Chandigarh, May 23
The constitution of the Haryana Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board was supposed to bring relief to building and other construction workers, considered a vulnerable segment of the unorganised labour sector. However, nearly five years after its constitution, the board is still struggling to create its target group and does not seem anywhere close to reaching its destination.

What’s more, the board, with a Rs 350-crore bank balance generated by way of the one per cent cess on construction works in the name of welfare measures for construction workers, has so far, only utilised just over Rs 6 crore.

Of this, most of the amount spent has gone towards health insurance schemes, constructing labour sheds, funding the “kanyadaan” scheme for those enrolled as also towards the registration of workers and publicity.

Sources in the Labour Department attribute the “poor spending” on welfare of building and other construction workers to the lack of a target group. Officials maintain that in the absence of a target group the benefit of various schemes cannot be passed on to the beneficiaries. However, the funds collected are continuing to grow in view of the spurt in construction activity all around over the last few years.

Though the Haryana Building and Other Construction Workers Act was passed in 2006, the department maintains that the board has enrolled as many as 1.5 lakh workers. They peg the number of such workers in Haryana at 5 lakh, meaning thereby that not even one-fourth of the workers have so far been registered.

Sources claim that without any staff at the disposal of the board, the work of registration of workers is proceeding at a snail’s pace. The officials of the Labour Department in the field have been entrusted with the job of registering such workers in addition to their duties, leaving little scope of substantial headway.

Though the schemes seem worker-friendly with provisions for maternity benefit to women, a monthly pension after crossing 60 years, advance loans, disability pensions, financial assistance and health insurance benefits, they are meaningless since they remain on paper only.

The department officials explain that a maximum of Rs 1.08 crore has been spent on the kanyadan scheme whereby Rs 21,000 is given to a registered worker on the marriage of her daughter while covering the workers under a health insurance scheme has cost Rs 92 lakh so far. Nearly Rs 30 lakh has been spent on publicity of the schemes as also on the awareness drive for the registration of the workers. “The department has pasted posters at various sites to facilitate awareness,” an official states. However, the drive lacks the punch is evident in the slow registration, indicating the department has not been able to reach out to the beneficiaries.

Fatehabad, May 23
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) recently answered several queries raised by the Sanjha Manch, a forum of people’s organisations, agitating against the proposed nuclear plant at Gorakhpur here.

The manch had recently raised several questions relating the safety aspects of nuclear plants through a questionnaire submitted to the NPCIL’s office in Hisar and had distributed pamphlets on these issues among the people.

While releasing answers to the media, Sanjay Gumasta, project manager, Gorakhpur Atomic Power Project, said it took time as experts in the NPCIL headquarters had prepared the answers.

While most of the questions posed by the manch pertained to nuclear accident in Japan and the status of nuclear projects in the US and France, many others related to the security aspects of Indian installations.

In a question, the manch had asked how hackers could hijack computers of Iran’s nuclear installations, if the NPCIL was so sure of the security of reactors.

The reply said the computer systems at the reactors were not connected to the internet, and hence there was no scope of hacking there.

To a question as to why Australia, one of the biggest producers of Uranium, had not installed a single reactor, the NPCIL said Australia’s population density was very low as compared to India and that the country had enormous reserves of high quality low ash coal.

The NPCIL said in response to a question that the Nuclear Liability Act of India had laid down stringent terms on civil liability for nuclear damage.

Responding to a question regarding to the recent exposure of seven persons to radioactive material in Delhi, the NPCIL said the incident had nothing to do with the nuclear plants. The accident had happened due to negligent disposal of radioactive material (cobalt-60) in the scrap by an institute.

The NPCIL denied that any employee had died at Kaplakkam plant due to valve failure in 2003 or any point of time, as alleged by the organisation in its question.

The manch had also asked the NPCIL that why did the electric wires in Narora plant catch fire in 1993 and why did all safety systems become dysfunctional.

The NPCIL replied that fire did not occur in the main reactor, but it originated in the turbine building of the plant. The reactors, the reply said, were safely shut down and there was no release of radiation or other impact on people or the environment.

