The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Canal network to be rehabilitated
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 2
The state Irrigation Department has decided to rehabilitate the canal network in the state in a phased manner. Already works costing about Rs 1,000 crore have been identified, which will be executed in the 12th Five Year Plan.

An official spokesperson said recently that the works would be taken up under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), NABARD and the 13th Finance Commission and the state plan. In addition to these works, the sides of the western Jamuna canal main line lower and the western Jamuna canal main branch from Dadupur to Karnal will be lined at a cost of Rs 127.50 crore for which a detailed project report has been prepared.

Water courses will also be remodeled and rehabilitated in a phased manner. Out of the total 7,633 identified water courses, 2051 have already been rehabilitated and work on 249 is in progress. For providing irrigation and drinking water facilities to the backward area of Mewat, a canal, the Mewat Feeder Canal, will be constructed at a cost of Rs 640 crore after the National Capital Region Planning Board agree to finance it.

A Rs 171.30-crore scheme for raising and strengthening the embankment along the Yamuna had been approved as a state project under the Central assistance scheme of flood management. Under the scheme, 196 km-long embankment will be raised and strengthened besides taking up 42.73 km of stone pitching on embankments, 118.61 km of stone revetment and constructing 645 studs and 118 ramps. The total Central assistance under the scheme has been approved for Rs 130.31 crore and first installment of Rs 46.91 crore has already been received. Work on this project is likely to be completed by the next year.

BJP to expand base in Faridabad
Ravi S.Singh/TNS

Faridabad, January 2
The BJP will intensify its efforts to expand its base in Faridabad this year, said Ajay Gaur, president of the Faridabad unit.

Gaur said the party’s ongoing enrollment drive for “active members” had received a good response so far. “The number, which was about 400 in March-April, has now crossed the 1,200 mark. The membership was expected to cross 2,000 by March,” he said.

According to him, the district unit had held a meeting on December 20 in which it was emphasised to prepare a road map to further expand the party’s base in Faridabad. “The local Congress leaders and functionaries of the government have not matched up to the expectations of people. The Municipal Corporation in Faridabad has become non-functional. People have now started to look up at the BJP,” Gaur added. The fact that Krishanpal Gurjaar, Haryana president of the BJP, hails from this district, the party also wants to make a strong political statement by expanding its base this urbanised district.

Official position of the BJP notwithstanding, the party and its ally, the Haryana Janhit Congress, are wary of the Congress led by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. According to many, Hooda’s “decent” was acting in favour of the Congress. Hence, the BJP has to strive hard to regain ground, at least in its traditional support-base in urban pockets, where it lost its sheen after the rise of the Congress under Hooda.

Farmers resent enforcement of compulsory insurance
Satish Seth

Kaithal, January 2
Farmers of the Siwan area in this district have expressed resentment against the enforcement of compulsory insurance and deduction of premium by banks from their Krishi Card accounts.

In a memorandum submitted to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda through the district authorities, the farmers said neither they were informed about this compulsory insurance scheme nor their permission was taken in this regard.

The farmers said they came to know about this scheme only when they found debit entries for insurance premium in their Krishi Cards passbooks in September.

The farmers said when they met the manager of PNB, Siwan, they were told that he could not give them any detail, rather they should read the gazette notification issued by the government.

The farmers said on the one hand, the government provided interest subsidy to the farmers on loans, on the other the insurance premium was compulsorily deducted from their accounts.

The aggrieved farmers said they had come to know that in case of any loss or damage to the crop, the individual farmer could not claim any compensation unless similar loss or damage had not occurred to other farmers in that area.

The farmers have sought intervention of the Chief Minister to save them from this injustice. Surinder Kumar Nagpal, Harbans Lal Munjal, Sham Sunder Ahuja, Jarnail Singh, Amrik Singh, Baldev Singh, Amir Chand Mehta, OP Raheja, Chander Kumar Taneja, Sangeet Bansal were among those who sent the memorandum to the Chief Minister.

Sehajdharis should continue to have voting right: Nalvi
Our Correspondent

Kaithal, January 2
Sehajdaris can play an important role in expansion of Sikh religion and they should continue to hold voting rights as per Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Act, 1925, said Didar Singh Nalvi, president of a faction of Haryana SGPC (Ad hoc).

Nalvi said the recent decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the voting rights for Sehajdaris should be an eye opener to those Akali leaders who think that the SGPC was their personal domain and wanted to use the gurdwaras for their personal benefits. He said it was ridiculous that the Akali leaders having their allegiance with the SAD did not want to follow the SGPC Act. He said the Sikh religion always stood for inclusion and not exclusion of anyone to Sikh Panth.

