The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Flood management plan awaits completion
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, April 16
The district authorities seem to be ill-prepared to deal with possible floods in the Ghaggar river this monsoon.

Little has been done on the ground on a comprehensive plan made in August 2010 after floods from Ghaggar had inundated over 1.20 lakh acres of agricultural land in Sirsa and Fatehabad.

RK Pahuja, Superintending Engineer of the Irrigation Department, explained that the capacity of the Ottu weir was 43,000 cusecs, while that of the siphon under the Indira Gandhi Canal, where the Ghaggar makes its exit from Haryana to enter Rajasthan is merely 16,000 cusecs.

Hence, areas between the Ottu weir and the Rajasthan border are often flooded due to the lesser capacity of the Ghaggar downstream of Ottu.

Pahuja admitted that so far merely 5 to 7 per cent of the work of widening and deepening of the creek has been possible.

“It is not defined work, and I cannot tell precisely how long it is likely to take. Further, the land of the creek belongs to farmers and it is up to them whether they allow our men to work there or not,” Pahuja said about the work.

The comprehensive plan made in 2010 included the widening and deepening of the main creek of the Ghaggar downstream of Ottu besides the construction of embankments from Nejadela to Musahibwala.

“We will widen and deepen the main creek of the Ghaggar downstream of the Ottu weir and strengthen bandhs from MNREGA funds,” Deputy Commissioner J Ganeshan said after visiting various vulnerable sites of the Ghaggar along with officials of the Irrigation and some other departments.

Most of the damage in 2010 had been done downstream of Ottu, where the land of several villages had come under several feet of water.

Bani, a village situated near the Rajasthan border, had come under 8 ft to 10 ft of water, where 1.70 lakh bags of wheat belonging to the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation had got damaged.

Panipat admn initiates flood-control steps

Panipat, April 16
The district administration has chalked out plans to initiate flood-protection measures which are required to be carried out immediately in order to save the district from floods during the forthcoming monsoon season. Deputy Commissioner JS Ahlawat said given the fact that several low-lying areas in the district were prone to floods, the authorities had decided to implement the flood-prevention plan.

He said the details of works that were required to be carried out had been discussed with the officials concerned, who had been asked to execute required works along the embankments of the Yamuna. He said special attention was being laid on clearing the local drains so that extra rainwater could be flushed out immediately. The Deputy Commissioner said de-silting and de-weeding of all the drains in the district was being undertaken to ensure that there was no eventuality due to incessant rains which created flood-like situation in some parts of the district.

The Deputy Commissioner said all the officials had been asked to take personal interest to ensure proper implementation of the flood-prevention plan. — TNS

Scheme to reward honest power consumers
Sushil Manav/TNS

Sirsa, April 16
The state power utilities scheme to reward its honest consumers by providing them better supply has received applause from the man who raised this issue in the state assembly as well as at the government level.

Former minister and Congress MLA from Nalwa Sampat Singh today lauded the decision, adding that the scheme needed improvement.

Speaking to mediapersons, Sampat Singh, said if implemented properly, the scheme would benefit honest consumers as well as the power utilities.

The two distribution companies (DISCOMS), the DHBVN and the UHBVN, had in a scheme announced last week, decided to reward its honest consumers by giving them better power supply.

The announcement said that the feeders of different categories having low level of Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses would be termed as “No power cut feeders”.

To qualify to be a “no power cut feeder”, the scheme said, an industrial feeder should not have more than six per cent AT&C losses, an urban feeder should not have more than 10 per cent AT&C losses and an independent feeder would have to maintain AT&C losses up to three per cent.

Any other Rural Domestic Supply (RDS) feeder having AT&C losses up to 15 per cent would get four hours’ extra supply. The scheme said that the reward-oriented Power Regulatory Measures (PRM) would be applicable with immediate effect.

When the state Assembly was in session, Sampat Singh had put up a question to Power Minister on any proposal under consideration of the government for different power regulatory measures (PRM) for the regular payee consumers to increase the revenue receipt. He had also asked questions about any proposal for improving power supply to rural areas with more than eighty per cent revenue receipts.