Rewari, May 23
Following rejection by village elders of a reported move of the state government to get a medical college constructed on panchayat land in Majra Sheoraj village through public-private partnership (PPP), the expectations of locals to get a premier medical institute built on the pattern of Government Medical College, Rohtak, have now come to a naught.

Earlier, at the behest of the Chief Minister, who had earlier agreed to consider villgers’ demand of a medical college after the latter offered to provide land for the purpose, the village elders donated 27 acres for the purpose without seeking any compensation.

Subsequently, the financial commissioner of the Health Department recently visited Majra Sheoraj village and inspected the site. Besides village elders, the SDM as well as the chief medical officer were also present on the occasion. Simultaneously, local minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, too, had been pursuing the matter.

However, at a point when things were moving in the right direction, an announcement by the government that the medical college would be constructed on the basis of public-private partnership shocked the villagers.

Consequently, the village elders held a meeting led by sarpanch Ved Prakash on May 19 and unanimously adopted a resolution, rejecting the move of the government. The panchayat made it known to the government that if the medical college was to be built on the basis of PPP, their donation of 27-acre land should be treated as cancelled.

Yamunanagar, May 23
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum in his orders allows the complaint and direct the respondents to refund the amount of 50 per cent.

Anup Singh, son of late Amar Singh and a resident of Mussimble village in the district, in his complaint on January 17 stated that a tubewell connection was standing in the name of his father and he had been paying bills without any default with a sanctioned load of 15 KW.

On January 6, 2011, officials of the UHBVN, Jagadhri, came to the premises of the complainant and told him that it was a routine checking. They told Anup that everything was fine and his signatures were obtained on some blank printed forms.

Anup Singh was astonished to receive a memo on January 10 in which a penalty of Rs 1,98,667 had been imposed at the time of checking. It said the tubewell connection in question was used to provide water to a poultry farm of Harinder Singh, so it is a case of change of category and it has also been alleged in the memo that Amar Singh was also present whereas Amar Singh died many years ago. Anup approached to the UHBVN and requested to quash the said memo, but the former refused.

Upon notice by the forum, the officials filed their written statement stating that at the time of checking on January 6, 2011, the tubewell connection was being used to provide water to the poultry farm. So, it was a case of change of category. SDO operation was directed to take action as per nigam rules, videography done as evidence and accordingly an amount of Rs 1,98667 was imposed. It is wrong to allege that the nigam told the complainant that everything was fine and obtained his signature on some blank printed forms and prayed for dismissal of complaint.

The SDO has shown the presence of Amar Singh at the time of checking, but the nigam did not produce any video before the forum to prove his version to be true. The respondents were duty bound to call any responsible person such as a municipal councillor, sarpanch and a member of panchayat at the time of checking but they did not do so deliberately and made a false report against the complainant.

Dina Nath, president, District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, and members, including Urmil Beniwal and VK Sharma, said they were of the view that the nigam failed to prove the checking report of January 6 made by the Vigilance Department and the SDO without verifying the facts. “Even the SDO has not cleared in the provisional assessment notice that what criteria has been adopted by him for imposing the penalty of Rs 1,98,667”.

“As such, it is clear that the nigam had made a false report case for the change of category of the connection. Thus, the complainant, Anup Singh, is entitled for relief”. The forum directed the nigam to refund the 50 per cent of the penalty amount if deposited earlier by the complainant within one month. “If the respondent fails to comply with the order within one month from the issue of order then the complainant will also be entitled to get interest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum from the date of order to till its realisation”.

Yamunanagar, May 23
As many as 17 students of Guru Nanak Khalsa College have secured merit positions in the recently declared Kurukshetra University results of postgraduate programmes of biotechnology, industrial microbiology, industrial chemistry and environmental sciences.

Merit holders of Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Yamunanagar, with staff members. Tribune photo

Kaithal, May 23
A delegation of FICCI, under the co-chairmanship of Anand Sharma, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, and Naveen Jindal, Kurukshetra MP, recently concluded its three-day visit to Australia.

The delegation met Australian Prime Minister Julia Eileen Gillard along with five senior Australian ministers. Gillard expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the visit of the delegation. She reaffirmed her commitment to Indo-Australian strategic partnership.

