The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Take UPA scams to people's court, BJP tells workers
Sunit Dhawan/TNS

Gurgaon, October 8
The BJP leadership has decided to launch a Parliament-to-road campaign to uproot the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre. For this, the party workers should reach out to the masses and tell them about the "anti-people" policies and corrupt practices of the UPA regime.

This was stated by BJP MP Babir Punj while addressing a state-level convention of party workers here yesterday.

"It is a matter of fact that ever since the installation of the UPA government at the Centre, the country had witnessed an upsurge in two things -- inflation and corruption. While the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities have burdened the common man, the rampant corruption has devastated the country's economy," Punj maintained while addressing the media after inaugurating the workers' meeting.

Referring to the allegations of the phenomenal gains made by UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, the senior BJP leader quipped that the entire country wanted to know his success formula.

Having a dig at the Prime Minister, Punj remarked that Dr Manmohan Singh was only placed on the driving seat as the car was being driven by a "remote control".

He refuted the allegations of BJP's negative stance in not allowing the Parliament to function and stated that it was Opposition's responsibility to bring the government's failure before the people.

Terming the UPA government's move to allow FDI in retail an "anti-people step", the MP observed that it would destroy the local industry, increase unemployment and render farmers helpless before the mean designs of the multinational companies.

Haryana BJP president Krishan Pal Gurjar, BJP legislative party leader in Haryana Assembly Anil Vij and co-incharge of party's state media wing Anurag Bakshi were also present.

Maken, Hooda lay stone of Football Academy
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Union Sports Minister Ajay Maken lay the foundation stone of the Football Academy at Dariyapur in Fatehabad. A Tribune photograph

Dariyapur (Fatehabad), October 8
Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Ajay Maken today announced that the Central Government would soon launch a national-level sports programme known as National Physical Fitness Programme (NPFP) on the pattern of Haryana’s Sports Talent Hunt Programme “Sports and Physical Aptitude Test” (SPAT).

The Planning Commission has approved the programme and it will be formally launched shortly, he said.

Maken was addressing a meeting after laying the foundation stone of a Football Academy at Dariyapur in Fatehabad. Maken and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda also laid the foundation stone of a sports hostel having a capacity of 100 inmates.

Lauding Haryana’s sports policy, Maken said the state had provided the best promotion to sports in the country. If all other states followed Haryana’s model in sports, India could easily rank among top five countries in Olympics.

While referring to the Football Academy, he said this would be the first Football Academy in North India where synthetic turf of international level would be laid.

“I am sure that promising players of the area would bring laurels for the country,” he added.

Makan also appreciated the efforts of Members of Parliament Deepender Singh Hooda and Ashok Tanwar for pressing the Union Government for establishing Sports Training Centre at Meham and Footbal Academy here respectively.

Hooda said the state government was contemplating to implement the Right to Play Act on the pattern of Right to Education Act.

He said under the SPAT programme, the promising players of the age group between eight to 19 years were picked up in their childhood.

In the first phase of the programme, 80,000 children applied and 43,000 children came for test, whereas in the second phase there were 20 lakh applicants.

The government, he said, selected 5,000 children and it was providing monthly scholarships and proper training to them.

Hooda also announced a grant of Rs 1 crore for development of village Daryapur. He also announced the construction of a road from Daryapur to Hijrawan.

Ashok Tanwar, MP from Sirsa, said the Football Academy was a good gift for the youth aspiring to make a career in sports. Chief Parliamentary Secretary Prahlad Singh Gillankhera, MLA from Ratia Jarnail Singh and District Congress President Randhir Singh were among those who spoke on the occasion.

The District Mahila Congress president Usha Dahiya, among others, was among those present on the occasion.

Kamal Singh is HRD network chief
Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, October 8
National HRD Network (NHRDN), India's HR professionals’ body, has appointed Kamal Singh as its director-general.

SY Siddiqui, national president, NHRDN, and Chief Operating Officer-Administration (HR, IT, Finance & COSL), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, welcomed Kamal Singh and said he would strengthen the organisation and pilot it to higher levels.

Singh was earlier with the All-India Management Association (AIMA), the apex body of management professionals in the country, as director, Centre for Management Development.

During his stint at the AIMA, he was instrumental for launching several new initiatives and handled management education and development programmes, membership services and industry-academics-government interface.

INLD ends series of ‘Parivartan Rallies’ in Sirsa Assembly segments
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, October 8
The INLD ended its series of “Parivartan Rallies” in various Assembly segments of the Sirsa parliamentary seat by holding a well-attended public meeting at Madhosinghana village in Sirsa recently.