He alleged that it was a pity that following pursuance by some vested interests from among Akalis the NDA government at the Centre in 2003 issued a notification excluding Sehajdaris from voting to the SGPC elections, which was in violation of the SGPC Act. He said the decision to issue the notification was itself arbitrary and illegal as all those who were voting from 1925 till 2003 could suddenly be debarred from contesting the SGPC elections by excluding them through a notification. Moreover, a notification could not affect changes in the 1925 Act and this could be done only through an Act of Parliament.

Work on underpasses may hamper traffic
Bijendra Ahlawat
Tribune News Service

Rohtak, January 2
While the six-lane expressway connecting Rohtak with Delhi was nearing completion, the alleged delay in the construction of around a dozen underpasses threatens to disrupt the smooth movement of traffic. The underpasses have been proposed to provide a safe passage to villagers.

According to the officials concerned, the construction of this highway was likely to be over in a couple of months as over 90 per cent of the work had been over. The company allotted this project worth around Rs 600 crore is now busy constructing a tollbooth near Sampla town, about 25 km from here. This will be a toll road and the motorists or the vehicles using the highway will have to pay toll to cross the passage, said an official, who however claimed that the toll rates were yet to be fixed and announced.

The highway will not only save travelling time of about 25 to 30 minutes between Rohtak and Delhi, but will also ease traffic in Bahadurgarh town, which is a main bottleneck on this road.

“While a bypass has been provided to all villages lying along the highway, the problem erupted after the authorities concerned allegedly failed to take cognizance of the need of providing underpasses at every village as the fields of residents has been spread on both sides of the highway and crossing the road was a routine affair and officials concerned did not take up the construction of the underpasses when conceiving the project and preparing the final drawings”, said Vijay Kumar, a local resident.

It is claimed that while the authorities decided to provide the underpasses later on after construction had reached almost 50 per cent, as there had been several cases of accidents and protests by villagers who resorted to block the highway. There also appears to be a controversy regarding the number of underpasses required on this stretch as the number of such facilities, which were under construction at present had been around six against the need of around 12.

NGO to launch eye donation campaign
Satish Seth

Kaithal, January 2
Members of the Sewa Sangh, a local voluntary organisation, running “Chetna”, a school for mentally challenged kids in Naina Devi Ashram, on Saturday resolved to devote the year 2012 to promote the cause of Eye Donation.

Members, along with schoolchildren, participated in a hawan yagna organised on the occasion and rededicated themselves to the work for the betterment of children by providing them with necessary guidance and training to bring them to the main stream.

Secretary of the sangh Shiv Shanker Pahwa highlighted the social activities undertaken in 2011 and said their organisation had been working for social causes for the past 30 years and had made efforts to provide relief to the poor sections of society. He said they would continue undertaking such activities in future and said they would launch their donate eyes campaign in a big way this year.

He said as a part of the campaign, members would contact social organisations and visit schools and other educational institutions to encourage the cause of eye donation.

The members paid tributes to a few members of the organisation, including Hans Raj, Om Parkash Khanna , Urmila Verma and Surrender Lal. All those present showed keen interest in the candles and other articles made by the schoolchildren and appreciated their efforts . Members also distributed blankets to poor people living in temporary jhuggies on the outskirts of the town.

Rs 1.59 cr given as loans to Dalit families
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, January 2
The Haryana Schedule Castes Finance Development Corporation has ameliorated the lives of over 554 Dalit families in the district in the current year by providing loans to them for starting their business ventures.

An official spokesperson said Rs 1.59 crore had been provided to these families as loan with subsidy of Rs 32.30 lakh. As many as 412 people have taken loans for the purchase of milch animals for dairy farming.

Loans for sheep breeding have been provided to as many as 82 families in the district. He said the corporation also provided loans to purchase auto-rickshaws, taxis, commercial vehicles, tractor-trolleys or to start beauty parlours or boutiques to Dalit families.

Placements: Greece company representative visits institution
Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, January 2
Seertardio Erini, sales officer of Cleeman Lifts Pvt Ltd, Greece, visited Yamuna Group recently. The main purpose of his visit was to meet the director of Yamuna Group, Dr Sarvjeet Kaur, and to plan the placements of MBA, B.Tech and diploma students of the group.

Erini took a tour of all the departments of Yamuna Group and met with the faculty members and had an interactive session with them. She was impressed with the infrastructure of the group and with the facilities they are providing to its students.