Both countries agreed to double their trade to $40 billion over the next four years and to expedite the negotiations for a free trade agreement between the two countries for mutual benefits. To give an impetus to this agreement, Anand Sharma and his Australian counterpart Craig Emerson agreed to hold the first meeting for this purpose by June or July.

During the course of deliberations, both ministers stressed the role of private sector in creating a parallel pathway to closer bilateral economic integration and announced the launch of a CEOs’ forum. This forum would be chaired by Naveen Jindal and Australian businessman Lindsay Fox. The first meeting of this forum would take place later this year, which would provide business guidance to both the governments as they negotiate the FTA.

The delegation welcomed 100 per cent foreign investment in agriculture and food processing sectors and on modernising its post-harvest technologies. Both sides also discussed the work being done for economic engagement, including negotiations on double taxation, social security and film production. Both the countries have also agreed to cooperate in the field of imparting vocational training.

The visit of the Indian delegation has been successful for achieving closer economic integration between the two countries and to enable them for a high quality comprehensive economic cooperation agreement.

Members of the Delegation also raised the issue of security and safety of Indian students studying in Australia. The Australian PM assured the delegation that the Australian government was alive to and concerned with the problem and would take all necessary steps in this direction.

Gurgaon, May 23
In an attempt to create awareness about vaginal hysterectomy surgical procedure, Columbia Asia Hospital, in collaboration with Gurgaon Obstetrics and Gynecology Society (GOGS), conducted a first-of-its-kind live surgery workshop at the hospital here recently.

Nearly 60 consultants from different parts of the National Capital Region (NCR) participated in the workshop. A team of experts, led by the GOGS president, Dr Ragni Agrawal, operated five patients during the event.

The surgeries, conducted free of cost using the latest technology, were projected live on a big screen for the benefit of the visiting doctors.

“Advancement in medical science today offers patients with a simpler process and a quick recovery. The objective of the event was to enhance the surgical skills of the gynecologists and popularise vaginal hysterectomy as a surgical procedure,” Dr Agrawal said and added that all surgeries were successful.

She said vaginal hysterectomy was a procedure in which the uterus was surgically removed through the vagina. “One or both ovaries and fallopian tubes may also be removed during the procedure as well. A vaginal approach may be used if the uterus is not greatly enlarged and if the reason for the surgery is not related to cancer”.

“Studies have shown that vaginal hysterectomy has fewer complications, requires a shorter hospital stay and allows a faster recovery as compared to removal of the uterus through an abdominal incision (abdominal hysterectomy),” the doctor added.

Karnal, May 23
The Society for Community Mobilisation for Sustainable Development, (MOBILISATION), New Delhi, has conferred the Best Community Mobiliser Award on Dr Dalip K. Gosain, programme coordinator of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) of the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) in recognition of his contribution in mobilising the rural communities of different states of the country.

The award was presented to him by Dr. CD Mayee, chairman, Agricultural Scientist Recruitment Board (ASRB), New Delhi, during the 5th national seminar on “Multi-Sectoral Innovations for Rural Prosperity” which was held here at the NDRI.

Dr Gosain has served the farming communities across the country and mobilised them for sustainable mixed farming comprising crop and dairy husbandry.

With 31 years of experience in the field of research, extension and teaching, he has worked in different research projects at the NDRI, published research papers in national and international journals, written book chapters and also co-authored a book.

He has organised more than 500 training programmes on scientific dairy farming and sustainable agriculture production for farmers and farm women and rural youth of different states.

Dr Gosain, who has done advanced training from Hannah Dairy Research Institute, Scotland, and Wageningen Agricultural University, Netherlands, in 1988, chaired a session in an international conference held at Abbottabad in Pakistan in 2005.

He was also invited as a speaker in international scientific programmes held in Italy in 2006 and in Vietnam in 2008. Dr Gosain said during 2010 alone, the KVK of the NDRI, headed by him had organised 282 on and off-campus programmes in which 7,861 farmers, farm women, rural youth and entrepreneurs were mobilised for the adoption of technologies in different enterprises.

Out of these programmers, 64 were for 1,698 beneficiaries of different states like Haryana, Bihar, UP, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Uttrarakhand, Assam, Punjab, Sikkim, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, he added.