Madhosinghana falls under Ellenabad Assembly segment of Sirsa, which is represented in the state Assembly by former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala’s younger son Abhey Singh Chautala.

The INLD had started Parivartan Rallies in all Assembly segments of Haryana and the last in the series is to be held at Faridabad on October 14.

The party has already organised such rallies in other eight Assembly segments coming under Sirsa - Dabwali, Kalanwali, Sirsa, Rania, Fatehabad, Ratia, Tohana and Narwana.

Sirsa being the home district of Chautalas is important for the INLD and equally important is Ellenabad seat, which Chautala won in the 2009 elections and when he vacated this seat to keep with him Uchana, the other seat won by him, the former Chief Minister’s son Abhey Singh emerged winner from here.

Abhey Singh Chautala led a huge cavalcade of tractors carrying villagers to the rally. He himself drove a John Deere tractor while Ashok Arora, state president of the INLD, sat on the side seat.

Addressing the rally, Chautala alleged that the UPA government at the Centre and the Congress government in Haryana had sold out all natural resources India had on its earth, beneath the surface of the earth or in the sky.

He said the Coal scam, the 2G scam, the CWG scam were testimony to the financial bungling the government had been indulging in.

The former Chief Minister alleged that the UPA government was now trying to drive the country towards “economic slavery” by bringing FDI in retail in the country.

He said law and order in Haryana was in a complete shambles and incidents of rape had become a regular feature. Abhey Singh Chautala alleged that the Haryana Government gifted land worth Rs 17,000 crore for Rs 1,700 crore to the DLF, who, in turn, showered largesse on Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra.

He alleged that the DLF’s act of giving interest-free loan to Vadra’s company clearly indicated that the latter was involved in shady land deals between the Haryana Government and the DLF.

Ashok Arora, state president of the INLD, Padam Jain, district president, Krishan Kamboj and Charanjit Singh, both MLAs, Sita Ram and Bhagi Ram, both former MLAs, and Krishna Fogat, president of the women’s wing of the INLD were among those who addressed the rally.

Rewari SSP for enhanced patrolling to curb crime
Our Correspondent

Rewari, October 8
Taking a serious note of the recent incidents of theft, loot, robbery, chain snatching and other such crimes in the district, the newly posted SSP, Bharati Arora, held a meeting of senior police officials of the district here recently.

Besides the three DSPs -- Krishan Lal, Rajpal, Dhanpati Devi -- and two Inspectors -- Satender Singh and Bhagwat Prashad -- SHOs of all police stations and heads of all police posts in the district attended the meeting.

While stressing the urgency for the police personnel to work efficiently, the SSP directed the SHOs and the supervisors of the police posts to enhance patrolling, keep a vigilant eye on the movement of suspected vehicles as well as criminals in their respective areas.

Similarly while instructing police officials to make preventive use of alco- censor machine to curb drunken driving on the roads, she cautioned them against putting women and children, travelling with their kinsmen, to unnecessary inconvenience during checking of vehicles.

Simultaneously, the district police chief directed the SHOs to keep tabs on the activities of hardened criminals while seeking imperative installation of Police Assistance Boards, inscribed with essential telephone numbers, at vital places in their respective areas, to enable incidental victims of criminals to seek the much-needed police assistance on time.

Besides, the SSP laid special emphasis on curbing crime on the national highway here while explaining that meritorious police personnel would be amply rewarded whereas the defaulters would be penalised.

Zonal Youth Festival Concludes
Surjewala releases GNG College’s souvenir
Manish Sirhindi
Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, October 8
The three-day 35th zonal youth festival, hosted by Guru Nanak Girls’ (GNG) College here, concluded on the college premises.

Randeep Singh Surjewala, Minister of Industries and Commerce, PWD (B&R), Government of Haryana, was the chief guest on the occasion.

On the concluding day, MS Sawhney, general secretary of the GNG College, said young leaders could inspire a whole generation through their leadership and will to serve the society.

Mahant Karmjeet Singh, President, GNG College Managing Committee, and Surjewala released the college souvenir.

The latter congratulated the management, staff and students of the college for hosting the zonal youth festival and said the institution had given some of the best citizens to society and the nation.

He said 61 per cent of the total population in the state comprised of youngsters and this population had a lot of potential to play important roles in the process of national development.

He said under the prevailing circumstances the country faced many challenges which only the young generation could meet.

Meanwhile, the overall trophy of the fest was bagged by DAV Girls’ College, Yamunanagar, while the host college won the runners’ trophy.

Later, Surjewala gave away the prizes to the winners which included: Folk Haryanvi (Solo)- 1. Government College, Matak Majri; 2. GN Khalsa College, Yamunanagar; 3. Government College, Naraingarh.