“I have always believed that giving incentives to performers helps more than disincentives to poor performers,” Sampat Singh said, advising consumers to benefit from the scheme.

This, he said, would help the DISCOMS recover much of the Rs 4,000 crore receivable amount from its consumers.

He, however, said that the DISCOMS should count aggregate commercial losses for this scheme rather than the aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses, because technical losses were beyond the reach of consumers.

Medical college to be set up in Sirsa
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, April 16
Congress MP and AICC secretary Ashok Tanwar has said that a medical college will soon be set up in the Sirsa parliamentary constituency.

Speaking at the prize distribution function of CMK National PG Girls College here, Tanwar said he had discussed this issue with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who, he said, had given a positive response on the issue.

The medical college, he said, would also have various paramedical and nursing courses in it besides medical courses.

Emphasising the need for professional colleges that could run career-oriented courses, Tanwar said that when set up, the medical college would prove a boon to the educationally backward area.

Tanwar said education was one of the top priorities of the Centre and the state government. Spending on this sector had increased manifold ever since the UPA government came to power at the Centre and Bhupinder Singh Hooda took over in Haryana.

Sirsa, he said, had been given priority due to its educationally backward status.

“Out of the 36 Aarohi Model Schools that were allotted to Haryana, 13 have been opened in Sirsa. Similarly, Sirsa has received more than its due share in the matter of Kasturba Kendriya Vidyalayas,” he said.

Vijaya Tomar, principal of the college, said in her report that girls from this institution had been excelling in academics and extra-curricular activities.

The MP gave away the prizes.In academics, Pooja Kochar, Meeshu Goyal, Shefali Gandhi and Manveer Sarah got awards for merit positions in Kurukshetra University.

Seema Gulia and her sister Rekha Gulia received prizes for outstanding performance in sports.

Cruelty to animals
PAF complains to DGP
Ravi S.Singh
Tribune News Service

Palwal, April 16
An NGO in Haryana, People for Animals (PAF), which prevents cruelty to animals, has complained to the state’s Director General of Police (DGP) against the local police which weakened a case against four men caught red-handed here last Tuesday while transporting a truck-full of oxen to Uttar Pradesh. It has demanded action against the police official who investigated the case.

PAF’s president Naresh Kadiyan said his NGO has lodged a complaint with the union ministry of Environment and Forest and the Animal Welfare Board of India. “The police had vested interest in diluting the case”, he added.

He further said the police did not invoke pertinent provisions of the law even though the PAF took up the matter with the district police chief, Jagat Singh Hooda. The police chief trashed the PAF’s allegations that the case against the accused had been weakened.

The police patrol team intercepted a truck in Dhateer area on Tuesday night with 28 oxen loaded in it. The body of the truck was covered from all sides. The oxen were being allegedly transported from Punjab to Uttar Pradesh, he alleged.

Four men on the truck, identified as Khawajadin, Akbar, Kasim and Phool Chand-all natives of Uttar Pradesh, were arrested.

The police unloaded the oxen at a PFA-run animal shelter located in Sarai Khatela village here. The NGO has been following the police action in the case since then.

The accused were booked by the police under Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. They were subsequently granted bail by a local court. The PAF head said, “The police can not arrest any one without competent court arrest warrant in cases of non-congnisable offences such as Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelties Act.”

His contention was that the accused should have been booked under section 3 and 4-B of the Cow Slaughter Act.

The district police chief, however, defended police action saying the Cow Slaughter Act could not be invoked in the case. It could be invoked only when beef is recovered and the same testified by a veterinary doctor. Also, recovery of arms used in slaughtering the animals for the beef must be established, he added.

Kailash Kher lends voice to anthem of Vishwas
Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, April 16
Vishwas, a Gurgaon-based non-profit organisation working with children and adults with special needs in 21 villages of Haryana, has got an anthem, “Keh Do Andheron Se Chal Pare Hain Hum…”, sung by renowned Sufi singer Kailash Kher.