Erini promised that she would definitely give a chance to the students of Yamuna Group to work with her company. Erini said her visit to Yamuna Group was to initiate placement talks and in future, they would definitely conduct interviews here.

Dr Sarvjeet Kaur said Yamuna Group’s main motive was to place its students in reputed multinational companies and they were working hard to achieve this objective.

Booklet on chemistry released
Our Correspondent

HS Chahal, Vice-Chancellor of Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal, releases a booklet, “Rasaynam ev Sansar”. Photo: BS Malik

Sonepat, January 2
All over the world, 2011 was celebrated as the International Year of Chemistry (IYC-2011) as it had been declared by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and UNESCO to honour the achievement of chemistry and its contributions for the welfare of one and all.

Based on the theme of the IYC-2011 “Chemistry- Our life, our future”, the Department of Chemistry, the Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal (Sonepat), has already organised the National Science Day, a national workshop on “Resent trends in Chemistry-2011” and expert lectures by renowned scientists, Prof AK Ganguly (IIT-Delhi) and Prof Rainer Haag (Free University Berlin, Germany) etc.

In continuation, the Department of Chemistry planned a booklet “Rasayanam ev Sansar” and same was released by HS Chahal, Vice-Chancellor of the university, recently. In the international Year of Chemistry, it is hard to imagine a more suitable symbol of chemistry’s importance, potential and power than Madam Marie Curie. So Rajender Singh Malik, booklet editor (Department of Chemistry), dedicated this volume to Madam Marie Skiodowska Curie on 100th Anniversary of her Noble Prize in chemistry for the discovery of radioactive elements - polonium and radium.

In the opinion of the VC, this magazine was designed for the young lovers of chemistry, it aims to generate awareness and to create interest in the subject. Chemistry was involved in every sphere of human life and its principle had been used for benefit of mankind.

“Our daily life is so much dependent on chemistry that we do not even realise that we come across chemicals at every moment,” he said and added that human beings were beautiful chemical creation and their all activities were controlled by chemicals

Malik said the Department of Chemistry took initiative to promote the role of chemistry for resolving the global challenges and to increase the interest of young mind and public appreciation towards the subject. “This booklet comprises of those concept and mechanism, which correlate chemistry with our daily activities in a simple language,” he explained and this volume would be circulated in all senior secondary schools of the Haryana Government.

Malik added that it put emphasis on the application of chemistry in various important and interesting areas, including medicines, food material and cleaning agents, among others.

National workshop on arid zone fruits held
Nawal Kishore Rastogi

Rewari, January 2
A three-day national workshop of XVI All-India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Arid Zone Fruits was held in collaboration with the Central Institute of Arid Horticulture (CIAH), Bikaner (Rajasthan), at the CCS Haryana Agricultural University’s Regional Research Station, Bawal, in Rewari district, recently.

While the workshop comprised of various technical sessions in which participating scientists held comprehensive discussions on countrywide research conducted on arid zone fruits during the past two years, horticulture scientists from 14 AICRP centres of state agricultural universities of Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu as well as four institutes of the All-India Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi, prominently participated in the deliberations.

It is noteworthy that Dr HP Singh, deputy director-general of the ICAR, New Delhi, was the chief guest, whereas Dr KS Khokhar, vice-chancellor of HAU, Hisar, presided over the proceedings of the two sessions on Plant Genetic Resource Management and Date Palm Tissue Culture (DPTC) which were held on the opening day of the workshop.

Keeping in view the fast changing scenario, Dr HP Singh counselled the scientists to keep a tab on the production of high-quality arid fruits like ber, aonla, lasora, custard apple, pomegranate, etc, while in his presidential address Dr KS Khokhar called for the efficient utilisation of water resources, study of the impact of global warming on fruit plants, use of biotechnological tools for the introduction of new traits, gene mapping and genetic biodiversity in arid fruits as well as the use of bio-pesticides to decimate the residual effect of chemicals.

In the same vein, the second day deliberations comprised of sessions on water management, nutrient management, plant propagation, planting system, plant densities, weed management and pest-cum-disease management in the arid zone fruits.

These technical sessions were chaired by Dr RK Kashyap, director of Human Resource Management, Dr RS Balyan, project director, and Dr SK Bhatia, Prof and head of HAU, Hisar.

The concluding day of the workshop saw scientists interacting with fruit growers of the state, officials of the state Horticulture Department, marketing board and developmental agencies. Dr S. Rajan, ADJ, Horticulture, ICAR, New Delhi presided over the session.