Haryanvi Orchestra- 1. DAV College for Girls’; 2. GNG College; 3. SVS Government College, Matak Majri Indri; Western Vocal (solo)- 1. DAV College for Girls’; 2. MLN College, Yamunanagar, and 3. GN Khalsa College. Western Instrumental (Solo)- 1. GN Khalsa College; 2. DAV College for Girls’; 3. MLN College. Haryanvi Gazal- 1. DAV College for Girls’; 2. MLN College and 3. Hindu Girls College, Yamunanagar.

Group Dance (Haryanvi)-1. GNG college; 2. DAV College and 3. MLN College. Solo Dance (Haryanvi Male)-1. MLN College; 2. GN Khalsa College and 3. Maharaja Aggarsen College. Solo Dance (female) 1. MLN College;2. GNG College and 3. DAV College for Girls’. Sanskrit Drama- 1. DAV Girls’ College, 2. GNG College and 3. Government College, Matak Majri. Mime- 1. MLN College, Radaur; 2. GNG College and 3. MLN College.

Rs 19.5 cr for state’s children
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 8
The Haryana Government will spend Rs 19.5 crore to ensure rehabilitation of all children in need of care and protection and also the juveniles in conflict with law.

Sumita Misra, director-general, Women and Child Development Department, stated this here recently. She said while upholding the principle of ‘protection of child rights’ and ‘best interests of the child’, the state government would spend Rs 12.88 crore for care, protection, treatment, development and rehabilitation of the children in need of care and protection who are under the ambit of the system of institutional and non-institutional care in various government and semi-government Child Care Institutions (CCIs) during this year.

Rs 5.91 crore would be spent for children in conflict with law, who had allegedly committed an offence and are covered under the system of institutional care through juvenile justice boards, she added.

Dr Chauhan is teachers’ body chief
Our Correspondent

Kurukshetra, October 8
Dr Pradeep Chauhan, president, Kurukshetra University Teachers Association (KUTA), was elected as the member of the Executive Council, the supreme decision-making body of Kurukshetra University, here recently.

Dr Chauhan defeated Dr Anil Gupta by a margin of four votes. It is the first time in the history of the university that the president, KUTA, has also been elected as the EC member of the university.

Dr Chauhan assured all the teachers that he would fight for the teaching community and for the betterment of the university. He said his priority would be the implementation of career advancement scheme (CAS) up to professor in university college (UC), college of education (CE) and directorate of distance education (DDE).

“Sincere efforts will be made to grant the status of department to each of the UC, CE and DDE without further delay,” he said.

He showed concern about the weak financial position of the university and said it would be demanded that recruitment process should be started as more than 45 per cent teaching posts were lying vacant. The superannuation age should also be increased from 60 to 65 as per the UGC norms, he added. Dr Rajbir Prashar, president, Haryana College Teachers Association, also congratulated Dr Chauhan.

Evaluation for administrative departments
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 8
The Results Framework Document (RFD) will not only measure the performance of the administrative departments but also help in taking corrective action to improve their functioning. This was stated by the Haryana Chief Secretary, PK Chaudhery, here recently.

Chaudhery said this after launching the two-day meeting schedule of the ad hoc task force of the Central Government which would be reviewing the RFD prepared by various departments of the state. A decision to implement the Performance Management and Evaluation System (PMES) in the state had already been taken. The RFD is required to be finalised for the implementation of the PMES.

He said the departments concerned would have to define the task or priorities and the ways to achieve the targets. The RFD and the PMES would help the state government in achieving its goals, he added. Prajapati Trivedi, Secretary, Performance Management Division, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, said one of the objectives of the RFD was to improve transparency in the process of governance and make efforts to change the perception of the common man towards the government.

Programme stresses on poverty alleviation
Our Correspondent

Kurukshetra, October 8
Renowned development economist Prof Stephen C Smith, who specialises in poverty analysis, advocated the use of aggregate multidimensional measure to assess the impact of poverty reduction programmes in developing countries.

Prof Smith, who is a professor of economics and international affairs at George Washington University, US, was addressing faculty members and students of various departments of Kurukshetra University here recently.

He was speaking on “Multidimensional Targeting and Evaluation: Framework and Application to a Poverty Programme in Bangladesh”. He elaborated upon the construction of a multidimensional outcome indicator based on four outcome deprivation indicators namely food security, health status, housing quality and clothing.

He also explained about the application of this aggregate indicator to a poverty programme being run in Bangladesh by the BRAC. His study also revealed that the factor driving poverty reduction was food security i.e. ability to take two meals per day.

