Sharma, Girija Bhardwaj, Monika Sharma, Krishna Bhardwaj were named members of the executive committee.

Kalka, February 21
The local branch of Andhra Bank recently organised a customers’ meet. Around 60 customers of the bank attended the programme, which was chaired by Vinod Kumar Patnayak , chief manager, zonal office, Andhra Bank, Chandigarh.

Rajesh Kumar, manager, Kalka branch, said all 1,600 branches of the bank had been connected with core banking system (CBS) in just five months.

He also gave a detailed description of latest schemes and online facilities of the bank.

Rewari, February 21
With the arrest of two gangsters- Krishan Kumar of Rampur village in Gurgaon district and Pradeep Kumar of Khijoori village in Rewari district, the CIA police has claimed to have busted an inter-state gang of criminals involved in many cases of robbery and theft.

The police seized two country-made pistols, four cartridges and a stolen car from their possession. They were reportedly planning to loot passing vehicles.

A local court has remanded them in police custody for three days.

SI Om Prakash, in charge of the CIA Police post here, said that the duo was nabbed when they raided a hideout near Dharuhera on February 18. However, their third accomplice, Krishan Kumar of Usmapur village in Rewari district, kingpin of the gang, managed to flee.

During interrogation they revealed that their accomplice, Krishan, who was undergoing imprisonment in a case of murder, had recently come out on parole. They confessed having committed 10 robberies and thefts in the Bhiwadi area of Rajasthan, Manesar (Gurgaon), Dharuhera and several other places in the past few months.