The first public rendition of the anthem was by Kailash Kher at Siri Fort Auditorium last week along with children of Vishwas Vidyalaya. The anthem has been written by Prasoon Joshi and composed by Aadesh Shrivastava.

Six years since it was set up, Vishwas has scripted several successful stories of empowerment, touching the lives of over 25,000 people. The anthem captures this spirit.

“When I heard the recording, I felt like crying,” said Kher. “There is sadness everywhere but Lord Shiva has given me strength to fight this sadness and that’s what Team Vishwas is doing,” he added.

The anthem was followed by a 90-minute Kailash Kher concert in which he dazzled with his repertoire of film, soul and popular songs, interspersed with humour that brought the house down.

Welcoming the guests, Neelam Jolly, chairperson of the Vishwas, said: “We will like each one of you to go back with a little bit of ‘Vishwas’ in you that together we can make a difference; that together, we can help children realise their full potential in an inclusive environment and ensure that those with special needs get equal opportunities, equal rights and, of course, a little more”.

One of the guests, writer, journalist and former minister Arun Shourie summed up the mood of the house when he quoted the Dalai Lama to underline the power of helping those who cannot give anything in return.

According to a spokesperson of Vishwas, the bedrock of the organisation’s programmes is a fundamental belief in “equal opportunity and inclusion”.

The organisation believes that everyone has a right to access basic healthcare and education, irrespective of disability, gender, class or caste. Even within vulnerable groups, those with disability are most likely to get excluded. Vishwas is committed to addressing this discrimination.

Vishwas runs four parallel programmes to achieve this goal - a school that works towards an inclusive education system; a programme towards adults taking control of their lives and exercising their choices; a community based programme towards inclusion and equal opportunity; and a training and research programme for inclusion by bridging the gap between intent and practice.

Vishwas was started in 2005 at Sanp ki Nagli, a small village near Sohna in Haryana. Today, it is engaged in a range of initiatives from training on disability issues of census enumerators to working in the community and the state as an active nodal agency of the National Trust on Disability.

With jurisdiction issue settled, villagers relieved
Tribune News Service

Fatehabad, April 16
The Haryana government’s decision to include five villages located on the border of Fatehabad and Hisar districts in Fatehabad district for all purposes has come as a major relief.

Residents of the villages -- Hansewala, Gajuwala, Parta, Chittain and Saniana --had been facing the problem of being associated with two different districts for different kinds of work for the past 15 years.

Ever since Fatehabad was carved out as a separate district from Hisar, the five villages remained with Uklana block for the purpose of development, while they were attached to Fatehabad for all other purposes, including policing.

Residents used to cast their votes for Tohana seat in Fatehabad for the Assembly elections and Sirsa for the parliamentary polls, but when it came to their day-to-day chores, they were dependent on authorities in Hisar district.

“People used to face difficulty in getting their old-age pension and other social security pensions. We even failed to get anganwadi centres for our village,” alleged Ramesh Kumar, sarpanch of Hansewala village.

Rajender Singh, sarpanch of Parta village, said they had to come to Tohana for their tehsil related works, while for panchayat or rural development works, they had to go to Uklana in Hisar district.

Satya Narayan, sarpanch of Gajuwala and Parveen Ahuja, sarpanch of Saniana said they had knocked every possible door during the past more than one decade, but their problems persisted.

Virender Singh, sarpanch of Chittain village said the credit goes to the Haryana Agriculture Minister Paramvir Singh, who represents Tohana in the state Assembly.

“He has been pursuing our matter religiously ever since we met him a few months back. He also arranged our meeting with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda,” the sarpanch said.

Now, the residents of these villages will get their old-age pension from Tohana block of Fatehabad.

For all other rural development like activities too, these five villages will remain with Tohana. The panchayats of these villages organised a function at Parta recently, where they felicitated Paramvir Singh for taking up their cause.

Animation institute opens training facility in Karnal
Tribune News Service

Karnal, April 16
Frameboxx, India’s leading institution for animation, computer graphics and visual effects, has opened its high-end training facility in Karnal.