Sirsa, May 23
With a view to augmenting power supply, two projects have been completed in different areas of Sirsa district.

The Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) has completed the construction work of its new 132 KV substation at Khairkan village and augmented capacity of 132 KV substation at Mithhi Surera (Ellenabad) in Sirsa at a cost of Rs 12 crore.

A spokesman for the Haryana Power Utilities said the 132 KV substation at Khairkan had been commissioned by setting up a transformer of 25 MVA capacity, which had been connected to Sirsa substation through 220 KV Sirsa - Odhan line.

With the commissioning of this substation, 13,405 consumers of different categories of 36 villages surrounding Khairkan will be directly benefited by way of increased voltage and regular power supply.

The beneficiaries include 3,830 agricultural tubewells. The 33 KV substation, Panjuwana, and 33 KV substation, Bansudhar, have been connected to the newly commissioned 132 KV substation for feeding power while two additional substations of 33KV level under construction at Dhottar will also be connected to the new 132 KV substation for feeding power.

As many as 18,763 consumers taking power from other substations of the area will get benefit of improved voltage and regular power supply indirectly as load on their feeding substation will reduce with the construction of new substations of 132 KV and 33 KV levels.

He said the capacity of 132 KV substation, Mithisurera, had been augmented from 16 MVA to 25 MVA by replacing an old transformer.

Now, the capacity of the substation was sufficient to bear the load of its command area.

With the augment of capacity of this substation, 4,527 consumers of 11 villages surrounding Ellenabad have got direct benefit of improved voltage regular power supply. The beneficiary consumers include 1,370 tubewells.

Jind, May 23
“There has been a decrease of over 30 per cent in the death cases in road mishaps in the district over the past one year. This has been perhaps due to the increased vigil and immediate response action by the police and other departments to attend such incidents and rush the required help to the victims,” claimed district police officials.

Speaking at a function at the local bar association here recently, the district police chief said the total number of deaths that recorded in 2010-11 was around 52, while this figure was 77 in the previous year. Despite the rise in number of vehicles, the mortality rate had come down, which he claimed was due to better management of the traffic and increased vigil by the Police Department. He, however, added that it was also the increased awareness and involvement of individuals and various social welfare bodies, engaged in activities related to this work.

He said there were about 113 cases of road accidents against the 157 cases of such nature in the previous year. Several cases of road rage were also reported in this period. He said though the police had been trying to improve the vigil and to check the traffic rules violation, it was also the responsibility of the residents to obey the rules and follow the traffic norms in order to increase road safety. Timely information and cooperation by the residents and those moving on roads could render all help to the victims of accidents. He said while the parents and the schools should take measures to provide traffic rules education to the students at regular intervals, the minors should not be allowed to drive a vehicle as it could result in a mishap. It is revealed that deaths in accidents have been placed at the second place after the casualties due to diseases in the country. But on other hand the sources in the department concerned claimed that there had been an acute shortage of traffic cops in the district and manning traffic properly at congested spots in the city and district had been a challenge.

The state and district authorities were still to come out with a move to segregate the traffic police wing from the normal Police Department.

“Moreover the handful of traffic cops posted at various points did not have the authority to challan the offenders at the spot and this results in violation in the face of the police,” claimed Rattan Singh, a local resident.

He said if the authorities wanted to ensure proper implementation of the traffic rules, it must deploy adequate number of cops with the authority of spot penalty. He also asked the government to toughen the process of issuance of driving licences , punching of each and every violation and ultimately the cancellation of this facility for the offenders found guilty for more than four times.

Rewari, May 23
With his keen participation in several salient programmes held to mark the 20th death anniversary of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi here recently, Finance, Irrigation, Forest and Environment Minister Capt. Ajay Singh Yadav led the Congress activists and others in the Rewari region in paying homage to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

At the outset, Capt. Yadav laid the foundation stone of Rajiv Gandhi Herbal Park and Eco-Tourism Centre at the Masani Barrage Complex, near Dharuhera. The park, which is now the 31st Herbal Park of Haryana, will be set up on a 45-acre land at a cost of Rs 7 crore.