The session was chaired by Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Prof MM Goel, while Prof Neera Verma, chairperson, Department of Economics, KUK, gave a brief introduction of Prof Smith. Prof Richa Tanwar, Prof CP Singh, Prof TR Kundu, Prof VN Attri, Prof Amarjeet Singh and Prof Shashi Anand were also present on the occasion.

The talk was followed by an interactive session in which both faculty members and students raised issues regarding literacy, education, corruption in poverty alleviation programmes and FDI in India.

Prof Smith is presently on a visit to KUK for six weeks as a Fulbright Specialist in the Department of Economics. He will be delivering a series of talks to students and faculty members followed by two general talks during the period.

His talks will be related to different dimensions of development ranging from assessment of poverty reduction programmes, micro finance and problems of climate adaptation and environmental stress.

DSPs, SHOs to visit villages, colonies to curb crime
Ravinder Saini

Jhajjar, October 8
The Haryana Police, which is under persistent fire from various quarters for rising incidents of crime, especially gang rapes in the state, has come up with another plan to keep a check on criminal activities in both urban and rural areas.

According to the plan, Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs) and Station House Officers (SHOs) will now visit four to six villages of their areas daily to ensure villagers’ participation in preventing criminal activities. Likewise, the DSPs and SHOs posted in the city area will also cover five colonies of the city every day to contact the people.

A communique in this regard had recently been shot off to all police chiefs of four districts, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat and Panipat, that fall under the jurisdiction of the Rohtak Police Range. In the communique, Alok Mittal, the IGP, had directed the police chiefs to rope in their DSPs and SHOs to carry out a ‘contact drive’ in their districts for getting public support in order to curb crime besides gathering information about anti-social elements and people of a criminal frame of mind so that they could be brought under surveillance.“The move aims at checking crime through public support. The DSPs and the SHOs will get in touch with the public for landing a helping hand to the police in preventing crime by giving vital information about any sort of dispute and enmity brewing between the groups,” said Mittal. The police officials would also compile a record about anti-social elements of their area to keep a tab on them, he added. “The DSPs and the SHOs will submit their reports to their police chiefs every day wherein they will mention whom did they contact and interacted with during their contact progamme,” said Mittal. Satish Tyagi, chief of the intellectual cell of the Haryana Trinmool Congress, said the Haryana Police was fully accountable for the increased crime graph as the police did not show interest in taking a stern and timely action against the criminals.

“Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda should also take moral responsibility for the rising crime especially against women, but he always washes off his hands reiterating that law will take its own course. I wish to ask him a question that if the government has no concern with rising crime, then who will enforce the law strictly in the state,” said Tyagi.

Slamming the Congress government for the worsening law and order situation in the state, Kusum Sharma, president of the women’s cell of the HJC, said Chief Minister Hooda had no moral right to remain in power hence he should resign from chief ministership.

BJP tries to play up Cong fissures
Ravi S Singh
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, October 8
In a bid to present itself as a political alternative to the ruling Congress and the INLD in the state, the state unit of the BJP has sought to ‘play up’ factionalism in the former to ‘discredit’ it on one hand, and ‘run down’ the latter on the other.

The BJP’s new strategy against the Congress and the INLD is said to have been devised by state leaders on the sidelines of the party’s recent three-day national conclave at Surajkund, which culminated at a public meeting here.

The strategy was implemented at the public meeting here when state BJP president Krishanpal Gurjar in his speech said Haryana minister Ajay Singh Yadav’s ‘wings were trimmed’ by the Congress after the latter praised Narender Modi’s government in Gujarat.

Top national leaders of the BJP, including LK Advani, Nitin Gadkari, Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh, were present on the dais when Gurjar delivered his speech. Apart from Narender Modi, Madhaya Pradesh Chief Minster Shivraj Singh Chauhan, was also present on the occasion.

Gurjar made the references to the Congress minister while lauding the development models followed in the BJP-ruled states.

Although Gurjar was not precise when he mentioned about Yadav in his speech, senior BJP leaders say the Haryana minister had praised Modi governmet’s development model in Gujarat at the height of farmers’s agitation in his Rewari Assembly constituency against acquisition of land.

Gurjar insinuated that Yadav was penalised by the Congress for praising Modi by changing his portfolio from Finance to Power.

Significantly, Yadav has expressed his differences with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in public several times in the past.

The BJP leader concluded his speech saying the BJP, in alliance with the HJC, was an alternative to the Congress, and the INLD which the people of the state have discarded. “BJP-HJC was close to forming a government in Haryana,” he said.