Inaugurating the centre on the RP Indraprastha Institute of Technology (RPIIT) campus, Naveen Gupta, CEO and executive director of Frameboxx, said there was a growing demand for highly trained animation and visual effects in the country since a large number of companies from abroad were outsourcing work to India.

Rajiv Singal, Vice-Chairman of RPIIT, Karnal, while interacting with mediapersons, said the institute was committed to empower youth with new technology so as to make them employable and productive for the country.

Frameboxx centre on the RPIIT campus as well as the city centre in Karnal is equipped with high-end computer graphics lab with editing suites to deliver world-class training to the students, he said.

The Frameboxx centre on the campus would provide a degree programme in animation and visual effects recognised by Sikkim Manipal University, while the city centre would take care of various short-term vocational diploma and certificate programmes in animation, he added.

Frameboxx also organised a seminar on “Animation and Visual Effects” at the NDRI auditorium to provide an insight into the immense career options which are available in this field for the younger generation.

Paresh Parekh, who was the casting director of “Rang De Basanti”, and “Mangal Pandey”, made students aware of the animation as a growing industry with wide applications today in the media and entertainment fields, education and training, gaming, etc.

Paresh showcased the Indian animation and visual effects work being deployed in creating ad films, movies, architectural walkthroughs, simulators, virtual reality and host of other applications.

“The biggest advantage that the students of Frameboxx enjoy is regular interaction with the industry professionals and animation studios, and we have been achieving 100 per cent placements in top production houses,” Naveen Gupta said.

Frameboxx, founded in 2007 by a team of management and technical evangelists, is spearheading the programme to prepare high-quality trained manpower to fuel the country’s rapidly growing animation and visual effects industry.

Innovation panel meeting held
Tribune News Service

Fatehabad, April 16
To promote innovation in the fields of health, education, water supply and energy, the Haryana Government has constituted innovation committees at the district level.

Working under the aegis of the National Innovation Foundation (NIF), the District Innovation Committees (DIC) headed by the Deputy Commissioners will conceptualise, monitor and implement the projects covered under the District Innovation Fund (DIF).

Deputy Commissioner ML Kaushik presided over a meeting of the DIF at Fatehabad. The committee included the ADC as its member secretary, executive engineer of the Public Health Department, civil surgeon and representatives from universities, NGOs and the industry as its members.

Small innovations, like a youth from Naraingarh devising a method to operate his tubewell from his home with his mobile phone, are among some of the success stories in this field.

Dr VP Goyal, a physician from Sirsa, was invited to the 4th Innovators’ Workshop in Ahmedabad in 2008 for his ‘Vijay Tushar’ technique, a modified intravenous drip technology.

National Innovation Foundation - India was set up by the Department of Science and Technology in February 2000 in Ahmedabad to help India become an innovative and creative society and a global leader in sustainable technologies by scouting, spawning and sustaining grassroots innovations.

Under the NIF, the Haryana State Innovative Council (HSIC) has been set up under the chief secretary at the state level and the DICs at the district level.

Kaushik said that the 13th Finance Commission (FC-XIII) has recommended a grant of Rs 1 crore per district for innovative schemes.

Tributes paid to Ambedkar
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, April 16
Rich tributes were paid to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar on his 121st birth anniversary in several programmes organised by different social organisations and institutions in the district.

In one of the programmes organised by the Dr Ambedkar Education Society here, Union Minister for Housing and Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja said: “Education enriches the thinking and ideas of a man and raises his living standard.”

She said if society was fully educated, it could automatically lead to elimination of social evils like casteism, untouchability, female foeticide, etc.

On the occasion, she inaugurated a newly constructed Mata Ramabai Hall on the premises of the society and announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh for it.

The Haryana Anushuchit Jati - Pichhde Varg - Alap Sankhayak Parishad, Sant Guru Ravi Dass Samiti, Sonepat, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Sabha, Gohana, Kalpana Chawla Vidyapeeth, Kharkhoda, and several other organisations celebrated the birth anniversary and recalled the contributions made by Dr Ambedkar towards uplifting the downtrodden and neglected sections of society.