Enumerating the advantages of various medicinal herbs, the minister asserted that ayurvedic system could help in treating even incurable diseases as well.

Describing trees as a valuable bounty bestowed upon humanity by the nature, the minister called upon people to grow plants on vacant lands to ensure the purification of environment.

Highlighting the fruitfulness of simultaneous development of a tourism centre, along with the herbal park, Capt. Yadav went on to say that it would be a place of attraction for tourists as well.

The minister also unveiled a statue of the late Prime Minister at the Rajiv Gandhi Herbal Park at Khalilpuri village, near here. The minister wrapped up his day’s itinerary with the inauguration of a blood donation camp in the Community Bhawan at sector 3 here. The minister also donated blood on the occasion.

Rewari, May 23
While Public Health, Excise and Taxation Minister Kiran Chaudhary was the chief guest, Finance, Irrigation, Forest and Environment Minister Capt. Ajay Singh Yadav presided over the proceedings of the 5th annual prize distribution function of Rao Abhay Singh College of Education at Saharanwas village, near here, recently.

Asserting that there was no royal road to success, Kiran Chaudhary told students that only efforts coupled with diligence, dedication and veneration towards teachers were a sine qua non for attainment of heights in life.

Stating that parents, teachers and educational institutions all collectively mould children into robust citizens, she eulogised the valuable contribution made in the domain of education in South Haryana by Capt. Yadav’s family which had established Rao Abhay Singh College of Education, Mata Raj Kaur Engineering College and a law college here.

In view of the brilliant results shown by students in the recent years, the Minister said it was creditable that these educational institutions were imparting qualitative education to the youths of the region.

While Kiran, along with Capt. Yadav, released the college magazine “Abhay Deep” and distributed prizes among meritorious students, she also announced a financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh out of her discretionary fund for the college.

Simultaneously, Capt. Yadav, too, urged teachers to transmit noble thoughts and precepts to pupils while exhorting students to pay due respect to their teachers.

Similarly, highlighting the achievements of the college, principal Dr. Raj Kumar Yadav read out his annual report, whereas students entertained the gathering with a cultural programme of dance and patriotic play.

Kaithal, May 23
MP Naveen Jindal inspected Indira Gandhi Multi-Specialty Hospital here recently and took stock of the facilities being provided to patients. He also presided over the meeting of the District Vigilance and Monitoring Committee here.

During his visit to the hospital, he visited OPD, male and female wards and went around the emergency ward, major and minor operation theatres, ultrasound centre, ECG centres and various other wards where patients were being treated for various ailments.

He gave directions for maintaining hygienic conditions in the hospital premises and make arrangements for the disposal of medical waste.

He directed CMO Dr Jagmal Singh to provide medical test reports to the patients at the earliest so that they do not have to face any inconvenience as the hospital was situated away from the town.

The CMO told Jindal that at present, 32 doctors were available in the hospital and seven more were likely to join shortly which would have a positive effect on the medical services being provided to patients. Nursing staff of the hospital was also working with full dedication.

Jindal told that the ambulance service was available at the doorstep in every village and it could be availed by dialing 102. He said this service was free for the medical check-up of pregnant women. He said as many as 20 eye banks had been opened in the state under the Nehru Drishti Yojna.

Earlier, Jindal presided over the meeting of the District Vigilance and Monitoring Committee in the local mini-secretariat where officials from all departments were present. He reviewed the progress of ongoing development programmes in the district and also took stock of various schemes launched and being executed for the benefit of the people.

He called upon officials to ensure that projects were completed in time and benefits of welfare schemes were percolated to the targeted people.

Deputy commissioner Amneet P. Kumar gave details of the progress of development projects and implementation of welfare schemes.

Chief parliamentary secretary Sultan Jadola, Ram Pal Majra former CPS and MLA Kalayat, ADC BB Kaushik, SP Simardeep Singh were among those present on the occasion.

Kurukshetra, May 23
Lieut-Gen DDS Sandhu, vice-chancellor, Kurukshetra University, inaugurated an ATM of Punjab National Bank on the premises of Girls Hostel Complex of the university here.