The Haryana BJP leader’s reference to Yadav was given higher dimension by Narender Modi in his speech. Tongue-in-cheek, he urged the audiences not to publicly applaud him as they would be punished like Yadav.

Modi said Haryana could have become number one developed state, but had failed to do so. Rather, Gujarat had overtaken Haryana in milk production and tourism, which was once its forte, he added.

Dairy farmers disappointed
Suman Bhatnagar

Ambala, October 8
The decision of Ambala milk plant to purchase milk only from the members of milk societies has disappointed a number of dairy farmers who had setup their high-tech dairies in the district on the assurance of milk plant authorities that their milk would be procured.

The dairy farmers, led by INLD leader Sandeep Rana, met SDM, Ambala, recently and submitted a memorandum. The dairy farmers said a few years back the milk plant officers had visited their villages and asked them to setup high-tech dairies. They said for the past four years, their milk produce was being procured by the milk plant but now the authoroties had refused to take their milk.

They added that they had invested lakhs of rupees for setting up the dairies and they also owed loans to banks.

A dairy farmer of Bahpur village, Gurdeep Singh, said he had around three dozen hostan breed cattle in his dairy. He had spent a lot of money for improving the breed of cattle. One of his cows was giving around 50 litres of milk per day, he said.

He said the dairy farmers would knock the courts’ door if the milk plant did not purchase their milk produced like earlier.

When contacted, executive officer of Vita milk plant, Jaspal Singh, said a large quantity of milk powder was lying in the milk plant which would be used for making milk. He said he was directed by the head office that the milk of only the members of the milk societies would be purchased.

Farmers should follow latest farm practices: Expert
Bhanu P Lohumi/TNS

Karnal, October 8
Change agricultural practices to combat climate change. This was the clear message that emerged from a brain-storming session at an in-field stakeholder consultation on “empowering farmers for climate smart agricultural practices in Haryana”. The chairman of Haryana Farmers’ Commission, Dr RS Paroda, set the tone of the discussion by calling upon the farmers to stay connected with scientists and extension agents to remain abreast with the latest developments in the field.

The seminar was organised under the aegis of CGIAR programme “Climate

Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)” with the help of Haryana Kisan Ayog, Department of Agriculture, Haryana, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, HAU and the Society for Conservation of Natural Resources and Empowering Rural Youth at Taraori village in Karnal.

Dr Paroda, the chief guest on the occasion, advised farmers to attain knowledge about new technologies before adopting them and presented a couple of examples of successful people who had adopted these technologies. He stressed upon the need for diversification from the conventional rice-wheat rotation for sustainable agriculture.

Emphasising on women and young generation’s participation in agricultural activities, Dr Paroda said, “Conservation agricultural practices are the demand of time because these technologies are resource conserving and environment friendly”. He suggested to the farmers to have a direct linkage with the market to add to profits and urged them to form societies and work in groups.

Coordinator CCAFS, South Asia, Dr PK Aggarwal, held the faulty agricultural practices responsible for changes in climate and global warming and stressed that the conventional puddled rice cultivation was a major source of methane gas emission. He added that new rice-production techniques were necessary to save the climate.

About 350 farmers from various districts, along with 50 government and private officials and 25 scientists participated in the seminar. The CCAFS programme has four hubs in South Asia and Haryana is one of them. The event addressed the problem of climate change in agriculture through climate-smart agricultural practices.

Nurses demand filling of vacancies
Our Correspondent

Senior functionaries of the Haryana Nurses Association at a state-level conference in Rewari. Photo: Nawal Kishore Rastogi

Rewari, October 8
Nurses from various districts of the state participated in a state-level conference held under the auspices of the All-Haryana Nurses Association here recently.

Rajesh Rani, state vice-president of the association, alleged that owing to the apathy of the state government and the top brass of the Health Department, posts of 3,000 nurses had been lying vacant for a long time in various government hospitals.

Due to this, 1,700 nurses presently working in these hospitals were facing difficulties, she said.

She said 388 vacancies had been advertised by the government 18 months ago, but nothing had been done to fill them up. Also, nurses had been facing undue stagnation in the absence of a well-devised promotion policy, she added.

She said lack of proper security arrangements for the night staff nurses, no provision of a risk allowance, night allowance, pay band on par with that of Central government staff nurses and non-regularisation of nurses working on a contractual basis were a few other issues that needed to be redressed.

She said the delegation would soon meet Health Minister Rao Narender Singh and submit a memorandum of demands to him.