Writers honoured

Rewari, April 16
Residents of various villages participated in a samman samaroh held to honour folk bards and literary writers at Prem Ashram, Khedi-Jharoda village, near Kosli, recently. Founder of the ashram Mangat Ram Maharaj and chairman of the Ashram Trust Hari Ram Bhagat were the top dignitaries at the function.

While the title of Kayva Rattan was given to Mahashay Bhim Singh Lisania, a celebrated folk bard, musician and author of 45 lyrical folk narratives, Ram Chander Ranga Lisania, a literature of eminence, was given the title of Prem Vibhushan. Three other rising folk lyricists, Dalbir Phool, Pradeep Prajapat and Zile Singh Solanki, all from Lisan village, were also honoured. — OC

Sirsa gears up for wheat arrival
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, April 16
The authorities in Sirsa are expecting a bumper arrival of wheat this year and have made elaborate arrangements for its purchase in various grain markets of the district.

Sirsa, with an arrival of 10.44 lakh metric tonnes, topped all districts of Haryana in the matter of arrival. Like last year, the crop was sown on 2.90 lakh hectares in Sirsa followed by Hisar 2.30 lakh hectares and Jind 2.15 lakh hectares.

With reports of good crop this year, the authorities expect that the arrivals will surpass last year’s figures.

“We have made elaborate arrangements for the procurement in all the 57-odd mandis and purchase centres in the district,” Deputy Commissioner J Ganeshan said after presiding over a meeting of senior officials associated with the procurement here recently.

Ganeshan said with the railway authorities providing two special trains for wheat in April this year, the problem of storage was likely to be addressed properly.

Last year, there was no special train in April.

“The authorities expect the arrival in grain market in Sirsa town to exceed 3 lakh metric tonnes, while the total arrival in the district is likely to cross last year’s figures,” said an official spokesperson.

Grihastha Ashrama best stage of man’s life
Our Correspondent

Rewari, April 16
Yoga Guru Swami Ramdev has asserted that the life of a householder “Grihastha Ashrama” was superb among the four religious orders pertaining to different periods of a man’s life.

He made this assertion while blessing a newly wed couple, Mukul and his spouse Ushma, at a samaroh held at Shanti Kunj Ashram at Neerpur village, near Narnaul recently.

Mukul happens to be a nephew of Dr Suman Acharya, chief in charge of Patanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar.

Specifically mentioning about his crusade against black money as well as corruption, Swami Ramdev reiterated that while about Rs 400 lakh crore was stashed in foreign banks, scams relating to rampant corruption had been persistently tumbling out of the cupboards of the UPA regime.

Degrees conferred on 250 students
Our Correspondent

Ambala, April 16
The convocation function of DAV College, Ambala city, was held here recently. Dr DDS Sandhu, Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Nearly 250 students were given graduate and postgraduate degrees.

Dr Sandhu, while addressing the students, said they should work hard to achieve the goal of their life. He asked them to prepare themselves for the new challenges. He said students should pay high regard to their parents and teachers, if they wanted to be successful in their life.

Dr MR Gupta, principal of the college, congratulated students for getting their degrees. Dr Vivek Kohli, Principal of Shoan Lal DAV College of Education, Dr Pardeep Sharma Snehi, Principal of SA Jain College, Dr Kiran Angra, Principal of MDSD Girls College, and office-bearers of the DAV managements were also present.

Student placement ‘a big challenge’
Tribune News Service

Dr MM Goel, professor of economics, Kurukshetra University (second from left), is given a memento at JCD Institute of Business Management, Sirsa. A Tribune photo

Sirsa, April 16
In the present global scenario, placement of students is the greatest challenge before institutes providing education in management.

This was stated by Dr MM Goel, professor of economics, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, while addressing students of the JCD Institute of Business Management here recently. Professor Goel was speaking on the topic “Challenges and Opportunities in Management Education in India”.

He said, “Indian youths, who possess higher emotional quotient (EQ), are better than others in the world”.

Dr Goel delved into some abbreviations coined by him to convey his point to the students.