Dr SK Sharma, director and projector coordinator, Central Institute of Arid Horticulture, Bikaner, proficiently acted as coordinator during the entire proceedings of the workshop.

Similarly, while members of the Quinquennial Review Committee examined the progress which the project had registered at the Regional Research Station of Bawal during the past five years and found it worthwhile, Dr Munish Makhija, regional director of RRS, Bawal, and organising secretary of the workshop proposed the vote of thanks.

Rs 214.05 crore released to municipalities
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, January 2
The state government released a sum of Rs 214.05 crore to various municipalities under the Rajiv Gandhi Urban Development Mission, Haryana (RGUDMH), in Haryana up to December 2011.

Haryana Minister of State for Local Bodies Gopal Kanda said the state
government had earmarked an allocation of Rs 2,500 crore under the RGUDMH to be spent over a period of five years with a yearly breakup of Rs 500 crore.

Under the RGUDMH, Rs 200 crore would be spent on projects for water supply and sanitation, Rs 100 crore on affordable housing projects and Rs 200 crore would be utilised on special purpose infrastructure development projects in small and medium towns, he added.

Kanda said the state government had launched a state-wide urban infrastructure development programme, namely Rajiv Gandhi Urban Development Mission, Haryana, on mission mode approach, in all Urban Local Bodies of the state, excluding Municipal Corporation, Gurgaon, and towns covered under the Jawaharlal Nehru
National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

The objective of the Rajiv Gandhi Urban Development Mission, Haryana, would be an integrated development of the city or town in a holistic manner within a timeframe of five years, with focus on efficiency in urban infrastructure or services delivery mechanism, community participation and accountability of urban local bodies towards citizens, the minister added.

Centre to educate youth on social equality
Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, January 2
An “Equal Opportunity Centre” for educating youth on social equality, peace and justice was inaugurated at Maharaja Agrasen College, Jagadhri, by college Principal Dr PK Bajpai. The Centre has been sponsored by the University Grants Commission, New Delhi.

Speaking at the inaugural function, Dr Bajpai asserted that the society had to evolve mechanisms to peaceful cohabitation and a judicious space for self-development. “However, it was a real challenge to address equality issues in a severely divided society like ours. Education, zero tolerance to injustice and discrimination and social initiatives are important to social equality, justice and development, which are the precondition for social development,” he said.

Dr Malkit Singh, assistant professor, sketched the parameters of the Constitution to ensure an egalitarian society. “We the people of secular, socialist, democratic republic are endowed with equality, freedom, justice, fraternity and national integration,” he said, while asserting on the fundamental rights, directive principles of the state policy and special provisions for the Schedules Castes and Scheduled Tribes etc. Dr Rakesh Kumar raised the issues of growing intolerance in society that despite education, atrocities on women, SC, ST and minorities were growing. The incidences like Mirchpur and honour killings were not uncommon, he said.

Dr Anita Dhingra, coordinator of the centre, advocated the need for expediting the process of social change. “India should invest in social and political education. The centre is an effort in this direction and it will try to educate the students and people about their rights and duties, protection mechanisms and interventions,” she said.

Summarising the discussion, Dr Bajpai stressed the need to overcome mental blocks and open psychological knots to give every one a fair chance to grow as there was enough for every one on this mother earth. “Let us pool our minds and thoughts together to build a world without barriers,” he added.

Bank holds customer meet in Ambala
Tribune News Service

Ambala, January 2
Punjab National Bank (PNB) organised a customer meet for NRIs, exporters and importers here recently. As many as 150 customers along with their family members participated in the meet.

AK Roy Chaudhary, general manager (Field) of PNB, while addressing the gathering informed that PNB was established on April 13,1895, at Lahore and has inherited sound banking tradition of 117 years. It has large domestic footprints with 5,496 branches and 5,806 ATMs. It has also presence in nine global jurisdictions, he said.

Chaudhary further said the bank had been declared as the “Best Bank 2011” by “Business Today”. According to a London magazine “The Banker”, the bank’s rank was at 257 among the top 1,000 banks in the world. Last year’s net profit of the bank was 4,433 crores, he added.

RK Mehta, Chief Manager of PNB, Ambala Cantt, said PNB was having one authorised branch of foreign exchange business in Sadar Bazaar, Ambala Cantt, which was providing all facilities to exporters, importers and had swift facility for international fund transfer. He informed about the products available to NRI customers, including the NRO, saving fund account, NRE saving fund account, NRE term deposit account, FCNR (B) account and resident foreign currency account.