MLA criticises hike in speed-post fee
BS Malik

Sonepat, October 8
Criticising the increase in the speed-post fee and decrease in the commission amount of post office agents, the BJP legislator from Sonepat, Kavita Jain, has urged the Union Communication Minister to take some immediate remedial steps in the interest of the common man.

In a letter to the minister, she pointed out that the increase in the fee of local speed post from Rs 12 to Rs 15 and of outstation speed post from Rs 25 to Rs 35 would directly affect the poor, unemployed youth who apply only through speed post.

This hike would add to their existing problems of unemployment and high prices of essential commodities.

There was no logic in decreasing the commission percentage of the post office agents in this period of inflation and this step had adversely affected the deposits in the post offices, she added.

Keeping the inflation in view, she demanded that the maximum limit of deposits under the monthly deposit scheme be increased from Rs 4.50 lakh to Rs 6 lakh and of the joint account in the same scheme to Rs 12 lakh. She has pointed out that because of low deposits, the investors preferred depositing in the banks instead of the post offices.

Medicos' forum organises CME conference
Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, October 8
The Kashmir Medicos Old Students Forum (KMOSF) organised a continuing medical education (CME) conference here recently.

The president of the forum, Dr Yog Raj Jangwal, welcomed the delegates, members and other participants to the conference and expressed his gratitude towards the experts for attending the event.

The major topics taken up during the CME conference were lung cancer and heart failure.

Dr Vinod Raina, Head of the Department of Medical Oncology at AIIMS, New Delhi, elaborated on the latest advancements in the field of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.

Dr Anil Bhan, senior cardio-thoracic surgeon at Medanta Medicity, Gurgaon, explained various aspects regarding the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart failure.

The patron of the society, Dr Shakti Bhan Khanna, elaborated on the social charter of the forum, which, he maintained, had been organising health camps in villages and providing healthcare services free of cost to the economically weaker sections in pursuance of their motto of giving back to society.

The CME conference was attended by nearly 80 medical specialists and practitioners from the Delhi-NCR who had graduated from the Government Medical College at Srinagar. Dr OP Kapoor proposed the vote of thanks.

Priority in insurance complaints

Chandigarh, October 8
Manik Sonawane, newly-appointed insurance ombudsman, Chandigarh, has fixed the hearing of pending insurance complaints on the principle of first come, first served basis.

The office of the Insurance Ombudsman, Chandigarh, looks after Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh. Within the first week, the ombudsman has decided 33 insurance complaints related to life and general nature.

He intends to hear 10 complaints per day which can be increased to 15 or 20 after he familiarises himself with the system. — TNS

Majority in favour of FDI in retail sector
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Fatehabad, October 8
Opposition by political parties notwithstanding, a large majority of people from all sections of society are in favour of foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail sector.

The Tribune spoke to a cross-section of people to know their views on the impact the FDI will have on people’s life and a large majority of them were in favour of it.

“People need to understand that opening up the retail sector will solve the issues of infrastructure. Foreign investments will raise the standard of living in our country besides opening up millions of jobs for our youths. It is a win-win situation for both the retail giants and for our country,” said Varun of Sector 3, Fatehabad, who works as Operation Manager with a private bank.

“When economists, who are experts on the subject, have welcomed the FDI in the retail sector and said it was good for our economy, then how can the politicians say it is not in our interest? Do they know more about economics than the economists do?” he added.

Monica Gupta, a writer and cartoonist from Sirsa, said people should welcome FDI in retail with open arms.

“History is witness to the fact that the policies of liberalisation have made our lives easier and comfortable. The DTH television channels, mobile phone technology and many other facilities we are using today are a result of liberalisation,” she added.

Monica Gupta said there were two sides to every coin and this was true with the FDI too.

She said the opposition parties were propagating the negative sides of the FDI vehemently without going into the fact that it was beneficial for society.

Sanjeev Trikha, Associate Professor in the Commerce Department of Manohar Memorial Post Graduate College at Fatehabad, on the other hand, said there were two aspects of the impact of the FDI in retail for Indian economy.

“In the short term, FDI is the only panacea for bringing out our economy from the present mess. This will bring huge investments to our country and open up new avenues of employment for our youth. However, in the long run, when the money earned from this country starts flowing out from India, people will definitely feel the heat,” said Trikha.

Though, he said, this will take two or three decades for the negative impacts of the FDI to show up, as the side effects of liberalisation introduced in 1991 were coming to the fore now.