He said to provide ROTI (bread) and employment to the workforce in management, we need to increase Returns On Training Investment (ROTI). “To face the challenges of changes and competition at the global level, we need SMART (simple, moral, accountable, responsive and transparent) manpower with SIMPLE attributes of human development consisting of six activities such as spiritual quotient (SQ) development, intuition development, mental level development, love yourself attitude development and emotional quotient (EQ) development.

The synergy of these six aspects is essential requirement of the desirable human resources in the employment market, said Professor Goel, who is an author of the book ‘Economics of Human Resource Development in India’.

“For utilising the human capital of the country in an effective manner, we need manpower planning for matching demand and supply of skilled personnel, training of manpower for reducing mismatch between the abilities and the jobs on offer and above all mechanism by pairing people with jobs through information network,” he said.

Dr Shamim Sharma, Managing Director, JCD Vidyapeeth, welcomed and introduced Professor Goel.

Dr Kuldeep Singh, principal of the institute, concluded the session by thanking the keynote speaker.

Institute building to get new floor
Satish Seth

Kaithal, April 16
“The 21st century has brought many changes in the educational pattern. The introduction of technical education is one such step towards change in the educational pattern,” said Randeep Singh Surjewala, Haryana Industries and PWD Minister, after laying the foundation stone of the first floor of the Women Industrial Training Institute here on Sunday.

He said we should ensure that students were provided professional education, so that it could provide them with good employment opportunities in their career.

He said after completion of the building the seats for girls in the local ITI would increase by two and a half times approximately. “The floor at a cost of Rs 72 lakh will be completed in nine months,” he said.

He said at present 156 women students were studying in the institute. More than 180 students would be able to study there after the completion of the building.

The minister said also three new courses would be introduced, while new units would be added to the courses already being offered in the institute.

Surjewala also announced that the Government Industrial Training Institute would be set-up for Dalits in Kaithal soon.

This would lead to increase in the number of seats for Dalit students in the ITI.

Bhupinder Pal Singh, principal ITI, highlighted the achievements of ITI Kaithal in the recent past.

He said the institute had won many national level won awards for its outstanding performance.

He said some new courses had been introduced in the institute recently for the benefit of the students.

Shamsher Singh Surjewala, president All-India Kisan Khet Majdoor Congress, Satish Bansal, chairman of RKSD group of institutions, Ram.

Workshop held at technology institute
Our Correspondent

Kurukshetra, April 16
A two-day workshop on MEMS designing tools was organised by Shock Valley, a students’ activity club of the Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) Department of Kurukshetra Institute of Technology and Management (KITM), on its campus here recently.

While addressing mediapersons here, Rakesh Garg, Head of the ECE Department, KITM, said during the workshop lectures were organised to share knowledge about the micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) with the participants. He said the students were informed about the use of the MEMS to design very small-sized electro-mechanical devices, which were further used in mobile phones, satellites and military equipment, etc.

Dr Garg said the ECE Department had already completed some Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) projects based on MEMS technology and the participants would also be involved in upcoming projects.

“Training was provided to give good practical knowledge to the participants about the MEMS designing tools. A written test based on MEMS was also conducted for assessing the participants’ knowledge”, he added.

Dr PJ George, director-principal, KITM, said departmental facilities were provided to the students to pursue such activities. He also gave away certificates to the participants.

Pulse polio drive in Kaithal
Our Correspondent

Kaithal, April 16
Deputy Commissioner A Mona Sreeniwas launched the pulse polio campaign in the district by administering polio drops to a child at the local Kripal Ashram Booth here recently.

The Deputy Commissioner said during the three-day campaign from April 15 to 17, polio drops would be administered to every child in the specified 0-5 age group. A target of administering polio drops to 1, 67,928 children in the district had been fixed, she said.

The administration had set up 574 booths and 44 transit teams and 45 mobile teams were pressed into service to make the campaign a success, she added.

Dental college holds cultural function
Our Correspondent

Students of DAV Dental College of Yamunanagar present a dance at a cultural show. A Tribune photograph

Yamunanagar, April 16
A cultural function was organised at DAV Dental College in Yamunanagar recently in which final-year students and staff members took part actively.