He said after deregulation of interest rate of the NRE term deposit, PNB had announced 9.25 per cent rate of interest on the NRE term deposit for maturity period of one to five years w.e.f.
January 1.

Dinesh Bhardwaj, lead district manager, welcomed all guests, including AK Roy Chaudhary, general manager (Field), Rajiv Raijada, deputy general manager, large corporate branch, Chandigarh, KM Gupta, assistant general manager, Madan Lal, assistant general manager, AS Gupta, assistant general manager, Chander Chandwani, assistant general manager.

AS Gupta, assistant general manager, said:
“There are 27 branches and 30 ATMs of PNB in Ambala for providing all the banking facilities to our valuable customers.

There are two specialised SME branches, one agriculture advances branch and one retail hub branch to meet the different needs of our customers”.

Dental college upgrades its radiology section
Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, January 2
Moving at pace with the advances in dentistry, JN Kapoor DAV Dental College, Yamunanagar, has upgraded its radiology section with digital OPG (Orthopantomogram). The newly constructed state-of-the-art section was inaugurated by former MLA and parliamentary secretary of Haryana Dr Krishna Pandit.

The Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics of the college also organised a CDE programme with a hands-on course in “Art in Anteriors” under expertise of renowned international speaker Dr Madhav Murthy (Manager,3M ESPE, India). Dr Kunal Sethi of DAV Dental College said the lecture was attended by 200 delegates and the programme was a grand success.

Dr IK Pandit, principal, Dr S Vijay Singh, organising chairman, and other committee members, including Dr Poonam Bogra and Dr Saurabh Gupta, left no stone unturned to bring the latest trends in aesthetic dentistry within easy reach of participants.

Residents of Tigaon area miffed over govt’s decision
Ravi S Singh
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, January 2
Residents of more than 12 villages in the Tigaon Assembly constituency in this district are miffed over the government’s decision to shift their revenue control to the newly created Mohana sub-tehsil.

They threatened to launch an agitation if the government did not redress their grievance soon. Raj Gopal, of Majhauli village, said talks were on among the people of the affected villages to form a “Joint Sangharsh Samiti” to spearhead the proposed agitation. They alleged that the government did not ascertain the opinion of the local public before taking the decision.

Manjit Singh, District Revenue Officer, said: “The decision was taken by the department on the basis of report of the SDM concerned and Tehsildar concerned.” According to many, the issue was gradually assuming political overtones.

The Tigaon Assembly constituency is presently represented by Krishanpal Gurjaar, president of the state unit of the BJP, in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha.

Residents have pleaded their case before Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda as well as before the Opposition parties to place their villages under the jurisdiction of the Tigaon sub-tehsil. Lalit Nagar, Congress leader, who met Hooda along with a delegation of members of panchayats of the villages recently, claimed they have been assured of positive consideration to the problem.

The grouse of the residents is that some of the villages falling in the Tigaon area are about 20 km from Mohana headquarters and less than 5 km from the Tigaon headquarters. The announcement for creating the two sub-tehsils was made by the Chief Minister in 2009. The contours of their jurisdiction have been finalised by the Revenue Department recently.

The affected villages include Manjhauli, Bahadurpur, Ghodasan and Fazzupur.

Kavi sammelan held in Rewari
Our Correspondent

Rewari, January 2
A kavi sammelan to promote nationalism, along with a pratibha samman samaroh to honour talented achievers, was held under the joint auspices of the Nehru Yuva Kendra (NUK) and the Master Neki Ram Sahitya Avam Natya Kala Sankrashan Parishad here recently.

Besides, Sant Bishamber Dayal Sahitya Akademi, headed by Balbir Singh Punia, also lend tangible collaboration to the organisers.

Prominent poets from several parts of the state and Rajasthan participated in the sammelan. Former minister Jagdsih Yadav was the chief guest, whereas Ramesh Sehgal, chief of the Punjabi Sabha, presided over the function.

Zila Parishad Councillor Niranjan Lal Patwari and Sunder Lal Bhandoria were guests of honour.

Praising Nehru Yuva Kendra for organising the sammelan to champion the cause of national integration and genuine love for the country, Yadav said it provided tangibility to patriotic sentiments and the cherished cultural values.