Citizen Speak

People need to understand that opening up the retail sector will solve the issues of infrastructure. Foreign investments will raise the standard of living in our country besides opening up millions of jobs for our youths.
— Varun , Fatehabad

There are two sides to every coin and this is true with the FDI too. The opposition parties are propagating negative sides of the FDI vehemently without going into the fact that it is beneficial for society.
— Monica Gupta, Sirsa

In the short term, FDI is the only panacea for bringing out our economy from the present mess. However, in the long run, when the money earned from this country starts flowing out from India, people will definitely feel the heat.
— Sanjeev Trikha, Fatehabad

Computer-based learning
Digital Equaliser programme in government schools
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, October 8
Digital Equaliser, a computer-based learning programme, has been introduced in Haryana for the first time in government-run schools and Sirsa has become the first
district in the state where this programme has been started from.

The programme was launched in the District Education Training Institute (DIET) at Ding in Sirsa today.

The Deputy Commissioner, Dr J Ganesan, who launched the programme, said the authorities had started this under the Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF), a centrally funded scheme for addressing regional imbalances.

The programme will later be implemented in 75 institutions of the state in future.

The programme has been started with the cooperation of the American India Foundation.

With a view to execute this programme in an efficient manner, a Memorandum of Understanding had been signed between the American India foundation and the District Education Training Institute.

The DC said this programme would be initiated in 25 schools of Sirsa in which digital classrooms would be set up.

He said resource persons of the American India Foundation had been appointed to impart training to the teachers.

After training the teachers, these resource persons would visit classes of different schools to monitor teaching methods adopted by trained teachers.

To carry out this programme in an efficient manner, District Education Officers have been appointed as Nodal Officers, he added.

NIT Jalandhar lift football tourney
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, October 8
The National Institute of Technology (NIT) Jalandhar won the North Zone Inter-Technical University Football Championship by defeating Thapar University, Patiala, through a tiebreaker (3-2) in the final played at the Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal, recently.

NIT Hamirpur managed to score a 1-0 win over PEC, Chandigarh, to secure the third place in the championship. RK Arora, registrar of the university, distributed prizes among the winners.

As many as six teams from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh participated in the championship. Addressing the participants, the registrar said sports should be an essential part of the routine of the youth to keep their mental and physical fitness in order.

“It also brings discipline in life and a disciplined life is always a symbol of success,” he said.

Primary education: Sonepat village leads the way
BS Malik

Sonepat, October 8
The residents of Mukimpur village have set an example for other villages in arranging better education facilities for their children at government primary school of the village as well as in overcoming the problem of English teaching in primary classes.

After analysing the problem of heavy expenses of education and other inconveniences caused while sending their children to private schools, the villagers held a meeting and decided that they would improve the standard of education in the village school.

The villagers formed a committee, made voluntary donations and appointed five English teachers, Bina, Shalu, Sapna, Rakhi and Pradeep, for teaching the students of the primary classes. The salaries of these teachers are being paid by the committee.

Ram Kumar Antil, a retired Army person, took the initiative in getting the plan accepted.

As a result of the initiative, the number of students in the school has increased from 70 to 180 this year and the committee is hopeful that the strength of the school will further increase in the next academic year.

The block primary education officer, Urmil Grewal, appreciated the initiative of the villagers and hoped that it would not only bring improvement in teaching standards in government schools but also inspire other villages to join hands in providing the best possible teaching facilities to the children at their doorstep.

Santra Devi, village sarpanch, and other members of the gram panchayat said the panchayat would extend its full support to the committee in materialising the initiative.

Lenswoman ushers in maternity photography
Raman Mohan
Tribune News Service

Surbhi Singal

Hisar, October 8
New age theme-based professional photography has come to the city, courtesy a young female photographer Surbhi Singal. The Hisar-born photographer had been practising her art in Delhi for the past two years. However, her roots have brought her back to the city of her birth, where she has set up a special state-of-art studio.

Her studio is not a routine photo studio where you can walk in and get multiple copies of your passport size mugs in a jiffy. She only does newborn and maternity photography, product photography and model portfolios.

She says the idea behind introducing maternity photography is to provide an opportunity to the expectant parents to capture the most amazing period of parenthood through photographs. Being a female photographer, she has brought in a comfort zone for such parents.

She is also introducing newborn photography because she feels that the first three weeks of a child’s life are the best time to capture the emotions and innocence of a newborn. She says such theme-based photography had been in vogue in the West for years. As people get exposed to the western trends, every mother wants to capture the moments of motherhood and her pregnancy. For Surbhi, photography is not just a profession. Rather, it is a passion for launching a meaningful and enhanced communication between individuals.

She did her graduation in Mass Communication from Amity University and then did her Diploma in Professional Photography from Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan. She has also worked with Anu Malhotra, India’s award-winning producer and film-maker.