The ATM will provide easy cash and other facilities to about 4,000 girls residing in 12 hostels on the campus.

Ms Sumita Roy, circle head, Punjab National Bank, Kurukshetra; SK Mishra, AGM, circle office, PNB, Kurukshetra; SC Bansal, lead district manager; Prof Girish Chopra, dean, academic affairs, KU; Prof Mohinder Singh, proctor; Prof Versha Razdan, chief warden girls hostel; Prof Brajesh Sawhney, director, public relations; Munni Bhadu, deputy chief warden; Harjeet Singh, finance officer; AN Sharma, assistant registrar; and Prithvi Singh, XEN, KU; were present on the occasion.

Rewari, May 23
As many as 210 students of primary section of Pathfinder Global School, Kosli, participated in a painting competition held under the sponsorship of Heritage School, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, in the school complex recently.

Sandeep Roy, director of Heritage School, New Delhi, himself delineated several paintings while graphically displaying the technique of sculptural art to the students. The students portrayed various paintings and brightened them up with different colours.

RP Manchanda, principal of the school, said the competition delighted the children who picked up valuable skills as well.

Niket (class I), Vipin (class II), Chanchal (class III), Lalit (class IV) and Anu Chauhan (class V) bagged the first positions in the contest in their respective classes.

Sonepat, May 23
Elaborating on the existing power generation systems, RS Rathee, managing director of Indraprastha Power Generation Corporation and Power Distribution Corporation, said supercritical technologies were coming in use in a big way. The idea of optimum utilisation of generation capacity and fuel resources holds the answer to many problems, he added.

Rathee was the chief guest in the closing ceremony of the five-day two short-term training workshops - “Recent Challenges in Power Grid Operation and Control” and “Green Computing - A New Horizon of Energy Efficiency and e-Waste Minimisation” - concluded recently at the Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal.

“As the field of power generation is a challenging one, efforts are on to give uninterrupted power supply to consumers and things will only get better with more research and application of new technology,” he said and added that the Jawahar Lal Nehru Solar Mission was also a great step in utilising non-conventional sources of energy.

HS Chahal, vice-chancellor of Murthal university, stated that problems should be listed and then solutions should be searched through multi-disciplinary research projects with the help of experts. This would definitely give rise to new ways of solving problems related to the use of electronics and e-waste minimisation, he added. The green computing workshop focused on environmentally responsible use of computers and related resources. Green computing and communication research has increasingly become a hot topic of interest for computer research and industry.

Kaithal, May 23
Ram Pal Majra, a former Haryana chief parliamentary secretary and senior INLD leader, said here recently that Kaithal Cooperative Sugar Mills owed Rs 10 crore to the farmers who had sold their sugarcane to it during the last crushing season.

He said farmers had been pleading the mill management to clear their outstanding arrears, but officials were not making payment. He said if the present situation continued, the farmers would be forced to launch an agitation and it would be the responsibility of the administration.

Deputy commissioner Amneet P. Kumar and chairman, Sugar Mill, said she would look in this problem and efforts would be made to ensure the payment of arrears to the farmers.

Majra also expressed anguish at the prevailing corruption in government offices. He alleged that people continued to suffer a lot due to the menace of corruption.

Majra said irregularities had taken place in the recruitment of anganwari workers and helpers and alleged that even money had changed hands in the recruitment. He said pensioners, including elderly, widows and physically challenged, were running from pillar to post to get pension, but they had to face humiliation at the hands of government staff.

Majra also alleged that the government had failed to ensure adequate power supply to rural and urban consumers as promised during the last Assembly elections. There was no water in canals and several ponds in the villages of the district could not be filled with canal water. He said law and order was deteriorating in the state and crime graph was also increasing with each passing day.

Jind, May 23
The lifting of procured wheat from various grain markets and procurement centres in the district, which is one of the leading producers of wheat crop in the state, has been completed by various agencies.

A total of 6,26,639 metric tonnes (MT) of wheat has arrived in the mandis in the district this year which has been a sort of record.

According to a senior official of the District Food and Supply Department, the work of removal or lifting of wheat purchased by various government agencies started as soon as the grain was procured from farmers. It is claimed that every grain procured this season had been lifted by contractors of the agencies and moved to the godowns of the departments concerned.