Noted poet Halchal Haryanvi, prominent lyricist Ramesh Siddharth, Dr Uma Shanker Yadav and Alwar’s bard of valour and heroism Sanjay Pathak recited verses to glorify nationalism and liberal human values. Similarly, Haryanvi versifier Satyavir Nahariya, talented poetess Dr Laj Kaushal, Ahmana Bhardwaj and Navin Kumar lyrically infused spirit of humanism among the young generation.

NYK District Coordinator SP Kaushik highlighted current activities of the NYK. Master Neki Ram Award, Halchal Haryanvi Thitholi (witticism) Award and Master Bakhtawar Singh Bakht Journalism Awards were conferred on folk musician Hukam Singh, poetess Dr Laj Kaushal and veteran journalist Nawal Kishore Rastogi for their meritorious services in their respective spheres by the Sant Bishamber Dayal Sahitya Akademi.

Mahashay Kedar Mal, Amit Kumar, Sunita Singh Gujjar and several others were also honoured on the occasion.

Selection in World Hockey XI
Kanda compliments Sirsa player
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, January 2
Haryana Minister of State for Home and Urban Local Bodies Gopal Kanda has complimented star player of the Indian hockey team Sardara Singh on his selection in the World Hockey XI.

Sardara Singh hails from Jeewan Nagar in Sirsa and is presently a Deputy Superintendent of Police in Haryana - a post given by the government for his achievements at the international level.

It is for the second time that Sardara Singh has been selected in the World XI team.

Kanda said it was the result of the policies and programmes being implemented by the state government to promote sports in the state that sportspersons were giving outstanding performance.

The Minister said an Astroturf had been laid in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Stadium, Sirsa, and a hockey academy had been set up in Sirsa for the benefit of hockey players.

He said as a result of the sports policy and programmes implemented by the Haryana government, the state had established itself as a sports power.

The performance of its players was excellent in the Commonwealth and the Asian Games and out of the total medals won by the country, one third of the medals were bagged by the sportspersons of Haryana.

Lucky draw makes Ishwar Sharma Jhajjar MC chief
Ravinder Saini

Ishwar Sharma, along with his supporters, after being elected the MC chief. Photo by writer

Jhajjar, January 2
Local Municipal Councillor (MC) Ishwar Sharma was declared the chief of the local municipal council by the district authorities on the basis of a lucky draw here recently.

It is perhaps the first instance in the history of the municipal council when its chief has been elected through a lucky draw.

The most coveted post of the MC was vacant ever since the then MC chief, Dinesh Yadav, resigned two-and-half months ago when a majority of the municipal councillors (MCs) revolted against him by filing affidavits before the deputy commissioner (DC), demanding a no-confidence motion against him.

In fact, Tek Chand Gujjar and Ishwar Sharma were the two contestants in the poll fray who had candidly made the claim to the post of chairman. Haryana Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal, who is also a local MLA, had also come to Jhajjar for exercising her right to franchise.

Tek Chand and Ishwar Sharma got the same numbers of votes when the counting of votes was done.

“Among all 20 electorates, including 19 MCs and an MLA, both the candidates got 10 votes each. Thereafter, the Jhajjar SDM, who was discharging the duty of returning officer (RO) in the elections, decided to elect the new chief through a lucky draw, complying with the municipal council election bylaws 72 in this regard,” said an official of the MC, adding that slips of both the candidates were put in a box to conduct the poll.

Sharma succeeded in becoming the chief of the Jhajjar MC by fluke when the naib tehsildar, who took the slip out of the box, announced his name as the winner.

Later, returning officer Dr Chander Shekhar also declared Sharma the new chief of the MC officially and handed over the winning certificate to him after fulfiling the formalities in this regard.

Security arrangements were made by the police authorities around the office of the municipal council to prevent any untoward incident. No outsider was allowed by the policemen to go inside the office during the election process.

Supporters of Sharma distributed sweets and danced to the drum beats when they heard the news of victory of their leader.

Later, Sharma, while interacting with mediapersons, said his priority would be to ensure the over-all development of the city.

“I know the problems being faced by the residents. I will try my best to sort out the problems with the help of district authorities,” said the new chief, adding that he would chalk out the development plan of the city soon.

Hisar man wins 6 prizes at flower show
Tribune News Service

Hisar, January 2
A local gardening enthusiast won six prizes in the annual flower show organised by Haryana Agricultural University here recently.

The enthusiast, Rakesh Solanki, has been winning several prizes for his entries in this show for the past several years.

This year he won the first prize for miniature chrysanthemum and cactus and succulents categories. He bagged the second prize for palm and marigold categories. Solanki also won the third prize in chrysanthemum and dry-flower arrangement categories. Another enthusiast Pala Ram won four prizes.