Recently Surbhi exhibited her photographs in an exhibition organised by FIPA (Forum of Indian Photographers and Artists). She also won the best photographer award and the KM Munsi award at Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan for excellence in photography.

Surbhi says her earliest memories of “being with camera” are embedded in her childhood, when her father bought the family’s first SLR. Since then she has always been keen to capture moments into frames.

Despite hailing from Haryana, where women are generally expected to confine their activities to a socially acceptable arena, her father Pawan Singal supported her wholeheartedly in her pursuit for photography.

She recalls that as a woman, she had to prove herself and her family stood by her at every step to pursue photography as a profession, no matter how society reacted to it.

She believes her work must always be meaningful and hopes that she can be an inspiration for other young women to tread newer paths.

Scholarships for students with disabilities
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 8
On behalf of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation (NHFDC) has invited applications from students with disabilities for scholarships.

While stating this here recently, a spokesman of the state government said under the scholarship scheme, 1,000 scholarships would be given to eligible students with disabilities for degree and postgraduate-level professional and technical courses from recognised institutions in the country.

He said 30 per cent of the scholarships would be reserved for girls. However, in case of non-availability of female candidates, these would be transferable to male students.

He said the applicants could apply any time in an academic year for scholarship under the scheme. Scholarships would be awarded on quarterly basis for the applications received in the preceding quarter. Also, the candidates should submit an advance copy of the application online at www.nhfdc.nic.in, he added.

He said the reimbursement of non-refundable fee would be restricted to the limit of fee of similar courses in government or government-aided institutions.

Institute holds cultural contest

Sonepat, October 8
Mother Teresa House of the Institute of Teachers Training and Research, BPS Mahila Vishwavidyalaya, Khanpur Kalan, was adjudged the best house at a one-day Inter-House Cultural Competition organised here recently.

In the competition, Priyanka was declared the best cultural artist of the competition. The competition was inaugurated by chairman of the institute Dr Suman Dalal.

The results:

Solo folk dance 1: Bindu of Gargi house 2: Poonam of Vivekanand house 3: Renu and Priyanka of Mother Teresa house.

Dual folk dance 1: Anita and Priyanka of Mother Teresa house 2: Renu and Suman of Mother Teresa house 3: Pratibha and Bhawana of Radha Krishnan house.

General solo dance 1: Suman of Radha Krishnan house and Poonam of Vivekanand house 2: Jyoti of Gargi house 3: Sakshi of Radha Krishnan house and Uma and Priyanka of Mother Teresa house

General dual dance: 1: Uma and Priyanka of Mother Teresa house 2: Suman and Sakshi of Radha Krishnan house 3: Ajit and Monika of Gargi house

General group dance 1: Renu and group of Mother Teresa house 2: Neelam and group of Gargi house

Folk solo song 1: Anu of Vivekanand house 2: Pinki of Radha Krishnan house 3: Monika of Gargi house

Folk group song 1: Suman and group of Mother Teresa house 2: Poonam and group of Vivekanand house 3: Ritu Raj and group of Gargi house. General solo song 1: Anu of Vivekanand house 2: Suman of Radha Krishnan house 3: Suman of Mother Teresa house and Shweta of Gargi house. Group song general 1: Pooja and group of Vivekanand house 2: Sawati and group of Mother Teresa house 3: Jyoti and group of Gargi house. — OC

Movie on female foeticide

Kurukshetra, October 8
A film on ‘Save the Girl Child’ was launched by the Women Development Cell of Indira Gandhi National College, Ladwa, (Dhanora), recently.

Dr Prem Kumari Gupta, principal of the college, said the film motivated the students against foeticide. Prof Harneet Kaur, in charge, Women Development Cell, explained the grave problem of declining sex ratio in the country and especially in the state, while Prof Sandeep Bansal motivated the students to realise the importance of women in society. — OC

Ambala school holds football tournament
Our Correspondent

Ambala, October 8
Delhi Public School, Ambala City, organised an Inter-School DPS Football Tournament here recently.

It was inaugurated by Pardeep Sharma Snehi, principal, SA Jain College. The first match of the tournament was played between the teams of Rewari and Jhakhri in which Jakhri won by a goal. The match played between Jalandhar and Hisar was a draw. Jammu team defeated Ambala team by two goals, while the match between Rohtak and Ludhiana came to a draw. In an another match played between Amritsar and Jhakri, Amritsar team won the match. Ambala team defeated Rewari by one goal, while the match played between Jalandhar and Pinjore remained a draw. Bushra Ahuja, principal of the host school, while addressing the participants said students should actively participate in games besides regular studies. The defeated teams should not feel discouraged and continue their efforts for the next victory, she added.