The function was inaugurated by Dr SK Shama, national vice-president of the DAV Management Committee.

The students presented folk dances, songs and poems on the occasion. They also presented a skit in which ethics of medical profession were enlightened.

Dr Shama, while addressing the students, said they had chosen a noble profession by which they could serve the sufferers in a better way. He asked the students to keep the ethics of the profession maintained at every level while joining the profession.

Dr IK Pandit, principal of the college, congratulated the students for presenting a well-cultured cultural programme.

He added that such activities encouraged the students to express their hidden talents.

Faridabad Credit Plan
Banks set loan target of Rs 1,910 crore
Ravi S Singh
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, April 16
The administration has launched the District Credit Plan 2012-13, under which the banks in Faridabad have collectively set a target of Rs 1,910 crore to be loaned to individuals for ventures under “priority” and “non-priority” sectors here recently.

While Rs 1530.70 crore of the cumulative amount has been fixed for the priority sector, an increase of about 19 per cent over the last year, the non-priority sector has been allotted Rs 379.26 crore, an increase of Rs 70 crore over the last year.

According to officials, the agricultural segment in the priority sector has got Rs 283 crore of the allotted amount. The non- agricultural segment of the sector, which includes MES (micro, small and medium enterprises) has been allotted Rs 838 crore. The remaining balance is distributed among other constituents in the priority sectors.

The District Credit Plan is an instrument to ensure equitable progress of all the sectors, thus, leading to a balanced growth of the economy. Syndicate Bank in Faridabad will implement the Plan.

TB Narseaiah, a functionary of the Syndicate Bank, said the banks which did not meet their targets were either penalised, or lost grades in social banking analysis, at the national level. “All categories of the banks working under the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India were covered under the Plan,” he added. Narseaiah said the banks had met the targets of loans set by the government in the last financial year.

“Loans to the applicants for government-sponsored welfare schemes, individual housing loans (upto Rs 30 lakh), rural godowns, retail trade, rice-mills, small business, education were some of the other areas covered under the priority sector,” he said.

While launching the plan recently, Pradeep Godara, Faridabad Additional Deputy Commissioner, said action would be taken against the banks, which shirked providing loans to the public for government-sponsored welfare schemes.

According to him, the government provides subsidies to banks to compensate for providing loans at concessional interest rates to the targeted beneficaries in implementing the government’s welfare schemes of the state and the Centre. The schemes include women self-help groups, Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Yojna and Swarn Jayanti Swahrozgar Yojna.

Newly inaugurated university gate remains closed
Tribune News Service

The newly built gate number 2 of the university which remains closed after its inauguration. Photos: Manoj Dhaka

Rohtak, April 16
The new gate of the Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), which was built at a cost of Rs 84.02 lakh and was formally inaugurated recently, is not open to the public yet. The gate remains closed even after its completion.

“We expected the gate to be open to the public after its inauguration, but it was quite surprising that it is lying locked,” said Parveen, a student and who resides in Dev Nagar locality nearby here. He said the guards posted at the gate told the public to use the other entrance point that was a few hundreds metres ahead.

He said it raised many questions that why the gate was closed after its inauguration.

The new gate is located on the main Rohtak- Delhi road and stands opposite to the main gate of Sector 14, which is one of the posh localities here. The construction of the new gate is a part of the construction of the new campus of the university, which has been shifted marginally towards eastern side after the decision to hand over the old campus to the newly created Pt BD Sharma University of the Health Sciences. Several new buildings worth crores have come up in the campus over the past few years.

Cultural extravaganza marks Baisakhi celebrations
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, April 16
The Punjabi Satkaar Sabha organised a cultural extravaganza “Baisakhi Di Sham, Dheeyan De Naam,” on the eve of Baisakhi.

Based on the theme of girl child, the cultural evening held in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Park started with “bandagi” song by Pradeep Raheja.