He bagged the top spot in palm and fresh-cut flower arrangement categories. He won the second prize for foliage plants. Pala Ram’s entries in cactus and succulents and miniature chrysanthemum categories won him the third prize.

Farmers go in for pisciculture in Sirsa
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, January 2
With a record 4411-metric tonnes production of fish in the district in the current financial year so far, pisciculture -- the breeding, rearing and transplantation of fish by artificial means -- is fast gaining popularity among farmers in Sirsa district.

The Fisheries Department has set a target of bringing 1,084 hectares of land under pisciculture and stocking 270 lakh fish seed by the end of the current year, said Balbir Singh, the District Fisheries Officer, Sirsa, while talking to The Tribune.

“The authorities have been providing training in pisciculture to youths in villages,” said the Deputy Commissioner, Sameer Pal Srow. The training is provided in the Aquaculture Research and Training Institute (ARTI), Hisar, where the prospective fish farmers are given a 10-day residential training.
"The department provides a loan of Rs 3 lakh to farmers for excavation of a pond in one hectare of land. The loan carries a subsidy of 20 per cent. Another loan of Rs 50,000 per hectare of water body with 20 per cent subsidy is provided for inputs to the farmers," he said.
Seed of the fish, which are actually small- size fish, are provided to the farmers at a rate of Rs 65 per thousand.

Other inputs like mustard oilcakes, rice bran, single super phosphate manure, urea and some other articles are needed as feed for the fish. Lesser feed is required in old ponds, where people take their cattle for bathing because the stool and urine of the animals also serves as feed for fish. The feed has to be 2 per cent of the total body mass of the fish in the water body.

The department provides four different varieties of seed of fish to the farmers so that the whole water of the pond can be covered.
Katla variety of fish that live on the surface of water, the Mirgal variety of fish that remain on the bottom of the pond, the Roha variety that live in the middle and Common Carp variety that remain on the columns of the ponds.

The fish farmers have to enrich the water with oxygen by shaking the water, as the fish take oxygen for their respiration from the oxygen mixed within the pond water.

The pond, where domestic animals are taken for bathing, gets shaken automatically and is hence rich in oxygen, but in others the farmers are advised to use aerators or where these are not available, beat the water surface with bamboo sticks.

The fish farmers find customers for their produce at their pond site itself, where they get a price of Rs 60 to 70 per kg for the fish.

Cops learn first-aid techniques
Tribune News Service

Hisar, January 2
With a view to improving the image of the police and to provide timely medical aid to the injured, the district police organised a camp at the Police Lines here recently to train cops in giving first aid.

Experts from the Rohtak-based Health and Safety Care Education Society gave lessons in first aid to policemen.

SP Ashwin Shenvi said besides presenting the human side of the police to the public, cops trained in giving first aid could save lives of people injured in accidents, attacks or natural disasters.

He said he was overwhelmed by the interest shown by members of the police force in acquiring first aid skills. He asked them to further pass on the technique to their colleagues. The SP said he was keen on training every cop so that precious lives could be saved. Even if a single life was saved by trained cops, the purpose of the camp would be served, he added.

Work on multispecialty hospital begins
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, January 2
Work on the multispecialty hospital being set up by the Murli Dhar Kanda Charitable Trust owned by state Minister Gopal Kanda’s family has begun and it is likely to be completed within a year.

The project, costing Rs 80 crore and spread over 4.5 acres of land on the Sirsa-Rania road, is one of the four projects worth Rs 250 crore to be set up by the trust in Sirsa.

The other three being an amusement park spread over 12 acres, an international school and a college.

The minister’s younger brother and an executive member of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, Gobind Kanda, said recently that the work on the 200-bed hospital would be completed before Gopal Kanda’s next birthday, which is December 29, 2012.

The multispecialty hospital will have world-class facilities for the treatment of heart diseases, cancer, kidney ailments, neurotic diseases and other serious ailments, said Kanda.

He said free treatment would be provided to at least 25 per cent patients, but as a part of the Trust’s humanitarian outlook, no patient would be denied treatment for the want of money.

He said free ambulance services would be provided for shifting patients from the vicinity to the hospital. Kanda said the Trust had plans to convert the hospital in to a medical college in future.

1,022 awarded scholarships
Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, January 2
Max New York Life Insurance awarded igenius scholarship to 1,022 students excelling in academics as well as extracurricular activities as a part of its parent-child engagement initiative.