Though wheat arrival is still trickling in, the agencies are removing the procured lot on a daily basis and no stock is lying in the markets in the open at present.

The arrival of wheat, which was around 6,17,905 metric tonnes last year, has increased by about 9,000 metric tonnes this year so far.

While the grain market of Jind has been maintaining the top position with the total arrival of about 79,210 metric tonnes, the mandis of Safidon and Narwana were placed at the second and third spots, respectively, with an arrival of 68,411 metric tonnes and 65,839 metric tonnes, respectively.

Several procurement centres have been set up in some of the leading villages where the arrival of wheat has ranged between 10,000 and 64,000 metric tonnes, it is claimed.

The leading procurement agencies include HAFED and the Food and Supply Department who have purchased 1,99,314 metric tones and 1,61,491 metric tonnes of wheat, respectively, till Tuesday.

The Haryana Warehousing Corporation, which is placed at the third spot, has purchased about 11,318 metric tonnes of wheat, while Haryana Agro’ share is about 69,491 metric tonnes. The Food Corporation of India has purchased only 30,782 metric tonnes of wheat so far, the officials added.

Rewari, May 23
The Agarwal Vaish Samaj (AVS), a prominent voluntary organisation of the Agarwal Vaish Community in Haryana, has sent a communication to BK Hari Prasad, AICC general secretary and in charge of the party affairs in Haryana, urging him to formulate a scheme regarding the insurance of traders and shopkeepers in the state on the pattern of the Uttarakhand government.

Copies of the communication have also been dispatched to Congress president Sonia Gandhi as well as Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Emphasising upon the urgency of introduction of the scheme for traders in Haryana, AVS chief Ashok Buwaniwala pointed out that a number of traders and shopkeepers lost their lives either in road accidents or at the hands of anti-social elements in the state in the recent years.

Simultaneously, stating that when members of the trading community spent their lifetime in filling up the state coffers with the revenue collected through tax on sold goods, Buwaniwala asked if it was not the responsibility of the ruling brass to provide such financial security to all these earning hands of the government and their dependants?

Giving out details of the scheme already introduced by the Uttaranchal government for the welfare of the trading community of the state, he said each one of the traders registered with the Trade (Sales) Tax Department of the state had been insured for Rs 5 lakh, whose premium was being paid by the Uttarakhand government.

Buwaniwala said the AVS wanted expeditious implementation of the scheme for traders and shopkeepers in the state. He also informed that a delegation of senior functionaries of the AVS would soon call on Bhupinder Singh Hooda with the request to do the needful speedily in Haryana as well.

Sonepat, May 23
Sonepat district has continued to dominate the state in the selection of candidates in the Civil Services Examination of the Union Public Service Commission for the past two years. Like last year, as many as seven candidates, including two women, qualified this year’s examination also, but with better rankings than the previous year.

Out of the seven candidates, as many as five of them figure among the top 100 positions of the merit list. However, only one candidate, Monika Dahiya, was placed at the 70th position in the last year’s merit list of the examination.

Amit Khatri of Chatia Deva village in the district improved his ranking to 11th position from 269th in the last year’s examination and he was followed by Aditya Dahiya of Bhadana village at 21st position, Sweta Narwal of Kathura village at 52nd position. Pooja Jain of Kheri Gujjar village improved her position to 66th and Navneet Chahal of Joli village got 76th position in the examination.

Prem Singh Malik of Salarpur Majra village, who was in the category of disabled, improved his ranking from 780th in the last year’s examination to 488th in this year’s examination.

Rakesh Dahiya of Rohna village, belonging to a farmers’ family, got 642nd position in the examination.

Aditya was the topper in PMT and before getting selection in Civil Services Examination, he also passed his medical degree from All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in top position. He was awarded nine out of the 11 medals by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his exemplary performance as a student during his MBBS study period.

Marriage was no obstruction for Sweta whose husband is an IPS officer serving at Jamshedpur in Jharkhand. She got inspiration from her husband as well as from her father-in-law KC Narwal who is serving as an executive engineer in the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam at Sonepat.