Simran of the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’ll Champ fame enthralled the audience with her Sufi song “Avo Ni Avo Sanyion Ral Devo Ni Vadhai, Ni Mein Var Paya Sohna Mahi.”

Girls from Government Girls Senior Secondary School performed “gidhha.” Tanu Chaudhary made a few eyes moist in the crowd with her song “Sada Chiriyan Da Chamba Ve, Babul Asan Udh Jana.” Daljit Kaur Mann, a singer from Sant Nagar, rendered a song with the message of gender equality “Tu Hi Mera Putt Ve, Tu Hi Meri Dhee”. A choreography on female foeticide under the direction of Tariq Arora of the Lord Music Academy received thunderous applause from the audience. The Punjabi Satkaar Sabha honoured Geeta Kathuria, director of Disha, a school for special children, with the “Kalpana Chawla Award” for her commitment to the cause of mentally disabled children.

Dr Manisha Mehta, chief guest of the function, said the cultural evening would remain alive in the memory of audience for a long time to come.

Shashi Sachdeva, who presided over the cultural evening, said treating daughters inferior than sons was a social injustice. Sonia Arora did the compeering. Earlier, Pradeep Sachdeva, president of the Punjabi Satkaar Sabha welcomed all the guests. Dr RK Mehta, Jagdish Mehta, Baldev Bakshi, Bhupender Panniwalia and several other prominent persons were present on the occasion.

Sahara National Archery Contest
Rewari man wins gold
Our correspondent

Naresh Kumar Rewari, April 16
As many as 200 archers from the Army, police and the paramilitary forces from various states participated in the 19th Sahara National Archery Competition held under the joint auspices of the Sports and Youth Welfare Department of the Madhya Pradesh Government and the National Archery Federation of India at Bhopal recently.

Lance Nayak Naresh Kumar of the 12 Kumaon Regiment, who is a native of Nahar village of the Kosli sub-division in Rewari, bagged the first position by winning a gold medal in the 30-metre-range archery contest.

He secured 342 points and, thereby, set up a new national record.

Gau Sewa Samiti doing yeoman service
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Prahlad Singh Gillankhera at the cowshed of the Gau Sewa Samiti in Fatehabad. A Tribune photograph

Fatehabad, April 16
Stray cattle, particularly cows, left by their owners to graze in the open have become a bane of almost all the towns of the state.

Fatehabad is no exception where all kinds of stray animals, including dogs, pigs and donkeys, are seen roaming on roads and streets of the town.

Stray cows, which are the biggest nuisance, can be seen grazing on waste material, garbage, polythene and almost everything lying on roads, streets, parks and heaps of refuse. They often fell ill after consuming these wastes. During nights, they can be seen on roads, including National Highway 10, posing a threat to motorists.

As these stray animals appear suddenly, they hardly provide motorists time to react and avoid accidents.

Strangely, on the one hand people revere the cow for religious reasons while on the other hand they leave them on the roads to die.

In the backdrop of these circumstances, the Gau Sewa Samiti, set up by some local residents, has been doing yeoman service in providing shelter to stray cows.

Constituted five years ago by local philanthropists like Ramesh Sachdeva, Sat Pal Arora, Sunil Sachdeva and Satish Goyal, samiti members have been contributing from their pocket and collecting donations to run a cowshed on Bighar Road of Fatehabad.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Prahlad Singh Gillankhera was the chief guest of the fifth annual function held here recently.

Announcing a grant of Rs 1 lakh from his funds, Gillankhera said the state government had decided to set up a Cow Commission to protect cows in the state. Under a new policy of the state, all registered goshalas of the state get annual grants to provide fodder and other facilities to cows. He also inaugurated a shed set-up in the goshala.

Sat Pal Arora, an organiser of the cowshed, said people donated liberally to the goshala and many people had developed the habit of celebrating their birthday by offering green fodder to cows.

SDM Baljit Singh was a special guest, while Devi Dayal Tayal, Rohtash Sahu and Harpal Grover presided over.

Virender Narang, president of the Municipal Council, Fatehabad, Kailash Batra, cashier of Manohar Memorial Education Society and several other guests were present on the occasion.