Aastha Agarwal from Nasik and Vaania Kapoor from Bangalore bagged the top scholarships of Rs10 lakh each in the senior and junior categories, respectively.

Rajesh Sud, CEO and Managing Director of Max New York Life Insurance, said, “The response to the 2nd igenius scholarships has been overwhelming and we are thrilled that in a short span of time, igenius has emerged as an established national platform where schoolchildren get an opportunity to unleash their hidden genius.”

As per the organisers, more than 4.6 lakh children from over 700 towns and cities enrolled in the igenius scholarship programme-2011.

The participants, under two categories of juniors (Classes 3-5) and seniors (Classes 6-8), were evaluated through a four-stage process spread over nine months.

In addition to their performance in tests that evaluated their all-round skills, the scholarship programme entailed a live interaction with a jury through videoconferencing.

Twenty two shortlisted candidates from this stage underwent the final evaluation at Epicentre in Gurgaon in front of a live audience. Two children walked away with the top scholarships worth Rs 10 lakh each while the remaining 20 participants received scholarships worth Rs 1 lakh each.

The judges, who evaluated these participants at various stages, comprised eminent litterateur Ruskin Bond, Derek O’Brien, Niel O’Brien and Indian cricketers Ashish Nehra, Murali Karthik and Mithun Manhas.

Book on human resource development released
Our Correspondent

Kurukshetra, January 2
A book titled “Economics of Human Resource Development in India”, authored by Dr MM Goel, professor of Economics and Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Kurukshetra University, and published by VK Global Publications, New Delhi, was released at the 94th conference of Indian Economic Association (IEA) held at Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, Pune, recently.

Stating this here recently, Prof Goel said the function was inaugurated by Noble Laureate in Economics, Professor Amartya Sen, and presided over by the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and graced by Maharashtra Chief Minister Pritiviraj Chauhan in the presence of IEA president Prof Sukhadeo Thorat. Haryana was represented by professor Rajinder Kumar, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Kurukshetra, along with professor Goel.

The book provides multi-layered holistic analysis of HRD and its economics in India in 15 chapters with the latest data, including Union Budget 2011-12 and Economic Survey 2010-11.

It deals with all facets of human beings such as education, health, environment, tourism, urbanisation, migration, housing, food security and women empowerment. It is an attempt of the author made in South Korea where he worked as first ICCR chair professor of Indian Economy at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul.

Kaithal sees development in 2011
Satish Seth

Kaithal, January 2
The year 2011 will be remembered as a year of development in Kaithal district.

A km-long railway overbridge on the Kaithal-Jind road built at a cost of Rs 24 crore brought big relief to the local commuters. It has reduced traffic jams which were caused due to the blocking of the level crossing when trains passed on the Kaithal-Kurukshetra track.

A Rs 16 crore multispeciality hospital was dedicated to the people by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, which was appreciated by people. Shakti Bhawan, built at cost of Rs 4 crore and Lala Lajpat Rai commercial complex at Pehowa Chowk in the heart of this town; Dr BR Ambedkar Govt college on Kaithal-Ambala road constructed at cost of Rs 12 crore, are an asset to the district.

The renovated Bidhkayar Lake has added to the beauty of the town and has become a major attraction for city residents. Hundreds of residents of the walled city enjoy morning and evening walks on the corridors built along the lake and de-stress themselves. The beautiful and spacious children park constructed near the Bidhkayar Lake with a science Panaroma has become a source of entertainment and knowledge for thousands of children who visit the place daily. A new bus stand is under construction in Kalayat town and will be dedicated to the people by the Chief Minister shortly.

Besides, a drivers’ training school is coming up in Garhi Padla village on Kaithal-Khanouri road, which is a joint venture of the state transport department and Ashok LeyLand. A sum of Rs 17 crore has been spent on the project and it will soon start functioning. It will be the first-of-its-kind institute in the rural areas of the state. The renovation of Chandana gate at Ram Leela ground, which was ignored for many years, is another important development.

Besides, Rs 26 crore was spent on flood preventive measures in the district. A sum of Rs 10 crore was spent on construction of a toe wall on the Hansi Butana canal in the Guhla area. The water carrying capacity of many syphons was increased. The Kaithal subminor was reconstructed to provide better irrigation facility to the farmers. The northern side of Kaithal drain has been stone-pitched which will save the town from floods. A number of canal projects, which will provide more irrigation facility to the farmers, were completed in 2011.

The sewer system in Kaithal and other towns of the district was augmented.